goofball on a train

Thursday's rehearsal was more interesting and dramatic than expected. Lots of ups and downs.
(DISCLAIMER: The opinions in this post and my blog in general are my own personal opinions and views, and do not represent or reflect the opinions or views of either my third party employer or Universal. There, I said it.)

REHEARSAL
We started off indoors running the script in groups a few times, probably because our show director had something to handle and needed to keep us occupied in the meantime. Then we went out to the park and set up in the same area as on Wednesday, not our performance area but nearby. We ran through the music about three times, then did run throughs of the show, then had to relocate to get out of the way of misc cherry pickers that were roaming around.

I might have mentioned that construction workers and other entertainers/departments often stop to watch our show rehearsals. Up until this week, we have been the only entertainers actually rehearsing in the Ministry of Magic world. I can see the enjoyment of people who stop to watch us, even though our show is incomplete and a bit weird without costumes/props. And afterward we always get LOADS of compliments...strangers are constantly coming up in the break areas or while we're walking through construction, to tell us how they enjoyed our playing. This is very gratifying. For one thing, pulling a theme park together is stressful for everyone involved and being able to provide a release from that to others, if only for a moment, is a wonderful thing. And second, it cheers me to think about what the guest reaction might be once the park opens!

THE DRAMA
After lunch there was a bit of drama because some of the shops in our "world" were open for test sales, and Universal employees were allowed to come shop there. Understand that this means people were being offered first access to exclusive, never-before-seen, limited edition merch created specifically for this theme park. If you're a Harry Potter fan, that's a BIG deal. So imagine how it felt to excitedly rush over to the shop for this special event, only to be told that because you're a "vendor" (i.e. third party employee), you are not considered a Universal employee, and won't be allowed to buy anything.

Several members of our cast are major HP fans, and so naturally, they were ticked. And frankly, I think they were right to be upset. It is obvious and expected that Universal employees will get perks above and beyond what third party vendors would receive. All of us understand that. But to flaunt that entitlement right in front of our faces today, by restricting us from the merch while Universal employees shopped right in front of us....I think you can see how this is tactless. They should have told us that we weren't included in this special event.

That experience left a sour taste in our mouths.
We were somewhat mollified, though, when we were instead offered the chance to taste-test some guest foods!

THE EATS
Restaurants in each "world" have rehearsals, too. They need to practice making the dishes, and wait staff need to practice greeting guests and reciting menu items and whatnot. And today we'd been rehearsing right outside Cafe Lair de la Siren, so we were invited in for an exclusive dining experience!


(artistic concept of Cafe Lair De La Siren, where we got to eat today. Image from discoveruniversal.com via Universal)

Aaaaaand I CAN'T SHARE ANYTHING ELSE WITH YOU! Arrrrrgh. I am sorry!

Suffice to say the restaurant was beautiful (looks just like the above!), the food was very good especially DESSERT, and guests are really going to enjoy how immersive every aspect of this park is :)

MORE DRAMA
After that some of us were thrown right into a rehearsal "show" for a crowd of Universal entertainment employees and management. The group that performed did an awesome job. Then another group of us was asked to perform for some actors passing through. That group included myself, Rick (clarinet) and Brian (trumpet). It must not have been our lucky day, because one of the guys forgot his line and didn't realize it, which caused the next guy to mess up HIS line and say one for a later part of the script. I was able to clumsily "rescue" us by riffing for a bit until I could spit out a line for the correct scene, but it shook us pretty good and we went through the rest of the show very tense and not doing a very good job.

Afterward our show director had us talk it out: what had happened, why it had happened, ways that we might recover from such, plus encouragement and recommendations for how to move forward with future runs. I felt pretty disheartened and negative about it for about 15 minutes, then my brain whispered, "Hey! You're NOT an actor whatsoever! Remember?" and through that thought I was able to give myself some grace. I'd simply done my best. Brian was also very down on himself about it, so after the coaching session I turned to him and said, "Well, I think that no one can call themselves an actor until they've had an experience like that!" He laughed, and I hope that bucked him up a bit. Because it's true, every actor has bombed a performance, just like every musician has bombed an audition. It's going to happen, so imo just cringe when it happens and then pick yourself up and move on.

At home I told Jameson about the unusually eventful day. I packed lunch but didn't practice, as Thursday has been delegated No Practice Day, thankyaverymuch. Instead I gave my trombone a bath and chilled online while Jameson gamed.

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Friday, and I was so glad but dreading rehearsal because we'd been told to spend the entire day not as ourselves, but as our characters. This meant speaking with their accents, physically doing their mannerisms, and not saying or doing anything that they wouldn't say.

METHOD ACTING
It was HARD.


I know that "real" actors do this all the time, in fact I've seen other acting groups doing it here already, as a group activity. At first I felt annoyed at having to do this, self-conscious and stupid...but then I sort of decided, ya know what, my character is essentially ME already, but with a French accent and without the goofy streak. She's sardonic, and sarcastic and dry, because after all she is FRENCH and also a 1920s female trombonist who has to be witty to survive. But she is also warm toward her fellow musicians, delighted by new things, and interested to hear what others have to say. With a foundational character in mind that IS rather close to my own personality, it became easier to BE HER all day.

Maintaining the new way of speaking for eight hours straight was difficult, and made my mouth tired! But when the show director called me by name ("Hey Megan, you're up next") I simply ignored him, or asked in a French accent who he was looking for, or if he had mistaken me for someone else. And he and I have already been snarking back and forth in general (we have a lot in common so get along well), so now I just did it with a French accent and with sayings that my character might use. It was easy, as I've had a lot of practice snarking at men :p He tried to trip me up and catch me as Myself several times throughout the day, but never once caught me being Me.

By the end of the day I was one of just two cast members who hadn't broken character all day, which is not really an accomplishment but it pleased me anyway. When the director said, "Ok, go home and have a great weekend!" I immediately popped back into Myself, yelled "WOOT, see ya later b*tches!" did a goofy dance and ran away, which got a big guffaw out of my peers. The show director said, "There's Megan! Where have you been all day?" :p :p

OTHER THINGS
Aside from "being our characters" all day, we did several runs with or without audiences just depending on who was walking by. I was very lucky because during my show a group from Celestial Park was walking through, and there were my friends Lea and Meka! Both are dancers/entertainers for that "world" and are also in rehearsal. When I was done I made sure to hug them both and catch up a bit. We didn't get much time but Lea was seeing Jameson later for drinks so certainly I'd get The Tea later.

The Ministry of Magic is really starting to come together around us. So much more signage and decor than there was last week, and all of the animatronics and "fantastic beasts" seemed to be going at once today, they are probably testing those extensively. We are also finally starting to see other Ministry of Magic performers actually in the park (up until now most groups have been rehearsing indoors) so that was very exciting, for us and for them!

(mooncalves being fed, Fantastic Beasts movies)

During my lunch break I saw that the drive to Whole Paycheck was just 12 minutes (in the evening it's 25-30) so I decided to get over there and buy the wings to save myself from fighting traffic at night. It was a good choice, and nice to just be able to go straight home after work today.

During a lull between run throughs our show director took us to the cafe and bought us each an ice cream or cookie, and thanked us for doing a great job, naming each of us and saying something positive about how each person has grown or improved over the past three weeks. He says that at this point he's very happy with the show, and for the final two weeks it'll just be touch-up stuff and minor changes. We are still waiting on props that we'll be using in the show, and probably more costume fittings, but the foundation of what this show will be has been established. That's very exciting, and I hope that we'll have a lot to look forward to after rehearsals are done.

I forgot to mention yesterday that the Ministry of Magic merch, and the general vibe, is AWESOME.
Of course I can't give details, but will say just this:

Think of the Roaring 20s fashions in Paris and America.
Then add a Wizarding World twist (robes, wands, fantastical creature patterns, etc).

Yep.



Back home I put the groceries away, played bass trombone for 30 minutes, typed this up, and tried to stay awake past 10pm. Jameson was out with Lea and we caught up when he got back home.

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Saturday I was up relatively early to return the bass trombone case to my friend Bill, who had repaired my bass when it showed up damaged over Christmas. I was supposed to bring him homemade caramels, but there has just not been enough time to make them due to the setting, cutting and wrapping that's required. He'll get them eventually, just not today. We chatted for a bit, just general trombone nerd stuff. Then I left and hit Publix for a few things, then back home to wolf down lunch and practice trombone.

Packed a bag and a meal and an outfit for Main Street Philharmonic rehearsal. I feel like I've neglected the music for this gig, and feel guilty about it. But it can't be helped with all that's going on.

In the evening I made air fryer wings and Jameson ordered a pizza. I did laundry, we watched The Traitors, he gamed.
I watched several episodes of From the New World(Shinsekai Yori) which is a criminally underrated anime that feels appropriate in these times.

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Sunday, Main Street Philharmonic rehearsal!

I was up early to eat brekky and pack meals for Monday since I likely won’t want to do that tonight. Drove to Disney and walked the Utilidors under the castle for the first time in a while.

I watched the band’s first set since they were doing the Classics Medley, which is one I struggle with.


Ate lunch and then practiced for the second set and parade (I did the parade last week,) then did the third set with the band. Chatted with the guys throughout the day and got all caught up on their doings.

