Overweight tree workers - weight issues - control

George Valentine

Eric,

You're correct, the tree could easily be felled in 3 directions as shown in the pic BUT, there are a number of circumstances/reasons why I decided to take it down this way, and if you and others remember my first post here (introduction), you could realize that has something to do with my personal goals and intentions.

Since retired, and while I can, I only cut trees in exchange for any wood that I can use for my wood turnings and a little of firewood, about 4 tones every year I use as my only source of heat in winter. Most times I take the tree down and share the wood (firewood) with who ever is helping, including that owner of the tree if they use firewood.

So, this is not a job as no money is exchanged, if the tree is big enough, they supply normally the fuel and oils and some fresh eggs or veggies they have growing in their backyards. I don't sell any firewood but I sell some round and square raw blanks to other turners that don't have access to cheap wood.

In the case of this tree, my mate, the fellow that owns that house now, is in a wheel-chair totally paralyzed from the neck down, I have taken care of all his tree needs for many years and on every location he lives on, before (in the previous house) he used firewood to keep the house warm in winter but his wife passed away and he lives now in that house that is a lot smaller, less yard, and very close to the hospital which he visit daily. He has a full time carer but he had to simplify a few things in his life and this place offers him a better situation.

Apart from my wife that helps me, every I need to cut tree/wood, the other fellow that is seen in some pics, is also a mutual friend, a 76 years old Italian that is stronger and healthier than me, he is really unbelievable for his age and we had all agreed that I would take it down, not disturbing anyone, the road traffic and the neighbors drive way that is a big some goes to most people around his place.

As I said before, we all have been waiting for me to get all the proper climbing gear as my last chance to fulfill this wish/desire of mine to actually learn how to climb and do all the tree rigging as any pro-arborist does. After spending a life time working on the ground, I developed this need to try "flying" from branch to branch, high up in the trees and experience the freedom of movement, attached from a harness and good rope.

I have all the spikes and all the climbing and rigging gear now, any good arborist has for a full time living up in the trees, unfortunately investing all this money, was the only way I could ever achieve my goal. I know how to climb, use the spikes and all/most of the knots used in this industry, however, I'm having great difficulty to climb unassisted or even with the spikes.

I'm having a problem with extra weight caused by diabetes and blood pressure that has developed these last few years, @ 170cm tall and 117kg body weight (mainly in my gut, and I don't drink...!), I just don't have the strength to pull my weight up in a rope, particularly since my both hands developed carpel tunnel problems, diagnosed recently trough tests which I was suggested to operate on as soon as possible...!

The way I tackle this tree, apart from keeping all neighbors undisturbed (and a little of chainsaw noise, even tough most of the work was done with my new Stihl 200T), I would have preferred to not have to use the old wooden leader, and do actually the climbing but, recent climbing practice did quickly show that I was not only not ready, I knew that would be unsafe for me if I have persisted in my current physical condition, and as disappointed as I felt, I knew that I had that longer leader on my disposal if necessary and or as an alternative...!

I still used a lot of my climbing gear to get used to and all the rigging worked to perfection, which was quite pleasant to see...!

I may have left this wish a little too late but, I'm not finished yet, I will work for that "flying moment" to the best of my capabilities.

Call me silly if you wish, I'm yet to back off to a challenge, this one is now a big one for me but, I will get there...!

Cutting, trimming trees in exchange for the wood, can make a person quite busy, I now say NO to 9 out of 10 requests...!

Hope you guys can understand a little better now, what I'm doing and why...!

Cheers
George

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George Valentine

Robstar,

Well, you've got part of your questions answered on my previous post, and while it would have saved by legs considerably from going up and down on that tall leader, and if nothing else was into consideration, one of the things that most of these small towns haven't have, is the great benefit to have "hire" places where you find pretty much anything you need, for a considerable price, obviously...!

There was no charge (has normal) for my work, as I helped a couple of mates and helped myself also, with some wood and the use of some of my new gear (practice..!).

Was only one thing that I forgot to take with me and that was my petrol blower to clean better the new laid layer of bitumen on the road and also the foot-pass but a broom and some elbow grease did the job in the end and any remain sawdust, was all washed away with some heavy showers we had yesterday...!

I know that, we are all very quick on making assumptions, myself included BUT, there are ALWAYS reasons why "things" are done in a certain way, and that my friend, is a true fact. Right or wrong is irrelevant "in most cases", however, that doesn't excuse anyone from being liable and responsible for what we do.

