I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK

`We decided to get rid of some of the giant trees in our backyard because they had doubled in size since we bought our home and the needles were killing the grass. Grass should not be crunchy when walk over it.

We got quotes from professional tree folks but Matt and Andrew said they could do the job. We laughed, end of story. Or so I thought.

Then one day I get home from work and Matt has chopped most of the branches off this one tree and he had topped it. Apparently he didn't understand what NO means.


For heavy branches, Matt developed the technique of tying a rope out on the limb he would cut AND tying the same rope on the inside of where he would cut. When he cut the branch the limb would fall but the second knot would stop its fall. Sorry I don't have pictures but I was helping make sure the branches didn't crash.

Here he is cutting a chunk from the trunk. He cuts from the back, then the front, and then just topples the chunk where it lands on the branches acting as padding. 80 pounds * 40 feet is a lot of kinetic energy - you don't want to be under it.


The whole thing took 3 days - 2 days longer than Matt thought but it was very satisfying to have it done. Now all Connie, Andrew and Mark have left to do is cleanup the branches and trunk (20 " diameter!) pieces.

Here is a picture of a cut close to the bottom of the tree. the tree rings are 3/8 - 1/2 inch meaning the tree got wider about an inch a year!
We hope you enjoy this, Ree!




And here is the mighty woodsman! Note the carnage and how the tree is under his feet! Did all that with that little saw, did we?








Whoops! THIS is the brave lumberjack!

Healthcare alternatives

Last night I was thinking of a tiered plan - probably has tons of problems but what plan doesn't?

Here's a 3 tier plan:

Everyone, without exception gets Basic Healthcare for free - and this
has to be as limited as we can - basically preventative medicine and basic care that is cheap at a doctor's office but very expensive at an emergency room. Stuff like prenatal care, colds, flu, TB, possible pandemic stuff we want to keep from spreading, broken bones. Etc.

Then a second tier of healthcare where private plans and the government compete - MRIs, new livers, etc. Not elective but not basic care. Plans could compete on price and coverage.

Tier 3 would be elective stuff - no government plan at this level.

Also one thing that hasn't gotten much coverage - if we insure 47
million more people, we're gonna need more doctors and nurses, clinics, supplies. We'll need to train more people but this is also a boon to employment and
manufacturing.