A Stupid Clock, Playing Stupid Clock Games

Oh God, not again.

It's the worst feeling in the world. Luckily I've only experienced it a few times, in grade 12 math and when I was working on a student film late last year.

My call time for the general audition today was 9:50am. I set my alarm for 8:30, and off to a restless sleep I went. Wake-up ... 9:35am. The alarm was set for 8:30 ... pm.

I shouted a word that rhymed with "duck", which had nothing at all to do with the enigmatic water fowl. I had no time to think so I just slapped on some presentable clothes over my still-haven't-showered-from-the-gym body and bolted it. I mean, I ran, and I am not a runner at all, but thankfully the little cardio I do at the gym seemed to pay-off this day.

Luckily again, this building was downtown, only a few blocks from where I live, so it was bolt-able. I bumped into a guy I knew from VFS, and breathlessly told him what agent I'm with after he asked. He knew where this office was, and I followed him there, and opened the door to see my great friend Sara, whose call time was the same time I first looked at the clock after dreaming about eating a giant marshmallow (still don't know where my pillow wen- oh look, a feather. Odd).

What a relief. Then, to relieve myself further, I took the fish-key chained key to the little actors room, where I got walked-in-on by a guy in a business suit. It's just going to be one of those days, isn't it?

I went in the audition room, and met the Casting Directors. Like I said, this was a "general" audition, which means they weren't casting for anything specific, they just wanted us to bring a scene we'd be cast for and show our stuff ... and then act (rim shot). I did one of the scenes from "House Party" that I would be taping later (looked like I was the first to do it, as my roommate told me they seemed tired of hearing it by the time he got it in the afternoon). Well, something has to go my way.

My other great roommate went with me to help me put this "House Party" scene on tape. One of the Casting Directors (the people casting for "Altitude") let us use their room and camera person. Putting it on tape was great, no Casting Director to impress there, it was just me, the camera man and my reader, whom I rehearsed the scene with beforehand, so we had a good report (sorry, rapport). I did a couple takes of each scene, which was a bonus, and then I got to watch the tape back, which was another bonus, because any time I get to see my lovely face on tape is a good thing. I mean, just look at me.

So as the acting continues to go well, my "professional" life suffers. The security company I work for (not gonna say their name, but they wear yellow jackets) lost the contract at the company I work at (not gonna say their name, but they make a lot of sports video games). It seems any contracted place I work at loses their contract in the end. The call centre I worked at before moving to Vancouver (not gonna say- oh screw it, it was Minacs) lost their HP Home & Home Office store campaign ... after I left the company. So that one didn't affect me too much, but I did know some people who had to get placed at some other campaign, whether they wanted it or not, or beat the streets for some new calls to answer.

So that's what I'm faced with now. As of March 31, no more SkyTrain rides to Burnaby. No more endless coffee. No more Facebook TV trivia (my Addicted To Futurama score is 14000. That's 1400 questions that I've answered correctly). No more Blogs ... well, that's not true, but it's going to be harder to find time for it, depending on where I'm placed.

Luckily a third that my six months with the company (which is mandatory if I want them to pay for the training they put me through) is up early next month, so if I get placed somewhere awful, I won't be there for long. Then it's job findin' time again. I'll be looking to get on at a restaurant, somewhere walkable downtown. Having zero serving experience is not playing in my favour, and the fact that I'm not a hot chick makes it two strikes. At least there's a lot of food service joints in Vancouver, so there's plenty of choice, and it's an industry where you can make good money as you advance up the ladder. Security is just awful, you can't go anywhere but another security company, and I'm really only interested in the site that we're losing.

So early next month I'll dust-off the uncle Bucks and give my best "please hire me" smile I can muster. Oh well, it's a change, and I'm used to that