Well, dear readers, yesterday was rather a baffling day, albeit it one filled with some nice moments in between the bafflement. Now, I, for one, do not like to be baffled but yesterday was baffling and therefore baffled I was. The first thing I did upon arising was to attempt to shave. I turned on the hot water, which normally takes about twenty seconds to heat up. After a minute it was still cold. After two minutes it was still cold. I tried the kitchen – nothing but cold water. This did not please me one or even two iotas, jots, or whits. I began to have a bad feeling that maybe a payment hadn’t been credited or something, so I called the DWP – everything fine there – and the gas company – everything fine there. The gas company informed me that they’d received hundreds of calls because the rain had doused many outdoor pilot lights on water heaters. I made an appointment for them to come at some point – they didn’t think it would be till late afternoon. As a backup, I also called my handy man and he said he’d come by noon and light it. So, I shaved as best I could with tepid water and then headed off to our casting session. Half the actors who were supposed to show up didn’t – I guess that’s the new way for actors – no responsibility, no professionalism and, in the case of these actors, no work from me, I’m afraid. We did settle on two actors for our leads for the little private reading we’re doing, and the young actor is also hired for the staged reading. He auditioned for us four months ago and blew everyone away, and yet they had to play this game of “let’s put him through his paces and he’ll have to prove himself.” I, of course, knew four months ago that we’d found our guy, but I let them do their thing and today we gave him the part. And I’m very happy – it’s an actor who I worked with long ago when he was fourteen. He’d just come off doing the musical Big on Broadway, playing young Josh. I had him do a duet with a young lady I used to work with and he did a great job. I hadn’t seen him since, but he’s matured into a wonderful young man and has a terrific voice and is a very natural and likeable actor, which is what I wanted for this role. I heard back from the handy man – he’d arrived at noon and the gas company had already been there and lit the pilot light and left a note that the rain had leaked into the water heater from both the top and the bottom. They recommended putting the water heater on a slightly raised platform. However, by the time the handy man arrived the pilot light was already out again and no matter how hard he tried it wouldn’t stay lit. Checking further, he found the rain had completely screwed everything up, and so we had to replace the water heater entirely. Why this took four days to happen is the baffling part – we’d been sans rain for four days and I’d had hot water until Sunday apparently.
I then went to visit my brother and we had a really nice hour-long chat out in Woodland Hills. I then drove home, picked up some mail and packages, grabbed a sandwich and fries, and then came home. They were just beginning to install the new water heater, which ended up taking about four hours. They did put it on a platform and they also made sure there was no way for rain to leak into the housing in which the water heater is kept. So, hopefully everything will be well. In the baffling department, I also had an e-mail from the landlord’s business manager – I haven’t had an e-mail from this guy for almost a year-and-a-half – he was inquiring if I was receiving bills for the alarm system. I told him no, that the alarm system hasn’t really worked since I’ve been here and that if any bills had come I hadn’t been aware of them, unless I assumed they were junk mail for some reason. So, he’s checking on that. If he wants the alarm system working, he’ll have to have someone come out and check the wiring because as I said, it’s never been working.
Last night, I did manage to watch three more superb first season episodes of The Sopranos. And I began my initial proofing and read-through of my new book. I’m pleased so far, but am finding lots of little things to fix, mostly misplaced words or commas or extra words – small things to smooth out.
So, it was a day filled with nice things and a few baffling things. I, of course, prefer the nice things, and would like to quickly dispense with the baffling things. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below before I use the word baffling a few hundred more times.
Today, Mr. Cason Murphy will be coming over and we shall be addressing packages, and then I’m hoping he can come with me to my storage facility to try and find my three memorabilia boxes, so I can begin choosing photos for the book. After that, I’ll go back to proofing/reading and also have some lunch.
The rest o’ the week is much the same – a few meetings, some lunches, and reading/proofing. I’m also supposed to see a musical on Thursday evening.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, address packages, ship a few packages, pick up a few packages, go to storage, and the proof/read as well as eating something light but amusing. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite films about organized crime? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and please don’t make them baffling.