Chilly this morning. Lot of moisture on the ground, so damp too. Stayed pretty cool all day Saturday, and really never got sunny either. Fortunately, I had work to keep me warm.
The fact that it was not work that was on my list was a bit unfortunate, but thems the breaks. Own property and you’ll end up doing stuff. In this case, it was dropping a tree before it fell on the adjoining lot.
I put on all my safety gear, chaps, helmet with screen shield, and ear muffs, and fired up the chainsaw. Got a little gentle mocking from my neighbor, but it would be really dumb to get hurt with the proper gear in the garage. Plus, we’re a long way from any good reconstructive surgeons. It’s one thing to take ordinary risks when you’re 2 minutes from the EMS response, quite another when the first help is 20 minutes away, and has a 20 minute mobilization response time, and then you are looking at lifeflight to Houston for anything major. Never mind the rehab time…
So 50 ft of oak tree is stacked by the fire pit. Funny thing is I brought a new electric chainsaw up here with me this trip. At home I find the electric is great for almost everything I can’t easily get with the pole saw. And I like to have tools with multiple fuel options, so when one came up in the auction cheap, I bought it and brought it up here. Used the gas one for this job though. If in some future time gas is hard to come by, the electric will run off solar and an inverter…
There are a lot of things that might not be life or death during grid up, that would be a really big deal off grid, or grid down. Safety gear is important. The injury you prevent is one you don’t have to treat.
I will mention that I forgot to bring my new logger style boots up here with me. I was thinking about that while tromping around in the mud and branches as I limbed and cut up the tree. The Under Armor tactical boots I usually wear up here are comfortable, but I wouldn’t say they were ‘sturdy’ or ‘durable.’
Footwear is a lot like gloves, cameras, or the right gub, something is better than nothing, but the right one for the job is best.
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I did have a nice little fire and some shortwave listening last night. Heard a show called CruisingTheDecades.com which played one pop song from each decade, 1910 to present. It was really interesting and I hope I’ll catch it again. One of the things I like most about radio is the serendipity and novelty. Of the 12 songs, I recognized 9,and enjoyed hearing all but one.
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Today I’ve still got stuff to put away, and it would be nice to spend some time with D1 and an air rifle. We’ll see how it goes. Kid has school on Monday so we will be headed home at some point.
Stack some safety gear, stack some tools. You never know when you’ll need them.
nick