Tree Trimming

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Today a friend of mine was supposed to come and trim my trees. Last night he called and said he hurt his finger and wouldn’t be able to operate his pole saw. I had wanted him to come several weeks ago before the trees got leaves on them but he didn’t want to come then. It would have been a lot easier not having leaves in the way. This friend is the type that always likes to do things the hard way. I had helped him on his farm a couple of times. One time he wanted to put dirt that was next to the road in a wheelbarrow. Then he wanted me to roll the wheelbarrow through a wooded area and a bumpy pasture to where he wanted the dirt next to his driveway. I said, “Why don’t I just roll it up the paved road and into your driveway. No, he did not want to do it that way. So through the woods and pasture I went nearly dumping the load getting it over the rough ground in the woods and pasture. It was real work. So I told him I was not going to do it again. The next loads I took on the pavement up the road. That made the trip faster and easier. Nearly everything he wanted me to do, I could come up with faster and easier ways of doing it. But what really surprised me is a lot of the suggestions I made he said, “I never thought of doing it that way before.” I think one reason I could spot easier ways of doing things was from my training in LEAN manufacturing. When I first learned about LEAN I thought it was a great idea. It’s a way to study a process and figure out ways of doing it easier and quicker. But as time went by I realized it was also a way of making one person do the job of two or three people. Sometimes it made the job easier but for the most part it just made one person work harder. Then the company could pay one person to do the job of two or three people. Anyway, my trees will not be trimmed today. I have no idea when he will be able to trim them. I’m thinking about buying a battery powered pole saw. I wouldn’t buy one except the tree seems to need trimming every couple of years. I'm thinking battery powered because then I won’t have to mess with gas and oil and all the other things that come with a gas engine. I have a battery powered lawn mower I’ve been using now for nearly ten years. I don’t have to worry about having to go get gas and oil. I don’t have to worry about tuning it up or changing the oil. All I have to do is make sure the battery is charged.