The Taste Of Fear...

[Wally J. Corpse]

Greetings, Legion Of Fan-

There I was- for the last two days, doing a forensic leak analysis survey onst a 19 story building in downtown S.F.. This building, built in 1966, has an external wall cladding façade of ceramic tiles alledgedly secured inst a mortar bed, no mechanical attachment. My mission was to survey said façade, and water/spray test surface to track pathways of'n leakage. The method of conveyance was thus-a swing scaffold unit, suspended from arms on the 19th story roof, wouldst be manipulated by two Einsteins, whilst eye performed the investigation. The platform was about 32ft. in length, spanning four columned window bays for scrutiny. I was in the OSHA mandated full body fall restraint harness, which, by the way, is an encumberence that exponentially hinders ease of movement, but is somewhat required. One has to clip onto, with a geared rope grab device, to a roped trailing from the supposed securement on the roof. AS I was performeding said scrutiny, eye, AS an expert in the obvious, noted that the wind speed had picked up enough to induce a not so gentle swaying of the unit-to wit-we were sliding to and fro across the wall, 120ft. above below. The two Einsteins, (left and rightstein) became noticeably agitated, and expressed worries about future survival. 'Twas at this point in time, frozen deep in minst presently awared, and forever embossed in minst future recollections, eye realized a distantly familiar taste in the back of mine mouth-true fear. 'Tis not a pleasant taste. Oft, humans whomst experience such a flavor, will flee or exit scenario of which they are in, not so much if'n ye art suspended way up in the atmosphere. Eye, AS a veteran of roofing for forty years now, had not felt the all soul consuming strength of true fear like this ever before, though eye have had an affinity/neutral agreement with gravity since 1975, eye amst locally recognized AS the dork that will roof yer conical turret 50ft. above grade wearing only a lineman's belt wif' a rope. At this point in time, an eerily clear and resounding theme song played loudly in my crash helmet-the theme from the "Twilight Zone". AS we descended there were gasps of religious requests and overtones fromst left and rightstein, 'till we were somewhat on steady footing. It just goes to show ya'- sometimes a man will do whatever is needed to provide for the comfort and sustinence of'n his family, or those who depend uponst him, even though it may drive that man deep into his own psyche, and test the threads of which his strength of sanity lie.

AS ever,

Your ol' pal,

Wally J. Corpse

[JerrBear]

Not to worry, Mr. Corpse - Since you are already dead little harm could befall you making an unscheduled flight off'n a 19 floor building. Mos' likely just make what's left of your hoary olde body a little more 'squishy'...

As far as that unpleasant taste in your mouth? Might have something to do with that roadkill possum sandwich you had for lunch...

I suspect the threads of which your "strength of sanity lie" have been snipped long ago...

NOW, GO FORTH WITHOUT FEAR!

[DonC]

WJ:
What you went through was your brain noting a number of factors that, in that instance, were outside what you normally expose it to. On a conscious level you may not even have been aware of them but your "animal brain" noted them and wasn't comfortable with them. It's generally referred to as "survival instinct". There doesn't necessarily have to be a conscious rational reason for it.
How you handle it when it happens is a big factor. Kind of like getting back on the horse as soon as you get thrown off. Drive through it and, if it doesn't kill you, you'll probably be good to go the next time it happens. If you bail on it without completing the task you'll probably not be able to perform that particular task again the next time you're presented with it.
If there is a "next time" for that situation you'll feel the same thing again. The difference will be that it won't be a new sensation and it's effect will moderate a bit and you'll be building a familiarity with it. When/if it happens again you make sure that you've taken all the rational precautions you know about and go do it. Exposing yourself to the same conditions repeatedly, again, continues to moderate the level but.......................
If you ever get to a point where the fear isn't there do not do it.
If you do you're asking for a very poor result.
I was a member of the sky diving community for close to 40 years and was never without that feeling. It moderated over time but it was always there. I always said that if it was ever not there I wouldn't step out the door.
The next time recognize it for what it is, make sure you've taken reasonable steps to insure your survival, and do it. Something is likely to get all of us at some point even if it's just old age. Nobody is getting out of this "life" thing alive but if you never did anything that didn't have some element of risk you'd never get out of bed and, even then, there's nothing to say you wouldn't get struck by lightning even just laying there.
Welcome to the "Out of Your Comfort Zone Club".
DonC

[Bonzo]

Mr. Corpse,

As a 37 year veteran of roofing and other construction activities, I can sum up all of your fears and anxieties with one simple word: PUSSY!

