a fairground life

SAT morning 7am.
YES!!! Two for two! the D/zone lorry passed its MOT. I only had one minor problem, the washer wiper wouldn't work, but it did when I was giving the lorry the pre-test look over. It turned out that the hose had gotten kinked when I had tied up some loose cables under the front bumper. I undone the cable tie and hey presto!, the washers were working again. On the way up to the testing station, I drove the lorry with the brakes slightly on to burn the shoes in, by the time I got to the station they were smoking. They cooled down while I was waiting for the place to open (I was 50 mins early). I think I will ask for another Sat test this week and go for the hat trick with the Skydiver unit.
Saturday night I went to measure a plot at an upcoming fair for one of the rides. Then back to Burntisland to visit "d" and stay the night with him so I am there for a tenants meeting to be held on the fair. Burntisland has been going for over sixty years. When it first started it was a small fair for 2 weeks. Now the fair covers nearly the entire Links for over twelve weeks. This generates problems with the local community. Some love us-some loath us and the latter have been picking away at anything to undermine the fair. In the mid seventies the fair was stopped all together. After one summer the shop keepers were up in arms as the town had been deserted. No attraction to bring the bus loads of people, no income from all the showmans families buying out of the high street shops. The next year the fair was reinstated. To keep the fair alive the showmen have elected stewards to oversee the rules of the fair are being observed. Operating hours,music levels, the use of mics and jingle boxes are all strictly monitored. Excess vehicles are taken away.The fair is completely surrounded by security fencing covered with a green cloth to lessen the visual impact of the fair. It has been a close call a couple of times, but the showmen always seem to win a reprieve at the last minute.
As my father said to me-"There's nothing worth fighting for more, than your lively hood."
This year at Burntisland the Highland Games were cancelled at the last minute due to the weather. The fair suffered from a lack of patrons as the busses were turned away. The fair has only three weeks until the end of another season, I bet the tenants can't wait to move on.