Day Six Hundred and Forty of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Choosing Voice Over Demo Scripts

This afternoon, I would be finally working on my voice over demo with my friend. I took time this morning to dig out the voice over commercial scripts that I had found months ago. I wanted to take the time to rehearse before this afternoon. We would be doing it at a recording studio that I had used before.

Although I had read and rehearsed these scripts before, it had been a while ago. As I was rehearsing, I was a little panicked because I noticed that I was consistently going over the time limit. Each spot was to be only 30 seconds and yet I was going over at least 10 to 15 seconds, which is a disaster! No matter how much I practiced, I couldn’t seem to deliver it under 30 seconds without it sounding unnatural. This was odd because I had had no issues with pace when I was doing my voice over workshops.

Ran to Volunteer Gig

Although I had ran a long run yesterday and my feet had been aching, I decided to run to UBC today. Once I got going, everything was fine. My feet were fine and I was able to run at a fairly good pace. I felt my usual Achilles tendon pain but not enough to prevent me from running all the way to UBC. The uphill run was no problem and I was glad.

Email from Brother

Just as I was starting my volunteer reading at UBC, I had checked my email and was dismayed to read one from my brother. It was short, it said that he had been terminated. I felt terrible.

Although I knew that things had not been going well for him at work, I had hoped that he would be able to find another job before then. His boss had been making more and more unreasonable demands on him and he was really stressed out over it. I’d have to deal with this when I got home.

Voice Over Demo Session at a Commercial Studio

We went to a commercial studio not too far from me. He would be directing me. When I did any recordings in my workshops, I was directed or coached by the teachers as well, so I knew what to expect.

Although I had rehearsed the scripts, I didn’t feel all that confident in my work. He was very supportive as he suggested different ways of delivery. He was constantly telling me to speed up. He used to do this very work for a radio station so he knew what clients expected. He said in radio, delivery tends to be exaggerated or like bad acting. I could see that.

After we had a few takes of each script, we finally finished. I was a little anxious because I didn’t like the process at all. I felt really drained and not that happy. He said that considering it was my first time, I did fine and that it takes a long time before people get confident enough to hit their stride. That made me feel better. He would do post production and then send it to me so I could approach agents with it. Hopefully, it will be accepted by somebody.

News Distresses Dad

When I made my daily phone call to my Dad I wondered how he would take the news of my brother’s termination. My brother had sent him the same email but my Dad hadn’t read it by the time I had called him.

My poor Dad was crushed by the news. He knew that my brother had been unhappy but didn’t expect him to lose his job. He went on and on about what bad news this was and could only think about the negatives. He was calculating my brother’s budget in his mind even. He wondered if my brother should sell the house and move in with him as opposed to the other way around, which is planned right now.

I felt sorry for my Dad. Here he is 80 years old and he now has both of his kids out of work. He was of the generation who stayed with the company for decades. He had worked at his job for over 30 years before he was offered a buy out which he took at the age of 58 years. He was set with a good pension. It had to be so distressing to him to realize that both of his kids, in their 50s aren’t anywhere near that position.

Call from Extras Agent

When I was at UBC, my extras agent had called and left a message. I should have checked my messages but I had been distracted being in the recording booth the whole time. I was just about to call him back when I saw that he was calling me even though it was after office hours.

I told him that I just got home and was just going to call him. I am probably one of their few clients who do not always carry their cell phones or text. He wanted to book me for a day on the pilot that I had worked on last year.

The fact that I was getting any days from this pilot was pretty remarkable. There are so many pilots filmed and so few shows actually get the green light. When I had been working on it last year, I thought that the scenes that I did get to see, seemed to have potential. I was glad that I was right and I was glad that they were going to film in Vancouver! There are times when they film the pilot here and then film the series elsewhere. (example: The Good Wife).

I had received an email from my extras agent notifying us of the impending pilot season. Soon there will be several pilots being filmed here by hopeful productions. I hope that it will mean more work for me. Any work.

Day Six Hundred and Thirty Six of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Early Morning

I managed to get up early this morning. I’ve been staying awake late and not being able to fall asleep at a reasonable time lately. At first, I was trying to blame it on the Olympics but that has been over for days so it must be another reason. I fear that my dreaded insomnia anxiety has returned.