Has become second nature to me "sometimes" and well known for, to just do things differently, that is a challenge all by itself, and I'm all for personal challenges, while I can...!

Cheers
George

Eric Frei

I think he's talking about the opening post guys not us.

Over 50, overweight or BMI greater than 30 you have like a 94% chance of getting diabetes.

I watched a documentary about it and about 6% of people do not get it in that category and that is because they carry their fat under the skin, very rare to do that. Both woman and men carry it in great gords around the gut, waist, bum and thighs.

The super fats cells start doing weird stuff and inhibit the work of insulin. In fact fat was considered an inert lump of nothing in the body until within the last 100 years or so when they discovered it actually does stuff, it secretes some sort of hormone and becomes similar to an organ protecting itself and damaging other parts.

Before diabetes (type 2) people often become IR (insulin resistant) and they do not know it. Basically insulin is being inhibited within the body and high glucose levels especially after eating and for a long duration after eating becomes the norm.

Yes, I have been through all the test, blood tests etc as I knew I was overweight. I do not have diabetes but was showing signs of IR.

For all overweight people let it be known that both tomatoes and cinnamon help and do similar work in the body to insulin. I take around a teaspoon of cinnamon throughout the day now (ground and bark but not cinnamon sugar!) and about 1 200g punnet of cherry tomotoes.

I have lost 10kg and many of the faint signs of IR have gone.

Signs of IR are:-

• tired or nodding off after dinner
• waking up thirsty
• peeing during the night (not in bed LOL)
• hungry although you just ate

Insulin helps cells receive glucose for energy. If glucose cannot get into those cells the brain is thinking gee I need more food!

Fat cells become super fat cells and will try to defend themselves from going away, can be a tough battle if your fat cells have developed to superfat cells.

Sorry for the derail but I had to get this off my chest. I have doen a lot of research and watched a lot of documentarys on this.

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George Valentine

Sure Eric, I know how it goes, however, I was first diagnosed with diabetes about 3 1/2 years ago, same for high cholesterol and blood pressure issues. These all appeared at the same time and on top of all my other complications but, since I stop smoking when I retired from paid work as a 50 cigarette per day habit x 2, as my wife was has bad if not worse them me, often 3 x 50 cigarette packs in a day between the 2 of us, would be something that we knew we wouldn't be able to afford anymore, the whole body went through a big transformation since, hers and mine and not for the better, as some would argue...!

When I was diagnosed with these new problems, I visited a Dietitian and I started a new and very different diet regime with sugar being completely removed from the house. Amazingly and without any complementary exercises as the body is just too damn saw for that, I lost about 10kg in the first 3 months and continuing with this new daily diet habits, I manage to get the diabetes under control, without any use of medications.

The 6 monthly routine blood test show that I have quite acceptable sugar levels, just the cholesterol seem to be not improving much...!
While continuing with the some diet, my body weigh went up to its point before my diet change and the extra 10kg come back a lot faster than they took to come out...!

The explanation the doctors give for my large (beer type gut), has to do with the fact that I suffered since the age of 12 with a gastric stomach ulcer that became a nasty bleeding one by the age of 27. The stomach muscles are pushed out due to the secretion of large quantities of acid and gas, which I fought "viciously" while I was young, strong and very fit from all my heavy work regime but, and as I aged, the muscles got softer and weaker and without those very tight tummy 6 packs, the outer stomach skin tissue became unable to contain the pressure from the inner stomach need for expansion, therefore the beer gut that I can lo longer "suck-in"..." damn

Blood pressure is also stabilizing and as soon as the cholesterol improves slightly, I will the be able to take some medication that will make me loose weight fast, well, that is what it was suppose to happen, according to my doc.

Before that happens, I may have to get my carpel tunnels done on both hands, the same goes for my poor wife that developed carpel tunnel also on both hands, at the same time as me, even tough she is considerably younger...!

We do everything together from day one, hard work and heavy lifting, apart from many other aspects of the work where the hands/wrists get a pretty bad work out, reason why we are now in this position, that needs "fixing" pretty damn soon as our hands are getting useless and extremely painful...!

Things will get better, is only a matter of "time" ( a precious luxury, some of us may lack...!), you will see...!

Cheers
George

Done it

Are these correct, 170cm tall and 117kg?

That's about 5'7" and over 18 stone.

George Valentine

Yes, that is correct, with a variation of between 110kg and 117kg these last few weeks...!