I went out to watch them do flag retreat, and as they were finishing Jameson met me and we headed toward the castle.


We had three hours to kill before our reservation, so went on several rides and had some snacks to tie us over.

I’ll share what we did and how the Be Our Guest Restaurant was in the next post :)

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Monday through Thursday: more Epic Universe rehearsals. Practicing my Disney stuff a bit extra to make sure I’m prepared to sub for Keith on Sunday. Not much else!

A travel day. I had barely slept because drunks in the hallway again, but felt all right.

We got to the airport in the rain, unloaded, checked in, etc etc.
The first flight was bumpy enough that they couldn't give us refreshments, and I didn't handle it well because it was that horrible dropping sensation-type of turbulence which makes me nauseous very quickly and throws me directly into fight-or-flight mode. Still, it was a short flight and it wasn't THAT bad, mostly I just panicked and worked myself up. The second flight was better, and I was better, too.

At the Greensboro airport I shared my duplicate Delta trading cards with the two kid actors on our tour. They were super excited about them! And just at that moment, two pilots came through the terminal. I egged them: "Go ask for some cards!" They struggled nervously with their nerves for a moment, then got up the courage to ask and were rewarded with some cards. I've created new Delta fans :)


At the hotel, dropped the luggage and off to Whole Paycheck for groceries.
Upon returning to the hotel I pulled the fridge out a bit to adjust the temperature...AND ROACHES SCATTERED EVERYWHERE. OH MY GOD. And it wasn't adult roaches either, it was one adult and LOTS of baby roaches. NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE.

Evidence (TRIGGER WARNING: BUGS Here is video of a tiny juvenile German cockroach in my room, one of several. If you're only seeing adult cockroaches they probably just came in from outside. But if you're seeing the babies it's BAD, that's an infestation.)

I let the front desk know immediately and packed up my things because they WOULD be moving me to a new room. They did, and I checked it very carefully and did not find any cockroaches or signs of cockroaches. Now hopefully those babies didn't hitch a ride on my stuff to the new room -_-

Unpacking AGAIN was annoying, but whatever. This is a thing that can happen on tour.

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Tuesday, up early to finish the typing part of transcription. I will now be a Bad Person and wait to submit the job so that I can enjoy at least one transcription-free day FFS. I still have to review it for errors but will do that on Wednesday.

I also did laundry and spent a lot of time on hold with UPS trying to have a package forwarded from the hotel in NOLA (it arrived the day we checked out, AFTER we checked out) to the hotel upcoming in Indianapolis. Having packages forwarded remotely is the worst: do not recommend.

The hotel is far from the theatre so we have rental cars to get back and forth.
Greensboro's Tanger Center for the Performing Arts is another familiar one for me; I was just here earlier in the year with My Fair Lady. My phone automatically connected to the wifi :)

Before the show started I found the My Fair Lady wall tag, and my signature on it!



Nearby was the 2023 Grinch wall tag, and I found my friend Kyle's name there and sent him a pic.


I was once again given my own dressing room here. So fancy! I really do feel special for the privilege.
(Also, I tell the guys that they can come use it for a bit of privacy. I rarely use dressing rooms except to eat between shows.)


We can't see much from the pit in this theatre, but I remember it well because the ceiling looks like a UFO getting ready to beam up the audience.


Our show went just fine and was well attended. Afterward the pit was ringed by lots of people who stayed to hear us play the exit music, then applauded us! That was a really nice surprise :)

We had a random party tonight as well; some local donors had set aside money for it for some unknown reason. Whatever, I'll take free snacks and drinks! The finger food was very nice, meatballs and potstickers and zucchini fries, little mini cheesecakes and lemon bars, stuff like that. We each got two drink tickets to spend as well. I used just one of mine on a glass of wine and then spent pretty much the whole night talking with Todd, our trumpet 2 who is into astronomy and other nerdy stuff. I don't know much about it but it's way more interesting than trying to scream over a group of 20 actors about the latest backstage social dramas. We had a really good and engaging convo, and left around midnight. Overall a fun opening night!

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Wednesday, I was up late not surprisingly.

Jameson has been to the hand doctor today and will be going forward with hand surgery :( I am very worried for him, and am also very much hoping that I'll be there to help him recover post-surgery. I think it'll happen as I expect to be around from January on, and with the holidays coming up I'd think they wouldn't schedule it for this month.

My aunt texted to say she's gotten us reservations at a chicken & waffle place near the theatre for Saturday. Awesome! I'm very much looking forward to seeing her, and wish that we could have several days together instead of just several hours.

Anyway, spent a good chunk of the morning typing this post up and texting back and forth with Jameson and my aunt, then did my audio review of transcription which took about two hours. I had forgotten my practice mute so only played a little. It was pouring outside for most of the afternoon, so it turned into a Hot Tea And Movie Day, which was relaxing and rather needed.

The evening show was all right except Notion crashed partway through "Nobody Cares About Santa Claus," so it sounded wimpy.

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Thursday: Practicing Disney stuff, lunch at the China Buffet with some of the band guys, hopefully a thrift store. One evening show.

Friday: Turning in my transcription job and probably getting another. Hoping to go downtown for a bit before the show.

Saturday: Two shows and dinner with my aunt and uncle :)

Sunday: Two shows and peacing out. Next stop is Indianapolis.

Wednesday's hat:


Comfortable and fluffy. Just what I needed today.

Hat shop was normal. It was rather busy so we met our sales goal. I was annoyed because at the end of the night the keyholder was nitpicking how the hats looked on the shelves, so we didn't get out of there until nearly midnight (closed the store at 11pm.) But whatever, that's retail, and I have to accept that an employer who doesn't care how late I get home is just a part of life.

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Thursday, I got up an hour early so I could start reviewing my transcription project earlier. There was a LOT to do today plus a 7-hour hat shop shift.

Today's activities:

- Reviewed, edited, and submitted transcription project. It took two hours. Phew.
- Publix for pumpkins for carving tomorrow and cheap sushi for dinner
- Called my Aunt back (she'd called yesterday while I was at work) and caught up with her
- Impromptu final load of laundry so I could pack all of my clothes for tour
- Practiced and marked my book for Elf
- Measured ingredients for overnight crock pot oats and laid them out to assemble when I got home from work
- Chopped down dead banana trees
- Packed snacks and dinner for work
- More tour packing

My original firefly petunia, and cutting.


I think it may die before I leave :(
It got some kind of root rot or fungus, the cutting has it too, and nothing I do seems to help.
Oh well...it's been a fun and beautiful plant.

My large cutting, though, is currently doing very well though also suffering from being outside in temps above 85°F (29°C). I don't expect it to survive while I'm gone.So here it is while happy. I want to remember it like this.



A big swallowtail that was resting on my neighbor's banana.


Today's hat:


It was my last shift at the hat shop, and I couldn't decide which hat to wear.
I brought my own, a stegosaurus hat I'd gotten from Etsy one year. But was quickly told I wouldn't be allowed to wear it after too many guests asked where I'd gotten it.

This was probably the weirdest day I've ever had working retail.
( Hat Theft )

All of this DID make me calm down and feel better. But damn. What a way to end my two-month employment with Chapel Hats.

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I barely slept because I was worried about the overnight oats. I had assembled them right when I got home at midnight, but something troubled me about them. And then in the middle of the night I realized what it was: last time I made them, I'd set an alarm for 4am and had started them THEN. In other words, by starting them at midnight, I'd overcooked them :(

The good news is that they were still perfectly edible and flavorful. The bad news is that the fruits were overcooked and essentially became applesauce with very soft oats on top. To try and counteract this I got up at 7am to cut up a fresh apple, toast some pecans, and run to a gas station for a Nature Valley bar to crumble up (those f*ckers are super crunchy haha)

Adding crunchy items did help. I had mine over Greek yogurt.


I wanted to go back to sleep, but there was too much to do.

After breakfast I got to work on the pumpkin and seeds. A messy business as usual, but those seeds are so worth it!



I carved the orange pumpkin, put a Skellington face on the white, and put them outside with the squash that Kate sent me last week.


My carving is a derpy li'l guy!


Cleaning up from that took a while, then washing our bedsheets, putting them on the bed, and folding Jameson's laundry as a small surprise for him while he worked (it's his least favorite chore.) I also packed to 98% completion, cleaned up the guest bedroom, and put the sheets on the guest bedroom bed. I'd meant to weed out front but felt too tired.

Was glad to splat in front of the TV for a bit with Jameson. I will miss him while I'm away :(

I'm doing all this "extra" Fall Stuff because it's our only chance to do it before I leave.


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Saturday. Cannot believe that there's only one day left before I'm supposed to fly off.

To be completely honest...I have never felt so negative about going on tour before.

Usually I look forward to the freedom...being in places I've never been before, discovering foodie finds, networking with other musicians, playing a fun new show. I think this time is different because it's only a short two months. It feels less like an adventure and more like sacrificing the holidays so that I can make up some of the money I lost over the summer. Maybe once we get started it'll feel better about it, but right now I'm just anxious.

