Just Between You, Me, and the Bingo Card: Life Lessons from the Assisted Living Facility

I sure hope the homeowner is paying by the job, like you assume. Judging by your pictures and timeline, he's got way more than a weeks worth (assuming 40 hours) into this tree.

I also think there's more non-job related overhead you're not taking into account. Wonder how much insurance costs for a tree-climber?

Either way, seems rather inefficient.

 

he's there about 2-4 hours a night, he's well under 40. He hasn't been there every day.
As a sole proprietor, (like me btw, I have a good idea what his overhead is) his liability insurance is prolly the same as mine, one million dollars. It doesn't cost that much to have either, it's cheaper than auto insurance.
He prolly pays the same as me for medical too.
I doubt he cares what you or anybody else thinks about his methods. I bet he likes going to work and not having to stare out a window at the same parking lot all day.

 

needs more Floyd

 

No way does his insurance cost the same as yours. You spend all day roped to a tree 50ft in the air?

Also, the windows in my office face the ski area, not a brick wall like Brian.






I do agree though, I bet he enjoys what he's doing, and that's what matters.

 

I bet his is exactly the same as mine. I do construction and life safety, my actual perceived liability is way higher. No I'm not swinging on a rope, but there are cranes, scissor lifts, unstable ladders, and worst of all, other assholes that don't give one shit about me, that's the real danger, the other guys on the job.
Plus, it's liability insurance for the customer, not his sorry ass if he falls or cuts his arm off.
The insurance is there in case he damages the customer's property.

Sole proprietors are not required to carry work comp if that's what you are thinking. I don't carry it. Why would I file a claim against my own company?
My regular health ins. will take care of any boo boos on me.

my liability is there in case I accidentally burn the building down, break windows, damage machinery, or somebody dies due to my negligence.

 

Agreed, my liability insurance is there should I do damage to the home I am working on, fall out the tree, different insurance in irrelevant to the task being performed.

 

And that's why you're not a licensed arborist, like that guy is (or should be, since it's required to do tree contract work in this city). I think you severely underestimate how tall that tree is, how far past that fence it would fall, how wide all the branches are, and how much they'd hit neighboring properties. Or how exponentially the risks grow the larger chunks you take out at once. Something internal to the tree doesn't work like you think (rotted out core you can't see, stronger on one side than another) or other environmental conditions and suddenly it's not going down the way you planned it to. Given the schedule described it sounds like a side job or helping out a friend or something. Solo guys can work cheaper than a crew, but they also have to take longer.

When I was a kid my father and I used to do a fair bit of this stuff for friends/family/etc. My uncle was actually full time for power line utilities in neighboring state, and once in a while for something this big or close to structures and such, we'd bring him in. A couple of years back my dad started doing it again, only this time as a full-on side business. He probably wouldn't take that tree on because of the size, potential for things to go wrong, and being a solo operator.

 

We need to fund a Beaver suit he can wear while doing all his wood chucking.

 

This thread got too serious. I sincerely apologize from bringing insurance up.

So garage/workbench update. Got a cheap 6" vise, used it to cut my crossmember to length, hopefully it hold up. Also found an old Pioneer stereo amp with some speakers and sub. I built a shelf for it and hooked it up to the Amazon Echo dot I got as a Christmas gift from a client. I think the thing is kinda silly, but it's nice to be able to change the song and volume and stuff while I'm wrenching.

IMAG0196 by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Now I can get some work done.

 

I need to build some of those type of benches, and a loft. You need to raise the roof!

 

When do tickets get handed out for the tour?

 

At the rate I'm going...............

 

I dunno if the Echo can't do as much as Alexa...s...es... whatever, but whoever visits next, you might give this a shot: https://xkcd.com/1807/

 

I didn't underestimate shit.
I know exactly who's house is across the street.

 

dick

 

Sounds like a plan until you damage the street and/or sidewalk and have the city come grab you by the coconuts.

 

Is this something you give commands to?

What'd you name it?