Logan and I had Friday off together, which is great fun. We did all those things that you do when you have a day off, dry cleaners, grocery store, bank, etc etc etc. But the real excitement happened on Thursday night. We met Jason, Chris and Jen at Melrose for drinks. Jason arrived first and saw a disturbing disagreement with a big man and the bouncer. As the rest of us arrived and were taking our seats we saw the bouncer attempt to throw the man out. There was some pushing and shoving and yelling. It started to look pretty dangerous. Logan, Jason and Chris were all standing wondering what to do - but there were so many people crowding around by this time that if they wanted to help they wouldn't have gotten very close. It got a little more scary and they pushed each other outside. That is when the scary man who is much bigger than the bouncer beat the crap out of him - pounding his head into a tree - and then the bouncer went down. At this point Logan Chris and Jason were outside. The cops were on the way.

The bad guy took off down the street. After a safe distance Jason and Logan began to follow the bad guy and his two friends. When the cops arrived Chris called Logan with this cell and grabbed a cop that the knew and told him Logan and Jason had a visual on them, and the car went screeching off. Meanwhile Logan and Jason had headed up the block but couldn't see them. Then they heard branches snapping and watched them fall out of a tree. Then they tried to jump a near by fence to get away. Apparently the two guys couldn't push their fat friend over, so they hid in a bush. Logan and Jason could clearly see these large men hiding under a bush. At that point the cops went racing by - Jason ran after them and Logan kept eyes on the guys. When the cops came back around the guys were scared out of "hiding" and the cops pulled out the taser and that was enough to have the guys drop to the ground and scream their defeat. Upon searching the guys they found $5000 and drugs - obviously drug dealers - and were wondering where the weapon was.

The boys filled out their witness statements and joined us for drinks. Some people would think that I would have been scared. But I am proud. No one else was doing anything to help the guy who was getting his head bashed in. There were other bouncers and all the male servers and bar tenders ran to see what is going on - I would have thought to back the guy up - but they all just watched.

And the winner is...

I have taken the job as Photo Lab Technician at Shoppers Drug Mart. Not the most glamorous job I can imagine. But I don't care. It is 3 blocks away and will mostly be 9-5. As with most jobs they couldn't guarantee that all shifts would be 9-5 because they want me to be able to cover cashier when needed, no more than twice a week. I start on Tuesday.

Joe Job Search

Now that I am unemployed I have been on the job hunt. I sent a resume and contacted Westjet almost a month ago. They have responded that they have received my resume but have made no offer. So yesterday I updated the old work resume (I have a seldom touched work resume and and often updated theatre resume), printed 15 and headed down the well equipped 4th St very close to home. I handed all 15 out to various places (excluding restaurants - I haven't gotten that desperate). I seemed to have some luck. Shoppers Drug Mart interview me on the spot for Cashier and Photo Lab Technician. She called me today to say that the job was mine and they would like to offer full time, day time and weekday, in the photo lab. The money ain't great but I am not waiting for a month and a half like last summer to get a couple bucks more an hour.

Next, the Great Canadian Bagel manager (who hardly spoke English) told me that she has been having trouble getting people to start work - she hires and then by their first day they have found something better. So she told me that if I didn't have a job by the end of the week I could come work for her.

I also stopped at an insurance place. I hesitated but went it. I told them my experience and the owner seemed very happy. He actually told me that I came at the perfect time. They had just had an expert analyse their business and were told to hire another front end type broker to handle the "easy" files to make more time for him. I was willing to hire me on the spot if I were to promise him that I would not be going back to theatre. I said nope, gonna stick with the job that doesn't guarantee me anything except uncertainty. We had a good chuckle - he told me to come back when I wanted a "real job" I told him to call me if he wanted some summer help with experience.

One of my last stops was at Starbucks. I sat down with a manager and another fellow, who I later found out had toured with Riverdance and he was her "Theatre Language Interpreter". Anyway. They offered me a job on the spot.

I had some great luck at other places with people being interested but not quick enough on the draw I guess. Some other highlights include: Saje - a natural lotion remedy place that had a cream called Eczema Ease; Knickets - a store not unlike Urbane; Urban Barn - a chain store not unlike Urbane; and Safeway.

Unless Westjet calls back tomorrow I am going to accept the Shoppers Photo Tech job cause they are regular people hours - Starbucks is a 5am - 11:30pm time swing. And they are offering a whole $0.50 more an hour. Not to mention that I don't like coffee so the perk of getting a pound or whatever a week free is not that big a deal for me. And I don't think I could handle 5am or the people that have to have coffee at 5am.

