Salt Lake City Utah -Week Thirty Three

OK. Blogger needs to incorporate some sort of spell check because that last blog entry was riddled with shitty grammar and typing errors. That's what happens when you finish up your blog at 2am in the morning after a 13 hour day. Oh yeah, the 3 drinks I had at the hotel bar didn't help.

It was a rough start here in Mormonville. The trucks broke down on the way from Portland, making the entire load in about 4 hours late. Add to that, my laundry person decided to not show up and the local house head had to call someone in. Actually getting the laundry done on my own, without having to train someone, is a lot faster. Marcus, the replacement laundry God, arrived about 2 hours in and things went pretty smoothly from there. He is a nice guy who I remember from last year on Hairspray. Marcus lacks confidence. We had a few missteps and some running around right before the show started on Tuesday, but it all worked out. The rest of the crew here seems really lovely and Opening night was pretty uneventful for us. The deck crew certainly had a rough time of it, with the trucks being late and all, but they seemed to be good to go as the curtain went up.

I am staying across the street from the theater at The Hotel Monaco. It's a pricey place, but light years beyond where I stayed in Portland. The room is big. The bed is very comfortable. The leopard print bathrobe hilarious and plush. They have a little gym on the second floor I have been going to since I got here, in an attempt to lose the Portland Breakfast Chub. Funfunfun.
As I anticipated, the Mormons don't care so much about eating.

Wednesday, during my free time in the afternoon, I spent 2 1/2 hours arguing with my insurance company. That's always fun. The rest of the time I spent muttering to myself about it. Needless to say - Wednesday was a wash. Except for one thing - a story from Piper which she told me I could tell all of you. She and Siobhan were walking around downtown, like you do, when this man came up to them and said "Do you know where there is a bathroom?" Piper, being more urban, snapped "NO" and tried to move on, but Siobhan being a bit more innocent asked him to repeat himself. He says again "Do you know where I could find a bathroom?" She sweetly tells him that they are not from the city and they don't have a clue. THEN the guy says "UH-OH! ... UH-OOOH!!!!" and proceeds to open his legs and purposefully pee on himself inside his pants, creating a big growing wet spot that spreads out and down his legs.
I think that is hilarious. I laughed my head off when she told me and have been going around saying UH-OH...UH-OOOH!!!
The crazy people are everywhere.

Thursday however kicked ass. Christpher Gurr and I headed to Big Cottonwood Canyon. Last year, I didn't have a lot of time to explore the area here, so it is a real treat for me to get to look around a little. It was so gorgeous up there. We went on this hike through the woods which led us up and down through the forest. The smell! It smelled INCREDIBLE. Just this earthy piney scent that required you stop and breathe it in. We crossed this rushing stream which came from a small waterfall and down all kinds of rocks, where we just hung out for a spell. It is in these moments where I know how lucky I am, for all the bullshit, that I get to see so much while I am tour. How many people barely leave the confines of where they live, while I get to explore all the nooks and crannies of our vast and beautiful country. Corny, I know.
Once we got back from the hike, Christopher took me up to Silver Lake which was just hideous. Horrible really. Smooth calm water surrounded by wetlands and wild flowers. Ha! It was stunning, of course, as you can see in the extra pics area below. The highlight of the whole day, for me came just as we were starting to walk around the lake. This older couple walked by, and the hubby mumbled that he had wished he had brought his camera ( as he pointed to mine) because there were two moose up ahead. MOOSE????!
It was all I could do to keep from running to see them. Soon enough there they were. A big daddy and a teenager hanging in the grassy swamp. They were so COOL! The younger one was walking all around his area, and Big daddy was just chillin out. Chris and I just silently stood there watching them. They took some notice of us but then went about their business of eating and drinking. We must have stood there for 20 minutes just watching them. I actually could have spent a lot more time, but I started to get really disturbed by the sound of chainsaws and bulldozers destroying the forest just behind them. It was a harsh and horrible sound to have be the soundtrack of a wonderful moment. Still, aren't they amazing? More pics below.

At this point in my work week, it is dawning on me that my laundry guy, Marcus, is really bad. I want to preface this by saying that at least he was a really sweet individual. I think he might have ADD or something, because he could never finish a project. He would tell me it was done and then I would look and it wasn't even close to being finished. He could not comprehend the concept of swings going into the show, and was incapable of making a single decision. In fact, Friday night I got a call from company management about a half hour after the show came down, after I had said goodbye and left for the hotel, that Marcus was wondering if he could go home now. Um...YES. (shaking my head) Do you see what I am dealing with here?
It is going to be two weeks of baby sitting him. Honestly, I should really get used to it. I have been so lucky so far, with the great people I have had. For all I know Marcus is at the theater right now trying to decide if he can go home or maybe he should stay until I get back tomorrow morning. (eye roll) Bless him.

Friday night all the ladies in the company went out to celebrate Vera's birthday. Vera is our head of Props and she turned 42 this week. We went to Bennihanna's. I had never been before so it was fun having them prepare our food right there at the table. They were doing all sorts of knife tricks and made a volcano out of onions. LOL. However, there was no one else in the whole place. I got the feeling that they really just wanted us to move it along so they could all go home. Francesca and I shared some very yummy shrimp. It was a nice evening. I think Vera had a good time. Or it could have been the two bottles of Sake. Either way, she was smling and that is what counts.

Sunday morning Wayne treated Roy and I to brunch at his hotel Little America. This was not your average brunch. It has been an
established event that has happened every Sunday for the last 40 years. To say it was fancy is an understatement. There was a lady playing standards ( and a lot of show tunes) on a paino surrounded by tables and tables of food. It was a decadent display honestly, but so fun. I didn't eat for the rest of the day.
That was until Sunday evening, when management treated the whole tech staff to dinner at Spencer's, THE very fancy steak house in Downtown Salt Lake. It was to say goodbye to our current head carp (Keith),
and welcome our new one (Justin). There was no way I was eating cow that late at night. So I had some yummy swordfish, and a lot of drinks, paid for by the company. WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO! It was such a blast. It is beyond rare that we all hang out together. For the most part it was so lovely. There always has to be one person though, who spews negativity and brings the whole affair down a notch. I, of course, can't mention any names, but it is shame when we are all gathered for something light hearted and fun and that shit happens. It bugs me that it just can't be let go for one friggin' night. What can you do? Miserable people do everything they can to make as many people just like them. I do my best to steer clear but in a scenerio like that you're kinda out of luck. Done with the soap box, cuz all that didn't go down until it was almost over. The majority of the night was the group of us enjoying a night out on the company. We had a little guessing game at the end to see who came closest to the total of the bill. I was waaaaaaaaay high. I dunno. I think they cut us a break.

It was a pretty good week, I'd say. Course, Roger Federer winning the US Open was a downer (he might as well be Robo Cop he is such a machine)...but seeing the moose Rocked It!

Love you guys
Fran.

The Extra Pics:

Before I even get started, there has to be a moment spent on this. It is a new regulation here in Salt Lake City that when crossing the street in a crosswalk that is not associated with a light, you must carry a big orange construction flag from one side to the other. There are bins of the things for you to take from. Although I did wonder what would happen if all the flags were already used and in the bin on the other side of the street. This is Francesca being a good citizen. She told me Ken is doing his civic duty by making sure both sides of the street are equipped with an equal number of flags.



Big Cottonwood Canyon




Just a lil walk in the woods with Chris Gurr




Cool hike, no?




Silver Lake. Hideous isn't it? (giggles)






Are you lookin' at me?





"Mutual of Omaha is peeeeeople..."



Vera's Birthday

LOL. Little tarts.