My Office

My office here in Santa Fe is pretty nice. I don't have to share it with anyone and although the window looks out onto the parking lot, there's a couple of trees that block the worst of the view. The problem with it is it's down down the hall and around the corner from everybody else and I feel left out. The only other people on this wing so far are locations. The producers and other bigwigs will be further down from me, but right now it's lonely at work. I want to go in and socialize and they've invited me to do so, but it feels forced. Not sure about this group, especially the first asst.

Anyway, the husband came over for lunch today and we went and got him his birthday present. Last time he was down here we saw some of those globes made of semi-precious stone and minerals and we both liked them. They were 50% off so I said "Birthday Present!" He picked out a nice ivory one, which wasn't my favorite, but it is pretty and different. I'm always up for different.

We have to go to the pet store and get some of the doggie-downer spray for Sofie for the ride home tomorrow. She's nervous in the car now and we tried so hard to make it so she enjoyed rides. Maybe once she's home and back into her routine she'll be better.

Ok, got a story from Saturday to tell. We went to the bank to deposit my housing check and went inside to a teller. As we headed for the bank-maze, I saw a woman step away from the little table (with the deposit slips and stuff). She saw us get into line and said something like shoot or dang or whatever. Anyway, we're standing there and she walks up, points in front of me and says "I was already there." I was in a daze and said "sure, why not" really loud and sarcastically with that sweeping arm gesture. She actually stepped in front of us. I just looked at the husband, who couldn't believe I'd let her cut. I couldn't believe I let her cut, but I was just so shocked. Anyway, when nobody moved after 5 minutes, I said to the husband "let's go to the drive thru - nobody will try and cut in front of us there." At least I said that out loud. So we left, went thru the drive-thru, and were done in just a few minutes. Man, she either had a pair or she was a entitled schmoron.

Emoticon

I tried to use an emoticon I saw on fark yesterday and I don't think I did it right.

0_o

I think it's supposed to be someone with one eyebrow raised...

Doesn't look like it did on fark, tho. Maybe it's the font...

Payday!

I've gotten my first paycheck for UG - it's official. Not that they couldn't fire me, but I've gotten paid and I can keep it on my resume. Thinking about that, not sure I would want to - couldn't possibly get a good reference out of someone who fires you... must be the allergies making me loopy.

It's supposed to be in the 80s here tomorrow, but it sounds like there's a hurricane outside my office right now. I guess it's the way the building is laid out that I get all the wind back here and the other accounting offices say the trees outside their windows aren't even moving. If it was night, I'd be concerned. Growing up in Tn, I always did love a good thunderstorm with the wind whipping the trees around and the thunder shaking the house. Not sure how I'd feel about that here - too exposed.

Darby seems to be getting over her allergies. We vacuumed the carpet and all the rental furniture Monday night. We haven't heard any sneezing since then. I think we're going to keep her in SF, but if Sofie gets lonely back home, I may bring her with me later in April. OMG - Darby on a plane! If she was to get loose, it would take Samuel L. Jackson to wrangle her! Love that cat but I'll never forget how mean she was when we got her...

Turns out Wednesday nights are going to be the group-dinner-outing-night. Of course, I didn't find that out until this morning and that's a little too late in my book. I like a little advance notice, thanks. I'll probably join in after the husband goes home, but we don't have a whole lot of time together here and I'm not wasting any of it.

Actually, tomorrow is payday and since we're on location, it really should be Friday. But WTF, I cut the checks! 0-o

Animals

Saw a prairie dog while sitting at a stop light on my way to work this morning. At least, I think it was a prairie dog. I've never seen one in the wild and the ones in the zoo are usually sitting on their haunches looking around. This one was moving along, sniffing the ground. My first thought was to go get Sofie so she could have at it, then I felt guilty. Besides, she wouldn't be able to catch it anyway.

There are several areas around the apartment complex where the ground has all these holes. I'm pretty sure something is living in them and of course Sofie wants to stick her snout down each and every last one of them. Great. Find the hole with the snake in it - there's a good dog! Good thing she's going home this weekend.

