I have a recurring nightmare where I'm painting the top of the Seattle Space Needle. I'm tethered to the roof with a belt and rope. I have a paint roller on a long stick about the length of a broom. I have to walk to the edge of the top of the saucer, and every dang time I accidentally drop the stick, which falls over the edge. Sometimes a seagull flies close to me startling me, or a stiff wind, or just a fumbling of my hands. Fearing for the safety of the families down below I scramble to try and snatch it and lose my balance and footing and go over the edge.

I'm tethered to the roof so I don't plunge to the ground. But I'm violently swinging hundreds of feet in mid-air unable to get back up. It's always the same. And I can feel the wind, my hands sweating, my feet tingling and my heart beating beyond belief. Usually when I start to fall over the edge I wake up. Sometimes I dangle for a second or two as I dizzily flip around hearing muffled screams from far below.

I can't imagine being one of the people forced to paint the Eiffel Tower, or Golden Gate Bridge - whatever. The thought of it makes me ill.