a fairground life(4 fairs and a holiday)

What a week. Full, I could not pack anymore in. It began last Sunday.....
After closing at 6pm "r" and I pulled down the miami to prepare it for a music event the following Saturday in Edinburgh. The pull down was smooth, the only slight deviation from normal was using the DZ unit to move the ride as we had to couple up jack knife to get it off the plot. It was 8pm when the ride was finally coupled to the miami Foden and turned, ready for the gate, that's when I noticed the flat tyre on the lorry. The same pesky slow puncture from earlier in the year (March). With shunting to get the miami out we had run the tyre off the disc so a trip to the tyre services would be essential. That would be "r"s job in the morning as I would be otherwise engaged.
Monday
5am, the mini bus pulls into the yard and sixteen of us pile onboard to head for Edinburgh Airport. Destination Prague. It was a good flight and on schedule too. After arriving it was a short journey by mini cabs to our hotel. That night we had a good look around on foot, found the good pubs and late eating places. This would be the routine for the next three days.
Later that night 'r' phoned to tell us he had had a bump with his car while taking the tyre for repair. Another driver had run a red light, causing the car in front to brake suddenly and he rear ended it. Luckily it was just as they were pulling away at the lights , so speeds were very low. According to my wife this was all my fault because I had sent him to get the tyre repaired. She did come around a bit later, after getting over the initial fright and realised he was OK.
Tuesday-Thursday (*),(**).
Much more walking,beer drinking,sight seeing, beer drinking,walking and did I mention beer drinking. The beer was cheap, but watch out for the stealth tax, 10 CRK every time you go for a pee! Thursday night and we all arrive home knackered, we must have walked a 100 miles and drank 50 liters (thats 100 pints blakey). Prague-well worth a visit, don't forget your hat and gloves, Bbbrrrrr!
Friday
Thankfully my brother had taken the miami over to the music event and set it on the plot for me, all I had to do was build it up when I arrived there. This I did no problem by myself as 'r" was at uni. The only slight hitch was having to go for hydraulic oil to top up the system. I carry a barrel with me, but had used it all and not realised. I like the system full when I think the ride will work hard as the oil stays cooler longer.
Fortunately I remembered about a hydraulic services at Broxburn, it must be 10 years since I was there, but it had not moved and I got the oil. I gave the ride a good going over, greased up and changed the fuel filter on the generator. 6pm time to head home.
Saturday
6am. Up, showered and away, no not to the music event, to Alloa for the christmas light switch on. I don't have any equipment there of my own, but I have organised the fair for the local council for the last few years. The venue is a small car park off the town center. Every year I get no sleep the night before worrying if there will be cars parked in the way. The council put out signs and close the car park but every year we have a last minute shuffle of the equipment to try and fit the rides in around the cars. Sure enough, this year was the same. By 11am the fair was nearly erected. As in former years we all went for breakfast in Tesco. The fair opened early afternoon. Thankfully it stayed dry here. Not the case back in Renfrew where the rest of my equipment was open, there it rained consistently all afternoon. At 6pm the gaff in Alloa was over and I headed to Edinburgh to meet with 'r' and the staff to mind the miami.
The gig was a sellout, as I drove by to enter through the back gate I could see thousands of them queued up,waiting to get in. Most of the girls were almost naked, how they don't get pneumonia is a mystery! The first run on the miami saw the generator stop for no reason. We reset it and off it went again, but now you have that feeling of impending doom. My wife arrived shortly after 9pm to help. It took several hours for the gig to get into full swing. Even at its peak it was not that busy for the miami.The generator ran the rest of the night ok, why it had stopped was a mystery( it had ran a couple of hours after changing the filter), just one of those things sent to give you the belly ache I suppose. I left 'r' and my wife to it and tried to get some sleep in the car. It was not possible, the bass noise from the tents, the bitter cold and if I ran the car for the heater then engine noise and vibration kept me awake. It was a cycle of car start,stop,freeze and then repeat. Eventually I gave up and at midnight I let my wife go home. "d" had major problems with the energy storm ride, it had broken down at around 8:30pm and he never got it going again. By 4am the gaff was dead, we sat for the next hour twiddling our thumbs and falling asleep. Shortly after 5am the word came to close. We wasted no time and at 6:06am (I had been awake for 24 hours now) the miami was pulling out the gates along with the party goers. I headed straight for Glasgow on the M8. I stopped at Harthill services for fuel. Probably the busiest truck stop on the M8 if not in Scotland, and guess what! Three out of four of their HGV fuels pumps were in-op. The only one remaining pump was on the wrong side for the Foden. DISGRACEFUL. Being desperate I reversed the ride out the fuel bay and maneuvered it into a position where the pump did reach. Lucky it was early Sunday morning as I had mounted a kerb and blocked most of the garage. However this meant I could not see the display and spent more time popping back and forth to read it!!! 7:50am and 'r' and I pull into the mall with the Miami. We set it on the plot exactly where it had started from one week before. At 9:17 am the ride was ready for opening again at noon. During inspection I had found a sheared mounting bolt on a motor, it is not un-common on these rides. I had a spare and fitted it in only a few minutes. Luckily it was the easy to get to one and not one of the others that are a basket to replace. 10 am, back at the wagon for a shower and 1hours kip before returning to open.
It's not just me that has done this, this week, 5 other's from the trip have attended several fairs since their return. As I have said before "this business is either a feast or a famine." So as I sit here bleary eyed and write this between ride cycles ponder this- the next time you see a showman with red eyes, looking sheepish, don't think he has been on the piss. Wonder how far he has travelled, how many hours has he worked in the last few days? Unless of course he is in Prague on a city break, then that's a totally different kettle of Ale!!
(*) One night in Prague, a woman introduced herself to us as "I am good Chez woman", then she shook all our hands and began to talk to us. It was shortly after this that we noticed she was wearing a thick scarf around her neck in a warm pub. Add this too, she was alone (women won't even go to the toilet by themselves let alone out to the pub), had introduced herself as a woman (a woman would expect you to notice she was a woman) and finally had a grip like iron (from handshake). It was conclusive Doris was really a Boris. Luckily for us, it was time to gather our wives and head off to the next pub.
(**) One morning, while sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for everyone to gather, we overheard a loud, brash Aussie ordering.No, Not a drink but a Bride! He stated to his two foreign assosiates (one an interpreter) that he had already a Russian woman with one child to him, living on one coast of Austrailia and that he wanted the second for another city. She was to be good looking and Blonde, to have only one child with him, to be able to cook & clean. He made no attempt to lower his tone or conceal his objective, you would think he was ordering optional extras for a car. He also stated that he only two days to conclude the deal and would pay the brokers fee. I only bring this up because it was the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade the other day. Sorry, but it appears slavery is not gone, just mutated to another form!!!!
I hope for the ladies sake they were out of stock.

