Steven P

Hydrophilic coating - so that the lines don't get wet and so reduces arcing which is the noise you hear in the wet. Expensive to do but should make them quieter near houses - the noise is only really noticeable for about 50m tops so this will be applied to short sections, the increase in costs won't be that much for the full project costs. I lived near power lines growing up and never noticed much noise from wind - only electrical discharge

For crop and animal production with a solar farm you'll loose something like 20%? I can't remember the exact figure but the field is still productive - in fact can be preferential to graze animals on the field to keep the grass and shrubs down. The land owner gets about £1000? an acre rent. So for farm land, it can be economically OK for farmers to rent the space - and can make a side income with livestock too. For the north of Scotland where income streams might be limited I can see the attraction to the land owners. That money will filter back to the local economy - farmer can spend more, a local work force employed to maintain and operate the site and local hotels and accommodation for construction and any big maintenance teams. However.... we should also be combining new builds - houses, warehouses, offices - with solar (and I think new build houses should have 150% of their electrical needs as solar panels)

Not sure if you have seen the Tip Sites - worth adding your details on there, noting that the tree surgeons on here are more likely to use a tip site if it is more convenient to do so than go to their established tips... which generally means those working in your area but outside of their area - they are not so common as the locals of course. How much as you looking for? Last wood chips I had was about a tonne, too much for a garden but plenty for what I wanted (I could do with more now too).

Steres Wikkipedia page suggests there are 2 locations they can go for hajj, just Mecca has flights and so on.. all the same that is still a lot of people to both.

Perhaps some polite further advice that the hedge can be trimmed anytime but similarly the tree could - in your opinion of course - fail anytime - and to check the household insurance cover for the tree if it does fall.

The RSPB did some research of chilli in bird feeds, turns out that some squirrels hate it.. but some love it spicy!

That was 7 posts in a row without saying anything really just digs and insults to other forum members. I wonder if Peds has a point here "Taking over the conversation"..... Might be beneficial to this thread to take a deep breath every now and then, let the discussion breath and go it's own way? This thread isn't all about Johnson, D. The other thread, Covid, most of us have moved on successfully - not so sure you monopolising that one will bother too many people. (expecting the usual retort, some rubbish about myself embarrassing myself, unable to offer a straight answer, perhaps lying and failing to prove that I was lying, some bromancing with the other members because I agree with them, and the new one whether I am employed. That reply will probably be 2 posts long. Predictable all the same.)

While I am here, Johnson, D, you missed off that Welsh School girl who ran about stabbing teachers and pupils in April... or is she too white to make your shortlist of murderers?

Why the anger towards Sime42 today? He didn't post the article however to follow on from his last point, it is no surprise, some people on here are angry people, some people are chilled out - the same as you'd find in any pub really. Adding relevance to the article - I think it was to highlight that it is not just your army of invading asylum seekers that can do shitty things, all nations and all armies have a darker side - though the words of explanation could have been added rather than leaving it up to us to guess the reasoning and thoughts behind the link. Not tricky to make the link from the comment before to the article posted after, just needs some joined up thinking? I'd tend to agree though, the British armed forces are generally very professional.

For your peace of mind you might get him to get a doctors note confirming he is fit to work for you. Shouldn't be a problem, if he cuts himself might need bigger plasters or bandages and anything that is an ambulance job is an ambulance job regardless.

I reckon "Northern Europe" and "Northern Europe" should be sufficient while maintaining some degree of internets safety.. a lot of valuable information flying around for the government / Chinese / Russian bots if you are inclined to think that way

If they are granted refugee status (90% are) - according to the laws since Brexit from the Tory government - then legally they have come here asking for help, and we have given them help. That la-la land - I didn't make the laws, I didn't set the requirements, but those cleverer than me did and that is what they are saying. I just find in incredulous that those who are in genuine need (legally defined) are victimised and yet the 1.2 million economic migrants - and I bet many of them are also 'fighting age' and will represent the full range of religions - those 1.2 million economic migrants will contain a representative share of criminals, just we take them with open arms to 'steal our jobs'

Curious you mention Brexit, we used to belong to the EU justice system where we could check anyone coming here for a criminal record within Europe - 600 million records, a nice Brexit bonus that we can't now, and only get access to 1/10th of that (the UKs criminal system). Didn't we also have an agreement with France to return any asylum seekers to France, wonder what happened to that? Ahh, Brexit.... and curiously since we lost those 2 the number of small boats crossing has increased, still it is a nice industry created under the Tory watch. So 'Fighting age men' make up the majority crossing in small boats? Since 2018 there have been about 126,000 crossing in small boats.. which is a good chunk larger than the British Army... but... where are they doing all this fighting that they have come to do? If they were here and fighting in that kind of number that would be more newsworthy than perhaps Johnson and Sunak getting a bit pissed up in Downing Street - but as it happens, most of the news is mundane like that. Perhaps the 'fighting age men' are not actually here for the fighting at all and are mostly here as advertised, asylum seekers? I suspect my argument here will be ridiculed, but who is to let an honest question get in the way of a good strop - the question being where are the 'fighting age men' doing all this fighting that you all assume they have come to do?

