a fairground life

Leaving EK we had a day to kill before entering the corporate event. It was good to have a day off and it was further justified by the torrential rain that fell all day. I say justified as I usually feel guilty about doing absolutely nothing in any single day. The next morning the weather was fine and we headed off to the event location. As promised the car park area was coned off and getting set was easy (in a gated private car park, in an industrial estate, so I don't know where the stunned locals could have been (see NOTW article)). Fortunately the plan I made from google earth was accurate and I didn't need to tweak anything. Although the DZ was set up by 1pm we stayed on site to help bro finish off the dodgem.The other rides were nearly finished off too by this time. The weather was really sunny during the afternoon. Bro had just received a new top cover. It was made of PVC and still needed tie ropes to be attached. So "r" and he went off to get the rope, on their return we started the job of fitting it up. The rope was nylon so we cut it to length and then melted the ends on candles to stop them fraying. I suppose that an older generation of showman would have been able to splice them with chandler skills. Around 8pm the cover was on and we headed off home.

The next day the weather turned nasty again, it was unfortunate for the works staff but they did make a good attempt to enjoy themselves.Saturday's weather was just as poor with only a few bright periods. It was a really long day starting at 10am and finishing at 10pm. I left "r" to do the final few hours alone so Blakey and I could move the other gear to the mall that evening. The batteries were flat on the EC12 so I had to put Blakey's charger on. The rain was falling in torrents by now, but luckily after only 15 mins of charging the lorry started.

Sunday the Mrs and I were up at 4am to catch our budget flight out for a city break. Poor "r" was left to do the final day's graft at the corporate do, then pull it down and move it to the mall. The next few days he erected all the equipment ready for opening October break. When I returned mid week everything was ready. He had even tried the new pump on the skydiver. The ride was better but still not up to "new" spec so I investigated a bit further myself and noticed that a pressure gauge was lacking a few PSI. I adjusted the appropriate valve a minute amount and brought it up to as was. This did the trick and the ride is working well, just begs the question if I should have done this first before ordering a new pump. To be honest I'm glad I didn't as the old one will be a spare and the new one should see me out. Since then it's been ground hog day, business is also way back on last year.

The pict is of a juvenile I seen on my travels, I texted this photo home with the sarcastic message, "tell the NOTW I got 200K for this one!". What can I say, bloomin numpties!, problem is how many people just believe it.