We're taking Darby back to SoCal, too. The allergies are just too much for her and it's not fair to make her sneeze and suffer when it's not necessary. We tried vacuuming last night and we'll do it again today, but I think it's just something in the air. When she gets home she'll have to go in for a bath so we can get whatever it is out of her fur.

I'm driving back to SoCal with the husband this weekend. It's a bit far to go it alone, especially with a wigged out dog and a sick cat. We'll leave on Friday and I'll fly back to SF on Sunday. Got to book the car service before I forget...

Why Bad Movies/TV Shows Get Made

I came up with this theory this weekend after hearing the story of the TV show The Inside. This was supposed to be 21 Jump Street for the 21st century, a group of FBI agents who looked young enough to pass for college/high school. Well, they shot the pilot and everyone hated it. They hired a new show runner who came in and changed everything around and they shot a new pilot. The pilot got picked up, but the show didn't last long.

Anyway, my theory is that a lot of really bad stuff gets made because of pay-or-play deals. The studios sign a big name person to star/write/direct a project and promise to pay them whether or not the project actually gets made. I haven't worked on a show yet that didn't have a producer walk into the accountant's office and ask for the cost of shutting down. At some point, it's in their best financial interest to just keep going, even if all indications say to pull the plug on the piece of crap. So even though everybody knows it's doomed, the money's spent and there's no point in not trying to get some of it back thru ticket-sales and dvd releases. Sad, but that's my theory.

Drivin' to Abq

I refuse to type out the city's name. I know it's not that hard to spell, but it's long, I don't wanna, and you can't make me.

Anyway, the husband and I spent Saturday in Abq going to book stores and comic book shops. It was a nice drive on a nice day and we found some other stuff in-between. We got a very nice piece of artwork - a picture of a cat that looks like the husband's cat Elroy. We also stopped in at a bread shop and got a delicious pumpkin-cream cheese bar and a slice of a sunflower-seed honey wheat bread - yummy.

We got back to the apartment and took the dog out to the dog park. It's about 70 acres but it's not fenced, so we were a little leery. Sofie seemd to have a good time, but she got tired of us calling to her to heel when she just wanted to run run run. That dog loves to run and it's a joy to see, but we worry she's not obedient enough to come back every time. After it started getting dark we walked down to the car and headed home, stopping at a media shop for the husband to have a look around. I sat in the car with Sofie and she was so intent on the store, waiting for her dad to come out. When she couldn't take it any longer, I got us out and she made a bee-line right to the door. We couldn't go in and she was upset but the dad came out soon after and all was right with the world again.

We went for Indian for dinner and although it was good, it wasn't as good as Curry House at home. They are my second favorite Indian place, with number one being in London.

On Sunday, we got up early to go to the flea market at Tesuque. The guide book said it opened at 7:30 but when we pulled up at 8:20, the sign said they opened at 8 and there were only about 6 booths open. It looked like it could have been a good market, but with nothing really open I was disappointed. The husband then suggested we drive to Abq again and go to the market at the state fair grounds. We hopped back in the car and off we went.

The Abq market was pretty good, better than the one in Honolulu. They had some repeat vendors, but there were a lot of people selling yard-sale type stuff, which I like. We got a fake stone lion that I'm going to try and make look more like granite and the husband bought some books. Then we got me a cowboy hat, which I really like, and a table for the apartment. We also bought some Indian sweet bread that was a bit on the stale side.

On our way home, we went back by the used book store and got some audio books for the drive home and some more bread from the bakery.

All in all, a pretty good weekend.

New People & Sick Kitties

Sometimes, the best part about this job is getting to meet and work with new people every 6 months or so. It can also make it difficult until you get to know them and find out how they operate. I'm in that uncomfortable phase right now where I'm trying to fit in, but don't know the players. It'll get better - it always does.

The husband took Darby to the vet this morning. She's been sneezing and wheezing for a few days now and we weren't sure if it was a cold or what. The vet thinks it's just allergies and gave her a cortisone shot and an antibiotic shot. Not a happy kitty - apparently the vet tech commented that they should stretch Darby out before giving her the shots because she was feisty and strong. Good catch, lady! But we'll have to see how she does and if it doesn't get better, she'll have to go home with Sofie and her dad.

