Taupotreeman

Need some pictorial/photographic help with this one. our local council is upgrading one of our town centre streets and the idea is to plant an avenue of trees down a (yet to be created) centre berm between the shops. The total width of this berm will be about 5m and the current plan is to plant Acer species opposite each other on the outer edge of the berm. This would give the inner limbs only 2 - 2.5m of growing room which I don't think is anywhere near sufficient to give the trees ample room to grow true to form. the alternatives are to plant singularly in the middle of the berm or staggered to still create that canopy while having more room to grow. If anyone out in arb land has any photos or links to photos of tree avenues either new or old, bad or good that I can have a good nosey at with my urban planner it would be appreciated. We need to be able to see where plantings haven't been thought through in the past and it has all turned to custard, along with good examples, so that we can decide which way to proceed. Thanks guys and girls.

Just bought a basic Meade 114EQ-AR I think it was. I had something similar that the wife bought me a couple of years ago. It was even more basic and came with no instructions so I had no idea how to use it. That's not to say that I know how to use this one but at least the instructional DVD will give me a fighting chance. If I get enough enjoyment out of it I can always upgrade at a later date. I'm also interested in jupiter, and Saturn more so, but I have to learn how to find them in the southern night sky. I've also seen some of these long exposure photos of a star filled sky which look awesome so I want to learn how to do both those photos and take photos through the scope. baby steps first though.

Going to have to get me a star chart so I can hunt the planets down. I don't think my scope is what you would call brilliant but hopefully it will be good enough to do what I need for now.

Okidoke. Any budding star gazers on here then? Just bought my second telescope after spending way too much time watching National Geographic and Discovery channels and a certain Prof Brian Cox. Hoping to get some good views of the planets but also keen to take some photos of the stars so if anyone has done any planetary and star photography, hints and help would be appreciated.

Had one of mine hit me in the eye when one end let go. Fortunately I didn't lose my sight but I had a shadow in my vision for a while before it settled. Still occasionally feels gritty now.

If it's of any consolation Adam we have the same thing here. I haven't known the Oak this full of leaf with the Ash showing no sign whatsoever. Had to triple check one the other day to make sure it wasn't dead and even then I still wasn't convinced. Meanwhile the Oaks have gone bonkers.

Yukky ugly horrible trees. Hate Pheonix Plams. Dirty smelly and covered in bird, rat and possum crap. Hope you dealt to the Possum Adam.

Took some photos a couple of weeks ago of a fungus I found growing on the upper limbs of a heavily and annually topped Oak. I cut a few of the limbs along with fungi and stuck them in the cupboards on the truck just to show the powers that be. I ended up forgetting about them for a couple of weeks until I pulled one of the logs out to show a work colleague. Looks like the fungus has had field day.

Topped Pin Oaks!!!!!!!

Reckon if you made everybody pay up front to see the kwak then a lot more people would re consider whether they really needed to see a doctor about that bit of a dribbly sniffly cold they had and would free up the waiting rooms a little. Exceptions would have to be made for the young, elderly and infirm but it seems to work well here. There are several Doctors surgeries in a small town like Taupo and you can usually get in same day or at the worst the next day.

Time for me to have a bit of a gloat regarding the NHS. Having never been to the dentist for anything other than a bit of a clean (and that was 10 years ago) I found myself with a serious infection under my wisdom tooth back in January of this year. I duly go to the dentist who tells me I have impacted lower wizzies and a really bad infection. One good clean, iodine treatment, anti bionics and a good dose of codeine later all is well with the world. Now, sure it cost me a couple of bob to put right but I got into the dentist within an hour of the phone call. I get a referal to an oral surgeon who asks me when I'd like to come in for my extraction. Will tomorrow do he says. Give me chance to save some money says I and books in for end of the month. I turn up at the hospital and within 20 minutes I've had my chat with both surgeon and anaesthatist and am on the gurny being wheeled into theatre ( I chose general rather than local). The surgery goes way quicker than I thought and 2 hours later I'm on the way home with a face like a gerbal and a pile of codeine and tremadol. Now to be fair I paid for all of this but the efficiency and treatment from go to whoa was otustanding. When I read in the paper and hear from my old man just how bad the NHS has become I'm glad I can get the service that I do. Doctors are the same. you pay a nominal fee ($35 - $40) for an appointment but you book for when suits you and I've only known once to be kept waiting longer than ten minutes.

