oh lord hes up on a skinny platform 30 some f eet up

@Hatley (163781)
Garden Grove, California
October 25, 2012 5:39pm CST
I was watching these tree trimming guys from my window here and say this guy silhouetted against the ske up at east 3 0 feet as those trees areuge and old. one is already shorn e and looks horrid. But i am wondering does he have some kind of safety harness on when hes up there like that?your t ke fellow mylotters I know ond thing I would never make a tree trimmer. I am so s ared of heights its almost silly . He acts like hes been doing this for years. brr it creeps me out to see him that high up but its also fascinating too Wonder if they are going to make all those once lovely tees look like scare crows,.wow. They sure to get a lot done with those chain saws .
8 people like this
23 responses
@BarBaraPrz (45217)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
26 Oct 12
If he's not using a bucket ladder (mounted on a truck), he probably is using a safety harness. One would hope so, anyway.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi BarBaraPrz yes he was in a bucket mounted on a trsuck and as I watched he was soon around on the other side of those huge trees. wow they look like something out of sci fi story now reduced to bare trunk and a f w stubby fat branches looking more like arms. I imagine the owners of the apartment complex were worried that a large branch might come down and hurt someone walking along the street. they s re did their job in a hurry too. I watched and felt so glad I was on solid floor in my room and not up there in that cage. heights and I just do not get along.my only phobia but its a dozy ,. lol.
2 people like this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi john thanks for the needed laugh ha ha he he oh my g osh just imagine if the guy up there did have some sort of seizure and the guys down below did not know about it at first wow.[
2 people like this
@JohnRok1 (2051)
26 Oct 12
So long as he doesn't kick the bucket!
3 people like this
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
25 Oct 12
Mum's got one of those loppers (yes, that's their real name) and I've not witnessed her using one but she's not very tall so there's no way she'd go up on a ladder anyway, being accident-prone like me. This is what they look like. Oh, and about safety harnesses..could be but I doubt it! They're fearless those guys! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loppers
2 people like this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi Janey I was watching them mutilate those trees and wondered what would happen if I was sent up; that high in a tower like thing. I bet I would just pass out from fright. Fear of heights is my only phobia but my plams were sweaty watching those guys.those big trees were so pretty and now look like a tornado had struck. the accidental fall I had came from not using a ladder. I piled a chair on top an end table then climbed up on the chair and was hanging new drapes when the chair slipped and I fell down into the upset end table. I bruised my right `leg so badly it swelled and my hubby insisted on taking me to the ER they x rayed both legs but I was lucky.no broken bones. Needless to say I did not do that stunt again. in fact I coerced my hubby into finishing hanging the drapes. I am so afraid of highths that its not ev en funny
1 person likes this
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
26 Oct 12
Hi Hatley, Mum once stood on a stool to get at the curtain rail in the back room and she fell off it, nearly banging her head on the corner of a table. Fortunately, she had no broken bones either although she has fallen at work before now, breaking her wrist, and also burnt her foot with a red hot potato as it fell onto bare skin at home (she had sandals on) and I remember that came up like a balloon. Why did the guys chop the trees in the first place? It sounds like you're not very happy about how they look now. I must admit, I hate it when someone chops a tree down for no apparent reason. Someone did that over the road from Dad's front room. It was a cherry tree that was full of blossom in the spring..gone. Even more frustrating is the fact the people have since moved out. Dad has no 'greenery' to look at now.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi janey boy I did notlive thatfall down for a long time,You poor mom drppp9ing a hot potato on her poor footl ouch. Oh those guys are not c utting them done wheat theydo it take off all the green brancehs cut the height of the tree back and leave them with big fat stumpy arms and bare trunk . they look ugly righrt now but in time they wil bush out and be all green and pretty so I guess these guys know what they are doing,.
