Ohhh the voice of reason.
The odd grumpy comment aside, that's what I've tried to be all along. I've got considerable experience of the peacekeeper role, and of keeping calm when I'm being yelled at for things that weren't my fault or responsibility, at home as well as in the office. I think working on the lego house has been the first time all four of us have done something together and not had it end in a blazing row or someone not talking to someone else, so it would have been worth it just for that!
Certain people were flinging accusations as to whose fault it was that it had over-run, that various problems occurred, etc - usually in the traditional direction of 'whichever person in authority isn't here today' - and I did what I could to calm that down, especially if it happened where the public might overhear. It's usually just venting frustration, I've certainly been part of a good few post-office blamestorming sessions in the 'licensed meeting-room'. Those can be useful to stop a project imploding and usually actually take the pressure off everyone a bit, so I understand its value and why it happens, but there's a time and a place and when it's something that's going to attract public attention
anyway you have to be a lot more careful.
If that kid had just had a go at
me in his youtube video I wouldn't have worried about it, but presumably because he didn't like me not letting him work on more interesting things (because he wasn't very good at making things structurally sound, not because I was 'playing favourites' or because he was a child. I had to have people I knew I could trust doing the more complex stuff.) he was attacking everyone, including, I believe, John, who built a lot of the more impressive stuff you've probably seen pictures of. He'd also caught at least one under-16 on camera, at which point you're getting into dodgy territory anyway when filming somewhere that
isn't a public space.
There was a limit to how many people could work on any given thing at a time, even building the parts. Without the wooden frame things
would have been done much more quickly and with fewer setbacks, but then again, a little adversity makes for better television, I'd think. Some of the most successful projects I've been involved in have been somewhat seat-of-the-pants and done mostly on back-of-an-envelope calculations, while most of the ones which never saw the light of day were ones which were planned and regulated to the last detail and so ground to a halt at the first setback while everything was replanned. Just because your plans are very precise doesn't mean they're
right and you still need to build in a certain amount of time for unforeseen circumstances. No matter how many possible issues you plan and allow for, something you haven't thought of will come along and mess things up. I'm not a project manager - though I have done it, when necessary - so I can't say how much time I would have allowed, but it probably would have been less than working around that frame added.
Whatever happens to it, aching shoulders and destroyed hands aside, I had a great time doing this. Until I got home, I didn't realise how much it had boosted my mood and my confidence, or indeed how much of a hit I'd taken from the series of dead ducks I'd been involved in at my last permanent job. Having the house demolished won't do anything to that improved mood, any more than it does tearing down the tech tower, stage and lighting at a convention once it's over. The fact remains that we
did get the job done.
If we're completely honest, we all knew that it was probably only a temporary structure, Legoland taking it was only a possibility and moving it would be a big job. I did consider that perhaps it was even impossible, due to the size of the tracks between the vines and indeed the construction of the platform.
Tear-down is usually part of the job as well, so it seems a little strange to not be involved in it, which is part of the reason I'm going back. It'll take time to demolish as well, if they're sane about it, (though on site a couple of people suggested just getting Clarkson to drive a truck into it or blow it up) so another reason is that I'm curious as to how they are going to do it. My last reason is that my Vera hasn't seen my car yet or been driven anywhere by me, so as she spent years ferrying me about when I was a kid, it seems only fair I should return the favour for a while.