Cheers
George

KevinE

George, your gut is simply because your metabolism has slowed with age & you are consuming too much of the wrong food. Removing sugar from the house is good, but its only the 1st step mate! You must remove all processed carbohydrates from your diet permanently! So no more pasta, no more rice, no more white bread, and no more potatoes (sweet potatoes are OK). Also, you cannot eat fatty foods, which means no fried food, no crumbed food, no lamb chops, sausages etc.

In fact, its easier to say what you can eat; fish is good, lean steak is good, salads are good, chicken cooked minus the skin is good.

You may not feel like you can exercise at the moment, but once you start eating correctly the weight will drop off & you will have more energy. So, unless you have any real disabilities, you will be able to exercise. Slowly at 1st, but you will notice your fitness pick up & your exercise will get harder without realising it! Lean muscle has a higher metabolism than fat, so you will also start to burn energy while resting as you become fitter.

Even if you can't exercise because of a heart condition, or other disability, you will still become healthier if your diet is good.

Think of your body as a sink with the tap running; the water is food & drink. if you have too much the drain can't keep up & the sink fills with water (fat)

I was always into sport & fit until my mid 30's. I started work in surveillance at the Adelaide Casino & sat on my arse eating crap all day. I blew out to be a size 5XL The final straw came when I went to a funeral & my size 5XL suit was too small All I did was to head the advice I gave you above & I lost 36kg in 7 months. That was over 3 years ago & I haven't put it back on!

I think we all really know how to eat correctly, but we make excuses. My wife & I used to ponder if I had a tumour in my gut I used to think that the exercise I got at work was enough to keep me fit, I was wrong.

Cheers,

Kevin

George Valentine

Hi Kevin,

I appreciate your words and I know that is a lot of truth in them, I'm also pleased that you have managed to take such a drastic and difficult steps to resolve your weight issue, congrats...!

I would like to expand a little, is regards to your disability comment above, which I understand perfectly. Apart from the various "nagging" stones in my shoes in regards to my health, the one that has some how, controlled my working life and present moment is my spine injury, cause by an sky diving accident at the age of 19, while serving my compulsory army services in the Portuguese Special Forces as a sniper paratrooper...!

I broke my spine and was declared paralyzed from my waste down which I recovered from, against all odds. The 6 months tied up to a bed that was as solid as a solid door and my legs and neck strapped with weights did do something no forgetting those painful large syringes/injections with a redish liquid injected in my spine daily for months on end.

Learning how to walk again 2 1/2 years later, was not as easy as it looks, in the mean time I was wheel-chair bound. I was told by my doctors, "you are a lucky man, never do any work that requires lifting's of more than 5kg" sure, I said...!

Has anyone ever tried to survive in most European countries as a young man without any financial support, from a poor rural family and not having to work their arsses off, 6 days a week at least, and 12 to 16 hour's days...???
Not, unless you were born with a silver spoon stuck in the arss, and/or belonging to a rich family...!

Anyway, I done the only think that I knew well to survive and that was, work as hard as I could, as no one have ever mention to me/show me the other better option, there is, the work smart that I didn't had much time to even thing about it so, the poor spine got "flogged" and pushed to its limits for 20 odd years until, was no discs left in between the vertebra's.

While the disks were simply "grind" away the chain week links from the accident, where my spine separated on the accident, a calcium spore started to develop as the bones rubbed each other (vertebra's), half way trough my working years without me knowing about apart from the pain associated with it, which I had to live with.

About 10 years ago, and unable to cope with the pain on any body movements I went to see one of the best spine specialists this country ever had, and after lots of backs and forwards trips, tests and the works, it was discovered that, the 2 calcium spores growing in the most damaged area, have a sharp point/end and are /squeezing/cutting my spinal cord slowly but surely. The spinal canal in the vertebra's is basically reduced to buggery and the calcium spore which is activated/grows with any movements I make (rubbing action).

Surgery was considered, until a second opinion or should I say, the amalgamation of a couple of spine surgeons conclusion was that, I had a 50/50 chance to come out alive and if I did, I would still have reduced mobility and I would have to take strong pain killers for the rest of my days...!

Well, what was the difference...? I have been taking powerful pain killers most of my life, I have loss of mobility when I get saw, and I still have my survival chances at 100% and not 50/50, those odds I didn't like much so, the decision was easy to make...!

