Typical Day
Rolland Coaster's day has its ups and downs.
On the up side, Rolland gets to sleep in until 9:00AM before he climbs out of bed and rumbles over to his office in the Rocky Mountain area of northern Utah at S&S-Sansei Technologies. This company bought out what used to be Mountain View, California's, famous Arrow Dynamics and in the process became the biggest roller coaster manufacturer in the country.
Arrow, before the buyout, was one of the first modern roller coaster companies. They built the first log flume ride and the first corkscrew coaster. Arrow can also be credited with the creation of older brothers who scream in terror and then pin their panicked cries on younger siblings.
When S&S bought Arrow and then combined with Sansei, they attracted engineers like Rolland who dreamed of creating the biggest, best, and most innovative coasters ever.
He's super excited to be on the team that is working on the new version of the 4D free spin coaster called the 4D hyperspace automaton lifter (HAL for short).
He was still in high school when the team created El Loco, but he's always admired their work and he's so jazzed to be on the HAL team.
Rolland pours a cup of Philz coffee (his boss has the special beans delivered fresh weekly from the Bay Area in California) and makes his way over to his office. A mini K'nex model of the coaster he's working on sits on a coffee table in front of a comfy couch and chairs. This is the epicenter, where his team of engineering buddies gets together to discuss how to make the latest ride bigger and better.
They all use 3D CAD software on their computers to design the coasters, but it's also nice to see the coasters in front of them with actual moving parts to tinker with. Plus everyone on the team grew up making K'nex coasters. It's just more fun to build them and watch them go in Rolland's office.
Rolland works alone at his computer for the first few hours of the morning: He answers emails and works on the latest CAD design of the HAL team's coaster. He usually listens to music while he works, and his latest playlist is all jazz. He finds it's a bit easier on his head than heavy metal, since he's nursing a headache from sitting at the computer so long the night before.
After a couple of hours, his friends and co-workers trickle in and start playing with the K'nex coaster. They talk about their day, and ask questions about how to make the coaster scarier without compromising the riders' safety.
While Rolland works on the computer, the team hashes out a cool idea to make the riders go through a corkscrew in a tunnel, then twist and turn up a hill in a tunnel with flashing lights before getting to the top and seeing the sun shine in.
"Sort of like the next version of Space Mountain but on steroids."
"Yes, and we should have thumping sounds like a heartbeat, or a Theremin. Or Doctor Who-type music as the car turns and spins up the hill in the dark tunnel," says Ferris Wheeler, who pops jelly beans from a jar on the table.
"And it should get totally silent when they hit the top and the light hits them in the face—" says Ben Percars, who plays with the K'nex set.
"Right before the big, giant, humongous drop," adds Rolland.
"Before going into a double loop and a helix," says Ferris, cutting in.
"And remember, all in 4D," says Rolland.
"Totally. 4D all the way," says Ben.
The guys finish chatting about their plan for the coaster over lunch at the cafeteria, where they each build their own pizzas with toppings like uni, fish eggs, and sardines dipped in Nuttella. The cafeteria specializes in the weird (and slightly nauseating tastes) of the eclectic employees.
After lunch, Rolland heads off to the exercise room, where he works off his meal on the treadmill. He's next to the CEO himself, and a few other executives who talk company strategy while they work out.
At 2:00PM, Rolland heads back to his office, where he answers some emails, calls his mother to let her know he's doing great, and calls his girlfriend to ask if she wants to go to see the latest sci-fi flick with him that night. She doesn't, but she's nice enough to go anyway.
Between 3:00PM and 5:00PM, Rolland works hard on putting his notes from the meeting with the guys into a draft on the computer model.
Once 5:00PM rolls around, Rolland is finally done with his work for the day. He says goodbye to the guys, then heads out with the morning's conversation still on his mind. If they can figure out a way to have a 4D coaster go through a corkscrew in a tunnel, then up a hill before the big drop...that sounds like a first to him. Rolland is all about smashing records and doing things that have never been done.
Rolland dreams of coaster innovations in his sleep. He's always thinking about how to make the next greatest thing. Even during the movie that night with his girlfriend, Rolland's mind wanders into whether it's possible to build a loop into a 4D coaster. He wants it to be something different, something extraordinary.
He goes to sleep thinking of the new coaster, which needs a name. Maybe the Rolland Rocker, he imagines. If only they'd give him the exclusive naming rights. They always seem to change it to something superhero or dragon related...