Suffer the fools!
My neighbours tree on the edge of our properties.
It hangs over my house seen in the background.
To begin, people who live next to artists should not be allowed to start a chain saw until at least noon and I should have the right to go and stick that chain saw up their poxy holes when they do; maybe it could even be running as I insert it.
Good morning to you! So started this day and yesterday, with the sound of a whirring chain saw followed by a chorus of cussing and that swearing was not mine. The workman was cussing as limbs started falling in places he didn’t want them to go.
As a person who owns a landscaping company and who has worked or been surrounded by this business most of their lives, I’ve dealt with a few trees in my time. I learned from my dad that if we couldn’t fell a tree to the ground ourselves, it was better to hire a professional tree service to sub-contract the work for us. I watched my dad drop too many limbs taking out all the wires of a house before he came to this realization himself, luckily for him he never had a limb go crashing through a customer’s roof. When you’re cutting a tree between two buildings, and its limbs weigh as much as a ton, it’s better to leave it to the pros. That’s what I do.
So my neighbour doesn’t like trees and for one reason or another over these last ten years, he has had every tree cut from his property except for this last tree on his front lawn and on the edge of our properties. There were some real beautiful trees, like a huge Elm some ancient large Cherry Trees and others. I don’t know why he dislikes trees and I’ve always thought to each their own, so I haven’t harassed him or chained myself to those trees to try and stop him.
That was until yesterday when I was told he was cutting it down. In and of itself I was disappointed because this tree provides shade for our house in the summers, keeping the hot afternoon sun from our roof and it looked nice. I attempted to convince him that if he wanted to grow better grass he could prune the tree upwards, but he wanted no part of that. The tree murderer in him had a larger voice than my voice of reason.
What is distressing is that he asked a tenant who rents from him to do the job. A nice guy but a yobo nonetheless. They started their work at 8am so I quickly moved our cars before hand. The following events have been a stressful to me as they would be to any of you.
Good morning to you! So started this day and yesterday, with the sound of a whirring chain saw followed by a chorus of cussing and that swearing was not mine. The workman was cussing as limbs started falling in places he didn’t want them to go.
As a person who owns a landscaping company and who has worked or been surrounded by this business most of their lives, I’ve dealt with a few trees in my time. I learned from my dad that if we couldn’t fell a tree to the ground ourselves, it was better to hire a professional tree service to sub-contract the work for us. I watched my dad drop too many limbs taking out all the wires of a house before he came to this realization himself, luckily for him he never had a limb go crashing through a customer’s roof. When you’re cutting a tree between two buildings, and its limbs weigh as much as a ton, it’s better to leave it to the pros. That’s what I do.
So my neighbour doesn’t like trees and for one reason or another over these last ten years, he has had every tree cut from his property except for this last tree on his front lawn and on the edge of our properties. There were some real beautiful trees, like a huge Elm some ancient large Cherry Trees and others. I don’t know why he dislikes trees and I’ve always thought to each their own, so I haven’t harassed him or chained myself to those trees to try and stop him.
That was until yesterday when I was told he was cutting it down. In and of itself I was disappointed because this tree provides shade for our house in the summers, keeping the hot afternoon sun from our roof and it looked nice. I attempted to convince him that if he wanted to grow better grass he could prune the tree upwards, but he wanted no part of that. The tree murderer in him had a larger voice than my voice of reason.
What is distressing is that he asked a tenant who rents from him to do the job. A nice guy but a yobo nonetheless. They started their work at 8am so I quickly moved our cars before hand. The following events have been a stressful to me as they would be to any of you.
He entered this 12 to 15 metre tree with a ladder and a chain saw, no safety harness. He started sawing off limbs until he cut a large one, which took out the power and phone cables to my neighbour’s house. At that point, I started to worry. I went out and asked him to be careful. "No, no, I know what I’m doing" he replied. My neighbour who is trying to save a buck let this man do the work as he said he could save him a lot of money. Damn, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Next, I watched him tie a thin cord to a limb, while a friend held it to secure it from falling. Yes, you use a rope to take out a limb and control its fall. As he cut the limb, the 200-300 kilos of weight came bearing down on his accomplice, who while not wearing gloves, almost had his fingers jerked out of his hand by the thin cord. All this while I watched in utter horror from my study window.
