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On the Road

[woo...you get to see me waving the flag at the end of this one.]

07.20.09
Bullrun Rally 09

PA SUPREME

Things I learned on this trip. One of the things boss's hate the most when you're a PA, is when you're not around..or when you go to do something or get something...and just take your time. They hate hunting people down. And even if it seems like there's not much going on, don't just take your time. If you want to chill for a bit, hurry back and then ASK if you can chill for a bit. It was kinda hard on this job, because we were at these super nice hotels, and after driving for 9 hours, or working hard for a good chunk of time, you begin to think you deserve to get lost for a bit and enjoy the surroundings if there's a lull. But the truth is, you're on the clock. You don't "deserve" any leisure time. It may sound childish but ASK before you take off somewhere...even if it's for dinner...or down the hall to the spa. That way they know where you are, and if you're not around when something comes up, they can't peg you because you got their permission. With everything else on their plate the last thing they want to spend time on is hunting you down, or waiting for you to return from somewhere. Plus I've learned that if you show that your main priority is taking care of the boss and making sure you're always right there, they will WANT to give you chill time. The main complaint I ever heard from my superiors was "Where's so and so?"

A great quality to have is to stay alert and try to anticipate your superiors needs. Figure out little things you can do to help them before they ask you. If your on a job for more than one day, try to pick up on the pattern of the schedule or the needs of each day...and begin to get things done before they ask you to do them. And not just work needs, but personal needs. Sometimes they get so caught up with the flow of work and the stress of what needs to be done that they don't take time (or even remember) to eat or drink. Make sure they have meals. Believe me, when they're fed and hydrated they're happier and work is more fun.

Listen to everything that is going on. I try to pay attention when my boss is on the phone, or getting details from someone, getting further instructions from his boss, or instructing one of my fellow PAs. That way if down the line he needs me to help with one of those things, I already have an idea of what he's talking about, and he doesn't need to take extra time explaining it all to me. This also helps with anticipating things that need to be done. He's got a lot on his mind and if you can be a second brain and help him not let things fall through the cracks, he'll love you for it.

Have GPS on your phone. That way it's always with you no matter what vehicle they're telling you to drive. You're always ready to drive somewhere immediately without having to spend time printing directions. It cuts out stress because you don't have to be afraid of getting lost or getting back. You don't feel as much pressure when you're driving around someone important. If you take a wrong turn you know you wont be lost for long (sometimes they weren't even able to tell you were lost at all.) Also I can't tell you how many time I've heard "Find me a hardware store!" or "Find me a pizza place for lunch" or "Where's a radio shack!?" And I've been able to bring it up on my GPS in minutes. It really is worth the 10bucks a month to have GPS on your phone if you're planning on doing a lot of PA work. Or even if you're planning on doing background work, because they send you all over LA for that as well.

On more thing. Don't let little personality differences get to you. When you work with people, it's easy for things to start to get on your nerves. But if you let that happen, that's going to ruin your work experience and it's going to tempt you to gossip. Try to find the good things about everyone you work with and truly be grateful for those things. There are probably a few people out there that seem impossible to work with and have so many bad qualities that it's hard to see any good...but I haven't worked with any of those yet...so I don't think that's the norm. Yeah "so and so" might not have your favorite communication style, or might have a lifestyle you don't agree with, or might be easily stressed by little things, or might have some bursts of anger...but try to take a moment to realize the things, [whether it's personality or work style] that you DO like about them. Don't let other people's stress get to you. Don't fall into gossip about people you work with. And grow into a lifestyle of seeing people though the eyes of grace. When someone is talking about someone to you, stick up for them. Even if you agree with that person's complaint, don't say so: say something good about the person they're talking about, and then change the subject.

