Last night i was presented the "DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA" award from my old alma mater.
I was supposed to give a speech...BUT ...i think, no , I KNOW - i was yammering. I cant remember a word i said except, "UHM!" lol I am like a deer in the headlights when i am in the spotlight (which is specifically why i work BEHIND the scenes) . BESIDES - who wants to listen to someone they dont know blather on - when there was a PARTY waiting to be had. SO, here is the info i should have imparted - albeit belatedly... that you might want to know about what lies ahead.
So, i started my life at Suffolk County Communty College - a place for
"Vision, Excellence, Wisdom". I didn't know it then what i wanted, but i
found it when i "joined" theatre. I had never done anything theatre-ish
until then - unless you want to call the trips to see a show in high
school, "doing theatre". That was more like a day of skipping school to me. I was a classmate of Charlie Witterich's way back when. Where did the time go? Just yesterday, or so it seems, i was the
student! Had no CLUE where i was going or what i was going to do with my
life...but i knew i needed a degree to get a job that would support
myself and my kids. I learned to be part of the magic that is theatre. where you take a pile of cloth, lumber, lights and sound ( as well as a host of other things) .... and anything you can imagine appears!
I got a call one day from a fellow student to help work on a movie - and the rest, they say, is history.
From then on i have found new challenges abound all the time. I have been: a wardrobe supervisor, dresser, day worker, laundry person, crafts person and costume designer/coordinator for the last 20+ years. I have worked on movies,TV, concerts, and live theatre. I must admit that theatre is where i gravitate to the most. There is nothing like it. You never know whats going to happen next - well, of course you THINK you know whats going to happen next...but anything can become a "wardrobe malfunction" in an instant. I.LOVE.MY.JOB! i cant say that enough! Every day is a new thing, where someone pays me to do what i LOVE.
There is nothing like loading in a new production... crates and crates of scenery , lights, props, costumes...its our own version of a circus. We build sets, hang lights costumes get altered, ironed , repaired, and ultimately hung in proper places. The long hours of prep, rehearsals, and tech week(S) - make it worth is when the finished production comes together. All of us become one big family working those kinds of hours. We all know the feeling of lack of sleep all that work causes, but we do it anyway, over and over and over again. Because we love it! It is also, all the extended family that you will meet along the way that will help you find your next job - so don't hesitate to network, ALOT!!!
So, there is life after college....but it's more hard work! MORE long hours. More new people that will become your "family" - and i hope you learn to love your job, whatever area you work in, like i do. Maybe one day we'll meet on Broadway...or some set location.
I have to run now...cause it's SHOWTIME.
Best to you all.....
Bobbi xxxo
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Monday, November 15, 2010
PART 4 - THE STORM BLOWS THROUGH
Monday the 7th…
Who said we had a day off?? There was no “day” in my day. I slept through most of it only to begin the whole cycle again today. Who invented this thing called 530 am?? Marquis de Sade? Musta been… only he could come up with this form of torture. I set 3 alarms to get me up. THREE! One wakes me at ::::shuddering::: 5:30... Then next at 5:45 and the last at 6:35 letting me know I have missed the “early” train and I had better get my derriere in gear or I will miss the 6:51 also. Then I will be forced to take the 7:00 which means I will have to change in Jamacia - ruining the nap I could be taking on the express to Penn. I hate that thought. All sleep at this point is crucial to my charming personality and sense of humor - both of which seem to get less charming and less humorous with lack of sleep.
Tuesday - we have been looking for 2 boxes of costumes that were supposedly shipped last Thursday here to the Garden from Montreal. We have been searching the WHOLE place for these boxes for 5 days. Everyone from Production Mgmt down has been informed they were “in the building” but no one has located them yet. They are some spare things but only about $30,000 worth of spare things. How do I explain to the Cirque people that the costumes are “on vacation” without a chaperone? ::::sounding like the Aflack duck here -à:::::::ACK, ACK, ACKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!! Lol. Ok so I can only laugh at it now because guess what I found this afternoon hiding in plain sight in a place that no one walks through but me obviously. Two boxes of costumes that will now, somewhat make me able to sleep. While the were extra stock - from that stock I was supposed to fit 4 new people - and there are no other costumes like them back in Montreal… and they are pretty crucial in the story line … soooo you can understand my teeny tiny bit of anxiety when we couldn’t find them. I immediately called my left and right hands ( go back and read the last chapter of this blog) to tell them our cargo was found. In less than a blink of an eye they both fly into the theatre. Left hand says right hand is sooo happy that she was going to , and I quote you on this “ kiss the person that found them - with tongue!” my response is “ best offer I’ve had in weeks!“ which sends us into fits of laughter. I can now go back into the theatre for rehearsal . It is a bad move to put people who are severely sleep deprived into a dark theatre.
Wed, Thur ...my day starts by laying on the power track ( a fancy name for the trampoline) and sewing velcro strips on it by passing a needle through it down to a guy laying under it who then passes it back to me from underneath. How bad can your day be when it starts lying down?
Friday and Saturday - more long days in paradise and people are getting testy from lack of sleep. I sit, like a mushroom, in the dark cool theatre, finally eating dinner from 2 nights ago. I cant remember the last time I sat and ate without interruption. It is slow going and much of the “hurry up and wait syndrome.” Running back and forth between the theatre and the wardrobe room checking costumes onstage and costumes being repaired/altered/purchased. I think I walk between 7 and 10 miles a day. I need to get a pedometer to check the reality of that….my knee, however , think it is a million miles. It is far from happy, my knee I mean. I start the day with three flights of stairs going up to the train platform, three more sets get me from the train up to street level. Once inside MSG its 3 more flights up to the wardrobe room or “Big Igloo” as Billy has affectionately named it. I am the “Ice Queen my assistant is the “Ice Princess the Cirque coordinator is “Snowball.” .Dressers have given themselves names like Snowflake, Puddles and Heat Miser and Zamboni. When we have to use the walkies..they call each other by the code names…when others break into our channel and hear the conversations they think we have really lost it. It is nothing new…we are just loosing our last grasp on sanity.
I have been asked if I can have payroll in by tonight, Saturday. Yeah, RIGGGGGGHHHHTTTT! It is now 7 pm and we leave at 10. I try to sit at my niche and concentrate on just payroll. The Ice Princess takes my notes and goes through them asking appropriate people which tasks have been completed/are in the middle of/havent been started so we can cross stuff off the 3 - 4 pages of notes I have daily. I cant help but respond when there is something someone cant answer but that keeps me from payroll… which is rather confusing with varying rates of pay, different hours, schedules and holiday pay thrown in. I move to the empty green room. As soon as I sit down Martin comes in and sits down to chat. OYI! Lol… politely I answer his questions while trying to continue. He leaves after a few minutes and the next person pops in and OF COURSE they want to talk to me about something! Here is not working out either. :::HUGE SIGH::::: Ok back to the Big Igloo. I tried again ..they have dismissed the cast except for a few….I told my staff that they could clean up their rooms and leave by 9 instead of 10. This will give me peace and quiet and I can work on payroll. Its just me and the laundry guy. No more noise overload for me - blissful peace. I sit and go through payroll again as I think it should be done. I have to redo the ones I have already done because I estimated our time out as 10 pm….now I have to readjust them for 9 and I have another laundry guy in for the morning and me on 7th day. I am sure there will be some mistake….but I have 2 other sets of hands it will go through to check it before it gets to the people that actually cut the checks.
I am done …catching the 1140 pm home. Already I am thinking about having to catch the 730 am back in because the trains only run hourly on the weekends. My mind hurts!
Sunday. Back in at 9. Laundry boy reading while clothes spin and whirl in dryers and washers. I try to clean off the bomb blast that is my desk and catch up on paperwork.
By noon laundry is done and I am completing a few more things. At 1230 I think I can make the 1240 home if I run. Not a great feat its just down 6 flights of stairs, sort of. So I throw my computer into its case grab my coat and head out the door. As the door locks behind me I notice my keys and ID arent around my neck and I remember I dropped them on the desk when I came in. So much for catching the early train. I have to wait for security to come let me in to get my keys!!!! I reallllllllly need sleep. I have worked 74 hours this week plus 15ish hours of train travel back and forth. Somewhere in those days I slept a bit. I am going to put Vaseline on my abused fingers and cover them in bandaids. Time for sleep….NOW!!!! Coma time!!! Night!