Ran to UBC Volunteer Gig

I was looking forward to my uphill run to UBC this morning. I left a little later than I usually leave which was good because I was able to avoid all the school drop off gridlock that I usually have to experience.

I felt more confident doing this run now that my hip and TFL muscles have been better. I was able to run at a fairly good pace unhindered by any weather distractions like the rain, wind or snow of the past few days.

I was given a fairly easy book to read on British royalty at UBC today. With English books like this, I don’t have to worry about looking up words or the pronunciation of names for the most part. The reading went by without any problems and was fairly interesting.

Scheduled Voice Over Demo Time Again

I had to cancel my voice over demo last week so I re-scheduled it for next Monday. Both my friend and I have cancelled and re-scheduled in the past so this time I’m determined to do it this week. I really want to be able to do well. I know that it’s a lot of work to produce a demo.

I think I’ll be able to read over the scripts on Monday. I haven’t booked anything to work on that day so I hope I can concentrate on that alone. I really want to do well with this.

Good Run Home

Despite all of the snow, I had a fairly good run. Although UBC is at a higher elevation than my neighborhood, I was surprised to see how much more snow had accumulated in the last week. The golf club that is adjacent to my running route was completely blanketed in snow.

Somebody else must be either walking or running because there was a single person path that I could follow. As soon as I got to the gates of the university, the snow pretty much disappeared. It was no problem to run the rest of the route home.

Volunteer at Vancouver Wine Festival

Tonight was my first night of volunteering for the Vancouver Wine Festival. I had volunteered last year and had a good time. I decided to volunteer again this year. If you volunteer two five-hour shifts, you get a free ticket for a wine tasting evening.

I had a really good experience last year. I enjoyed the two nights that I had volunteered and had a blast at the wine tasting. Tonight was not as fun. For some reason, I was really tired standing on my feet the whole five hours. I wore comfortable shoes and yet my feet were still aching.

I don’t know if running 12 miles earlier today had anything to do with it. Everytime I think that I’m so fit with my running, something like this, standing, is a difficulty and it worries me. I wonder what it would be like to have to stand on my feet all day in some job? I would fail at it miserably if tonight was any indication.

Another thing that was a problem was having to deal with the difficult people tonight. I don’t seem to remember this being a problem last year. Tonight, there were a few people who were drunk and a little belligerent about leaving their wine glass in the festival room.

Security and I kept telling them to leave it in the room and promised them that we would give them a new one when they returned to the room. And yet, they didn’t seem to trust that we would do that. Some people lunged for the clean glasses that I was handing out. I don’t know why people don’t realize why it’s not a good idea to have a bunch of drunks grabbing their own glasses. And yes, some of those glasses broke.

At the end of the evening, I was tired and annoyed. I wondered if I’ll bother to volunteer again next year and wondered if this aggravation was worth the free ticket. I’ll have to see.

Day Five Hundred and Ninety Two of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Early Run to UBC Volunteer Narrating Gig

I was looking forward to this run to my UBC gig. It was overcast but it was not raining and quite mild. I felt a little sluggish going up the first incline and my Achilles tendon was a little tight but I managed to stretch it out enough along the way.

Every time I reach a certain point, (close to where I had my running accident) it’s crowded with school kids getting dropped off by their parents and I mentally kick myself for forgetting to cross the street to avoid it all. Some parents are scatter-brained and don’t even check when turning so I have to really be vigilant that they don’t hit me. Today, another car turned right into me even though I had the green light to go across.

More Law Cases to Read

I didn’t have the greatest time when I got to UBC, it didn’t seem like it, but I was running fairly slowly today. I was given a book of poetry to read but I asked if I could read law cases again. I’m getting quite used to reading the cases and I really can’t stand reading poetry. I’ve been narrating/recording the cases for the same blind law student that I have been for the last few months. These are a little more interesting than the Canadian Criminal Code that I had to read a few weeks ago.

My UBC friend reminded me about doing the voice over commercial demo that we were going to do a couple of months ago after I finished the two voice over courses. He has offered to produce it for me. I can use one of the recording booths for it. I have chosen a few sample scripts already. I only want to wait until my Dad returns home next week. After that, I’ll be able to concentrate on my voice over aspirations once again.

Golfers and Runners Out

When I finished volunteering, I looked forward to the run home. I counted several runners in the first part of my run. Most of them were young, probably university students. I could also hear the ‘thwock’ sound of golf balls being hit on the golf course adjacent to the road. There were quite a few golfers out today.

