I'd not long left the ground on the 'cherry picker' this morning when a Green Meanie (parking attendant) appeared around the corner and started harrassing Mr B. who was trapped defenceless at ground level. Apparently the machine was about to be issued with two parking penalties, not only that I'd have to move the Daihatsu and the trailer off the pavement as this was a severe transgression. When the Meanie had wandered off, Mr B. telephoned me, as I was now out of earshot, to relay the news that we were in 'deep shit' with the council. The machine required a permit based on a full risk assessment and traffic management analysis. I had been ordered to stop work immediately until the paperwork was in order.
It was on another sickeningly wobbly descent that the battery which powered the hydraulics decided to go flat. Yesterday I remembered discussing whether the auxiliary diesel engine relied on this same battery to start itself? It didn't make any sense, so we happily concluded it must have a separate battery otherwise you'd just end up stuck in the air. Stuck in the air was exactly right, the starter for the diesel engine was dependent on the very same battery. It just made a few growling noises, and there was little sign of any starting. I then spent a few anxious minutes waiting for the battery to recover a bit for one last try. Luckily on this occasion the thing roared to life, thus avoiding any embarrassed calls to Martin Plant Hire.
Mr B. disappeared to the council offices and eventually came back clutching the requisite permit. This together with my operators course certificate issued yesterday by the man from Martin Plant Hire meant that we were now 'fully legal', as Mr B. put it. Perhaps this was just as well; now that the morning had been wasted, the proceedings were bedevilled by lunchtime pupils from the local school ducking by on the pavement so far below.
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