My Lucky Day?

Written 14th July, 2006:

Yesterday, I went to London to attend a casting call for a music video. I figured that as I had spent the money to get into the city, I might as well make use of the Travelcard and make a day of it. Red Ken has finally won a round. Between the increase in the congestion charge to £8 and the high cost of petrol these days, I gave in an took public transportation. As I could travel off peak, I could get the train from Bracknell, plus an all zones Travelcard for only £14. That would certainly be less than the petrol, congestion charge, and parking. Plus, I like denying Red Ken the revenue.
The day started off badly, because I overslept, so I started getting ready about an hour later than I had intended. I trimmed my fingernails, showered, washed my hair, and shaved. I had breakfast and gave my teeth a good brushing. Then I had to get dressed. I had to print out the directions to the casting call. Couldn't find the tie I wanted to wear. Uuuuggghhhh! Settled for an alternative tie. Couldn't find my A to Z for London, Where the heck did I put it? Not in the car. Hadn't it been in my holdall from when I spent a couple of days in Wembley, back in January? The same holdall I was taking with me, now? Not in there now. Where's the stuff I took out of it, earlier? There's my A to Z! I planed to visit Tom, the injured Cyclist, after my audition and shopping. Tom had given me his address, but not any directions beyond which tube station to go to. He then said an A to Z was necessary.
When I finally left the house, I was an hour later than I had intended. How long would it take me to walk into town, to the train station? I have never walked there, before. It's a 3 minute drive. It took me 35 minutes. By then, the next train is the 11:35AM to London Waterloo. It takes a little over an hour to get to Waterloo Station...my casting call appointment was for 1:15PM. I needed to take the Northern Line tube train from Waterloo to Kentish Town. Should be enough time.
By the time I got to Waterloo and walked to the Northern Line platform, a train was just leaving the station. Oh well, another one would be along in a couple of minutes. I have just under 45 minutes to get to my appointment on time. There's a problem. The Northern line Branches at Camden Town, the stop before Kentish Town. So only some of the trains go to Kentish Town. The train I just missed went there. The next one doesn't. Most London Underground stations have digital signs that advise how many minutes before the next couple of trains arrive and where they are going to. Looking at the sign, the one after the next one is also not going my way? Why is it so many in a row aren't going the way I need to go? I ended up waiting 25 minutes till one arrived going on the branch I needed! I now had 15 minutes to go 10 stops on the Northern Line. I started worrying. I didn't want to be late for my appointment. It might not go down well with the casting director. Most of the stops seemed close together. If it was only a minute between stops, that would mean 10 minutes, then that would give me 5 minutes to walk to the address I was going to from Kentish Town station. I started feeling stressed. Come on train, goooooooo! Stop by stop we went. Finally, I was at Kentish Town station.
Riding the escalator up to ground level, I checked the time on my mobile. It was 20 past the hour. I was five minutes late, already! I dialed the casting director's mobile. She answerestraightht away. I told her who I was and said, "I am walking from Kentish Town Tube Station toward you, now." She didn't sound bothered. They had only scheduled 15 minutes between each appointment. Maybe the person before me was running over...hopefully. Finally, I was there! The director for the video let me in and introduced himself. He led me upstairs. I apologized for being late, but he said not to worry about it. We had a little chat about hivisionon for the video and what role he had in mind for me. He asked about my background and experience then said he liked my face. Surely, that's a good thing? He didn't seem to like my suit. He asked if I haanythingng posher looking. Not really. He mumbled something about them possibly being able to costume me. He liked my glasses. Oh well, that's something. Then it was time for them to video me. A young woman already cast in the video was there to do a scene with me. The director explained the scene and what he wanted me to do, in general terms. "Action." I started doing my bit. He wasn't happy, he gave me some more instructions...keep rolling. I continued, finally he liked some of what I was doing. Then we were done. They said they had my contact details and would be in touch, They were done with the young woman, as well, so she and I walked out together. On our way out, I saw that the next appointment had arrived, a woman, so she was being considered for a different role. At the main road, the young woman and I were going in opposite directions. We said our goodbyes and she said she hoped I got the part. Me too! 13 is my favorite number, because I don'believeve in luck, bad, or otherwise. So, would my audition on the 13th of July turn out to be successful? Only time will tell.