With a nice day like this, it makes me hopeful that spring is well on its way even though it’s only January still. The next few days are supposed to be dry and sunny so I’m looking forward to them and running.

First Marathon Clinic Class

I ran the short distance to my first Running Room Marathon Clinic class at 6:30 PM. It’s at my local The Running Room store which is not too far from me. It’s a 14 week course that prepares runners for the marathon. I am not really a group run kind of person. I’ve always loved running by myself. I have done the occasional group run but they have been with friends and were not long distances.

We all introduced ourselves and I was surprised to hear that there quite a few people who had already taken this program before. I was also surprised to discover that there were quite a few runners from outside Canada: Netherlands, Ireland, England, Mexico to name just a few countries.

I’m not sure that doing this course is such a good idea. We are expected to run on Tuesday after the lecture, join up with the Wednesday night run club (which is free to anybody) and the Sunday morning run club (which is also free).

I didn’t realize that we were expected to run tonight, but I decided to bow out since I had already ran 12 miles today. Tomorrow, I am busy and then I’m not sure if I’m ready to give up my sacred Sunday morning free yoga class that I run to and from. I’ve been doing that for over five years so I think I’d miss it too much.

If I don’t join up with these group runs, I’ll probably not be getting much out of this class. I also was a little wary of running in the dark (two of the runs are at night) since I’m still fearful of tripping and falling like I did last year, which resulted in my fractured arm and shoulder. It’s not like I’m not going to do the mileage, I’m just more likely to do it alone.

I have to make some decisions by next Tuesday. One of the points of me joining this group was to make friends with fellow marathon runners. How much camaraderie will I inspire if I only see them for the weekly class? Maybe I’ll have to learn to do/like these group runs and maybe miss some yoga classes after all. It’s only for 14 weeks.

Day Five Hundred and Sixty Seven of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Ran to UBC Volunteer Gig

I woke up early to snow this morning. Although it isn’t the ideal of running weather, I really needed to do a run, so I put on my Yaktrax and set off. It was actually considered a snow storm this morning.

I passed a girl practicing a graceful tai chi in a field. I was surprised to see her out there, seemingly oblivious to the inches of snow she was in out there. It was almost ballet-like. Maybe she might have been surprised to see me. I don’t suspect there were too many runners today.

It took me longer than it usually does to run to UBC in the snow. I wasn’t the first person who walked or ran there though, I could see track marks from somebody who had been earlier. It was quite nice to run in the snow though I don’t know if I’d want to do it on a regular basis like a lot of runners do in the winter. I’d rather run in the rain.

Last UBC Volunteer Session of the Year

Today was my last volunteer session of the year before they close for the holidays. A lot of volunteers had signed up for today, the last day, but a lot had cancelled because of the snow. It was just too difficult for them to navigate in this snow and ice. The campus was quiet since most students are finished for the year.

I narrated a book on neuroscience this morning. Although it was fairly easy to read, it was not the most interesting textbook for me. However, I didn’t have much choice, my alternatives were esoteric religious or fantasy fiction, neither of which appeal to me.

The production unit will now be closed until the new year. I will miss reading, even if it’s only for a two-week break. I’m going to have to get back into it right away, especially since I’ll want to get right into practicing for my voice over demo.

Holiday Lunch with Old Co-Workers

I met up with some old co-workers for a holiday lunch. I kept checking my email to make sure that we were still on since the weather might be an issue. At least two of them had made it to work, so we were on.

It took me twice as long to get to downtown by bus due to the snow and ice. Lots of people were waiting for the buses. I couldn’t believe how many people were out there, waiting on the street for buses to arrive.

I got there at least a half an hour late. They had already ordered but what I had ordered came out in five minutes. The place was packed, so they obviously had made a lot of stuff in anticipation of the busyness.

Another old co-worker came by shortly after me. He was also delayed. We had discussed months ago how he might be able to find clients in the film industry. He already has some but was hoping to expand. We talked today about how that might happen in the new year and asked me if I wanted to do some marketing research for him. That was something that could be interesting, so I will think about it.

Picked Up Some Cheques from Agency

I had to rush over to my Extras agency to pick up some cheques before they close early for the holidays. I thought that there would be a mad rush but there was only one other person before me. They had called me to let me know that I had two cheques waiting.

