The Machine Needs Oil (a.k.a. My Crappy Day At Work!)

A film crew is like an army. An army succeeds with reconnaissance, intelligence, communication, information and food. And really big equipment. Okay, I'm guessing it works like that; I've never actually been anywhere near the army, so I have no clue. But a film crew needs those things. The hit television series on which I work has been in production for a long time, so it runs like a well-oiled machine. Usually. Every now and then though, it all seems to break down. Like today. I suppose an army is big enough to keep trucking on, despite a few blips, as is this film crew. So, maybe no one but me noticed the breakdowns. But they were there. We were on a location survey this morning, traveling in our usual bus, stuck in traffic, when a horrible smell began. Apparently the engine was burning oil and it was backing up into the vehicle. Every now and then a little puff of smoke would come out of somewhere in the dashboard. The bus never actually broke down but as the survey progressed, more and more people abandoned that ship, getting rides from others where they could, leaving just a few of us to suffer the noxious fumes. Back at the studio I was informed that the deadline for submissions for a major awards show is tomorrow, so I then spent most of the afternoon scrambling to get a half-decent submission together. I think I may just get it done in time, and no one will be the wiser. Later in the afternoon, while scrambling to get that submission together, I got a cell phone handed to me with a somewhat panicky 2nd Assistant Director on the line telling me that I had to be on set in about ten minutes, at a location that is about 20 minutes away, possibly more with rush hour traffic, which is right when she called. I raced there, making a couple of minor traffic infractions along the way, I won't say which ones, and got there just in time for them to be finishing up what I needed to be there for. I should have known about it, but wasn't told by the people who are supposed to be in charge of telling me. It takes a whole lot of people to make a TV show happen and those people need to know what is going on. When those people don't know, things don't happen. Or, as I'm talking about myself here, if I don't know, I have to work harder and get stressed about it and make half-assed awards submissions that jeopardize my chances of winning and drive like a maniac. And I don't like that. So, communication, people. It goes a long way.