[外電] Dirty Jobs - A Conversion Story (上)

[kerrys (台北不是我的家)]

    原文出處：
              http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/dirtyjobs_conversions.html

--

Around 9:30 on a Sunday night, the day’s third and final performance of “
Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes” concluded at The Palace.
    在一個星期天晚上的九點半左右，當天第三場，同時也是最後一場的"迪士尼冰上世界
表演：公主的願望"在宮殿球場落幕了。

At 10 the next morning, the Golden State Warriors stepped on to a basketball
court to prepare for their game that night against the Pistons.
    在隔天早上十點，金州勇士隊就會踏上籃球場，為晚上與底特律活塞的對戰先做準備
。

Two events. One on ice, another on NBA-approved, maple-oak hardwood. Twelve
hours to turn one into the other.
    兩個事件。一個在冰上，另一個在經NBA認可的楓樹、橡樹硬質木板上。十二小時內就
必須將冰換成木板。

This is the challenge that The Palace conversions crew faces nearly 35 times
during the 41-home game NBA season. The details vary; sometimes it’s dirt from
the rodeo or hundreds of seats from a concert, but the objective is the same.
Get the old show out, and get The Palace looking like the home of Deee-troit
Basketball again: the Pistons court, the basketball rims and shot clock, the
scorer’s table and the plush front-row seats.
    這是宮殿地板轉換小組在每年NBA例行賽41場主場比賽期間都會面臨將近35次之多的艱
難挑戰。當然細節是更為複雜的；有時整個場地會因為舉辦過馬術競賽而充滿泥濘，有時
則會有音樂會過後留下的數百張椅子，但目的都是一致的。把舊的表演場地移除，讓宮殿
再一次回復成底～特律籃球場：活塞主場，將籃框、計時器、計分桌以及鋪有豪華絨布的
前排座椅全部歸定位。

The objective never changes. It also never gets easier. The conversion process
is like sausage. No one wants to see how it gets done. It involves heavy
lifting and loud noises at pitch-black hours, when 8-year-old girls in their
Disney princess pajamas and Pistons players alike are soundly asleep. It
involves forklifts and long carts on wheels stacked with pieces of portable
stages and chairs. Lots and lots of chairs.
    目的從未改變，但難度也不曾降低。轉換的過程就像灌香腸，沒有人希望親眼目睹整
個經過。在深夜裡當穿著迪士尼公主睡衣的八歲小女孩和活塞球員們都完全熟睡時，宮殿
內部會發出吵雜噪音的繁重搬運工作則持續進行著，包括了鏟車以及上面疊滿可移動式地
板和椅子的長型多輪貨車。很多很多的椅子。

And on this particular Monday morning, it involved me.
    而這個特別的星期一凌晨，也包含我在內。

“You’re going to work with Ray,” said Ken Sanders, one of the conversions
crew foremen, as he supervised the Disney on Ice stage dismantling around
midnight. “He’s got a crew of 20 guys coming in, working from 6 a.m. to 4
p.m. Two hundred (man) hours just to get ready for the Pistons.”
    "你去幫Ray的忙，"地板轉換小組工頭之一的K.Sanders在他午夜負責監督迪士尼冰上
世界舞台拆除作業時說。"會有一組為數20人的小組來報到，從上午6點忙到下午4點。兩百
個小時的人力(20個人忙10個小時)應該可以準備好活塞比賽所需的場地。"

Make that 204.
    把所有204個分區都準備好。

--

“One of our hardest days”
    我們最忙碌的其中一天

I arrive at The Palace at 5:45 a.m. and walk past a small mountain of jagged
ice in the loading dock. The night before this ice coated the arena floor.
Sanders’ crew spent the 12-6 a.m. shift hauling out the Princess on Ice
staging, lighting, speakers and other equipment to the loading dock, then
removing the ice. (I would tell you more about how they get the ice in and out
of the Palace, but that’s another story – and work shift – entirely unto
itself.)
    我在清晨5點45分抵達宮殿，走過裝卸區一座由碎冰堆起的小山，而前一晚這些冰還覆
蓋在整個宮殿球場的基底上面。Sanders的小組利用午夜12點到清晨6點的時間將所有迪士
尼冰上世界的舞台、照明設備、播音設備和其他設備拖到裝卸區，之後再移除冰層。(我會
告訴你們更多關於他們如何將冰放進宮殿及移除的事，但那又是另一個故事了 - 以及搬運
工作 - 完全描述冰的搬運)

