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Showing posts from September, 2021

Two cartons of orange juice about to burst

It's the early 1960s. I am sitting on the floor in the living room of the house where I spent the first nine years of my life. But I'm not a child, I'm an adult: the person that is dreaming this dream. So how did I end up in the past, surrounded by my childhood toys? When I look around, I notice that my (adult) twin cousins are in the room as well. They have turned into statues, resembling the Anubis statues of ancient Egypt. In their stone-like hands, both cousins hold a carton of orange juice. Puzzled, I approach one of them to have a look at the orange juice. When I get close, the carton becomes transparent, as does the orange juice. I can see thousands of small creatures swimming inside the carton. Roughly half of them are from our planet's prehistory; the other half is of alien origin. The carton of my other cousin is similarly full of creatures, but they are different from the ones in the other carton. The two cartons are counterparts: male vs. female, positive vs

The pharmaceutical inspection that was a music conference

In real life, I have retired from my job at a pharmaceutical company. In my dream I am invited back to attend an inspection meeting. In the pharmaceutical industry, the European Medicines Agency and other regulatory bodies execute inspections of pharmaceutical companies to investigate if quality and safety related to the development, manufacturing and marketing of medicines is maintained. Apparently, my former company was to be subjected to such an inspection, and my presence was required. The meeting takes place on the eighth floor of the company headquarters, and the whole floor is turned into an auditorium consisting of a central stage surrounded by circles of seats. There is also plenty of standing room. The meeting is absolutely packed; I estimate between 100 and 200 people are attending, most of them standing. When I arrive, the representative of the Agency is already at the center of the auditorium, speaking through a microphone. He's asking questions that the attendees have

A Living Map of Leiden

The Randstad job agency has communicated that they will start to accept submissions of people's home-made inventions. They will pitch them to companies, and when a company accepts an idea it will hire the inventor and help him or her to commercialize the invention. I have invented a Living Map. My prototype is a large piece of cardboard that shows, in miniature and in real-time, everything that is happening in my city, Leiden. Because it is raining I wrap my investion in plastic, and get on my bike to go to the Randstad office. However, it has been raining so heavily that the bicycle tunnel on my route is flooded. I have to get off my bike and wade through 30 centimeters of water to reach the other side. Just when I'm getting off my bike a rook lands on the front fender and punctures the front tire with its long, sharp beak. Now I'm in trouble. Not only will I miss my appointment because I have to walk to the job agency, I won't even be able to find my destination becau