• United States
26 Oct 12
I'm sure that they have harnesses and they do wear spiked books to help them up in the air. When I was younger, I used to LOVE to climb this one tree in our backyard-our deck fence backed up almost against the tree and I used it to climb further up the tree. I think I used to get up 20 or 25 feet up in the air, and once my dad figured out what I was doing, he was out there trimming the lower branches to stop me from climbing. It was fun-and fortunately, I don't think I was that afraid of heights.
• United States
31 Oct 12
That sounds so scary Hatley! I've been fortunate-I never had a fall like that, so I can imagine how frightened you must have been! I was just a little girl, somewhere around nine months or so, and my mom told me how I had fallen into the pool. I never learned HOW I got out of her sight for something like that to happen, but I know my dad built a fence around the pool immediately! I know that I can't look straight down unless I'm holding something tightly, but I wasn't scared when I visited the Empire State Building and looked out from the Observation Deck.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi scorpiobabes I used to climb trees as a kid but something happened I think it was a fall at a reservoir where we were all fishing and the bank gave way beneath me and I fell about twenty feet into the water.I was not hurt but I was only five but knew how to float and my granddad pulled me out be me hanging on to the end of his fishing pole and he pulled me into the shore.I was badly frightened and from then on was really scared of heights all the rest of my life. I watched those guys for awhile then could no longer bear it s o cam back to my computer.
1 person likes this
@urbandekay (18278)
26 Oct 12
Well this is a job I did, when young Not from a platform but with ropes and harnesses and leg spikes. It is glorious and exhausting and, thankfully, has an element of danger Unfortunately, many people want trees cut down, which are perfectly healthy and once or twice I had to tell the owner, if you don't want trees in your garden then move! Talking to other tree surgeons many feel the same Chain-saws are charismatic tools, I would be very reluctant to lend a saw out but would lend other more expensive tools all the best, urban
@urbandekay (18278)
26 Oct 12
Perhaps you need to get out more! all the best, urban
2 people like this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
oh m y my first good laugh of the day thanks Urban I needed that its cold here in sunny California, I should not c omplain as hot as it was all summer and m ost of Sept. but I am human and humans do bi.a.t.ch. A chainsaw I have heard must be kept a certain way and no good trim trimmer ever loans one out. I am glad the guys are in harnesses and I saw a whole bun ch of lines going to his cage. He acted very confident of himself. I tried to imagine myself up in that cage and yes chainsaws would speak in tongues before anyone ever got me up that high in a cage with harness or not. brrrr.I have on ly one phobia but its a dozy as I am reall afraid of heights. lol
1 person likes this
@JohnRok1 (2051)
26 Oct 12
I've never seen a chain-saw deceive itself into thinking it's speaking in tongues.
2 people like this
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
26 Oct 12
I am not terribly scared of heights, but mix that with a chainsaw, and I get a little weary.. Unfortunately we don't have the money to hire someone and my husband can't (or won't) do it, but we have many trees that need a good trim. I may not be 30 feet up, more like 10-15, but still!!!
• United States
26 Oct 12
Hatley don't be embarrassed, even the most bravest person you can think of, has a fear of something. I can't stand spiders, so when I thought my phone might have been under this dresser, I refused to put my hand under it in case a spider lived there so my husband did. Unfortunately no phone, but at least I didn't have to check it.. The trees I have to trim are over our house and probably destroying our roof, so I have to cut them back. Not looking forward to the "job" but I am looking forward to when it is done and over with..:)
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi carm I really wish I wasn't as it can get embarrassing, anyway these trees are huge and I guess they haven't been pruned for years but these guys take all the leaves and most branches off and leave st ubby looking things with the huge u=under branches. I don't really know why they are cutting them back so far unless they think they are safety hazards they are close to a bunch of apartments in a large complex. the birds used to live in their branches too. yes even at t en to fifteen feet thats getting up there and a chainsaw needs a person with real experience to use it safely.I can imagine this outfit today really cost the owners of the apartment comples. it is a huge one gtaking in several blocks so hope they do not mutilate all those trees. lol,.
