Zenfordinner

Sleep on the floor for a while; stretch regularly, learn to easily touch your toes- great help with a tight lower back. Herniated disks often cause muscle tension in the surrounding area, hence the benefit of regular stretching. Bend/lift using powerful leg muscles rather than weak point of tailbone/ lower sacrum area. Do not twist in odd angles. Increase abdominal muscles, see a Chiropractor who will x-ray your spin to check proper alignment, if incorrect will readjust spine. Warm up and warm down before and after work. Avoid sitting in chairs, instead favour the lotus position, even if it takes weeks for you to be able to get into position. That is my recommendations, bad back or not. (I used to be a body worker, worked on lots of bad backs, have many relatives with bad backs. Consensus is to keep moving, and be extra careful with body, especially when lifting weights. Generally, people tend to be lazy about bending with knees and engaging the large muscles of the buttocks and thighs when lifting.) Worth a try. Whenever I have lifted timber too heavy for me, or at my limit, I always stretch that evening, putting my hands flat on the floor with my legs straight- works a treat. That and plenty of hot water or heat pads on area, can alternate with cold packs to help speed things along.

See Master Blaster's: All I expect of a groundie is that they memorize this. It covers just about everything. __________________

We are working on the premise that we shall ride it out, by hook or by crook. Must stay positive, and one always manages- so we have to tighten up our belts- no shame in that. I know it is worrisome, but worry never helps and one survives. In a storm one does what is necessary, and eventually the storm passes. Test of character to overcome adversity. Fare thee well, all of you.

A male client suggested I wear hot pants or a mini skirt to climb, then he blushed- old enough to be my father, too! Had a few men say, " I thought you were tree fellers", to which I reply, " I am saving up for the operation". Most look a bit shocked and soon stop talking.

Hello Raymond. Can you give more details, such as what you are looking for, how much to earn, what sponsership entails etc?

Yep, looks like a graft union,albeit a rather messy one.

Matty F, intution is oneself watching one's back, an inherent wisdom that can be immeasurably useful. My experience has proven over and over again that to ignore such insight makes my road more difficult, in any given situation. Unimpeded winds are a force to be reckoned with, and a hundred feet up one is rather vulnerable to their impact. I would not give it a second thought. Anything said after a fact is hindsight, and no one knows what may have happened. It is no ones business but yours to look after yourself. Many years ago I had begun walking along a very narrow path, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, and closed in on both sides by trees- very secluded- at dusk when I had a sense to turn around and head back to the road. I had never had such a feeling about walking somewhere, and I used to walk everywhere at all hours, so I turned around. A week later a fifteen year old girl was raped in that spot. Made the hairs stand up on my neck when I read about it. What makes listening to oneself questionable is that the absence of a detrimental or negative outcome makes it difficult to to be certain that one was correct in ones action. In the sense of the above story, for example, it is not certian anything untoward would have happened to me, but my turning around ensured that I was not vulnerable to the possibility. An elusive thing, indeed, and one must pay attention to gain the rewards of listening to one's inner sensibility. With Regard.

I have no doubt that you are correct.

'Tears of Christ' eh? You must make some mighty fine tea, that or it is rather salty! I concur, though: a good cup of tea is tastier than beer, although I was in a different queue when they were giving out the gene for loving beer. Think I was in the adoring flowers queue. A good cup of tea is mighty fine but a well made cup of coffee, stronger than your dad, with cream and honey is my favourite. Great for delveloping a pot belly

Ginger bisuits and malted milk are my favourite for dunking; a lovely chocolate bar dipped is rather lovely, too.

Possibly a bit misguided on the tree front, but sound on the club houses and bungalows for elderly people. Also, it is true, without cutting down trees we would not have wooden bookshelves etc. Do you think he will grow up to be a tree serial killer? If so, do you think he will wear PPE?

Just like the gentlemen I know!

Freshly boiled water, too, not what has sat around in the kettle all day. Imperative to brew (using good quality tea bag or leaves) but not too long, as previously said: you don't want no stew. I like to put the milk in first, it seems to blend better. Fusion is probably the word. Yes, a well fused cup of tea! Best accompanied by some tasty biscuits. I stopped drinking tea when working on site, as it seemed many people do not hold with brewing a cuppa and serve up what looks like dishwater.

