The Fitting

I got a call last night from my calling service.

I have work.

It's 9 [probable] days on Iron Man 2 next week and the week after.

There was also a fitting. I went to that today. Only in Los Angeles can one drive 80 miles round trip for routine business. And you know what? It didn't feel like a pilgrimage. Either I'm getting used to it, or the massive sprawl that is the Greater Los Angeles Metro Area makes the whole thing seem like a shorter trip than it is. This is the route to and from:


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By comparison, here is a similar distance trip in the Minneapolis Metro zone.


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Now, maybe it's just me, but driving from Lakeville to Lino Lakes and back for a half-hour wardrobe fitting would seem a little excessive.

But Santa Clarita to Hawthorne? Sure! And I'm really not bitter about it. Some very nice people attacked me with a tape measure and then gave me some clothes. And I got two hours of base pay for it. So I grossed $16 on the trip. What I'll net, I don't know.

Another curious thing about today. Iron Man 2 will be my first major movie. To this end, it was a first to witness the size of the crew and the racks of wardrobe for the fitting. It makes a difference when the production has an 8 or 9 digit budget.

I took Sepulveda back for half of the trip (another iconic southern California street name) because 405 was a joke...but that's one of the little triumphs of being comfortable with driving and direction finding. It might not be any faster in the long run, but at least I don't have to clutch through four gears for forty straight miles.

Lessons learned today:
Big movies are big movies. Their quality is not so important to those of us actually working them. They provide many days of work. I am in no way impugning the potential quality of Iron Man 2.
I must find an alternate route in order to avoid the 405 north/5 north connector. Awful. Just awful.
Unions serve a purpose. This will be another post.
God is awesome. This will also be another post.