2 people like this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
oh Carm do be careful on the ladder and with the chain sqw.wish you had someoneto do it for you an able bodied guy or some relative? anyway do be really careful.
@JohnRok1 (2051)
26 Oct 12
Are you sure that was your window and you weren't watching Chain-Saw Massacre 2 on telly?
2 people like this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
he he got me no I s aw chainsaw massacre one and t hat one was e nough for me. nO i was watching out the window as the guy starting to mutilate gorgeous huge trees into spindly stick looking things with fat arms reaching into the sky'like they were imploring God to give back all my beauty. my second laugh of the day thanks.Its 7;58 am on a sunny cold morning in Southern Calif. why am I not happy its cold after all the hot hot days we had? Glad that gu y had all those safety lined on him. he looked like he was enjoying himself. brrrrrr better him than me. I get nervous on the balcony of a second floor apt.so not me up in that cage.
1 person likes this
@JohnRok1 (2051)
26 Oct 12
Maybe they thought the trees were giant triffids and it was Chainsaw Massacre 2?
1 person likes this
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
25 Oct 12
OMG I hate heights and even seeing someone that high up in a precarious position makes me feel faint. Those chainsaws are pretty lethal too, just one slip and it doesn't bare thinking about. I remember when my elderly next door neighbour needed her hall light changing, and she couldn't get up high or reach out. I tried to be neighbourly but when I got the stairs and tried to reach out I had palpitations and felt sick. I like my feet safely on terra firma. Watching them must have been like watching some kind of horror film! Whenever I see a chainsaw it always reminds me of that ghastly film Texas Chainsaw Massacre which I stayed up to watch one night, ewww gave me nightmares.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
oh wolfie me too and my palms were sweating as I watched them. oh that horrid TexsasChainsaw Massacre my son talked me into watching the dvd and I had nightmares from it too Yuck.I don't even like climbing up into the nose bleed section at ball game, well now I am using a walker I have an excuse for not'going u up there. lolthat film really for me was just awf ul and my son and hubby laughed at a lot of it. I just thought it was gross. I am no good anymore just standin up on a chair. sense of balance is shot. I am told a lot of diabetics have balance prob lems. there are some exercises tha will hep I am told.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157027)
• United States
26 Oct 12
Most professional tree trimmers use a harness and safety rope system. Amateurs fall a lot. They will make the trees ugly at first, but then when spring comes the trees will grow back in thicker than ever.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi Garden gerty something is eating my ;osts drat. copy yes I noticed that a year ago they did another street like that and were so ugly and now they are 'gorgeous again,. the man had all sorts o f ropes hanging from him so guess h was fine. but me I could only watch for awhile then I had to come back to my lotting as my palms were actually sweating,amd I was safe on the floor of my room and in no d anger at all.
1 person likes this
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
26 Oct 12
Hi Hatley, I do think that most of them wear a safety harness but I am not 100% sure on that. I may be thinking of the guys I've seen up on the telephone poles. Safety harness or not, you would NEVER catch me up there. I am very afraid of heights. It's weird because as a kid, I used to climb trees and build tree forts and even sleep in them. Then I hit about 12 or 13 and one day, I was up in a tree and complete panic came over me when I went to climb down. I'll never forget it as it was 5:30 in the morning and I yelled for and woke up my dad to come help me out. He was quite irritated as it wasn't really that high up. Anyway, they are brave and hopefully they won't make the trees too ugly.