After Jameson left for a massage, I

- Cleaned both bathrooms including bathtub and shower
- Vacuumed
- Watched part of my step-Grandpa's funeral online (grateful that they thought to stream it for those of us who couldn't be there in person)
- Wiped down the kitchen
- 90-minute drive to Whole Paycheck for wings because I want to make them for Jameson one last time
- Dusted
- Weighed luggage
- Wrote out contact info, important dates, and plant care info for Jameson. I do this every time I go away.
- Weeded out front

I'd intended to practice a bit today too but was not feeling up to it. Considering I'm about to be in rehearsals every day for a week, I think it'll be ok. Famous last words.

Dinner was a pizza, air fryer wings, and a glass of wine. I feel so stressed haha :/

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Sunday, Jameson slept in for as long as he could. Overnight Jollywood rehearsals begin for him this week, and that's gonna be really hard on him.

I was up at the usual time for breakfast, and also to review travel info for tomorrow and my contract for the tour. Briefly researched the hotel and found that they've got free breakfast, hooray hooray. Because I hustled yesterday and got pretty much all of the cleaning done, today all I had on the docket was

- Descale hot water kettle
- Brief practice session
- Overnight oats for tomorrow's breakfast
- Water plants a final time
- Pack anything remaining to pack
- Put away anything remaining to be stored
- Give homemade caramels to our neighbors
- Neighborhood walk with Jameson

All of these things got done, and we had Pub Subs for dinner. I am nervous and excited for tour to start, and Jameson is nervous and excited for Jollywood. We're a mess but a good mess haha.

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Monday: Travel to Richmond, KY

Tuesday: First day of tech rehearsals for Elf

Wednesday: Hopefully, a special surprise involving chestnuts + tech rehearsals

Thursday: I think we'll already be in Wandelprobe, jeez

9am-11am:
After I'd completed my work, there was nothing to do but hunker down.

11:30am:
Jameson went out to siphon the pool off a bit, and our neighbors were outside doing the same.
Here are the menfolk chatting while they drain the pools, spliced image. Jameson left, Tom and Dan right.
We are lucky to have friendly, helpful, good neighbors.


12:40pm:
As they were wrapping it up, a curfew notice went out.


Jameson has been sick, plus working two jobs, and hasn't really had time to grocery shop. We have plenty of food (oats + protein powder + potable water = food for a month) but that's stuff *I* prefer to eat, not him. We decided to do one last-ditch attempt at getting some food (even though personally I have plenty, I want my sweetheart to be comfortable!)

We found out that Marco's pizza was still open, so placed an order. Then in case they couldn't complete the order I decided to venture out and see what was still open. All of the grocery stores in the area were closed except for Target, and this had resulted in the store at maximum capacity, with cops organizing people into lines to get in.

Here are the throngs of people standing miserably in the rain, waiting in line to get into Target.


Obviously I did not go in. This is why you absolutely do not wait until the last minute when a natural disaster is occuring.

Instead I popped into a Subway, but they were almost out of bread and there was a large family ahead of me. But just then Jameson texted to say we'd gotten the pizza, so I called it a success and went home.

2pm:
Back home as the pizza was cooling I had the bright idea to brew some coffee for coming days, in case there's no power. I only drink one cup each day, but without it I get a wicked caffeine headache. I also brought my thermal bag in from the garage and put it next to the fridge. If the power goes out and we end up having to throw things out, we can fill the bag with ice and ice packs and try to keep a small amount of food a little longer that way.

After that a local friend suggested putting on the E-brake in my car. I thought this was a good idea, opened the front door...and almost stepped on a big fat garter snake taking shelter on our doormat! He shot into the bushes, and I felt bad for having not checked before opening the door (ALWAYS check before opening the door in Florida, snakes and lizards and bugs and alligators could be on the porch or directly on the door.)

2pm-5pm:
Cracked open a High Moon and enjoyed that. We ate snacks, Jameson gamed and I typed and shared storm footage with my siblings. I had wanted to practice Disney music but as the wind picked up and several areas around us got tornado WARNINGS (that means a tornado is on the ground nearby), I felt on edge and couldn't really focus. Filled out some tour paperwork and did some doomscrolling about the storm.

5pm:
Pizza time! No issues with power so we heated our pizza and watched TV together.
We split the pumpkin spice whoopie pie that my sister sent us for dessert.
It occurred to me that I'm supposed to be giving notice at the hat shop tomorrow. Maybe I'll delay it an extra day or two.
Also, they still seem to expect everyone to be working tomorrow night. That seems rude.

7pm:
Here's what it was like outside at 7pm tonight.
(CLICK HERE to see)

Right now the storm has still not made landfall. That means it's 100+ miles away from us, and it's already this windy and rainy here. We are probably in for a long night; they're saying the eye is supposed to pass over/near us around 2am. I don't expect to get much sleep.

By the time you read this it'll be the last day of September.

I have many hopes for October, but cooler weather tops the list.

Thursday I was up at 7:30 to eat breakfast and prepare for a long work day in the midst of a Hurricane-Sort-Of.
The storm was a Cat 2 but still a long ways from landfall. It was rainy and windy this morning but that's not really a reason for businesses to close, you know? So after breakfast and packing up everything I'd need for the day I trundled off to Disney.

(image thefted from DisneyFood Blog)

The park was more or less fully open and it didn't even rain, it was just blustery. We did two sets and a full parade. I was grateful to get so much playing time :) The only accommodation that we made for the weather was removing the feather plumes from our hats to avoid having them blown off our heads.

I brought all of my transcription stuff and was able to access Disney wifi. I didn't get a lot done but did set up all of my cover pages. This was more of an experiment to see if I COULD do this work here, and I can!

Our third set was canceled because at that point there were wind gusts above 30mph (48kmh) and while the trumpets and trombones can weather that, sousaphones and drums not so much :/ I used the extra time to take a shower under the castle so I'd be somewhat refreshed before my hat shop shift. Hurricane Helene was now a Cat 3, but nothing here in Orlando was closed. It was pretty clear that the storm wouldn't be reaching us, just some of the outer bands.

Today's hat:


I took this picture as I was clocking out to go home. There were a lot more people out and about than I expected in this weather...but who wants to buy a hat during a hurricane? As a result I was sent home early, at 9pm instead of 11pm. So ultimately the hurricane only cost me two hours of a 12-hour work day. Which says a lot about how concerned Central Florida felt about this hurricane (not at all.)

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It was wind and rain all night, but nothing worse than that. In the morning I was up before Jameson and went out on the lanai to see if there were any screens missing. Not only was nothing damaged, even my sad broken banana tree was still standing, complete with fruit.

And then I saw this little fellow clinging to our lanai screen! Finger for scale. Google says he is a baby box turtle, but I think Google is wrong and that it's a striped mud turtle.


More pictures of his face and tummy and shell. He is so cute!!



Not sure how he got up onto the screen. Maybe he was blown by the storm, or climbed to avoid a predator. After admiring him I let him go among some mulch where I thought he'd be well camouflaged while he made his escape. When I went back later to see if he was still there, he was gone. Either he's pretty speedy or a predator got him after all.

I fertilized the petunia and had breakfast, then did transcription for an hour or so. Ate lunch and drove aaaallll the way out to Apple at Millenia Mall to see if they could either fix or replace my phone.

The store was insanely busy. See THIS video to get a taste of what my day was like, and what it's like to shop ANYWHERE in a tourist/hospitality city. The video was taken during "the holidays" but this is exactly how busy it was today.

Anyway, I had to wait for someone to become available in that noisy, crowded store. 30 minutes after my appointment time a young man came around to help me out. Without hesitation he picked up my phone, turned it on it's side, and pointed to the edge where the screen meets the metal body. The screen was bulging outward ever so slightly (like this.) Because my phone is always in it's case, I hadn't even noticed.

"Your battery is swollen," he said.
WOW I felt stupid for not having seen it!

But I also felt angry at Best Buy all over again (see bottom of previous post). This was a problem you could SEE, and those f*ckers hadn't even bothered to look! How they get to call themselves "Apple authorized" is beyond me.

I texted Jameson to say that my phone was in repair and I'd be unreachable, then handed my Literal Connection To All Things In This World to the associate and wandered off into the mall in "analog mode." I hadn't brought any other devices: no extra phone, no smart watch, no ipad or tablet or laptop. Nothing. It was me and my water bottle.

The main thing that shocked me, out here in Analog Mode, was realizing that there are no clocks, anywhere. I did two laps of the mall, both floors, and did not see one public wall clock, not even on the LED directory screens.

The other exasperating realization was that without my phone, I had nothing to DO. I should've at least thought to bring a physical book for f*ck's sake. As I walked I noticed an elderly man reading a real paper newspaper, and felt actively jealous!

But you know what? Other than an occasional pang of anxiety at the thought of someone needing to reach me and being unable to, being without my phone was actually quite nice. I walked at random and looked at stuff. I felt no pressure to post or share. I sat and openly people-watched, because everyone was, of course, on their phones, and so no one NOTICED that I was people-watching.

As an 80's kid, of course I remember growing up without technology. And also the gradual, decades-long timeline of becoming more and more dependent on technology. All the way up to today, when being without my phone for a mere 60 minutes forced me to realize how much I rely on it for REALLY important things, like staying in touch with family or getting directions to or from a place. Or checking the damn time!