I had hoped that some more cheques would have arrived and one more had. I was really glad that I could pick up three cheques before the holidays. I have three more to come but I’m not expecting them to arrive that soon. The agency will be closed until January except for a few hours next Saturday. I don’t know if I will go in then. I can probably wait until the new year.

Vancouver Community College Bakery and Sunrise Market

Now that my Dad and brother are here, I needed to stock up on produce at Sunrise market and baked goods at the Vancouver Community College student bakery. It was not as crowded as I thought it might be. I bought buns and cookies at the bakery. They will be closed until the first week of January.

I ended up buying 5 bags of produce and meat. I had so much stuff, and it was a challenge to carry it all. It was really difficult to hold it all on my lap on the bus, too. It was so crowded so I didn’t have much space to spread it all out either.

By the time I got home, I was pretty tired, partly due to my long run in the snow this morning and then lugging all of these heavy bags of groceries. I had a bit of a rest and then made dinner. Good thing we don’t have to do anything tonight.

Day Five Hundred and One of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed –

Woke Up to do Last Minute Reading

I woke up to another beautiful sunny day. This is unusual for Vancouver at this time of year. Usually, it’s rainy and dark at this point. Instead, it was a crisp sunny day and there were lovely colorful leaves all over the streets.

Voice Over Scripts Selection

I had arranged to do my demo recording later tonight, so I spent the morning going through possible scripts to read. There were several scripts and I could see myself doing any of these well. I think that I would do conservative, voice of reason, confident characters the best.

I also read the demo chapters from two of the books on voiceovers that I had taken out from the library. I was able to renew them for two more weeks so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to finish them by then. I managed to finish the first book that I had taken out a few days ago.

Voiceover Class Offered

I happened to check my email before I was leaving for my UBC volunteer gig. There was notice of a class being offered by my actor’s union, UBCP. This one would be 4 classes and it would concentrate on commercial narration. It will be taught by somebody who has had many years experience.

I was surprised that this class was offered so soon after the first voiceover class that I had taken a few weeks ago. I couldn’t resist and I sent in my reservation. I figured that since I was sending it in only six minutes after it was offered I would likely get in.

Now that I was taking another class, there was no point in rushing with my demo. I would have to postpone it yet again. It’s just as well since I don’t feel completely confident enough to produce the best demo that I think I could.

Ran to UBC Volunteer Gig

I was in a happier frame of mind when I hit the streets to UBC. Although it started out a little chilly, it was nice and sunny and I was happy to be wearing my shades! As I ran by the golf course, I noticed a few diehard golfers taking advantage of the sunny, dry course. I was able to run a fairly fast pace, too.

When I got to UBC, I explained what had happened to my friend who was going to produce my demo. He used to produce demos when he worked at a radio station. He agreed that it was a good idea for me to defer doing the demo until I finished this second course.

Ran Back Home

It was still sunny but a little cooler when I ran back home. These days sunset is fairly early. I knew that I would have to dig out my head lamp if I was going to be running in the dark. I have a whole get up with blinking head lamps, glow in the dark striped clothing and even strips on my running shoes.

I don’t care if I look like something from the Las Vegas strip with my outfit. Vancouver drivers are really distracted and need something to make them pay attention to runners and their driving. I don’t like to run in the dark usually but sometimes, I have no choice.

Email from Extras Casting Director

When I got home, I was happy to receive an email from an extras casting director about a shoot coming up. It said that if I had a particular wardrobe or look, there was a chance that I could get booked for a day. I had plenty of costumes for this very occasion.

I gathered up some photos of me dressed up in those costumes. Although I had worked on this production before, I was convinced that I could get away with working on it again since I don’t think I was prominently featured and I had a totally different look.

Although it is only a chance for a single day of shooting, I’m still feeling lifted and a little optimistic. Given my gloomy disposition lately, it’s a welcome feeling. I send he casting director the email with my photos and cross my fingers. I hope she will seriously consider me for it. I need the work even if it is just one day.

Day Four Hundred and Seventy Five of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Ran to Early Doctor’s Appointment

I got up early today to run to my dr’s appointment. I had it down in my online calendar as 8:15 but I hadn’t written it anywhere. I hoped that I had put down the right time! It was another sunny day. It was a little chilly, but not too bad.