2 people like this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi sid oh they did make them look so hideous with bare fat arms sticking ou t like a tornado had shorn all their branches. b ut I did notice a bunch of 'lines going f rom his cage so he was well protected evidently..It did not' take them long to r educe those huge bushy trees to bare skeletons I know that they will once again bush out and look good again later on. I knew I was safe but watching them my palms got sweaty and I had to stop and come back to mylotting. You would never get me up in one of those cages many feet up in the air. I am so afraid of heights. lol
1 person likes this
• United States
25 Oct 12
Hi little chickadee! That's pretty darn high to me, haha! But, these guys know what they're doing and they do it very fsst. I remember a couple of years ago here when they cut down some HUGE pine trees. I was really upset about them cutting them down but I'm not the landlord, unfortunately. These pine trees were at least 40-50 feet tall and they had them cut down, cut up, chipped and taken away in less than an hour. Plus they even took down another little pine tree. All gone...all those years of living and it just killed me to see them do this. But anyways, these guys are really skilled and it means nothing to them to do this. I would be scared stiff!
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi Kashmeresmycat yes I could tell they were really skilled. me I would not be able to even get into that narrow cage and by the time they raised me up to cut those big trees I would be screaming bloody murder. lol good thing I was born a girl I guess. a man would get teased for being scared like that I imagine,. those trees look horrid now. they w ere so tall and all bushed'out and green,.now they are just bare stubby looking things.
1 person likes this
@julyteen (13252)
• Davao, Philippines
26 Oct 12
Hey Granny, Unlike before I being on top like climbing higher trees and stay there for a couple of hours. I was fall from a mango tree and unconscious for almost 2 hours. In your case you only watch those trees cut by the chain saws. What will you feel if you are the one doing it?
2 people like this
@julyteen (13252)
• Davao, Philippines
29 Dec 12
Yeah it was one of my experience as a young boy. I was very hyper and energetic. I love to climb different kind of fruit trees.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi julyteen oh my were you hurt concussion from being unconscious and falling?oh you would not ever get me up that high plus giving me a chainsaw too.I would probably have cut off a foot or something before learning how to use the chain saw I like to have my feet on solid ground or on the floor here in my room. watching was hard enough thinking what if that man fell or well all sorts of things went through my mind.
1 person likes this
@bunnybon7 (50975)
• Holiday, Florida
25 Oct 12
oh Hatley, i to am afraid of hieghts to an extreme. cant even watch a movie or show that has to much in it as i get dizzy and scared. the only time i had myself brave watching those tree trimmers was when i was much younger in the mobile home park. we had some that would come and trim the palms. one would go bare chested with shorts on and he looked like Fabio only time i could bring myself to watch. lol
2 people like this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
Hi bunnybon fabio wow I would have l oved wat ching here I was safe and not out on the edge of anything. I too get funny during some movies where someone is mountain climbing out onto the edge miles above the ground. My son and my hubby would really tease me."Open your eyes hon you are safe" oh yeah says you. lol. Somewhere though years back my husband and I saw Fabio doing some benefit in Phoenix Ariz when we lived in Tempe. He was just as good looking in person as in the movies. wow.
1 person likes this
• India
26 Oct 12
Hatley, Do you think this kind of tree trimming activities are necessary? Some persons are cutting the tree with the name of trimming and spoils the natural beauty of the tree, surely this kind of persons will avoid their cutting activities
2 people like this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi vidhyapakash yes it really is as the trees are huge and the owners of the apartment comp;lex feel that a bid brancxh couls fall and hurt som oenel. they are just pruning them way back and i saw another street where they did this and in a few months theyt bramches were back and the tree was gorgeous aqgainl i know it looks ugly right now but a little later they will be all bushy and green again,.