Who said we had a day off?? There was no “day” in my day. I slept through most of it only to begin the whole cycle again today. Who invented this thing called 530 am?? Marquis de Sade? Musta been… only he could come up with this form of torture. I set 3 alarms to get me up. THREE! One wakes me at ::::shuddering::: 5:30... Then next at 5:45 and the last at 6:35 letting me know I have missed the “early” train and I had better get my derriere in gear or I will miss the 6:51 also. Then I will be forced to take the 7:00 which means I will have to change in Jamacia - ruining the nap I could be taking on the express to Penn. I hate that thought. All sleep at this point is crucial to my charming personality and sense of humor - both of which seem to get less charming and less humorous with lack of sleep.
Tuesday - we have been looking for 2 boxes of costumes that were supposedly shipped last Thursday here to the Garden from Montreal. We have been searching the WHOLE place for these boxes for 5 days. Everyone from Production Mgmt down has been informed they were “in the building” but no one has located them yet. They are some spare things but only about $30,000 worth of spare things. How do I explain to the Cirque people that the costumes are “on vacation” without a chaperone? ::::sounding like the Aflack duck here -à:::::::ACK, ACK, ACKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!! Lol. Ok so I can only laugh at it now because guess what I found this afternoon hiding in plain sight in a place that no one walks through but me obviously. Two boxes of costumes that will now, somewhat make me able to sleep. While the were extra stock - from that stock I was supposed to fit 4 new people - and there are no other costumes like them back in Montreal… and they are pretty crucial in the story line … soooo you can understand my teeny tiny bit of anxiety when we couldn’t find them. I immediately called my left and right hands ( go back and read the last chapter of this blog) to tell them our cargo was found. In less than a blink of an eye they both fly into the theatre. Left hand says right hand is sooo happy that she was going to , and I quote you on this “ kiss the person that found them - with tongue!” my response is “ best offer I’ve had in weeks!“ which sends us into fits of laughter. I can now go back into the theatre for rehearsal . It is a bad move to put people who are severely sleep deprived into a dark theatre.
Wed, Thur ...my day starts by laying on the power track ( a fancy name for the trampoline) and sewing velcro strips on it by passing a needle through it down to a guy laying under it who then passes it back to me from underneath. How bad can your day be when it starts lying down?
Friday and Saturday - more long days in paradise and people are getting testy from lack of sleep. I sit, like a mushroom, in the dark cool theatre, finally eating dinner from 2 nights ago. I cant remember the last time I sat and ate without interruption. It is slow going and much of the “hurry up and wait syndrome.” Running back and forth between the theatre and the wardrobe room checking costumes onstage and costumes being repaired/altered/purchased. I think I walk between 7 and 10 miles a day. I need to get a pedometer to check the reality of that….my knee, however , think it is a million miles. It is far from happy, my knee I mean. I start the day with three flights of stairs going up to the train platform, three more sets get me from the train up to street level. Once inside MSG its 3 more flights up to the wardrobe room or “Big Igloo” as Billy has affectionately named it. I am the “Ice Queen my assistant is the “Ice Princess the Cirque coordinator is “Snowball.” .Dressers have given themselves names like Snowflake, Puddles and Heat Miser and Zamboni. When we have to use the walkies..they call each other by the code names…when others break into our channel and hear the conversations they think we have really lost it. It is nothing new…we are just loosing our last grasp on sanity.
I have been asked if I can have payroll in by tonight, Saturday. Yeah, RIGGGGGGHHHHTTTT! It is now 7 pm and we leave at 10. I try to sit at my niche and concentrate on just payroll. The Ice Princess takes my notes and goes through them asking appropriate people which tasks have been completed/are in the middle of/havent been started so we can cross stuff off the 3 - 4 pages of notes I have daily. I cant help but respond when there is something someone cant answer but that keeps me from payroll… which is rather confusing with varying rates of pay, different hours, schedules and holiday pay thrown in. I move to the empty green room. As soon as I sit down Martin comes in and sits down to chat. OYI! Lol… politely I answer his questions while trying to continue. He leaves after a few minutes and the next person pops in and OF COURSE they want to talk to me about something! Here is not working out either. :::HUGE SIGH::::: Ok back to the Big Igloo. I tried again ..they have dismissed the cast except for a few….I told my staff that they could clean up their rooms and leave by 9 instead of 10. This will give me peace and quiet and I can work on payroll. Its just me and the laundry guy. No more noise overload for me - blissful peace. I sit and go through payroll again as I think it should be done. I have to redo the ones I have already done because I estimated our time out as 10 pm….now I have to readjust them for 9 and I have another laundry guy in for the morning and me on 7th day. I am sure there will be some mistake….but I have 2 other sets of hands it will go through to check it before it gets to the people that actually cut the checks.
I am done …catching the 1140 pm home. Already I am thinking about having to catch the 730 am back in because the trains only run hourly on the weekends. My mind hurts!
Sunday. Back in at 9. Laundry boy reading while clothes spin and whirl in dryers and washers. I try to clean off the bomb blast that is my desk and catch up on paperwork.
By noon laundry is done and I am completing a few more things. At 1230 I think I can make the 1240 home if I run. Not a great feat its just down 6 flights of stairs, sort of. So I throw my computer into its case grab my coat and head out the door. As the door locks behind me I notice my keys and ID arent around my neck and I remember I dropped them on the desk when I came in. So much for catching the early train. I have to wait for security to come let me in to get my keys!!!! I reallllllllly need sleep. I have worked 74 hours this week plus 15ish hours of train travel back and forth. Somewhere in those days I slept a bit. I am going to put Vaseline on my abused fingers and cover them in bandaids. Time for sleep….NOW!!!! Coma time!!! Night!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
PART 5 - WE PASS THE EYE AND BACK INTO THE TURBULENCE
Tuesday the 16th.... we start the day getting things together to go shoot at the Rachael Ray studios. I have a handful of artists going to be on the show. I am supposed to have 2 people going to be with them and all of their costumes. I am told that i can only have one - that would be me!!!! I told them i would need a rack to transport the costumes too as the dog costumes they want will take up a WHOLE lot of room. So i cram all the dog stuff into three rows in the van - because NO ONE LISTENED TO ME ......regarding the space needed to get these things across town. We are in 2 14 passenger vans, and there are 3 PR people, 9 artists, myself, a prop person, a make up person, 3 rows of dog costumes, 2 already pumped up acro balls that take up 2 seats by themselves, 15 hula hoops, 4 spears, 4 laundry baskets full of accessories and two donuts that the acro balls sit on to keep them from rolling across the floor when not in use. Once i have left i get a semi frantic call from my left hand asking if some of the artists are supposed to have on costumes. I said they were - but of course there was a mis-communication and they had to be sent in a cab with the second dresser that i had wanted in the first place. Luckily Rachael Ray has pushed our taping back an hour and there is no hurry and the costumes here. BUT it ticks me off that it got screwed up in the first place. Stage management says that Cirque didnt want them involved so... that is how things get crazy. A doesnt talk to B and so on. So we are supposed to be out at 4! on the dot...but Nooooooooo of course not. Rachael wants to do some teasers with a few of the artists so some are sent back with one van and the other dresser and all of the dog costumes. The second van will take back some of the others and the first van will return for us. HA!!! Well, it is now 5 pm and rush hour. We have sent back the rest of the artists as we have an invited dress at 730 tonight. We will wait for the first van to return for us. That doesnt happen. It is rush hour as i said and getting across town is nuts - so is trying to catch a cab in rainy weather. we try for a cab while waiting for the van.....signals get crossed with the Rachael Ray staff and they CANCEL the van to come back for us....and we aren't having luck with a cab.....did i mention i still have an armful of costumes needed for tonight's performance? F! F! F!!!!!! this is not good. Luckily i am with the PR people and not really crazed , to much anyway, at the moment. Finally a cab comes and we make it back to MSG just seconds behind the second van. Time to get moving and get everyone ready for the performance. I have missed lunch and dinner and hundreds of questions are thrown at me as i enter the wardrobe room. Good thing i can think fast under pressure and we get everything ready for showtime. Oh well.. it went well... and the Rachael Ray episode will be aired the 23rd.
ok.. so i have been a bit negligent about keeping up with the blogging thing.... but what can you expect from a sleep deprived woman?? Last week on my 2nd to last day of work i went home - i SWORE i had let the dog out..... went to the bathroom, had something to drink, put fresh water and food in her dish, went back out to collect aforementioned dog......she was no where to be found. Now you have to understand that i have a fenced in yard - the dog is up there in years so hopping the fence isn't an option for her.... at least i didn't think so. I went back to the house for a flashlight to be able to look in all the dark crevices of my yard to be sure she wasn't hiding herself, or because she has a tumor that is just waiting to end her life, make sure her life didn't end while outside. I searched, confused, for a good three minutes....thinking where the hell did she get to?? Just to be sure ... i go into the house one more time... and check her bed... and there she is ..laying like a lump....i shake my head in the sad resignation that i realllllly need some more sleep.....maybe come January 10th! OYI !
