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I do the same thing. Whether it's through repetition at rehearsal or I consult the score, I write down where some other instruments make an entrance near mine. With singers, I'd consider writing down what their words are, too.

Oh yeah --

A recording could go a long way towards memorizing what's happening right before it's your turn to save the day (well, at least that's what the low brass had to do in most ensembles in my college!). Whether it's one that you make during a rehearsal or one that you find elsewhere, make a point to listen over & over to the section before your entrance.

You won't need to be able to notate all the other parts, but it'll be much easier to keep track of the last sixty bars or so of rests.

Photocopy the bass trombone player's corresponding page. You'll have visual as well as aural cues. Works for me.

I've always found it handy to count on my fingers as the measures go by. Because fingers come in sets of 10, it makes it less likely you'll wonder whether you're on measure 116 or on 117--just look at which fingers are in play. You can still get confused between measure 116 and 126, however.

I just remembered the gag in an episode of Cheers...

A guy comes in, wearing a tux, and appears to be counting to himself. He sits down, asks for, and is handed a beer by Carla (maybe), and continues to count.

Woody (I think) asks Carla what he's doing. She tells him that he's the tympanist for the orchestra, and he's counting out a particularly long rest so that he could come over for a drink.

So when Woody hands him his change, he goes, "That was $4.50, you gave me 20, so here's 10, 5, 25, and 50 back." All the numbers throw the tympanist off his count, so he gets mad, gets up, and leaves without taking a sip.

FDRosenau wrote: Haiku:

"The opera star
Stepping to the center stage
Pitch, Time, All gone now"