Now, the results or repercussion of this is that, I was told "repeatedly" that, when the calcium spore cuts trough the spinal completely, I will lose the use of my legs and I will be wheel-chair bound for the rest of my days. How much time I have left, well, this was when I was in beginning of my 40th's and from the gap that was left in the spinal canal, I had 1/3 left to go so, translating that in years is extremely difficult so, at 53 I'm starting to feel that, there can't be a lot of time left so, I just make the best of what I've got, while I've got it, is not a matter of if but when...!

I've got absolutely no complains, I have been a very lucky man, given the opportunity to live a "normal" life for many years while most of those, suffering a similar type of accident, never had that fortune so, who am I to complain...!

I have been ready, (as ready as one can be, in these circumstances) for some time, including making the place wheel-chair friendly, the best I can for the moment. I may find extremely difficult to cut trees and climb trees from a wheel-chair but ain't going to stop trying and continue working on my work-shop tools such as the bandsaw, wood-lathe, etc...!

Remember, no regrets, I'm the lucky one...!

So, exercise is possible but, it hurts like S#!t I do one day's work it takes me 2 weeks to recover so, I've got to try something else, huh...???

Take care..

Cheers
George

Eric Frei

In my weight loss regime I have not increased exercise on advice from other permanent weight loss people.

Why?

Because the amount of exercise required to burn off calories is out of whack. You exercise and you will increase your appetite, you will get hungrier. Better to not get hungry, eat smarter and less.

1 Timtam has 95 calories. To run that off (not walk) is around 10 minutes for me.

I also restricted potatoes, bread (this is the most evil @ 50 calories a slice), pasta and only eat Basmanti rice. Fruit is also dangerous, full of sugar, berries are best (strawberries, raspberries etc).

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Tony Knight

Dont know, the best I can do on short notice.

As a regular at exercise running, cycling, hiking and gym routines, I also eat to a plan and plan to eat. Your on the money with most of your info Eric, good effort for a non junky.
The hunger you feel after exercise can be reduced by hydrating further. Try this one folks and see if it works for you. Hungry between meals? or not satisfied with your portioned meal? Have 2 glasses (or more) of water and wait 10 minutes, it works. Meals should be 5 times a day to keep your metabilism optimum. You can work out your PCF roughly (maximum protein, carbs and fat intake) for your body type, the way feel and what you do. Most folks when doing this for the first time are amazed that they have such a low protein intake and equally amazed at how difficult it is to lower your daily carb intake into an acceptable range (white death is everywhere). Totally avoid ALL processed foods

Execellent topic and well worth putting out there.

Cheers


Tony

George Valentine

Eric,

I hope that I can find a dietitian that gives me that sort of regime, as I'm solid but I carry on my legs/feet at least 25kg that I don't need.

I never though that one day I would be talking of myself as an overweight person, I was about 75-80kg for most of my adult life, until after I arrived in Australia (June 1987) or a year or so later I went through a solitary life living and working in the remote QLD and NT "bush" for 13 years where my diet was tins of chickpeas, 2 minute noddles, tins of sardines and smoked mussels, some canned fruit and peanuts. Water was what I could find in springs, creeks, sometimes having to fight with wild animals to get a chance to fill up my 20lt's plastic containers with water that looked more a mud soup and all the other stuff animals leave behind where they drink...!

All that have changed when I met my present wife (second marriage) about 11 years ago, she being a QLD country girl, tough to cook for "shearers" and anyone that lived in the QLD bush, knows what that means, big rich meals...!

Am I excused...???

Cheers
George

Eric Frei

Soda water has zero calories. I add that to by rum etc these days instead of sugary mixers or worse, ugly tasting artificial sweeteners. Besides, some of the crap in those ZERO drinks is a bit suss.

A shot of rum etc, 30ml of say 40% alc/vol spirit is around 62 calories. I have perhaps a bit more than a shot, maybe 45ml in a 425ml glass with soda. Total calories is around 90.

Now beer, best around is Pure Naked Blonde (low carb) and a 355ml stubbie is 92 calories ... thing is with the spirits I drink 425ml in a glass not 355ml as in the stubbie so I get a lot more volume ..... and most spirits are 37% not 40%.

I dropped kg's easy with this trick.

Watch what you eat when having a drink, cherry tomatoes and strawberries are a good snack and worth bugger all in calories. Definitely no chips or nuts!

