Damages in DA Bronx!

(from October 15 and 16)

It's amazing how they are shooting "Ugly Betty" down the block from where I live here in Queens, and yet I get shipped to the Bronx for 6am call time for that boring show "Damages". You can't even begin to imagine how upset I was when I went to the office of those idiots at Extra Mile, told them that I want to be booked on Ugly Betty, and yet they have the nerve to ship me to the Bronx.

Normally I would have tried to get on the set of Ugly Betty, though since the bullshit call time of 6am was slated for Damages, that screwed up any chance as the call time down the block was for 8am. So it was a choice to "suck it up" and take a guaranteed paycheck or to take a chance to see if I could get on Ugly Betty.

Like a dedicated good soldier, actually a stupid solider, I went to the Bronx. Mind you this wasn't in a good location. Then again is any part, save for Riverdale a good part of the Bronx?? To make matters even worse, the idiots at Grant Wilfley gave the WRONG information to get to the holding loaction.

The information offered to us told us to take the number "4" train or the "D" to 181st stop. That would have been fine IF the holding was a block away, NOT a 45 minute hike at 6am through unknown territory in the Bronx!

I recall leaving my house in Queens at about 4:40 am ann of course walking by all the permit signs that were posted up for Ugly Betty. That was an extra kick in my crotch to see that. Anyways when I finally arrived in the Bronx, I had to transfer at 165 st stop which was Yankee stadium stop on the 4 line. There are police commnad stations and cops on patrol there 24/7 for areason.

Just in passing, I saw a couple of arrests being made at 5am! I knew how bad this day was already going to be, and every minute that passed I became more depressed knowing that just down the block they are shooting Ugly Betty, and here I am on a 2-hour roadtrip trying to get to my miserable destination.

So I get out of the 181 st stop and I start walkin and keep walking, and then walk some more. The sun is in the vast distance and not ready to rise for at least another hour or so. In the pitch darkness of the early morning, I look ahead to see this elderly white Woman, in heels and a suitcase, dressed nicely. Obviously she is not from the Bronx and is a background player. The suitcase was a dead giveaway.

I caught up with her and introduce myself. Just behind us was another guy heading to set in the same direction. So the three of us begin walking, and walking and walking some more. We get to this BIG decline hill with a million stairs and look down towards the horizon to how far this place really was.

We stopped by an elementary school where they had security and the Woman said "Just keep walking, and walking, and then walk some more!" "It is a hike!" So the three of us embrace ourselves and continue down the path to nowhere.

Finally we get down the hill. It is more difficult for the elderly Woman as she has on hells and is carrying a suitcase. The sun raises up with a sneak peak of the sunny day to come, for some of us. As we walked across the main intersection, we are about to cross and almost make it until the elderly Woman, takes a trip from the curb and fell face first on the road. It looked awful seeing it happen, though when me and the guy got her up, she was shaking, scraped up, and barely fine.

From that point me and the guy had to carry the elderly Woman all the way when we eventually made it to holding. We were already 45minutes late and the PA and nobody said a word b/c they knew what a lousy deal this was and how Grant screwed up the directions. On top of it we brought in this wounded Woman.

The set itself t was 14 hours in a hospital on the mental patients floor. I would have liked to get an AFTRA waiver for this nightmare, though I got nothing. The only thing I did get was a Friend with a mental patient. I offered her a bag of cool ranch Doritos. Amazing how a bag of chips or an offering of food is an international language no matter what mental state of mind you are in.

My own personal state of mind was deteriorating. I was on the verge of committing myself to a room there in the mental ward. The asshole 2nd AD first released all the non-union, all 4 of us at about 7pm, which would have been decent. The only problem with this was that as we were walking back to the 20 minute hike from the hospital to holding, he contacts the PA for ALL of us to come back! I can't even describe to you how I badly I felt like slitting my wrists right then and there.

We were at that point held hostage, literally in this tiny one room all 20 of us 4 non-union and 16 Aftra members. Some in gowns, some dressed as Doctors. I was a visitor. I almost told of the 2nd AD for keeping us in there like caged animals. After another 3 hours, they released us and it took another 2 hours to get back home, where they were just wrapping for Ugly Betty.

Misery just got a new name and it's called "DAMAGES"!

Sigh ;(