THE RALLY

With memories of past airport catastrophes clamoring in my brain I backed Broc's suggestion of leaving extra early for the Flyaway shuttle to LAX. We heard there was some traffic on the 405 so that was all the more reason to make double sure that we got there with time to spare. I didn't want to start my trip with being stressed out about missing a flight. [Not that I've missed flights before. Pffft. That's ridiculous.] Miraculously the traffic on the 405 was slim to none, and we got to the airport, very....early. heh. It was nice however because we had time to sit and eat at Chili's [well, they ate, I sipped my Starbucks] and then played cards in the terminal. We didn't spot Marlon or Rochelle [who we worked with on the reality show] until we were seated on the plane. Weeks prior I had sabotaged the seating arrangements online so that Broc, Luis & I would be sitting together. Sadly Mike was booked like a week later so he wasn't able to be right next to us. I felt extremely productive during the flight, having finished a book, a movie [Monsters vs. Aliens - hilarious] and an episode of the Office by the time we landed. The other's slept some of the way but I figured that would do me no real good and merely make me groggy arriving in New York. I felt good stepping off the plane, but 5min after getting into the cab the pent up sleep hit me like a bat to the head. Tumbling out of the car we filed into the world's hippest hotel [so claims their website] the Ganesvoort, only to discover the sham had followed me again: our rooms weren't scheduled to be ready til 3pm. BUT, they'd try to get them ready for us earlier. But...it was only 7am. We wandered the nearby streets until Paco & Chris texted back and told us we could come hang in their room for awhile until our rooms opened up. Stepping into their room I ignored Chris' greeting and collapsed on the bed. [It's not that I'm a jerk when I'm tired. If the situation requires me to perk up and get with it, I can. BUT...if it's not necessary...I just am not naturally very...social...when I'm tired. Hence, those who know me well don't get offended when I don't talk to them for the first 30min after I wake up. Give me that 30min and I'll be your best friend and bend over backwards for you the rest of the day and into the early morning. Heh.] Because I was out cold almost instantly I missed the memo that there was a meeting later that morning. Rochelle texted me saying where everyone was up on the roof- and thinking she was just being nice in case I wanted to hang out I decided to go join up with them. Good thing I did because it was the meeting I was supposed to have heard about. Chris and Paco gave us the low-down on our different positions. Team A: Chris, Luis, Marlon, Ben. Team B: Paco, Broc, Rochelle, Me. Luggage Team: AJ, Tim. Lunchtime Team: Mike, Zack. Paco had put me in charge of coming up with a team name. My first choice, obviously, was Team Awesome Factor Supreme. How do you top that, right? Apperently that was too wordy for him. So when I heard we were team B I suggested Team...B...Better...than...yours. Which also didn't fly. Jeez. Paco: picky-delux! Can't remember much of what else we did that day. I know that later that evening I went with AJ and Mike to the airport to pick up rental vehicles. Shammed again: No one else had a credit card so I had to put the vehicles on mine. Oh well, I'm not too worried because when we got paid late for the reality show, they covered our bank fees too, so I know it'll all get settled...at some point.

I drove one of the Ford Felx's back to the hotel, which required driving through New York City! I was so proud of myself because I discovered it didn't phase me at all. I think it's funny how stressed my dad gets about driving in any city, even if there's not much traffic. I don't mind it at all. It just takes being patient- not letting stupid drivers stress you out. And being aggressive- weaseling your way in.

The next day was Friday- Registration. Team B was mostly in charge, but Luis, Mike and Marlon helped as well. We had to fill the SWAG bags and hand them all their cool stuff when they registered. Keychains, t-shirts, shoes, black magic detailing kits. Woo. Registration was supposed to be done by 6pm and our team was supposed to be en route to the first location: Pittsburgh. HA! BY 6PM! THAT'S FUNNY! Yeah...after 6 we re-located to Matt Karpinski's hotel room for late registration. Little did we know that "late registration" meant you could be 6 hours late! We didn't leave for Pittsburgh til midnight. I drove, wanting to further prove to myself my excellent NYC driving capacities. heh. After we got out of the city my GPS decided to throw a little adventure into the journey (as it did several more times during the rally) and there was even a point when we ended up circling the Newark airport. heh. That became one of the big jokes on the trip. Eventually, after many arguments over the team name we decided on team Newark because of that initial mishap, and because the primary thing that ever tripped our team up was when Andy or David came along with some "New Work" to throw into our routine that we'd gotten no prior notice for.