12.5.10
The crazies have brought in donuts.... i yell a them for bringing in sugar and chocolate....we live on that stuff and its not good.... sugar rushes run rampant...and we are all getting a bit crazed. Elaine from hair dept is leaving and they have chocolate covered strawberries and quiche and scones laid out....that on top of the fact that they will feed us in between shows makes for ALOT of damned food all day. They at least get a bit more sleep that i do now that we are on a regular schedule.... My regular schedule is still the same 8 am - 11 pm....5 days a week on the 6th its only 8 am - somewhere between 3 and 5 pm.. or maybe the latest 7 pm.... ::::huge sigh::::::::
we are at the end of the 11 show week with 2 1/2 shows still ahead of us....Elaine from the hair dept is leaving and the dreaded PAYROLL.......I have broken down though and bought Excel so the MSG people (ie TIM) can send me his files for payroll and i have all the formulas. I am not sure i will trust them all but i will give it a go. If he was waiting for me to figure out all the formulas he would have to wait til mid Jan - which kinda defeats the reason for buying the program. Come next week when everyone complains about things being wrong in their check - i will blame if on TIM!!!!! lol......Technology - fuckit!
i am actually taking off 2 days this up coming week and i will leave as soon after the middle of the third show as i can IF payroll is done... IF people stop asking me questions ...IF we have no emergencies that require us to work other things while trying to complete payroll. we will see... coma-land is calling me tonight.... and maybe it will snow and i will be able to crawl under the covers tomorrow and not be seen til tuesday. :::singing::::: Wouldn't it........ be loverly, love...r...ly, lov...er...ly??
12.6.10
ok.. so on my day off.... i woke up at 830... texted my assistant Ellen at the shop... who promptly told me she was going to shut off her phone if i didn't go back to sleep and leave her alone. Well, thats like throwing down the gauntlet... and of course i had to do some more texting...then i texted another employee to tell her i had "eyes" everywhere......i cant repeat in mixed company what she said then! lol... then i did go back to sleep and woke up at 130.... ahhhh, feeling semi human. went to the bank, the fabric store, Michaels - craft store to shop for work stuff, grocery shopping, toys for tots shopping, and i am exhausted. Time for sleep again so i have strength for tomorrow.
12.7.10
what do i do on my day off from theatre??? why , spend it in a theatre of course. We got a free tkt to see Mary Poppins. It was great but i think i should have stayed home and taken full advantage of the day off... but , hey, you're only young once!
the end....
well, things finished ..this is being written WAAAAYYYY after the show has closed. Which may be a good thing. I LOVED my job....but i hated the way that i found out that someone i THOUGHT was nice... wasnt so. I was rounding a corner and hear someone telling someone else that i wasnt doing any work .......and all the slack was being picked up by others.
This to shall pass.....and those that know me -know ME!
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
ok.. so i have been a bit negligent about keeping up with the blogging thing.... but what can you expect from a sleep deprived woman?? Last week on my 2nd to last day of work i went home - i SWORE i had let the dog out..... went to the bathroom, had something to drink, put fresh water and food in her dish, went back out to collect aforementioned dog......she was no where to be found. Now you have to understand that i have a fenced in yard - the dog is up there in years so hopping the fence isn't an option for her.... at least i didn't think so. I went back to the house for a flashlight to be able to look in all the dark crevices of my yard to be sure she wasn't hiding herself, or because she has a tumor that is just waiting to end her life, make sure her life didn't end while outside. I searched, confused, for a good three minutes....thinking where the hell did she get to?? Just to be sure ... i go into the house one more time... and check her bed... and there she is ..laying like a lump....i shake my head in the sad resignation that i realllllly need some more sleep.....maybe come January 10th! OYI !
12.5.10
The crazies have brought in donuts.... i yell a them for bringing in sugar and chocolate....we live on that stuff and its not good.... sugar rushes run rampant...and we are all getting a bit crazed. Elaine from hair dept is leaving and they have chocolate covered strawberries and quiche and scones laid out....that on top of the fact that they will feed us in between shows makes for ALOT of damned food all day. They at least get a bit more sleep that i do now that we are on a regular schedule.... My regular schedule is still the same 8 am - 11 pm....5 days a week on the 6th its only 8 am - somewhere between 3 and 5 pm.. or maybe the latest 7 pm.... ::::huge sigh::::::::
we are at the end of the 11 show week with 2 1/2 shows still ahead of us....Elaine from the hair dept is leaving and the dreaded PAYROLL.......I have broken down though and bought Excel so the MSG people (ie TIM) can send me his files for payroll and i have all the formulas. I am not sure i will trust them all but i will give it a go. If he was waiting for me to figure out all the formulas he would have to wait til mid Jan - which kinda defeats the reason for buying the program. Come next week when everyone complains about things being wrong in their check - i will blame if on TIM!!!!! lol......Technology - fuckit!
i am actually taking off 2 days this up coming week and i will leave as soon after the middle of the third show as i can IF payroll is done... IF people stop asking me questions ...IF we have no emergencies that require us to work other things while trying to complete payroll. we will see... coma-land is calling me tonight.... and maybe it will snow and i will be able to crawl under the covers tomorrow and not be seen til tuesday. :::singing::::: Wouldn't it........ be loverly, love...r...ly, lov...er...ly??
12.6.10
ok.. so on my day off.... i woke up at 830... texted my assistant Ellen at the shop... who promptly told me she was going to shut off her phone if i didn't go back to sleep and leave her alone. Well, thats like throwing down the gauntlet... and of course i had to do some more texting...then i texted another employee to tell her i had "eyes" everywhere......i cant repeat in mixed company what she said then! lol... then i did go back to sleep and woke up at 130.... ahhhh, feeling semi human. went to the bank, the fabric store, Michaels - craft store to shop for work stuff, grocery shopping, toys for tots shopping, and i am exhausted. Time for sleep again so i have strength for tomorrow.
12.7.10
what do i do on my day off from theatre??? why , spend it in a theatre of course. We got a free tkt to see Mary Poppins. It was great but i think i should have stayed home and taken full advantage of the day off... but , hey, you're only young once!
the end....
well, things finished ..this is being written WAAAAYYYY after the show has closed. Which may be a good thing. I LOVED my job....but i hated the way that i found out that someone i THOUGHT was nice... wasnt so. I was rounding a corner and hear someone telling someone else that i wasnt doing any work .......and all the slack was being picked up by others.
This to shall pass.....and those that know me -know ME!
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
PART 3 - SURVIVING THE EYE OF THE STORM
OK.. made it through the week. Didnt kill anyone....YET! lol... I still think there is going to be a huge explosion come Monday...but maybe i will be pleasantly surprised. I am tired i think but to exausted to be sure......someone check on me sometime Sunday afternoon to be sure i dont sleep the whole day and am awake all night. NEEED to get on the "normal" sleep routine. ACK!!!
going to sleep now... i think.. yes, going now!
going to sleep now... i think.. yes, going now!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
PART 2 - AND THE TURBULENCE BEGINS
10/27/2010
So , it's Tuesday night ...ok.. Wed morning if you are being Technical... and we are almost ready to close up crates in the morning and get them ready to ship to NY. So many new costumes arent here yet. They will meet up with us in NYC and there we will do the last minute fittings with the usual Tech week, which is really 2 weeks of 8 am - 10 pm 6 days, insanity. We load into the Garden at 8 am Tuesday the 2nd and open on the 19th. Lots of nights of no sleep and i will apologize to my crew for any lack of sleep crabbiness at the beginning, long before i get crabby!! I love live theatre and i LOVE my job. Not just the job with Cirque, although i do, but playing in costumes and being creative... always makes me feel like i have reached my own kind of Nirvana. I could do without all the paperwork... but its a sacrifice i will make. Cant wait to get into the space and get moving........and be home!
