I get all the weird gigs ....

So. Recently, I was offered the possibility of a few weeks/months back in IT, as a contractor. And I had a very slow January, so I ummed and ahhed, and finally declined, with the sensible, Taurus part of my brain saying "Money! Rent! Food!". And I billed 40 hours last week, so that's all dandy, but I didn't have much solid work lined up.

Then last night one of my employers called and said "Are you busy for the next 3 weeks?". And I said "Uh, no, I have a gig for you this week, and my Red Card induction on the 22nd, but it's all a bit bleak. Why?"

"We have a client who need a rigger, a forklift driver, and a grunt for the next 3 weeks - we want to send you as the rigger".

"Uh, sure. Book it. What's the gig?"

"Building a seating grandstand at the Melbourne Aquatic Centre".

So. It's Grand Prix season at Albert Park. I figure, in the grounds of the aquatic centre, we're building seating for the GP. Maybe building seating next to a pool for some swimming event.

I rock up at 8 am today and there's a SCUBA diver laying out sole plates. I shit you not. We are building scaff *in* a swimming pool. We have sole plates with inch-thick neoprene glued to the bottom to protect the tiles.

http://flickr.com/photos/81856156@N00/388889643/

http://flickr.com/photos/81856156@N00/388889642/

And this is why I love this industry. 90% of what I do is mundane rock-and-roll. Then I get shit like this.

sol.
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This too shall pass.

So subtle_eye asked:

Is it just generic scaff, or is it some whacky chlorine-corrosion resistant scaff? I'm not sure I'd trust it a couple of months down the track ....

It's a very good question, and the answer is it's generic scaff that has been freshly galvanized to protect against corrosion. However, it raises an issue that I was in fact contemplating today.

I got out of IT, in part, because I was sick of building things I couldn't touch. There's nothing there, there. That's not necessarily a disparagement. You can't touch beautiful music, or a magic show, or a sunset. But I like to build solid things. Tents. 7' tall oil rigs. Lighting rigs (you can't touch light, of course ....).

In my 2 year career as a rigger I have done precisely one gig that is still installed. During a night-club refurbishment, I hung 6 beam clamps and chain motors to hang house lighting truss. The Circus Oz season in Melbourne runs for about 6 weeks. That's about the most permanent thing I do. Then the tent comes down again.

The scaff we're building is for the FINA world championships. That's a 3 week build for a 2 week event. Then it all comes down. The plates we laid today have to last 6 weeks, tops.

And I don't mind, really. Nothing lasts, kids. If you're lucky, you get to keep the memories. So collect them while you can.

Apropos of which, I had one last best hope of identifying the hot goth chick I snogged at Aveline's wake who wasn't my girlfriend. And, no dice. No-one knows, no meaningful photos exist. Which kinda rocks, I have to say. I was more drunk than p_cat has ever seen me (and she's seen me pretty trashed over many years). I snogged not only hot chicks I know, but some total stranger who apparently fell for the line "Hi. I'm a married man, but you're absolutely stunning.". We all pay our homage in our own ways, but that's my version of "What would Aveline do" :) It's not likely to happen again in the near future, of course, but that's kinda the point, I guess.

sol.
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