We made it to Pittsburgh around 6 or 7 and got a couple hours of sleep before we were up and ready for any early preparations. We had breakfast at a nice little cafe down town. I had french toast. It was alright besides the egg that seemed to be growing out of all the bread crevices. Not...a fan...of that much eggyness. My stomach had been upset each morning on the trip so we stopped to buy some Pepto before heading back to the hotel. Pretty sure it was right around that time that Paco let us knonk out for another couple hours. Then he woke the others up to set up the flex blades but let me sleep another hour or so since I drove the most the night before. Broc finally came and woke me up and I threw my Bullrun shirt on and went to see what still needed to be done. Evidently the models on the Rally were there simply for the calendar, so me and Rochelle had to wave the flags for the arrivals. Cars would come rushing in and we'd wave the flags then hand them "route cards" with info about dinner that night and the events for the next morning. After most of the cars were checked in we took down the flags and helped load all the Pepsi products into the Penske truck that AJ and Tim were driving with the everyone's luggage.

Around that time we discovered we were supposed to have the flex blades set up at the club everyone was gonna be partying at that night. So we all jumped into the flex and drove around for 15min looking for the place that was tucked into a corner and hard to find. Frustrated after the Zen-Club goose chase we'd just gone on, we jumped out to set up the flex blades...but the "party planner" guy didn't even know where he'd like them, (kinda strange) so Paco suggested positions for the flags and up they went, along with the "step-and-repeat." You know all those pics you see of celebs at events where they're standing in front of a banner with the movie name...or sponser names. Yeah that's what a step-and-repeat is. Personally I think it's a stupid name because it's a mouth full! Just call it the picture....poster...or something.

We had a little down time as people started showing up for the party, so Broc, Rochelle and I headed down the row of restaurants in search of decently priced food. Finally decided on a super-loud bar, and the burgers were still around 8 bucks. Around midnight we took down the flex blades and S.A.R. and headed back to the hotel. But as Broc readied himself for bed I sat at the computer and updated spreadsheets and typed up the list of arrival times to send to Andy. I think I finally got to bed around 2:30am.

Morning in Pittsburgh. (I can see why Shelly loves Pittsburgh. I didn't get to see much of it, but what I saw I liked. It has a unique mix of very modern and historical architecture, and the bridges are beautiful.) Woke up and headed down to breakfast. Broc and Rochelle apparently opted to sleep in a bit longer. Paco and I sat down in the elegant restaurant of the hotel. I had visions in my head of a warm pastry and some fruit. After I ordered the waiter motioned to a little buffet counter that reminded me of any breakfast counter in any hotel except it was more elegant, and that's where I went to get my breakfast. I thought that was weird. Apparently he thought it was a better option to let me just pick what I wanted instead of bringing me a bowl of fruit. That makes sense. But sitting down with a tiny cold danish and some melon slices just didn't fit the elegant atmosphere for me. It kind broke the mood. heh. The coffee was good though. After a bit Andy showed up and sat down with us. He yawned and stretched, "I feel like I need to iron my face." He blurted. "You just get to an age where it doesn't spring back like it used to." I was chuckling into my melon slices. "Just a bit here...and here..." He said pantomiming ironing the corners of his eyes.

We got everything ready for the departures. All the cars were leaving from the hotel parking garage. As the all the engines were up and blaring moments from take off I thought I was going to pass out from the fumes. But everyone was so anxious to shoot out of there that there was no way they weren't going to have their engines ready. When the time came Rochelle was ready on the flag and Paco and Broc started handing route cards to everyone one by one as grabbed them and zipped off down the street. And that was pretty much it. We ran around for awhile tying up loose ends and getting our stuff together and then we piled into our silver Ford Flex (perfect for road-tripping btw) and headed to our next destination: Nashville TN.