Here's an odd coincidence - the vet is going out of town today to visit his son, who is an agent at CAA and his other son is the assistant to a director. Small world. You never know who you're going to meet.

If it's Tuesday,

There are a couple of things from the drive out here that I forgot to mention:
When you get on I-40 at Barstow, there's a sign that says it's 2554(?) miles to Wilmington North Carolina. I tried to remember the exact mileage, but it's been since Saturday for Pete's sake!
There are supposedly a lot of elk in northern Arizona and New Mexico. We saw sign after sign for elk crossing area, but no actual elk. Wonder what it'd be like to be barrelling down the interstate at 75 miles an hour and have an elk pop out in front of you?

Moving on to actually being in Santa Fe, it's friggin' cold here. It spat snow all day Sunday after we got here and then it snowed Sunday night. The roads got covered pretty quickly but by Monday morning, they were clear. The cars had a good inch on them, but I got to work on time.

The apartment is nice enough - a 1 bed/1 bath affair. The furniture got in today. I haven't seen it yet, but the husband says it's functional. As long as it's clean...

We did a bit of driving around on Sunday, picking up necessities and seeing where things were. This place is a bit ugly up close. Don't get me wrong, the vistas are beautiful and I'm sure there are some nice parts of town. But where I am and the drive to work ain't pretty. The husband says SF "out uglys" LA and that's saying a lot!

The production office is within walking distance of the downtown historic area (which is the nicest area we've seen so far). I have my own office with a window - it looks out over the parking lot, but there are some trees and it's nice.

It's about time to go, I just wanted to catch up a bit. I will blog more as I get caught up with work as well. There's always stuff to clean up when you start later - non-payroll people really don't care about the details...

Driving to Santa Fe

For some reason, I always manage to pick some kind of fight before a trip and last night was no exception. I felt totally justified in what I was trying to do, but I went about it in a bad way. Didn't go to bed until after 10:30 and got up at 5am. Didn't apologize until later but the husband was ok with it. I was surprised last night to hear him say he was looking forward to this trip - the change of scenery and all.

So now we're in Gallup, NM after driving for 10 hours. The dog wasn't happy for most of it - shaking and panting until the husband let her sit in his lap. They followed me the whole time and I found it funny to see her head behind the steering wheel. Sofie the driving dog!

The cats were with me and they weren't that happy, either. It would be quiet for a time, then one would start meowing and set the other 2 off. They're out of the cages now and roaming the hotel room. It sucks to have them stuck in a little box all day, but I'd be trying to dig them out from under the seat or something.

The drive from LA to Gallup was pretty uneventful. We stopped for lunch at Lake Havasu City and debated driving up to see London Bridge, but it was 21 miles each way and I didn't want to take the time. It snowed just outside of Flagstaff and we stopped to let Sofie romp in it. She seemed to enjoy it but we didn't stay long - too cold. There's a billboard in Winslow Arizona that actually says "'Stand on the corner' Winslow Arizona exit here. " I wonder how many people actually do...

We have about 200 miles to go tomorrow and we don't have to be there until noon so we can sleep in a bit. We are going to need some time to pry the kitties out of the mattress (there's not a space under the bed, but there's a hole in one of the box springs and somebody crawled up into it).

Lucky Dog Day (again)

Well, it's all over but the lugging of boxes out to the car. My office is packed up and I'm just waiting for the UPM to sign the last of the payroll so I can get it ready to go. He's eating lunch right now, so it may take a while...

Almost everything is ready for the trip to Santa Fe. I have to do some last minute laundry, pack up the cat and dog toys, and empty out the fridge of anything that may go nasty while we're gone. Hard to believe it's actually here.

I do still have to run by a drug store and see if I can find a new wrist brace (for my carpal tunnel). The one I have doesn't let me hold a pen very well so I haven't been using it. Not the best choice, turns out. So if I get out of here soon, I'll do that on the way home.

