A memorable dream last night. I was working in an old building for a corporation of some kind. I didn't have much to do so I started taking an interest in the work of a woman in the office next to mine. She was writing some grant applications to get funding for some new technology that would save energy. By chance, I started reading that day's Wall Street Journal and, you know how they cover off-the-wall news in the middle column on the front page? There was an article about what an energy waste the old technology was that my coworker's client was trying to replace.
I rushed into her office and showed her the article but she seemed not to grasp how it could be used in her grant application. I told her to cut out and copy the article and attach it and refer to it. Later, she was finalizing the paper and I noticed that she had cut out just a small portion of the article that didn't have any impact. "Here let me help you; where's the newspaper?" I said but she said she had already put the WSJ in the recycling.
I rushed into action and found out the recycling was in the basement so I ran down the stair and retrieved it just as it was being tossed into a large incinerator (so much for recycling!). Returning, I got into an elevator that had no sides or ceiling, just a platform and just as it was starting to rise, the coworker pulled it out of its shaft and asked me pointedly what I was doing. Fortunately there was a well equipped art room nearby so I showed her how to copy and reduce the masthead, the date, etc. and tape it to the top of a sheet of paper and then position the article below it. I told her about how clipping services used to do this and I would have a sheaf of articles to deliver to the company leadership every morning. She seemed confused still. I told her how to refer to the article in her application and point out its ramifications. She didn't seem to understand what the big deal was and I'm not sure she followed my advice. But I left the building knowing I had tried my best.