There's no use trying to write down details about our road trips. At least not in order. They all blur together. This one was a little more lively than the previous one because we left in the afternoon as opposed to midnight. Lots of laughter. Lots of pit stops. Lots of flipping through radio stations. Paco always wanted the 80's and 90's rock. I always wanted 60's & 70's...or dance music to go crazy to. Broc kinda jumped all over but would always stop at Coldplay. And Rochelle...didn't really worry herself with the radio, now that I think about it. It seems like we never liked more than one song at a time on each station though. heh. I'd say the most common items consumed on our roadtrips were: Red Bull, Starbucks Frappachinos (not my fav but they were donated at every location along with Pepsi products), Quaker granola bars (also donated for every location), water and....New 5 Gum RAIN flavor. I actually did pretty good with not buying junk food at every stop. Of course that may have been partially due to having an upset stummy much of the time. I drank a lot of Pepto. .

It was a good 9 hour trip that day. (We thought that was long until the drive to Austin came around.) That's the second time I've drivin through Cincinnati, although the last time it was at night, so it was cool to see it in the day. I'd like to actually see the city sometime. Got to Nashville late. The hotel was my favorite style yet. The Ganesvoort was cool cuz it was....well...hip. The Pittsburgh one was elegant. But this hotel was converted from an old train station. So the outside was stone and had more of a castle appearance. Inside was beautiful. A great combination of bold colors and intricate designs. Our hopes had all rested on getting to a hot tub at the end of that days journey, but of course this was the one hotel without one. The front desk informed us that we had the option of driving down the street their sister hotel to use their hot tub. Yeah right. We walked next door to the Flying Saucer in search of food, but they were about to close so Paco and Rochelle had a beer while I ordered pizza to be delivered to our room and Broc munched on stale popcorn which was apparently the only food they were able to conjure up for us. The pizza guy was earlier than we expexted and called me while we were still at the Flying Saucer. We ran over to the hotel and pretty much annihilated the pizza as soon as we got to our room. Then Broc, Rochelle and I watched Conan, which we could only hear bits and pieces of because Paco evidently HAD to make business calls at the same time. heh.

Good morning Nashville. Why did I volunteer to drive to the airport by 8am? ugh. Because I love Grace. That's why. Heh. Grace flew in to join us that morning and then we all went out to the restaurant that all the drivers would be taking off from the next day. Evidently a very famous Nashville cafe although off the beaten path. I think that adds to it's little-town feel and southern charm. The Loveless Cafe. The owner (or was it manager?) was super nice. One of those people you can immedietely joke and be sarcastic with. Apparently the must-have breakfast was the eggs and slab-o-ham. But of course in all things breakfast I rebel, and I had the waffle smeared with melted chocolate chips. Muahah. Stopped at a hardware store on the way back to get some stuff. That means that Paco looked for stuff while the rest of us commenced hardware-store-shinanigans. Grace kept finding all the bizarre items...like canned possum meat and monkey powder. Back at the hotel, Paco gave us the low-down on how we'd set up for the arrivals when it was nearer 4pm...and then he and Grace took off to settle other things and left us. Seemed like we had a little time so Rochelle and I left Broc to hold down the fort and walked a few blocks to where my GPS claimed we'd find a Bank of America. It was hot and somewhat humid, so it wasn't the most pleasant walk. We finally spotted a large Bank of America sign and one little ATM that some cars were lined up at, and one guy on foot. Thinking that this was a single ATM station like they have in LA, we just got in line with the cars and chatted while we waited. Right before it was our turn at the ATM my eyes were opened and behold- I realized that right next door was the actual bank where we could have made our deposits in air-conditioned comfort. We had a good laugh.