The clips are the miami and a view of a very small part of the Ingliston event 11/07.
The photos are from Alloa and show CM's ghost train and a general view of the fair.

a fairground life (11th hour)

Tuesday
The phone rang, it was Italy calling, the shaft would take a week to make and then it would be sent. The cost was surprisingly cheap at 25 euro plus packaging as anything with a part number usually costs the earth ( if you built your car by ordering parts from the manufacturer it would probably cost about 10 times the price). So I ordered two. Delivery could be anytime, especially when you factor in "perfect world syndrome" so anytime before the new year will be a bonus! I called the engineer in Ireland again, he assured me he would be back Wednesday so I was to bring the old sample over (less the cut out bit) on Thursday for him to copy it.
Wednesday
*I decided to change my mobile network today. I have been with T-Mob for the last 7 years. No matter what I did, how ever I changed my plan, It would be ok for the first month then shoot back up to £100 plus per month. I honestly think they look up what you were good for and then charge you that regardless!!! I asked for a PAK code to transfer my number, then they tried to talk me back into staying with them- Wait a minute, why did you not offer me these goodies when I was A PREMIUM CUSTOMER???? why wait until I'm leaving?? No, No, this only proves my earlier theory, catch as catch can!!! So now I'm with 3.
Thursday
I phoned the engineer, you guessed it! He was still in Ireland. He said he would be back Friday, so I took the old shaft and left it at his machine shop with written instructions on sizes etc.
Friday
Phoned again. Yip, he is still in Ireland, something about a broken down train, "perfect world syndrome" kicks in again. Now I'm beat. The shaft to copy is out at his place and it is too late to try and find somewhere else. Then he suggests that I call his brother. This I do, but unfortunately his brother informs me he is going away tonight for the weekend and has a few jobs of his own to finish off. Almost begging I ask him if I can call him back to see if there is any chance. "call back at 7pm" he said, I thought well that is that the DZ will be closed until further notice.
So not dwelling on spilt milk, I go to buy another 3 phone, to replace my old pay as you go. I like gadgets so mobile web on the 3 network gets me interested. I bite the bullet and sign another contract for myself. This time I'm leaving Vodaphone. I only put voice packs into this pay as you go phone. At this time I had 55 minutes left on my vodaphone pack. I call to get another PAK code to port my number to 3. Now heres the thing, I get a message telling me I do not have any credit in my phone, I need to top up before I can contact the customer service center. It appears that by dialing 191 on my vodaphone handset with 55 anytime, any network minutes will not work on vodaphone network!! HOW STUPID IS THAT? So I went to the vodaphone shop and used their customer free phone. While I'm in a griping mood, fuel is up again, derv busts the £1 a liter mark , kero for heating the wagon and gas oil for the generator are also up! WE'RE AN OIL PRODUCING NATION FOR GODS SAKE!!!!!
7:14pm I call anyway just because I said I would. It rings out and the goes to answer service. I leave a short message and hang up. I guess he is away on that weekend break.
7:20pm The phone rings, I answer, "your shaft is done, I left it outside the shop door." Eureka!!! thanking him most zealously I hang up. Shortly after 10pm at night I have the shaft in my possession! That's the thing with family businesses, they have a conscience, if that were a big company, the employee would clock out at 5pm on the dot regardless of job completion or not and without a second thought.
Saturday
I fit the shaft, oh no! I was too complacent with the sizes by way of not double checking the length but guessing it and the shaft is 10mm out!!! Luckily it still fits and the 10mm error is overcome by way of a distance piece. Then a test run and we are back in business. Phew! Told you it was a "perfect world!"