I wanted to try to run as fast as I could this morning. I was lucky that there wasn’t too much pedestrian traffic on the bridge because a lot of people walk this route to work downtown. I sped down the bridge no problem.

When I got to the doctor’s office, it was empty. I was right on time and wondered where everybody was. Even the neighboring doctor’s offices were closed. I had to wait 45 minutes before somebody came in.

When I talked to the receptionist, she said that my appointment had been 8:15 AM as I had thought, but my regular doctor was away and her locum does not come in until after 9. She said that she had left me a message. But I knew that she was lying because I have an answering machine and caller ID.

She let me go right in though. I was really annoyed because they didn’t call to re-schedule as she claimed she had and I had wasted an hour waiting. This kind of thing has happened before. One time I got a dr’s referral to a specialist. It would take months, so they said to be patient.

Three months later, I still hadn’t heard so I called my doctor’s receptionist back. She scolded me and told me to be more patient. So I waited another two months. Finally, I insisted that she check to see what the hold up was. Turned out that the doctor had retired and the referral that they had sent went who knows where. So since then, I have been extra careful checking with any doctor’s appointments with that office.

Blood Pressure is Normal

This appointment was for a follow-up with my blood pressure. I discovered a dangerously high blood pressure reading when I got it checked at a health fair. I had never had high blood pressure before. I was put on a water pill for a couple of months and my readings when back to normal.

I wanted to try to taper off the medication but my doctor wanted me to stay on it for the rest of my life. I decided that I wanted to try to get off it and if my readings went up again, I’d resume the medication. I changed my salt intake and that seemed to work. I’ve been having low readings since.

The locum took my blood pressure and agreed that my readings were now normal and she didn’t think it was necessary to be on any medication. So I was glad to hear that. I will continue to monitor my blood pressure though just in case it inexplicably rises like it did those months ago.

She also ordered low iron blood work since I had not been able to donate blood last month. She didn’t think that it was an issue to worry about. If something comes up, she’ll call me in again.

Picked up Cheques from Extras Agent

I had three cheques to pick up from my extras agency. The cheques usually come every two weeks but if you work at the beginning of a cycle, it could take longer to arrive. When I got there, they could only find one wardrobe cheque that was from weeks ago. I was a little panicked because I was really counting on that money.

They finally found them in a big pile of cheques that had just arrived. I was relieved. I really need that money. I am under extreme financial stress right now and need to put these cheques in my bank account as soon as possible.

I chatted with my agents for a short time. The industry has picked up a bit lately which is good news. I’m a little hopeful. I have one day of work booked for next week. I hope that my agents will be able to find a couple of days more. They also mentioned a movie that was going to start filming soon that I might be good for.

Bank Visit

As soon as I left the office, I went immediately to the bank to deposit the cheque. I had let my bank account go overdrawn because my mortgage payment came just before these cheques arrived. I have an overdraft protection on my account but I hate to use it since they charge a fee for it. But this time I had no choice.

I deposited the cheque and took out only $20. I checked my balance and was stunned to see that I was $10 under! So I had to deposit the $20 I had just taken out just to make sure that my account wasn’t overdrawn again. How pathetic is that? I can’t even afford to take out $20 out of my bank account right now.

Vancouver Public Library Visit

I had to kill a few hours downtown before the free movie screening tonight so I decided to go to the central library. It had been a while since I’ve been here. I decided to look for commercial voice over books ahead of my demo session next week.

I went to one of the librarians and she helped me find some books. I was surprised that there are some books that are in this area where the books are in an accordion style book shelf system. The librarian has to unlock the book-case the book is in and then all of the book shelves expand so that she can go in and get the book. Once she was finished, she pressed a button and the shelves go compact again.

Free Movie Screening, The Art of the Steal

I had won a free movie screening last week but couldn’t get anybody to go, so I didn’t end up bothering. I gave away the pass to a friend. Today, I was going to a free movie screening for The Art of the Steal, a Kurt Russell movie. I couldn’t get anybody who wanted to go but I decided I’d stay downtown to see it.

I enjoyed this movie, The Art of the Steal, starring Kurt Russell and Matt Dillon. At first I was a little startled to see how old Kurt Russell is. But everybody is getting older. Even Matt Dillon looked like he was getting up there. Anyway, this was not a usual action flick that he stars in. This was more of an ensemble heist movie. Everybody seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. The movie took my mind off my problems for a while which was good.

