Daniël Bos

You were working on Uri Geller's estate, and you got the saw stuck. On your way to the truck to get wedges and backup saw you bunped int Uri Geller. You didn't see him as you were preoccupied and swearing under your breath. You both got up and you apologised, Uri said it was ok. You walked back to the tree with backup saw and wedges, Uri follows close behind as he's interested in what goes on on his estate. Back at the tree you explain what has happened and how you're going to fix it. Uri reckons you're a fool for getting into such a pickle, you take offence with this as such thing can happen to anyone. Uri reckons there's no reason you couldn't have had that tree down by now, you fruitlessly try to reason with him. Uri gets annoyed and says he'll sue you. You get annoyed but want to get the tree down and your saw freed, fearing for the safety of both man and machine. As you're about to get back to work, Uri steps in and says:"Step back, and watch in amazement as I'll sort this with my psychic powers!" You argue it isn't save and your insurance doesn't cover Geller's, he doesn't care. You step back and let the man do his thing. He stares at the tree long and hard and after a while starts swearing at the tree, then the stuck saw, then you!. You tell him you'll sort it, "no worries mr Geller, it happens to the best of us". Uri is infuriated by his own failure and starts kicking and pushing and shoving the tree.... It gives.......It goes....and so does your lovely saw! The tree hits the deck, and it's only luck that saved Uri from getting crushed, you run over to find your saw beside the stump with a 90degree bend. You get a little cross with Uri. Uri is very apologetic and offers to repair the damage. Before you can stop him he's picked up the saw and started his act again. The bar does not move, you try to explain about the hollow bits in your bar that might be messing his mojo. Once again Uri gets annoyed, then he gets furious and throws your saw to the floor, the bar still at 90 degrees. You listen to his tyrade for a little bit but get so wound up that you pick up your beloved saw to distract yourself. Uri is still shouting at you, your blood starts to boil, you swing the saw and whack Uri square on the jaw. Uri has finally bent metal

Thanks, that would have kept me up for hours googling blue machinery.

Phil, I admire your pricing strategy. And I really want to know what that blue thingie in your avatar is! (please?)

You did some work in Uri Geller's back garden?

you can. There is a "system" available that does just that, aplied with a telescopic grabby-stick-thingie you just snap on the charge and blast the bugger off. It was mentioned in a thread on here some time ago but I can't find it now.

Husky! Stihl!

And that's excactly what I thought was suggested with Rob's age-determination theory?

When they were first born, we lived in a house with bricks and such, they never got stung. Then we moved into a yurt in an ancient woodland besides a big orchard, they got stung a few times. Then we moved into a lorry , I'd built it with a large (3'x5') plate of glass in the roof for light, with the bed being up at the front. The large skylight got loads of flying bugs confused about the way out, and with it being just beside the bed it seemed that when it got dark, wasps especially would use our bed to spend the night. We lived in a large apple orchard in that over the course of one summer. We live in one of those brick and mortar house again now.

I like that a lot axe-man, but is not the beauty of the alaskan that it can just sit in the truck, just in case?

Sorry to hear that mate, hope you're ok. I have a pint bottle of vinegar in the first aid kit. Some vinegar on a tissue on the sting and it's gone in about a minute for me. No pain, no swelling, no itch. It only works if appied within about five minutes though. My two daughters (who are now 4 and going to "big girl school") have not ever once cried when stung by wasps, and they've both been stung at least a dozen times. Vinegarise straight away, keeps the tears away!

I'm very happy with my purchase actually, I'm going to get them changed into ballistic hotpants for when my mrs come to help.

