I was driving a motorcycle, a big one with a sidecar. I think it might have been a BMW. Anyhow, my friend Robert Michael, and another guy were crammed into the sidecar, and the weight was too much for the bike's engine, or maybe it needed a tune-up, or both, because it kept sputtering and acting like it was going to stall.

Finally, I decided we were going to have to pull over and try to figure out what was wrong. I saw an open space, on a busy street that reminded me of South Lamar Boulevard in Austin, but it wasn't exactly like it, as things usually are in dreams.

I drove into the parking lot of a municipal building of some sort. I pulled up next to the sidewalk, in a wide space marked with diagonal yellow stripes, indicating that you weren't supposed to park there. The bike couldn't go any further, and I didn't think we'd be there for very long.

As I waited for Robert and the other guy to get off the bike, a man walked out of the building towards us. A deputy sherriff. I had parked in front of a police substation.

I started looking at the engine, mostly pantomiming for the officer so he'd realize that we were having engine problems. So I hoped. He walked up and just stood there for a while. He was a stereotypical Texas cop, suntanned, wearing sunglasses and he had a blonde crew cut.

I nodded to him and started looking towards the motor again. He kind of took another step forward, and then asked to see my driver's license and insurance, like he had just pulled us over for speeding or something.

I started to argue a bit, which I would never do in real life, simply because it's easier to comply with a cop than get into an argument. One thing I learned a long time ago, you might be in the right, and the cop might be wrong, but the cop decides what happens in the here and now, whereas you will only get your day in court in the distant future. In the mean time, he can search your vehicle, search you, take you to jail, whatever. Having a ticket dismissed 8 months later doesn't really make up for the hassle that the cop can cause for you.

The cop started being pretty mean, because my papers were in order, and said that I had executed an illegal turn when I pulled into the parking lot. I asked him to explain how we could have made an illegal turn, but he said that the secretary inside told him that we had done it. Then I said that the secretary wasn't a traffic laws expert, and we hadn't made an illegal turn anyhow, and he didn't witness it, so he couldn't issue one on her word.

He started to scowl, and I guess that I realized that he was determined to get us somehow, so I said that maybe he could give me a warning citation (i.e. no fine) and that I would be more careful.

No, the cop would have none of that, he definitely wanted arrest us or something. Suddenly the guy I was giving a ride to, not Robert Michael, tried to take away the cop's gun. I started freaking out, especially because we were in front of a police station, and the motorcycle wasn't running right, so how would we get away.

Luckily I woke up before I had to figure out any of that stuff.