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.