Halloween;
Ok, so home I am home from Montreal. Its Sunday night and I am to meet with my assistant in the morning to set up dressing rooms and the wardrobe room. My head is still spinning. There are a lot of costumes for the new cast members that haven’t been shipped YET and I feel we will have people not in costume come first rehearsal on the November 7th. No one else seems concerned but this is my job to be concerned about such things. I have never had an actor go on stage naked, unless he was supposed to be, and I don’t intend to make it happen now.
I have roughly a handful of band members, 50-ish “artists” (they refer to them that way rather than actors as they are more athletic in what they do? I don’t really know. I would think either was appropriate but I keep being corrected.) 6 dressers, 2 seamstresses, 2 laundry people, my assistant ( my left hand) and myself. There is also Johanne, (my right hand) who is the laision between me and the Cirque headquarters in Montreal. She is a goddess among women…not to mention funny as hell, and is pure pleasure to know and work with her. In any event I am responsible for each artists costumes, who handles/dresses them, where they need to be at what time, how they get to specific quick change places and so on. There are roughly 1000 costume pieces, give or take a few, that I need to be able to locate on a moments notice if necessary and run to the stage. Things are sometimes misplaced to forgotten in the dressing room. It happens. Sometimes it can be catastrophic…many times not. But it is our job to make sure the show goes on as the designers designed it… not as forgetful artists or dressers, or anyone, wish it to be. Tomorrow starts the mayhem.
Nov 1st.
During my train ride in to the city I watch, sort of, the sun rise - my eyes half closed because I am still in a semi state of sleep. The clouds are a dark mauve-ish purple and the sun streams up behind them, limning them, making it look like a turbulent sea with whitecaps across the sky. Pretty. Hard to really appreciate half asleep. I will, for the next 10 weeks or so , have to join the “normal” world and be up a the hellish hour of 5:30am… (again with the A.M…… that should NEVER be in my vocabulary EVER!!) for 6 days a week. Now I want you to understand - I love my job with a capital “L“, you will never hear me say I don’t , but the hours during tech are enough to try a saint. (Namely, me.)
I come in with my assistant and left hand, Ellen, and we scope out the dressing rooms and wardrobe room. There are dressing rooms on 2 floors (of course not the 1st and 2nd or 2nd and 3rd… noooooo, has to be the 1st and 3rd - Murphy really has to find a new person to torture don’t you think??? Then there are 7 more dressing rooms down a long corridor we call the crossover. The crossover is like one of those hallways in a bad dream that you never get to the end of and its either freezing or sweltering - no happy medium. It is my job to decide how many chairs and tables need to go in each and set up the wardrobe room. I find 12 cents on my walk through… I am rich…lol. On Tuesday I am to meet up with my dressers, Ron, Pattie, Barry, Jenn, Audrey and Billy, 2 stitchers, Sue and DanaJean and my 2 laundry people Tom and Aaron at 8 am outside of Madison Square Garden … did you read that people, 8:00 AM at Madison Square Garden!!!!! WOW! Sooooo out of my time element here. There are two large dressing rooms outside the wardrobe room. One will house, as we affectionately call them, “the Russians”. They do the Russian Barre routine at the end of the show… a thing where they balance on these bendy poles suspended between two of the mens shoulders and the third does jumps and flips and tumbles on this bendy pole no more then 4 or 5 inches wide. The other dressing room houses an array of skateboarders, freestyle bicyclists, hip hop dancers, gymnasts and rollerbladers.
After I have spent 3 days trying to get all the proper tables and chairs set up (because I have done this before) 2 of my dressers decide, without consulting me, to ask for things I didn’t want and changed the rooms. There is a reason I set things up the way I did. . Since I worked with these people last year I already KNOW this stuff. THAT’S why I chose what i chose. Do I speak Chinese, hummmmmmm? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! ok. Crisis over. Snit over. Onward.
So , it's Tuesday night ...ok.. Wed morning if you are being Technical... and we are almost ready to close up crates in the morning and get them ready to ship to NY. So many new costumes arent here yet. They will meet up with us in NYC and there we will do the last minute fittings with the usual Tech week, which is really 2 weeks of 8 am - 10 pm 6 days, insanity. We load into the Garden at 8 am Tuesday the 2nd and open on the 19th. Lots of nights of no sleep and i will apologize to my crew for any lack of sleep crabbiness at the beginning, long before i get crabby!! I love live theatre and i LOVE my job. Not just the job with Cirque, although i do, but playing in costumes and being creative... always makes me feel like i have reached my own kind of Nirvana. I could do without all the paperwork... but its a sacrifice i will make. Cant wait to get into the space and get moving........and be home!
Halloween;
Ok, so home I am home from Montreal. Its Sunday night and I am to meet with my assistant in the morning to set up dressing rooms and the wardrobe room. My head is still spinning. There are a lot of costumes for the new cast members that haven’t been shipped YET and I feel we will have people not in costume come first rehearsal on the November 7th. No one else seems concerned but this is my job to be concerned about such things. I have never had an actor go on stage naked, unless he was supposed to be, and I don’t intend to make it happen now.
I have roughly a handful of band members, 50-ish “artists” (they refer to them that way rather than actors as they are more athletic in what they do? I don’t really know. I would think either was appropriate but I keep being corrected.) 6 dressers, 2 seamstresses, 2 laundry people, my assistant ( my left hand) and myself. There is also Johanne, (my right hand) who is the laision between me and the Cirque headquarters in Montreal. She is a goddess among women…not to mention funny as hell, and is pure pleasure to know and work with her. In any event I am responsible for each artists costumes, who handles/dresses them, where they need to be at what time, how they get to specific quick change places and so on. There are roughly 1000 costume pieces, give or take a few, that I need to be able to locate on a moments notice if necessary and run to the stage. Things are sometimes misplaced to forgotten in the dressing room. It happens. Sometimes it can be catastrophic…many times not. But it is our job to make sure the show goes on as the designers designed it… not as forgetful artists or dressers, or anyone, wish it to be. Tomorrow starts the mayhem.
Nov 1st.
During my train ride in to the city I watch, sort of, the sun rise - my eyes half closed because I am still in a semi state of sleep. The clouds are a dark mauve-ish purple and the sun streams up behind them, limning them, making it look like a turbulent sea with whitecaps across the sky. Pretty. Hard to really appreciate half asleep. I will, for the next 10 weeks or so , have to join the “normal” world and be up a the hellish hour of 5:30am… (again with the A.M…… that should NEVER be in my vocabulary EVER!!) for 6 days a week. Now I want you to understand - I love my job with a capital “L“, you will never hear me say I don’t , but the hours during tech are enough to try a saint. (Namely, me.)
I come in with my assistant and left hand, Ellen, and we scope out the dressing rooms and wardrobe room. There are dressing rooms on 2 floors (of course not the 1st and 2nd or 2nd and 3rd… noooooo, has to be the 1st and 3rd - Murphy really has to find a new person to torture don’t you think??? Then there are 7 more dressing rooms down a long corridor we call the crossover. The crossover is like one of those hallways in a bad dream that you never get to the end of and its either freezing or sweltering - no happy medium. It is my job to decide how many chairs and tables need to go in each and set up the wardrobe room. I find 12 cents on my walk through… I am rich…lol. On Tuesday I am to meet up with my dressers, Ron, Pattie, Barry, Jenn, Audrey and Billy, 2 stitchers, Sue and DanaJean and my 2 laundry people Tom and Aaron at 8 am outside of Madison Square Garden … did you read that people, 8:00 AM at Madison Square Garden!!!!! WOW! Sooooo out of my time element here. There are two large dressing rooms outside the wardrobe room. One will house, as we affectionately call them, “the Russians”. They do the Russian Barre routine at the end of the show… a thing where they balance on these bendy poles suspended between two of the mens shoulders and the third does jumps and flips and tumbles on this bendy pole no more then 4 or 5 inches wide. The other dressing room houses an array of skateboarders, freestyle bicyclists, hip hop dancers, gymnasts and rollerbladers.
After I have spent 3 days trying to get all the proper tables and chairs set up (because I have done this before) 2 of my dressers decide, without consulting me, to ask for things I didn’t want and changed the rooms. There is a reason I set things up the way I did. . Since I worked with these people last year I already KNOW this stuff. THAT’S why I chose what i chose. Do I speak Chinese, hummmmmmm? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! ok. Crisis over. Snit over. Onward.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
MY OWN BERMUDA TRIANGLE
October 19th 2010
OMG,OMG,OMG,OMG,OMG,OMG,OMG,OMG!!!!!! lol... excited much??? hummm - nah, not me!
