The
Burbank Report, Part 2,
Meeting Each Other
Posted by Erika/Kaj/Lindy/Mel/Pen/Sheila
on 2/24/2007
* * * * * * * * * * PART TWO:
Meeting Each Other * * * * * * * * * *
Sheila: When I arrived, I couldn't get the key to work and had
to knock on the door. Lindy was on the phone to Erika (three hours
wasn't it? - now that should have warned me of what was to come) but as
I hadn't slept for 24 hours at that point, all I could manage to say to
Erika was a quick hello, then collapsed on the bed for about half an
hour. I know I thought that Erika must think I'm so rude, just grunting
hello then passing the phone back to Lindy.
Lindy: That was so funny. Erika and I were cracking up and
half expecting Sheila to kick the damn door in, out of sheer
frustration, LOL.
And when she got inside... Erika and I were all chatty and bubbly and
Sheila was like....Zonked out on the bed, covers over her face, not
wanting to talk at all. LOL. And she got lumbered with me?
Erika: I thought Sheila was hilarious. Here Lindy and I had
been yakking it up, and Sheila knocks on the door. I was all excited.
Getting to talk with Lindy *and* Sheila! *And* getting to hear Aussie
and British accents in the same phone call!
My first conversation with Sheila was:
Me: Welcome to California. The End.
I thought to myself, hey, that Sheila is a class act. I like a woman
who is to the point!
I like a woman who has the gift of gab, too. That's Lindy Roo. I
wondered what it would be like with all six of us in a room talking,
some of us bubbly, some of us dry... hey, it's like champagne and wine!
And I knew right then we'd have a marvellous time.
Sheila: I knew Lindy was 4'11 and I knew she was blonde. Her
posts are always bouncy and I had a mental vision of her jumping all
over the place, like a baby kangaroo, plus for some strange reason, her
hair in bunches. Thankfully, I was wrong.
Then of course, Lindy and I got talking and I've no idea what time we
finally got to sleep.
Lindy: It was late LOL. But we knew we wouldn't get much sleep
that first night. We had too much to talk about.
Sheila: I know I woke after a couple of hours - my body clock
was still on UK time. In fact I didn't get much sleep all weekend and my
brain ended up so fuddled, I think I lost the power of coherent speech.
I don't think it was my accent Terry had such a hard time with, more
that I couldn't string two words together to make sense.
Lindy and I went for a walk in the morning to see what was in the
local vicinity. In short - nothin'. Burbank Airport is miles from
anywhere.
Lindy: You got that right. There was zip. Diddly squat. No
shops. Not even a cafe?
And remember that corner we stood on? We waited for the walk sign to
flash. We didn't wanna get booked for J walking. We looked on the traffic
light pole for a button to push? But there was none. WTF??? Eventually
we just braved it, and crossed the road. Then Erika explained later
about the white crossing lines and the yellow lines and what they meant?
LOL
Sheila: We sat around the hotel lobby for a while, watching
people coming and going (never know who we might have saw).
Lindy: Yeah, that was fun. And quite entertaining. It was a
hive of activity. So many ppl coming in and goin' out. I'm sure many of the
ppl we saw were celebrities of some kind, there to attend the
convention. They were all dolled up, lookin' ready to partay. I sat there
half expecting TK to just waltz in the door any minute. Figuring he'd be
staying at the Hotel.
I'd have loved to have sneaked a peek at the hotel guest list, LOL.
Id have found out which room he was staying in and pretended to be a
hotel maid, LOL.
Sheila: I was desperate to get a couple of hours sleep at this
time, so Lindy went down to the lobby to meet Pen.
Lindy: Id promised to meet Pen in the lobby.
Only trouble was, I had no idea what Penny looked like. Every woman
who walked in, I looked long and hard at LOL.
Luckily she had her white flower or else she'd still be sitting in
the lobby waiting for us, LMAO.
Sheila: Sleep was elusive and after a couple of hours, I
started wondering where on earth Lindy had got to.
Lindy: Heheeeeeeee I went on a snoop and poop LOL.
j/k roflmao
I was helping Henny Penny get settled into her room. And just as we
were about to come get you, Pepper rang and wanted to chat. *LOL* And
you guys reckon I can talk???
Sheila: She'd gone off with both keys to the room and I didn't
want to leave the room in case I couldn't find her and then couldn't get
back in. She finally came back and we both went to get Pen, then
something to eat. I learnt fast that nothing was done quickly while we
were all together. If Lindy said "I'll be 5 minutes" - yeah
right, we knew we wouldn't see her for at least half an hour - we knew
she'd find somebody to talk to and get waylaid. As Ernie would say,
"Now what are we waiting for?"
My brain function was already going by this time and I can't remember
much of that evening apart from Pen's pie. My God, was that pie
enormous, I'd never seen anything like it in my life. It could have fed
a family.
Lindy: Yeah? The famous chicken pot pie??? Would have fed an
entire platoon of grunts for a week, LOL.
Americans sure eat big, LOL
I think it was maybe that pot pie that made Penny sick? Remember she
said how the pastry wasnt cooked properly?
Sheila: We were playing musical rooms a bit. Lindy moved to
Pen's room that night. I know I thought I'd get some sleep that night.
No. I woke up about 6 am and couldn't get back to sleep.
Lindy: Penny was great company. She was so very easy to talk
to. And I felt we hit it off pretty well. It was just a shame we were
all the way over in the east tower. Why the Hotel didn't put all us TOD
fans on the same floor???? And in adjoining rooms??? Boggles the mind.
Sheila: Lindy and I waited in the lobby for Erika to show up.
Of course, we didn't have the agreed white flower. We did consider
pinching some from the hotel garden, but thought the hotel might not
like that too much.
Lindy: There was an abundance of white flowers in the Hotel
garden. We could have taken our pick LOL.
And remember Erika's white flower?? roflmao... It was all wilted from
the California heat and a little worse for wear
Sheila: We both had a similar idea of what she was like,
except I imagined her with long hair and Lindy thought short. Lindy was
right. Erika came in. We both looked at her. She looked at us. Then I
think she waved the white flower.
Lindy: Yeah? that white flower was a good idea.
The minute she walked in, we went "that's gotta be her?"
She was just gorguz. So happy and full of life. And there were hugs
and kisses all round LOL
Erika: LOL, well, maybe I was "full of life" because
my travel to Burbank didn't involve hurdling international date lines
and 3 hour delays--my travel was easy peasy! All I had to do was get on
a one-hour flight (whose check-in of 1.5 hours almost made me wonder if
I should have driven, LOL), rent a car, and then meet Lindy, Sheila, and
Pen in the hotel lobby at 1030 hours.
Well, I knew as soon as I landed at Bob Hope Airport that it was
going to be a fabulous trip. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, sunny
and 80 degrees F, and I could feel the excitement in the air! (But maybe
that last part was just me. LOL)
Walking into the hotel, I scanned the lobby and immediately noticed
two women. They looked up from their conversation to look right at me,
at the very same time I stopped mid-stride and looked at them. They both
just had this presence--the kind of presence that Stephen Caffrey has on
stage. They were starting to smile at me, I was starting to smile at
them--chemistry! LOL So I waved my little white flower (our identifying
"badge"), and they broke into big smiles and got up and we
hugged, and that is how I met Sheila and Lindy, two vibrant, lovely
ladies who had me stitches the whole trip.
Pen had to babysit her room at the time, but when she came down a few
moments later, I was felt so good just at the sight of her. Pen has a
beautiful smile and the gentlest demeanour! She has a giant heart of
gold--you can tell!
Sheila: Thank you. I'm knackered.