Nice Wheel
- The grand opening of the Centennial Wheel got off to a rocky start Friday night, when a power outage briefly halted the running of the new Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier.
Shortly after 8 p.m., Navy Pier officials confirmed that a power outage had caused the wheel to stop. Electricians were working to fix the issue and get people down, a spokesperson said, with the priority of keeping people comfortable and getting them down.
Just after 8:30 p.m., the wheel began moving again. A light show was previously scheduled for 9 p.m. Friday and is expected to go on as planned.
We couldn't have made this up if we tried.
Labels: silly people
posted by SCC at 12:01 AM
37 Comments:
I would like to read the city's plan for rescuing people at the top of the wheel when mechanical failure and/or fire happen. Should be an interesting read.
Whoops!
The BIG question is - Who had the Contract for the Big Wheel?
For something like that, I would hire someone VERY competent and not someone on "the Clout List."
Don't think that being fetal is exclusive to the police. Us electricians want to keep our jobs as well. Best to consult a "supervisor" before proceeding.
No one ever thought of testing it without real people?
Run it unloaded, and then with sandbags or weight to simulate a crowd?
The Centennial Wheel was wired by Vanecko, Vanecko, and Daley Electrical. They were paid using our pension funds. Former Mayor Richard M. Daley, when asked to comment on the substandard work, said "I don't know nothing, someone should have told me, I have been scrutined every day of my life and nobody seen nothing."
All is well that ends well. Electrics are still new and chancy technology.
I hope they were union electricians.
In the infamous words of the Simpsons "Doh"!!!!
From now on a union electrician will be required to be on site, in the old days a Carney could operate and fix this thing. In Chicago it will take a clouted Union electrician making over a 100,000 a year to keep it running.
It looks dumb. Makes Navy pier look like a carnival.
Too bed Rahm wasn't on it. It would be fun to see him little feet dangling while demanding to get off.
Remember when we were told that the wheel was obsolete and in need of repairs? It was so obsolete that it was sent to Branson, MO where it will be up & running. Yet another lie while the city is still delaying their pension payment because there's no money. And the lies continue while McPier authority schemes to build De Paul a basketball arena. But there's no money for our pension fund. And we continue to vote these Bozos in office.
Retired .38 spl +P
Sounds like someone didn't get their payoff. If you want things to work and move, you have to grease all the right palms. It is the Chicago way.
Good. The President of the Local IBEW is anti-Chicago Police anyways.
Hope they're embarrassed
Anonymous said...
From now on a union electrician will be required to be on site, in the old days a Carney could operate and fix this thing. In Chicago it will take a clouted Union electrician making over a 100,000 a year to keep it running.
5/28/2016 03:48:00 AM
You have to be careful using those carney folk, especially the midget ones. Carney folk have small hands and smell like cabbage.
They could have done something really great, like the London eye or Singapore flyer, instead we have little men making little plans.
Daniel Burnham must be spinning in his grave
"Centennial Wheel."
That'd be 1916-2016.
So what's the big 1916 event that we are commemorating?
Never mind. They probably just realized that the word "Millenium" is worn out, so used something else.
With the way "naming rights" are being sold off, it will be the "XYZCorp Wheel" soon anyway.
A few random reviews...
"...the people running it, high school kids doing summer jobs, were playing the most inopportune music.. I'm not sure if it was thug rap or what have you, but it was discordant and made me angry. The music was just not a good fit for the place.
"The ride itself was ok. It was slow, and it rocked ever so gently, and that motion made me ill, but hey, who knew I'd be motion sick? Not me!
"There are 40 gondolas, each seating 6 people. While the optimal time to ride would be at night, it's at this time where the employees would group you and your party with strangers, potentially eliminating any romance or comfortability from the evening.
"Conclusion: Although very smooth and safe, it's a lackluster ride that I feel isn't worthwhile, especially for only one go-around.
"Extra Notes:
-Cash Only
-Employees [could] be more jovial and kind
-Lines can be long
-HATE how the wheel never stops and keeps turning so as you get on/off, you'll have to be careful and quick!
-Restrooms at the navy pier are filthy
"It costs $8 for a 7 minute ride (or $13 for a two-ride ticket). So a little more than $1 a minute, but unfortunately you really have to turn and crane around to get a good view. If you sit still in your seat, you can see a limited view of...water. ...if you live here, as most Chicagoans would agree, this is probably a must-avoid, simply for the atrocious pricing at Navy Pier."
One of the most ridiculous things, especially with the financial situation the City faces currently.
Rahm Emanuel should step down-he's screwed up enough things already!
Word on the street is that the Ferris wheel operator was not in his box. ROTF
And they are talking about Gondolas floating high above river walk.
Can you see one of these gondolas stuck in the air hanging over river in freezing
weather? What a joke. Chiraq is dying and we put up carnival rides.
