Now that the pulls were done, the only thing left was the four button heats. It was time for lift training, so we all gathered in the garage. There were two safety harnesses piled on top of each other on the floor. Ashton was nice enough to make me get mine out of my work van.
The first phase of training was a lecture, that covered a variety of topics, including weight limits, obstacles, uneven surfaces, proper use of fall protection tie-offs, and when to “walk” the lift rather than ride it. The video on boom lifts included information on avoiding high-voltage lines, maintaining balance with the boom extended to varying degrees, and optional accessories. We also watched some videos showing all the nasty stuff that could happen when you didn’t follow these procedures.
The practical exam was next. I offered to go first. I have a lot of experience riding roller coasters, and have no fear of heights as long as I’m secured. I would be testing the first heat detector.
“Snips” is a highly advanced, semi-autonomous scissor lift. In addition to being drivable, you can set him on autopilot, and he’ll automatically follow whoever has the remote, while using his collision sensors to avoid obstacles. However, that did NOT mean that the user could operate on autopilot – after all, no system is foolproof.
Prissy was up next. Her attempt to cede her turn to Alan was unsuccessful. She donned her harness, and quickly realized it was a bit too small. I offered to lend her mine (I had the same problem last time), but it was already a small! She was still allowed to go up, as it wasn’t dangerously loose.
Just don't fall through and choke yourself.
Stop it, Mark.
I spotted her as she raised the platform up. She was shaking the entire time, so I yelled up to her to get a good look at her surroundings. It would be less scary that way. Once she caught her breath and was able to walk steadily around on the platform, she was able to pop the disc off the button heat. We could hear the panel piezo, and Alan acknowledged it.
Putting the disc back into place was the hard part. It wasn’t a screw, and it needed to be in the exact correct position to lock in. She turned around multiple times – left and right – before it finally stayed put. The edges to those discs are rather sharp.
What a finger slicer...
Prissy lowered the platform, and was still visibly nervous. Once she stepped off, she wrapped her skinny arms around me so tight I could barely breathe. It was the first time in years that I’d been hugged by a woman besides my mother, even if it was just a work hug.
He walked us into his personal office to warn us how “asinine” everything had gotten in relation to preventing harassment, and reminisced about how much better things were in the good old days. This was followed by a questionable joke about being a gay ally to straight people. Was I the only one who was uncomfortable with all of this?
Thanks, I guess.
Alan had already tested the last two heats by the time we got back, and it was about time for lunch. We ordered a smorgasbord of Chinese food from Kwok’s Wok. Alan and Amendoa split a chicken with broccoli combo. When Ashton found out I was getting the plankton and tofu soup, he immediately chose to order the steak egg foo young. Prissy ordered the same thing, but with pork.
Out of all of us, Ashton and Prissy were the only ones who knew how to use chopsticks. I accepted Prissy’s offer to teach me as long as it didn’t involve sharing food – thankfully, there was an extra pair in the bag. She made fun of the fact that her food was more solid than mine as I fumbled with the broth-softened tofu. Eventually, I got the hang of it – sort of.
She began typing notes on her tablet. I marched over to the FACP to put the panel back to normal. Amendoa made Prissy get up too, so she could watch how I did it. It wasn’t a big deal – we’d be testing the signals after lunch anyway.
When we got back, fried noodles were dumped into my soup. Alan ratted out his partner. Lesson number two was not to leave your food unattended, lest perpetrators tamper with it. Better to learn with crunchy pasta than with dangerous substances. I refused to eat it with the noodles in the broth, and Prissy refused to eat “das Plankton”. Ashton and Amendoa didn’t want it either, so it went to Alan – he’ll eat anything.
After we put our leftovers in the fridge, it was time to take Boomer for a spin. This tutorial would be completed outdoors, in the Amco parking lot. Prissy volunteered to go first so she could get it over with.
She wasn’t as shaky as she was the first time around, but we still kept our distance in case she slipped on the controls. She turned out to be even better at maneuvering the articulating boom than I was when I first started. But when it came time to pick that acorn off the top of the tree, she was only able to raise the lift halfway.
When it came to boom lift training, I always made sure I’m last so I could one-up everybody, but I was facing some fierce competition. Alan was able to pick the tallest acorn. Amendoa, being a volunteer firefighter up until her appointment to EXIT, grabbed her fire helmet out of her vehicle so she could pick another at a similar height. However, neither of them had realized that there was a third segment on the boom.
I could see a thunderstorm in the distance, meaning it was time to get down. I withdrew the boom, and hopped out. Suddenly, the garage door opened, and Alan came out in a frenzy. Amendoa could barely contain her laughter.
HELP!!! It's after me!
He had forgotten the remote in his pocket. When he went inside to use the bathroom, Snips followed him and nearly boxed him into the stall. Sadly, one of Ashton’s precious Xentex horn/strobes was wrecked in the incident. Time for Prissy’s first service call!