The whole time I had this horrible feeling that we'd get a call and hear "Where are you guys!" Sure enough while we were still 2 blocks away I got the call. "Andy's here. Where are you guys at?" It was Paco. "I-we- I can see...the hotel. We're near...it. Broc is there though!" "Well get there. Andy is asking where everyone is." And just like I had predicted I was running down the sidewalk just so I could be there for Andy to see. Just so he'd know the workers were around and ready...for...who knows what. And as I also suspected, after running all the way back, there was nothing really that I was needed for.

When the moment of arrivals drew near, I somehow got the task of waving the flag. Out...on the corner...in the Nashville heat. I moved around a lot, following the shadow that the nearby flex-blade was casting in an effort to escape the sun as much as possible. Just when I was thinking I'd perish any moment Paco came up with a water bottle for me and so I remained intact long enough to finish my duty. There were some camera guys in several of the cars, and they definitely got footage of me waving the flag. I'm doomed. Everyone in Europe will know me as the flag girl! And I don't think I was even very good at it! heh.

Dinner that night was Jack's BBQ a few blocks down. Big fan of BBQ. Walked down to the restaurant with Broc, Rochelle and Cameraman Tom. He is so freakin funny. He was asking me if I do any flag waving in my spare time. "No. not usually. Although you know, there are some times in the summer where I just can't resist and I have to go out on the street and wave that flag. You kinda get the bug." "So you'd say your a flag waving enthusiast?" Heh. I wish I'd gotten that conversation on camera. As well as the other hilarious conversations with Tom Cameraman.

The next day was late breakfast at Loveless. I ran around getting cell numbers from all the drivers just in case some of them got arrested like the day before. Although I now that I think of it, are they allowed to keep their cell phones if they're in jail? Hmm. We ordered our food to go for after the cars left, and I couldn't resist the waffle again. Got some footage of the take-off, although I should have got it from the other direction so I could have had the Loveless in the background instead of the Shell gas station. gah! I'll never be a DP!

Next we drove through Alabama to Destin Florida. There were more competitions between the Blackberry GPS and my Verizon GPS. I say they both helped us and both got us lost equally. In the end though we were never turned around for too long. Oh yeah..this was the roadtrip where we saw the hovering Porto Poty. I was driving and had just passed a road work zone where I saw a porta-poty and jokingly asked Paco if he needed to stop and use the restroom. Minutes later I saw another one off to the side of the road...but this one was not around any type of work zone...and it was a good 3 feet off the ground. I immediately pulled over so we could gawk at this extraordinary site...and take pictures. Broc and I got out to inspect it and saw that it was strapped to some sort of apparatus attached to a large pole. So bizarre.

When we reached the resort in Destin and I got out of the Flex, I quickly realized my deep-rooted loathing for extreme humidity. The next day when I was standing out in the sun waiting for the cars to arrive I almost got anxious because I felt like any moment I wouldn't be able to breath. It was like a little preview of what having asthma is like. It was like being in someone's mouth! I vocalized my disagreement with the Florida weather all day until I reached the beach that night where dinner was set up. The softest sand I've ever felt and the most beautiful water made me nearly forget my previous disgust. So my final decision on Florida is...if I ever go again I will go immediately to the beach and stay there for the whole of the trip.

The night that we had dinner on the beach was the first night I really got the chance to relax and enjoy some of the "luxeries" around me. I stayed on the beach for awhile just sitting with Rochelle, Zack, Rory, and Tom as the sunset. Talked with Tom and Rory about constellations...and work...and acting. We have the best camera guys. They're all so funny and....British. heh. After enjoying the beach for awhile I hopped a ride back to the hotel and joined Broc, Rochelle, Zack and Mike at the hot tub and pool. After awhile Tom showed up too and of course hilarious conversations ensued. Broc started one off with his idea for human-stew...where you wear a suit and swim around in a giant vat of stew...or something to that affect. That led to other invention ideas. My favorite was the "baby changing station" that actually changes the baby into something else. Ha! "You put the baby on the table and close it and then there's buttons with images of what you could change it into. Like...a ferrari...or a TV...or thread..." I said chuckling. "THREAD!" Tom burst in his thick accent. "Wouldn't that be a bummer to accidently push that! Aw man...I waited nine months for this and I accidently pushed thread...gah..." We were all roaring.

