Saturday, January 25, 2014

transmission tower

Beebee beep beebee beep. Come on, Kids, let's climb a transmission tower. We won't get in trouble. This is the pinnacle of monkeyhood. I dare you to watch the whole thing. Theses guys should be awarded honorary prehensile monkey tails. If you chose to stick with the video and resist that, whatchacallit, vertigo thing that happens with the GoPro swinging back and forth way up there indicating his head is moving around wildly and probably unnecessarily for dramatic purposes while climbing onward and upward as the tower tapers to a pole, then to the top of that pole, you will notice him say as he reaches thunderstorm height, and you sit in your robe and your house slippers and sip your morning coffee, "There is no fast way down," and you think to yourself, you have to think this, "There isn't?"


He failed to mention those spiky things, the metal flowers on long stems he called them, that attract electrical charges in the air to dissipate before building up to lightening strike, they are also fun to throw at people from up there like Ninja stars, the prank victims never do see what hit them.

This video is helpful for you to copy, what to take with you, tools, paraphernalia, how to dress, what to say, buzzwords, when you attempt this yourself should anyone challenge your authority to climb the tower.

22 comments:

AllenS said...

When I was a kid, there was a water tower built a couple of blocks from my house. Within one week of the completion, I was up there and painted my name on it facing the house.

I'll never forget looking out the window at my dad the next day standing in the back yard staring at the tower, fuming.

Dad Bones said...

That's funny, Allen. -- My hands are still sweating from watching that video, as if I was desperately holding on to something.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

As if I needed more reason to admire the people who actually manage to jump off a bridge.

virgil xenophon said...

I viewed that vid several years ago. I was/am with Dad Bones on this, especially as I have that genetic "high-place phenomenon" that gives one the urge to jump from high places. TRUST ME, it's very real. My Father had it also. NOT funny. No rock-climbing for this little Indian, lol. And yet, there are seemingly other genetically clustered cohorts where nature has worked the other way, e.g., the Mohawk Indians of New York who have a long tribal tradition of iron-working in the building of sky-scrapers due to their lack of fear of heights. Go figure..

Shouting Thomas said...

What an adrenalin rush!

Made me sick just to watch.

If I'm going to flirt with suicide, I prefer my Harley at 90 mph on the Thruway.

Same shit. One misstep away from being transformed into hamburger.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

(1) Here's a diferent take on the Mohawk Indian thing.

(2) Hey! Anybody hear about that new Mohawk underwear? It creeps up on you.

(3) That's racist!!!!

Shouting Thomas said...

This posting inspired me to write about my own legendary feats of machismo.

bagoh20 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
virgil xenophon said...

Thx for the link, Batman. I often wondered if it was a sociocultural dealio, but hadn't seen any literature pub on it,,

bagoh20 said...

I regularly hang from a piece of cloth, sometimes over 10,000 up, but that job right there scares the shit out of me. I got the heebee jeebees just watching it in a small window.

The Dude said...

I have always been one to climb things, and I was fine with that video until he got to the free-climb section. Then I was all "Clip in, clip in!"

Alas, he only occasionally clipped in, but he did not die.

The narrator was wrong - when a lightning strike hits there is one very quick way down.

I looked into tower building and climbing as something to do, but those guys rarely make as much as $20/hour - really? I would need a bit more than that to do that job. The views, while awe inspiring, are not enough compensation for the stress one would endure doing that day in and day out.

bagoh20 said...

You could get base jumpers to do the work for free, and they would get down much faster.

rhhardin said...

The altitude knee interaction comes from seeing the support below you fade into the distance.

There's none in an airplane.

Tha actual danger is from carelessness.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I can't watch it. I'm with Dad Bones. I don't want to jump off of high places but have this irresistible pull towards the edge. I literally makes me nauseous to look over a steep drop. SO.....I stay back, unless there is a railing or barrier between me and the edge.

I'm a lot of fun as a passenger in the car when driving on the coastal highway. State Route 1 is a narrow winding and sometimes one lane road on steep cliffs over the ocean. I'm sitting on the outside of the road and the wheels are just inches away from the abyss and sure death. I can't look. It is white knuckle time.

Haz would probably love it on his motorcycles.

bagoh20 said...

That's a great spot for a heart attack.

The Dude said...

The head "swinging" was from looking down to ascertain that the climber was putting his foot properly on the climbing peg.

There is no room for error. Three point contact should never become two point contact.

I would imagine that exhaustion could cause one to become careless on such a job. When I get tired I just sit down and rest. I didn't see any place to relax on that tower.

Sutro, sure, but that thing is huge!

Deb said...

Very high pucker factor.

Watching that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Deb said...

Very high pucker factor.

Watching that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Deb said...

Very high pucker factor.

Watching that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

ken in tx said...

My cousin once climbed a water tower on a very high hill in Ensley Alabama. The fire department had to come get him down.

AllenS said...

Falling from a water tower will not kill you. It's the sudden stop that kills you.

Darcy said...

This was AMAZING. I couldn't watch it all because I started getting queasy.

Amazing.