When my internal clock piped up ("It's probably been about an hour, right?") I went back to the Apple store and gave one of their display iPads a poke. It told me that indeed, my internal clock was right and I'd killed 50 minutes. I queued back up with my repair ticket, retrieved my Literal Connection To All Things In This World, and checked my texts. Thus ended 60 minutes of phonelessness.

I stopped by Total Wines to see if they had a certain rum that Jameson likes (they didn't) and had a snack from a nearby Thai place, then drove home through rush hour traffic. The whole thing took about four hours, two of which were the drive. Sigh.

Back home I swept hurricane debris from the driveway, emptied the dishwasher, had dinner, and received an email from NETworks asking me to download a specific app which they use to send ALL tour information. See, SEE how integral phones are? Without my phone/this app, I couldn't see my coworkers' contact info, the rehearsal schedule, the travel schedule, the hotel bookings, and loads of other extremely important information that I need to do my job. Isn't that crazy when you stop to think about it?

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Saturday I got up early to get bagels from my favorite shop. While waiting for Jameson to wake up I did a little transcription, then switched to tromboning because it was bugging me that I haven't practiced Elf in like a week. After that back to transcription.

I'd meant to cook dinner but wasn't feeling it, so we had Chuy's taco salads.
After dinner I worked on my Foodie Finds for Elf, now that we've got the hotel info that gives me more context.

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Sunday, I was up early to do transcription, pack work snacks, and make overnight oats for tomorrow before Jameson was up. Once he was up I'd planned to switch to practicing trombone, but changed my mind and just stuck with transcription for the morning. By noon I had only 30 minutes of the two hours of audio remaining, which I think is good considering the thing isn't due until Saturday. My goal in getting the extra processing time (aside from feeling stressed) was to have time to listen to the WHOLE case a second time and check it for errors. I won't always be able to do that, and figure if I do it at least once I'm bound to learn things and find mistakes which I can try to remember for future cases.

Anyway, lunch and then tromboning and getting dressed for work.

Today's hat will be in the next post since I've got the closing shift at the hat shop tonight.

In closing, have a firefly petunia pic from a few nights ago.
I'm starting to feel stressed about moving it outside, and wish it would just get below 90°F outside ffs!!


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Monday: Finishing the transcription, trombone practice, cooking dinner.

Tuesday: Hopefully reviewing my work + trombone practice + night shift at the hat shop.

Wednesday: Submitting my transcription job + tromboning and getting some kind of exercise I hope.

Thursday: Night shift at the hat shop.

On Thursday, the Minick finally reached James!

( More Nerdy Trombone Stuff )

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The stress of knowing I'll be out of work soon makes working feels like wading through mud. I guess this is like "task paralysis"...a hopelessness that the work I'm doing is no longer relevant, and I'm going to be fired...and shouldn't I be looking for more jobs instead of working, or catching up on chores...I end up feeling overwhelmed, and fail to do anything at all. Well I'm still doing things but a lot slower than usual.

Case in point: I paid Jameson for the toilets, vacuumed, took some salmon out to thaw, weeded the backyard, practiced, got ingredients for dinner, applied to jobs, did more work for as long as I could stand it, and made us sous vide salmon with lemon asparagus orzo for dinner.

And somewhere in there, I got a termination email.

Welp! I should be used to getting thrown out like a used rag by now, it happens often enough. The good news is that I have an interview with a kennel on Disney property tomorrow morning (I've worked there before between jobs) and that pays the same as the data entry job, it'll just be a lot more physically demanding. In a last-ditch effort to find higher pay, I'll ask to delay my start at the kennel by about a week. But after that it's time to face the music and get sweaty and dirty with some dogs. The dogs I don't mind, actually, it's their human owners who are the worst.

Anyway that's that.
My dad's soul is smiling, wherever it is, to see me in this situation. It always seemed to please him when I fell short.

Jameson has been in an awful mood all day and I don't really know how to alleviate it. He's out with friends as I type this, which is probably good to give him a distraction and get him away from his leech of a girlfriend. I spent the time waiting for someone supposedly from a local company to call for a phone interview; it's been at least 30 minutes since he said "I can call you right now," so I imagine this is another letdown. Isn't job hunting fun!

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

ETA: I was woken at midnight to a text from my Main Street Phil boss: could I come in tomorrow?

I had a moment of panic because my job interview is at 10am, but it should be easy to reschedule. But also...do you see, these last-minute calls are why I'm in a catch-22 with jobs. I need something very flexible so that I can continue to accept jobs with Disney. But I also can't afford to be so picky right now.

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I didn't get to sleep until 2am because that's when Jameson got home and I was frankly worried sick. He was with friends and all that but he rarely comes home that late, and he was in just such a dark mood yesterday :( He seemed to have perked up a bit when he came home last night so that was a relief. But still, I only got about four hours of sleep last night ahead of a full Disney day.

The hiring manager for the kennel agreed to let me change my interview date/time, which was a relief.
I threw a bag lunch together, had breakfast, typed up more of this blog, and was off.
At 8am it was 80°F with a "real feel" of 91°F, and the heat index today got up to 106. I hate Florida.

But I enjoy playing in the park, and REALLY enjoyed playing my new trombone! It is wonderful, sounds great and is perfect for me. By the end of the day I felt much more comfortable with it and am looking forward to playing it more.

This footage is not from yesterday but I just found it: one of the only two times I've done the Frozen Medley in the park! Glad someone caught it so I can see what parts of the choreo I need to fix haha.


One fun thing that happened today was a "shortened" parade, which the guys called a "dog bone."
I think they call it this because of the shape of the shortened parade route, which is a "C" in front of the castle, a straight shot down Main Street, then another "C" in the square/train station area, which when you think about it is like a dog bone shape!

Anyway "shortened" is in quotes because we walked 1/2 mile in the 106-degree heat to the head of the parade...and then found out our equipment cart was broken down (it hauls all of the percussion and the sousas.) We then had to walk 1/2 mile BACK to the gate where we usually enter the park for sets, and that's where we started the parade. So it wasn't "shorter" by any means, the parade route may have been shorter but it was definitely more walking!

Anyway it was a good, if exceedingly hot, day, and right now I am extremely grateful for any time in the park at all. I don't know what will happen with my professional life this year and going forward, but to have just ONE place where I can musically be myself is a great gift.

Back home I caught up with Jameson, who was in a much better mood having put up some really awesome new lighting in his studio. We had a quiet night, both of us were tired from not getting any sleep the evening before.

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Sunday I was up at 8:30am which made me feel guilty and wrong. I should be out scouring for jobs, shouldn't I?
But even in this secular day and age, a lot of companies simply don't post job openings on Sundays.

I typed this post up, applied for what I could, and had a good long practice session in which I switched the slides and bells of the two Williams trombones (a fun thing to do when you have horns made by the same manufacturer!) I'd go into detail about the differences in sound and blah blah but suspect y'all won't care.

Completed my Uber Eats profile and activated it, so now food delivery is an option for me too.
I think I'd actually LOVE working on Instacart, but there's a waiting list.
And I booked myself a Papa Pal service. Just one but I'm trying to take things slow to start, and give myself that one week for some perfect opportunity to present itself.

What I am thinking now is that I could really just dive into gig work. The hours/pay may not be consistent, but I'd have a lot more schedule flexibility. The problem with a traditional job is, if I want to keep doing on-call for the Main Street Philharmonic, I have to be able to call out on short notice and most employers very understandably will not be cool with that. Anyway, as I've said, giving myself a week to figure out the best options.

Some foodie things from today:

I made deviled eggs with some of the eggs Pat gave me from his chickens. Half of them have a "bullseye" of hot sauce :)


For dinner we ordered from our favorite local Greek restaurant. Every time I go pick up the food there are new evil temptations hanging out on the counter. Today it was these baklava absolutely SLATHERED in dulce de leche (there were chocolate-slathered ones too.)


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I'm not feeling so hot tonight and hope I'm not coming down with something. It's likely just being stressed as my job came to an end, and then not getting much sleep lately. Tomorrow's plan is to hit Whole Paycheck for dinner ingredients (air fryer coconut shrimp), apply for more jobs, practice, and cook. Tuesday I have the kennel interview, Thursday is my Papa Pal service, Friday is a job fair, and Saturday is my last scheduled Disney day.

Welp!

Once again it looks like I'm about to be unemployed.

A few days ago our workplace surprised us with an announcement that we'd be training an AI...very obviously to take over our jobs. So I did all that I could including

- Started aggressively applying for work elsewhere
- Continued doing as much work as I could at the existing job
- Signed up for all sorts of gig economy apps in preparation for unemployment
- Kept a careful eye on the company chats

Last night it was announced that there will be a "restructuring." Part of this will be the creation of eight full-time AI Quality Control Specialist positions...to replace the part-time Account Editor jobs (myself and my coworkers.) They are going to interview for the eight available positions this week, make their choices, and start their eight people on Monday.

I have to assume that this means if I'm not one of the few selected for full-time work, I'll be out of a job after the weekend.

So, if any of you have ideas for jobs--either remote or in/near Four Corners, Kissimmee, Clermont, or Orlando in Florida--I'd appreciate your suggestions.