I report to Mike Roche (like “roach”), the only director of conversions that
The Palace has ever had. He started in 1988 with a nine-man crew. Now he has up
to 100 full-time and part-time workers in a single shift, though that’s for
incredibly tight turnarounds, like when The Palace hosted the Arena Football
League’s Detroit Fury or the IHL’s Detroit Vipers in the afternoon and the
Pistons less than three hours later.
    我的老闆叫做M.Roche(音同"蟑螂")，宮殿球場有史以來唯一一位地板轉換小組負責人
。他在'88年接下這個任務時，地板轉換小組只有9個人。現在他在每一次轉換作業中有將
近100名全職及兼職工人可供差遣，不過他們面對的是令人難以置信的浩大工程，例如當宮
殿球場在下午舉行過室內足球聯盟的底特律狂暴隊或國際冰球聯盟的底特律毒蛇的比賽之
後不到三個小時，活塞的球賽緊接著就要進行。

Roche has worked out his staffing to an exact science. “We know what it takes,
” he said, “so we just get the number (of workers) to get it done.”
    Mike非常精確地掌控他的團隊來進行工作。"我們知道這工作需要多少人力，"他說，
"所以我們就找來足夠數量的工人來完成它。"

Mike and I enter the arena floor through the Pistons’ tunnel, which is really
just a set of double doors at the moment. Section 107 serves as the inside wall
of the tunnel. That’s where kids hang over the side for autographs and high
fives. Only it’s not there because I haven’t helped build it yet.
    Mike和我從活塞通道通過一組可以兩面向外打開的門進到球場內部。107分區被作為通
道的內牆，那是球賽時孩子們伸長了手向球員要簽名或和球員擊掌的地方。只是它還不在
那，因為我還沒幫忙把它回復到定位。

Instead there’s an open garage door that allows forklifts to move between the
loading dock and the floor, transporting palettes of heavy objects that I will
be unloading and assembling for the next three-plus hours.
    那作為開著的車庫門可以讓鏟車來回穿梭於裝卸區和球場之間，運送著接下來三個多
小時我要負責卸載和組裝的沉重地板。

A couple of ice chunks are melting on the floor. There’s nothing else out
there. The Palace feels odd and hollow, like an empty apartment after somebody
moves out. It looks wrong without stuff in it.
    除了兩三塊溶化在基底上的冰塊，其他一無所有了。宮殿此時看起來很奇特也很空洞
，就像是某個住戶剛搬離的無人公寓。沒有任何東西覆蓋，不管怎麼看就是很怪。

Mike passes me along to one of his most-tenured supervisors, Gary Halvarson,
who puts me to work pulling out the front rows of section 125 like they were
high school bleachers. All the front rows were pushed in to make room for the
ice. Usually there’s a motor that does this automatically, but “it only works
whenever we don’t need it to,” said Gary, who has been working conversions
since 1989. It takes 10 of us to yank the three rows out and flip the seats up.
    Mike通過我走向他長期以來的其中一位頂頭上司，G.Halvarson，他就是要我去把125
分區的所有前排拉開，讓它看起來像是中學露天看台的人。所有前排被清空，就是為了幫
冰清出空間。通常會有一部機械自動地做這件事，但"它只在每次我們不需要時才會動，"
從'89年就開始從事地板轉換工作的Gary說。我們動用了10個人去把那三排拉出來並把座椅
回復回狀。

Pulling out the front rows is just one of the tasks that makes ice-to-court
conversions more time-consuming than other non-Pistons events at The Palace.
“We only do it three to four times a year, but it always seems like we’ve got
a game the next day,” Gary said. “Concerts are easy because the floor is
already down. This is one of our hardest days.”
    拉出前排只是其中一項讓冰原變球場的轉換工作變得比其他在宮殿舉行的非活塞活動
後地板轉換工作耗費更多時間的其中一項任務。"我們一年只會面臨三到四次這個情況，但
似乎每次隔天都有比賽，"Gary說。"音樂會後的轉換就簡單多了，因為地板原本就在那邊
。所以冰原變球場的工作是我們面對最艱鉅的任務之一。

--

Putting down the court
    把地板放回原位

The loading dock is the primary access point to the bowels of the arena, but
there’s a second, hidden passage that makes it easier to move material to and
from the far end of the floor. The front of section 126 is a singular metal
structure that, when removed, reveals another tunnel. That’s where the
scorer’s table came from. This is the first thing rolled onto the floor
because it provides the border to place the court against. The court will be
built from that point out.
    裝卸區是通往球場內部的主要連結點，但還有一個次要的，隱藏的通道可以讓東西更
容易運送到球場的遠端。126分區的前面是一個奇特的金屬構造，移開後就會露出另一個通
道。那是計分台出入的地方。計分台是第一個被放回球場的東西，因為它可以被當作邊界
，讓地板回復作業可以更順利地進行。整個地板回復作業也會從那個點開始著手。

