The first 48

Brace yourself, this is going to get ugly real quick.

I know I'm supposed to be having the time of my life right now. I'm L.A., I'm working on a film, life is good, right? It's funny how the things you take for granted can go to shit real fucking quick.

I got to Los Angeles last Thursday. Plane arrived a little after 10 am - right on time. Waited for the Flyaway bus for over an hour to take me to Union Station so I could save money on a cab. Bus was $7.50. Cab to my hotel was $12 (including tip). Not too bad, except when I finally got to my hotel just before 2 they tell me check in isn't til 3 whatever. Except that the hotel is in Skid Row. I'm not talking about the cool hairband, but the place where the homeless who are sick, chemically dependent, and mentally ill go to set up camp. Yeah, that Skid Row.

Friday I'm asked to come document a table reading. It's going to be really exciting because the cast is together for the first time and I just know the chemistry is going to be great. I'm supposed to be there at 5pm to help set up before the cast gets there. I'm so excited about this that I check and double check the bus schedules. Take the 81 to Townsend and Colorado, I repeat to myself. I should get there 15 minutes early. That will make a good impression, right?

The bus is only a buck fifty. Awesome! So much cheaper than a cab! A cab would have been $40. I just can't afford that every day. When I get on the bus, I realize that I have a 20, a 5 dollar bill, one single, and 35 cents. I inserted my fiver, thinking it would give me back change. I mention this to the bus driver and he treats me like an idiot. "It don't give back change." I ask what can I do? Get a voucher or something? I'm going to have to come back on a bus in a few hours. "No voucher. You don't have a pass, no credit, no voucher." For fucks sake. I've just been robbed. Well, I guess it's cheaper than taking a cab right?

So after 45 minutes when the bus driver says "last stop" and I'm at some kind of weird and scary place I ask "is this Townsend and Colorado?" Only to find out that I got on the bus going the opposite direction. He says, "get out here, I'll swing around and won't charge you for the fair." That's nice of him, I think and get out, cross the road and wait terrified in a part of town I have a feeling isn't all that safe, lugging over 5 thousand dollars worth of video equipment and electronics. When the bus pulls up, he's not on it. I panic and wonder how the hell I'm going to pay for this bus ride. I'm not putting a twenty in the slot knowing there will be no change in return. I must have looked in distress because a fellow bus stop person asked me if I needed some change. The bus starts to pull away and I snatch a quarter from the nice man and chase the bus down with all my equipment.

When I'm on the bus, I am a little relieved to be out of that place and on the right track, but really stressed out because I'm going to be an hour and a half late now. I text Jeremy and he says not to worry.

An hour and a twenty minutes later, it's the same scenario again. The bus stops and there's an awkward eye exchange between me, the driver, and one other passenger - a pregnant lady who is just as confused as I am. I find the all too familiar phrase leaving my lips again. "What about Townsend and Colorado??" "This bus doesn't go there. You need to get off this bus cross the street and take the next one." Huh??

So I get off the bus. The pregnant passenger crosses the street and waits at another bus stop. I google map the Director's address and I'm literally 15 walking minutes away, but I have all of my equipment with me and and I'm already so late that I'm beginning to panic. Again. In the middle of shits creek. The great unknown. I call Matt. And I start sobbing. "If I wasn't working for free, I'm certain they'd fire me," I tell him. I call a cab, afraid that my phone battery will die before I can give my address. The driver takes f.o.r.e.v.e.r to arrive, and then passes me. I chase him down with my gear in tow.

When I'm finally in the cab, he doesn't know how to get where I need to go. "I usually work in Hollywood, but they sent me here. I don't know where I am," he says as he keeps punching in the wrong address to the director's house. For fucks sake. I show him the map on my phone and explain it's only five minutes away. He plugs it in to his car charger and I verbally direct him. Finally, I will get there.

I show up at 7pm. Two hours late and an hour after the reading started. I am a fuck up. I feel like an ass, but I instinctively grab my camera and start recording the reading. And the actors are good. Really good. And it really helps me take my mind off the three hour journey I just had. I'm in my mode now. This is why I'm here.

Toward the end, when Jason, the director, is reading what is happening on screen as the movie comes to an end, my phone alerts me that I've just received a text message. Then it rings. And god help me, there's another message. The cast all hear this too. I already know that it's Matt worried that I've been raped, murdered, mugged, and sold to some pimp, but I can't answer the phone because I'm recording. And this is just one more time when I realize that I'm a fuck up. Always put it on vibrate.

After the reading, the DP offers to take me back to the hotel. She is awesome and kind and my saviour, and I will forever be indebted to her. We chat a little in the car about how she used to live in Charlotte working on Nascar and moved out here to work in motion pictures. She's an assistant camera and has decided to make the plunge to be a full on Director of Photography. I immediately adore her and know that she one of those genuine people that are hard to come by. She drops me off directly in front of the hotel. I am grateful.

That night I decide to get a rental car via priceline. This will not happen again. I also decide to get the fuck out of downtown. I search Craigslist for a sublet and find one that sounds great.

Saturday, I hang out with some LA family, Maria and Trever, and finally meet Sean, Matt's brother. It's wonderful to be with such nice people, especially after the fucked up day I just had. They feed me, make me laugh, and show me all he touristy sights. I am thankful for their kindness and amazed at how much Sean looks like Seamus. Maria is so wonderful. If she wasn't family, I'd still want to be her friend. And Trever is really just as cute as a little boy can be. And he's obsessed with King Kong.

Because she is so nice, Maria offers to drive me to the airport to get my rental the next day. Fearful of the bus system, I take her up on that.