Resetting the Stupid Machines

So one of the issues we're having to deal with is how to reset a Stupid Machine once it's been tripped. In this one, for example, we'd need the boot to reset itself every time, lest the whole thing just becomes a one-off. And this is the hard part, because, as our friend Tim is wont to say, It's easy to make a ball roll down a hill; getting it back up is what's tricky.

So last night I was talking to a fellow lover of elaborate means of doing simple things -- I'd just met him; he's in craft school in Portland and is the cousin of a buddy of mine -- but he was thinking we should have the initial crank attached to two different contraptions, the first being the one illustrated in this drawing, the second being some means of building up potential energy, perhaps winding up a spool or something, so that once the boot does its thing, all that potential energy from the second contraption will get triggered and then will yank the boot back in place.

Of course, this would still have to be sketched out and all that, but I think it's a good idea. Plus the extra contraption would also serve as yet another distraction to the viewers, and that'll just make it even easier to kick them in the butt.

Oh, by the way, we didn't get the Lawndale thing. Back to the drawing board, as they say.