A Long, Hot, Boring Marathon

I'm tired. I'm tired of sitting in this trailer and entering in all these numbers for credentials. I'm tired of having to take the bus to the metro and walk all the way down to the trailers every single morning. I'm tired of getting home every night after taking the metro and the bus. I'm tired of being tired and not being able to do anything but go to sleep. I want a weekend goddamnit. I know the show is going to be over on Wednesday and I'll only have to work until Thursday but right now that seems like a very very long time away and I don't want to have to drag myself along until then.

That's what I feel like I'm doing. I feel as though I've entered a very long distance race and at first I thought it was great, fresh air! Things to look at! I've got energy, I've got endurance, it's just a puny little race! But after awhile all of that faded away and I began wondering why I would have been stupid enough to enter in a race when I don't even like running. I see the people on the sidelines and I wish I were there with them, cheering the other idiots along and holding a nice cool beer. And right now I haven't gotten to the point where I can see the finish line, I'm still just running along, knowing it's there but getting more and more frustrated with every step and vowing to myself that once this is done I'm just going to relax and never enter another long distance race again.

Seriously, despite that excessive metaphor, I'm tired of this job and tired of having to be here everyday without vacation. I want to spend time with my friends again and watch the day slowly meander by, get some writing done, clean my room, bake something. I even want to start applying for the job I know I must get in the fall. I'm actually a little interested in it. As long as there's weekends. And no metros.

Back for Round 2

I started back at the Capitol Concerts show on Thursday. Today is Tuesday and I worked all weekend. I worked at 6:30am on Sunday and again this morning, because our producer seems to think it's necessary. I'm doing credentials again this show, but this time I have more responsibility and more stress. I actually kind of like it. I like feeling like the work I'm doing is necessary and I am a valuable part of this production. I'm not just some PA running around doing errands for any master who calls. I have tasks and getting them completed is entirely up to me. My boss tells me what needs to be done but has the confidence that I don't need to be watched over while I do it. It's as close to a real job as I've come. I guess this baby step means I could do it anywhere else I choose as well.

The same people are here on the show, but I'm not going to see much of the ones I saw last time because they are all over at the hotel and I'm going to be at the site, sitting in a trailer. Fortunately, the AC works this time.
The job is going well so far. I like it but I'm tired. I'm going to be working straight through to July 5 I'm pretty certain. After that I'm done and I'm not really sure what comes next for me.

Update

You want an update? You got it! So, obviously the Memorial Day show ended and I lived through it. Not that I really expected anything else. Although when the storm broke out thirty minutes before show time, the crowd that had already gathered on the lawn and gone through the metal detectors had to be evacuated and the capitol police, carrying automatic weapons crowded into our hot as hell trailer, their guns pointing at my toes, I wasn't so sure. Not to mention the squwaking that went on on our headsets but gave me no directions whatsoever about what to do. I wandered around backstage, sat with my mom who had come bearing a questionably worded sign for my brother. I bummed a cigarette from a beefy stage carpenter and tried to look busy. When the show ended I finally had something to do. My job was to escort the wounded veterans who had come to the show up the the Capitol where there was to be a ceremony and reception. I was excited, finally something to do! I could feel as though I was all dressed up for a reason at last. Too bad the veterans already had come with escorts and didn't need my help at all, as it was pretty obvious which direction to go, and I had no idea myself where they'd be going. I did walk up with some people and get to use my radio and call for a golf cart to carry one man up who couldn't make it on his own. I was standing in this crowd of military men, some in fatigues, some in civilian clothes and me in my skirt and wedges. I was standing there and got a message through my radio about the location of the golf carts and loudly replied, "Rodger that!" in my best professional voice. I'm used to radio lingo and the way people'd been talking on the radio had been annoying me all day. It wasn't correct! Anyway, as soon as I said that out loud all the military men looked at me with this confused, amused look, as if to say, did this little girl just use military radio lingo?

After everyone was up in the reception I got to help friendly old Rod with the positioning of the vehicles for quickest exits when people left. I was joking with an older, rather cute chauffeur that I didn't give a fuck where the cars went. I'd let them fight it out. Logistics is not my forte. I was in charge of getting the vans we were using for production into place and so I had to battle with Kenya, who had a complex about the whole thing and spent her days bossing the drivers around via radio. I think they were about to pull a Ceaser on her and gather in the Capitol building to stab her to death with their walkie antenneas. I also got into a fight with Rod, who had been my boss at the Kennedy Center but now was just being a big asshole. I turned out to be right, thank you very much.

After everything was over we all went back to the hotel and had a drink and I crashed in Patty Jovel's room until the morning when I had to go back to the AC less trailer on Memorial Day and enter in badge numbers in the computer. So much fun.

Since then I've just been hanging out at home, writing, painting, making a pair of jeans and visiting friends. I've been babysitting for some adorable little boys. It's been a good month. It feels a lot longer but I wouldn't mind seeing it continue for a while longer. But now I'm wondering when the summer will end, and when I should find a real job for the summer, and what that job may be.