Day 4: Mike's Head for Heights?
Mike: It's Friday 13th. Lucky for some - I was born on the 13th, so I have no worries. I'm not scared of dates - I'm scared of heights. With the prospect of climbing up a dirty great tower crane I didn't sleep too well, but a workout helped me to get rid of some anxiety before bed, and the bed was pretty comfy. It felt even more comfy at five in the morning when my alarm went off.

There's a lot to do today, so we need an early start. The stuff that we have to do isn't only difficult to organise, but could also be a little dangerous. The crew plan to film using a number of mini-cameras in the cab of the crane, on the jib and on a load that will be lifted. In addition, we will use a 'cherry picker' to lift Steve the cameraman (everyone seems to be called Steve on this shoot!) up to film me, while other shots will be covered by researcher Alison, who will use a small camera at ground level. There are also plans to secure another mini-cam to my safety hat.

Zeron: I drive Mike to HTC tower crane hire. Mike is chatty as usual. He is sporting a huge (cover all) grin. I know he is excited about the prospect of climbing the crane but very cautious about the task. He's pretty good at hiding his emotions.

Mike: We arrive at the headquarters of the crane hire company early in the morning, just as the sun would be rising - but it's too cloudy for us to see it. Although the weather is grey it's still. That's fine with me; the last thing I would have wanted is wind. I feel sick, maybe from the early start, but probably from anticipation. We talk to Alex Lowe, the managing director of the crane company. He tells us stories about cranes in Barcelona, which at 180 metres in height actually reach above the clouds at times. His company owns over two hundred tower cranes, so he knows what he is talking about.

As we wait for the crew to rig up all of the cameras, Zeron's phone goes off. He has another crisis to deal with. Apparently his washing machine is flooding at home, and his daughter isn't sure what to do about it.

Zeron: When Mike is scared or concerned about himself he tends to look around for any distraction that will deflect him, and others, from the way he is really feeling.

Mike: Just the thought of climbing the crane is making me dizzy. The anticipation I feel is like the feeling I used to get before a Taekwondo tournament, a dirt bike race or an exam. As usual I become quiet before doing something I'm not sure about. I become quite calm and my brain sort of empties itself, but at the same time I'm charged with energy as if I'm about to explode. It doesn't make good TV - me being so quiet.

I've worked as a plant fitter before, and have driven loads of different machines, but never a tower crane. I try to convince myself that this is going to be fun. Even after I had got my PhD, I'd often look out of the windows of my lab in Oxford at the surrounding building sites and wished that I could sit in the cab of one of the cranes. At the time I thought that I would never get into one - even if someone had let me, I would have been too scared to get up the damn thing. Although Alex told me some great survival stories, you can't generally fall hundreds of feet without dying horribly. Only a year or two ago an Oxford undergraduate had been found dead in someone's garden after falling off one during a "fun" night on the town.

When I did get to climb up the tower I took my time, pausing at each level, suffering from dizziness and an urge to jump off. Peter took my blood pressure a few times, and partly as a result of his calming influence it didn't seem to change all that much. This didn't reflect how nervous I was feeling. By the time I had reached the slew gear (the point at which the crane pivots) I could never have stood up unaided and was trembling like a leaf, and once above the jib I really began to doubt my decision to work on the Lab Rats project. Although I knew that Alex, Eamon, Mark and Dave would look after me (the latter two being on the jib with me) I couldn't help getting very nervous.

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Content last updated: 25/08/2005