At least that guy’s got science on his side – unlike people, the laws of physics never screw up.
Well, there’s one recession-proof job!
Mother Mary of the Nine Infinite Ultraviolet Hells… I couldn’t make it past 3:22.
It was put back up in a day or two, while the thread was still active, IIRC.
If someone wants to find the other thread and provide a link, I can merge the two threads – I’m just doing a quick lap around the Boards before I head to work and don’t have to search right now.
When this video first came out it took me several attempts to get through the whole thing. Now I have bad dreams about falling quite often. Thanks internet!
I like how about 600 feet up, he hooks on. 'Cause, you know, a 590-foot drop wouldn’t hurt you, but 600 feet, you’d better be careful.
I have two other questions:
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So just how much money IS there in this job? Without letting me practice in a safe environment first I wouldn’t do it for any amount of money, and even with practice it’d be in the hundreds of millions.
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How long does it take the guy to get up there? The video’s clearly editing out most of the climb. In winter would you even have enough time at the top to get any work done?
Ah shit. Where’s my Phillips screwdriver? I could have sworn it was in here this morning?
I’m a (rock) climber and even I would feel antsy doing this.
“Yeah, I’ve got safety equipment right here, but it’s not too convenient so I’m not going to use it.”
I’d really have liked to have seen what he was going to do at the very top there. It didn’t look like there was a lot of room for two people, once they’d arrived, to actually do anything.
Yeah, what is there to do up there except change the bulb in the beacon?
And they were standing on top of that!
Merged into existing thread.
Replace the actual antenna? The transition from analog to digital TV required antennas to be changed, sometimes more than once.
My understanding from the video is that once they’d transitioned onto the last 60’ of the climb, that was the antenna that they were climbing on. Its too big for them to change out.
I don’t know what they’re doing up there, either - tightening bolts? Replacing fuses?
Leaffan - 
Or, alternatively - “Hey, pass me the wrench…well, I guess YOU’RE climbing down to get it.”
One thing for certain that they are doing up there is attracting lightning with their grapefruit-sized stainless steel balls!
Found some!
Stone Mountain from the north. Tower is visible on the left.
A view on the way up, looking NW. Downtown Atlanta is 15 miles due west.
Even though I use 2 safety hooks, I always have bruises on my arms from holding on so hard.
No need to fear - as the poet once said -
There once was a man from Madras
With testicles made out of brass
When he banged them together,
They played “Stormy Weather”
And lightning shot out of his ass.
And of course I was thinking of exactly that as I typed my previous post.
I think having the 360 degree view (from aerial tower) maximizes the heebeegeebees. big. time.
Speaking as someone who has done a good share of working in treetops, I think though once you get used to doing this job, the safety equip could hinder in many instances, esp since the extra handling/maneuvering required causes greater fatigue, also increases overall time aloft which has dangers in itself, esp from inclement weather that could move in. Lightning often moves ahead of a storm, people have been hit with nearly cloudless skies overhead.
I thought they were up there to make a video! 