My Thighs Are Sore, but Work Was Terrific

I went to the Theatre today because a new shipment of lights and lenses came in today, which need to be unpacked, tagged, lit, and focused. It's a pretty menial and time consuming task, but it's honest work. Until Gary asks, "Warner, are you afraid of heights?"

"No," I reply definitely. In my most naive of fashions, I thought he would be sending me up to the pick rail or catwalks. What actually happened was the arrival of our safety harnesses, ordered by decree of OSHA because they don't have enough to do during the day. They are going to be cumbersome and awkward, we will have to train every person who wants or needs to go into the box booms (sort of upright catwalks on either side of the audience) on how to put them on, adjust them, attach them, and what to do in case of a fall.

My irritation at the new regulations aside, we still needed to adjust the "little person" harness for a small girl of my general stature. It took a lot more tugging and pulling than I had anticipated. Gary knows where the straps are supposed to hold after a fall, but the challenge was in finding where they need to lie when in the rest position. The chest strap ended up being too high on me, while the back was too low. By trial and error, we finally came up with a suitable range for the rest position.

So how does one go about trying to find where straps will end up after a fall? Why, by being lifted into the air, of course. After the guys did all the pulling and tugging to get the harness small enough for me, I was hooked up and raised into the air for short amount of time to observe where everything settled. The first time, everything was so loose I ended up almost flat on my stomach, Superman style. That is not at all safe for the small space we'll be working in. A round of tugging and pulling later, I was upright. That's when the "safety" talk began. Did you know that a person can only stay in that position with the leg straps cutting off an artery for 15 minutes before they start experiencing blood toxicity? And after about 20 minutes consciousness is lost? If I fall, I'm supposed to start yelling for help right away.

Being strapped in a harness and raised even a foot in the air, I began getting a little homesick. I really miss rock climbing. I need it in my life. My destiny is to open a climbing gym.