Ahh... Unemployment

I really like what I do. I have done theatre in one form or another since my first show in grade 1 What Do We Do About the Problem With The Deer. And now I have turned it into a career. However, there is a problem with this exciting career. Uncertainty. Theatre is contract work. And it has seasons that run like a school year. There is not a whole lot going on in the summer. I could look for summer work but it would be short month long contracts and the chances of having enough work to make it thru is pretty unrealistic.

Today is my last day of my Quest Contract. Tomorrow I am unemployed. I have been in contact with WestJet but they don't seem to be knocking my door down.

I have next week figured out. I was in Quest on Friday (fun day of returning rental equipment, rest of the set etc to storage and the dump - in the snow) and they are looking for some office help next week. I will be stuffing envelopes. I will take what I can get!

I am way more relaxed than I was last time at this year though. Last year I was searching for a great job. I didn't want to admit that I needed to get a job so if I had to tell someone it had better be good. This year, I really don't care. Logan and I were talking about it today, perhaps I am more certain about my career and thus know that this summer job means nothing. I have been offered two shows from Theatre Calgary Christmas Carol and Enchanted April . I was also offered a Quest Theatre tour, either Flop or the Cantos Tour . And had to turn down Alberta Theatre Projects rehearsal ASM for PlayRites Festival. So I feel very happy with how things are going for my career. I feel that I can take whatever job is available and the most convenient for me.

So tomorrow I finish up all my paperwork for Quest (I took today off instead tomorrows scheduled day off). Hopefully will have time to paper the community and then spend the rest of the week in the Quest office. My fingers are crossed for an easy transition (not like the month and a half wait for a job that I had last year.)

5 questions

I am always looking for something interesting to Blog about that will interest people besides the parents. I found this at Amanda's Blog and wanted to play. So here are the five questions that she has asked me.

1. What is your favourite book of all time? Why?
Without a doubt Gone with the Wind. I have read it twice now (all 733 pages of it) and still can't get enough. During the last show I worked I was lent a copy of the sequel Scarlet and love it too.
I love it because it is so detailed. The characters are so well developed that you feel like you know them. I always feel like their life goes on when I put down the book so I had better hurry back so I don't miss anything. And when I can't get back, or have finished the book, wonder what they are doing now. Lame I know.

2. Would ever consider getting Lasik eye surgery? Or do lasers freak you out?
I would love to get Lasik eye surgery. I am totally freaked out about the thought of something holding my eye open, seeing the knife coming at me and then them lopping part of my eye off. (Actually, any sort of pain that I know is coming I would prefer to take with my eyes closed - like the dentist.) But when you compare the idea of the surgery with the thought of being able to see the alarm clock in the middle of the night without having to roll over and pick the stupid thing up and put it a couple cm from your face. It seems a pretty minor inconvenience to have lasers shot into your eyes.
We have actually heard that the Police have a really good health plan, especially for Laser eye surgery. Probably because your eyes have to be almost perfect to be on the force. So when the benefits kick in I may start looking around.

3. Do you and Logan have "a song?" What is it?
Yes, Logan and I have a song. You are so Beautiful. I can't remember how it became our song to be honest. But at many special and un-special moments that song has been played. While I was away in, well, anywhere, he has played it over the phone when I answer. Or back in Regina he would sneak in to my car and have it so it was the first thing I heard when I started it. And then we used it as our first dance at our wedding.

4. When's the last time you shaved your legs?
Great Question! I actually noticed today when it was nice enough to want to wear something other than pants that my leg were really dry. I thought a little exfoliation might be a good idea before a thick layer of lotion. That is right. I shaved my legs today not because the hair was disgustingly long but because my skin was dry. Before this afternoon... a while ago.

5. Why haven't you started a Facebook account? :)
I, like Amanda have been feeling the press to jump on the band wagon that everyone seems to be on. Logan got one and I have been living vicariously through his. But I have yet to take the plunge because I already spend too much time reading blogs of people I know and don't know that I hardly need another way to waste my time on the computer. Though, lately, I have been tempted. We will see how long I hold out.

Thank you for those Great questions Amanda.


Want to play? Here’s the scoop:
1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Opening

The Quest show that I have been working on has complete it's tour of 33 schools, has completed another two weeks of rehearsal, yesterday's Tech/Dress rehearsal and today we had an audience. It was good fun.