Have a confession to make... I read the message boards on IMDB regarding the movies I work on and the SOAP board had someone saying that Pacino had a cameo. Well, I wondered if it was true and got a cast list from the original shoot and he wasn't on it. So I wrote a reply stating that fact and got called an "effing moron" for not realizing it was a joke. Actually, I did figure it was a joke, since they had Al playing a gay flight attendant doing an homage to his Scarface character. The point I was trying to make was that I'M WORKING ON THE MOVIE AND CAN GET ACCESS TO THE CONFIDENTIAL CAST LIST AND NOW HAVE NAMES AND ADDRESSES FOR EVERY ACTOR ON THE FILM! So bite my big white @ss!

Dreams of Alias

I dreamed last night that I was an extra on the tv show Alias. The scene was a convention/seminar of some sort (maybe for teachers) and there was a group of us in a long line. We were supposed to enter from the back of the hall and go down the aisle to the front and pick up some brochures and stuff. I was at the end of the line and my picking up a certain brochure was supposed to be Jennifer Garner's cue. So we had a run thru and they decided everybody as going too fast and we were sent back out into the lobby to try again. Somehow, I got lost and wandered thru the backstage area doing random things (which I can't remember now) until I stumbled back out into the lobby. The assistant director was yelling at me to hurry up, as the line was already disappearing into the hall. I caught up, but when I got down to where the brochures were supposed to be, people were milling around and the brochures had turned into books, mainly sci-fi. So it's apparent to me that I've missed something and I started watching everybody else to see what to do. They're all whipping out cash and credit cards and buying the books. I looked around and saw that a few tables down, an older woman was selling art and another was selling crafts. Finally, I realized, while still asleep, that my dream had morphed from the Alias extra scenario to a comic book convention. Except for the fact Sidney Bristow (not Jennifer Garner, but SB) was at the convention undercover. That's when I woke up.

My Grandpa

When my dad brought my mom home to meet the family for the first time (so the story goes) my grandpa took my dad aside and asked him 2 questions.

The first was whether or not she was Catholic.

The second was whether or not she drank beer.

Mom obviously passed.


My parents were very tolerant of alcohol while we were growing up. We were allowed sips of beer and liquor from a fairly young age. I believe that as a result, nobody in my family has a problem with alcohol. Apparently this attitude stems from something my grandpa said to my dad when he was young.

"Don't go out drinking. Bring it home so I can have some."

New Mexico Gossip

Not even there and I already have stories...

There's a movie shooting in Santa Fe/Abq starring a buxom blond. The crew of the film is bored by the small town and is spending time in bars and strip clubs. Apparently, they have recognized a stripper as the stand-in for the buxom blond. Must be nice to know the only person they could find with your physical attributes takes her clothes off for money. Nice genes.

Speaking of strippers... when I worked at McD's during high school, we were around the corner from a strip club. The ladies would come thru the drive-thru each night with their Crown Royal bags stuffed with dollar bills. What a life.

Cologne

Blame Fark for this one - they have a link to pet peeves at the office...

I did a show for Disney a couple of years ago that remade an old Jodie Foster movie. It had a teenage lead whose parents were always coming in and out of the office.

I happened to have a cubicle on that show and it was at the end closest to the elevators. Everybody who came in went right past me. One day, there was this horrendous stink and I was the first one to notice it. Without thinking about it, I blurted out "what's that horrible smell?"

Turns out it was teenage lead's dad. Her parents were nice enough people - I had no complaints about their behavior, but he wore a cologne that stank up the entire floor. If he hugged you, it smelled up your clothes for the rest of the day. It didn't just smell bad, it got into your mouth and nose like and felt like you'd eaten an unripe banana.

The rest of the office heard my outburst and saw his entry and most of them were able to contain their fits of laughter until the offender headed back outside. I wonder now if he's allowed to wear that much cologne in jail...

Credit Cards

I got a forwarded email that talks about what to do if your wallet is stolen. It's got some good suggestions, some of which I already employ. For example, I don't sign my credit cards. Instead I write "Ask For ID" on them in sharpie. It usually works pretty well. The problem I have with that is the Post Office. Every time I go in, they tell me I can use my credit or debit card instead of paying cash and I have to tell them that since I won't sign my credit card, they won't accept it. I'm not sure why, but they really won't accept an unsigned credit card even with a photo id. Whatever. Usually I try to use the kiosk in the lobby anyway - it doesn't care if I haven't signed...

