I told this story about 4 months ago, so if I am repeating myself I apologize:
When I was maybe 12 or 13, a close friend and I rode our bikes over the a carnival set up in a local shopping center parking lot. We only had a small amount of money, so we were limited as to the number of tickets we could purchase.
There were only a few parents and kids around, so to say they weren’t busy would be an understatement. We get to the ferris wheel and climb in and are buckled into one of the seats. We start going around and around and around and realize the attendant was nowhere to be seen. It’s just a ferris wheel; but once you spend a half hour up and around, you start to get pretty sick of the ride, not to mention sick in other ways!
After screaming as hard as we could, finally someone (not the guy who started the thing) came over and let us climb out! We were the only kids on the machine!
I’ve been queasy on the Ferris wheel just once. That was as an adult, taking my kids on the rides. A the time, I was an electronic technician in the air force, and had risen in rank far enough to have to inspect and sign off on everyone’s work. You can’t see electrons, so that’s mainly looking for all the screws to be tight – and it is a serious business, because loose parts in a fighter jet can be very bad news. (I once solved the mystery of why a fighter had dropped it’s practice bombs while taxiing for takeoff. A lost washer had come up against the back of a switch. If those bombs had been loaded with high explosive instead of sand, there might have been a crater in the runway, a $26 million aircraft destroyed, and two men dead. Or if the washer had shorted the switch a few minutes later, the bombs would have been falling on Clovis, NM – sure they weren’t explosive, but they were heavy enough to punch through house from the roof to the crawl space, and too bad for anyone in the path.)
So I’m 50 feet or so in the air with two little kids, and my well-developed inspector vision kicked in. There’s a loose nut. There’s another one. Over there, the nut is missing entirely. Unlike the tiny cover screws for an electronics module, these nuts are the size of Andre the Giant’s fist, securing threaded bolts two or three inches in diameter, which hold the whole Ferris wheel together…
Argythree over 9 years ago
Why not just stick with the merry-go-round?
gammaguy over 9 years ago
Maybe you should play touch, instead.
David Huie Green LoveJoyAndPeace over 9 years ago
forgot your barf bag?
King_Shark over 9 years ago
Where’s his parachute?
Thomas Scott Roberts creator over 9 years ago
He’s worse off than I am. I like the Ferris Wheel, but I’d feel that way about the Roller Coaster.
rshive over 9 years ago
I get the throwing up reaction from black and white checkered floor—especially if it’s shiny.
mourdac Premium Member over 9 years ago
Probably get nose bleeds from the merry-go-round.
Dewed over 9 years ago
I’m ok on the backside as long as there are bars in front of me. But up top and over the front is another story.
neverenoughgold over 9 years ago
Excuse me… I’m feeling a bit queazy right now!
jameswtu over 9 years ago
the town fair was much cheaper back then
JanLC over 9 years ago
The High Roller here in Vegas costs $35 for a 1/2 hour ride.
neverenoughgold over 9 years ago
I told this story about 4 months ago, so if I am repeating myself I apologize:
When I was maybe 12 or 13, a close friend and I rode our bikes over the a carnival set up in a local shopping center parking lot. We only had a small amount of money, so we were limited as to the number of tickets we could purchase.
There were only a few parents and kids around, so to say they weren’t busy would be an understatement. We get to the ferris wheel and climb in and are buckled into one of the seats. We start going around and around and around and realize the attendant was nowhere to be seen. It’s just a ferris wheel; but once you spend a half hour up and around, you start to get pretty sick of the ride, not to mention sick in other ways!
After screaming as hard as we could, finally someone (not the guy who started the thing) came over and let us climb out! We were the only kids on the machine!
To this day, I hate the dang ferris wheel…
markmoss1 over 9 years ago
I’ve been queasy on the Ferris wheel just once. That was as an adult, taking my kids on the rides. A the time, I was an electronic technician in the air force, and had risen in rank far enough to have to inspect and sign off on everyone’s work. You can’t see electrons, so that’s mainly looking for all the screws to be tight – and it is a serious business, because loose parts in a fighter jet can be very bad news. (I once solved the mystery of why a fighter had dropped it’s practice bombs while taxiing for takeoff. A lost washer had come up against the back of a switch. If those bombs had been loaded with high explosive instead of sand, there might have been a crater in the runway, a $26 million aircraft destroyed, and two men dead. Or if the washer had shorted the switch a few minutes later, the bombs would have been falling on Clovis, NM – sure they weren’t explosive, but they were heavy enough to punch through house from the roof to the crawl space, and too bad for anyone in the path.)
So I’m 50 feet or so in the air with two little kids, and my well-developed inspector vision kicked in. There’s a loose nut. There’s another one. Over there, the nut is missing entirely. Unlike the tiny cover screws for an electronics module, these nuts are the size of Andre the Giant’s fist, securing threaded bolts two or three inches in diameter, which hold the whole Ferris wheel together…