Things that I'm already trying:

- Instacart (waitlisted)
- Doordash (waitlisted)
- Uber Eats (waitlisted)
- Amazon Flex (waitlisted)

- Papa Pal (Am already on their roster and will pick up work when it's available)
- Prolific (Already doing this, it only brings in pocket money at most)
- I have a Notary Public license that has thus far proved useless.

- Grocery stores (all including Target, Walmart, Publix, ALDI, Sprouts, Whole Paycheck, etc)
- Remote and in person data entry, admin, office
- Kennels and pet boarding, including previous workplaces
- All non-Disney theme parks, whatever jobs are available
- Government jobs for my local City/County, and attending a job fair next Friday for this as well
- Retail sales jobs that are not commission-based
- Checking tour, venue, and music-related sites for jobs (including local theaters, sports arenas, etc)
- Checking museums, tourist attractions, zoos, etc.
- I've applied to and passed several employment evaluations for transcription companies and have never once been actually called to do transcription, so please don't suggest this, I'm not going to waste time on it any more if there's no work in this field to be had.

...and I've applied for the existing position at my current job.

Things that I'm NOT doing right now:

- Waitressing/restaurants, because the pay is horrific + it's a massive energy suck, so I'm trying to avoid until I can't any more.
- Teaching music. I have a master's degree but absolutely zero teaching experience or background, this was never what I wanted to do with the degree or my life so please don't suggest this one.
- Overnight/3rd shift jobs. I will start applying to these if I have to but we're not at that point yet.
- Rideshare (Uber, Lyft): This would be a good option if I did not live in Orlando or if I lived anywhere near the airport. I may reconsider this later on if none of the food delivery options work out.
- Recertifying in something, out of my own pocket. If you would like to pay for my recertification by all means, PM me and we can set up a PayPal or Zelle deposit.

That's all I can think of for now. If anyone has suggestions to add to what I'm already doing, I'll listen and promise not to snark (for as long as I can, so until eighteen of you come to the comments to tell me I should be teaching.)

Also, if you have suggestions for things that a person who enjoys data entry might recertify in, that doesn't cost a fortune or years to qualify for and is not likely to be replaced by AI in the next five years, I'm all ears for that as well.

**This is a long post and if you're reading this in a Friends Feed/on DW there is a cut for the 88 Marketplace part.**

I woke to thunderstorms early Thursday morning. I'd planned to get up early and do grocery errands anyway, but was hoping the rain might let up by the time I was ready to head out.

It did, so I walked back to Eataly to get another bag of mezzaluna for the band, choosing a pistachio-filled bag this time. Also got them a bag of soft fruit gummies (texture similar to Sunkist Fruit Gems.) Then since Whole Paycheck was nearby I walked there and spent the rest of a gift card on supplementary veggies and proteins for the weekend.

Back at the hotel I got dressed in my only nice outfit to go to Jinsei Motto, then walked to the theatre to drop off the treats at the pit, then walked to the restaurant. It was small and not very busy, just a few people sitting at the bar. I was seated right away, and was the only person there for the lunch omakase...so it felt VERY exclusive.

On the way in you could see the dry-aging cabinet, with beautiful tuna steaks waiting to be sliced.


Here's the menu so you can follow along with me! Things with asterisks were for the premium option, which I did not take because I didn't think I could eat that much today.


I chose a glass of Amabuki black rice sake, which not only had a lovely rose color but also a fruity, floral, and nutty flavor.


The first five nigiri, served to me one by one by the chef:
- Sea bream with citrus and sea salt


- Ora king salmon, aged 8 days, with fresh grated ginger
- Ora king salmon, aged 8 days, seared, with marinade and chives


- "Hiramasa" kingfish, with a mildy spicy and citrus-y seasoning (I forget what the chef called it but it was awesome)
- "Kanpachi" amberjack with grated cucumber and sesame


The chef handed me each piece individually immediately after making them, and I had a moist towelette in a bowl to wipe my fingertips after each piece. I asked if photos were OK and he was totally cool with it. The vibe was very chill, probably because it was dead in there; the servers came over to chat, and we all ended up talking about where we were from, traveling, the commute for them today in the rain (my chef rode his bike 20 miles, in the wet cold!!), all sorts of things. I asked some questions about each piece of nigiri, or commented on the flavors (for example I'd never had aged fish before and exclaimed over how rich and smooth the texture was.)

The next five pieces:

- "Hotate" scallop with black volcanic salt and lime zest. Scallops are one of few foods that I consistently do not like, but I didn't say anything because I've never had RAW scallops, and wanted to give myself a chance to like it. And I did! It had a smooth, soft texture and the flavors of lime and earthy salt were incredible. The reason I hate cooked scallops is because they have a texture like greasy, nasty meat gristle. This was NOTHING like that.


- "Akami" lean bluefin tuna with morel mushroom
- "Chutoro" medium-fatty tuna with fresh ginger


- "Unagi" grilled eel with fried shallot. I love grilled eel and this was fire-grilled, so it was wonderfully crunchy and smoky.
- "Tamago" sweet Japanese omelette with honey


Each bite was perfect; not the huge nigiri that you get at a typical restaurant, but a perfectly mouth-sized bite that I didn't have to unhinge my jaw to eat. You're supposed to pop each one in your mouth whole, and I had no trouble doing that. I felt perfectly full after ten pieces, the kind of full where you feel refreshed and energized, not tired.

The sake was absolutely wonderful and went well with each piece of fish no matter what kind it was.
And the simple citrus, herbal, salt, and spice seasonings on each nigiri were so delicate, balanced, and enhanced the unique flavor of each piece of seafood. This truly was an experience!

My favorite bites were the seared aged salmon, and the scallop. The aging process made the fish rich and smooth, and actually made it less briny/fishy somehow. I was amazed at what a difference it made to the flavor and texture of salmon. And in addition to being happy to discover that I enjoy raw scallop, the lime and volcanic salt were such a unique flavor combo and I absolutely loved it.

In closing, this adorable tiny nigiri and green tea that were hiding in the corner near my seat. Cute little hidden art, I see you!


I thanked everyone and left a large tip (there was only $7 left on the gift card after a 25% tip and it was so slow, I felt they should have it)
I walked back to the hotel where I relaxed, typed this up, watched anime, and waited for my laundry to be returned (it was dropped off right at 5pm!)

The evening show was good, we had a guest in the pit who had formerly been an MD for some production of Cats. OF COURSE I messed up my small trombone solo while we have a visiting MD. Of f*cking course! I was so annoyed with myself. During intermission I was huffy backstage, and suddenly a local stagehand popped out of the Trap Room and gestured for me to "come here." I did, and she handed me this small magnet:


Wow! It's....exactly what I needed. Thank you Mysterious Trap Room Woman.
Sometimes I think the universe just GETS me.

After the show there was a meet-and-greet at a nearby bar with the cast/crew of Pretty Woman, another Crossroads show that's playing a theatre right next to ours this week. Their show ended first, but for some reason we all got there before them?? Eileen (French horn) and I went together, did not drink alcohol, and agreed to leave by 11pm at the latest, neither of us being interested in such a crowded noisy scene.

I almost got a Coke but then Eileen said something about a Shirley Temple, and it brought back memories from childhood. My mom was like me in that she never had a good, secure, high-paying job. After my parents got divorced, she worked at the nice bed-and-breakfast in our small town as a server. Sometimes I'd be dropped off at the restaurant for our visitation, and she'd have me wait in a small lounge/bar area while she finished her shift (the bartender would be preparing to OPEN the bar for the evening so no patrons were ever there.) I'd sit quietly at the bar and read a book, and the bartender would give me a small Shirley Temple sometimes.

I haven't had one since then. Until now.


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Friday, oh my goodness. Jameson's Disney interview was at 10am, 9am my time!!
I got up at 7am not only for that, but to get ready for a day in Chinatown!

Ate breakfast and wished Jameson luck, making sure to completely leave him alone when 10am rolled around.
Walked to the subway(?) train(?) and took the Orange line to near-Chinatown, then walked the last mile or so to reach 88 Marketplace as it's not in Chinatown proper.

I won't waste space here on what the building looks like; it's very unassuming and you can look it up online if you're curious. The basement level is a housewares store that didn't open until 10. The level above that is some restaurants (bubble tea, hot pot, etc) and a knick-knacks and souvenir shop, and some Japanese-style vending and gashapon machines. Then you go up an escalator to reach the grocery and the food court.

Forgive me, I didn't take many pictures of the food court. I avoided it, to thus avoid temptation. But they had a bakery with everything you'd see in any Asian bakery (sweet bean buns, custard buns, pork floss buns, mochi donuts, etc); a chilled dessert area with custards and roll cakes and puddings; a seafood and sushi bar; a street food stand; a BBQ/Peking duck stand; a hot pot/noodle stand; a liquor store; and probably other stuff that I'm forgetting or didn't see.

It was a normal Asian grocery, but with a LOT of product. I was in shelf-shock for a while, and spent the first 30 minutes in the front of the store walking dazed through rows and rows and rows of snacks, candies, cookies, pastries, crackers, tea cakes, jellies, chocolates, noodles, sodas, teas...you get the idea.



They even had an island dedicated to Disney snacks!! Like, ASIAN Disney snacks!!


