The night before we (Drew, Pam, and I) flew to LA for our 3 tapings of Uncommon Threads episodes was very busy here at Chez NexStitch. I spent the entire day working on step outs for the show.
An aside
Step outs are examples of a project that one creates which allow a viewer to see the progress of that project. It’s the exact opposite of real time. Think of all the steps of creating your favorite recipe. If you had to teach a cooking show based on that recipe, you couldn’t actually do it in the alloted time (5 mins, 30 mins, or even an hour in some cases). So you make these step outs to show what the project (recipe, whatever…) would look like after a certain amount of time. In the case of crochet, a certain amount of rows or rounds, or what have you.
Back to the story
I had three projects I was expected to demo and not one of the step outs was complete! Eck! I was close on one project and by the afternoon, I had it done. I spent the remainder of the day/evening working on the other one, as well as packed for the trip. And at about 11:30pm I decided that I needed to make an important adjustment on one pattern (which by the way I did not have complete step outs for). It wasn’t as though I was trying to cut it close, but I can tell you that the reason was related to a previous post in not being able to locate the necessary yarn.
Jump ahead to 1:30am and I’m just finalizing the pattern and emailing if off to our producer, Judy. I’ve got half the step outs done for that project and I’m heading to bed. I tossed and turned and got less than 3 hours of sleep.
“BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.”
I was actually awake before the alarm went off at 4:30am.
Our neighbor had informed us that Route 78 was being worked on and to avoid it at all costs. We thought perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad at not even 7am, but we were dumb and went that way. There was a line of traffic on a road that’s usually not crazy busy. I thought there was a chance of missing the flight. It broke up and we got to the airport with enough time to grab some grub. The airport was busy but not insane. Mind you, this was before all the commotion that occured later on causing massive lines and confusion.
I crocheted like a crazy person on the plane in order to finish the remaining step outs. For a moment there, it looked like I wouldn’t finish, but the 5 hour flight and slow tow down the runway allowed me to finish all but the last 5 minutes worth of the project. So close!
We land in LA. The weather was perfect. No humidity! I couldn’t believe it. We get in contact with Pam and it turned out she was at the other side of the airport and it’s a biggie, so we wait in line to get a cab. This cab driver was a nut job, IMO. He barely spoke English and got out of the cab to confirm with the guy in charge if it was OK for him to drive to the other side of the airport to pick up Pam. Ridiculous. So we drive over there and tell him, “Terminal 2, Baggage Claim 4.” He goes breezing past the whole terminal saying, “Where is she? I don’t see. Where you want to pull over?” He pulls over and we decide to get out. He’s a jerk and I don’t want him driving me anywhere. He charges us $7 to drive from one side of the airport to the other! ! ! Lar has only a $10 and gives it to him and we get out. And now we’re at Terminal 3 looking for Pam and we can’t find her.
We hook up with Pam and get a cab and we’re off to the studio. Yeah, they don’t waste time in LA. We had to rehearse that day. So much for the documents that said they want you there a day in advance to relax, etc.
On the way there, Pam shows me her book of sketches for things she’d like to make. To see that in person would floor anyone! She had schematics for each and a sample of the chosen yarn in the stitch she’d like to make the idea in. It was as thoughtful and well organized as Pam is. There were some truly inspiring ideas in that book!
I never thought with a tip that it would cost $90 to drive from LAX to Burbank. And I got the impression that we’d get re-embursed immediately for cab fares. Not so. If anyone else is doing a shoot this month and you’re flying in and meeting others at about the same time, hire a shuttle in advance. It’s way cheaper. Matter of fact, the studio should hire one.
So we get to the studio and as expected they had a room for us. For the first day, Drew had his own room. Pam and I had the ultra tacky, fake Floridian, straight out of the 80’s dressing room. Golden Girls had nothin’ on this decor!
They put our names on the door. Star treatment!
And moments after putting our stuff down, they have us going over our projects with them. Here’s Judy the producer and her assistant producer, Molly, (she couldn’t have been a day over 23) going through the step outs with me. And I have to tell you, I was beyond confused as to what I needed to convey to Judy right then and there. I wasn’t mentally prepared to talk her through all my projects without looking at my notes [Because you know, I was told ump-teen times not to memorize anything, but now I was being asked to convey my project step outs off the top of my head. Go figure. That’s Hollywood for you. Actually, Burbank really].
I left the studio completely confused as to what to expect the next day. And you’d think I would be nervous, but I actually (and surprisingly) wasn’t at all. I was just upset that I felt like I was put in a situation where I couldn’t be successful.
We left the studio having only rehearsed for the one show in its entirety and having gone over the second one partially and headed out to dinner.
Our super cool driver Vince, a P.A. who had learned only the day before that his job would involve driving the talent back and forth to their hotel or studio, had informed us of a place to eat across the street which had good beer. A brewery in fact. Larry and I are beer snobs. Yep. I’m making a confession now. We like beer, although he also likes wine and I don’t, and I like mixed drinks more than he does. Gordon Beirsch (bad spelling here) was the place and the beer was good. I had a Marzen (probably more bad spelling). My food was just so-so, but the conversation was great.
I learned a lot about both Pam and Drew that I never knew before. Who knew the Dude lived in Mexico for 5 years? Who knew that Pam had received my email to be on the show the day she received a rejection for her book proposal and moments before she was leaving for a long weekend away from emails etc.
After dinner, the hotel was calling us out. We were tired from travel and little sleep. It was the first time in months that I was bed by 9:00pm and Lar too.
I woke up 15 minutes before the alarm went off but alas, it blurted out a “BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!” to remind me that I did indeed need to get up and off to the lobby where our faithful driver Vince would be waiting for us.
Stay tuned for Part Duh (that’s French for ‘two’ folks) . . .
