The Excavator

The Excavator

It brooded in the corner of the gravel lot like a sleeping prehistoric megafauna.  I suppose it could have been as it had CAT written in huge letters on its side.  It even had large silver teeth at the end of its gaping bucket; huge by anyone’s standard. 

I climbed into its protected cab and scanned the controls that made it tick.  Couple of levers here, some buttons there; a menagerie of lights, gauges and toggle switches that would make any precomputer geek ecstatic. I turned the key and monster roared to life …. Actually, it purred.  I couldn’t believe how quiet it was. 

Now the real work began … trying to figure out how to tame it. 

On each side of the plush seat is a joystick.  Move the left lever to the left, the massive machine rotates to the left.  Move right, machine go right.  Move the lever forward and the boom moves out; pull it in and the boom moves in.   The right lever pushed forward lowers the boom; pulled it raises.  To the left it curls the bucket, to the right it uncurls.  These simple motions are completely opposite of all the other machines I have run.  As a consequence, nothing goes where it is suppose to and I feel very humbled not being able to get the bucket off the ground.  It is quite amazing, though, that an hour of attempting to operate the machine has accomplished very little.  Two hours, though, and the brain hand movements have started to fire together.  After lunch and I can actually put a load of rubble in the back of the dump truck without dropping …. Too much…. And by days end I’m actually looking a little more like I kinda know what I’m doing. 

Maybe tomorrow will be better!   Maybe they’ll put me on the bobcat.