The produce was behind all of the snacky things. Their produce was nice, but there was not the selection you'd see at a large 99 Ranch or H-Mart. This store seems more focused on shelf-stable goods. That said, what produce they had was fresh and lovely, and there were big meat and seafood counters in the back of the store against the walls, and of course dairy and eggs and all that.



I didn't go to aisles where I knew I wouldn't be able to get anything: the freezer aisle, sauce aisle, canned/pickled things aisle, etc. No point torturing myself. Plus, most of what I wanted to get was souvenirs for family. So like a typical Caucasian tourist I wove up and down the aisles of snacks, shelf stable goods, teas, and drinks to find gifts to send to people I care about.

I like to look for interesting food items that I've never seen before. Here are some:

Dragon fruit noodles! Dragon fruit doesn't have much flavor, so I wonder if it's added just for color.


A huge sheet of dried squid. Most Asian grocery stores have dried squid but I've never seen a PLANK like this.


This porridge looks colorful, I wonder what it tastes like!


A bag of premium kumquat, each one individually wrapped, and much larger than those I've seen in American stores. Look at the price...ouch!


A peach drink with chunks of real peaches inside. I especially like the design on the bottle, which is reminiscent of the foam netting that is wrapped around fruit for transport.


Chicken floss meat buns. Perhaps if you've never encountered Asian "meat floss" before, you're thinking, "GROSS!" But let me tell you: pork floss is DELICIOUS. It's sweet and savory, crispy and also melts in your mouth. So I did buy a box of these. The nutrition was good, and I wanted to give it a try.


Ok NOW we're getting weird. "Explosive Juice Cakes." What on earth...? I didn't look at the ingredients but found out later they're usually filled with a lining of mochi + some sort of fruit or nut paste. So they're probably pretty good.


Sometimes things get lost in translation, and it's good to avoid judging (certainly a laugh is justified here, but to make a scene or curl your nose over another culture's food, out of your own ignorance...that's what's GROSS.)

I found this drink on an endcap and was intrigued by what looked like a big olive-shaped black seed inside, and a whitish filament or fungus running through the whole drink. Reminded me of the bird nest beverage that I tried at another grocery. But my translation app wouldn't tell me what this was, so I didn't get it this time. More research needed.


Fully cooked duck heads, ready-to-eat! There was a whole series of fully cooked meats from this company which included whole chickens, other parts of the duck (neck, breast, etc), beef tripe, pork belly and loins and ears, chicken feet, etc. All were stamped "Product of USA." I looked for one that I might be able to buy but in general the portions were too big for just me, and the sodium too high.


While I was shopping Jameson texted to say his interview was over, that they'd asked many of the same questions over again, and that they'd be in touch for the third interview (which, I wonder if that's where they make a job offer?) He said he felt kind of "down" or disheartened afterward...but we talked about it and figured it's probably because he had TWO WEEKS of lead-up time to stress and speculate and make a bigger deal out of it in his head...and then it ended up being just a normal interview that was over in like 15 minutes. And it perhaps felt sudden, or discouragingly short. I don't know. The point is, he got through it well, and hopefully the only thing left to do is get the verdict. Personally, I was glad the actual interview wasn't nearly as stressful as the hype he'd built up for himself.

I killed an additional 30 minutes retracing my steps in the snack aisle, putting a few things back (Orange-flavored Kit-Kats because you can order them online) and picking up different things that I hadn't noticed on the initial "aisle shock" part of shopping. At checkout, I was shocked that I'd only spent $75!! That's about a third of what I spent at Eataly.

Here is what I ended up with for myself:


- Chicken floss buns: These were SWEET, which was strange, but they weren't bad. Michael (assistant MD, keys) says they taste just like a chicken pot pie without any vegetables.


- Pumpkin corn porridge: Delicious. A thin soup with sweet corn, chunks of orange squash, kidney beans, and rice. It was sweet but not overly so (probably had some artificial sweetener.) I'd eat it again.


- Grapefruit Jasmine tea: The flavor was wonderful, floral and citrus, but it was WAY too sweet. There was some sugar but mostly Stevia (I couldn't read the label but it was clearly Stevia.)
- Hawthorne soda: This was very good! And no artificial sweeteners either. It tasted a lot like sorrel drink.
- Soy milk banana boba: Trying this on Monday
- Scallop and soy sauce Pretz: These were really good, because how do you distinguish scallop-flavor from any seafood flavor? So it was fish and soy-flavored delicate tiny pretzel sticks. Really tasty :)
- Dried sea bass snack: I finally have to admit that I'm done buying Asian jerkied fish. It always tastes good...but it is RANK. I could smell this sealed across the hotel room. It tasted good, very very very fishy, mildly sweet and spicy and salty. But no more jerkied/dried fish. It is just so stinky that once the package is opened it's overwhelmingly fishy and stinks up the whole room.
- Hi-Chew premium melon gummies: These were a creamy cantaloupe flavor, very good indeed. They do have milk powder so I have to be careful eating them but it's worth it. Texture is still just like a regular Hi-Chew lol.
- Melon-flavored toothpaste: Will try this at some point in the future when my current toothpaste runs out.
- Fig-flavored Oreos: Yummy! They taste like Oreos, what's not to love. Can't really taste the fig, the chocolate cookie overwhelms the cream.
- Sakura(?) gum: Strongly tastes of cherry, and the flavor lasts a surprising time. I added a piece or two to my family gift bags.

Here's what I got for family:


- Scallion radish rice cakes: These were awesome! They were sweet and savory umami, absolutely delicious. Glad I didn't shun them because the flavors sounded a little weird, these are so good that I'd love to get them again just for me!
- Brown sugar twists: Really good, super hard/crunchy twisted dough brushed with a brown sugar glaze. They are not overly sweet, would be really good with tea.
- Mango gummies/jellies: Did not try these but I've heard they're really good!
- Egg yolk crackers: Loved these too! They're delicate and addictive, umami but leaning more salty than sweet, with a beautiful crisp texture. I could easily eat a big bag of these.
- Plum drink (herbal tea): Didn't try, will wait for family reviews.
- Tom & Jerry “cheese” gummies for the kids (These do indeed seem to be cheese-flavored! Did not try)
- “Lottery” mystery assorted candies for the kids (did not try)
- S’mores kits for the kids (Did not try)

These items may seem less generous than what I got myself, but remember that my family is also getting treats from Eataly which were far more expensive and which I did NOT buy for myself. Also, I didn't buy them drinks or jars of things because heavy items cost more to ship, bottles can break or leak, and larger items means a larger box and more difficulty packing. Sorry to be selfish but judge away because I could also choose not to send anything at all.

I went back downstairs to the basement to check out the homewares store, and so glad I did! Asian homewares are aesthetically pleasing, functional, and CHEAP. There was so much that I wanted to get!


In the back was a big section of hair accessories, and another for stationery, both of which were SO TEMPTING. I badly wanted to get adorable barrettes for Kayle's girls! But I felt shy to try and guess what they might like. Avoided the stationery too because I'd definitely want some sort of lovely expensive pen or notepad...nope, don't even look! I did pick up one can-shaped tupperware with a sealing lid. I had an American tupperware version at the start of tour but it broke pretty quickly; the Asian ones are made from a less brittle plastic so I'm hoping it'll last longer.

After two hours of going up and down aisles and picking and choosing I was tired and hungry. I walked 1/2 mile to MCCB (Modern Chinese Cook Book) in Chinatown proper, where I had hoped to get a whole grilled tilapia with a savory, peppery pork and vegetable sauce. But the server deterred me from that because each fish is two pounds!! That's enough for 4-5 people! I asked if there was anything he'd recommend for one person, and he kind of cringed. I asked about another fish dish, which he said was "somewhat better" size-wise, so I ordered it.

I also got an order of spicy pork dumplings, which is one of the items they're famous for. These were absolutely incredible. They were spicy but not overly so, the seasoning was perfect, the meat inside was juicy, the wrapper was SO delicate and lightly chewy. DAMN.


I ate four of those and packed the rest to take home (ate them for dinner.)

My entree was this HUGE bowl of Sichuan peppercorn tilapia with bok choy, bean sprouts, celery, woodear mushrooms, misc peppers and chilis, cilantro, garlic, other herbs and spices, and a little bowl of rice on the side.


I had never had Sichuan peppercorn before, but have heard that it causes a "tingling and numbing" sensation. My first bite felt like I had licked a battery! I'm sure my eyes must have bugged out with surprise. It felt like an electric current in my tongue and throat, or like pop rocks with warm heat like you get from ginger. Apparently there is a compound in Sichuan peppers that triggers a nerve reaction, and that's what causes the sensation, not the actual "spiciness." Interesting!!

And in addition to the sensation, the food was DELICIOUS. It was a light and tangy broth with a hint of pickled things and citrus. The mushrooms were chewy and wonderful, the fish tender and melt-in-your-mouth flaky and soft. It was herbal and tingly and flavorful; I ate more than intended and enjoyed it very much.

The server packed up my leftovers in a massive tupperware (I looked around and everyone had massive servings whether eating alone or in a group, so I guess that's just how this place is) and I struggled out the door with my bags of souvenirs and still-steaming food. I'd intended to stop at Chiu Quon Bakery, the oldest bakery in Chicago's Chinatown, but my phone battery was dying and I was already at my limit for what I could carry. You can get a good steamed bun anywhere, right?

