Hartford CT- Week Thirteen

Good Lord the Weather BLOWS! It has been raining and raining. Just misery on a stick. bleh. Where the hell is spring anyway??

Even though it was practically a monsoon out, i ventured the 2 hour drive to see my mom. She just rocks. That's all there is to it. We had a great day together, just hanging out talking and then we went out, got her glasses fixed and shopped for some fun stuff for her new pad. I can't wait until June when I get to spend a few days with her when I bring all my belongings upstate to put in storage.

The drive back from my mom's was, well, in a word, HORRIFYING. Those of you who know me fairly well know that I am pretty blind. At night, I am just a mess. Add to that the shitty weather, and I had a 2 1/2 hour white knuckle drive back to Hartford. I thought I was going to die. I couldn't see ANYTHING. There were honestly a few moments that I truly thought I was done for.

It is so funny to me that locals remember me so well from the Producers Tour. I came into work on Tuesday and there was this local woman who was all "FRAAAAAAAAAAN!!!! I have been looking for you ALL DAY! They told me you were here, but I almost didn't believe them!" I am all (inside voice) "Who the hell is this????" Her name is Shannon and apparently, we were fast friends the last time I was in town. Nothing is more embarrassing to me than having to say "Hey!.....You!" My early onset Alzheimer's isn't helping these situations any. Some of the other dressers all wore earrings I made them when I came through town 2 years ago, I am looking at these earrings, not remembering them AT ALL. Needless to say they are all expecting another pair of earrings, so I have been trying to churn some out this week. I must admit, it is nice to be remembered fondly. Especially in such a hard ass town. By the end of the run, they really stepped up their game and helped Mike and I finish the run here without our Jaki. They even gave us presents during load out! You know how I love presents!!


This week, Jennifer and I headed out to the Mohegan Sun Casino. We had a blast! I was kicking ass at the Roulette Wheel...that was until I lost. LOL. When all was said and done, I left 150 bucks poorer, but we laughed our butts off. Marvin, our dealer at the Roulette Wheel, was so much fun. I have never really played before and he was very tolerant of my ignorance. I just got some chips and started putting them all over the place. I hit 3 times in a row (only once dead on, the other two were on the lines) I had all these chips in front of me! Of course I got all cocky and lady luck kicked me in the teeth, that bitch. We had a really great time. It made me think back to when Jenn and I lived in Vegas, and every once in awhile we would go out and play. Sometimes I would hit these really amazing lucky streaks, where if I just walked past a slot machine it threw money at me. Jennifer would get all irritated and pissed off because she seemed to think I won all the time. God that used to make me laugh. I used to love winning, not just for the money, but to watch Jenn get all grumpy and pissy at me. LOL. Hilarious.

Also this week we had lunch with her cousin Karen and Alison (Karen's daughter) Alison is A-dorable as you can see for the picture right there. Karen and I have met a few times. She is such a great gal, no pretense or veneer about her. Just an honest person with a huge heart. She just radiates kindness. You rarely run into those people these days. Most of us are just jaded and bitter, but somehow she has managed to retain her small town girl sweetness. I wish I still had that. Hell, I don't think I ever had it. Alison was a trip. Lotsa personality. I gave her my camera, taught her how to take a picture and she took a few. I think for a 2 year old, she shows a heck of an eye (Alison took the rainy picture at the top of this entry and I have 2 more in the Extra Pics section below)

On Thursday, Jenn and I went to New Haven to take a tour of the local TV station. She won this prize at some auction. Well if I am going to be honest, it was an auction that nobody bid on AT ALL, so Jenn just gave them 20 bucks for it. All week I was thinking about how silly it would be. Something to tell all of you about. However, I have to admit, I really really enjoyed that tour a lot. We started off meeting the head of marketting, Connie, who was our guide through the place. She was really nice, but bless her, the suit she was wearing had stains all over it and for someone who is a major player at this station, one would think she would do something with that hair. Not that I am a beauty queen mind you, but I have the decency to keep my filthy clothes and rat's nest back stage in the dark where no one will be subjected to looking at them too closely. Anyhoo, the first guy we met was the dude in charge of ratings. I have to tell you it was so INTERESTING! I never knew what they did with those numbers other than fire people if they got too low. I really learned a lot. He had this giant map with the country divided into 3 different colors representing the different markets. Eack market had a different tactic for gathering the required ratings info. He showed us the big book which stated which channels and shows were doing the best. As I joke I said I was looking to see how one of my favorite shows was doing because I was afraid it was going to get cancelled. Low and behold he found it. Jericho (wednesday nights at 8pm - watch it people!) had won it's time slot in the CT region. I was pleased. (See Kricka, they aren't going to cancel it!) After that we went to the graphic arts depeartment and editting. then we went to the control room, right at noon, when the news was starting. It was AWESOME! They were shouting and swearing and calling cues. It was wicked cool. As we were leaving Connie apologized for all the swearing, Jenn and I just laughed. As if working with stagehands we don't hear the most graphic language known to man. Oh Connie you silly woman...
We sat and watched the news for about 20 minutes in the studio. It was a little sad to see that no one runs the camera's anymore. It is all done by automation now. The female achor, actually sat there and did her own make up. sat right at the news desk, whipped out her little Clinique make up pouch, and starting putting her Bonnie Bell lip gloss on. wow.
So that was way more fun and interesting than I ever thought it would be. I just figured it would be goofy and dumb. I actually could see myself working in a place like that. I loved that ratings stuff. I would just never really care enough to do anything about crappy numbers. Oh yeah, they gave us the silliest coffee mug at the end of the tour. Hilarious. It is sitting on my table at work, with seam rippers, needle nose pliers and laundry markers in it.

