Sunday, January 02, 2005
Rescue
My dad and stepmom rented a great house at Emerald Isle from Christmas to New Year's. All the siblings, siblings-in-law, girlfriends, nieces, and nephews were there. The house is brand new, and it was able to handle all 15 of us with ease. It has three floors, six bedrooms, two dishwashers, ample parking, and an elevator.
Everything was going smoothly until Wednesday morning. I awoke to the screams of children not far from my bedroom door. That is not terrible unusual when a family of 15 gets together, so I rolled over and stuck my head under my pillow.
But the screams became shrieks, and I decided I better check it out. It turns out that my niece and older nephew managed to get stuck in the elevator, probably from the little man jumping up and down. Since they are five and almost three years of age and had already spent a half hour stuck, they were justifiably scared.
While smaller than a commercial unit, this elevator was the real deal. The doors into the house from the elevator are magnetically sealed. It works on a motorized pulley system with 1" diameter steel cables.
Eventually, we found a security key. With this key, along with some patience and brute strength, I was able to open the magnetically sealed first floor door. All I could see was the bottom of the elevator. I got the second floor door open - same view. Finally, the third floor door was open, and I could see into the top 24" of the elevator car.
That allowed me to make eye contact with the little folks, who seemed to calm down a bit. The sliding door on the elevator opened easily enough, so now I could reach into the elevator car. Of course, that is when it hit me that if the elevator started to move down, anyone straddling the line between the elevator world and the house world would find himself with a foot in each one - permanently.
I explained the risks to my sister, their mom. She did not really give me a thumbs up or down on extracting her children through the narrow opening. Finally, I reached into the car, my legs still in the house, my waist hanging into the elevator car. First I pulled out my niece, who seemed thankful to get out. Then, I pulled out my nephew, who grinned the entire time and yelled "Wheeeee" as he slid into the house.
At this moment, I realized I was sweating profusely. But, of course, my work was not done.
I slid into the elevator, hoping that 200 pounds falling from 10' would not exceed the static load maximum or knock anything off track. I managed to hit the right combination of buttons to get the elevator moving again, and the elevator worked fine until we departed the house.
I hope I never have to do that again.
Everything was going smoothly until Wednesday morning. I awoke to the screams of children not far from my bedroom door. That is not terrible unusual when a family of 15 gets together, so I rolled over and stuck my head under my pillow.
But the screams became shrieks, and I decided I better check it out. It turns out that my niece and older nephew managed to get stuck in the elevator, probably from the little man jumping up and down. Since they are five and almost three years of age and had already spent a half hour stuck, they were justifiably scared.
While smaller than a commercial unit, this elevator was the real deal. The doors into the house from the elevator are magnetically sealed. It works on a motorized pulley system with 1" diameter steel cables.
Eventually, we found a security key. With this key, along with some patience and brute strength, I was able to open the magnetically sealed first floor door. All I could see was the bottom of the elevator. I got the second floor door open - same view. Finally, the third floor door was open, and I could see into the top 24" of the elevator car.
That allowed me to make eye contact with the little folks, who seemed to calm down a bit. The sliding door on the elevator opened easily enough, so now I could reach into the elevator car. Of course, that is when it hit me that if the elevator started to move down, anyone straddling the line between the elevator world and the house world would find himself with a foot in each one - permanently.
I explained the risks to my sister, their mom. She did not really give me a thumbs up or down on extracting her children through the narrow opening. Finally, I reached into the car, my legs still in the house, my waist hanging into the elevator car. First I pulled out my niece, who seemed thankful to get out. Then, I pulled out my nephew, who grinned the entire time and yelled "Wheeeee" as he slid into the house.
At this moment, I realized I was sweating profusely. But, of course, my work was not done.
I slid into the elevator, hoping that 200 pounds falling from 10' would not exceed the static load maximum or knock anything off track. I managed to hit the right combination of buttons to get the elevator moving again, and the elevator worked fine until we departed the house.
I hope I never have to do that again.