... and in other news nearly 4,000 government sanctioned migrants arrived, also needing to be housed, and these are also "predominantly military age males".. the difference being that the ones arriving in small boats, 90%+ are granted refugee status, they are the desperate asking for our help. 2/3

What kind of budget do you have? We could all suggest top of the range with someone elses money? I've got 2 saws - the Stihl 181 and a battery Qualcast (discontinued), for similar to you - small trees, firewood, I had the Stihl doing about a 25" limb the other week - slow but capable. Bought that from new so I know its history, been looked after reasonably well and is about 10 years old now... plenty of spare parts available, plenty of advice here and other places. The qualcast, 36V battery, again capable, has cut similar sizes to the Stihl but that flattens the battery. However it is no longer sold (I got the last in the store, half price), not sure what spares there would be or new batteries.... but it is also a capable saw. Point being the smaller saw is probably OK, MS181, or a decent battery saw and a spare battery - but all depends on the budget - for the battery saw when it dies it will need replacing - which brings me to my recent conclusion, when the saws need replacing I'll be going battery + spare batteries. e-bay.... you could try this to get something cheaper - my experience, 2 identical hedge trimmer and 2 identical blowers being a 50-50 success rate (I got 2 of each, 1 for good and one for donor) - if you are OK with maintenance you might get something - but budget on the top end of e-bay, perhaps 60% of new price

Where is your friend based? That might be a better question, maybe not a suitable location in this situation but someone else following this thread might be able to help out.

Think we might need to be paying more - the real top guys in industry would laugh at the Prime Ministers salary. Consider the country as a company, multi-billion pound, the CEO would expect a salary twenty times what we pay... however this is for a professional CEO who is likely to have spent many years working up the professional ladder to get there. All a Prime Minister needs is floppy hair and a personality, but no proven competence.

Very unlikely.

... I've seen a few of them... be seen and heard at 9:30 on a Sunday morning, do what you want the rest of the week

Angry much? ... and anyones employment status is an irrelevance to be honest. I did answer. Tonight, I will be self employed, refer to my earlier answer as to my role.

Weirdly I would dispute that, take the retired, their current employment state is the same as a 16 year old (unemployed) school leaver but according to the statistics would be at opposing ends of the political spectrum. From the little you said about your work, take a 16 year old army cadet, freshly signed up (with parents approval of course) - very different political outlook to a General but the same jobs and career path. I would be much more inclined to believe that parenting and social factors are a much more important factor to your political and life views. It might be that your parents (as an example) influence your outlook on life and with their influence that guides you to any career path you take. Age is another factor, as you age your political outlook veers more to the right, Conservatism (you have more to loose as you get older), younger people are more keen on social justice (less to loose, no mortgage (especially now), lower earnings and a parent safety net). So reiterating, current, past or future employment in an irrelevance to this part of this thread. I've decided what job to do on Monday by the way - if you are still obsessed by then I'll let you know.

'Don't reply or ignore'... don't know if you noticed that 'employment' is an irrelevance, I was ignoring but you have an obsession so I gave you an answer. You are never happy. Tomorrow by the way I'll be Scotlands leading manufacturer of prosthetics to explain away my interest in wood, we all like a bit of wood. Keep talking bollocks, and that is what you'll get back.

The lads I knew who were on that lived on one side of their region so it worked out OK for them, but I think the rule was the same for everyone - which it should be - everyone does half hour 'free' commute or you all get paid for it. Sure way to upset the workers if is there are 2 sets of rules

Seen that before where you work from home but travel to site / clients, they say a daily commute to work is nominal - half hour perhaps - you clock on when you get in the van, clock off at home again and all hours are counted except that 2x half hour - the rational being you would be commuting for that 30 minutes anyway (ignoring that your place of work - the van - is 30 seconds away).

My employment? mostly an irrelevance to "making the news today" - it might be if it was a new job today - by it isn't. A weird obsession but lets go with it. Today, Thursday, I'll be 'Pearl, the Cabaret Singer" in my local - didn't want to say since it is likely to trigger 30% of your prejudices, especially when you realise I wasn't born in this country.