Now my worries had turned to fear. This tree was being taken down by a bumbling fool and his sidekick Igor. As he took out my phone and communications cables for the internet, he could see by my alarm as I rushed out quickly to see what had happened. He realized that maybe he need some better machinery. As far as I was concerned, no machinery in the world was going to help this situation. In my opinion, he needed a brain transplant for even undertaking such a job. The worked stopped for the day.
So here, I sit today as I watch them use a $500 a day “scissor lift” rental to essentially continue their exercise in stupidity. Now I’m cussing mad and worried that at any moment the largest limb hanging over my house will come crashing through my roof onto me as I sit here and write. I’ve watched him take out more wires. Look at my picture and see the cables wrapped around the pole, yes they where attached until a short while ago. I just saw a huge limb come down and hit the corner of the neighbour’s house, denting the aluminum and tearing off the eaves trough.
So here, I sit today as I watch them use a $500 a day “scissor lift” rental to essentially continue their exercise in stupidity. Now I’m cussing mad and worried that at any moment the largest limb hanging over my house will come crashing through my roof onto me as I sit here and write. I’ve watched him take out more wires. Look at my picture and see the cables wrapped around the pole, yes they where attached until a short while ago. I just saw a huge limb come down and hit the corner of the neighbour’s house, denting the aluminum and tearing off the eaves trough.
I’m beside myself with worry. These bumpkins don’t have insurance so when and if the damage comes I’ll have to ask my neighbour to make the repairs. My house is the one with the sun flag and the huge Blue Spruce on the front lawn. My neighbour asked me what I thought, I asked him if he was prepared to assume the liability if someone or property was hurt. He started to look worried because he could clearly see that these were complete amateurs taking down a very difficult tree. I watched another large limb come crashing down almost taking out the streets power lines, as the chain saw blade almost made contact with his leg. I shrugged my shoulders and walked away mumbling “You get what you pay for.”
Last year I had a huge 25-metre tree taken out from my backyard as it was rotting and sitting over my studio and house. My wife and I wept at the thought of losing it but the reality was it had to go or come down on our house later in a storm. Even though I have the very best of chain saws and all the harness and safety equipment, I also have no fear of heights (respect yes) as I used to rock climb for years. I still paid a pro $1,500 to come in with a cherry picker truck and take it down piece by piece. He did a great job and it was worth the peace of mind. So far, my neighbour’s idiot worker has already spent over $500 for the scissor lift will need to spend another $ 500 tomorrow. Then there is the chain saw costs, the labour and who knows what it will cost when and if he breaks the rafters of my house. Suffer the fools!
Worst of all, we’ve lost another beautiful hardwood maple from our quaint little street. I feel guilty I didn’t go out and give it a big hug to say goodbye, it had been our friend for twenty years and at a young age of fifty was too young to die. I've kept a large portion of every tree that we've had to cut on our land and often look at it thinking of the grand old tree it used to represent. Yes I love trees who doesn't - oh yeah my neighbour.
If you ask me, why are idiots allowed to run chain saws and why can’t I stuff it up their arses when they do. That’s the problem with this country everyone thinks their a lumberjack, and they don’t care: because they wear plaid heavy cotton shirts.
Last year I had a huge 25-metre tree taken out from my backyard as it was rotting and sitting over my studio and house. My wife and I wept at the thought of losing it but the reality was it had to go or come down on our house later in a storm. Even though I have the very best of chain saws and all the harness and safety equipment, I also have no fear of heights (respect yes) as I used to rock climb for years. I still paid a pro $1,500 to come in with a cherry picker truck and take it down piece by piece. He did a great job and it was worth the peace of mind. So far, my neighbour’s idiot worker has already spent over $500 for the scissor lift will need to spend another $ 500 tomorrow. Then there is the chain saw costs, the labour and who knows what it will cost when and if he breaks the rafters of my house. Suffer the fools!
Worst of all, we’ve lost another beautiful hardwood maple from our quaint little street. I feel guilty I didn’t go out and give it a big hug to say goodbye, it had been our friend for twenty years and at a young age of fifty was too young to die. I've kept a large portion of every tree that we've had to cut on our land and often look at it thinking of the grand old tree it used to represent. Yes I love trees who doesn't - oh yeah my neighbour.
If you ask me, why are idiots allowed to run chain saws and why can’t I stuff it up their arses when they do. That’s the problem with this country everyone thinks their a lumberjack, and they don’t care: because they wear plaid heavy cotton shirts.
Otherwise, how is your day?
__________________________On a happy note Arsenal played the last game of the season today drubbing Everton by 7 to 0.
posted by Gerard Pas at 7:03 p.m.
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