Little Rant

123Craig

123Craig

Participating member
An old acquaintance just popped round - he asked me to help him bring a tree down that is leaning over a public path/some sort of 'right of way'/forest walk or something (it is hung up in another); beavers have apparently almost chewed through the trunk. I asked him who owns the land - he couldn't tell me; I told him to find out, then contact them to let them know - in the meantime he could put some 'caution' tape to try and block off the area. He left; obviously upset that I won't risk my own neck, trying to take down a hazard tree with my own climb gear (and no rigging gear, nor chainsaws) on a piece of land he doesn't know who owns, with no insurance. Whoever owns that land is responsible for it.

Fuck that shit.

It got me thinking... I have no immediate dependants - though if something were to happen to me - it would affect so many of my friends and family around me - if I shouldn't be safe just for me, I should be safe for them.
I was off work for a few days last week due to my neck ceasing up on me due to stress - this coincided with a bit of bad luck for the boss as both bucket trucks went down for maintenance/repairs. In a total crew of 4 - I'm the go-to climber (others know a bit/still trying to learn) - effectively my bad neck shut down normal day to day work. When I go back to work this week - I'll be climbing trees we could have got with the bucket truck - it will be extremely disheartening (and tiring) to have the work load (and work time) effectively doubled by this. Right now - if something were to happen to me; all operations at work would stop - it would affect the rest of the whole crew. I'm trying to train a new guy, but it takes time and energy.

There's lots of bad trees out there that someone should have been taking care of; it's not my fucking responsibility.

I'm insulted that someone thinks I should run to the aid of some random hazard tree they know absolutely nothing about. They have absolutely no idea of the risks and efforts we have to put in daily. Requests like this cheapen us.

End of rant.
 
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Your right, why risk your life for a tree? Any tree for that matter. If you don't feel comfortable doing the tree then walk away, just like you did. I will never let someone else determine my level of risk. Only I can do that. Just like I never have anyone on my crew do something they are uncomfortable with.
In regards to your work situation you need to let that stress go. You are one person. One employee. Your job is to show up everyday and climb, rig, bucket, prune, etc. It's not your job to take on the stress of having to work double because a piece of equipment went down. There are other options for that as well. Renting a bucket ruck, a lift, or hiring another climber to come in to work with you. (contract climber) But those are the responsibility of the owner. They are not your burden to carry.
I'm not sure what the owner of the company you work for is like, But it's unreasonable to think that the crew is going to pick up the slack when equipment goes down. I have a small company and our solution(my solution) is to never have equipment go down. If it does, we shuffle jobs to compliment the crew and equipment that we currently have available. I run a 1992 bucket truck. It goes out everyday. I keep it running by making sure maintenance is done and make sure if their is a problem it is taken care of immediately.
 
I hear that. There's a lot of people who don't mind asking for help, yet they can't seem to give up any of their own time to return a favor. I've given up on doing work for people who just want handouts. If they honestly need help, they usually offer some kind of labor trade or something from my experience.
 
Craig, you gotta clock out man. I mean all the way out. Your gunna feel what you feel about how things are going at work, although Royce is right, don't take on the stress of the employer man.
Do your best to leave that part of work at the door when you leave work. Street does wild things to people, inside and out. Best of luck bub.
 
123Craig said:
An old acquaintance just popped round - he asked me to help him bring a tree down that is leaning over a public path/some sort of 'right of way'/forest walk or something (it is hung up in another); beavers have apparently almost chewed through the trunk. I asked him who owns the land - he couldn't tell me; I told him to find out, then contact them to let them know - in the meantime he could put some 'caution' tape to try and block off the area. He left; obviously upset that I won't risk my own neck, trying to take down a hazard tree with my own climb gear (and no rigging gear, nor chainsaws) on a piece of land he doesn't know who owns, with no insurance. Whoever owns that land is responsible for it.

Fuck that shit.

It got me thinking... I have no immediate dependants - though if something were to happen to me - it would affect so many of my friends and family around me - if I shouldn't be safe just for me, I should be safe for them.
I was off work for a few days last week due to my neck ceasing up on me due to stress - this coincided with a bit of bad luck for the boss as both bucket trucks went down for maintenance/repairs. In a total crew of 4 - I'm the go-to climber (others know a bit/still trying to learn) - effectively my bad neck shut down normal day to day work. When I go back to work this week - I'll be climbing trees we could have got with the bucket truck - it will be extremely disheartening (and tiring) to have the work load (and work time) effectively doubled by this. Right now - if something were to happen to me; all operations at work would stop - it would affect the rest of the whole crew. I'm trying to train a new guy, but it takes time and energy.

There's lots of bad trees out there that someone should have been taking care of; it's not my fucking responsibility.

I'm insulted that someone thinks I should run to the aid of some random hazard tree they know absolutely nothing about. They have absolutely no idea of the risks and efforts we have to put in daily. Requests like this cheapen us.

End of rant.
Click to expand...

Fuck him...fuck the hazard tree...these folk and their assumption....next fuck your friend...cause he is not one...e d of rant.....I am not a charity (a) and my life is not worth any amount of money (b)...so fuck free work on a whole....this job has dollars written all over it unless I choose to do otherwise..key word being CHOOSE
 
Always meant to reply to this thread - appreciate anyone who has taken the time to reply; never could really explain everything (it would take too long).

Doesn't matter anyway. I no longer work for that boss, and am no longer a working Arborist. I might be in the future again. For many reasons, I had to devote myself to my job (and not much else) for 4 years. That's now changing though - I'm going to be a traveler again. I might post some of my travels in the Tree Free Zone (if anyone's interested).

Peace. Thanks to everyone on here for everything - the branches of these threads have been as interesting as the branches of the trees; sometimes you don't know where they're gonna lead (and whether or not you'll get out there).

David
 
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Hey, David! (@123Craig) If you don't mind my asking, was that stuff that was going on with your neck a part of the reason for getting out of the tree climbing biz? Just curious to know whether or not a set of nagging, tight muscles could be the cause of a loss of employment.

@merle_nelson has mentioned a book a few times that might be of interest to you. Merle is never pushy about what he tries to teach; people either want to learn something, or they don't. So I finally bought the book, and am currently about 1/5 of the way through it. It is an interesting read, and deals with people whose circumstances are just as you described the situation with your neck.

These people would have debilitating problems with their bodies, which would be completely misdiagnosed by the medical industry, who end up telling the patients that nothing could be done to fix their health issues. Then they went for a visit with the book's author, and often within three visits their problems are gone.

The name of the book is "Somatics", and the author's name is Thomas Hanna, I believe. I think the book costs less than $18.00 from Amazon. If this tight neck of yours is a recurring thing, I would buy the book, if I were you.

I hope that you find happiness in this new path you are taking.

Tim
 
Hey Tim! - Don't mind you asking at all... No - the problem with my neck had zero to do with getting out of the biz (for now...) - Appreciate your concern though. That book does sound interesting - I probably should read up more than I already have on possible reasons for my neck 'going into spasm' (as one doctor put it). It's only happened once during my Arborist career (overnight as it happens, go figure), and about two or three times in my life before then. I have my own simple theory - stress, and in particular, the stress I put on myself. If anything, maybe in the future, I need to handle my own stress better. I will keep that book in mind though for the future Tim. Thank you for your kind words.

All the best! : )
 
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