But I do need to take advantage of the photocopier at work and make front and back copies of all of my cards. Just in case.

Over on Warren Ellis' site, I linked to an article about pro-life women who have abortions. It was fascinating. Seems they can justify their own abortion but not anybody else's. I have even less respect for pro-lifers now than I ever did, and it was never very much. I used to admire the conviction they showed in their belief, which is something I feel I lack. But to be able to turn it on and off like that is not conviction. I'm not sure what it is, but it's not admirable.

Random

Not taking the Vespa to Santa Fe - decided there was too much that could go wrong and it was too much hassle. I think I may buy a bike instead, since I'm only 4 miles from the office and the exercise will be good for me.

Got my 9 month LASIK check-up this morning. I'm nearly 20/20 and that's as good as it's going to get. I'm pretty happy about that, since I started out at 20/400. I just need to use my eye drops more often.

Nancy was at the eye doctor too this morning. Quite a pleasant shock to see her there. She's thinking of finally getting contacts, which I think is a great idea. She says she has trouble putting things in her eye, but it's a lot different putting contacts in than say, a tree branch. Even I would have a problem with that!

Got to go back to work now - I have to call the hair and makeup ladies and try to find out why their timecards don't match the production reports... divas.

To Scooter Or Not To Scooter...

The prop master from Snakes, who I also worked with on Dupree, has agreed to let me put my Vespa on his truck since he's doing the Disney show in Santa Fe. It may take 3 weeks for it to make it over there, but I'll have it without having to drive or tow it on the freeway. Now I'm not as sure it's a good idea but I don't know why.
I have to find out if the apartment complex has secure parking or if I'm going to be on the ground floor (in which case I roll it inside). If neither is the case, then what? I could always lock it to my car at night...
Then I was thinking I wouldn't take my car, but I'd be stuck if it rained or I needed cat litter. I hate feeling like this, but I just can't figure out what to do.

Sunday Morning

Took the Sof out for her walk this morning and there was frost on the grass! Haven't seen that before. Last night, they said there were snow flurries in Malibu and there was thunder and lightning on Friday. Not the apocalypse, but different from the norm.

We ran into Chester and his mom and walked with them for a bit. Chester is a big bull terrier whose mouth is so wide it seems as if his head is hinged and he could flop it all the way open if he wanted to... but he's super sweet and he and Sofie get along well. She commented on the building's new lawn and asked if I knew that David Hasselhof owned our complex. What? Cool! Apparently he owns a lot of property in LA and has come out to check on us with all of our renovating.

She also told me that a developer bought three houses around the corner and was going to tear them down and put up apartments or condos, not sure which. That kind of sucks, but they're doing that a lot here. Home prices are out of control and almost every spare bit of land is gone - the only way to pack more in is to tear stuff down. It makes me think we'll never be able to get a house because there just won't be any left!

I started packing for Santa Fe, which is kind of surreal for me. I'm used to pulling out clothes for a couple of weeks at most, not putting everything I own into suitcases. I have the feeling that I won't be coming home with some of the stuff I'm taking, but I can't sort right now - I can only pack. A week from today and we'll be there. Wow.

Blog Updates

Mark Evanier (www.newsfromme.com) has been running some video clips that have been superb. The Oklahoma police chase, the cat and the rooster, and the clip of William Shatner performing "Rocket Man" are my favorites so far. If you check out his site, you'll learn some fun things about Hollywood and he has pictures of the "wild" animals that frequent the cat food dish in his back yard.

Girl-fiend (www.girl-fiend.blogspot.com) had her baby on 3/8 - a little boy-fiend!

Dollie (www.cocktaildoll.com) hasn't posted anything in a bit, but her site is totally worth reading from beginning to end.

Warren Ellis (www.warrenellis.com) has a link to a site about having sex with dolphins. Weird. But it is amazing what people will post on the internet.

