Wed 15th – Hanging In The LX Krankenhause Wid Un Germans Kevie & Tim – Kings Of The Smurfs!

(For some reason I am unable to post photos with this entry! Have tried numerous times and it's failed - you watch, when I press 'Post', you'll end up with 25 copies of the same pic!)

Got home at 1215am yesterday (or is that today…?) and had been requested to be back in at 0700..! Of course we could! Got in there and, of course, the winds were too high so what we were supposed to do was unable to be done so we were put on ‘stand by’ – off we went to have omelettes at the catering tent!

We then did little bits pieces but nothing that we were actually being paid extra $$ to do! Ah Doha! It’s crazy, absolutely crazy – I’d love for you all to be able to pop on over for a day to experience the atmosphere. It’s indescribable, something intangible unless you’re here. The really good thing is that no one is up to the yelling and Raaaarrrrrrr stage…yet! People are aware that things need to get done, that there are delays etc. So it’s still a relaxed atmosphere – somewhere, someone is getting a hiding over it all I’m sure!

LX Krankenhause is German for LX Hospital and it was kinda nice to hang out with the guys and chat and discuss theatre and a whole range of things. Andy is very much the gentle giant & very apologetic for having us waiting around. Ollie is hilarious and would become a close friend should I move to Germany or he to Aus! You know the voice that most guys put on when mimicking someone whinging (maybe it’s only me… and Ollie) – that high pitched ‘me me me me me me me’ that’s reminiscent of Beaker form the Muppets…? Well, hearing that done at the same pitch and in German from Ollie was hilarious! He kinda looks like a younger, fresh faced Meatloaf – I know that sounds horrible but it’s the best description I can give! There were a few moments where we paused & looked at each other and with out saying anything, acknowledged that, despite the language barrier, we had found the same thing funny and had a similar sense of humour! Olaf is pretty much the crew leader on deck but too has a great sense of humour and can speak German, English, Italian & French fluently! It’s not until to get on a gig like this that the inkling of “why didn’t I carry on language at school?” kicks in.

By lunch, we’d covered all the little gigs that the Procon & Bytecraft people had for us to do – this did also include a 45 min nap stretched out on a roadcase – I’ve been told there’s photo and am trying to track it down! We ate and then tracked down Philby and asked him if there was anything we could do for him. All he had were “shitty jobs” to which Kev & I went “fine”. He sort of did that double take and confirmed that “they’re really shitty gigs”, to which we went “Fine, you’re paying us, put us to work.” I don’t think he understood that we’d taken the gig to get us out of the house and oot un aboot! He gave us a list and stated that we may need a hand. “I could get you some Smurfs..?” Me and Kev looked at each other, smiled, turned to Philby and said “Sure!”

Off we went to the Smurf area, called out for Owen and 3 guys jumped up and came on over. “Yes Boss” was the first call which we put a stamp on. I’m not nobody’s boss – especially in that kind of situation – and neither is Kev. We’re just not like that – it’s me & Kev! We have hard enough trouble keeping ourselves in line, let alone others! Anyway, off me & Kev (who for some reason was quickly renamed Michael Jackson (I kid you not) by the guys) went with our contingent of Smurfs into the stands and proceeded to remove excess pipe & stuff! You can easily tell that the stories that we’ve heard that these guys die at an average rate of 70 per month when working elsewhere as they have total disregard for their own safety and it’s obviously an issue that their management has never raised or provided training for. One of the big things we got told on Day 1 was to always wear safety vests, helmets and steel caps whilst on site and that we needed to enforce this with the Smurfs in the hope that they would take back what they’d learnt/seen and hopefully get some form of basic safety awareness into their workplace. I kinda like the idea and myself & Kev proceeded to pass on ideas and hints throughout the afternoon.

They were a great bunch of blokes and we managed to secure another couple during the session – they were called over by Parkesh & Milloo to “come work for these boss”! Guess we made an impression. I’ll add in now that for the next 4 days whilst doing the extra work, Owen would find us each day and ask if we needed a hand. Saw Parkesh a few more times to and they were keen to come work for us again! In a weird way it was flattering but all me & Kev did was just take ‘em on board as equals and have a laugh along the way – the best way to work!

Rehearsals were bitterly cold! Such a wind that was ICEY, no better word to describe it. I had brought A jumper and pair of jeans with me but not winter clothes – I mean it’s the dessert right? As yet, they’re still sitting in my cupboard – not as of tomorrow night! Kev & I came down at the end of the night shivering like crazy! Home time was a beer on the Stoop and then bed. Some of the others tried to coach us into having more but after a 17.5hr day and being back in at 0900, bed was definitely the answer!