A blower is quite handy for that too!

Good for you! Best of luck.

Matty, if you need a chipper for tomorrow we might be able to help you out.

Might check to see if previous bills were estimates, if so they recalculate after a meter reading. That is when the numbers jump high. I came back from a long holiday July 06 to recieve an electricity bill stating we had a debt of over £3,300, despite paying by DD every month. What a palava! They had not read the meter for ages, took a reading and readjusted months of bills to reach that sum. I won't go into much detail, as it was extraordinarily tedious, but it took me six weeks to get them to decrease the debit. Last August, I noticed a debit on the bill that was much higher than I made it, asked the electricity company to readjust it. Bang! Suddenly they returned the previous debt, which had been reduced to under two hundred pounds, and we had nearly £3000 in debt again. Took me until last month to get it erased. Hours studying bills, hours convincing various customer service people it was incorrect, as they will not take your word for it-you have to prove it, and months of requesting yet another readjustment. We had a new meter installed August 06, which I thought would make it easy to fiqure out as the meter was pretty much at zero. Oh, no, never so simple. After three readjustments and ignoring my question as to why I had three different meter readings, by them, for the same meter on the same day, all increasingly higher. Finally, after threatening to go to Ofcom/ombudsman, a kind lady spend two months working on our case. Blamed the gent who reduced the original high debt, and said the initial readings were incorrect. Finally, she managed to wipe all but £430 off the debt, which was fair enough as the first years direct debit was really low. I sincerely hope this is not the case with you, as it is a right tedious pain in the bottom to rectify. I know of a few people who have had similar trouble with both gas and electricity companies. rant over

If I remember correctly, in theT&C Planning Act it says you must use criteria as demanded/ or deemed acceptable by the said council, or words to that affect.

We use Bryant K. and every year estimate proportions for climbing, ground work, labour only subbies and chainsaw using subbies, clerical, etc. With PI we give three largest contracts in prior year, and how much of annual turnover has to do with PI/ advice giving.

I take it he was not a bona fida subbie...if so then he would carry insurance. If not, then all are correct, as far as I understand such things, he is/was your employee. You definitely should seek advice from your insurers, your insurance may cover legal costs too. Worth checking your policy asap, as if you have legal cover it may be they stipulate you inform them immediately and do not act of your own accord. If you have said cover the insurers will be interested in misconduct as a defense, I would think (as one can rely on insurance companies wanting to avoid paying out where possible). There is a legal service available to small businesses where you can call them and have a brief chat about any issues,although they will not be beholden to any advice they give unless you employ them. I cannot remember the link, but I found it online last year, and had a chat to a helpful solicitor. Just a thought. Good luck. Using subcontractors, and employees too, poses many a difficult problem in terms of where does the employer interfere in subbies or employees working methods, as the onus is generally on the employer to take responsibility for everything, it seems. Mind you, that is all part of the risks and perks.

Just looked again and the site has been updated. The hedgerow forms looks the most tedious, the new TPO/Cons area form does have a bit more to fill out, although not too bad. I think they are a bit cheeky to want three sets of everything. mind you, such as it is.

MattyF, I have just received two letters of reciept from NHDC for two notifications for tree work I submitted last week. I used the same form as have used for last few years, and always send an O.S. map of property and mark trees accordingly. When I read up about the new application forms on NHDC website, it appeared that they pertained to planning (bulding) rather than tree works. Centremaps provide six copies of OS map for a reasonable price, and they always arrive the next day.

Did you finish the 30%, as specified on the quote, before you packed up? If so, then I would send the invoice and see what happens. If client has not paid within 30 days I would ring her to check she received the invoice, and if so could she pop a cheque in the post. If no cheque arrives shortly after, I would ring again, and at least once after that. If she refuse to pay, you can write it off as bad debt on your accounts. People are funny, generally speaking. Such as it is.

Our local Stump Buster's charges £60 +vat as a minimum call out. He is reasonably priced, and a lovely fellow to boot, most accomodating with times etc.

Being a novice about such things, will you please elaborate on both 'suitable' and 'full loads', and will you pick it up or expect delivery?