I've come to the inconvenient part of the load in. The part where all the lights are up and working, but I'm sitting on my ass waiting for the set to be built.
If I were smart, I would go to the hotel for the rest of the day. But I know that as soon as I get there, someone will call me with a design question. And of course I cannot answer that question without being on site and actually looking at the potential difficulty that someone is having. So I sit off to the side and work on my next project.
I can't remember the last show I did where I wasn't working on my next show. Whether drawing a cad design, prepatching a console, or even writing cues, I take advantage of this down time. But the problem is that these guys are making too much noise in the background.
My biggest gripe is the stupid beeping noise made by forklifts, scissor lifts, condors and let's not forget golf carts, when they are put in reverse. I realize this has saved the life of many a knucklehead production assistant who wanders a job site aimlessly. But it drives me bonkers. Personally, I would trade a few broken ankles for the noise to go away.
Then what's with all the hammering on metal? Can't they make stuff that's slick and has easy fitting pins to assemble? Or at least have a law where everyone uses rubber hammers? Why must everything from a truss pin to a stage deck need to be struck with blunt force in order to be assembled?
Yelling amongst workers. Now perhaps we wouldn't have to strain to hear each other if there wasn't so much background noise. But still, why do people feel compelled to scream across an arena floor to each other. Use your walkie talkie, or better yet, walk over to the guy you need to communicate and talk there. It will take a precious 2 extra minutes out of your day, but my ears would appreciate it.
Right now I am sitting at a production table. They have added to the noise by playing some old album by Everlast. Since I really hate that asshole, the noise is pissing me off. But if I listen carefully I can hear the Chili Peppers playing on someone elses boom box across the work floor. Great, every dept should have their own tunes playing so they can drown out all the other noise around them. That really helps me.
So now I sign on to post this blog. Some unknown voice of god has to tell me I have mail. Like I couldn't notice the blinking red light announcing the same thing. Just add it to another list of noises I don't want to listen to.
