Thurs 23rd – A Long & Lonely Night.

(Am at work in avain attempt to upload more - still won't let me load up photos! I'll post this and re login and see where that gets me! Hope you're all well out there.)

Got up this morning and as I was having my muesli on the Stoop, Kev came and joined me and we started talking about tattoos. I’ve always thought about getting one. Either the 007 pistol symbol on the underside of my left wrist or an arm band type one – common I know but I don’t have any other real attachment etc. that I can think to get tattooed onto myself! Kev decided that, as he was bored and I was a sucker, that he’d draw a tattoo on my arm whilst I ate! And he did! It was a beautiful scroll, dedicated in true tatt style to ‘Mum’ with a snake wrapped around it that then carried all the way down my arm! It actually looked alright and has swung me round to possibly getting one of the arm band type tatts. Got a heap of comments from others throughout the day.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Just people passing through with not a lot to report. There’s definitely a lull in social activity at the mo’. People are still paring off but there are certain people that people seem to avoid. There’s a couple of the crew who are really starting to sh*t people off on cans. A whole ream of standbys will be given and then there’s the “What was Spot # doing there?” or just generally talking crap the whole time and won’t shut up and just do the gig. I have no probs if it’s dead time (which we do get chunks of) but if we’re running a section – shut the hell up! May sound harsh I know but…!

The other main whinge happening thru the dome ranks at the mo’ is the overnight shifts. Don’t know if I’ve previously mentioned this but 2 spots stay back each night to provide worklight for the set pieces whilst plotting goes on – it’s a really silly kind of idea and most nights, they get knocked about 1230 – 0130. There’s been a few people who have stayed back late – a couple of people have had a bad run and copped it twice, even though people have offered to replace them. There’s a couple of people, for what ever reason, ALWAYS bring up “Well, I’ve done night duty twice and worked til 0430 blah, blah, blah” – mainly when most of us get knocked but the people who dome the Hero Horse need to stay back. It’s not for rehearsals to train the ops, it’s purely for the horses and anyone can hang back and do it. Where the frustration comes form is that there have been dozens of Hero Horse rehearsals that by far cover 2 x night shifts but certain people fail to se this! Smack them around the head with a wet fish I say!

I am being a bit of a bitch today! But hey, we’re all on a bloody good wicket here – we’re not really working at all and there’s people who are earning the same as us & working far longer hours EVERY day. So who cares if you cop night shift twice – overall, it’s still a decent hourly rate! The motto is (or was), “One In, All In” and that’s starting to show a few cracks now!

Same bullshit kicked in on cans tonight towards the end of the shift – I was quite abrupt, told the offender to shut up, that we knew they’d done lateshift twice in 8 days and put my hand up and said I was staying to replace one of the guys who always had to stay back and do Hero and was scheduled for night duty! A few people then offered to stay back to cover Hero Horse etc. – message got across successfully! The boss (Prem) thanked me at the end of the night. Don’t get me started on him – he’s a nice guy but there’s more he could be doing to earn that basic respect as an employee that you should have for your boss. He should have been stamping on this ages ago – anyhoo, he’s Dutch, I’m an Aussie and I guess we do things differently! Man, I AM being a bitch tonight! Must stop!

Everyone was on the 1130 bus – I hunkered down in front of a computer and had some quality Internet time. I didn’t have my laptop with me which is why there’s been big gaps in between postings as late as connection at home is very few and far between or it lasts all of 5mins! From my work on the LED screen I also knew most of the voices chatting away on the radio. Chimed in that myself & Jess were there and awaiting deployment and came back with a few friendly voices. Kept chiming in at the quarter past of each hour, figuring it’s better to remind you of your existence before the bus departs on the ½ hr. 0320 rocks around and there’s news that we may get used in the next half hour….! Apart form that, it was Net, coffee & wondering around a bit. At 0345 we were dismissed and got an apology from the guys but the tag that they knew what we might be needed for wasn’t going to happen! God bless those days on the LED screen as the other nights, they’d let them hang as there was no prior acknowledgement of who they were and us Spot Ops – everyone knows the deal we’re on and sometimes, just sometimes, it’s frowned upon – that’s why the Stoop is always open and we always have cold beer in the fridge! It’s a universal language and peacemaker I tell ya! But, cause the guys had worked with me, crawling thru Lucy at height and it’d been a decent 6 days of solid work, they came to the party! GOLD!

Jess was prepared to wait til the 0430 bus – not I! Ran to the Site Shed, bursted in and ‘demanded’ where I could get a taxi from! Due to Khalifa now being locked down. As luck would have it, Philby was knocking off and offered to drive me home (I was nice & went & got Jess) and he drove us home (another LED contact paying off!). Get out of his ute and hear the sounds of the Stoop..! Walk around the corner and there, sprawled across the Stoop is this great big pack of pissed idiots! All were far passed merry! I sat amongst them and had 2 beers over the course of 1.5hrs and was endlessly entertained – I shan’t name names as it’s not my place to do so as I was not a part of the festivities from the start but about 15mins after I’d sat down, it was declared that I’d only just arrived and people were very happy to see me all over again!

Then these Germans rocked up – found out that they’re the ones responsible for the pyros. They had a big ol’bag of pistachios that, when attempting to open, burst all over the Stoop! I just shook my head! We then had beer & nuts! Very human. The game then started of course as to “Where or on who can I place my pistachio shells?” Adam’s shoes, Kev’s hat, Sarah’s bag... list goes on. I found it all highly entertainment. I was also responsible at the end of the night for pouring some people into bed with much of the “you’re great mate”, “Seriously, you’re a top bloke”, “I love you mate” and “When did you get home…”! Another successful night out for Stoop #7!