What Did I Get Myself Into?
I never wanted October to be over more than I do now.
Thursday night at the haunted house made it all feel easy and boring. Things picked up a bit more on Friday. I started guiding then. It was fun. I developed a good persona and a good patter. Crowds were heavier than Thursday, but more sporadic.
Saturday was the crazy day. The groups were continuous all night long and we were going from 5-11 with only two breaks. We were missing some key actors, so instead of being a guide, I was a zombie in the first room. I had to pop out and do a jump scare, and that was murder on my back.
Speaking of my back, Saturday night it began to hurt out of the blue. Actually, let me back up for a week. At the set strike on Sunday, I was loading some boards into a van and suddenly a pain ripped though the muscles in my right shoulder blade. All I was doing was pushing the boards. I wasn't even lifting them. I worked through the pain instead of going home and it continued for a day or two. My back pain in general has been acting up given all the activity I have been doing, but this was taking everything to a new level in a new spot.
Saturday night it came on at random. I wasn't doing anything other than standing around waiting for the first group to come in and the pain ripped through my back. It was torture being there for hours on end.
Last night I started out feeling okay. In fact it seemed fine during the day until the late afternoon. Then the pain started coming on in the middle of the evening. I was back to guiding. We had three or four guides working at various points in the evening, so it wasn't continuous work, but there was no way to get relief for my back.
I happened to have some old oxycodone pills from previous injuries and used them to sleep at night. If I didn't, I wouldn't be able to find a way to sleep without pain.
I have no idea if this pain is related to my disc or not, but I made an appointment with the orthopedist. I was supposed to follow up with him about my disc issue back in February, but I had to cancel it and discontinue all associated PT when I broke my collarbone and I never rescheduled. Now I have to get the appointments in before the end of the year since I reached the out of pocket maximum. I'll still have to pay up front and be reimbursed though. I don't need this kind of expense with Christmas coming. The practice isn't quick to reimburse so I will need to have the cash on hand, particularly if I return to PT.
Pain and exhaustion aren't the only reasons why this haunted house is so stressful. I never spent much time in Sleepy Hollow in the past. I had no reason to. It's on the other side of the county. I knew nothing about the town and what it's like to go there. Well, let me tell you the place is everything you would expect it to be for Halloween. Traffic is insane driving there. Then once I am there, parking is a bigger nightmare than any headless horseman. It's all street parking. The parking is available on most streets, and it's free, but every space is filled. Actors and staff have talked about driving around for an hour before finding a space. Even walking down the street is tough. Sidewalks are teeming. There are lines going out the door for some of the bars and restaurants. Everything is decorated and even though Halloween is two weeks away, people walk around in costume. The town leans into its heritage and goes all in. (I guess it could be worse. Salem MA is probably pandemonium and not in a good way.)
My throat was hurting when I woke up this morning. I hope I am not getting a cold on top of everything else. My glands don't feel swollen and after being up for a couple of hours, it's a little better. Maybe it's from all the talking I did over the weekend.
November can't come soon enough.