Waiting

---

Today could be the most interesting day of tour yet. Or at least the one with
the most ups and downs and random things happening.

I went down to get some breakfast at the hotel, which kind of had breakfast, not much to offer. Some of the boys were down there and we got to chatting. “Did you get through with the lights?” “Auntie, where were you yesterday? I did not see you at all!” Fun. I explained to them what I was doing and why. “Is that why sometimes the lights didn’t go out when they should, and they were late turning on? Don’t worry. Village scene looked good.” Village scene is the opening one. Those boys! Glad to hear I was missed, though.

I still had programming to do for today’s school show this morning, at least to fix things from yesterday. We were 15 minutes late to work, as Anne was late coming to the van. I was headed to the bus to ride with the kids when she appeared. Not a good start to the day. Once we got to the venue, everyone else went to get breakfast; boy was I glad I already ate. I finished my programming, at least what I would be. There were a few mistakes, but nothing major. I did the math: the way the board is set up, it is at least 10 keystrokes to change one intensity of one channel in one cue. Times 150 channels, times 150 cues, times how many mistakes I made. Oh my! Minor stresses for preshow.

I went to mic the kids, and all of them said the same things. “Auntie! Where were you yesterday? Why didn’t you come to put the microphones on? Why did Uncle do it?” Jo cracked me up. “Auntie! I thought you were lost! I thought we lost you!” Glad to know I was missed. It’s a little bit of consistency, especially since I do it every day and I know the little things each of them like and don’t like and how to get that result.

The show went fine. Way better than last night, but just fine. Auntie Harriet today get really excited today when I greeted her in Luganda. She taught us how to say “How are you?” and a few responses. Load out was rough. Everything had to be told way too many times to the student crew. Lots of them weren’t theatre people or technicians and had no clue what they were doing.

After the show, things got worse. Anne told us the news that our LD, Ryan, is no longer with the organization. As she said, it affects me the most. He was not only our designer and a producer, but a great teacher and someone we knew we could count on. We had a solemn lunch, and a bit of ranting in the car. I honestly didn’t know how to respond when I heard, so I just kept typing my email. It’s not something I understand in any way, and I will miss having him in my life. I’m not sure how to process it or where to do so. I don’t think I’ve quite let it sink in yet.

Then, we had a 3 hour drive to Wausau for ANOTHER load in! As we finished unloading the truck, we got a phone call from the previous venue saying we had left costumes there. Oops. Anne drove back to get them, but when she arrived, no one was there. She waited. She won’t be back for a few more hours, so none of us have clothes or anything. And load in was up to us. Seeing as it started at 4, she kept saying “If you’re lucky enough to be out by midnight…” but we definitely had it all done by 10:30!

The crew and TD here are great! Definitely one of the best. Very laid back, yet good at their jobs. Only problem, there’s another Jamie on their crew which is a bit confusing at times. During focus, sometimes I have 1 electrician going, sometimes 2, and I do my best to keep them straight and keep an eye on them both. Today, I had 3. When the TD got out of the basket, he gave me a fairly nice compliment. “Congratulations. You kept 3 electricians busy. Most people come in and say they can, but it’s a lot of hurry up and wait for us. You only called one channel even. Good job.” Sometimes when I have that much going on, I get nervous that I’m forgetting something, so that was good to hear. While the 3 guys were focusing, I did all the floor lights as well. That’s a testament to all of them, as well as our board op.

Late night, early morning.

---

Comments

[dave]

Good job
Smith, Keep focused {pun intended} on your job and soon it will be over. Tough days are always with us God will pull you through. Keep praying and we will see you soon. Dave