This year has seen me in June in Hawaii, where the water was bathwater warm and sun melted over me. July i was winding my way down the Nile through Uganda, where the smiles of children reminded me of important things i left back home. Now, NOW..... I have died and gone to heaven!!! What you ask has gotten me so .....so?? well, I have been asked to be the wardrobe supervisor for this, the last season, of Cirque du Soliel's - WINTUK at Madison Square Garden. Yup. ME! (stopping here to remember to BREATHE!!!)
They called me late Thursday afternoon while i was in the middle of Tyler Perry's Mamas Big Happy Family at the Coliseum. If i was the type of person to whoop and holler i am sure you would have heard me - wherever you were... but i am afraid, sometimes if i speak things aloud they will dissipate like mist when the sun comes out. Besides, i do all my whooping and hollerin' on the inside, not being one for those emotional displays. All the while trying to figure out how i am going to be in Montreal in a day and a half when i have a ton of things i have to reschedule/rearrange/hire. I then get a call from the union rep at the Garden, who is booking my flight, making car arrangements and car service to pick me up to take me to the airport on Sunday afternooon. I feel like a queen... or a rock star.... all the attention.
I start putting out my feelers for co-workers immediately. Before i have gone back from dinner i have a handle on my crew for the show, my flight is being booked, i have to figure out what to do with the animals, find my passport, get to the bank, to the store to buy pet food for the animals and pack. Would be nice if that was all... but there must have been a thousand other things i needed to do. In my head, which is constant chaos anyway, i just added a few more heaping handfuls!!! Nothing but the best for me, i say! I THRIVE in the insanity.... PILE on the work and i find i am more productive. I need that. If you give me to much free time... i get .....side tracked easily, by the simple pleasures of life and less gets accomplished.....must be the ADD.
10/16/10
ahhhh, last minute friend to the rescue to help with the animals.....ok... one less crisis averted, banking done, food bought, bills paid, mail taken care of, clothes washed and drying, fridge cleaned out, crew almost filled.....passport found...what else do i need..hummmm, nothing but finish packing and me i suppose to be on that plane at noon tomorrow.
10/17/10 noon... driver is here right on time.... one last quick check around the house....once im outta this house... brain will shut off for a few hours. Ali, my driver, is a nice man. I tell him how its my first time for someone to pay my way on a business trip and spring for a ride to & from the airport PLUS a car and Apartment for 2 weeks. He says when good things happen to someone its because of good Karma - what goes around comes around. Its funny because i haven't told him how i spent my summer vacation.... but he doesn't need to know that ... its my secret.
i land in Montreal and head to the car rental place.... and what do they give me ... but the mini batmobile. No kidding. Bells whistles, probably ejector seats for all i know. Buttons all over the place and whirlygigs that probably make the thing fly... if i knew how to do it.
Then i get to the apartments and i am on the 22nd floor and the view out my window is astounding. Like a Manhattan skyline - lights twinkle across the bridge over the water...surely i am dreaming!
That one phone call has made such a difference the place is AMAZING!!!! Cirque du Soliels headquarters are the size of at least 3 football fields, probably bigger. The work environment is great. WAIT til i post pics... (when i figure out how to get them on here) ...props decorate the hallways and offices.. bright things dangle, hang, sit on every conceivable space. They have EVERY possible tool my creative mind could want and some i didnt know i wanted because i didnt know they existed. .....and its has taken me to a place where i don't feel like the strange, freaky, ugly stepchild!i took a tour of the place and it really almost made me cry. There is nothing i can compare it to because i have nothing like it anywhere to make the comparison. Any bizarre idea i can think of is not to bizarre for here. in fact, the more bizarre you can make things the happier they are. They never look at me like i am strange.....Here i can coruscate, hummm be coruscating, yes i think that is correct -BE coruscating! i dunno ...its my word of the day and i think its appropriate for me... (Youuuuuu have to go look it up - i will not let your brain atrophy - i want it to be used, so you can be around with me for as long as the powers that be let us stay together!) I told them i am not leaving and they will have to drag me from here... i will leave claw marks on the hallways as they drag my ass out of there. LOL the only downside of that would be i could no longer be crepuscular (another word of the day... ) i would actually have to be a 9 - 5er......THAT could put a serious crimp in my lifestyle.... BUT i would be willing.....
more later.....
OMG,OMG,OMG,OMG,OMG,OMG,OMG,OMG!!!!!! lol... excited much??? hummm - nah, not me!
This year has seen me in June in Hawaii, where the water was bathwater warm and sun melted over me. July i was winding my way down the Nile through Uganda, where the smiles of children reminded me of important things i left back home. Now, NOW..... I have died and gone to heaven!!! What you ask has gotten me so .....so?? well, I have been asked to be the wardrobe supervisor for this, the last season, of Cirque du Soliel's - WINTUK at Madison Square Garden. Yup. ME! (stopping here to remember to BREATHE!!!)
They called me late Thursday afternoon while i was in the middle of Tyler Perry's Mamas Big Happy Family at the Coliseum. If i was the type of person to whoop and holler i am sure you would have heard me - wherever you were... but i am afraid, sometimes if i speak things aloud they will dissipate like mist when the sun comes out. Besides, i do all my whooping and hollerin' on the inside, not being one for those emotional displays. All the while trying to figure out how i am going to be in Montreal in a day and a half when i have a ton of things i have to reschedule/rearrange/hire. I then get a call from the union rep at the Garden, who is booking my flight, making car arrangements and car service to pick me up to take me to the airport on Sunday afternooon. I feel like a queen... or a rock star.... all the attention.
I start putting out my feelers for co-workers immediately. Before i have gone back from dinner i have a handle on my crew for the show, my flight is being booked, i have to figure out what to do with the animals, find my passport, get to the bank, to the store to buy pet food for the animals and pack. Would be nice if that was all... but there must have been a thousand other things i needed to do. In my head, which is constant chaos anyway, i just added a few more heaping handfuls!!! Nothing but the best for me, i say! I THRIVE in the insanity.... PILE on the work and i find i am more productive. I need that. If you give me to much free time... i get .....side tracked easily, by the simple pleasures of life and less gets accomplished.....must be the ADD.
10/16/10
ahhhh, last minute friend to the rescue to help with the animals.....ok... one less crisis averted, banking done, food bought, bills paid, mail taken care of, clothes washed and drying, fridge cleaned out, crew almost filled.....passport found...what else do i need..hummmm, nothing but finish packing and me i suppose to be on that plane at noon tomorrow.
10/17/10 noon... driver is here right on time.... one last quick check around the house....once im outta this house... brain will shut off for a few hours. Ali, my driver, is a nice man. I tell him how its my first time for someone to pay my way on a business trip and spring for a ride to & from the airport PLUS a car and Apartment for 2 weeks. He says when good things happen to someone its because of good Karma - what goes around comes around. Its funny because i haven't told him how i spent my summer vacation.... but he doesn't need to know that ... its my secret.
i land in Montreal and head to the car rental place.... and what do they give me ... but the mini batmobile. No kidding. Bells whistles, probably ejector seats for all i know. Buttons all over the place and whirlygigs that probably make the thing fly... if i knew how to do it.
Then i get to the apartments and i am on the 22nd floor and the view out my window is astounding. Like a Manhattan skyline - lights twinkle across the bridge over the water...surely i am dreaming!
That one phone call has made such a difference the place is AMAZING!!!! Cirque du Soliels headquarters are the size of at least 3 football fields, probably bigger. The work environment is great. WAIT til i post pics... (when i figure out how to get them on here) ...props decorate the hallways and offices.. bright things dangle, hang, sit on every conceivable space. They have EVERY possible tool my creative mind could want and some i didnt know i wanted because i didnt know they existed. .....and its has taken me to a place where i don't feel like the strange, freaky, ugly stepchild!i took a tour of the place and it really almost made me cry. There is nothing i can compare it to because i have nothing like it anywhere to make the comparison. Any bizarre idea i can think of is not to bizarre for here. in fact, the more bizarre you can make things the happier they are. They never look at me like i am strange.....Here i can coruscate, hummm be coruscating, yes i think that is correct -BE coruscating! i dunno ...its my word of the day and i think its appropriate for me... (Youuuuuu have to go look it up - i will not let your brain atrophy - i want it to be used, so you can be around with me for as long as the powers that be let us stay together!) I told them i am not leaving and they will have to drag me from here... i will leave claw marks on the hallways as they drag my ass out of there. LOL the only downside of that would be i could no longer be crepuscular (another word of the day... ) i would actually have to be a 9 - 5er......THAT could put a serious crimp in my lifestyle.... BUT i would be willing.....
more later.....