I like when you can step outside yourself and watch. There was a moment today when I was approaching the house stage manager that I did just that. I was in full control, did not feel nervous or unsure. I was approaching a man that has likely been in the business longer than I have been alive, has worked with many "greats" (including Great Big Sea) and I was about to give him the run down. "All right, I was just out in the house and things are moving nicely, the preset is complete and I am ready to go. I will give the actors the five and then head to my post and get on headset, I will then give you the okay to give places and we will wait for the house. And you get that by phone? And you will give me the house, right? Okay, you give me the house and then we go..." As I passed each technician on the way to the dressing room they were asking me questions and I knew and gave the answers without missing a beat or even slowing my walk to reply. I entered the dressing room to give the guys a heads up on seating issues and then gave them their call. I then headed out into the house and to my place behind one of those HUGE sound boards with all of the knobs. Now I am not going to say that I know how to run those things with any skill but I know how to make them go. The show starts and I am running all the sound cues and calling scene changes and watching a lighting technician and sound technician pull off exactly what they should with only one rehearsal.

I enjoyed watching myself today. I felt like a professional and, from where I was watching, looked like a professional. It is something when you realize that you have grown up that much more.

Wife Night

On Friday night the people in Logan's recruit class were all planning on going out for drinks and for the first time their significant others were invited. First they went to the Cuff & Billy (the cop bar at the police associate). At just before nine (when I finished rehearsal) they conveniently moved to Earl's right by our house. I walked over and found a group of very "happy" people. They had clearly been "enjoying" their Friday night since the end of class at 4pm. I had a not bad time. But the lounge of Earl's is loud and everyone was too far gone to say anything more than "Hey, it's Loganberry's wife. Mrs. Berry how are you doing?" Very clever! But that would be the extent of the conversations I had - less one person that started talking to me about working back stage which progressed to the usual "I did a show in high school..." and that is the end of that.

I however had given up Opening Night comp tickets to Theatre Calgary's The Overcoat to meet these people.

Disclaimer** when you read this Logan I am not complaining or bitching, all I am saying is that they are nearly $100 tickets I got for free to shmkooze with and I could have sat with a group of drunk people I don't know any night.

Flames Shat the Bed

Well. Two years ago I would never have guessed that I would become a hockey fan. And really I am not, I am a Flames Playoff, get together and drink and eat, hockey fan. But in order for there to be any fun in that the Flames have to make it out of the first round.

And seeing as they backed their way into the playoffs by another team loosing it only seems fitting that they lost their first game 4 to 1.

But we had fun. Jason and Craig Haughey, Stef and Raveigh and Chris came over. We ate nachos (I made Guacamole for the first time), hot dogs and beer while we watched the game on the projector. Nothing like a 100" TV screen to make you interested in who is doing what (and who is falling down - my favorite part).

Happy Easter

We had a wonderful Easter Weekend. Logan and I both had Good Friday off - so it was also a Long Weekend for us. Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa made the trip out on Thursday.
Friday we went out shopping - making the tourist stop at Ikea. Then we made a stop at Linen and Things were Mom bought us a slip cover for the love seat. Then we joined most of the large Beatty family for supper at the Casino. A $3.99 steak sandwich special that was actually pretty good. Some drinks were taken and then we threw our money into slot machines. Then Mom, Dad, Stef, Logan and I came back here for some more drinks and a little board game CSI.

Saturday I went to work so I have no idea what they did during the day. Logan and Dad were trying to fix Stef's car and Stef and Mom went dress shopping with Grandma. After work we went to Uncle Gord's and Auntie Shelley's for pizza supper and terrible Flames game.

Sunday, Easter, we went Church and then back to our place for brunch. And then for a big meal with the Beatty's at Uncle Laird and Auntie Sharon's.

Before and After

We just have to finish up by finding a painting for the wall over the counter in the kitchen. And the large green wall will get our black & white canvas from our wedding pictures. I have taken it in to be framed.

Uninspired

It feels like I have nothing to report. We live in a new place. Good - you know that already. We are pretty comfortable. Logan goes to work and he likes it - you know that too. I go to work and for the most part I like it. Boring.

I guess I could tell you about the company 15 seater van I drive for our tour. Friday was our last show and I parked it at an Impark lot so we all could have some drinks. I left it there over night (I had had several martinis) and Logan picked me up. When we went to retrieve the van it was missing a window. Smashed. Nothing was taken thankfully but it did cause a big pain in the neck. So today I had to drive it in to replace it. But on the up side I did get to walk home. I got to walk down 17th Ave and then 4th St. We have been on 17th before but it is a long street and I was not sure what is right by us. And 4th is great! There is so much for us to explore. This link really displaces the great stuff we are really close to!