Timmy

This is Timmy - a cat the husband sees on his morning walk. Timmy is very friendly and tends to run out to the husband and throw himself down on the ground at his feet waiting for a belly rub. Over and over again. I think he'd pretty cute.

Scene from a winery

I want to have a party where all my guests come and sit at a table like this and eat and drink and talk and laugh for hours until the stars go down...

Sofie - A Trilogy of Bliss

JS and I went on a wine-tasting trip and Sofie took some time out to roll in the grass. You'd think she'd been tasting, too.

Monkey Friday!

Sadly, the monkeys have wrapped but we'll always remember Monkey Fridays fondly.

Office Dog

This is Souris - a Papillon with the biggest ears I've ever seen. She belongs to a woman in Set Dec from the other show with offices on our floor.

Puppies!

These are pics of the French Bulldog puppies my friend Meagan is going to choose from... She was initially thinking of going with the one with the white on his face and chest but now she's leaning towards the all black one. She will name him Finch - a good name.

Shower and Snow and Babies that Grow.

Jenny and I hosted a bridal shower for Suzanne this afternoon. It was a total surprise and a huge success! The only problem is it made me regret not getting to have a shower of my own... yes, I am still bitter 11 years later.

Anyway, it's been raining all day but there have been periods of SNOW - actual snow on October 18th. I'm told it's pretty early for snow but it is so enchanting. It's not sticking to anything but the flakes are huge and just tumble down - that sounds kind of dumb but I don't know how else to describe it.

I'm totally missing Dilly growing up and I'm very sad about that. She's so frickin' adorable and every time I see a pic she's bigger. I think I'm actually jealous of Caitlin. I hope I can get down there in December when I go back to CA. Sometimes I wish I had a regular job that didn't take me out of town for months at a time but it is what it is. I console myself with the knowledge that she's too young to know if I'm there or not but I think of her (and her mom) all the time. Still my best friend.

Something tasty from the shower - crackers with whipped cream cheese and hot pepper jelly. Try it!

Why the Industry Doesn't Take Boston Seriously...

"Just wondering if you fixed the time on the ticket? the girl had me leaving at 12 pm when in fact it was 12 am and she rudely wrote across the ticket in bold that I left early! after 14 hours of working I dont consider that early! im also partial disable and im protected by fedral law! any retailation or denial of future work will be an act of discrimination! to add fuel to the fire im hispanic and im 42 years old, so I got you on disablity, age and race! just waiting to hear back about my time sheet being corrected! there was another day where they wrote me leaving at 8pm and Its was 8:30 pm, if you dont correct these mistakes now its going to become a big issue later so to avoid the drama you should just respond to me and do the right thing and correct my time sheet. Thanks!"

An actual email sent from a background actor. He's very emphatic in his threats, isn't he?

September Already

One of the animals on our show died unexpectedly. They did an autopsy but didn't find an immediate cause and now we're waiting for the tests to come back. It's very sad and I feel terrible for the owners/trainers. An animal-rights organization is all over us for abuse and crap and it's just ridiculous. I had gotten to meet him several weeks ago and fed him carrots. It was obvious he was cared for so to imply they would neglect or abuse him is just mean and petty.

Beyond that, the show is going well except the AD's suck as usual and I'm super busy doing my job and their paperwork. There hasn't been too much drama - just minor diva stuff from the star and some of his personal crew. Oh, and one of the producers is just over-the-top. He was on another show that's sharing our office space and when he moved over to us, everything just went nuts. He makes deals and leaves it to the "little people" to figure out how to make them happen. It's so frustrating because he obviously only cares about being perceived as a generous guy to the shooting crew - the office staff could sit and spin for all he thinks of us.

Sofie is still universally loved despite her territorialism. She guards the area outside my office pretty fiercely for 28 pounds. She gets very barky and I make her come into the office and shut the door. I really don't want to annoy people...

It's starting to cool down weather-wise. We were gone by this time last year and I'm looking forward to seeing fall in New England. I'm sure I'm going to be complaining about the cold but at least the humidity is gone. Ugh.

About 1 Month Later

New Bed

Sofie got a new bed and it's pretty swank. That's her new hedgehog she's pointing at - my boss bought it for her.