Friday, July 30, 2010
SA FAR(I) AWAY - 7th inning stretch
this should have been posted two weeks ago... but when you read it you will understand what has kept me from ending the tales of my trip.
the story continues.......
its 8:30 pm on the 30th of July. I am HOME!!! I have been in the vicinity for a few hours but sleep calls me - and for a change - i can't fight sleep.... i actually will let it claim me.
There is something to be said for those words. I...... AM...... HOME! the place where things feel familiar and comforting - like your favorite slippers. Where you can reach for the light switch and lights go on, the refrigerator is full and COLD and keeps lots of goodies in there - most HEALTHY, some not so much, but there none the less for my choosing at any second.
I had an eventful trip home... could an eventful month end any other way??? The drive from Jinja to Kampala was nerve wracking and calming . Nerve wracking because the roads are going to kill me, and calming because i am on my way home. John, my driver, pointed out things for me as we drove that i didn't notice during the drive into Jinja a month ago. I also asked about a lot of things i wouldn't have been brave enough to ask a month ago. I got to the airport in one piece and had my last bumpy, pot hole ridden ride. (also known by the Ugandans as "the African Massage")I had a bit of time to kill before my flight, 3 hours, but it took all that time and then some to get checked in and actually ON the flight. The African summit ended over the weekend and EVERY summit leader person... was leaving at the same time with excessive luggage and families. HOOOOOOOLY SMOKES! The heat was ungodly with all the bodies and the cramped spaces... i almost passed out - literally not figuratively. The flight left almost 2 hours late which meant i would miss my connection to NY in Dubai. That did not please me in any way shape or form since i had already been up since 4:30 am on the 28th - (which is actually 8 hours forward in time from NY) and it was then 2:40 am and i had to wait 6 hours to get onto the next flight to NY. Finally i am on the plane to NY at 7:50 am - the flight leaves in 40 minutes. I switched my seat with the woman behind me as she wanted to sit next to her husband. I sat next to some guy who couldn't sit with his legs in his own space. i have a bruise where my leg kept getting crammed under the arm of the seat because i kept moving over. I watched a bunch of movies on the 13 hour plane ride home but for the life of me i cant remember the names of them..maybe by the end of the blog.
My skin feels weird. Literally. I cant explain it , YET! i dont know if it comes from the fact that i have been taking vitamins regularly since i left, all the water i have been drinking, the different water i have been showering in and the soaps used, or perhaps it is the lack of "processed & junk food." i am sure it is a combination of all of it.
While i was in Uganda, i was not feeling well. The last week and a half left alot to be desired in the health wise forum. Not that it was really bad, but for a few days i needed to sleep, DESPERATELY. Those of you who know me , know i don't sleep - not much anyway so that was a problem. I also had a huge rash that went up the back of my calf for about a day. I think i was bitten by some bug ...but that went away more quickly..... I would sit through classes , barely, and then escape to my hotel right after. My appetite went out the window and good old fashionedcoca-cola was my friend to keep my stomach where it should be. After a few days of sleeping alot things settled a bit and i felt..... better, not great but better. I didnt think i needed any urgent medical care....so onward i went. the last few days people started leaving so every other night we would be saying goodbyes. I hate goodbyes.... hate them hate them hate them. (Perhaps it is why i am rather reclusive... i dont like to say goodbye... sooooo, i dont hang around with anyone to whom i have to say goodbye. lol.. such introspection... i am beginning to scare me!!! ) But back to the story....so its now friday morning and i have a meeting that i need to attend.... i have 150 kids i need to costume by a week from today for a dance recital. YUP! nothing like jumping right into work asap!!! no time for jet lag, being sick, settling back in to a routine - nada! So, off to work i go..... where i am out in the heat here... which is different from the heat in Uganda. There it is their winter. A mild 70-75 degrees. They thought i got sick because i was walking around in a tank top and no jacket. The summers there are HOT!!! and this was nothing to me. Here it is 85 and humid and i am in an attic, where it is easily 10 - 15 degrees hotter and digging through costumes. Again , heat , heat, heat...almost passing out, literally. Hummmm, twice in two weeks......seeing a pattern?
Well, i get home about 3 after an afternoon of this and literally fall into bed. by 7 pm i am burning up. Not just hot but a blistering, solar flare hot. I have no thermometer, as i havent been sick in centuries so there is no cause to record temps. But even i know my body is at an uncomfortable level of boiling from the inside out. I am sleeping under 2 down comforters and its 85 and humid out.... i am freezing and shaking, i can hardly stand and the walk to the bathroom is torturous...and i am very thirsty...and forget to stop in the kitchen for water. I am to tired to walk back the 30 feet. My lips feel like the sand on the beach in the heat of summer. I still cant get the energy up to walk back to the kitchen. All that runs through my mind is Brigitta who told us she had contracted malaria even though she was taking medication against it. "it feels like flu symptoms" she says. Weak, thirsty , muscles hurt....only really bad flu like stuff.....! In my head while huddled under the covers i am deleriously thinking "Murphy's F'n Law follows me AGAIN and maybe i need to go to the hospital" - i know malaria can kill you if not treated - but i never did ask just how quickly it would do that. I guess i just wasnt that motivated or MORE that i just couldnt get up the energy to move. I made it through the night obviously, and called my DR. Of course THIS is the saturday they are closed gettingthe office carpets cleaned and he is not on call.....some other Dr. is. Well i dont like Dr's as a general rule... and in a few you will understand one of the reasons why. So then i call the infectious disease Dr.... whos office SAYS they are open on Saturdays at 9....i try again at 9 10, 915 - no answer. I can drive to the office it is just on Broadway by CVS - it is now 945 and still no one in the office . I call again and get service - tell them i need to speak to the DR... they say he will call me back. I wait in his parking lot hoping it will be soon. Five minutes later i am talking to him telling my symptoms he says go to the hospital ER. YEEEECCCCHHH! not the way i had planned on spending my day - you never get out of the ER in under 5 hours - even for a paper cut.
AGAINST my better judgement i go to the ER. where i fill out tons of paperwork... then the triage nurse asks me how long i have had these "migranes?". "Migranes?" i ask "what migranes?" He says "the ones you say here - have you had them before?" Now, i KNOW i dont feel well, and i do suffer from cluster headaches which are like migranes - only worse... but i certainly didnt write that! So i tell him to read again a bit more carefully. Which he does .. and then turns to me with an attitude like i am nuts.... (stop laughing) and says "and WHAT makes you think you might have Malaria?????" - like i am some hypo-condriac (sp?)!!!! THAT response already has my teeth on edge. Calmly i explain i have been in Africa for 4 weeks......then the look changes from oooh, not crazy hypo-condriac person.. to hummmm, maybe she night have it, lets call the infectious disease Dr. to see whats what! DUUUH!!!! After 2 hours i am shuffled back to a little cubicle where i am told to put on one of those oh, so fashionable gowns... which of course i wont - put it on i mean. The new nurse from ER comes in and says that i HAVE to put it on because the DR wont see me without it.....so i throw it over my shoulders.... "Now its on me" i say! ... and the Dr. walks in... he doesnt seem to have a problem with the way i am wearing the gown. I explain all the things again... they take 4 , count em, 4 bottles of blood. NOT vials... BOTTLES! they insert an IV because i am dehydrated. So, then more waiting begins...i hear the ER Dr talking to my infectious diseases Dr. ... then i wait some more... i notice the IV solution isnt going down... its been in 45 minutes and the blood from me is seeping back OUT into the line.... :::: thinking to myself... "this shouldnt be happening - should it??" hummmmm, so i grab the IV off the hook... and wander around looking for ..... "anyone , anyone".... lol... (extra points if you know the movie that's from) finally i find the new ER nurse... show her whats not happening and what IS happening... i can tell shes not pleased that i am wandering around like that... TOUGH!!! it's Hour 3 & 3/4 and i haven't heard anything from anyone .... except that they want to keep me overnight for observation.....NOT HAPPENING!!!!
so, i wait another little bit and the ER dr comes in and tells me that while my "white blood cell count is good .....my other thing that is like white blood cells is not. below 75 is good over 100 is bad - i am at 92. So i am more bad than good!? And we are surprised by this exactly how?? lol...