Day Four Hundred and Seventy Four of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Difficult Sleep

I had another difficult sleep last night. I am trying to get back on a normal sleep schedule but it’s been hard to do lately. In addition to the sleep problems, I’m also experiencing odd eating issues as well.

Lately, I’ve been not hungry in the day at all. I have to force myself to eat even something little. Then, late at night, usually after ten, I am ravenous. I eat a full meal and more after then. I don’t know why this has changed.

This can’t be good for me. Despite my extra running because of the marathon, I have not lost any weight, in fact, I may have gained some weight! I was hoping to shed a little weight so it’d be easier for me to run in the race.

Eating While Running

For years, I have always had the bad habit of not eating breakfast. I didn’t think much about it until I wondered if it made a difference with my running. I’ve almost always run on an empty stomach. With all the reading I’ve done lately in preparation for the marathon, I wondered if it would help if I actually had more than just water during my runs.

Although there isn’t much time left before the run, I thought I should do a few test runs where I eat before I run, or pack something to eat while I run. At races, they usually offer fruit and sometimes energy bars or gels. I wonder if it will help if I do this. I wouldn’t want to suddenly get the runs or want to throw up during the race!

Ran to Friend’s Building

I ran to my friend’s building this morning to help her for a few hours. The weather was nice, sunny but cool. I know that I’ll have to start getting used to wearing more layers and gloves soon. It was a short run but I managed to run at a good pace.

Today, I am finishing off some kitchen work. Last week I lined the drawers with adhesive lining. It took me a long time because she has so many drawers in her kitchen! Today, I had to put the lining down in cabinet shelves and that took longer because of their height. Some were in the far corner so I could barely reach them.

I’ve been so grateful to my friend for hiring me to do all of this casual work while she moves to her new place. I’ll be helping her do some more packing and cleaning in the next week, too, so that’s good. All of this money helps!

Running Home

I ran home after working today in sunny weather. It wasn’t too warm so it was a pleasant run. I’m not sure how many more sunny running days we have left before we turn into Raincouver. I’m not looking forward to that.

My Achilles tendon was being strained again as I ran home. I’m still wondering if I’ll be able to survive 26.2 miles of running on a sore Achilles tendon or if I’ll have to stop. I think I’m going to try to do one more long run before the marathon so I’ll have a better idea.

Preparation for my Demo

I did a little preparation for my demo that I will be recording next week. I sent the links to my friend (who’s going to produce it for me) so he’d have an idea of what I’ll try to do. Most of them are 30 second jingles. I also sent him the website of the commercial voice over agency that has links to their clients’ demos.

Although I took that two-day workshop on Commercial voice over work, I am still a little unsure of whether or not this is something that I could pursue seriously. Although I did get good reviews from that workshop, I’m not sure if it was good enough for professional work.

In any case, I want to do the best work that I possibly can for this demo at least. I wonder how much I should rehearse before I record. The good thing is, we are only evaluated on our voice and only that. I always hated being judged for so many things when auditioning as an actor. I hope the demo will turn out well!

Day Four Hundred and Seventy Two of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Woke up Early to Run to UBC

I changed my UBC volunteer gig to today because I am supposed to work tomorrow. It was a little chilly and overcast. I was just glad that it wasn’t raining. I know that once our rainy season starts, I will be running in the rain almost daily. It was a good run and I didn’t experience much pain.

Ran Past Running Accident Scene

When I ran past the scene of my running accident a year ago, it was packed with parents dropping off kids for school. Last year when I had my accident, it was later in the morning, so there wasn’t anybody around to witness my trip and fall.

Although I do feel discouraged over my progress in the year since the fall, in some ways I should be happy. For example, in addition to my dislocated shoulder which resulted in a fractured arm and shoulder, I had rotator cuff tendon tears. I think that those tears have healed well, I barely remembered that I had torn them. Even a whole year later, I still can notice little improvements in my range of movement. As long as I can still see those improvements, I’ll continue to do my home physiotherapy exercises.

Scheduled Voice Over Demo Session

I finally scheduled a time to work on my voice over demo session at my UBC friend’s home next week. I had postponed the session because my Dad had been visiting from out-of-town. But now that he has returned home, I really need to get going with creating my demo!

