lost

The weather's been brutal.

Over 90, day after day.

I'm working on the TV show Succession this week — as an upscale NY society type on a yacht somewhere.

So today I need to go to Astoria Queens for a COVID test.   It's a borough I know as well as Bejing. 

I leave early, 7:45.

I  take the R train; exit at my stop, and enter a foreign land.

I look at Google Maps, expecting to see directions leading me to a nearby Kauffman Studios.

Instead, I see that it'll take me 1 hr and 43 minutes to walk the 5 plus miles to arrive at my destination.

F**K!!!!!!!

Last night when I was looking at the directions, I noted that I needed to take the R train headed in the direction of Forest Hills Queens/71st St. 

This morning I make the mistake of actually taking the subway all the way to Forest Hills Queens/71st St. It's the very last stop. Not the three stops it should have been.

I have no idea where I am.

So I get back on the subway. 

And then I hear a disturbing message I've never heard before on any subway.

"This train is being diverted off its regular route."

F**K!  F**K!  F**K!

Now I'm really lost.

I eventually find some helpful people and make it onto another subway, exiting at a stop I never knew existed.

Then I take a bus. 

I start to ask the driver a question to double-check I'm going in the right direction and she says, "You need to pay before I can answer your question." 

At first I think she's joking. She's not.

Finally I arrive.

Two hours after leaving home.

The COVID test takes about 15 seconds.

The ride back is as it should be ... home in thirty minutes.

Addendum: 

After turning down another job, and after figuring out how to get to the set tomorrow and what wardrobe to bring, I get this email around 6 tonight. 

Hi there,

You are receiving this email because you have been booked to work tomorrow Friday 8/5 on Succession.

Due to a change in numbers based on the scenes filming tomorrow and filming ahead of schedule, you will no longer be needed for work.

Production will pay you a half day's check for the inconvenience, plus your stipend for the COVID test.

Oh well. I guess that's show biz. 

Plus next week I'm playing a perp in a squad room for another show. Perfect. Sneakers, and little makeup. From a socialite to an addict... I have a very big range.