Dr cutie pie wants me to stay so they can run more tests.. HA! nope! they arent going to give me anything because they dont know what kind of infection i have ... so.. all in all they pumped abotu 5 glasses of liquids into me, something to make my stomach stop roiling and they still cant tell if i have Malaria......SO, i signed myself out! Why did i waste my time there anyway? I had an appointment scheduled for the following Tuesday with the I/D Dr. for a follow up visit and a booster shot so i could have waited... no one seemed to concerned if i had Malaria or not ... so i guess i wouldnt have died by tuesday.
Monday comes - i am feeling a bit low again... but i have to work you know Friday creeps up quickly. Tuesday comes, still yucchy, work, work , work, run to Drs in the middle... he calls the hospital for the malaria results - after ALLLL those bottles of blood .... THEY NEVER RAN THE TEST FOR MALARIA!!! Can you believe it? ( Murphy's having real fun with me now.) So he tells me to go to the lab and have a blood test done AGAIN. Perscripition in hand i go to the closest lab. It is ten minutes to 3 the lab says theyre open til 3 - good. I go in some "voice" from behind the wall says theyre closed. I say ... "the door says youre open til 3".... voice says " yes, but were doing paperwork and were done drawing blood for the day"...me, who is loosing faith in the medical field by leaps and bounds...as i am leaving i says "BUT the door STILL says OPEN and IS OPEN". As i get down the hallway i hear the door lock and the sign being turned. I call my DR.. tell him the lab is closed he will not get results tomorrow - i will have to come back in the morning. DAMN!!!
I text a note to a friend of mine... venting my frustration... he mistakes it for being directed at him, I try to smooth it over telling him it wasnt directed AT him but TO him... initially, it makes me sad that he took it that way - but i have my own things on my mind and just want to get home to sleep - i cant worry about him right now. I have to worry about if i have anything i can spread to anyone...so i cant even go to talk in person - i am sure he will understand. Later. Maybe. Then again maybe not. When i am feeling better and i can explain i guess i will know.
Wed morning comes... i am up early(sad for me) - need to go to the LAB again... and then get to work. Spend 1/2 hour in the lab waiting to be called in for the blood letting. when i finally get called in - they look at the script.....and tell me they dont do that there! WHAT do you mean "you dont do that here??????" this is a blood lab place thingy! "Youre kidding me right??? " No the lady behind the THICK plexi glass states. I think she is the woman from yeterday but cant be sure... I would reach THROUGH the plexi if i had strength... but i dont... I am drained, mentally physically, emotionally!!!(I didnt want to worry anyone so i didnt mention this to any friends or family - so, i have about a brain full of stress more than my poor braincells can hold a this point) i want to sit on the floor right there and scream and cry and rant like some psycho!! THIS is not, not, NOT really happening , is it?? i am sure i am in some bad Nightmare on Elm Street loop.... ( if you dont know what i am referring to - go watch the movies) I call the I/F Dr one more time.... he says i have to go to the hospital and they will do it - IN THE ER!!!! AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!! i tell him - in not so many words that it will have to wait i need to get to work.. he says to call him later and tell him when i am going. I says "Ok" .
I go to work, go home feed dog, let dog out.. its about 430... i head to Hospital and call DR... he says his parter will take care of me. So i go to the ER and have to fill out more paperwork... I wait 45 min or so... see triage nurse... she too looks at me like i have sprouted wings ... "why are you here for this??? we are so backed up it will take hours to see you for this.....come back at 1030 pm!!! or 11 ish. The look on my face must have told her i wasnt going any damned place any time soon. She called the I/f Dr on call... didnt get anywhere... i called my IF Dr AGAIN....told him the story ... he says (now hang on to your hats folks ) NO, you need to ADMIT yourself into the hospital , THEN , my partner will see you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well at that point everything just let loose.... i was like a possessed person, speaking loudly into my phone at him..... "Are you fucking kidding me ????? Admit myself for a blood test that YOU should have ordered when i was here on Saturday for 5 hours. i AM DONE. D.O.N.E !!!!!! Done with hospitals, labs and you !!!! If i have Malaria, you will know when i am DEAD!!!! and i hung up the phone and went home to bed! You just cant make this stuff up!!! I still have the bruise on my arm from the IV drip.... it had backed up out of my vein when i took it out and left a bruise inside my elbow the size of a golfball....
(The upside of being sick is, i lost 25 lbs while i was gone. I had to go buy new pants... and even now some of them are falling off.... ...another 25 and i will be at bellydancing weight.... which i have until April to get to and plenty of time for the gym.....because for my birthday i am going to bellydance in the bandshell at Tanner Park..... but that's another blog......)
I went to work on Thursday and Friday... everyone , miraculously, was costumed and cute. They gave me flowers.... and made me come onstage... I am not liking the spotlight. I like to be unseen... melt into the woodwork. deep, deep down little embers burn in the bottom of my heart though ...happy someone took the time to think of me and let me know it and more importantly let OTHERS know it - its a rare thing. I tell people they are doing a great job or are missed all the time. It is nice to hear it!
and now i will go on to the next adventure.......in a new blog......stay tuned!!!
love you all....
B xxxo
the story continues.......
its 8:30 pm on the 30th of July. I am HOME!!! I have been in the vicinity for a few hours but sleep calls me - and for a change - i can't fight sleep.... i actually will let it claim me.
There is something to be said for those words. I...... AM...... HOME! the place where things feel familiar and comforting - like your favorite slippers. Where you can reach for the light switch and lights go on, the refrigerator is full and COLD and keeps lots of goodies in there - most HEALTHY, some not so much, but there none the less for my choosing at any second.
I had an eventful trip home... could an eventful month end any other way??? The drive from Jinja to Kampala was nerve wracking and calming . Nerve wracking because the roads are going to kill me, and calming because i am on my way home. John, my driver, pointed out things for me as we drove that i didn't notice during the drive into Jinja a month ago. I also asked about a lot of things i wouldn't have been brave enough to ask a month ago. I got to the airport in one piece and had my last bumpy, pot hole ridden ride. (also known by the Ugandans as "the African Massage")I had a bit of time to kill before my flight, 3 hours, but it took all that time and then some to get checked in and actually ON the flight. The African summit ended over the weekend and EVERY summit leader person... was leaving at the same time with excessive luggage and families. HOOOOOOOLY SMOKES! The heat was ungodly with all the bodies and the cramped spaces... i almost passed out - literally not figuratively. The flight left almost 2 hours late which meant i would miss my connection to NY in Dubai. That did not please me in any way shape or form since i had already been up since 4:30 am on the 28th - (which is actually 8 hours forward in time from NY) and it was then 2:40 am and i had to wait 6 hours to get onto the next flight to NY. Finally i am on the plane to NY at 7:50 am - the flight leaves in 40 minutes. I switched my seat with the woman behind me as she wanted to sit next to her husband. I sat next to some guy who couldn't sit with his legs in his own space. i have a bruise where my leg kept getting crammed under the arm of the seat because i kept moving over. I watched a bunch of movies on the 13 hour plane ride home but for the life of me i cant remember the names of them..maybe by the end of the blog.
My skin feels weird. Literally. I cant explain it , YET! i dont know if it comes from the fact that i have been taking vitamins regularly since i left, all the water i have been drinking, the different water i have been showering in and the soaps used, or perhaps it is the lack of "processed & junk food." i am sure it is a combination of all of it.
