Couriers and Commiserations

Some days I look forward to the curve balls, but some days they leave bruises. Most mornings now start with about two hours of catching up with everything and dealing with little requests from everyone. I don't mind any of that stuff (it's nice to do favours for the crew and help them out) but sometimes it pulls me away from the other bits I need to do. What really scuppered me was all the couriers I booked last week suddenly decided to go a bit wrong. Each one in a different way that needed constant attention and stress. Even when I got home I was getting messages about how late one of them was running. It was all outside the sphere of my control but I still felt like I could have done more. Thankfully my team were equally battered by different elements, so we commiserated together. Tomorrow can only be better.

Tailed by a Cat

Cooked a breakfast that kept me going all the way til dinner for Rebecca and her family. We walked it off during a Sunday stroll across to Wapping Wharf for a coffee and some book shopping. There was just the right amount of chill the air, you could feel it on your nose and the tips of your ears. All signs lead to jumper season, and boy, I am so ready for that.

Rebecca and I had to take a nap before we were ready for a board game evening with some friends up the road from us. Container is a very cute bidding and commerce game which I wished I was better at, but we had a real hoot playing. On the way back we heard the distressed call if a cat stuck in a park. We helped it out but then it wouldn't stop following us back home. We didn't want to pull him away from his home base so we tried to speed walk around corners onto adjoining streets to see if we could loose him. You always hear of lost cats, well this one was near impossible to lose! Eventually we slipped away and got back to our own cat who greeted us with hungry meows. 

Final week of prep starts tomorrow. Let's see what they can throw our way this time. 

Living Room Jam Party

 Rebecca and I got the house together for her parents who were staying with us for the weekend. They all went out to enjoy an afternoon tea while I stayed home and recharged with a quiet spell with the cat. While the new Castlevania was high on my priority list, I did find time to make a batch of brownies for a games night we'll be at tomorrow night.

Until then, I had another evening plan to enjoy. Namely a very old colleague and friend of mine was hosting his annual living room jam party. By that I do quite literally mean we crammed about thirty people into a living room to rock out to a live band made up of the host and his friends. It was intimate and radiated good vibes. I'm always really touched by well attended parties for really honestly good people, it refuels my faith in humanity and makese proud to be a part of that circle. 

C'mon Friday

Only hand a couple of pints last night but the telltale signs of a hangover were present as I clambered out if bed. I styled it out pretty well but I spent most of the day wishing it was home time. The thing that kept us all going was the knowledge that a special baguette was incoming for everyone from lunch, all the way from Cardiff no less. So come lunchtime I left renewed and ready to power through the last couple of hours, which went very quick as the workload picked up again. I have a kind of boneyard of jobs to do, mostly when I get a spare moment now (which is never). I'll get round to it all one day... But it all sounds like a Monday job to me.

Tall, Frosty Pints

Decided to put my watch on because it felt like that kind of day. Production Meetings, Tone Meetings and all the in between stuff - we did it all today. Lot of turbulent, seat of our pants kinda a prep stuff at time, but the movie business is all about what's in front of camera, the rest is auxiliary. While I camped out in the sidelines, my team did some really exceptional work. We got all the busy stuff done and dusted now, roll on the final week of prep.

It was also the kind of day that called for a nice, tall, frosty pint. What started as a work thing capitulated, but from the ashes rose a nice double date opportunity with Rebecca and my colleague (plus their partner). We hit up an old favourite pub, met the new owner and tossed darts til the little voice in our heads said 'but it's a school night'. If it was a Friday we'd be there til the small hours, still it wouldn't have improved our darts skills... 

Massive Mirror

I pride myself in my ability to pull rabbits out of any crack, and I got a chance to flex that muscle this afternoon. I managed source and get delivered a mirror about the size of my height and armspan all within a 90 minute turnaround. We got it all done and the Costume Supervisor was rendered dumbstruck by my efficiency. When I do good I really knock it out the park it seems, but the rest of my day was again spent without catching much of a break. We have the big production meeting tomorrow so it'll be all hands on deck for most of the day, after we crest that hill though everything should get a little easier. Til then I'll just continue to white knuckle it.

Death by A Thousand Favours

Had a taste of 05:30 alarm goodness for the first time in a while because those early recce breakfasts won't collect themselves. All in we actually had an incredibly smooth experience (it's almost like we've done this a few times now), but the meat of my day was packed. Yet, I still wouldn't be able to tell you where all the time went. I would blink and two hours had passed. It's lots of little jobs all adding up into grander ordeals, death by a thousand favours. That and sustainability bits which hoovered up a lot of my mental bandwidth - all for a good cause thankfully but it's put a lot on my plate now.