This look's like a perfect opportunity for Tiny Dancer to establish a new bureaucracy. At the top we will have to have a Commissioner of Carnival Rides. That position will pay six figures. The "commish" will need at least two or three Deputy Commissioners. Their salaries will be bordering on six figures. Then, the Commissioner and each Deputy will need a cadre of support staff. All levels will have "expense accounts" (amounts to be determined at a later date). Then . . . well, you get the picture.
Of course we can all rest assured that this will be TOTALLY transparent to ensure that the ever-vigilant "watchdog" media, the rev'runds, the alderthieves the ACLU and BLM and DOJ are all on board.
Just wait until the first body hits the deck after a shooting on that disaster waiting to happen!
"I would like to read the city's plan for rescuing people at the top of the wheel when mechanical failure and/or fire happen. Should be an interesting read."
5/28/2016 12:04:00 AM
Rahm and the City Council Du Soleil will show up on fifty-foot stilts, juggling fireballs.
The doors of each car can be opened in an emergency by the use of the Group Ritual Imagining Tool.
Patient transport will be handled by kayak crews from the Redmoon Theater.
Now the big complaint about the new wheel is the Neon lights are too bright! Bwaa!! Haa!!!!
With the exception of my time in the service and away at school I've lived in the Chicago area all of my life. I might be one of a handful of people who have never been to Navy Pier, and I doubt I'm missing anything.
I recall when Chicago Fest was held down there every year, before it morphed into the Taste of Chicago, and I heard stories of folks about my age up on the second level of what at that time looked like a pretty decrepit structure, puking all over people walking down below.
Not my cup of tea. That goes for both the puking and being puked on.
Why didn't the wheel have a back up generator ? Another example of city incompetence.
I'm glad I wasn't stuck on there after taking my prostate medicine. The people below wouldn't have been happy.
Was asked years ago if i wanted director of security position, best refusal ever, now the guy running it is being pushed and pulled in every direction cannot even get enough coppers to work at that total shitshow! The pier at 1 time was a nice attraction now done just like the rest of this city, look rahm what you have done! Heck mayor you cannot keep crime under control in your own neighborhood,leader noway nohow!
Why didn't the wheel have a back up generator ?
That was a 20 million option that we will get now that it stopped! (for 30 million)
Anonymous Anonymous said...
A few random reviews...
"...the people running it, high school kids doing summer jobs, were playing the most inopportune music.. I'm not sure if it was thug rap or what have you, but it was discordant and made me angry. The music was just not a good fit for the place.
"The ride itself was ok. It was slow, and it rocked ever so gently, and that motion made me ill, but hey, who knew I'd be motion sick? Not me!
"There are 40 gondolas, each seating 6 people. While the optimal time to ride would be at night, it's at this time where the employees would group you and your party with strangers, potentially eliminating any romance or comfortability from the evening.
"Conclusion: Although very smooth and safe, it's a lackluster ride that I feel isn't worthwhile, especially for only one go-around.
"Extra Notes:
-Cash Only
-Employees [could] be more jovial and kind
-Lines can be long
-HATE how the wheel never stops and keeps turning so as you get on/off, you'll have to be careful and quick!
-Restrooms at the navy pier are filthy
"It costs $8 for a 7 minute ride (or $13 for a two-ride ticket). So a little more than $1 a minute, but unfortunately you really have to turn and crane around to get a good view. If you sit still in your seat, you can see a limited view of...water. ...if you live here, as most Chicagoans would agree, this is probably a must-avoid, simply for the atrocious pricing at Navy Pier."
5/28/2016 09:44:00 AM
All of your quoted reviews are for the old Ferris wheel that has been dismantled and is gone. What we're discussing here is the new one, which just opened.
The new one has closed, climate-controlled gondolas that hold eight adults and two kids, have an integrated video entertainment system and individual seats, not benches. So about all you've got is a valid complaint that Navy Pier is generally overpriced.
Sounds like someone didn't get their payoff. If you want things to work and move, you have to grease all the right palms. It is the Chicago way.
5/28/2016 08:06:00 AM
Kind of reminds me of plumbers putting bricks in the drain tiles if the job wasn't paid up..
"So about all you've got is a valid complaint that Navy Pier is generally overpriced."
5/28/2016 08:01:00 PM
...and a valid suspicion that "past performance may be indicative of future behavior..." >grin<
This is Chicago...
Must be operated all those 'high-rise youths' that Rahm's wife forced Navy Pier to hire for the summer.
Don't forget the $20 just to park at navy pier. When chased by armed robbers it's either jump in the lake or run across lake shoe drive.
I would like to read the city's plan for rescuing people at the top of the wheel when mechanical failure and/or fire happen. Should be an interesting read.
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Call CFD. Thats all we got.
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