Best regards,

Bonz

[JerrBear]

Mr. Corpse,

As a 37 year veteran of roofing and other construction activities, I can sum up all of your fears and anxieties with one simple word: PUSSY!

HO! HO!

[Wally J. Corpse]

Greetings, Mr. Doofus Emeritus-

So that's how you are, 'eh? AS if'n ye have never been a-scared on your two story roof jobs at the edge while slathering mastic on fried shingles.

Mr. Dopey Head Fish Guy-

Jeepers, yer a lil' snarky seeing AS how the prevalent fear factor in your life is having to exist in Fresnoid.

AS ever,

Your ol' pal,

Wally J. Corpse

[Viking45]

Wally J I see you are receiving no sympathy from our feller compadres. Being in the tree biz I understand nervousness and severe discomfort but if my rope fails in a tree at least I have that one last chance to pull a "Rambo" and grab a tree branch on the way down...on the other hand my falling carcass can become a pinball and hit every branch on the way down.

In your case you have nothing between you and pavement but 19 stories of air and that is pretty scary.

Years ago when Discovery Channel actually aired something worth watching I saw a documentary on the old brick buildings in San Fran.
Many simply have 10,12 or more stories of nothing but a red brick facade and they fall off like a giant slab and crush everything on the ground.

Here is a good example of what happens when contractors don't know what they are doing. You can clearly see the old bricks were covered up by new and no indication of any kind of attachment. Don't know the business or terms but I know even my buddy that tiled our bathroom used some kind of backing with support.
Unfortunately this video is from my town of Hicksberg Missouri
http://www.ky3.com/news/local/bricks-co ... 8_31094400

[jim d,]

Sir Wallace,

As always, I thoroughly enjoyed your prose, especially: "Oft, humans whomst experience such a flavor, will flee or exit scenario of which they are in, not so much if'n ye art suspended way up in the atmosphere."

Jim

[Viking45]

Sir Wallace,

As always, I thoroughly enjoyed your prose, especially: "Oft, humans whomst experience such a flavor, will flee or exit scenario of which they are in, not so much if'n ye art suspended way up in the atmosphere."

Jim

I second that.

[redeye]

As a long time scaler of things that are tall and shaky,I can concur to the fact that taste is very bitter. I once was ascaling down a four story bank that I was waterproofing from a similer swinging stage scaffold setup. It was lunch time and my cohort and I came down from the top mostest heights from which we were working and stopped the death trap about three feet from the hard ground of pavement . As we got off and removed our so called safety harnesses and walked away, BAM! The entire left end( the one I was on) slammed into the ground at an alarming speed. The aluminum motor housing had broke into a bunch of smaller pieces and let the whole contraption hit the ground . That was my last time on a swing stage .

[Bonzo]

Mr. Corpse,

There was one time when I was doing a roof inspection, I couldn't get back to my ladder because of the loose granules from the fried shingles were causing me to slip.Getting onto the roof was no problem, but getting back down wasn't working. Since the house was vacant, and nobody seemed to be alive in the hood, I had to rethink my predicament whilst stuck 32 feet off the ground. As I was about to call one of my competitors who's shop was close by, to come rescue me, I noticed a large knob cone pine growing alongside the house. As I scooted down the 6" pitched roof and gained speed, the pucker factor kicked into full force. The thought of being derailed at the last moment and hurtled over the side into the yard next door, laying there in a mine field with numerous broken bones, caused my life to flash before my eyes, because I survived the big fall before, I might not be so lucky this time around. Instead, I hit the tree with full force, stuck like a fly on flypaper to the oozing goo of pine tar, which never stops oozing from a knob cone pine. I then climbed down the tree, with hands, feet, arms, legs, hair, you get the gist, encased in thick gobs of pine tar. Once on terra firma, I had pine needles stuck to my shoes that gave me the feeling of a circus clown. Luckily, I had copious amounts of hand cleaner and rags (standard equipment for sloppy roofers) in my truck, and got cleaned up good enough to make the trip home in my skivvies. One day, while talking to my competitor, I told him about the experience (I left out the pine tar part), and he looked at me and said I should have called him and he would have came and got me! OK, I was trying to save face...

There you have it, my last brush with fear.

Best regards,

Bonz