How'd it go today?

[CurSedVoyce]

Pruned fruit trees solo while I had the boys work on a storm thrown 36" DBH ponderosa pine. Whack a shack.
So they got it cleared for the HO to start reclaiming valuables and getting a claim started. Inventory and all that. Shack is toast. what is left has a bit of a list toward the house.

 

[Treeaddict]

Rajan, loved the “Highly Valuable Walnut Logs”!
Everyone in the solar system knows black walnut is highly valuable. Everyone in the universe knows it too! 😂🤣

 

[treebilly]

I was a bit upset when I didn’t get a rain day text this morning but I thought maybe I was going to help on the mechanics new shop. No luck. Went out knowing the rains were rapidly approaching. We were down to four picks when it caught us.

I got pretty soaked packing up the crane. Spent the rest of my day sharpening saws. I left two for tomorrow because I couldn’t get my eyes to focus after doing five of them. Also forgot my bifocals at home. Temps are going to be dropping so there is a good chance of a late start or day off tomorrow. We don’t put the trucks on the road if they’re icy.

 

[Dave Shepard]

What are you running for a crane?

 

[treebilly]

TMS 500 I believe. 40 ton grove. 95’ of main.
She ain’t pretty. Gonna need to rebuild the operators cab before to long I think. It’s going in soon to get some new god awful expensive part. Can’t remember the name but it’s what’s under the aluminum cap in the rotator. A whole lot of wires in there. I guess the slip rings are deteriorating. I lost my foot throttle a little while ago and my hand throttle has been acting up. I’m just nursing it till the parts come in. Quote was for 21k to replace it. I might have them do the winch cable while they have it. I do the daily inspections but I don’t have the records from the previous owner to know when it was done last.
Hoping to upgrade to a NBT-45 with 127’ in a few years. That or a giant twin steer k-boom

 

[lxskllr]

How does sharpening saws work? Are you sharpening other people's saws? That would get on my nerves fast. I don't mind doing my own, but I don't have the patience to do it as a "thing". Seems to me, the main operator should be sharpening their saw.

 

[treebilly]

I did the crews saws and then the ones I carry. I don’t normally touch their saws but they were out in the rain while I was in a cab. They were ready to go home and I didn’t want to push the issue. No big deal. If my ass crack was soaked I’d want to go home as well😄

 

[flushcut]

Very few things in life are worse than a soaked ass crack. Lol

 

[CurSedVoyce]

A Men!

 

[Fiddler]

Tons of laundry & dishes that had been neglected are now taken care of.
House all inspected by FD and all new smoke detectors installed.
4 hrs or so on phone & internet trying to get hold of certain Doctors and get certain questions answered & appointments made. Ran across some very nice/helpful people but we all failed miserably in our efforts. Did maybe make an end run around some things and might hear about a tentative plan next week sometime.

time for a nap

 

[flushcut]

Nap good!

 

[lxskllr]

I found one of my good wool socks I lost last week! Last week I did laundry, and when I went to hang it up, a sock was AWOL. I thought it somehow escaped going in the machine, but I looked everywhere and didn't find it. I was just pulling out a pair of ACUs to wear, and found it velcroed to one of the pockets. I managed to take the laundry out of the machine, hang it up, and collect it without seeing a sock stuck to my pants. I guess observation isn't my strong suit :^D

edit:
I think I'm losing my mind. I was looking for my knife this morning. I just found it in my pocket. I don't remember putting it there, but maybe I did. The alternative is I washed it in there, but it doesn't look any cleaner...

edit2:
I was gonna order a micropulley, but decided to see what I already had. Glad I looked first. I have pulleys all over the place, and one is still missing. I think it might be on my work harness. I want to put a prusik on my flipline rather than use a grab.

 

[Fiddler]

Finished taxes.

Nap time.

 

[Fiddler]

Been taking it easy today. Last meds taken this morning and hoping they last as long as possible.


Thought I'd relax and read a bit...fell asleep in the chair. Woke up & had not only lost my place in the book but had a big old paper cut across one finger tip. WTH!

There must be some really good stuff coming my way in the near future the way things have been going lately...

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Now for something salty with a squeeze of lemon...

 

[lxskllr]

Sometimes it's the little stuff that pisses you off more. Hope things start going better for you.

 

[SeanKroll]

Currently being treated with a "headache cocktail" and will get some other meds tomorrow to treat for what I may have (depends on biopsy). If biopsy shows negative meds may change and the next guess is "cluster headaches".

Things are still up in the air, but I'm feeling better at the moment and back at home anyway.

Guess I'll just have to wait & see how it pans out.

How is your muscle tension, knots?

Hydration?

