Likewise, Chris. I might possibly, with an hour or so of practice, be able to accurately navigate the bucket to smash elegantly through the wall of the stage (I.E.: hit the broad side of a barn). Having glanced into the cab of one of these shovels, I can reasonably say that the controls appear to be the least intuitive things ever invented: dozens of levers with no fancy waldo glove or the like. I assume each lever controls one hydraulic piston, but the resulting mass of controls does nothing to help me understand how to make economical, elegant motions.

I must say that the operator does an excellent job playing the stereotypical heavy equipment/construction guy. He kind of looks like Comic Guy from the Simpsons 😉