This week...

Finally kinda calm.  Thank you Jesus. 

First... an updated pic of the four headed sago....  

He's looking pretty good actually.  Big and fluffy as much as anything else.  

And next... me on the set of Quarry.

Working those bell bottom trousers...wheeee haw....  they decided against the velour shirt.  

Not good drama

So... I was doing late night laundry at the guest house.  Mine, plus some of the back log of sheets after 2 fully booked weeks... (just for the record, and totally unrelated, life is too Damn short to fold fitted sheets)  it's about 11 pm. 

And fire alarms start going off. 

What the hell.

No smoke, no fire, nothing.

It took less than a minute determine that the alarm was set of by one of our residents... to get help.

Said resident is HIV positive, although it is controlled, but also has colon cancer, formerly in remission it has reared its ugly head Again.  I knew this, because he had been going to Doctor appointments. 

We found him in a fetal position beside the fire alarm on the second floor... EMS arrived and began asking questions, and that's how we found out that not only had the cancer returned, but it had metasicised into his kidneys... he is suffering intense pain, had managed to get out of his room trying to find help, finding no one he'd grabbed the fore alarm and collapsed.

So I am currently sitting in the ER sitting room because his son lives inn London, his brother in New York City, and there's no one else... the employees (he does some part time computer work for the hotel) all thought someone should come, but no one exactly volunteered and they kept starting at me, and here I am. 

Just for the record... riding in the ambulance is pointless.  I rode in, got put in the waiting room, and haven't seen hide nor hair of anyone for 3 hours now. 

Furthermore, there's some documentary filming and there's cameras following the firemen and EMTs around and generally annoying the holy hell out of us. 

We don't want filmed. 

Period.

There will be absolutely no chance of you being able to put this in your documentary because no-one at the guesthouse is signing a release... not to mention that one of our young lady employees is about three inches from the camera reciting a long list of words that there is absolutely no chance will ever be allowed on TV. 

Trust me... the infamous FBomb was the least of it... sailors would swoon at the verbosity displayed.  

Regardless,  now I'm here, being completely useless and unnecessary, And slightly hungry. 

So, how long does it take for them to do a blasted CAT scan anyway?  I'm beginning to get annoyed. 

So I go to the intercom and ask for his status...

They say he's been released.

I have been pushing this button asking about him, they've been telling me they'd come get me when I could see him, (after going through multiple ER visits with both my parents, you'd think I'd realize that many nurses are lying sacks of shit, right?)
And now they've just discharged him and let him wander out....

Sorry about my language but... WHAT THE FUCK.

So I try to figure out where he'd be and, hoping he made it home I make the 40 minute walk in about 10 minutes and he's here. 

I ask about the kidney issue and the cancer and he says "what are you talking about?  I had a stroke."

So they let a guy who had a stroke wander out on the street. 

Poor plants

Here's a couple of the guys growing around here...

The first is my Echeveria nodulosa i bought on clearance, and i stuck it in a pot i found with a cutting of topsy turvy, aloe, and ghost plant.  Doesnt look like much of any thing right now, but in a few months itwill look pretty good

And this is a strawberry jar that was growing in the shade and i put out where it'll get some actual. Light .  Again, itll start looking better soon... 

And I'll have to fill out the pockets with something soon...

A new week begins.

So I spent last week training for the new position at St Vs.  Being an employee has advantages... besides the rent situation,  there's also the added advantage of being at the front desk as directly at the epicenter of all gossip! 

After training gets done with, I'll be able get back to movies... only thing scheduled is Quarry... complete with 1970s bell bottom pants, skin tight above the knee and burnt orange.  Worn with a velour shirt, of course...  oh my. 

Weekly update...

Well, it's been an interesting week.   But I tend to have those.  Stocked at Wal-Mart on Saturday night... people moan about Wal-Mart being the evil empire and all... but my experience with them is pretty straightforward. 

As a temp... I've been treated a hell of a lot worse.  Actually,  they treated me pretty damn good. 

I could have worked the Sunday night to Monday morning shift also, but 30 minutes after it was over I was due on a movie set for twelve hours, and that's really pushing it.

So Monday and Tuesday I'm on the set of, "The Big Short" {starring Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling with a small part played by Brad Pitt.  Good cast at least... }

Monday, this involved standing around the blackjack tables in Harrahs casino, which is supposed to now be Las Vegas, while Selina Gomez (who did a Damn good job despite the fact that she plain, flat out, does not look old enough to even BE in a casino) play blackjack and deliver lines. 

Get back to St V's, late and wore out, And they tell me that my roommate and I are being kicked out.  Not going into too much detail... this is about an ongoing situation concerning my roommates actions that even I had complained about.

I then found roommate, twisted his arm to extract a promise, then I wrote a letter to management to be delivered the next morning via the housekeeper where I offered the solution of roommate and myself correcting situation if we wouldn't get kicked.  I then said I had to be on set, but would really appreciate it if we could actually sit and talk and discuss this or any other solution. 

Then I  went off to set not knowing if my possessions would be piled by the side of the road when I got back after 12 hours.

Called about noon, and roommate is beyond saving... but it turns out that a meeting was held and 2 desk clerks, 2 housekeepers, and a maintenance man had all stuck up for me (making cupcakes and cookies for the staff periodically does pay off) And I'm not only safe, they're offering me a job. 

