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Now last year I did Preston Market. That was more hours than Dandenong, a much bigger area (because it also incorporated two blocks of High St, both sides of the road) and only two days off in two weeks. And I handled it fine.
Generally, I try to post as soon as possible after a good days Santa-ing. I haven't been able to manage this recently, simply because the Dandenong gig is so physically demanding. It's only four or five hours of walking around, three days a week, but it's been an absolute killer. I get home, wander around like in a burnt-out daze, unable to deal with anything that requires original thought, and crawl into bed at 9:30. And it leaves me wandering around like a zombie for days afterward, tired, weak and not really functioning.
I have no idea why the Market has this affect. There's no logic to it, when compared to Preston, where many of my days were 30+. Hell, even doing two other gigs on a 35 degree day (one wandering on the beach in full-sun for well over an hour) didn't wipe me the way a single Dandenong session does. After a good night's sleep I was still a little tired, but good and able to function.
So, can you imagine what yesterday's Dandee Market job was like? I got there at 8:30am to make a start at 9, driven in by Tiki since she's an early riser, and finished at 8pm that night. Sharon picked me up. I'd decided that, based on the effects of the five-hour days, driving home would not be a good idea after a long day. Nine hours of walking, talking and interacting with people in 36 degree heat, with two one-hour breaks. And of course a portion of the breaks are lost to getting in/out of costume.
Got home last night, ate, got to bed by 11 (dinner had taken longer than expected to get together) and was up at 5:30am thanks to a crook guts, and off to the Market again for an 8am start and another five-hour stint.
So it's taken a great effort of will to post today, but the lack of posts has annoyed me. I like to write about this stuff while it's still fresh, to share the feel and magic of it. This is a job that not everyone can do, or would be willing to try, but I wish everyone could. Because it changes you in the best ways, and allows you to see people in a new light. Yes, some of what you see is extremely negative, but most of it is good and a portion of it shows you the true beauty of the human spirit. I'm not talking here about the 'magic of Christmas', that oft over-used ideal, but of what this sort of near-universal celebration represents. That most people want a little love, joy and fun in their lives, are open sharing in it with you, and relish to chance to see what a wonderful and magical world we live in.
And Dandenong has stopped my ability to share this. I've tried to suss it out. Why on Earth has this job been so draining? I've wondered if it may have been Lepto reoccurance, or maybe I wasn't as fit as I thought. But then most Lepto bouts don't last more than a few days. Fitness-wise the Werribee and Melbourne Zoo jobs should have killed me, and my first day back, the eight-hour Big W job, complete with wig cap cutting into my head and giving me a migraine, should have wiped me out far worse than it did.
Oh well, just one of those mysteries. It's a shame that Dandenong has left me so stuffed, I was originally hoping to pay a visit to a hospital tonight. Thought it might be good for the kids to get some time with Santa when they can't be home, but I'm just not physically or mentally up for it. My legs are sore and shaky, and my ability think and talk is dropping in and out, though the talk-thing doesn't seem to affect Kringle work, maybe because I'm in-character and it utilises a different set of brain functions, like singing.
Oh well, maybe tomorrow I can visit a beach or hospital if I'm up to it after the family lunch. For tonight, this is the most energy I'm likely to expend.
Cheers, my dears,
I hope you all have (and had) a lovely Christmas Eve and a wonderful Chrissy Day.
Danny
Generally, I try to post as soon as possible after a good days Santa-ing. I haven't been able to manage this recently, simply because the Dandenong gig is so physically demanding. It's only four or five hours of walking around, three days a week, but it's been an absolute killer. I get home, wander around like in a burnt-out daze, unable to deal with anything that requires original thought, and crawl into bed at 9:30. And it leaves me wandering around like a zombie for days afterward, tired, weak and not really functioning.
I have no idea why the Market has this affect. There's no logic to it, when compared to Preston, where many of my days were 30+. Hell, even doing two other gigs on a 35 degree day (one wandering on the beach in full-sun for well over an hour) didn't wipe me the way a single Dandenong session does. After a good night's sleep I was still a little tired, but good and able to function.
So, can you imagine what yesterday's Dandee Market job was like? I got there at 8:30am to make a start at 9, driven in by Tiki since she's an early riser, and finished at 8pm that night. Sharon picked me up. I'd decided that, based on the effects of the five-hour days, driving home would not be a good idea after a long day. Nine hours of walking, talking and interacting with people in 36 degree heat, with two one-hour breaks. And of course a portion of the breaks are lost to getting in/out of costume.
Got home last night, ate, got to bed by 11 (dinner had taken longer than expected to get together) and was up at 5:30am thanks to a crook guts, and off to the Market again for an 8am start and another five-hour stint.
So it's taken a great effort of will to post today, but the lack of posts has annoyed me. I like to write about this stuff while it's still fresh, to share the feel and magic of it. This is a job that not everyone can do, or would be willing to try, but I wish everyone could. Because it changes you in the best ways, and allows you to see people in a new light. Yes, some of what you see is extremely negative, but most of it is good and a portion of it shows you the true beauty of the human spirit. I'm not talking here about the 'magic of Christmas', that oft over-used ideal, but of what this sort of near-universal celebration represents. That most people want a little love, joy and fun in their lives, are open sharing in it with you, and relish to chance to see what a wonderful and magical world we live in.
And Dandenong has stopped my ability to share this. I've tried to suss it out. Why on Earth has this job been so draining? I've wondered if it may have been Lepto reoccurance, or maybe I wasn't as fit as I thought. But then most Lepto bouts don't last more than a few days. Fitness-wise the Werribee and Melbourne Zoo jobs should have killed me, and my first day back, the eight-hour Big W job, complete with wig cap cutting into my head and giving me a migraine, should have wiped me out far worse than it did.
Oh well, just one of those mysteries. It's a shame that Dandenong has left me so stuffed, I was originally hoping to pay a visit to a hospital tonight. Thought it might be good for the kids to get some time with Santa when they can't be home, but I'm just not physically or mentally up for it. My legs are sore and shaky, and my ability think and talk is dropping in and out, though the talk-thing doesn't seem to affect Kringle work, maybe because I'm in-character and it utilises a different set of brain functions, like singing.
Oh well, maybe tomorrow I can visit a beach or hospital if I'm up to it after the family lunch. For tonight, this is the most energy I'm likely to expend.
Cheers, my dears,
I hope you all have (and had) a lovely Christmas Eve and a wonderful Chrissy Day.
Danny
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