I'd love to know how many of us have been caught swearing and throwing a tantrum in a tree because we've had an eye whipped by a (Pin Oak) twig or a thorny branch up the arris. I know I've been caught out throwing an almighty tanty before.

So how many times do you have to warn the tree before it's off at ground level?

I think I'm now old enough to be past the stage of dealing with this crap, so to speak. I'd think if I turned up to a site like that now I'd turn around and walk away and charge the customer for my wasted time. It's just downright lazy and disgusting and I don't see why anyone should have to deal with it. In addition you add the health issues involved. And yet we have another thread currently running about accidents and the topic of the accident book keeps rearing its head. Reckon we'd be better served with a pooch poop pad for noting down how many barker nests we've dealt with that day. Worse when you hit one with a line trimmer/strimmer etc and you're face shield sieves it into a nice soup for you.

What's wrong with Shank's Pony Drew? I have indicated we might want to bring you down for some training with us. Thought we might tie that Totara climb in and get you paid at the same time. Might just have to wait a bit longer that's all.

sooooooo what I'm saying is the newby won't be gettting second hand gear, unlike some outfits I could mention. Neither will it be the bear minimum.

Two Olives in our garden, unaffected by frosts etc. I just give them a once over with the hedge trimmer every year. They seem pretty much indestructable and will take whatever you throw at them.

Being a man is all well and good unitl you realise it's not flu but meningococcal disease. Same syptoms early on but by the time you realise that you have the latter it's often too late. Now I've looked at the worst case scenario if it's just a case of man flu nothing like a good dose of bed rest, fluids and good healthy food.

What gets my goat about some of the H&S stuff is this; in NZ we have something called accident compensation. Each employee and employer pays so much each week, month, year etc into a fund that then covers accidents. No possibility of people being able to sue one another here. Anyway, a company can get reductions in its ACC (accident compensation) premiums if its H&S policies are up to scratch. I worked for an outfit that had an all singing all dancing H&S policy which got them some serious reductions with ACC. Problem was, that H&S policy was never really followed by management. It was more of a front to get reduced premiums rather than to actually cut lost time injuries etc. Same dodgy practices continued unabaited within the company driven by those at the top. I raised this issue with ACC for them to say that there wasn't much they could do about people cheating the system. Yet again, the small man gets nailed and the big guys get away with murder.

Anyone who does clothing alterations should be able to sort them out. I've ripped the backside out my HiFlex's a couple of times and the stitching fell apart in my SiPs leaving me with one leg full of sawdust. The wife took them to a local clothing/sewing type place and they sorted them for me. Good strong patch on the seat (better than the original) and strong stitching. Cost me about $30 everytime I send them in which is about twice a year.

:thumbup:

Now now timber Council has plenty to offer. We cover Taupo, Turangi, Mangakino, we have that nice sparkly new bandit that pees all over your vermeer Adam and we have the lake and hot pools. Plus, with a bit of luck, the new man/woman should get some nice new spanky gear. In all honesty though it's a primo position. A chance for someone, if they want, to actually be in charge of themselves to some degree as the idea is that they basically run the crew in my absence, help with the training and help plan and carry out the work. This is the first crew to be set up by TDC having contracted out all work previously. The work involved will be everything from fine pruning to crane work and utility work so an opportunity to broaden your skill base. On the job training can be provided to some degree but we're looking for someone preferably with the skills. Hopefully they can teach me a few new tricks too. And if anyone needs anymore encouraging; timbermcpherson pretty much hit the nail on the head, although Taupo does have an influx of tourist totty for both male an female, unlike Turangi.

Probably not enough for you bro. I'm not actually sure what the pay is but reckon they're thinking around $20 per hour. Personally I don't think we'll get much interest at that rate but if we don't we just re advertize.

Firstly, I hope it's Ok to post this thread here. Secondly, and to the point, Taupo Distrcit Council is looking to employee an arborist (or tree surgeon depending on your stance) to work as my 2 IC and to also become the team leader in my place when I'm too old and knackered to climb. The postion is long term and should be advertised next week on Buy online and sell with NZ's #1 auction & classifieds site | Trade Me Any one interested should keep an eye on the trademe site or PM me for more details.