Which is a rather dizzying roller coaster ride, but there we are. 

Anyway... I will have 3 1/2 shifts as a night auditor... which boils down to paperwork, late-night check-ins, and making sure that squatters don't sneak in and sleep in the lobby.  These will be regular days, and I'll be able to do movies.  Essentially, I'll get my rent free. 

So it works. 

Unfortunately, there's no way I can explain it to my roommate without looking like I threw him under a bus to save my own ass.  

Which I didn't do. 

Although, I might have if I had to. 

Regardless,   Wednesday is off,  waiting to see if I got Badlands on Thursday, and Friday I have costume fittings for Quarry.  

I think I'm gonna jump in the pool.

Strange week...

It's been a rather bizarre week altogether.  Worked 2 days as a bus boy in one of the best hotels in town.  Of course, they cheated me on the paycheck, and refuse to make it good so I won't be working there again.

Then, the TV series ZOO has been filming at St Vincent's for 3 days.  I've already been on that series twice , and just rolling ought of bed and being on set would be far too convenient, so I didn't work in the scene filmed here...

  I've been doing minor chores for people and getting a little extra cash.  Minor things like running to the corner store,  hemming pants (how a woman got to the age of 50+ without knowing how stitch a hem is beyond me)  And patching someone's favorite jeans (Which weren't worth patching but there we are)

And I'm getting a few crocheted bottles and skull patches together to sell in the quarter. 

Basically, getting my hustle on... altogether having a good few days.  Except I did have to point out someone that while they drink and have a grand ole time, one glass of wine is enough to put me too sleep... a rather new development probably due to trying do too much and not sleep enough, but as far as they're concerned I'm just being a snob. 

Sago Update

As you can see, he's proceeding nicely.  There's a few other wayward plants that the guesthouse has around that I'm probably going to be adopting... at least maintaining even if I don't keep them.  I honestly can't stand plants to be not cared for...

There's definitely 4 growing tips on this plant, although the two inn the center are smaller and maybe less defined... 

Cycas revoluta

So... haven't been blogging lately... there's  reasons... working my butt off its on top of the list, not really having anything to say except about work is another,  and that's just boring.  Not only for you, is not much fun for me either.

But I'm going to be in a bunch of movies and TV shows coming up, and I'll try to post warnings if I can keep them straight, but that's harder than you'd think... one of the best games on set is "were you on..?"

It goes, "Were you in ABC's set?"

"Ummm... maybe?  Did that film in Algiers?"

"No, Harrahan... or was that Kenner?"

Face it folks, sets all run together after a wee bit.

But I've managed to get a calm enough day to notice the world around me. 

Cycas revoluta at very popular around town... and this time of year, when the summer sticky weather begins to set in, is when they begin to put out new whorls of leaves before they sit there for a month or two and put out another. 

This one at Saint Vincent's is doing the same, but in a very atypical manner...

First of all... the old leaves are spread way to flat... they usually are held more Upright.  But more impressive... the growing point has split into four.  

I first noticed this about a month ago, and ever since I've been checking out the Sago Palms around town (Thats what they're referred to, even though theyre not palms as Sago Palms are another plant entirely) And of the hundreds around town, most have single growing points, a few have split into 2, and I've not seen a solitary triple much less a quad.

I'll update the progress, as theres a chance it will be an unattractive and highly undesirable development.   But maybe not.  Any body out there ever heard the like?

So..this casting director calls

And they showed some tv director my picture and he wants to cast me... that's cool. 

So I ask what I'll be playing. 

A vagrant. 

So he sees my pic and thinks vagrant.  What bloody pic are they showing him? 

I mean... I'm doing it,  But the only pic they have is a suit and tie thing... damn

So... remember a while ago when a roommate disappeared with my rent?  With a couple of drug addicts?  Well he showed back up. 

Crying. 

Ugh. 

Here's the story.

So RM ( Room Mate) got involved with MF (male freak) And FF (female freak).  Their hold on him was primarily drugs.  Specifically marijuana and MOJO (artificial marijuana, which can be kind of dangerous)

And just for the record... RM is a senior citizen,  so he should know better. 

FF managed to convince him that I was planning on skippng town.  He therefore left town with those two and they ended up in a rural area of Louisiana where FF had family.  

FF' s family didn't want anything to do with her.  MF got arrested for sex with a juvenile (what most of America calls statutory rape but in LA they have different names for everything) 

FF stole his car keys to keep him from leaving then hit the local bars to turn tricks and support her drug habit. 

He found the keys, got back to New Orleans, showed up here crying, begging forgiveness, cigarettes and money. 

Forgiveness he can have, but after stealing my money... Not one red cent, assuming I have it to spare, and I don't. 

After about am hour of listening to him whine I sent him off to the VA.  He's a vet and they have options for him there.  And the hotel had let it be known that he had to leave the property IMMEDIATELY or they were calling police.

So.... there we are. 

Yeah... I feel a little cold blooded, but it's like this...

I strongly believe in the whole balance of positive and negative energy... to invite this kind of negativity into my life, knowingly and willingly, isn't going too happen. 

Yeah... I feel sorry for him, but when you throw in with drug addict child molesters and prostitutes, well, crap happens.  

I threw in with negative people when I agreed to share a room with him.  Crap happened.  Under no circumstance will I throw in with that again.  I learned my lesson. 

Moving on.