Friday, May 06, 2005

Damned daytime insomnia.

My attempt to take a nap failed (I'm really sleepy until I lie down, and then I'm wide awake), so I'm just going to have to suck it up.

Call time is 5 pm (4:30 for dinner), and I'll probably not get out of there until 7 or 8 am tomorrow, which will make it over 24 hours for me (I woke up this morning at 7). It's not too bad until about 4 am, and then I hit the wall - I can't drink any more coffee at 4, or I'll be up all day Saturday as well, so those last 3 or 4 hours are the hardest.

The shoot tonight is close to my house, but I have to drive because I have too much crap to haul on foot. It might rain (chance of showers), so I have to bring the rain gear, and if I do go up in the nightsun, I have to bring all my crap for that.

I look like I'm bringing my whole house to work:

  • Rain Jacket (two of them - Gore Tex is only waterproof for 6 hours)
  • Rain pants (ditto)
  • Waterproof shoes (wet feet are the most horrible thing in the world)
  • Spare socks
  • Sleeping bag (whatever the temperature on the ground is - it's 15 degrees colder 80 feet up in the air)
  • Sleeping bag pad. The grips will put furniture pads in the basket, but I don't even want to think about where those things have been.
  • Since it might rain, I have to bring a waterproof cover for my sleeping bag. The grips can waterproof the basket, but this generally entails wrapping the basket (of the work platform) in heavy plastic, which acts like a sail - the basket sways and jerks in the wind anyway, but it's a hundred times worse when it's wrapped in plastic. I don't like that, so I bring a sleeping bag cover.
  • Pitcher with lid (The guys can pee in a bottle, but I can't. You didn't think they'd let me come down to go to the bathroom, did you?) and t.p.
  • Trash bag
  • Haul bag (this is climbing gear - it's used to haul stuff up on a line. I use it for the same thing - If they have to send something up to me - parts for repairs, water, dinner, etc... I'll just drop the bag down. Watching some guy try to tie a line onto a dinner plate is hilarious, but it generally doesn't have good results. No one likes getting hit by chicken cordon bleu and a side of rice pilaf that's been dropped from 70 feet up).
  • Something to read. I used to bring a laptop, but one night the wind gave the arm a really good jerk, and the laptop flew off my lap, out of the basket, hit the producer's car and shattered - both the computer and the front windshield of a really expensive Benz. Ooops.
This is in addition to my normal bag:

  • Toolbelt
  • Loose tools that are too big to go on my belt, but which I still need.
  • Spare shoes (I have to change shoes at lunch or my feet kill me)
  • Hat (it's cold at night)
  • Jacket
  • Sweatshirt
  • Spare socks (I change those at lunch too - works wonders if you get sore feet)
  • Heavier jeans (aforementioned cold)
  • Tampons (yup, it's that time of month)
  • Glasses (my normal ones and spares)
  • Headset for my walkie talkie
  • Newspaper
Most of the first list will stay in the car if I don't have to go up.

2 comments:

EcamirG said...

this reminds me why, when people find out i work in film and theatre and they say "oh, how glamourous!", i can't help but laugh at them.

(i apologize if this got double or triple-posted... my computer's having issues, apparently.)

Anonymous said...

I found your blog recently so I'm going back and reading the whole thing from the beginning. It is all fascinating, but I especially love this list as I'm a backpacker and I think it is cool how the backpacking gear is still useful in the middle of a city.