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-   -   What's making you happy today? (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=14055)

classicman 10-25-2011 02:36 PM

Congrats!

Sundae 10-25-2011 02:57 PM

Major congratulations CG.
She is obviously a very specal woman.
(and a patient one ;))

Sarge - just realised, you were reading the date in the American way.
I posted the card on 6 September. Which still means it took a month and a half, but at least I know the reason.

But it's worth knowing if I'm sending something in future.
There is a sharp drop in price sending things by slow mail, so if time isn't of the essence I might use it again - intentionally next time.

So saying, is it time for Secret Santa yet peeps?

BigV 10-25-2011 05:17 PM

Congrats to Crimson and Rose Ghost (I don't know, I'm just wingin it)!!

18 years is an accomplishment worth being proud of. Good job both of you!

BigV 10-25-2011 06:00 PM

1 Attachment(s)
What I'm happy about:

I didn't die.

Ok, I know that's very melodramatic. But it could've happened. I have some very abundant lilacs out front and one large branch is/was hanging over and onto some utility lines from the street. Very not good. It was a large branch, as big around as my calf. But the spot where I wanted to cut was aaaaaallllmosst out of my reach. To be fair, it was well out of my safe reach. The thing is, I don't have a step ladder, only an extension ladder and there wasn't an easy place to lean the ladder. To make things more dangerous, the branch, the place where I had to stand was just about two feet from my driveway, which is leads to the garage, duh, ... under the house. That means I was cutting this branch overhead and it would fall (past me, I hoped) into the driveway about five feet below my feet. Five feet I could easily fall, with a snarling chainsaw. Hooooboy.

Out of my reach? Yeah. I wanted to cut it outward from the spot where the utility line was touching so that when it did fall it would just fall, not get hung up on the line. Then I'd planned to cut the remaining stub short of the utility line. This is what happened. But it was touch and go.

I reached up with one hand holding the running chainsaw, like this, but without the helper,

Attachment 34831

and with my free hand I reached up and pulled the branch downward, allowing me to reach the branch with the tip of the chainsaw. I pushed through as far as I could but it wasn't enough to cut through the branch. I switched sides, careful to avoid stepping onto thin air over the driveway, avoiding getting entangled in the rose bushes, avoiding getting ensnarled by the power cord for the chainsaw. I cut again from this second side and cut through a lot more of the branch, but still not through the branch. Back to the first side and I could see a LOT of daylight, giving me a good idea of where to apply my next cut. It came down, not on me, not on the roses, but in the driveway. YAY! I didn't die!

Cutting the remaining stump was anticlimactic, though the chunk that fell straight down and missed my feet. Yep, I'm happy.

Aliantha 10-25-2011 06:32 PM

Was it really worth the risk doing that job yourself V? Over here we'd probably call that a "hold my beer and watch this" moment.

Glad you're ok. Things could have gone really badly wrong there. :(

HungLikeJesus 10-25-2011 06:59 PM

You should have leaned the ladder on the branch you were cutting. That way it couldn't have fallen on you.

SamIam 10-25-2011 07:04 PM

Hmmmm... for some reason I don't think that would have turned out very well. :thepain:

HungLikeJesus 10-25-2011 07:23 PM

Well, to do it right he also needs a big, gas-powered chainsaw, with the safety by-passed and the throttle wired open.

footfootfoot 10-25-2011 07:36 PM

and a dull, slack chain







monster 10-25-2011 08:42 PM

or he coulda called the utility company to come and do it?

BigV 10-25-2011 11:16 PM

1 Attachment(s)
this is posed, of course. and the section in red ... sorry, the text landing IN the box, it says ELECTRICAL. But you get the idea. The yellow box above the red electrical, that's the one the the branch was leaning on. I'm on my tiptoes here.

all done now, we're gonna burn the branches in the fireplace tonight.

limey 10-26-2011 06:31 AM

BigV - you have people that love you and that you love, right? What if you'd seen one of them attempting this? Huh? Please do not do this to the people who love you (I don't mean CellahLurv, I mean the Real Thing).

Aliantha 10-26-2011 06:33 AM

But cellahlurv too. I've been thinking about this all arvo and I have to say, it just gets dopier the more I think about it.

don't do dopey stuff anymoreV!

Trilby 10-26-2011 06:37 AM

P-shaw. My 82 year old dad does stuff like that all the time.

his fondest wish is to die falling off a roof.

Keep up the good work, V! You'll make the news yet!

glatt 10-26-2011 07:32 AM

1 Attachment(s)
It could have been a little safer, but I don't see how it was life threatening in any way. You're almost certainly not going to die if you fall 5 feet. Maybe twist an ankle.

Good job, V.

I have a 14 foot pole saw for jobs like this and even though it takes a little longer, it's much more comfortable to use and safer. I use it at least once a year to trim branches around our service entrance wires. Prune them while they are small, and the job is easy. Plus it's a fiberglass pole, so even if you are an idiot and cut into a power wire, you will be safe.


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