E is for….Elevator Operator!

This is my current part-time job.

It sure has some ups and downs 😛

I sort of stumbled on to it. Although, we do have some friends here in Seattle that have both worked at the Needle – so maybe it was planted in the back of my mind. W and I also live very close to the Space Needle. Now I ride the elevators for some of my week.

I am still very new, so I am not super polished at hemorrhaging Space Needle information at the tourists yet..but I can fall back on my Australian accent. Or you know…lie shamelessly. (Did you know I bought my pet koala Caramello with me? He lives at the top!)

I have discovered a few interesting things in the last few days…

• Kids LOVE elevator buttons and sticking their little digits in the cracks of the doors.
• Some people will take me seriously if I insinuate there is a button that shoots us out the top.
• People that let rip a silent but deadly on a 40 odd second elevator trip are not cool.
• There is always at least one person petrified of heights in the lift and they always end up at the front near the windows somehow…
• I look pretty pimpin’ in a vest…just saying ;

Fast facts about the Space Needle:

• It is 184 meters or 605 feet tall.
• The elevators cruise up at roughly 16 kms or 10 miles an hour.
• On a hot day the Space Needle expands about one inch.
• There are 25 lightning rods (24 actual rods plus the tower) on the roof of the Needle to withstand lightning strikes.
• The original nickname of the Space Needle was “The Space Cage.” The original name of the restaurant was “Eye of the Needle.”
• Construction time was 407 days

This job should be fun enough while I sort myself out this year. If only I could study muscle anatomy and repeat that information to tourists over and over!