Ice Cream

Sofie and I went to an ice cream social tonight. It was at a nearby dog boutique and was for charity. Sofie really enjoyed her peanut butter dog sherbet and my chocolate chip people ice cream was good, too. She wasn't thrilled with the other dogs there since some of them were bigger but they were all pretty good. Especially the big bloodhound...

I Do Know What I'm Doing

I had another email altercation with a crew member. For your enjoyment...

Me: Did you guys really have 2 stand ins on Sunday 8/9? Because I never got vouchers...

M: Yes we did I gave them a call to get there info because D didn't have any vouchers with him on Sunday and they haven't called me back yet. I will try again on Monday and see if ML can give me their info so I can fill out a voucher for them. Thanks M

D: They should have gotten to you

Me: obviously they haven't or I wouldn't be asking about them

D: Easy. I asked for them to get done and m said she would do it. The 2 standins are on g.u. and didn't have their soc for the vouchers so I know she is waiting for the info

Me to D and M: whenever you get them please forward them to me for payment

D: Absolutely Also I just want to be sure you guys know production fee gets added for all 7th days thanks again D

Me:
D,
I know this is going to sound harsh and I mean it that way but if you tell me one more time how to pay the DGA I'm going to refuse to do it and send the cards to you. It's insulting.

D: I wasn't trying to insult you in any way it was something that came to my attention that I didn't know. And since you need to check something I told you about I am not sure threatening me is the correct response Sorry if I have made you angry because that was absolutely not my intention

Me:
D,
All you have done this week is tell me how to pay the DGA. That's my job. You don't approach me with the attitude of "hey, I got this info and wanted to see if it's correct." You bring it to me as if I don't know what I'm doing. Apparently you have had some shitty payroll people in the past but I am not one of them.
You may want to think about that the next time you find a tidbit of payroll info that you think needs to be passed on.

__
I'm really looking forward to the rest of this show... his comment about me needing to "check on something he told me about" really pisses me off. What he told me was bullshit and instead of arguing about it with him at set on Friday, I just told him I'd check on it. That was my polite way of saying "you don't know what the fuck you're talking about."

Yes, I Really Did It

and while I'm glad I did it, I don't think it's all that flattering. You were right about that husband.

Morning Blog

The Set Decorator was in the office yesterday. He looks great and is getting around as if he didn't just have brain surgery last Friday. I still don't know if they have details about his tumor, but it's nice to see him up and around.

Otherwise, the show is going ok. We start shooting on Monday with actors instead of just animals so we're in a push of hiring hair, makeup, and costume people. But that's business as usual.

We haven't had too much drama beyond the usual nepotism and political hirings. One of our producers will be an issue as he tends to make deals without specifics and then it's up to us to figure out how to make it happen. That's going to be fun.

Hard to believe it's the middle of August already. Harder to believe my 20th high school reunion is next weekend. I can't go, of course, but it would have been nice to see everyone. And unlike some people, I've always been overweight so it's not like that would have been something to dread. My tattoos might have made me stand out, though.

Anyway, I'm sitting here with Sofie blogging instead of going to the gym. I was up late last night with my belly dancing class and it's raining and I just couldn't do it. I could try and go tonight when I get home but I know I probably won't. I've been considering getting roller skates or a bicycle just to have something different to do. I can make it to my classes but going to the regular gym is getting boring.

I talked to my boss yesterday about my assistant. We've decided she may be a little OCD because her main problem is she gets focused on a course of action and it takes a real effort to get her to stop and change direction. She's going to have a hard time with payroll if she can't get past that because this job is all about switching gears at a moment's notice - depending on who is on the phone or has walked in the door. I'm going to have to try and talk to her about it at some point.

Set Decorator

Our Set Decorator had been having headaches for a while and his doctor told him he should get an MRI if they didn't stop. Well, they were getting worse from the job stress and last Wednesday he went to a doctor again. Turns out he has a brain tumor and had surgery on Friday to remove it. We haven't heard any more details yet but the surgery went fine.

Just kind of stops you in your tracks.