That pretty much sums up the week. Oh yeah...on Saturday a giant heavy peice of wood slammed down on my head. That was fun. My eyes rolled back into my head and my teeth jammed toegther. I actually saw stars.That shit hurt. That is the offensive wooden hamper lid I am speaking of. It crashed down on me while I was repacking it. Normally I have half a brain and let the thing go all the way back, but a temporary lapse in judgement is all can plead. After it slammed onto my head, Mike came running over and asked me if I needed anything. I really just needed to be silent and left alone for a moment, but instead I said "I need this job to stop sucking." LOL. He laughed his head off and then proceeded to tell Linda Lee (the big cheese in NYC) about it. Thank God she thought it was hilarious. Otherwise Mike would be singing soprano. Everyone was very caring and sweet. Even the house head Junior, ran and got ice for me and was just great. Of course my paranoid brain took over and throughout the evening I would think "Could my brain be swelling? Maybe I now have a blood clot that is going to sit in my skull until the most inopportune moment and will rupture." The list goes on. But low and behold I woke up this morning with nary a dull ache, just a little bump. I suppose I could have that blood clot thing, but not a whole heck of a lot I can do about that, so life goes on.

I gotta be honest, I have been avoiding really talking about the show because the work situation kinda blows, people. Being the optimistic gal I am, I keep thinking that maybe this tour will turn around. Maybe next week it will be better. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Mike has given notice and is leaving the show in about 5 weeks. Jaki is terribly ill and won't be with us at the next city. So we are down a supervisor for load out here in Hartford, and for load in once we get to Rochester. Did I mention that Rochester is one of the worst venues on the tour? uh yeah. So I can tell you right now, this Tuesday is going to S.U.C.K. not just a little, but a lot. It just doesn't seem to get any better out here. But the good news is, is that if it gets to the point where I am going to kill myself, my good good friends have already told me I can leave whenever I want and they will give me jobs. If I want I can run away and move to Oregon live with my friends, make jewelry, and write my tell all. And boy would I have a lot to tell. It really does make me feel better to know I am not trapped. It sort of lifts the heaviness of it. It also keeps things in perspective. It is just a play.
Contrary to what you might think though, I have no intention of leaving. It's nice to have those wonderful offers from my people in my back pocket, but I am not going anywhere. This has been one of the hardest jobs I have ever undertaken, and I am extremely proud of my own resilience and the work I have done. I have surprised myself.

and even as hard as it has been. It is still better than Hairspray. (shivers)

So so long Hartford. I had the most wonderful time with my buddy Jenn. Sitting on her deck at night, having a drink, playing cribbage, and talking about our respective work days, made my visit. I am going to miss her more now than ever before. Shame on me for forgetting how we click so well.
And of course, farewell to the Most Awesome of Beasts- Mr Man. Seeing him so happy has given me such relief, but makes me jealous too.

ugh. Rochester. It's going to be bad. But it is only a week. AND anytime I am not at the theater I will be with Kricka! that right there makes load in not matter as much.

Love to you all
stop worrying about me (and you know who you are)




The Extra Pics:


This is Yenni at her job. She is so cute, all smiles and stuff.




This is jenn and our tour guide Connie at the TV station. You can't see it but her suit is just riddled with nastiness. She was very nice though. That's my goofy coffee cup in her hand.





This is the guy in charge of the ratings at the station. He was veru impressed with the pictures of famous people behind his desk. Jenn and I could have cared less. I wanted to know more about what everyone was watching on tv.





Tv Studio during the noon news broadcast. Scary that there really is no one working really. Just a bunch of automation.




The next few photos little Alison took


Pretty good for a 2 year old, eh?





One of the many hands of cribbage I played with Jennifer. Of course I took a picture of a kick ass hand. Even though she trounced me almost every game. lil trollop.






My beast being all sweet.






this was a little message written in the dust on the back of a bus ahead of Jenn and I on our way to the TV station. We promtly took off our shirts and shimmied our fun bags around. LOL nahhhhh (we really did) nahhhhhhhh (nods head yes we did.) No really we didn't.






bye bye mr man. You are the best beast ever.