will.morris

It could be better but it's pretty good and I am not really a huge drinker. I tend to eat crap food when I'm starving because its instant but I do make veg-packed lunches/evening meals most of the time. My dad suffers with it so I wonder if that has anything to do with it. I feel your pain though, dayum its raw! I'm 24.

A couple of weeks ago I woke up with a mild pain in my middle toe, thought it was just a bit sore or maybe an insect bite and didn't really think much of it. Over a few days the pain got so intense that I couldn't sleep, walk or even stand so I had to have some time off work. It has been pretty much normal the last few days until about 5mins ago when I dropped a coffee cup on my foot and instant agony kicked in again. My doctor said that I am showing all the key signs of gout and told me to take ibuprofen, avoid red meat for a while and ensure I get a decent amount of fruit and veg which I have been doing. Has anyone ever had this? Any advice on what more I can do and did you experience further 'gout attacks' later on as I read that it can be a reoccuring problem. Rediculous pain for such a small part of the body!!!!!

Definately seems that there are 3 main options for you and anyone else in this position from reading this thread. Put you prices up, expand or accept longer waiting times but don't over work yourself. Your quality of life has to come first and know that you can't please everyone.

Cool

I was faced with the same decision almost 2 years ago. I was offered a job with davey in canada and asplundh in nz. I went with nz because I had always liked the look of the country and its mild climate, I find working in the cold miserable! I cannot make any comparison as I have never been to canada, however I find nz amazing and after roughly 18 monthes here paying for residency application is far higher on my list then flying back to the hole that is the uk. You certainly won't struggle to find work out here Start wage (in auckland) would most likely be around 17-22 dollars per hour. Trees won't make you rich out here but its a fantastic place that doesnt require much money to enjoy, saying that it is definately a comfortable wage compared with living costs.

Small gum removal about 20m early last year. Had finished rigging off the limbs and then was blocking down the stem. Got down and realised for the entire climb that the hitch side of my lanyard had been clipped into a gear loop. Lesson learnt, if you're clipping a lifeline onto your harness when your not using it always clip it into the correct place so that you don't forget when you do climb on it!

Speak to Michael Barton mate (guy I work with), he got his done last year somewhere in the city

As has been said mate make sure you tell your bank! I forgot to and my UK card got blocked twice in about 3 weeks. Money tranfers are easy enough once you've got an account out here, but if you're concerned I can pass you my kiwi bank details and you can transfer huge amounts of money into my account for me to keep safe.... haha Be good to catch up bro and see you in an orange shirt! The weather is improving now, you've come at a great time!

I have a friend that used to do rope access softbankhawks and I can picture what you're saying . Makes sense! BenR - That sounds like my set up

Love/Hate relationship with the handsaw! Cool scar from that one bro, hope it heals fast

How does he judge whether an offer is silly or not when he has admitted to having no idea what it's worth Could be a cool toy for someone that's good with spanners

The equestrian girls in college were one of the highlights of the course lol.

What about when you're on a pole though? Surely that's where a flipline would get used most and would be classed as the primary attachment even on the D's? Or would you just class it as a positioner still and class your choked off mainline underneath as the primary line?

I tried the willans in college (a long with many other harnesses) and found it felt incredibly comfortable and solid. I climb in a sequoia which for me doesn't match the comfort but is less restrictive. Good harness

Question - I use SRT for access with an anthron hand ascender and chest ascender, does this mean that my set up is likely to destroy a rope should I take a relatively small fall? From what's been said I feel I fall into the catergory of toothed life support, which I'm understanding is not great. I always test the line from the ground so would'nt have thought that the climbing action alone would snap a branch, but I appreciate that that is not a bombproof method.

Amen

Good to know as I got handed a brand new one recently in a random draw at a climbing comp OP - Hope you find the best option! I have huge respect for what you do, I've been saved on 2 occasions when sailing & rowing has gone a bit pear shaped for me . Scary work and it's much appreciated! After my rowing accident (capsize in freezing cold water) I may even have you guys to thank for being alive .

Scary stuff!! Removing some phoenix palms about 6monthes ago we came into contact with a huge swarm of bees. It was a big job with about 8 workers on site, must have looked quite comical to see us all running back to the trucks all carrying 46/66s lol.

College is actually a pretty good selection process for the industry ! There were 38 people on my course when it started, one guy left on the first day when we were lectured on the dangers of the work and I think 2 more left after the first climbing lesson. It's certainly not a job for everyone, whether through interest or if they realise they don't like working at height/chainsaws/hardwork and college fizzles people out. I think 16 of us finished the course and qualified I'm 24 now as you say but I've had my work ethic for all of my life. From the age of 13-16 I did 3 paper rounds a day, 7 days a week (and I had to be dieing to take a day off). Even now I still get to work 15/20mins early to sort out tools, check paperwork (even though I'm not a foreman, I do it for personal reasons as I like to feel involved in what the plans for the day/week are) and I'm regularly there after finish to take the saws apart to blow them out, do minor repairs, sharpen chains etc. I'm not just sounding all me me me for praise, the point I'm making is that a persons work ethic is part of their personality rather than how old they are. Some of the best enthusiastic staff are the youngsters, from my experience of relentless battling to seek employment these are the people I feel for and hopefully it can be seen how huge generalisations make life even harder for these guys and why it annoys me so much. If I was 50 and was thinking about giving a college guy a foot in the door and read half these posts then it may even have been to put me off, which is totally unfair! This is not a personal dig Horatio, I'm speaking in general Age, hair colour, skin colour, gender, nationality - None of these factors can judge the individual worker. If a thread generalised some of the more sensitive subjects above then it would be outrageous, age should be no different!

Hey bro. My story is that I came out to NZ on a working holiday visa for 12monthes then I got a 2 year work visa. Do you know for definate that being on your gf's visa allows you to work in Australia? Large companies that contract to a council may be your best bet to set yourself up as they will offer secure work. Ziggy: I'm not sure if you're set on Ozzy, but if your open to New Zealand then I could probably get you a job with Asplundh (based on quals/experience and of course if it interests you or not).

Yep I know bro, as there are lazy people of all ages. It just touches a nerve with me when people generalise the young, it took me years in crap roles, 2 years in college and the outgoingness to travel to the other side of the world to have the opportunity to actually become a full time climber. I'm also 24 and I dunno, I just find tarring such a broad range of people as a really dim, pessimistic, narrow minded way of thinking.

Would work for some but not all, it would just dent some peoples confidence (young or old). Positive attitude, make them feel involved, encouraging help & actually teaching them is a great way to get the most out of somebody. A newbie on an arb site can feel really out of place, don't ignore that and leave them, make them feel part of the team and share your knowledge.

:lol::lol: Great post

I'm going to retire at 30 and spend the rest of my years buying supercars and thinking up new ways to spend all of my money! In all seriousness at some point I would like to get into teaching/lecturing

...or just generalised comments aimed at bad mouthing youngsters!