Rode the train back to the hotel and crashed, then took some time to separate out the souvenirs and try a few.
It was a huge privilege to spend the day in this supermarket, and eat Sichuan food for the first time in Chicago's Chinatown.
Soon tour will be over, so I'm appreciating these moments and experiences even more than usual.

The evening show was...ok. A lot of things went wrong. I'll probably do a Friends Only post about it. We got through it all right, but all of us went to bed hoping that Saturday will not be as stressful as Friday was.

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Saturday I was extra-tired and slept extra-long. Stomping around Chinatown will do that to ya.

I should have gotten up early to get my gift boxes shipped, but was so tired and we had two shows to do. So I had a slow morning instead, and posted in our company chat about needing a small box or two...and someone actually did give me one, complete with bubble wrap inside! My hero! It'll save me buying a box anyway.

Both shows were all right. Between shows I ate leftover "tingly fish" lol. There was so much, I brought the rest to the theatre and offered it to people. No one else wanted any :(

I can't think of anything special that happened, except that after the second show we had St. Patrick's-themed SNOTS (Acronym for Saturday Night [something] Theater Shots) which were green jello shots with a bit of whipped cream and a gummy rainbow on top. I didn't take one but they looked cute!

Also, the river was dyed green! It was chaos downtown, tourists everywhere, so I didn't even try to go see it (the river is the opposite direction of the theatre) but our drummer got a short clip (I stole a screenshot so her text is on the image, sorry):


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Sunday I got up early because after trolling around online, I'd found one single UPS store that was supposedly open on Sunday!! I packed up all of my souvenirs and got there...and they were closed. ARGH.

But! As I was googling around to see if any other options at all were available, the lights came on and a woman unlocked the door. She'd been caught in the Saint Patrick's chaos and was running late, that's all. Lucky! Because I ship very often with UPS all of my addresses are stored in their system, so it took no time at all to get everything labeled and added to the outgoing pile. Nice! One less chore for the Golden Day.

Instead of going back to the hotel I found a local bagel place but there was a line around the block(!) so I went to Gotham Bagels instead (a chain but a small one and they make their own bagels in-house.) Got my Travel Bagel for Tuesday, and got my steps in for today.

We had our last show at 1pm. The streets were a lot quieter than they'd been on Saturday; I think a lot of people need to fly home today. We had a good audience. After the show I snuck the souvenirs for Kayle's family and Raven into my mute bag, and brought my mutes to the hotel with me to go in my luggage. They're bulky but a lot lighter than the souvenirs; this is all about luggage weight for the flight out of Chicago. When we get to Amarillo I'll swap everything back to normal.

And then...blessed NOTHING. Nothing to do this evening, nowhere to be.
I showered, put on pajamas, made a cup of hot tea, ate dinner eventually, watched Seven Deadly Sins.

Ah...the joy of introversion.

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It is now exactly one month until the end of this tour.

As always when this happens (what a blessing, to be able to say that!) I am wondering what happens next.
Will I get to go on another tour? Will I go back to the nursing home job? Will I be able to find full time work this time?

Tomorrow is our Golden Day. I was going to visit a museum but may instead make it a lazy, restful day because next week in Albuquerque I won't have a single day to myself for the whole week (family visiting and local friends too.) I'll do laundry, and maybe it's late enough to start applying for jobs. For dinner I want to get omurice with Laura (drummer.) If I feel up for an adventure I'll have one, but the truth is I've been to Chicago many times and have done quite a lot here over the years! It's OK to have a staycation :)

I had a rather hectic morning of my own making. I hadn’t realized that the laundry here was FREE, and then also realized that both my sweaters were due to be washed in addition to regular laundry. So I did a rapid-fire load of laundry at 6:30am, finishing up around 8am, which only gave me a little time to fold it, pack, and scoot out the door for the bus call.

We rode through the somewhat-mountains and lakes of Northern Michigan. Houghton is on the peninsula...I've never been up here and it's very pretty, lots of lovely birch trees and quaint ski slopes and campsites. And the big Finger Lakes of course. It's a shame we won't get to see any of it, except what we see from the bus.


A quick rest stop at a random Walgreens (the only place that they could find for our large group) and we found out that one of our trucks had broken down, the one with the "house" set piece. The truck had been repaired or replaced and was moving again, but it would have to be a rush to get the set piece built in time for the show. We got to the hotel actually on time for once, giving us an hour or two to unpack, grab something for dinner, and get ready for the show. I walked to a Walmart next door not because I needed anything but to stretch my legs after five hours on a bus.

The theater was a 10-minute drive away. Sound check was fine; we could hear loud ratcheting sounds as the house set was assembled but it got done. The acoustics here (it was some hall on the campus of Michigan Tech?) were actually really nice. And the audience was good and appreciative. That alone makes coming out here to the middle of nowhere worthwhile! Not many tours come their way, I'm sure.

And just like that, we packed up and loaded out and will do it all again tomorrow in Green Bay.

I have to add that here in Houghton it is Eastern Time,
we came from Central Time in Wausau yesterday,
we go back to Central Time in Green Bay,
then to Eastern Time in Kalamazoo,
and back to Central Time in Chicago.
Plus, it's daylight savings on Sunday.
Not confusing at ALL, haha.

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What day are we on? Right, Friday. TGIF!

After hotel breakfast off we went again, stopping for lunch at a random Walmart. We were only there for a half hour so enough time to pee and stretch legs, really. We got to the hotel on time, but found out that our crew bus had broken down and load in had started about three hours late. Our show schedule did not change--we were told that crew was rushing to make up the time--but damn, what a rough journey we are having. Every day on a bus, shows every night, switching time zones constantly, and two breakdowns. I'm thankful that after Green Bay, we have one last long travel day to Kalamazoo, then the jump from there to Chicago should be just three hours.

We got to the hotel on time, so again a blessed hour or two to shower, pack a dinner, and get to the theatre. I had hoped to go for a short walk to stretch my legs but it was in the mid-30s and raining, so much for exercise. My view would be pretty nice, if there were time to enjoy it.


My dinner. I'm getting down to the last of the nonperishables that I bought for this week of bus travel (which means I didn't overbuy after all.) I will be VERY happy to eat real meals in Chicago. The tuna, green beans, and Chinese rice cake I brought myself; the peanut butter, half-bagel, and apple are stolen from free hotel breakfast.


The crew was able to get loaded in on time for the show despite the breakdown, mainly because the locals here are the same people we used in Houghton and they knew where everything goes already! We (as in everyone who's not crew) showed thanks by showering them with food-gifts, booze, candy, and thank you cards. I peeked into their dressing room and it was just packed with cookies, candy, alcohol, flowers, cards, you name it. We would not have done a show tonight if not for how hard these people worked to overcome an unplanned event. HUGE kudos to them!

During intermission we female musicians took a group photo to celebrate International Women's Day.
The My Fair Lady orchestra is unusual in that we have SIX women in the pit. That is unheard of for touring shows.


For comparison, a group photo of the Tootsie pit band and the circus band (at least with Tootsie we enjoyed the musicianship of POC as well.) One of these things is not like the others...



Anyway. The show was just fine.
We are all SO TIRED of being on a bus all day every day. But too bad, we've got to pack it all up and do it again tomorrow.
Only, we don't have a show tomorrow! It's just a travel day. Thank god, I think we could all use a break.

In closing, artwork in the hallway at the Weidner Center here in Green Bay. Next stop, Kalamazoo.


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It doesn't feel like a Saturday. A Saturday without shows is outrageous! But here we are.

We left an hour later than scheduled, with no explanation given...but partway through our ride our assistant company manager got on the mic to apologize: she had tried to calculate for yet another time zone switch, had calculated backwards instead of forwards, had adjusted our departure time based on that, and as a result not only had we left an hour late we'd also be arriving to the hotel an hour late. Meaning two hours later than scheduled.

Sigh.

Everyone was very kind and patient about it--I mean good lord, we've changed time zones EVERY DAY, I definitely would have made the same mistake or a worse one--but you could still feel the disappointment in the air. We've had so much time on the bus all week, between 5-12 hours per day ever since Monday and it's now Saturday FFS. We were all looking forward to arriving with time to enjoy some daylight. The good news, though, is that we only have one show on Sunday and it's at 6pm (we still have load in and sound check but it'll be a chill morning and an opportunity to get to bed early too.) And then the ride to Chicago, please god please, let it be only three hours long. Pleeeeease.

Our lunch stop was at a mall, and I had eaten the last of my nonperishables before we got there so I could shoot straight to the Victoria's Secret. I don't know about you ladies but I HATE shopping for bras. So expensive and for a person like me with tiny bewbs, not very USEFUL. Blessedly, VC is still selling the same "model" of bra that I prefer, so I grabbed three of them. This batch needs to last at least two years!


When we got to the hotel it was almost 6:30pm. I threw my things in my room and immediately Ubered to CoreLife, a "healthy bowl" type of restaurant, and got their Korean BBQ pork bowl with forbidden rice, pulled lean pork, kimchi, bean sprouts, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, fried egg on top, and sauce on the side. Not pretty, but I was so happy to see it!