1 person likes this
26 Oct 12
no problem dear your are best when you are you.And don't think like this.Atleast i love you who are you know.Only one thing matters in your life its your tongue.If it works rite then your are the healthiest and tallest person no one can cross you.Just speak polite it make you feel like king of the world.Don't think about yourself just think to help[ others then you will feel better.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi hacker welcome t o mylot wow you are new. hope you will emjoy yourself here as much a s I do .mylotters are a r eally friendly group so welcome aborard. I am fine and just have a vivid imagination. watching that g uy in his c age made me think of how i would feel if I was up in that cage many feet off the ground. I have this awful fear of heights and thinking of being up there a ctually made me nervous so finally had t o quit and go back to mylotting. the trees all shorn now look horrid but they will leaf out again and be pretty ag ain.. Y ou are very wise and hope you really have fu n here.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (157563)
• Boise, Idaho
26 Oct 12
I am afraid of heights and small spaces. I would think that the company this tree trimmer works for would make him wear a harness. The company could get sued if there isn't certain safety measures taken for his safety. Their insurance wouldn't cover them either. He probably has been doing this for years and he is probably one of not too many people who do this.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi celticeagle I saw some lines but no harness. I watched for aehile then they had moved around behind the trees and I just could not bear any more watching lol there I was safe on solid floor too. lol I think the man has been doing this for many years and i was wondering what good those ropes would do.lol yes I think he is one of a few. the other guy looked loaded for bear he had so much stuff on him. lol. I could not watch any longer.plus those trees are now just big trunks with stubby arms sticking out no leaves amd they were so pretty .
2 people like this
@celticeagle (157563)
• Boise, Idaho
26 Oct 12
Maybe he was on a pulley type thing. THey may have some new founded thing they use. THe ropes would work like a mountain climbers ropes. Maybe that is why he is so good at it. He could be a mountain climber! hehe
• United States
26 Oct 12
Oh, I don't think that I could have watched him. I know how dangerous such activities can be. I know someone who ended up on crutches for quite a while--and quite lucky that was all that happened--due to the combination of a ladder, a chain saw and an errant branch. I also remember a woman in my community who lost her husband due to a tree that he was cutting crashing down the wrong way.
1 person likes this
@surekharathi (14146)
• India
27 Oct 12
Ohhh God 30 feet tree's height is too much I saw 10 feet long lord Hanuman. In our town near temple lots of long trees but still not see 30 feet long.
1 person likes this
• China
27 Oct 12
It is really a dangerous work.I think People who have acrophobia aren't suitable for this kind of job.By the way,Were the trees they trimmed jacarandas with pretty lilac coloured blooms ?
2 people like this
@telmesh (1793)
26 Oct 12
Trimming trees this way is a lot safer than it used to be and in a lot of cases is very necessary especially alongside roads. In what can be windy areas a large branch can be blown down and actually crush cars killing or maiming it's occupants. The trees recover from their trimming and actually look quite smart the next season with their new young growth. The guys that do this job are a lot safer than when it was done the old way and the trees are safer to.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi telmesh I think the aparment comoplex owners felt the trees were just so huge that if a sudden hard wind came up someone could get hyrt adn in sue happy Calif might even sue the apartment owners for damages. but although i know they will recover nicely and get all gorgeous a gain right now they look bizarre like something out of a sci fi story. lol me an my imagination. The mane did have all sorts of lines going to his cage.I have hard its much safe now and they do know how to prune so the tree stays healthy. I watched utterlyh faxcianate u ntil the idea of being up there that high got to me and I came back here to mylot. My palms were even sticky and I wa s safe on a flat floor and not w a y up i nj the tree tops. my fear of heights is awsfujl an I have to laugh at my self for feeling I was up in that c age. lol. imagination can be tricky.
1 person likes this
@telmesh (1793)
27 Oct 12
Still the came back down to earth safely and you are fit and well as you were before so we can all be thankful for that even if the trees do look as though they have come straight out of latest horror movie.
@echoforever (5180)
• United States
25 Oct 12
It surely creeps me out thinking about this. I too am scared of heights. I am fine in a plane but anythign else is not okay. Not even a balcony with a very safe wall in front of me I will still be scared stiff. I do not know how they can manage those saws so well at that height. They must have some safety on them?
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
26 Oct 12
hi echo yes I am so scared of heights that I get nervous walking next to the railing in the second story of some malls my hubby used to tease me about it but to me it was not funny at all. my son knows how nervous I get.I hate balconies too. I am sure even in t hat narrow cage he hae something tied to him. could not tell'for sure.
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