Spent yesterday cleaning up around the property after cutting some more green Pine. I don't think I like the way that stuff acts on the saw. Seems it cuts sorta deceivingly, wavy especially around knots.
I have several rather large water oaks which have some form of fungus I am told. The tops have dead smaller upper branches. And once those upper branch tops begin to die, the tree has a year or two, all the while dropping limbs at an alarming rate. My neighbors have had a few die, now mine has the fungus. A couple of the trees are in the way of my soon to be new homes' footprints, so I need to take them out. The storm in the gulf had me a little shy on one of the trees that is very close to a building on the property. SO, I decide I'll top out one of the oaks. Got my ladder, sharpened saw, lines, harness etc, all together, topped out all but the couple limbs over the building. They'll come down with the trunk latter.
Got all that cut up, plied and tided up, all's fine. As I am leaving late in the evening, I remembered I had left the saw, gas, and oil out. So I picked them up, and decided to put them in the back of my truck instead of going thru all the hassle of locking them up in the shop. Get to the house. My 84 YO Mom is staying with me and my two Black Labs right now. I turn on the AC upstairs to let it cool off from the summer heat, about 9pm. Watching the Gatorboys corralling gators on the TV when all went dark. Power goes out,,, GREAT ! My generator is over at the property,, 8 miles away. Not knowing when the power will be back on, out in the sticks it takes some time, I decide to get Mom some AC, going to go get the generator, told her to call me if the power came back on while I was gone,... A mile down the road there's a huge oak tree that just gave up and fell,broke off 25 feet above ground,it made the power lines cross and blew out transformer switch,but the power lines were still intact, the upper tree covered the road, branches were 30 foot high in the road.
One of my 'previously unknown' neighbors down the road pulled up behind me, stinking drunk... :(. Great !!! Two other people on the other side of the tree pull up. I tell all that I have a SAW IN THE BACK OF THE TRUCK, along with a 1 inch rope, shackles and snatch block. I had my trucks bright lights on the tree, tell one guy to keep the drunk at bay out of the way, tell the other guy to hold the my flashlight while I hook up the tree. Guy with the light asks what them vines are on the tree,, I say poison ivy. All of a sudden everyone within 100 feet is deathly allergic to it.
FINE,, I hook snatch block/chocker up to a tree on the right side of the road, route my rope to the middle of the upper section, cut the tree truck and hook rope to the front tow eye on my F350 4x4 diesel, back out the whole tree over into the ditch on the right side of road, AFTER I convinced the drunk to move his truck. As I am climbing around trying to get to the rope untied to the tree, the drunk is all happy he cured the issue, the power company trucks arrive on the scene, people are passing by the newly opened 'tunnel' in their cars while leaving, two guys are bellyaching they are itching from getting poison ivy, ( and neither got within 20 feet of the tree), but luckily the drunk forgot where he was going and went back towards his house. The power company guys thank me for clearing he road, say they only need to verify the lines behind me and then switch the switch back on. 5 minutes later, they are done, and my Mom calls me and says " Son, the power came back on, no need for the generator now...." ,,,," OK Mom, be there in a few minutes"...... ::) ::)..
You know at times my forgetfulness can be a salvation rather than the curse I normally consider it. Luckily my forgetfulness pertained to a chainsaw this time, it could have been a lot less productive otherwise.
You're a good samaritan, Stump! smiley_thumbsup
Sometimes things just seem to work out. ;D
Seems that sometimes forgetfulness is actually premonitions . I like the way you handled the situation. A job well done