Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Check Out Time

Howdy folks!
This might be my last e-mail from Panther Creek State Park and I just wanted to drop off one last e-mail before my team heads back to our base in Charleston on Friday. This week was short but goodness gracious was it intense with all the chainsawing I was doing. On Monday I chainsawed, and could have killed myself on the mule too, although luckily the hill wasn't too steep and the mule still had some breaks left. The mule, by the way, is like an All Terrain Vehicle and Golf Cart Hybrid, so imagine an Army green golf cart with muscle and that's what the mule looks like (or, if your imagination is active, like mine, you would have saw an out of Shape Hulk Hogan in a green leotard). When I was bucking some logs (bucking is the term used for cutting the fallen tree into smaller pieces) my chainsaw blade got really dull and Jason (oursupervisor) was running low on chainsaw fuel and chainbar oil so he told me to take the mule to get my chainsaw sharpened and to bring back some chainsaw fuel and bar oil. The only problem was that I didn't know how to drive the mule. But I figured i could figure out how it works and took the keys with my chainsaw in hand and hiked back to the mule. I finally get to the mule, get it started, but I can't find the parking break! Eventually I call Brian and he helps me find the thing, and then I think I'm home free and i try to back the thingout but it keeps
stalling on me! When I finally get it to stop stalling, I start backing it up, and the daggum thing starts rolling down the hill backwards and I'm struggling to see which way I'm falling back. So I slam on the breaks, try to start it and go forward, but no luck. Eventually i get the mule to a stable spot on the hill, get the bloody thing started, get the right amount gas fed to it, and I'm able to get over the hill and get on the way to the maintenance shed. Thankfully everything worked out ok and the chainsawing for the rest of the day went along without any bumps in the road. On Tuesday, i did weed eating and probably should have blinded myself at least three times but thankfully my qukic jedi reflexes and momentray dsyseixc skills were sharp enough to dodge these small projectiles as they flew at my face. On Wednesday, the first half of the day I did some light lopping and some chainsawing and by the end of the day i was beat up and running late for a church potluck that i was invited to. And now as i type this I am dead beat tired and I got cleaning to do. But all in all this trip to Panther Creek State Park was a challenging mission and I am most certainly looking towards my long awaited Christmas break. Take care folks!
Vincent

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