Near the loading dock, the hardwood court is rolled out on 13 alphabetized
palettes. Each palette has 18 numerated wooden slabs. One palette’s worth of
hardwood reaches from one end of the court to the other, so you can envision
the court divided into a 234-piece jigsaw puzzle – piece A1 is at the corner
of the visitor's bench, A2 is next but closer to the scorer's table, and so on.
    靠近裝卸區的地方，硬質木板以A到M照字母被分為13組，每一組都有18片按順序排好
的木板厚片。每一組18片的木板剛好可以從球場的一端排到另外一端，所以你可以想像一
下球場就是由234塊(13組*18塊)可移動式地板所拼湊而成的大型拼圖 - A1板塊就從客隊板
凳席前方的角落開始鋪設，A2板塊在A1板塊隔壁，更靠近計分台的一邊，然後以此類推，
一路排過去。

The court is laid down in teams. Four men work one palette and place all 18
pieces. Each worker grabs a corner and places it carefully on the floor. Each
part of the court has a bolt at the top, which hooks into a ring at the bottom
of the adjoining piece.
    這些地板是由幾支隊伍一同負責鋪設，4個人一組，一起負責一組共18片的板塊。每一
個工人會抓住一個角落並小心翼翼地把它放回基底上。每一個板塊都有一個螺釘，可以扣
在鄰近板塊底部的環圈上。

Three of us hold our corner of the wooden slab slightly off the ground, at a
45-degree angle so that it can be hooked properly. When the fourth worker gives
the OK, we lower it to the ground and swing the wood flush against the row next
to it. The surface is smooth, but it's 3 to 4 inches thick, and the boards jut
out underneath. Those jagged edges interlock, so when it's slid into place it
feels like puzzle pieces fitting snuggly together. The visual effect, as you
know, is seamless. The court looks like it never left.
    我們其中三個會抓住木板厚片的一端，小心地將它以45度放下，讓它可以完美地與鄰
近板塊扣在一起。當第四個工人說好時，我們會把它完全放下並把它調整和鄰近板塊齊平
。表面是平坦的，但它有三到四吋厚，而木板會在下方凸出。那些板塊是有連結性的，所
以當你在鋪設地板時，就好像要正確地完成一幅拼圖。完成後的視覺效果就像你知道的，
一點縫隙也沒有，球場看起來就好像完全沒被移動過似的。

Occasionally you’d run into a stubborn piece that doesn't fall in line, and
that's when you call for Willie. Willie is the hammer guy, and he'll give it a
good whack to keep everything in place. He actually hits a black block to
protect the court. "You don't want to hit the court, but it happens," said
Roche, who added only the crew veterans handle the hammer. When asked what
happens if the court meets the hammer, Roche said, "It's called ‘fix-it-now.’
"
    偶而你會遇到一個特別難搞的板塊，它無法被放回原本的地方，這時候你就要呼叫
Willie了。Willie會拿著鎚子，而他會一鎚將它敲回定位。實際上，他會墊著一塊黑色隔
板來敲板塊以保護它。"你不會想敲擊板塊，但有時還是得這麼做，"加入小組中僅有幾位
的掌鎚老手成員中的Mike說。當被問到板塊遇到鎚子會發生什麼事時，Mike說，"'我們都
說鎚子一敲就搞定了。'"

Putting down the court can be a quick process with enough manpower. One team
can lay down Row A while another does Row B alongside it simultaneously. With
14 people, Roche said, you can set the court down in as quickly as 45 minutes.
(I imagine that’s what must have happened at The Staples Center on Sunday. The
Clippers hosted the Pistons in the afternoon, and then the Lakers played Sunday
night. Both LA teams played on their “home” courts.)
    有足夠的人力時鋪設地板這項任務可以是一個很迅速的步驟。一支隊伍在鋪設A組板塊
的同時另一支隊有也可以鋪設B組板塊。有14個人，Mike說，你最快可以在45分鐘內就完成
地板鋪設的工作。(我可以想像那是星期天在史坦波球場必須被完成的任務。快艇在下午面
對活塞來訪後，湖人在晚上也有一場球賽。這兩支洛杉磯球隊都在他們各自的"主場"進行
球賽。)

But on this morning, we can only put down a couple of rows before we're told to
stop and “build the South side,” section 107.
    但在這個早上，我們在被告知停止動作去南邊幫忙回復107分區前只有時間能鋪設幾排
板塊而已。

                                                         ...to be continued
                                                                        ...待續

--
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◆ From: 222.250.136.116
※ 編輯: kerrys          來自: 222.250.136.116      (03/16 23:10)
推 RAYBO:辛苦翻譯推 大家可以點進連結 很多圖片可以看喔
推 loki761124:好神奇啊XD
推 freeskyd:推 辛苦了
推 kreen:推
推 twister527:推~~
推 srtlct:大推~
推 aqasia:推...    原來要二十個人搞十小時 真是浩大
→ devil738:推！很棒很棒
→ LOJ:大辛苦推~
※ 編輯: kerrys          來自: 222.250.136.116      (03/17 12:17)
→ kitano:推
推 datoan:推~~~^^連結裡的照片有整個的過程呢
推 cd928:推~
推 pennymarcus:推 我看完都看好久了 你真是辛苦了