Press Checking

Dear God, I am so bored in Montreal. I can't stray far from the plant in Boucherville (30 minutes outside of downtown) as the pressman are constantly promising me I'll need to come review the color on the next section of the magazine. Each of the 13 forms (24 page sections) of this issue is scheduled to take 2.5 - 3 hours from start to finish, running straight through 24 hours a day, but right now we are averaging 5 hours per section.

I sit in my hotel room in my underwear, my face breaking out, thinking I'm going to be called any minute so its hard to wind down and nap, and no call comes for hours because of scratches on the plates; a paper jam; a downed computer; the broken folder; and a laundry list of other excuses from Woodland Animal Sylvain, White Trash Sylvain, Mean Pierre, Loverboy Hair Pierre, Hot Dave, Boring Ross, The Skeleton, The Girl (the only one), Dirty Blonde Boy, Mario the former hockey star, and Cute Stephane (all nicknames given in complete boredom to separate one Quebecois from another). I had no less than FOUR very.serious. conversations. with the senior staff here today, whereby I am promised more efficiency, and I threaten to pull the $1.25 million bux worth of business we do here each year if something doesn't change. Whatever. It never does. And I don't have the energy. I either want to be working solid, or I want to be home.

And I suppose that's why they call it a goddamn job. It sometimes sucks. I know no one sympathisizes that I actually have to work when I travel for said work but fuck you anyway. The point is, it's not fun.

At least the restaurant at the hotel is outstanding with foie gras and wild game meats of all kinds. And they do have lots of wine, god bless 'em. We were able to run over and pick up some excellent Syrian food at the delicious Le Petit Alep. Plus, my lovely assistant Jason is with me taking on half the job, and I've caught up on some phone calls, movies and reading. Now I need to figure out how I can get a hotel-only boyfriend for the 6 times a year I am up here.