Thursday, May 7, 2009

Elevator Entrapment Again!

Self Portrait of me sitting on the floor of box #14 in the 3 Wachovia building Friday Morning talking to the Security officer through the little box on the right. On the 26th floor I stepped onto the elevator at exactly 1044hrs and like always I pushed the big button for the Lobby. The doors close, the box panel button lights flickered, then the box fell fast and within 2 seconds started ratcheting rather audibly to a stop. No way, stuck again. You may remember last year when I was stuck in a different tower and my reward was a car wash.

This time was different. I was alone and the 10-13(cool code numbers security used to ID the situation) this time was just under 27 minutes. No power on the box, I pushed the buttons but nothing. I found the call box which worked and within a minute I was talking to a security person who relayed the 10-13 in box 14 over an open radio to the folks who would begin to try to get me out. The problem was that the screen the officer was looking at showed me to be in the lobby when in actuality I was stuck in between 19 and 20 almost 200ft up with the emergency brakes completely locked and no power in the cab. Tic toc, tic toc. Just a few more minutes as it clicked by and the on call elevator guys try to figure it out. The time passed in deep conversation with the security officer whose responsibility it was to keep me from wiggin out. He was a Vet of the perpetual Iraq War and his story was compelling not fabricated. 26 minutes and change later I felt the box lift slowly up the half floor to the 20th so that they could get the doors open. I was greeted by the Captain in charge who made sure that I got safely back down to the lobby with an escort. The rest of my day I spent getting those 26 minutes back. Strange.

5 comments:

springer said...

Maybe its like not being able to keep a watches time set right because you body gives off a superhero strength magnetic field. You just have a field of elevator frying power coming out of you that cannot be controlled. Wow, I have always thought Dicky was cool, but you trump him now....You have a super power....Cool

brado1 said...

ever seen the video of the dude trapped for 41 hours?

insane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_bMhNI_TY8

brado1 said...

full story here

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/21/080421fa_fact_paumgarten

The Big Bad Banker said...

I must say Bill, One Wachovia's elevators always make me nervous. I can think of at least 5 or 6 times in the past year that I have stepped into one of the elevators only to have something cause me concern. Once the floor panel said the elevators were on "emergency power." Needless to say, I waited a few minutes until that screen went away. Once I stepped into an elevator, and the doors closed, and 30 seconds later I still sat there motionless. Then suddenly the doors opened. I popped my head out and apparently the same thing had happened in the elevator car next to me as well. I tried again and finally was able to go up. It's weird. I wonder if the construction they have been doing forever in front by the clock tower has anything to do with the elevators malfunctioning?

By the way, why are they redoing the front of One Wachovia as it is? I can't even tell the progress they are making, as for the past year it has always looked the same.

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