Fear Callibration

Of all the things that I do during the day, the one that scares me the most is putting up a new roll of paper seamless. The ladders are rickety and the floor is never flat, and I know that the drive system we use is not rated for the weight we're putting on it. Somehow, we've still failed to find a drive system that takes the weight we're putting on it. It seems strange that seamelss would come in rolls so big that no commercially available mounts can handle them.

It only takes one movement out of balance for the roll to tip out of line, for the ladder to lean too far to one side and throw both of us to the ground with the core on top of us. Somehow, it never happens. I spent yesterday morning passing ropes and links and cords and webbing around knots that have been proven to hold, between trees rooted deep into the rock, and was willing to put myself and my friends on the line, but lifting fifty pounds of paper wrapped around a tube onto a metal bracket once a month gives me a cold sweat every time.

07 April 2014 20:11