All valid points Gerrit, and thanks for taking the time to explain yourself. I still think a method like that would be highly subjective to the live said tree has lived. 1 Surely because trees are not in (complete) control of their surrounding ecosystem they are subjected to what they find themselves seeded/planted in. Will this not mean that individual specimens have quite different paths trough life. 2- As trees are indeed immobile, this could mean that an oak that was unable to walk away from it's neighbours in favour of a better place to live could have a whole different set of associated organisms than it's cousin in the middle of an empty field? 3- Does that not give a large element of chance? Tree A got infected after having been scratched a lot by grey squirrels, tree B didn't and even if their entire lives before that even had been identical, the rest of their lives will be entirely differen? 4- I never meant to anthropomorphise, I just find it easier to explain and understand things through analogies. I was merely trying to explain that although people (and trees) may live the same lives, under the same circumstances, there is a large element of chance or luck involved in life. One perso/tree gets hit by lightning 3 times, another one never does. Would the same not go for the varying stages of fungal growth associated with trees, some just get luckier than others? 5- Great info thanks. Is that similar to a humans digestive system then, where the microfauna keep you alive by processing the food you eat into stuctures and substances that can be assimilated by the body? 6- I didn't think this suggested method was limited to urban trees? Maybe such a method would work better in an urban environment due to the reasons you mentiond, but would an urban environment not also make it much harder as most urban trees are affected by human activity resulting in fungal activity? Did you have any exciting finds after the recent storms? My parents (who farm on het Bargerveen), had a few trees down but nought serious.

I know very little about fungi, but to me this sounds the same as trying to tell a person's age by what illnesses they have/have had? You can get dementia in your 30's but my 92 year old grandmother is sound of mnd and cycles 5k every day. Would the same not go for trees, an element of luck combined with the circumstances in wich it lived wich are as different as human lives?

Increasing prices in line wih inflation (or otherwise rising costs) is not growth.

In economics, keeping up with inflation is not growth, it's keeping up with inflation:001_smile:

I'm with the teachers on this one, though I appreciate your young man's expression of loyalty as well as your loyalty to your son, you lead by example. As far as rules go, they just need to be obeyed. All the people that are crying out saying "it's not fair, stomp the teachers, they're all useless" and other such sentiments need to remember what they said only a few weeks ago when the schoolgoing youths of England decided they were under no-ones authority. Back up your teachers, even if you do not agree with them on the rule, if the rule is there, it is there to be obeyed. The support of the parents is the only thing that gives teachers the autorithy that so many young people fail to recognise. If there is a rule that says no jewelery, then it's quite simply described by the word "NO jewelery". I appreciate the lad does not wear it to adorn himself to be prettier for the girls but IMO that's entirely irrelevant. If some other kid wears a silver ring that has "nazi's are naughty" engraved in it, should that be allowed? After all it would not be jewellery but the making of a statement?

I'm still "on the wagon" as they say as well. I find the not smoking bit not too difficult, the actual stopping bit was easy, it's the not-starting again that's the hard bit for me. I'm not really noticing that much improvement in health, but then I am quite fat at the moment. The main thing that keeps me from smoking is the thought of being a winner rather than a loser (I know that sounds incredibly sad). Also I find that whenever I take something from my mouth, a pencil, nail screw etc, I take it between index and middle finger....

What about a WiFi dongle? Like these?

I've seen that pic before, I didn't think it was real. I still don't.

Why? Cleft shingles last longer, and you can produce many more from your timber.

I'll hazard a guess. Is it to keep it from drying and thus making it easier to pulp, assuming that's the fait that awaits that glorious pile.

What's the intention with the tree, is it meant to stay for ever, produce a crop? My first thought (I'm not an arborist as such, but have some experience with apple orchard and restorative pruning) that you've taken rather a lot off. I'd be worried about the density of the regrowth, you'll have to come back to it lots....

What vehicle is it in? I'd go and ask on the relevant owners forum, as the wealth of knowledge of the people combined often surpasses that of the garage by a lot. They may well be able to help you diagnose the excact place/cause of the leak. K-seal can block your heater matrix, as well as other small coolant channels causing poor heater performance and potential engine overheating. It may also fix your problem temporarily, but it would never be a reliable permanent fix so you'd still need to fix the actual problem so I'd just try and do that.

I have one in my car, it's a webasto that heats up the coolant so the engine is up to temp when you start it, if you use the remote it'll heat up the car nicely as well before you get in. I know of several people that have had their units go wrong though and in one case, over the course of a weekend their car ran out of fuel. I'm not sure how much it uses, but a jerrycan can be had for pennies, a mount for it is easily home-made for less still.

No it wouldn't, all it would need is a standard yerrycan, makes filling it a doddle too. If he lives in it "most of the year" as he says he'll go through quite a bit of diesel. The other (priceless) advantage is that if you're low on fuel, you may get chilly but you will still be able to drive to the pump!