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.