A Pleasant and Productive Day

The boring mundane details of my day are simple enough. Applied for a few jobs, folded laundry, cleaned the kitchen, spent $300 on a car repair, did a bit of grocery shopping, and made fresh coffee, lunch and dinner.

Watched "Rounders" with Matt Damon and Edward Norton and "Layer Cake" with Daniel Craig and Colm Meaney, too.

Now I'm going to kick back and watch a bit of the Giro and head to bed.

Sweet dreams, All.

extra! extra! read all about it! - Part 2

my apologies to my readers. my nap turned into an all night affair. guess i was plum tuckered out.

extra! extra! read all about it! - Part 2

As I got the vehicle secured, I continued to talk about getting oil. Norma listened and offered that she could take me home because it was on her way home. I accepted her offer.

"CVS would have motor oil," I said to Norma as we sat at the light at Chicago & Ogden looking at the CVS, "Could we pull in and try it? Would that be OK?"

Norma looked at the CVS, "OK. It would be better to try it now. I can do that."

"Thank you, Norma," I replied while hanging up the phone.

I'd called my son and my son's girlfriend because I wanted her dad to call me. He races Porsches, so I figured he might even know someone with a tow truck or at least there was some local help. She was up in Wisconsin with my son.

Since both calls went directly to voice mail, I did the dreaded and called my dad.

"Dang it! Dang it! Dang it!" I thought while dialing the number.

"Couldn't you call your daughter?" Norma asked after I explained that I really didn't want to call Dad and get him worried.

"No. It's her birthday, and she's got enough on her plate," I answered knowing that this was another birthday present to her fulfilling my wish that she have a "do-nothing" day on her birthday.

As Norma made the necessary turns into the CVS Pharmacy, I got through to Dad, "Dad. Hey. Are the kids with you?" I asked and listened with great anticipation and hope for a positive answer, but he told me that they weren't; and that, he didn't expect to see them for an hour or so. I gave him the same message that I'd left for them about having her dad call me, told him I had to go because I was in the middle of handling the situation.

While gathering the three quarts of 5W/30W oil, a funnel, and a roll of paper towels; my son's girlfriend called back. I explained in halting sentences while looking for the necessary materials explaining what I was doing, what had gone wrong, and telling her to call her dad and give him my number. Just after I grabbed the roll of paper towels and interrupted Norma as she asked the Pharmacist where the paper towels were; my son's girlfriend called back and said that her dad was driving back from Black Hawk. She also told me that he wouldn't answer the phone while he's driving and wouldn't be home for about an hour, at least.

"OK. Well, think good thoughts," I said and hung up the phone, "Norma? You're thinking good thoughts, right?"

"Yep!" she chirped.

I whipped out my cash so forcefully that I discombobulated the cashier. It was all that happy coming out. I was happy to have "walking around" money. I didn't care what the supplies cost. I was just happy to have the money and to be going back to try my plan. I was happy I'd met Norma; and that, she was so wonderfully willing to try my plan as evidenced by her ownership of the situation. I was happy to have help from such a capable and communicative person.

When I'd told her that her words were really helping, she shared that she'd experienced panic attacks, too. She'd been to her doctor, and was following the advice that she'd come to learn worked; breathe deeply and take one thing at a time.

We had incorporated this advice into our approach to our challenge. Yes, it was now our challenge because Norma wasn't going to leave me behind and realized that not only did I need to try my hand at solving this problem; but that, it was logical to do so. This made me very happy, too. Each little bit of happy dispelled some of the nervousness, but the nervousness was still my primary feeling.

We got to the car and worked as a team getting a quart of oil into the engine. While we did it, I showed Norma where the oil cap was and tested the oil again many times. I turned the key, depressed the accelerator, and Nothing. I got out. We agreed some more oil. Norma started talking about pulling her car in front of mine again. I agreed to that thinking that hooking the cars up again was probably the way to go. I didn't tell Norma that I thought this. I was taking it one step at a time. Our next step was to put more oil in and hook up the cars.

"OK. Now think good thoughts. This will work," Norma said with her hand held over the jumper cable grips connected to her car.

"OK," I replied and held my hand over the grips connected to my car.

We stood there for a moment. Norma looked so peaceful and confident. There was a battle raging inside me. My positive, confident feelings were being annoyed and nagged at by Doubt. I focused on letting my doubts go, but I wasn't entirely successful before I took my hand away. I walked around to the driver's side and looked at Norma.

"Think good thoughts," she said, "It will work."

Norma continued to bless her battery and it's connection to my car's battery. I waited for her to start her car. I waited some more.

"Norma?"

"Yes?"

"You have to start your car."

"Oh," she chuckled.

She returned to the front of her car and suggested I start mine. I was stalling to get a bit-o-juice in the engine and told her so. In a little bit, I tried my car. Nothing.

