An email to the department this morning, sent by one of my most loyal spies, seemed innocuous enough:<\/p>\n
\nhas anyone seen my mobile phone last left in Lift #2\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nIn our particular
ivory<\/del> rather drab concrete tower our lifts are a source of constant amusement<\/a> . Getting into one of them is rather like taking a taxi in Hong Kong<\/a> , except much, much slower. As my spy elaborated:<\/p>\n\nThis morning I got stuck in the lift on Level 7 (which considering I get both vertigo and claustrophobia made me a tad anxious). After contacting the emergency line, I discovered that the only way I could keep in touch with the outside world was to hold the phone up a little. Since I wanted to say some last goodbyes to loved ones (and members of my family), I hung the phone up on the knobs… On being rescued, I completely forgot about the phone\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nHe’s obviously very worried that his SIM card is going to be used to control a burning jeep crashing into Glasgow Airport, or something (given the Australian Plod’s record<\/a> , this fear is probably not unreasonable).<\/p>\n
\nPoor chap. But wait, there was a followup message, from another lecturer in the department:<\/p>\n
\nI also got stuck this morning, along with 2 micro students, on level 5.
\nI couldnt get a mobile signal at all.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n(Stuck with two microbiology students? How terrible – Ed.)<\/p>\n
\nWe pressed the emergency phone button, which goes to the lift company, and were told the “problem would be dealt with by someone on the site”.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nwhich I’m sure must have been very reassuring.<\/p>\n
\nThe good news is that we now have a new CoSHH procedure for lifts:<\/p>\n
\nI found that i could use my car key to wedge the door open enough to let our fingers open it the rest of the way.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nSo there you go. I’m just glad for their sakes that there were no spiders<\/a> in there, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An email to the department this morning, sent by one of my most loyal spies, seemed innocuous enough: has anyone seen my mobile phone last left in Lift #2 In our particular ivory rather drab concrete tower our lifts are … Continue reading