I do find that one of my biggest problems is that I get easily distracted from my career goals. Although the ultimate goal is to return to a full-time career job, I have been so concerned with getting any kind of money from survival part-time jobs, that I lose sight of that goal. I’d like to be able to give my job search my complete focus, but with my financial stress, I just can’t do that.

Email from Extras Casting Director

I was happy to receive an email from my extras casting director who confirmed that I would be booked for a third day on their movie. Originally, I had been booked for a single day but got a second day because of the rain. I thought that we had finished all of our scenes on that second day but here we are, being brought back for a third day! I’m glad to get the extra money.

Friend’s Home for Cooking Lesson and Dinner

My friends invited me over for a cooking lesson and dinner. I had complimented her on a cheese and onion bread she had made once. She gave me the recipe but when I tried it, it didn’t turn out well at all. So this time, she showed me how to make it in person.

My friends live in a really large house of around 5000 square feet. Their kitchen alone is quite large. Their kitchen island is approximately the size of the floor of my kitchen! Their house is like a model home, beautifully decorated.

We chatted about my new resolve to get rid of things. The husband is a real minimalist and can’t understand how people accumulate things. The wife thinks she has a bit of a problem and when she showed me her office with her ‘excess’ I had to laugh, I would be so lucky to get such a room!

As I explained my problems, they said that they would be happy to help me out. I have large items (two microwaves that broke down) and two really large heavy TVs that need to go to the recycle depot and she volunteered her SUV and her time to help me get rid of things. I was so happy to hear that! It’s good to know that I have this support from my friends.

So now I have another resolve, to be able to gather and sort through my stuff so that I can either throw away, donate or keep. I have given myself another deadline, since that seems to motivate me. I hope this will help.

Email from Extras Agent

I have been booked for a TV show tomorrow. I was waiting for word from my agent about what time my calltime would be. That’s the biggest pain for me with extra work, you never know what time you will be required to sign in the next day until the night before. I finally received the email after 9 PM.

My calltime was 2 PM. Crew call is 7 AM and my friend’s calltime is 8 AM. So my scene won’t be shot until after most of the day has passed. I will arrive after lunch (six hours after start time for the crew). Now that I know that I have the morning free, I can attend the UBC volunteer social before I leave for work, so I’m happy.

Day Four Hundred and Fifty Two of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Ran to UBC Volunteer Gig

I woke up early to run to my UBC volunteer gig. After yesterday’s rest from running, I felt eager to see what I could do, running up the hill. The weather was overcast and a little cool. I was glad that it wasn’t raining.

I felt quite energetic and motivated this morning. I was surprised to see how fast I was managing to run up the hill. The route from my home to UBC is mostly uphill and I didn’t seem to have any trouble doing this. I figure that if I can do this elevation, I should have no trouble with the marathon next month.

Voice Concerns

As I was reading today, I found that my voice kept getting raspy on me. I had to delete the bad section, clear my throat and try again. I was a little worried because I didn’t know why this was happening. This of course happens when you have a sore throat or a cold, but I don’t have either of those going on right now.

I wondered how consistent my voice is. I guess I’ve never thought about it until I started to consider voice over work. I can’t have my voice be unreliable. I’m going to pay attention during these recording booth sessions and see if I can see the differences.

Voice Over Demo Discussion

I discussed my voice over demo with my UBC friend again today. He’s all enthusiastic to help me and I am grateful for that. I have to read the 30 second scripts that I found online and decide which ones would broadcast my voice in the best way.

I told him that I would like to work on the demo next month. I figure that I’ll have more time to concentrate on it once my Dad goes home, too. I think it’ll be fun and interesting to do, too.

Fast Run Home

The weather was still overcast and slightly cooler. I concentrated on trying to run as fast as I could. One would think that running mostly downhill is fast and easy but it actually takes more concentration on my part.

First of all, it can really take a pounding on my ankles and knees. I’m a lot more sensitive to this because of my ankle and knee surgeries from long ago. If the downhill elevation is fairly steep, I find myself having to really concentrate on making sure that I don’t trip and fall, too.

Despite this, I found that I was able to improve on my time home. I’m getting more encouraged by this. I have no doubt in my abilities to run a long distance, just the ability to run it faster. I’ve already found a slight improvement in the last couple of weeks.

Dad’s 80th Birthday

It’s my Dad’s 80th birthday today! I was glad that he would be spending it with me here in Vancouver rather than back home. I had asked some family and friends to acknowledge it at a family gathering last month and the best they could come up with was a lousy cupcake and the singing of Happy Birthday.