"I'm not sure if revving the car works, but how do you feel about it?" I asked as I headed to meet Norma.

"What?"

"Revving your car."

"Revving?"

"You know. Make your car's engine go faster."

"Oh!" Norma responded and headed to her car.

I headed to my car and waited for a bit. I tried. Nothing. I hung my head.

"PLEASE!" I thought, took a breath and tried again.

IT STARTED! IT STARTED! IT STARTED! IT STARTED! IT STARTED!

I was afraid to take my foot off the pedal, but I scrambled out of the car and rushed towards Norma. The jumper cable separated us. I unhooked my car and tried to hand them to Norma.

"No!" she said.

"Hold 'em," I said and held them far apart as I put them in her hands.

I unhooked her car, took the jumper cables, looked at the cables, looked at Norma, made a funny face, tossed the cables on the grass and HUGGED Norma. I gave her such a bear hug. I did my best not to smother her. We hugged HUGELY Twice. The air was filled with our laughter and my 'thank yous'. The whole time I couldn't help thinking about my Facebook status just the night before about being "smarter than the average bear." I couldn't help chuckling more. Duh, duh, duh, duh - Duh!

"May I follow you home? You know how to get on the freeway, right?"

"Sure."

We gathered up our stuff. Norma brought my coffee mug to me. She pulled out and waited. I followed her all the way to the 94 split. She headed up 94. I headed up 41. She never let me out of her sights for long while I was following her. She led beautifully. I talked to my son's girlfriend because her phone gets better reception than his, and told her that I'd call when I got home. I reveled in driving my car home knowing full well that it had too much oil in it now; and that, my previously planned trip to Chuck's would happen this upcoming week.

"Besides," I thought, "I need a reliable car for the shoot. Wish I had a dog. Maybe Beau. No. He's not trained. Sure would be nice if he was. Oh well. I'm DRIVING MY CAR HOME!"

I smiled, played my Little Feat "Waiting for Columbus" cassette and drove straight home where I parked my car so the battery would be easily accessible should I need another jump. Happily, the car started twice after I got it parked.

There were a flurry of phone calls after I got home. I had to check in with everyone who was aware of my predicament and thank them for their willingness to help. I had to leave messages for my daughter telling her that I'd gotten at least one day's worth of work. I had to work off the adrenaline. One of my favorite comments was from my brother who had the perfect response to my, "Isn't this just typical me?"

"Yep."

Yep. This is typical me. No wonder my nerves are a bit shot after all these years. Glad it's not worse.

I've discovered oil on the garage floor. The car has an oil leak that I didn't know about until today. Technically, it's another two thousand miles til my next needed oil change.

I'm pretty sure I left the lights on given my nerves and the arrival of the older, good-looking man when I arrived at the Open Extras Casting Call. Oops.

What I know is that Norma and I have one day's worth of work on "Cheaters" (link below)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1578275/

simply because we showed up in Blackhawks t-shirts. We're both investing in our futures.

I called Norma to let her know that I was home safely in my kitchen about an hour after I'd gotten home. She had just arrived home. We talked for a good while and learned more about each other. We're planning on going to the Transformers Open Extras Casting Call together on June 4th. I'll give her gas money. She doesn't know she's driving yet, but I'm sure she won't mind. It's being held at the Chicago Academy for the Arts, too. We're planning on getting there earlier and getting out earlier.

I'm so hoping that this summer I get called to set a lot. It would be so nice to say that in these economic times when I've face rejection for over a year that what finally put me to work was "The Entertainment Industry." Wouldn't that just be a great thing for a former Welfare Mother who had the audacity to get her degree in Technical Theatre being only a semester away from her degree in Acting/Directing and having worked for seven years as a cable company employed Television "Do Everything" Public Access Producer? Wouldn't it be nice for her children who were dragged through college with her, to the studios, and location shoots? Wouldn't it be nice for my parents, friends, and other family members to see something good happen to me in "The Entertainment Industry."

I know, respect, and love almost everything about my chosen field of study. I actually fit in quite well even though there are quite a few mean people in my field, too. I've experienced enough of the mean people in my field to have stayed away for a long time. It's just that I've learned more, now, and have decided that I'm stronger and able to handle the bullshit better. At my best, I take a deep breath and focus on one thing at a time.

Thank You, Norma Tan! As I told you, "You've done your good deed for the month and are even entitled to a few really grouchy and unreasonable days!" I'm looking forward to our next adventure which will include some coffee or something instead of a car repair seminar. We'll keep the teamwork thingie going.

