a fairground life(st andrews 2)

Various pictures from St Andrews Lammas Market.
Sunday
Everyone went to the lay-by where the rides were parked, to wait for the police to call us up to the street. We waited from 3:30pm and at 4:45pm the go ahead came. Several of us had to go up a one way street the wrong way to get access. The traffic warden on duty at the time stopped the traffic and waved us through. There was another at the end of the street to halt the traffic there too. I got onto the ride plot just before 5pm. We set the dropzone on the plot so as to keep a nearby fire hydrant clear. This meant I was 9ft behind the building line, but this would have an advantage- I ran out a measuring tape to the trees and lamp posts opposite the ride. Eureka! the pole would miss the obstacles with a foot to spare, so no hassle with trying to half raise the pole and then shunt the ride onto the plot. In my haste to build the ride up, I forgot to put the bass bins under the floors before we lowered them, so we had to raise them again. We had the ride all set up for 7:30pm. Then I went down for the water lasers. It only took a few minutes to set them up. Job done for the day.
Monday
"R" and I went up just before 9am to check on things. I inspected the ride while he went to organise the water lasers. A few minutes later he came back. "We have a problem!" he said. The water lasers were empty!!! They had sprung a leak on the road (probably due to a pot hole) and all 800lts of water was gone. I went down to see for myself, sure enough they were bone dry. Where was I going to get more water from??? Then I had a brainwave- In the street along the fair, the council had placed fire hoses in boxes every 200 yards or so. Lucky enough one was immediately behind the water lasers. We ran the hose out and filled them up again. That's what we did on the hour, every hour until 10pm at night. The water was pouring out the seem at the bottom, but the hose kept it topped up. Where there's a will, there's a way! That night the fair closed just after 11pm.
Tuesday
Up at 9am and straight to the street to try and repair the water lasers. I had one tube of silicone sealer. I applied a generous bead along the seems under the chassis. I used the whole tube. At 10:30am after some drying time, we went back to re fill the water. It wasn't perfect, but the water had slowed to a constant dripping. We only had to fill them in the morning that day. Business is always slower on the Tuesday, then at 3pm the rain came in torrents and stayed all night. By 10pm most rides were pulling down. We had to wait until the superbob was totally away before we could lower the pole. So after waiting for 90 minutes we finally got started. At 1:30am we cleared the street. I let "r" drive the lorry off the street, down to the lay-by( about 1 mile ) to give him a taste of things to come.
Wednesday
I was supposed to be going to a oneday event in Cupar, but the rain has threatened the event due to the ground conditions, I will only find out if they will let me onsite just prior to the event at 6am Thursday morning. So now I wonder if it will be on or off? Instead of being in and setup I will have to do it all tomorrow now, oh and "r" is at uni for two exams. I left the Dz at St Andrews and I have went to our next fair at Crieff so I could bring the other rides onsite from Stirling. In the morning I will go for the DZ and either stop at Cupar for the event or carry straight on back here. It will depend on the weather and the park keeper's decision tomorrow.
Thursday
6:15 am, I phoned to see if the event would be on. The reply was that if the army could get on site without sinking then it would be ok for me. I had to go and pick up the ride at St Andrews so off we went any way. On the way back I stopped at Duffus Park to find out what was happening. I got on site in the park for shortly after 9am. The labourer and I had the Dzone setup for 11am. The weather was good and at 6pm we pulled the ride down. I was on the road for 7:45 pm. It was a good trip back to Crieff. I have decided that the skydiver ERF is my best lorry. Quieter, comfortable,twin splitter gearbox (some others have told me they hate them, I just comment that this is because they don't know how to drive one!!!) and everything works. I have been using this on the DZ lately because it has a generator mounted behind the cab.
Friday
I started the day by setting all the rides on their plots. It took over an hour to do this as I measured everything out exactly as space it tight. I ordered diesel for the generators. By early afternoon I had the miami built up. At that "r" had returned from Glasgow. The slave cylinder on his car is leaking and he had to dive the car catching the gears on the revs. He had been away for two days as he had exams. "w" my daughter had also been staying with her grandparents and had her first two days at high school. With "r" back we got the DZ up by teatime. We are flying the games sponsors flag from it. O2 mobile this year. To finish the day off I spent some time doing welding repairs on the hinges of the skydiver chassis. We will erect this tomorrow.
Saturday
I heard my brother arrive with the twist ride. I jumped up to show him his position. The rain was falling and had been from late last night. "r" and the labourer started on the skydiver. There were another couple of welding jobs to be done on two handrails. I phoned a mechanic we use in Glasgow to order the parts for "r" 's car.We tried out all the rides ready for tomorrow. The skydiver went the first time and then would not work. I quickly traced the fault to a sticky relief valve. I had this problem 14 years ago when the hydraulic system was new. I removed the valve and cleaned it. The ride worked fine after that. The big set is powering all three rides here (200KVA), to try and ensure no problems I changed the fuel filter.The rain continued to fall and we were all soaked through. The games park is starting to go muddy were the vehicles enter. I hope, no I PRAY it is dry for tomorrow.