How'd it go today?

It’s doing okay. I’m quite sore from climbing today. Getting my strength/stamina back little by little. I’d guess I’m at 75% now. Getting my throwing arm back, but still need the APTA if the target’s over 60’ high.
 
60' is a pretty good throw Scott. I /might/ be able to that with unlimited chances, but the apta would be my first pick, and there's nothing particularly wrong with my shoulder.
 
The highest I know I’ve thrown is 90’, and I only know that because I had to walk the cube to the tree to reach the bag to tie a rope on. Had to break out the APTA yesterday due to needed precision. Sweet gum growing on the bank of a creek/ditch, leaning heavily over a barn/shop. I tried five throws but the building had me standing too far back and I needed a particular fork. Easy-least with the APTA!

I set my Wraptor line in the big pecan this morning by hand. Took three tries to hit a fork 60’ up. One fail was pass interference from another limb…😝
 
John...no_bivy...y'all are doing it up right...great shots of climbing. Cool seeing your daughter all growed up. Cool she is so fit and into climbing/outdoors. Good on you.

Sweet Pea as I recall.
 
Burnham, If you ever come through Asheville check out Black Dome, there is a climbing museum
with tons of historical stuff and pics of the pioneers in this area.

Cory...had the place to ourselves except for one hiker on top. 24degree start skeered them away. Warmed up to 61 though!
Thanks for the idea, John. I'll keep it in the "have to look into when traveling" file :). If we get over that way, I'll give you a holler beforehand...be a lot of fun to get together for a little visit.
 
Great pics.

Is the population mostly year round or are there 'snow birds' there?
 
A bit of both. Lots of seasonal workers that come and go but the population is definitely ageing. Some people have winter digs they can escape to for the winter.
 
Commercial fishing deck hands, cannery workers, tour guides, and youth at risk wilderness guides. Forest Service in the past but not so much anymore.
 
Worked on my least favorite job today, and I'm looking at getting grades together now. These plans are complete shit, and this company has no business doing highway plans. Whatever they got paid for this was too much. I could have spent a couple hours shooting the existing road and another few hours in the office and made this job nice instead of the clusterfuck I've got here, but then it would be my ass if some kind of problem popped up, or someone noticed it wasn't what was on the blueprints. What should be a trivial task is stressing me out, and something's gonna end up getting screwed up.
 
Let it out man!

Finished my landscrapering job today, I cut back a long row of Photinia and then offered to cut back the wild periwinkle vine that had stolen 5' of their lawn at the edge. Yeah, that vine bashing took about 10hrs single handed, cutting, raking, loading the ute, which was 50m away. Back and forth, back and forth. 4 loads to the tip. Now my extended hedge trimmer is making horrible rattling sounds. Luckily it only gave up the ghost on the last 5' stretch, back to clippers and secateurs.
I tired.
 
Worked on my least favorite job today, and I'm looking at getting grades together now. These plans are complete shit, and this company has no business doing highway plans. Whatever they got paid for this was too much. I could have spent a couple hours shooting the existing road and another few hours in the office and made this job nice instead of the clusterfuck I've got here, but then it would be my ass if some kind of problem popped up, or someone noticed it wasn't what was on the blueprints. What should be a trivial task is stressing me out, and something's gonna end up getting screwed up.

Cover your ass and go with it. There’s very few things I enjoy more than helping an engineer/draftsman look like a fool. Arrogant bastards. As long as I follow the prints I did my job right. ;)
 
Yesterday, I saw someone using their bucket truck as a log crane for loading their trailer. They had a strap attached to an eye on the mid boom joint with log tongs at the end.
 
Tough couple of days. Made me think of this reminder from Elizabeth Gilbert:

“Some years ago, I was stuck on a crosstown bus in New York City during rush hour. Traffic was barely moving. The bus was filled with cold, tired people who were deeply irritated with one another, with the world itself. Two men barked at each other about a shove that might or might not have been intentional. A pregnant woman got on, and nobody offered her a seat. Rage was in the air; no mercy would be found here.

But as the bus approached Seventh Avenue, the driver got on the intercom."Folks," he said, "I know you have had a rough day and you are frustrated. I can’t do anything about the weather or traffic, but here is what I can do. As each one of you gets off the bus, I will reach out my hand to you. As you walk by, drop your troubles into the palm of my hand, okay? Don’t take your problems home to your families tonight, just leave them with me. My route goes right by the Hudson River, and when I drive by there later, I will open the window and throw your troubles in the water."
It was as if a spell had lifted. Everyone burst out laughing. Faces gleamed with surprised delight. People who had been pretending for the past hour not to notice each other’s existence were suddenly grinning at each other like, is this guy serious?
Oh, he was serious.

At the next stop, just as promised, the driver reached out his hand, palm up, and waited. One by one, all the exiting commuters placed their hand just above his and mimed the gesture of dropping something into his palm. Some people laughed as they did this, some teared up but everyone did it. The driver repeated the same lovely ritual at the next stop, too. And the next. All the way to the river.

We live in a hard world, my friends. Sometimes it is extra difficult to be a human being. Sometimes you have a bad day. Sometimes you have a bad day that lasts for several years. You struggle and fail. You lose jobs, money, friends, faith, and love. You witness horrible events unfolding in the news, and you become fearful and withdrawn. There are times when everything seems cloaked in darkness. You long for the light but don’t know where to find it.
But what if you are the light? What if you are the very agent of illumination that a dark situation begs for?. That’s what this bus driver taught me, that anyone can be the light, at any moment. This guy wasn’t some big power player. He wasn’t a spiritual leader. He wasn’t some media-savvy influencer. He was a bus driver, one of society’s most invisible workers. But he possessed real power, and he used it beautifully for our benefit.

When life feels especially grim, or when I feel particularly powerless in the face of the world’s troubles, I think of this man and ask myself, What can I do, right now, to be the light? Of course, I can’t personally end all wars, or solve global warming, or transform vexing people into entirely different creatures. I definitely can’t control traffic. But I do have some influence on everyone I brush up against, even if we never speak or learn each other’s name.

"No matter who you are, or where you are, or how mundane or tough your situation may seem, I believe you can illuminate your world. In fact, I believe this is the only way the world will ever be illuminated, one bright act of grace at a time, all the way to the river."~~
~ Elizabeth Gilbert”
 
Yesterday, I saw someone using their bucket truck as a log crane for loading their trailer. They had a strap attached to an eye on the mid boom joint with log tongs at the end.
I’ve flown an old Teco that was rated for that. But we never did. I’m not saying it hasn’t been used that way just not by us.
 
One of the outfits I contract climbed for had an old rear mount bucket, very heavy, with a short winch arm on the boom, rated for 500 lbs.
Used it maybe twice; rather rig out of the tree...
 
Yesterday, I saw someone using their bucket truck as a log crane for loading their trailer. They had a strap attached to an eye on the mid boom joint with log tongs at the end.
Many years ago I remember working with a bucket truck that had a lifting ring on the upper boom like that. Seems within the design parameters. Of course all my bucket trucks had material handler winches on the end of the boom rated for 1500-2000 lbs. Much heavier booms than the forestry units.
 
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