 

[Fiddler]

Muscles are fine except getting a bit out of shape between winter & the bursitis (almost gone). I've always kept tome type of warm-up & informal stretching/flexibility program going. Never liked pulling muscles & getting stiff much.

I'm more hydrated than usual. Been sort of working toward that the last year. I stay away from any chlorinated/caca infested city water or the kind wrapped in plastic. Brings up the thought of maybe having my well water tested...a lot of companies have moved in around here the past several years.

 

[SeanKroll]

I think that its worth making sure the doctors know your water source when you have a mysterious ailment. Testing is sensible.

 

[Cobleskill]

I should buy a water filtration system. I think we can pretty much rest assured it's something we should be using.

 

[Burnham]

@SeanKroll, just wondering...you are a very strong proponent of hydration being necessary for good health and especially the high levels of physical function in the demanding conditions of general tree work. Not without good reasons.

What are your thoughts on hyponatremia?

Myself, I never have needed the levels of intake of water to supply me with satisfactory hydration, that some recommend. Not to say I eschew plenty of water when I am thirsty. But I drink to satisfy my thirst, not to preemptively avoid dehydration.

 

[FireFighterZero]

#murrica!

 

[SeanKroll]

Yes, @Burnham, I'm a big believer that people commonly go around dehydrated Dehydration - Symptoms and causes - https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dehydration/symptoms-causes/syc-20354086 without realizing it.

There is a good range of hydration without constant intake.


Somewhere I have heard that thirst in the first indicator of needing to replenish water, as a result of being depleted. It's like hunger, as in if your noticeably hungry, you're late in eating. It's like being at the bottom of the oil dipstick, rather than being in the 1-quart variable operating range.

I've been jokingly known as Clear and Copious Kroll, as it came from our daily Safety Meetings in my previous work place in Nevada (proper hydration and good diet...watch for the Umbles...mumbles, grumbles, fumbles, stumbles...aim for clear and copious urination).
Once, while working on the Eureka Sand Dunes in Death Valley NP on a restoration project, where there wasn't really a place to walk to pee in private, my crew tried to secretly out-pee me. They told me about it after the day was done. hahaha.

Hyponatremia seems to be a rare situation, and avoided with normal food intake. When I took a Wilderness First Responder class in college, the instructors told of Grand Canyon Hikers being examples of sufferers of hyponatremia Hyponatremia - Symptoms and causes - https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hyponatremia/symptoms-causes/syc-20373711, as it was hot, people had water accessible, and sometimes didn't eat enough in the heat, and were sweating a ton.

I've never run across hyponatremia, but have run across dehydration so many times I've lost count.

Once, in Lake Tahoe, one of our international volunteers started acting loopy. He was dehydrated. When asked about his urine output, we got a new catch phrase...Brown and stinky, take a drinky.


WFR trainers said, "Don't be a DIChead"...Disoriented, Irritable, Combative--symptoms of dehydration.
If you want to get an irritable, combative response from someone who is mentally unfocused from dehydration, tell them they are dehydrated.

I've observed this in myself, when I've tried to tell myself that I am getting dehydrated.

 

[treebilly]

Hmm. I learned something new today. Thank you for bringing hyponatremia up Burnham. And thank you for your response (with the link) Sean.
Easy crane removal today turned into an easy bucket rigging removal. Bid for the crane and pics I were given looked good for set up. Not the case. Deep drainage ditch on one side of the drive and swamp on the other. Still had it done in less than four hours. Then back to work on saws and prep for tomorrow.

 

[lxskllr]

Boss was giving me shit this morning about the junky Mcculloch in the back of the truck("Glad we have this in here!"). It's a whole routine with us going back and forth about the benefits(or lack thereof) of having chainsaws and related stuff in the truck, and me bitching about the stupid tools he uses. I have it on the top deck cause it leaks oil if left upright, so it's on it's side for the time being, and it doesn't fit in it's spot on it's side.

We were on a boundary today, and one of the last things we looked for was a property corner, and he got a hit with the metal detector. Problem was it was under a 16" old fallen oak. He tells me this, and I say "Well, we have a chainsaw". Amuses the shit out of me that the thing he was bitching about this morning was exactly what we needed this afternoon :^D I guess I could have cut it with the 2511, but it would have been a workout for that little saw. I'll do stuff like that when necessary, but I prefer using bigger saws to keep the wear down.

So aside from saving the day, I have an idea for fixing the oil leak. I'm gonna make a leather washer from an old glove, and see if that stops the oil from leaking around the stupid plug they used. If that doesn't do it by itself, I'll cut a slot in the top so I can get a scrench in, and use that to tighten it. I'd like to kick the guy in the balls that thought a hex bolt plastic plug was the perfect thing to use for the oil tank. Looks like some kind of hillbilly retrofit, but that's what they shipped with :^S