To my daughter on her birthday - I did this for you. All the goofy happenings were just a part of your goofy mother's life. I went to the Open Extras Casting Call on your birthday to overcome one of my biggest fears because I wanted to give you a mother who is capable of overcoming her fears and fulfilling another dream. I did it! Whether I do it on purpose or simply by breathing, I know I embarrass you and have embarrassed you throughout the years. When I do it on purpose, well; that's funny, sometimes. When it's just because "I yam what I yam", well; that's heartbreaking, infuriating, annoying, and in many cases; motivating. I have given you an example of a fearful woman who has let bigotry, meanness, and self-doubt get the better of her. I had to change that. I hope that this one goofy experience might go to show you that while you may not understand or even approve, once upon a time your mother set out on a mission to overcome what she thought of as her biggest fear. She's happy to report that it turned out better than she expected. Carpe Diem, Chicklet. I love you with every breath I take. Keep being stronger than your mother. Every good parent wants their child to do better than they have. You'll see. Also know that pushing to overcome fears is worthwhile no matter what the circumstances or timing. It can turn out to be too late, but for the most part that's what creatures do. Every second of every day there are creatures all over the world that are overcoming fears. It's nice to fit in somewhere. (wink - rim shot)

That's it, my fine friends and family. It is 8:33am. I've been up since 6:30am. Go figure. Time to get my morning sun. Time to clean off my hammock. Probably time to take a shower and take off the Blackhawks t-shirt, too. Time to have a day filled with no dramatic ups and downs. Remember, one of my goals in life is Boring. Maybe a few more people know why, now.

extra! extra! read all about it!

just saw david ride by on his red moped/vespa/whatever thingie. no, i'm not going to blog without using punctuation, etc. just needed to warm up a bit before tackling today's post.

ok, one more neighborhood thingie - d just dropped off her air conditioner. 3, 3, let's sing a song about 3! 3 air conditioners. we're ready to rock and roll. thank you, d!

At 6:13am with the radio blaring, I turned my head to confirm that I would not be leaving at 7am. The jury was still out about whether or not I'd leave the house. I went back to bed for another twenty minutes. This went on for a couple more times, then M*A*S*H* was on directed by Harry Morgan, so I decided to watch that while continuing to lay in bad with thoughts of maybe going to the Open Extras Casting Call.

I was pretty sure I'd be going because I'd bought a Blackhawks t-shirt, and it's been a long time since I spent over $2.50 on a t-shirt. What was I going to do with a washed and stretched Blackhawks t-shirt if I didn't go? It would be a constant reminder of the failure.

OK, so I didn't need to be there til 11am, and it went to 4:30pm; and the mission was to get me out the door and on my way.

I'm very happy to report that my daughter's "Happy Birthday to You" song was sung to her while driving down to the city. I got to talk to my oldest granddaughter, too. Well, that was just wonderful. I signed off and continued to drive to the Chicago Academy for the Arts building arriving around 10:30am. Drove back and forth deciding where I would park and opted for the gravel parking lot behind the animal hospital. No signs! Seemed to be a good spot.

A good looking older man pulled up in his Blackhawks jersey. We exchanged pleasantries, and walked to the end of the line which was right in front of the animal hospital with a beautiful liver-colored lab tied up in front.

People were quiet for the most part. We waited. I read my Frank Zappa book. A woman came by and told us to have the forms she was handing out filled out by the time we got inside. That was the beginning of a most fortuatious meeting.

"May I borrow a pen?" the woman behind me asked.

"Sure," I replied thinking that it was a good thing I'd packed four pens.

"May I?" asked a gentleman behind her.

"Sure," I replied and continued digging in my bag for all my pens because I saw another guy motioning that he'd like one.

If filling out a form can be interesting, this is simply because I turned into a woman while filling it out. It was all over Bust/Waist/Hips. Dang! There I was feeling like a doofus for not taking my measurements before going especially considering my training! To top it off, I was embarrassed about what measurements are even in approximation. About nine months ago I took my measurements, so I couldn't be far off. I had to take my measurements for my daughter's wedding and for some nice business suits for interviews. I had a good internal chuckle at me, and turned to the woman next to me.

"Do yo mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"No," she responded.

"Well, we seem to be about the same size, and I was wondering if you know what your measurements are."

"Oh," she chuckled and showed me her form, "I left it blank. You don't think we'll be disqualified for that, do you?"

We both chucked and continued talking. We introduced ourselves, and by Norma's request; got each other's phone numbers. We were both Open Extras Casting Call "virgins." I told her everything I knew from bugging my son, Justin, and doing research on the web. My vintage bag, that my mom can't figure out why she gave me and my daughter wants, was packed with everything I could think that I needed and maybe someone else would need, too. My Blackhawks shirt was on with my black bell bottoms and green hiking shoes from Blaine's Farm & Fleet. I relaxed. So did Norma. I made her laugh. I love making people laugh with my self-depricating humor and honest interaction. From the heart, ya know?