* I got my first mobile back in 1989. My gran bought it for me after "r" spent a week in hospital without them knowing as we were attending fairs at opposite ends of Scotland. Two phones cost £1500 with a 12month contract at another £40 p/m each. They were about the size of a 5 liter can and weighed as much as a small car battery. A full charge lasted about 8hrs and talk time was about 40 mins at best. Mind you at £1 per minute you could not afford to talk that long and there was damn few to call anyway as no one else had a mobile yet! They were white with a black 6 inch ariel sticking out the top and would not of looked out of place on a battle field. When I carried it about I felt like 007. Coverage was patchy at best and that was in the cities!, suburbs - forget it. Even though, it was great and when I got into a fair at the last minute by using the phone (sitting on top of the lorry to get a reception) it paid for itself then and there with bonuses because I have earned from that fair for the last 19 years! I knew then and there it was a great product. SO WHY WHY WHY DID I NOT SCRAPE UP A £1000 from somewhere and invest it into a mobile phone company????? HOW MUCH WOULD THAT MONEY BE WORTH TODAY??? I suppose it is because you only know what you know and why most showmen will die showmen, me included. (being a showman is not a bad thing, I'm just saying that people only know what they know)

a fairground life

Well it had to happen sooner or later, another breakdown! At least something to write about. It was the dropzone, on Sunday about an hour before closing a guide wheel on the gondolla lost its tread. Not much of a problem in the perfect world, no , just remove the shaft locking nut, tap the shaft out, drop down the old wheel and put on another with new tread, knock the shaft through and tighten the lock nut again. Job done in five minutes no problem, in the perfect world. Shame I live in this world! The world in which the rain causes the shaft to sieze onto the wheel ballraces as if welded.The world in which you need to be a midget contortionist with bionic strength to get to the job!! We tried to tap it out (wee hammer),we tried to batter it out (big hammer),we tried to twist it out and lastly we tried to jack it out using a 10ton jack. Nope, not a millimeter would it move. In the end we had to cut the shaft out, destroying it in the process. The problem is that nobody (manufacturers) gives a toss for access to maintain anything, look under the bonnet of your car for proof! you can't even see the engine now cause it's hidden under a plastic cover! The only tool we could get into the space was the hacksaw and after twenty minutes of sweat and taking turns at sawing we finally cut through the shaft not once but twice to get the wheel out. No real problem I thought, I'll get one made for the weekend. OHNO! a couple of calls later and I find the engineer I use is in Ireland!!!! So now the pressure is on, will he get back in time to make a new shaft for me???Will the Italian manufacturer ever email me back with a price and delivery date?? If I could answer these questions I would tell you the Lotto numbers.
On a lighter note, it was the Showmens International today. Football teams from different sections arrived in Glasgow this morning and played a tournament. Then onto a hotel for a medal giving ceremony and knees up. I have never been interested in football, so Blakey! Why don't you fill in the blanks for the readers??? At least it would be a sensible use of the comments box instead of you just whinning about me.

a fairground life

During the previous week there has been a couple of changes to the fair. The rock o plane and ghost train have left to be replaced with the buggies ride and toboggan roller coaster. These ride were erected during the week. Due to the strong winds on Thursday it was decided to only raise the toboggan pole and finish the ride on Friday. I have not done much myself this week except for a couple of shifts on the santa ride. That list of jobs I have just isn't getting done. Maybe next week.

a fairground life

Tuesday
It is fast approaching christmas. To get organised we went and picked up the box truck from Stirling. It has the santa sleigh ride inside. We have had this ride since 2001, but it has only done 9 months work in that time, well I don't think santa would go down too well in July. Over the next couple of days the lads paint the white picket fences on the ride.
Thursday
The first of November and the x-mas lights get switched on in the mall to-night. We opened from 5:30pm - 8:30pm. The rain was very heavy and business was poor as a result.
Friday
At 9:15pm the mall closes and we start to erect the santa ride.The location access has a 3 ton weight limit so we have to move the ride in piece at a time using a car and trailer. This takes 6 separate trips and over 12 miles are clocked up from site to box truck. It is after 1am when the ride is completely erected. Back home and in bed for 2am.
Saturday
The routine returns to normal and I am in my box again for the next two afternoons minding the DZ.
Monday
The fair here needs some equipment shuffled now as other rides are coming in for christmas. As a result I am moving the Dropzone to another position. There was one problem though, on the new plot I would not be able to swing the tower around. To overcome this I moved the ride with the tower partially raised. This made the vehicle over 70ft long, but it was only a short shift (75m). By 4pm the ride was re-erected on the new plot and ready for the weekend.
Tuesday 6th
Spent an afternoon minding the santa train. I know its only November, but it is a short seasonal window of opportunity for this attraction so everyday counts.

I'm using a new browser now and more blog functions are availabe to me including video, so watch this space.