Vancouver has two good birthday freebies that I take advantage of. You can get a small fish and chips and drink at the best fish and chips place in town, Pajo’s on your birthday. Although it’s a bit of a drive, it’s totally worth it. The halibut is fresh and lightly battered with a tempura batter. The fries are made with local kenbec potatoes.

A few hours later, we went to Vera’s Burgers. They have the best burgers in town! They give a $10 birthday certificate on your birthday. We got a double G burger with mushrooms, to go. It’s so huge, we were both full easily. You can’t get a better birthday meal than at Pajo’s and Vera’s Burgers!

TV Commercial Submission

I got an email from my agent about wanting to know if I wanted to be submitted for a grocery store TV commercial. Would I? You bet! A few years ago, I had worked on one of this store’s TV commercials so maybe I’d get picked again!

Maybe this is a sign that things are picking up in the film industry. I did run by a couple of filming signs. That’s always a good sign. I thought that there’d be more filming in July and earlier in August but there didn’t seem to be as much as previous summers. All I can hope is that I get more work in the coming weeks.

Day Four Hundred and Forty Six of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Ran to UBC Volunteer Gig

It was a beautiful sunny morning when I ran to UBC early this morning. I could tell that the summer weather is turning since it was a little crisp. It was not as hot this early in the morning as it had been even a week ago.

I was feeling a little guilty over skipping my long run on Sunday so I wanted to try to run as long and fast as I could today. I was only running a little over five miles to UBC but I tried to pick up my pace.

I could feel a twinge to my Achilles tendon and I wondered if I should stop. I had dug up an article on how to treat this type of injury in an old issue of Runner’s World. And they recommended stopping immediately, lest there be more permanent, long recovery type of injury.

I decided to ignore that sage advice and soldier on. As I ran past the scene of my running injury, where, eleven months ago I tripped on a sidewalk crack and landed hard on my elbow, dislocating my shoulder, fracturing my arm, shoulder, rotator cuff tears and having assorted road rash all over. I’m still not fully recovered from that injury, so you’d think I’d want to err on the side of caution this time, but apparently not.

Instead, I did exercises every time there was a light where I’d have to stop. I’m not sure if that helped or not. When I got to UBC, the marathon runners there advised me to do pool running, so I’m going to look into that. She said that as an alumni, I could even get a really good discount, too.

Discussed Voice Over Demo

I was assigned to read more of the Canadian Criminal Code today. This is the first time that I am in the recording booth since taking my commercial voice over workshop last week. I was more aware of how my voice actually sounded like, when I did playbacks.

I was chatting with my friend and asked him if he could help me with my demo. He said that he’d be delighted to help me. I knew that he was familiar with that type of work. I had also forgotten, he had worked in radio for years, so he was really, really familiar with what I needed. I was so relieved to hear that. I can’t afford the $300 it would cost if I had to do it with a studio like the one our class had used. I feel really optimistic about this now!

Ran to Free Downtown Nooner Yoga Class

I had already run over five miles this morning to UBC. I gave myself less than 90 minutes to run from UBC to downtown, nine miles. That in itself is not that big of a deal, but I had already run earlier today. Despite the sun and heat, I managed to do it. I didn’t have much pain either. My total mileage today was over 14 miles.

I missed last week’s yoga class but I did make this one. There is only one more class after today’s class, so I really don’t want to miss them. It was another sunny and hot day with clear blue skies. I loved the view of the mountains and the water.

I thought I’d be late for this class, but I made it. I was pretty tired but I was determined to do the class. Because I was so tired, I know that I didn’t do as well as I should or could have. This class had quite a few really good yogis who could do the more advanced poses, too!

There was an outdoor patio of a restaurant that was adjacent to the class area for the first time. I wondered why they hadn’t been set up when the yoga classes started in July? Anyway, it was quite noisy and distracting hearing these diners and I’m sure that some of them might have thought the same thing with us and our class!

Sunrise Market Visit

After class, I walked over to the Sunrise market to get fruit and vegetables. I’m getting a lot more than usual while my Dad is visiting. I had so many heavy bags, I had to take a bus home. If I weren’t so tired I would have run or at least walked home with them in a backpack. Once I got home, I was really tired. But I feel as if I had a really full day, too.