I ate it WAY too fast, rushing because the grocery would close soon.
Calculating for lunch and dinner tomorrow + lunch and snacks on Monday, I got a packet of Tofurky Thai Basil (has 3 servings), two Fage yogurts, one Koia protein shake (one half for each breakfast), blueberries, a green juice containing four servings of veggies/high nutrients/low sugar, some carrot and celery sticks, and two treats: a strawberry coconut Fillo's Walking Tamale, and a can of local coffee. I'll supplement all of this with the bagels, peanut butter, eggs, and fruit from the hotel's free breakfast.

Back to the hotel to unpack, chat with Jameson, and get the heck to sleep.

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Had the best sleep I've had all week, very likely because we didn't have to get on a damn bus today for once.
Made myself get up at 8:30 (technically 7:30, yay daylight savings) to make a decent cup of coffee instead of hotel swill.

It had snowed a bit overnight and was very cold out, low 30's with a 15-degree windchill, so I had a slow morning. The thrift store that I wanted to visit was closed; in fact EVERYTHING interesting was closed, on a Sunday. Bummer. So I watched anime and shared my Chicago Foodie Finds with the group chat, drank tea and allowed my body to relax in a way it can't do on a moving vehicle.

The evening show was fine. It was a decent crowd. I think with these one-nighters, it gets to a point where it's like, why bother looking around, because we're only here for three hours. No point learning where stuff is. Especially in these school campus spaces that are rather bland-looking (no offense, they still serve their purpose.)

Here are two fun photos to remember Kalamazoo by, anyway:

Joel (trumpet) and Andrew (Clarinet) playing chess before sound check(mate)!


My view during the "Ascott Race" scene. I got yelled at by several cast for this photo being unflattering :p Too bad!


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Tomorrow (or today if you're reading this on Monday) we have a late departure because it's only three hours to Chicago.

I will be so excited to get away from this bus/driver.

Current plan is to immediately drop luggage in the hotel (if the rooms are ready, we'll be there quite early) and hoof it to Eataly, then regular groceries and a visit to the Amazon GO store if I feel up for it. With all the foodie plans I've made, plus sightseeing and St. Patrick's Day and shows, the next posts will be LONG with lots of PICTURES, you can be sure of that!

The bus ride was long and a bit boring, as long bus rides often are.
I watched scenery, dozed, read my book on and off until I got motion sick, and ate my nonperishables.

We stopped at a Target for lunch, and since I'd already eaten I just window shopped and walked until it was time to get back on the bus.
We got to the hotel about 30 minutes late, probably partially due to traffic and other factors.

I decided not to hit the grocery since it was night, and I had an early doctor's appointment that would require an Uber. If I have to pay for a ride anyway, may as well kill two birds with one stone and hit the grocery after the appointment.

So my night was chill. I reintroduced myself to the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack, which gave such childhood nostalgia. Like most 80s and 90s kids, Disney was a keystone of my formative years. Beauty and the Beast came out when I was six years old, and I was INFATUATED. Specifically, like many young girls who saw this movie in theaters, I related on an emotional level to Belle's Reprise where she sings about how it would be awful to be married, and wanting "So much more than they've got planned."  
(CLICK HERE to see the movie clip)

And here I am, tearing up in a random hotel room at the ripe age of forty, listening to this and remembering how I felt watching this scene at the age of six. Emotionally connecting with Belle: I certainly did NOT want to get married! And how exciting it felt not to know what my future would be like. Wondering what I'd be when I grew up, and hoping I'd get to have adventures! (Spoiler alert: I got MUCH more adventure than ANYONE planned.)

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I slept poorly because I was nervous about the doctor's appointment. It was just an ultrasound of my upper right abdomen, not even invasive, yet I am so phobic about medical stuff that any little thing freaks me out. An unfortunate part of my psyche that I'm working on fixing.

A quick Uber to the radiology office and I didn't have to wait long. The radiologist was super sweet and fun to talk to. I expressed interest in what she was doing, and made it clear that I wasn't asking for/interested in a diagnosis...I just wanted to see my guts on the screen! Once she truly believe that I wasn't going to ask her to diagnose anything, she was more than happy to turn the screen so I could watch while she navigated my organs. Too cool!! She showed me where the gallbladder was ("Yours is small!") and explained how the sound waves of the ultrasonic machine actually bounced off the ribs, created rib-shadows across the organs. I realized that I could expand my chest to reduce shadows for her (also very fun to see.)

She said that my scan was "very easy" because "you clearly take care of yourself" (reading between the lines = "This scan is a lot easier to do when you are not overweight.") She did not indicate, verbally or by expression, that anything was wrong or dire, and it's not her job to do so in any case, so no takeaways there. I should have results in a few days.

Regardless of outcome I was interested in the imaging process itself, and so happy that I got to look at my guts today! Could I tell what I was looking at, no! But the radiologist showed me many interesting things, and I could see things move when I breathed and laughed, and the shadows of my ribs across my organs.

After that I Ubered to Ruby's NY-Style Bagels (it was next to a Harris Teeter.)


Look at those beautiful breads! So many great flavors. I definitely wanted the Bloody Mary and Cacio e Pepe flavors. I was considering a sweet bagel also but none of the flavors stood out. While I was deciding the cashier shared that her favorite bagel of them all was the Rosemary Sea Salt, hands down! So I asked her to add one to my order. She gave it to me for free!!


I immediately posted photos to Foodie Finds + social media, thanked the cashier, and went next door to get my groceries.
I didn't need much; we are only here for three days. In the berries section they had red currants!
I've never had them before...time to try them out!


I had them with breakfast one morning. They were...not great haha. I didn't mind that they were sour, but they had a lot more tannin than I was expecting (you know how when you eat walnuts, or drink dry red wine, or accidentally eat a banana string? And it makes a "dry" sensation in your mouth? That's tannins.) I ate a handful with my yogurt, but will try to give a lot of them away too. Womp womp, but glad I got to try them!

Another Uber back to the hotel (geez, $$$) and finally I was done for the morning. Typed this up, had breakfast, and packed dinner to bring to the theatre. For lunch I had another special stop in mind, this time walkeable THANK GOD.


The Grits Counter is another local restaurants specializing in grit bowls, they also do burgers, finger foods, cocktails, and desserts. I got there just as a group of My Fair Lady folks were sitting down, on a lunch break from load in. They all thanked me for Foodie Finds and for recommending this place, which made me warm and fuzzy inside :) I'm sure people would find this place without me, but it's also very gratifying to find out that the info sheets have been useful to my coworkers.

I placed my order and joined them outside (it was a gorgeous high-60s day.)
The Harvest Bowl: carrot cake grits, grilled chicken breast, roasted corn, fried hominy, cranberries, and smoked gouda mornay sauce (on the side since I'm such a loser at digesting lactose)


Lots of flavors and textures here, both sweet and savory. The carrot cake grits were fantastic; I should look into recreating that flavor with oatmeal, it can't be hard. You could also have called this "Corn Three Ways" between the corn grits, grilled corn, and fried hominy! The hominy was nothing special but added nice texture. The whole thing was a little Thanksgiving-esque. The smoked gouda sauce was incredibly good, but I used it sparingly because grits are already made with whole milk. Very delicious and creative use of boring old corn. I'd love to try the other flavors (they have nine!)

I walked back and managed to take a little nap before walking to the theatre for sound check.
This theater is very....bland. It looks like a high school auditorium.

(photo from Robert Windel, Flickr)

The backstage, however, is coated in wall tags!
I took video, but we are NOT allowed to show dressing rooms and they were impossible to avoid.
Instead here are some pics:


Some tags from famous people, that I could find.


And here is a tag from a My Fair Lady tour that took place more than twenty years ago!!


Our cast artist, Ashton, painted our wall tag to be a sort of homage to the older one, which I thought was very cool.
Can you find my initials? :)


The show was fine, kind of a lukewarm audience but maybe they'll warm up over the weekend :)

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On Saturday I was pleased to get an email with my ultrasound results.
( TRIGGER WARNING: ultrasound pics )

For lunch I walked to Big Billy's Burger Bar, excited for their venison burger, but it was unfortunately disappointing. It could have been good but they WAY overcooked it; I asked for medium rare and got a hockey puck. Womp womp.

The evening show went well except there was a hold when a setpiece would not move. It added about 10 minutes to our show, but the audience was patient and the show went smoothly once it started up again.

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Sunday, I thought about walking to Walmart but passed. This last week of shows is a lot of jumping around and at least one flight, so I have to be careful about what I'm traveling with so as not to make my luggage overweight.

The matinee was good, dinner between shows was fine, the last show was good...except AGAIN we had to hold for a "technical issue," not in the same spot but I suspect a similar problem with a set piece not moving as it should. Some of the setpieces (from what I understand) have to be moved with the help of motors, and I think some of the places where we perform are not ideal for this. I don't know. But twice in one weekend is pretty unusual. I hope it doesn't happen again in the next cities!

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This coming week is going to be a little nutty.

We bus to Johnson City TN tomorrow and it's a "load and go," so there will be a show the same night.
Then we have another show there on Tuesday.
Wednesday is a "load and go" to Blacksburg, VA, we probably won't even get to see the town and barely our hotel rooms.
Then a travel day to Worcester, where we'll do a Friday show and weekend matinees.
From there, a layoff!