Thread: job today, cursed or not?

This tree job that I did today had to have gone the worst out of any job I have ever done before.

Met the customer, got the job... 5 minutes later I crash and total my car down the road from his house.

Supposed to do the job... the guy who helps me had a heart attack.

Guy e-mails me saying he wants 4 guys working today... alright... hourly deal... no problems. Guy calls last night at 10:00 wanting me to only bring 2 guys and me.

Do the job... mostly chipping... but removing a bunch of widowmakers and a dead ash out in a field.

4x4 pickup truck pulling chipper gets stuck in the woods.
Pantin starts falling apart during an SRT ascent.
Saddle loosens up making things really uncomfortable
Go to remove an 8 - 10" diameter locust branch up over some shrubs. Takes 7 shots WITH the BS to get a line set for SRT. ALMOST had a good shot for a closed system... but couldn't get it.
Same branch, get up there, set my block, go to cut the limb out... see a high strength cable with the pre-wrap supporting it, however only 3 strands are still in tact. Figure... oh well... the cables will break once the load hits... NOT. Didn't bring my bolt cutters, because as far as I knew... there were no cables. Had to borrow the homeowner's hacksaw.
GREEN groundie takes my climbing line and wraps it around the portawrap about 10 times.
My guy with the chipper injures his knee while moving logs out of the woods. PISSED at me.
Cut down the dead ash in the field... chain gets de-railed on my 044.

I will try to think if anything else came up from this job.

Have any of you guys just had jobs where you felt you were cursed? What have you done? I was thinking about throwing in the towel today MANY times...

Reckon you just had a bad day mate........

I am simply speaking from my own experiences ...... and am not implying anything about yourself!

In the past, I found that when things were not running as smoothly as I would have liked them too, I began to build frustration. This level of frustration began to cloud my judgement and more mistakes/inconviences take place, causing further frustration. As the hours unfold, the day became so aweful that I just want it to end and be able to start fresh in the morning.

What have I learned from such past experiences? Well, I have found that when the powers that be decide that my day is supposed to be from hell, I treat it as a challange to overcome and adapt to meet the challange. Sure, that's easy for me to say, but it really does work. If the chain falls off your bar, think about the signs leading upto its departure and be able to predict such an event in the future. Change a technique............adapt!

If this story sounds similar to your own, try my little wisdom and see if it works. Be able to stand back from a situation and laugh about it..................ask yourself what you've done to deserve such a crappy day? The answer is usually quite funny. Afterall, everything typically gets better once you get home!

cursed.

Problems do seem to come in bunches-much of that is tied in with the frustration level Shane mentioned. Sometimes things just seem to go from bad to worse. If at all possible I take a day off and go fishing when this stuff starts happening. The fishing seems to help get things in hand for a fresh start.

Well, at least the day ended on a good note. I was able to go out to dinner tonight with a good friend, and my guy Joe will speak with me again in the future. So all is not lost

Every one has bad days. Many times picked up that towell just have not thrown it in yet.Its no diffrent than a prize fight.Every boxer has a bad round. Just have more better days than bad. You will come out ahead.& always remember thing could be worse.Just go to the local Vetrans hospital, Or the local county hospital & visit the murder cycle ward. You will come out with a whole diffrent attitude.( as always its just my oppinion)

Sonny, what is a "murder cycle" ward? Not familiar with that term... hopefully I never will have to be either.

He means people who have dropped their bikes and are lacking much eppidermis.

The VA hosp is one of my regular therapy sessions. I go there for my medical care too, but I will often see the old guys sitting out there with their smokes, some dragging through a treachiotomy...there but the Grace of God.....

Hi Treeman 82,Sorry to hear of your bad day,but think of it like all the bad luck of the new year came early and came in one day.Now for 2003 its smooth sailing(don't get complacent of course) and rejoice.I believe one's attitude has more to do with lifes happenings than most anything else.And I agree with Sonny and JPS, anybody who thinks they have it bad should visit the local elderly care home.A man with good health can overcome anything he sets his mind to.Glad you didn't get serious injuries from your car accident.

Having just gone through a rough stretch myself, things will get better-they sure as h*ll can not get much worse! Does anyone have a set of Murphy's Laws for arborists?

Treeman82,

Hopefully it is not a curse. Just a bad day. Think on the positive side, at lease it was an hourly job. Green ground guys make the job go longer, but the customer is paying their salery. If you would have bid the job then you would be out your money.

Keep your head up, minus somebody getting killed it can only get better.

rwilk

Matt,

Sounds like a rough day but everyone has them. Cursed may be overkill. I like to think that somedays life just sucks so make sure ya where a helmet.

John, thanks for clearing that up. I was having thoughts in my head of people who had been victims of attempted murder or some such thing. Bullet wounds, stab wounds, etc.