:p:

Fixing lightning damage.

Awesome.

God, my knees may never work again...


When he pulled out that chisel and started chiseling on the arm, on the wrong fucking side, I envisioned catastrophe on a Wile E. Coyote scale.

I was waiting for him to drop the chisel or hammer on one of the people in the crowd below.

Seeing that sort of endeavour brings me out in a cold sweat.

I know that this is thread drift, but it reminded me of Fred Dibnah, a steeplejack from Bolton, Lancashire, who was featured in a number of TV series in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Watch him erect scaffolding at the top of a 200' chimney with no safety precautions of any description. I remember him saying that if he made a mistake in similar circumstances it was 'half a day out with the undertaker'.

Frightening.

OK, there's Dibnah fixing that steeple. I could do that, I ain't scared, someone on the ground boasts. But don't realize overcoming heights is nothing, knowing how to do the job once you're up there is quite another

There are thousands, hell maybe millions, of highly skilled craftsmen out there who eek out a living never being recognized for their skill. The parts guy who knows whether the catalog is right or not, the farrier who shoes multi-million dollar race horses, or the tailor that knows if you hang on the right you'll have problems.;) We know doctors, lawyers, professors, etc, have to know a lot of stuff, but the public doesn't have a clue about the skills other people may have.

It's just more proof of your sig line:

Everything is interesting, when you look closer.

Massive, *massive* heebie jeebies watching him lash that corner board with some 3/4 hemp rope, with no safety line between him and his half day with the undertaker. The chimney swaying 2 to 3 inches... um, nope. Oh, I believe him, but I'll collect my telemetry from terra firma, thankyouverymuch.

I also noticed the regular bands around the circumference of the chimney, keeping the bricks from bulging outward, restraining the force in a downward direction where the bricks are strongest, in compression.

Huge heebie jeebies quota here:



Fred was larger than life and had a massive following. There are plenty more videos from his TV programmes on YouTube. Some less terrifying than others.

The poor chap died at the age of sixty-six in 2004.

It's a hackneyed phrase, but we shall not see his like again.

I suspect 99% because of their heebie jeebies, and 1% for the skill behind the showmanship.

In the US, OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration), would have sent a swat team to take him out, if he garnish that much attention.

He wouldn't get away with his casual approach today. Quite rightly all manner of safety precautions would have to be in place.

However, even if he had not been well known I suspect that he would have operated in the same way.

A few weeks ago there was a picture of construction in progress on the Post Office (now BT) Tower in central London.

I think it was to commemorate the building's fiftieth anniversary. The lack of safety precautions would make your hair curl. I'll see if I can find it.

Agreed, the skill behind his showmanship is the way it was done. They knew if you fell 50 feet or 500, it's the same dead.

Found it:

http://s27.postimg.org/k35znrfjn/6a2...e4_733376c.jpg

No hard hat,
No overalls,
No hi-vis clothing,
No gloves,
No safety footwear,
No safety harness,
No fencing around the perimeter.

Horrifying.


Whilst searching for the above image, I stumbled across several more here:

50 years of the BT Tower

Just look at the crane operator in the third picture. At least he had a hard hat! :eek:

I love that line, I see it used a lot, everywhere.
Did they take a poll? Do you remember being asked what buildings you love, and which one the most? I don't remember being asked about any of the things the press says I love/want/need. :haha:

We look at those pictures or the ones of the steel erecting in NYC, and cringe at the possibilities. But remember most of those guys survived.