Soon we were standing about seven feet from the door. My Frank Zappa Book had been replaced with my green folder containing my picture, the form and both resumes. We were directed into the building by another nice looking gentleman. We were told to go downstairs where we were told that people in Blackhawks stuff were to go to one side, and street clothes people to the other. Well, thank goodness Norma and I went out last night and bought Blackhawks shirts!

The woman checking us in was wearing a black and white striped tank with jeans. She was beautiful and curvatious. She was flying covering the front desk and filling the staplers. She was also keeping a mental note of what number she was on. Everybody's form got a number. Mine was B127, and Norma's was B128.

We had our pictures taken with our Blackhawks gear on and number showing below the .... hawk which basically means below my breasts. I saw the look of discomfort on the photographers face. He made me laugh and relax. I'm sure the picture is goofy.

When I got done with that, I got a bit scared. Norma wasn't to be seen. It was just an instant, though.

"There you are! There's my buddy. I'm working on the buddy system, now."

We laughed and made our way up to the front of the line with our forms, pictures, and resumes stapled together. We were both going over the instructions we'd received regarding casting the movie. They need reliable cars! We were also asked if we had any medical, police, or military background. Unfortunately, I do not have a working dog.

Soon, I was up a the front of the line. I handed in my paperwork and received a handout in return. I followed the people in front of me to the exit door. To the EXIT DOOR! Wow! That was quick. I looked down at the handout and read, "One day of work...." Just by showing up in a Blackhawks t-shirt, I got ONE DAY of work!

I went back to gather Norma who was standing patiently in front of the two beautiful women checking people out. I waited in the doorway trying to make myself as small as possible.

"Is that it?" I heard Norma say.

"Yes, you can go," one of the women responded nicely.

Norma came walking out just as dazed as I had been.

"Did you read it?" I asked.

"What?"

"The letter. We've got ONE DAY of work! I got a day of work! Wow! I can't tell you how long it's been since I felt that! Wow," I went on and on.

Norma just chucked at me and at her own good fortune. Not bad for two Open Extras Casting Call virgins. We were delighted and made plans to keep in touch, go to the Transformers Open Casting Call together, and go to the United Center for our Blackhawks game sometime between July 21st & 23rd, or maybe even all three days. We were giggly, over-the-moon happy. By this time we were beside my car. Norma and I said our good-byes, and she walked across the field to her car.

I got in my car, put the key in the ignition, and heard nothing. Nothing. No turn-over. Nothing.

My heart sunk. I started thinking. Norma! I called her cell phone.

"Norma? It's Michelle. Do you have jumper cables by any chance?"

"What? Oh. Let me pull over. I think I might. I'll call you back."

While I waited, I figured out how to get the hood open, checked out the battery, checked the oil, and read the Owner's Manuel to see what kind of oil the car took. The oil light came on besides the car not turning over, and I thought it looked very low.

Norma pulled up, and went to her trunk. She had the cutest little red bag with the cutest pair of jumper cables still in their wrapping. We figured out that she needed to park her car so it was facing mine.

Just about then, another good-looking young man called from the fence, "Ladies? Do you need some help?"

"Uh Huh," I called back in my best three-year-old little girl voice.

He laughed and headed towards us. His name was Josh. Kudos to Josh for being willing to be a good samaritan. I told him that he was there for moral support when he showed up. I knew how to hook up the jumper cables and taught Norma how to while I was doing it.

Unfortunately, the car did not turn over. Nothing.

As Josh talked about just having his alternator replaced, Norma asked me what I wanted to do. We discussed my options with Josh and Norma making a good argument for having the car towed. It was convincing, but I wasn't quite ready. Josh said his good-bye with our blessing. I was perfectly willing to find a store or gas station to see if adding some oil would help, but Norma didn't want to leave me.

"Unless you're a mechanic ...," said Norma.

I looked up at her, fully aware that my son was in Wisconsin, it was my daughter's birthday, and I didn't have a clue who to call; but it was time to secure the vehicle and move on.

GOOD LORD IN HEAVEN! A bird just pooped on my son's computer! This may be a sign! (There's another story there.)

It's getting chilly, and I'm sitting outside with my Blackhawks t-shirt, some khaki shorts, my Wisconsin flip-flops, and the lovely, green, fleece shawl that my Mom gave me - on. Bird poop on the computer! ... and no napkins in sight.

There is more to the story, though. Much, much more. Could be that there will be two posts on this day, May 22, 2010.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHICKLET! I did all this for you! More on that later, too.

AND ...

I've found my fashion havens! Well, I knew about Tarjay, but Blaine's Farm & Fleet is a recent discovery.

Have to insert a big "Thank You" to Mom for introducing me to Willow Ridge!

Come back for the second installment of "extra! extra! read all about it!"