And thanks to Sped and the Dan for introducing me to www.fark.com - a total time-waster and I love it.

The Job Market

This is a recent posting on a job site for accountants:

ASSISTANT TO DIRECTOR/PRODUCER WANTED

The COMPANY: "Not It's Real Name", Inc. is a commercial production company. We also have two sister companies; "Also Not It's Real Name" Entertainment which specializes in feature film production and "Still Not It's Real Name" Studios which specializes in high definition editorial and camera rental. We are located in Marina Del Ray, California. We currently have 12 employees and hire freelance production personnel as needed. See our site at: (not going there - don't wanna get in trouble)

DUTIES: Duties include phones, project coordinating, research, filing, managing calendar, managing phone-log, setting meetings and conference calls, light accounting/expense reports, managing interns, making travel arrangements and script coverage.

QUALIFICATIONS: Must be familiar with WORD/ EXCEL/ FINAL DRAFT/ ENTOURAGE/ OUTLOOK. NOW CONTACT.

Ideal candidate is a college grad with any degree, no entertainment experience is necessary, great communication skills a must, “Can do” attitude a must, good on phone, good with client interaction. This position will give you great potential to move up within the company. Pay $450-$500/week depending on experience.

Hours 9:30am – 6:00pm M-F

E.O.E.

While $450/week may seem like a lot of money to people in the "real" world, in the industry it's less than what the lowest production assistant makes. And look at the qualifications! You have to practically walk on water to even be considered for the job, which seems to be little more than babysitting someone who probably makes upwards of $5000 a week. And the "potential to move up" sounds like bait. Welcome to the movie biz.

If anyone is interested in this job, let me know and I'll give you the real info...

Butt-In-Ski

I hate when people stick their noses into my job.

More later...

It's later.

R just has to put his 2 cents in on stuff he doesn't know anything about. We have Canadian cast and I sent their paperwork around for signature knowing I didn't have all of the necessary documents on hand. He asks to look at one for L and gets all concerned about it and starts talking to me as if I didn't know that even non-citizens have to fill out I9's. I'm not stupid. I get paid a lot of money to do this job. And frankly, most actors end up finishing up their paperwork via fax because by the time I get it and see what's missing, they're long gone.

So do your job and let me do mine. I will ask if I have questions or need help.

Lotto Check

Got home tonight and found my Arizona Lottery check waiting. My grand hopes for $100 turned into a $7 check. That's right, $7. There go my plans for the moolah...

On the bright side, I did come out ahead, even if it was only by $2.

Good Week/Bad Week

I'm trying to eat more healthy and I've been managing to do 1 week on, 1 week off with my WW. I was hoping to start doing 2 weeks on, 1 week off but today has not been an on day so far. We're shooting on the stage and the catering is Asian. I know I should have just hunkered down with my can of soup and carrots, but I didn't. I guess the question now is whether or not I accept that I ate too many points and move on, or call myself a failure and give it up for the day and/or week.

Seeing it in writing makes it super-clear. I'm not a failure - I enjoyed the lunch and now need to drink lots of water and not eat too many more points today. And tomorrow I need to go with the soup...

Behind the Scenes @ Oscar

The husband and I had to go down to Hollywood Blvd yesterday to pick up some stuff for Erdedo's daughter's birthday party. She's having a movie theme and I offered to pick up something that said "Hollywood" that came from Hollywood. The really cheesy souvenir shops are down there.

Anyway, we took the subway and emerged in the midst of all the Oscar hoopla. They have the street blocked off and a pedestrian detour to get you from one side of the theatre to the other. You can't see much, as the barricade walls are 8 feet high, but every now and again there's a break in the wall and you can see the red carpet and the Oscar statues.

The detour routes you thru the Hollywood & Highland complex that houses the Kodak theatre and there's a spot where you can look down at the red carpet entryway. Everybody was stopping there to take pictures and it was causing a huge logjam.

I'm not usually that interested in the Oscars, but I'm going to watch this year. I'm not interested in who's going to win, I just think Jon Stewart is going to do a great job as host.

