You make a valid point. I didn't make it because of all the choice I had in available options. You can get absolute junk for around $100. Then you jump into the thousands.
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- Thread starter Tom
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Most of the sweet gum pods have dropped. I spent a while blowing a ton of 'em off the driveway, and went as far as the extension cord allowed, to blow them out of the grass and into the natural areas. I do the yard, section by section, so more will be cleaned as weather allows.
For those not familiar, sweet gum trees are a real PITA for 2 reasons. First is the wood is soft yet very heavy, so any storm is likely to rip chunks off the tree. I've had the top half of a 60' tree come down right by the house. No damage done, but it's no fun cleaning up the mess.
Reason 2:
The seed pods are nature's caltrops. If you step on one with bare feet, you'll understand. Plus they are the one thing in nature that takes longer to decompose than a cigarette butt, roughly 65 million years. So if not removed ... well, they'll build up year after year.
Japan is researching growing giant seed pods. They want to line the shore with the pods so Godzilla cannot come ashore. His atomic breath won't burn them and even his feet are not THAT tough if he steps on them.
For those not familiar, sweet gum trees are a real PITA for 2 reasons. First is the wood is soft yet very heavy, so any storm is likely to rip chunks off the tree. I've had the top half of a 60' tree come down right by the house. No damage done, but it's no fun cleaning up the mess.
Reason 2:
The seed pods are nature's caltrops. If you step on one with bare feet, you'll understand. Plus they are the one thing in nature that takes longer to decompose than a cigarette butt, roughly 65 million years. So if not removed ... well, they'll build up year after year.
Japan is researching growing giant seed pods. They want to line the shore with the pods so Godzilla cannot come ashore. His atomic breath won't burn them and even his feet are not THAT tough if he steps on them.
We had a sweet gum tree in the front yard of our old house. We cut it down for all the reasons you listed.Most of the sweet gum pods have dropped. I spent a while blowing a ton of 'em off the driveway, and went as far as the extension cord allowed, to blow them out of the grass and into the natural areas. I do the yard, section by section, so more will be cleaned as weather allows.
For those not familiar, sweet gum trees are a real PITA for 2 reasons. First is the wood is soft yet very heavy, so any storm is likely to rip chunks off the tree. I've had the top half of a 60' tree come down right by the house. No damage done, but it's no fun cleaning up the mess.
Reason 2:
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The seed pods are nature's caltrops. If you step on one with bare feet, you'll understand. Plus they are the one thing in nature that takes longer to decompose than a cigarette butt, roughly 65 million years. So if not removed ... well, they'll build up year after year.
Japan is researching growing giant seed pods. They want to line the shore with the pods so Godzilla cannot come ashore. His atomic breath won't burn them and even his feet are not THAT tough if he steps on them.
The Missus and I got to see an accident from up close today. We were driving on a multiple lane road in the left lane, and the right lane was ending in another half mile. A car in the right lane put on her left signal, so I backed off from the truck I was behind, to let her in.
She speeded up, then switched lanes without looking, slamming in the side of the truck. I was about 4 car lengths back when she hit, and was well clear of it. I saw her going and made sure we remained viewers, not participants.
As accidents go, it wasn't a bad one, but like all accidents, the best one is one in which I'm not a participant.
EDIT: This was in slow traffic, so the speed was about 20 MPH. If we had been at highway speed, it would have been really ugly.
She speeded up, then switched lanes without looking, slamming in the side of the truck. I was about 4 car lengths back when she hit, and was well clear of it. I saw her going and made sure we remained viewers, not participants.
As accidents go, it wasn't a bad one, but like all accidents, the best one is one in which I'm not a participant.
EDIT: This was in slow traffic, so the speed was about 20 MPH. If we had been at highway speed, it would have been really ugly.
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Glad you were aware and stayed safe.The Missus and I got to see an accident from up close today. We were driving on a multiple lane road in the left lane, and the right lane was ending in another half mile. A car in the right lane put on her left signal, so I backed off from the truck I was behind, to let her in.
She speeded up, then switched lanes without looking, slamming in the side of the truck. I was about 4 car lengths back when she hit, and was well clear of it. I saw her going and made sure we remained viewers, not participants.
As accidents go, it wasn't a bad one, but like all accidents, the best one is one in which I'm not a participant.
If I could go back in time, or send a message back to my younger self, I'd have had the builder remove all the sweet gum and yellow pine trees from the front half of our property. It's 1.5 acres, with the back half heavily wooded. Any of these near the house would be gone!
Thanks!
My dad taught us to look at the bigger picture. Don't focus on the car in front of me, look at as many as I could see. When the 5th car up front lights their brakes or puts on a turn signal, expect something to happen. Even an extra second to react makes a difference.
In this situation I knew she was going to merge. Nothing concrete, just driver's intuition, so I wasn't surprised at her turn signal. I 'spose it's called situational awareness. 4+ decades of driving has made me paranoid.
When I was teaching my sons to drive, I told them they should consider every other driver on the road to be an idiot, until proven otherwise. And I didn't know how to prove otherwise! And that sometime they'd be the idiot. But to try to not be the idiot ...
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