While i was in Uganda, i was not feeling well. The last week and a half left alot to be desired in the health wise forum. Not that it was really bad, but for a few days i needed to sleep, DESPERATELY. Those of you who know me , know i don't sleep - not much anyway so that was a problem. I also had a huge rash that went up the back of my calf for about a day. I think i was bitten by some bug ...but that went away more quickly..... I would sit through classes , barely, and then escape to my hotel right after. My appetite went out the window and good old fashioned
Well, i get home about 3 after an afternoon of this and literally fall into bed. by 7 pm i am burning up. Not just hot but a blistering, solar flare hot. I have no thermometer, as i havent been sick in centuries so there is no cause to record temps. But even i know my body is at an uncomfortable level of boiling from the inside out. I am sleeping under 2 down comforters and its 85 and humid out.... i am freezing and shaking, i can hardly stand and the walk to the bathroom is torturous...and i am very thirsty...and forget to stop in the kitchen for water. I am to tired to walk back the 30 feet. My lips feel like the sand on the beach in the heat of summer. I still cant get the energy up to walk back to the kitchen. All that runs through my mind is Brigitta who told us she had contracted malaria even though she was taking medication against it. "it feels like flu symptoms" she says. Weak, thirsty , muscles hurt....only really bad flu like stuff.....! In my head while huddled under the covers i am deleriously thinking "Murphy's F'n Law follows me AGAIN and maybe i need to go to the hospital" - i know malaria can kill you if not treated - but i never did ask just how quickly it would do that. I guess i just wasnt that motivated or MORE that i just couldnt get up the energy to move. I made it through the night obviously, and called my DR. Of course THIS is the saturday they are closed getting
AGAINST my better judgement i go to the ER. where i fill out tons of paperwork... then the triage nurse asks me how long i have had these "migranes?". "Migranes?" i ask "what migranes?" He says "the ones you say here - have you had them before?" Now, i KNOW i dont feel well, and i do suffer from cluster headaches which are like migranes - only worse... but i certainly didnt write that! So i tell him to read again a bit more carefully. Which he does .. and then turns to me with an attitude like i am nuts.... (stop laughing) and says "and WHAT makes you think you might have Malaria?????" - like i am some hypo-condriac (sp?)!!!! THAT response already has my teeth on edge. Calmly i explain i have been in Africa for 4 weeks......then the look changes from oooh, not crazy hypo-condriac person.. to hummmm, maybe she night have it, lets call the infectious disease Dr. to see whats what! DUUUH!!!! After 2 hours i am shuffled back to a little cubicle where i am told to put on one of those oh, so fashionable gowns... which of course i wont - put it on i mean. The new nurse from ER comes in and says that i HAVE to put it on because the DR wont see me without it.....so i throw it over my shoulders.... "Now its on me" i say! ... and the Dr. walks in... he doesnt seem to have a problem with the way i am wearing the gown. I explain all the things again... they take 4 , count em, 4 bottles of blood. NOT vials... BOTTLES! they insert an IV because i am dehydrated. So, then more waiting begins...i hear the ER Dr talking to my infectious diseases Dr. ... then i wait some more... i notice the IV solution isnt going down... its been in 45 minutes and the blood from me is seeping back OUT into the line.... :::: thinking to myself... "this shouldnt be happening - should it??" hummmmm, so i grab the IV off the hook... and wander around looking for ..... "anyone , anyone".... lol... (extra points if you know the movie that's from) finally i find the new ER nurse... show her whats not happening and what IS happening... i can tell shes not pleased that i am wandering around like that... TOUGH!!! it's Hour 3 & 3/4 and i haven't heard anything from anyone .... except that they want to keep me overnight for observation.....NOT HAPPENING!!!!
so, i wait another little bit and the ER dr comes in and tells me that while my "white blood cell count is good .....my other thing that is like white blood cells is not. below 75 is good over 100 is bad - i am at 92. So i am more bad than good!? And we are surprised by this exactly how?? lol...
Dr cutie pie wants me to stay so they can run more tests.. HA! nope! they arent going to give me anything because they dont know what kind of infection i have ... so.. all in all they pumped abotu 5 glasses of liquids into me, something to make my stomach stop roiling and they still cant tell if i have Malaria......SO, i signed myself out! Why did i waste my time there anyway? I had an appointment scheduled for the following Tuesday with the I/D Dr. for a follow up visit and a booster shot so i could have waited... no one seemed to concerned if i had Malaria or not ... so i guess i wouldnt have died by tuesday.
Monday comes - i am feeling a bit low again... but i have to work you know Friday creeps up quickly. Tuesday comes, still yucchy, work, work , work, run to Drs in the middle... he calls the hospital for the malaria results - after ALLLL those bottles of blood .... THEY NEVER RAN THE TEST FOR MALARIA!!! Can you believe it? ( Murphy's having real fun with me now.) So he tells me to go to the lab and have a blood test done AGAIN. Perscripition in hand i go to the closest lab. It is ten minutes to 3 the lab says theyre open til 3 - good. I go in some "voice" from behind the wall says theyre closed. I say ... "the door says youre open til 3".... voice says " yes, but were doing paperwork and were done drawing blood for the day"...me, who is loosing faith in the medical field by leaps and bounds...as i am leaving i says "BUT the door STILL says OPEN and IS OPEN". As i get down the hallway i hear the door lock and the sign being turned. I call my DR.. tell him the lab is closed he will not get results tomorrow - i will have to come back in the morning. DAMN!!!
I text a note to a friend of mine... venting my frustration... he mistakes it for being directed at him, I try to smooth it over telling him it wasnt directed AT him but TO him... initially, it makes me sad that he took it that way - but i have my own things on my mind and just want to get home to sleep - i cant worry about him right now. I have to worry about if i have anything i can spread to anyone...so i cant even go to talk in person - i am sure he will understand. Later. Maybe. Then again maybe not. When i am feeling better and i can explain i guess i will know.
Wed morning comes... i am up early(sad for me) - need to go to the LAB again... and then get to work. Spend 1/2 hour in the lab waiting to be called in for the blood letting. when i finally get called in - they look at the script.....and tell me they dont do that there! WHAT do you mean "you dont do that here??????" this is a blood lab place thingy! "Youre kidding me right??? " No the lady behind the THICK plexi glass states. I think she is the woman from yeterday but cant be sure... I would reach THROUGH the plexi if i had strength... but i dont... I am drained, mentally physically, emotionally!!!(I didnt want to worry anyone so i didnt mention this to any friends or family - so, i have about a brain full of stress more than my poor braincells can hold a this point) i want to sit on the floor right there and scream and cry and rant like some psycho!! THIS is not, not, NOT really happening , is it?? i am sure i am in some bad Nightmare on Elm Street loop.... ( if you dont know what i am referring to - go watch the movies) I call the I/F Dr one more time.... he says i have to go to the hospital and they will do it - IN THE ER!!!! AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!! i tell him - in not so many words that it will have to wait i need to get to work.. he says to call him later and tell him when i am going. I says "Ok" .
I go to work, go home feed dog, let dog out.. its about 430... i head to Hospital and call DR... he says his parter will take care of me. So i go to the ER and have to fill out more paperwork... I wait 45 min or so... see triage nurse... she too looks at me like i have sprouted wings ... "why are you here for this??? we are so backed up it will take hours to see you for this.....come back at 1030 pm!!! or 11 ish. The look on my face must have told her i wasnt going any damned place any time soon. She called the I/f Dr on call... didnt get anywhere... i called my IF Dr AGAIN....told him the story ... he says (now hang on to your hats folks ) NO, you need to ADMIT yourself into the hospital , THEN , my partner will see you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well at that point everything just let loose.... i was like a possessed person, speaking loudly into my phone at him..... "Are you fucking kidding me ????? Admit myself for a blood test that YOU should have ordered when i was here on Saturday for 5 hours. i AM DONE. D.O.N.E !!!!!! Done with hospitals, labs and you !!!! If i have Malaria, you will know when i am DEAD!!!! and i hung up the phone and went home to bed! You just cant make this stuff up!!! I still have the bruise on my arm from the IV drip.... it had backed up out of my vein when i took it out and left a bruise inside my elbow the size of a golfball....
(The upside of being sick is, i lost 25 lbs while i was gone. I had to go buy new pants... and even now some of them are falling off.... ...another 25 and i will be at bellydancing weight.... which i have until April to get to and plenty of time for the gym.....because for my birthday i am going to bellydance in the bandshell at Tanner Park..... but that's another blog......)
I went to work on Thursday and Friday... everyone , miraculously, was costumed and cute. They gave me flowers.... and made me come onstage... I am not liking the spotlight. I like to be unseen... melt into the woodwork. deep, deep down little embers burn in the bottom of my heart though ...happy someone took the time to think of me and let me know it and more importantly let OTHERS know it - its a rare thing. I tell people they are doing a great job or are missed all the time. It is nice to hear it!
and now i will go on to the next adventure.......in a new blog......stay tuned!!!
love you all....
B xxxo
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