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You couldn't pay me enough!

Tim Aucoin

New Member
Was having lunch today when I looked up and saw this guy hanging (by a wire or something) from the top of the BMO building here in downtown Calgary working on this new sign (it wasn't there a week ago!!). Judging from the height of the building (around 48 stories or so), that sign has to be close to 20' tall by at least 40' wide!!:omg: Look closely... he's there! I took it with my iPhone camera, so couldn't zoom in! That's quite an install to do!

When I saw this guy, I thought of you Jill, way up over the highway painting the Wendy's sign!:rolleyes: You couldn't pay me enough to dangle from a building that tall... but what a view he/she has!!
 

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Rick

Certified Enneadecagon Designer
I would do it, as long as I could drop a melon from there... always wanted to do that.
 

OneUpTenn

New Member
I actually think I know the guy that did this. He was my friend growing up and I found him on Facebook about 3 months ago. I will ask him.
 

SignosaurusRex

Active Member
Its not the height that gets you as much as the possibility of an impact.
45' or 450'.....its all the same. I'd do it but I damn sure want my bladder empty first.
 

Lunatic Taskbar

New Member
I am happy to climb up any height you want... As long as I can keep one foot on the ground!

I know my limitations I personally couldn't do that.

Ian
 

Arlo Kalon 2.0

New Member
The first sign shop I worked at had a second story wall job coming up. The boss aked me if I could work off a walk plank high up. I said "sure - wherever my feet are is the ground to me". It was a totally different story though when I first tried standing up on the suspended plank. I walked along it, keeping a hand on the wall. Someone yelled up from below "hey Arlo, holding onto that wall ain't gonna help you if this comes down". The terminology of the rigging always bothered me too - they're called rope falls. I'd prefer rope stays ups. I'll never forget a high act sign daredevil I was working with once on a 48 story high grain silo. He refused to use a back board on his walk plank - no matter how high up. The whole day I was expecting to see him splat. He had pics of a job he did once where an airplane was flying below the height he was up on the building. When he was being lowered to the ground after that he stepped backwards off the plank thinking it was at the ground. He fell from 3 feet up and broke his back!
 

SignosaurusRex

Active Member
I bet it would be by the time you get to the sudden stop at the end...
Nope........It would probably empty long before that. I don't mind the heights as much as my feet not touching something. Thats where the problem lies. It takes a few minutes to get used to the feet dangling in thin air and that few minutes can be hard to adjust to. Must be something deep-seeded.
 

Pat Whatley

New Member
Had a friend that used to change out billboards along the interstate, some as high as 60'. Dude was an alcoholic and changed out most of them drunk. Drunk to the point where more than once he "passed out/took a nap" on the walkboards.

Finally got treatment for his drinking problem, was sober for three months, fell off a billboard while unhooking his safety line. Fell thirty feet to the ground, spent the next nine months in recovery.
 
Had a friend that used to change out billboards along the interstate, some as high as 60'. Dude was an alcoholic and changed out most of them drunk. Drunk to the point where more than once he "passed out/took a nap" on the walkboards.

Finally got treatment for his drinking problem, was sober for three months, fell off a billboard while unhooking his safety line. Fell thirty feet to the ground, spent the next nine months in recovery.


I dont remove my safety line till i'm on the ground.
 

Si Allen

New Member
I have never had a problem with heights! Worked anywhere up to 100 feet up, painting signs.

An old walldog trick...carry along a hammer! ( If you fall, knock yourself in the head before you hit the ground.)


:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 

John L

New Member
I have done many a drop on swing stages without a lot of trouble. But years ago I climbed over the parapet wall of a building in a bosun chair (wood seat attached to a rope) hanging from a permanently attached outrigger and that was the last time ever for that. Getting over the edge and the first few feet down is the hardest part.

There was a dirty jobs show recently all about hi-rise window washers and watching that show took me right back to that very day all over again. Thats just a different animal altogether.

And.. you'd be very surprised how lots of folks do this for very average pay.
 

SignManiac

New Member
Funny how ironic life can be. I have 2,000 skydives without incident from between 13,500' and 20'000 feet.

My only accident was a broken back falling 8' onto a steel floor flying in an outdoor wind tunnel, a freefall simulator :) Complacency can bite you in the ass when you least expect it!
 
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