2 Weeks To Go

2 weeks from tomorrow, we leave for Santa Fe. I got the apartment set up, now I just have to fill it with furniture and arrange for electricty, cable, phone, and internet. I can see the benefits of just staying in the hotel the production provides, but I'm sure I'll be glad in the end.

My sister called me today to tell me she got an email from my cousin Lou. He's moved to LA from NY and wants to get in touch with me. She wanted to make sure it was ok to give him my info. Of course it is! I haven't seen him for probably 20 years, but he, my brother Brian, and I were like the 3 Musketeers when we were little. We were all within 17 months in age and got along pretty well. Lou was a child prodigy at the piano and always smart, but I don't really know what he's up to now. We're supposed to get together next week so I'll find out all about him. Figures he'd move here right when I'm leaving for 5 months! I hope he lives somewhere near - traffic sux in this town.

The Little Title That Could

I nearly died laughing when I got the call to work on Snakes on a Plane - it sounded so stupid. But man am I glad I took this job! Everywhere you look, online and in print, people are talking this thing up. It's going to be huge, even if it is a bad movie. And you know what? It may turn out to be so bad it's good. I got some of the pages for the aditional photography and it's good clean cheesy fun. As Nancy said, it'll look good on my resume and I may get to meet Samuel L. Jackson on Monday. What's not to like about that?

Just have to hope New Line keeps the name and stops calling it S.O.A.P.

Willis

Rick and I walked over to stage 5 to hand out paychecks and see how the plane reconstruction was going. It looks a lot better than it did last time, but we're not sure they're going to be ready to shoot on Monday.

When we got back to the office, there was a large black Lab standing alone in the parking space across from the walkway. I started talking to it and it headed towards me, then kind of wandered off. After I saw it stumble over some parking humps, I realized the poor thing was blind.- it had cataracts in both eyes. A woman had come downstairs to smoke and said she'd seen it taking walks with a man who came out of the office at the end of the building. So I gave my extra checks to Rick to take back into the office and walked the dog back home. I had to keep talking to him to get him to stay with me and we had some issues at the dumpster (something smelled really good to him). But we made it down there and I opened the door and called out "hello." A woman answered and I asked if the dog belonged there and she said yes, that he wanders off and they don't aways know he's gone. She said his name was Willis and I suggested he wear a bell, but that'd probably drive them nuts. I'd love to bring Sofie down to meet him, since they seem to allow dogs on this lot, but she'd be too annoying for him - jumping on him without warning and all. Maybe she could play with the pug and the Jack Russell terrier we saw sniffing at the shrubbery...

The husband and I were talking last night about getting some paints and seeing if any of the cats or Sofie would be interested in them. It would be fun to see if they were artistic at all, but a disaster if all they did was take off through the house. At least we have Pergo and we could try to get a water based paint for easy cleanup. Something to think about.

Production is buying lunch and we went to a place called Ammo. I got the roasted winter squash stew for $14. It was no bigger than any regular can of soup and it was $14! I liked it but man, $14? Sorry to add to the cost of your ticket.

Boooooooooored

I am so bored at work. I've actually spent work time watching movies and playing games without having to hide it. I keep asking Rick if he wants any help with anything and he just laughs at me - he doesn't have enough to keep himself busy.

The dog is getting a bath tomorrow in anticipation of going to Santa Fe. It's a good thing, too. Ever since we picked her up from Bow Wow, I think she's smelled like cream of mushroom soup. And I hate cream of mushroom soup. It took me a couple of days to figure that out, by the way. It's not one of those scents that jumps out at you.

The kitties are going in on Saturday. All three wil be getting baths and claw trims. Quincy will probably get his mane clipped, too.

I'm getting nervous about going to NM. It seems like there's so much to do before I go. I really should make a list - that always makes it better. I like having it in writing, exactly what I need to accomplish. But it's not like I'm leaving the country. I'll be a few hours away by plane if I have to come back for something and I'm sure there will be a Target in town if I forget to pack something. I do need to let BG know that I'm coming. She offered me a Disney show in Santa Fe and I turned it down. But things have changed because of her offer and I don't want her to think it was personal.