We thought driving 9 hours to Nashville and Destin was long. Oy! Try Destin to Austin! It was at least 13 hours. We made the most of it though, since it was our last drive. Stopped at all the interesting rest stops. And there was one stop where I shot Paco right before Broc threw a grenade at him. He was blown sky high. It was gruesome...in our heads. (I grew up with brothers. I love pantomimed violence.) I slept some because I was supposed to have the late-shift. But after I'd driven for about an hour Broc asked if he could take over because he was so bored.

In Austin things would have run smoothly if things had happened when they should have. Such as...if the girl who was storing all the trophies and medals was able to be reached before noon...so that we could retrieve those items from her. Or if she had picked up the package she was supposed to have picked up for us 2 weeks ago. Or if the Penske truck had arrived on time with all the banners we needed for the finish line. But since none of these things happened at their appointed time...we waited, and then got slammed. The Penske didn't even show up till 3 cars had already arrived, and when it did I was flying up the truss to hang up the banners with zip ties. The actual FINISH banner was never found however. All in all we pulled it off barely. Except earlier we had discovered a couple of the trophies had been broken during their delivery...and with all the pent up things we had to deal with before the arrivals we hadn't had time to conjure a remedy for that situation. When Andy found out he flipped. Paco had dashed over to the party venue with the rest of my team, leaving me to clean up and tear down the remains of the arrival setup. I was just about to get on the elevator when the doors opened and there stood Paco. "Great, you can come see me get fired." He said as I boarded. We got up to his room as he filled me in on the crisis of the broken trophies and we flew around the room trying to figure out how to mend them. I was looking up hardware stores on my GPS and he was calling someone from the hotel who might know- when there was a knock on the door. Andy and David were on the other side. Nothing like the two big bosses looking down at you with fire in their eyes. Andy made a beeline for the trophies spouting his disbelief at the fact this hadn't been taken care of. As he finally realized we only really needed 2 and there are 2 still in tact David was asking me if I had any "zip clips" for the prank-prize he wanted to give one of the drivers. Apparently one of the German's would take off his shoe and talk into it when he was drunk, and so I'd been sent out earlier that afternoon to buy a phone so we could attach it to shoe. "Do you have any zip clips?" "Uh..." I stalled, rummaging around the room, not wanting to say no, or that I had no idea what a zip clip was. "Zip clips...like you were using outside." "Oh. Zip ties! Yeah in my room." I was out the door with Andy behind me, who was headed to his room to get the shoe for the prank prize. As I got on the elevator to go down I held the door. "Oh no I'm going up...to throw myself off the top of the building." He said as the doors closed. We arrive back on Pacos floor at the same time as well and came bursting back into the room. Got everything put together and packed up and stepped out into the hallway, quite the little procession. The two tall Brits at front, Paco carrying the large cardboard box, and the little blond girl. Heh. We raced over to the club and there I was positioned to greet people as they came in...and...tell them that the food was set up in the back. The place was rather small...I don't think...it'd be that hard for them to find the food. Oh well. Property of Bullrun: I do what I'm told. I managed to snag a bite of the rarest meat I've ever eaten (minus that under-cooked burger dad accidently fed me once). I think I threw half of it away because I just couldn't do it. Watched some of the awards ceremony, and then waited around outside to help with tear-down.

At somepoint right after all the arrivals exhaustion hit me like a ton of bricks...and I was barely hanging on. This was the last night, and everyone else was heading out to have a good time...all I could think of was bed. Party-planner man came up and tried to get me to have a drink with him. I told him I was exhausted and didn't like alcohol...he probly thought those were the lamest excuses he'd ever heard anyone make up. Finally back at the hotel I showered to try to wake myself up...but it wasn't happening. The bed was the only desirable thing on the horizon.