New Camera Phone

There's my Sofie girl sitting in the passenger seat while I drove us to work this morning. I wasn't really aiming but it's a good shot. Doesn't she look thrilled?

Payroll Asst.

I am not thrilled with my assistant on this show. A woman I worked with before recommended her as being just fabulous. She's a local and really wants to learn payroll since it's almost guaranteed employment, but I don't think she has what it takes. She's eager to learn and tries hard but it just doesn't seem to be catching on.

Part of the problem is that after 3 months, she still doesn't seem to know which questions to ask. The same situations come up over and over and each time I have to tell her to go back and ask something that she should have asked already. I'm having a hard time trusting her to do stuff on her own, which makes it even harder for me.

And even though she's nice enough, she's lacking in some office etiquette that I can't put my finger on - she walks into my office and starts talking without taking the time to see if I can even pay attention to her. Or she comes in and just stands there looking at me until I say something.

My biggest peeve right now is the fact she can't separate the paychecks into the correct departments even though they are 95% sorted to begin with...

But there's still time and I'm hoping I can train her on a few more things before we get any busier. It's in my best interest to get her as far along as possible before 8/17.

Saturdays Off

It's been a while, I know. I have gmail for my work email account and I can't log out of it to get into blogger.

Never friend a coworker on Facebook - you can never gripe about them. Which says something about a coworker - namely my assistant. She's smart and eager to learn but I don't know that she has what it takes to do this job. Some days I have to jump from one project to another w/o getting to finish. I have to prioritize and come back to stuff as I can. She doesn't seem able to do that - she gets very focused and doesn't always listen when I try and change her direction. I know I'm going to need the help it's just such a hassle to train someone.

The visual effects shooting of the animals is going ok. We're behind a little bit - mostly because of the rain but also because the bears don't like having the lions around. They catch the scent or hear the noises and it freaks them out to have another predator nearby. Then a lion stepped on a screw and wouldn't work anymore. It wasn't hurt just a bit wigged out.

The zoo set is amazing. It doesn't look like a real zoo in person but I know on screen it's going to be perfect and beautiful. We did get to meet some of the animals a couple of weeks ago (not the bears yet). We met Rosie the elephant - got to pet her and had her sniff my hand with her trunk (elephant snot smells BAD). Then we met Tweet the giraffe - fed him carrots and tried to pet him, but he was only in it for the carrots. We couldn't get too close to the lions that day but 20 feet is close enough. Then we met the African vulture, the Austrailian eagles (Sydney and Darwin), and the crow (can't remember his name). They were all beautiful and kind of scary up close. Those beaks are vicious looking.

Sofie and I care relaxing at home today. We worked 6 days this past week and will work 6 days this coming week. If this get settled then we'll switch to 5 days but for now I'm taking it easy on my day off.

I did sign up for a couple of classes at the gym. They have free ones that I haven't made it to, but I signed up for belly dancing on Wednesday nights and kickboxing on Saturday at noon. They just started this week and I love both of them. I'm not the most graceful dancer - having trouble with some of the steps, but I love making the belt jingle. And of course I love punching things. I just wish there were more people in the class - 2 in belly dancing and only me in kickboxing. But I'll go to all 8 and work my butt off (hopefully literally).

Ok, I think it's time to take a nice bath and either watch a movie or take a nap. It's getting late so it may be the nap.

Animals

The bear trainers invited us to come down and meet the grizzlies - Bart and Honey Bump. I met Bart while working on Evan, but I'm not going to pass up the chance to see him again. Not to mention his sister Honey Bump! Not that we can pet them or anything but we can get within 10 feet of them - plenty close.

Crystal the capuchin (not white-faced) has been back to the office a couple of times. I haven't gotten to have her sit on my shoulder yet - all I've done is shake her hand, played "tilt your head" with her, and gotten a high five - but everybody seems to think she's really taken with me. When the guys were walking her out she kept staring at me. I didn't think there was anything going on but other people mentioned it so maybe... Next time I hope to get a pic.

I think all of the animals have made it into town by now so I'm also looking forward to meeting the elephant and the wolf (hybrid, I think). And the giraffe although I'm not sure you can really meet a giraffe...