I Am Jack Bauer!

Those 24-hour days will make you ponder life and the meaning of time. Early yesterday morning, I arrived at my theatre with the intention of getting some things right. Specifically, I don't want the Star Wars fans, particularly the people who will be dressed as Darth Vader, bitching about the presentation of their precious midnight not-really-the-first-to-see screening. Around 8:30 AM, I was listening to Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio and they were going back and forth about how Mike Greenberg nearly spoiled a surprise party and his wife got pissed--when I returned to my car some 21 hours later, I was hearing them again, rehashing the story. At 9 AM, I was in a theatre assisting a tech with speakers that I felt absolutely needed to get fixed before the big film hit. I was testing out the process of interlocking, which is one print and two theatres--which would later be moot.

Working all day, you become a robot. Threading over 60 projectors and starting them in a day is as natural as breathing. The same movies, many with no one in them, but you start them anyway because it's your job and like I said, you're a robot, and you have no concept of coloring outside the lines. For a moment there, you might become HAL 9000, but then you realize what happened to him. "Dave....what are you doing Dave?"

Bookings come in, and the entire weekend you've been bracing yourself for interlocking because you'll "only" be getting 5 prints--which then turns to 8. No interlocking necessary now. Dave...

You build the prints, you get done around 2 AM. Time to watch the show for yourself. The movie might be the best movie in the world, but every once in awhile, your mind drifts...I can't believe you made me stay up this long, it comments. Then there's massive amounts of instructions you have to leave for the next day because it's your day off and you have to rely on other people. This is a pain, especially since it seems like everyone you work with is very, what is it...left-brained? When you have to explain every detail?

Then it comes full circle. When you came in, it was day. When you leave, day is breaking. My feet are sore. I'm crazy. At least I got to see Star Wars before the freaks did. Yep, take that.