__________________

KevinE

My change of lifestyle included lots of cardio exercise combined with a complete change in my diet Eric. You know Adelaide; I started walking around Anstey Hill. At 1st I'd have to continually stop & take a breather while walking up hill. Then after a few weeks I lost weight, gained energy & found myself actually running up the hills & walking the rest, albeit at a fast pace (= high intensity interval training) Before I knew it, I was running around 4km up that stinking hill! I bought a cheap bike from K-Mart & started to ride around Linear Park up near the gorge. I timed my ride every time I went out (same with my running) & my having a very competitive nature helped, because I'd always be trying to beat my last time. Then I bought a floor to ceiling ball & a skipping rope. I worked my way up to 8 x 3 min rounds alternating between the ball & skipping, 3 mins of one followed by 3 mins of the other with 1 min rest in between. I actually think this exercise was the best for weight loss.

The hard bit is not eating crap just coz you feel hungry. I heard some guy on talkback radio saying that if you eat protein for brekky you won't get hungry during the day. So I tried it; IT WORKS! Well for me at least! I eat 2 boiled eggs for brekky every day & they help me stay slimmer. My cholesterol is around 4.5 or so, so they aren't doing me any harm mate

KevinE

Hi George,

It seems we have something in common! Prior to my time at the Casino I was in the army! Part of which was at 3RAR (google it!) At one time I slipped down the ramp of a Chinook while it was still about 20' in the air near Canungra (bloody platoon commander told me & the 2 other machine gunners to bolt down the ramp as soon as it dropped!) & yes, I broke bones & yes, it hurt like hell!

Eric Frei

Hey Kev,

I used to wander that area (Anstey's Hill) all the time. We used to do a bush walk down the bottom, was some old ruins etc. Go right around the hill and over the top. Walked all the way from Hope Valley!

And Gorge road, loved eating that road up @1982 at 6am on a Sunday morning with a 351!

__________________

George Valentine

Is certainly amazing how many people out there, and lets stick with this industry only, to void to get totally "bogged in fat" that have these problems or have become aware of the difficulty of doing their routine work, due to extra body weight that simply, crawled/snuck on you without much notice.

OK, most of us where 20 years old once and if everyone remembers correctly, our bodies would just take anything without much fuss, what we din't realize was that, that strength and energy changes as we age and, what we have left then, is pretty much what we didn't abuse of in those earlier days.

Sure, you are only young once and everyone should take advantage of that "new car smell" while we can, the problem is, those without guidance from the more mature and experienced people around them, don't even realize that they may be wasting their own natural resources, something that you can't go and by in a supermarket, chemist or order on the Internet.

We all do stupid things with our bodies, particularly when we are young, and that is a fact, sometimes we have choices that we ignore other times, the choices are non-existent so, to you younger fellows out there, thing of you body as a well made machine that unless you look after and maintain properly and regularly, it will break down a lot sooner that you may expect, and repairs, when possible, will never bring it to top condition, never...!

Ageing is a beautiful thing and we all, without exception, will travel that same road, regardless so lets try to make the ride a smooth one, when possible...!

We all heard people saying, "I wish that I was 20-30 years younger and know what I know now...!", but you have never heard anyone saying, " I wish I was 20-30 years older so that I could know all those things...!", funny thing huh...???

Time equals experience and maturity (is most cases, anyway...! ). With maturity people tend to develop a better sense of themselves and their capabilities, however, some of those capabilities can become seriously compromised when our bodies get out of shape, for whatever reason and we also tend to ignore the signs or "pretend" that is all OK, when we damn well know, is not.

How many of you out there that spend a life time as tree climbers (arborist's or not) you know what I mean, and all of a certain find themselves having all the problems in the world doing the same things they always done...???. Is it age, is it out of shape, particularly overweight, or other medical conditions, related or not with your work...???

Now, how many of these will stop and thing on what is going on...??? probably the majority but, how many of these will do anything about it...??? probably a very minority, why...??? there could be a number of reasons, self denying is the most typical, too busy to have things checked-out is another common excuse and many others feel scared enough to get things checked out but, only to realize that, they have everything invested in their work and simply can not afford to move away from it, after all, many of these people are middle age by then, these are their own qualifications.

Taking the huge step to have a life change, is something that some will never be in the position to do so, unfortunately, forcing them to continue work with a enormous increase of danger to themselves and those around him.

I would be a happy man when I see this industry take a stand in these issues and keep a close eye on those that are in this high risk category, and provide to these "old diggers" of the industry the recognition and the support they deserve from they life commitment to their job...!

No one likes audits, including myself, and I'm a certified but no longer registered auditor in a area slightly different than this but, the principals are the same, regular compulsory physical checks, could be an excellent way to assist those that could do with some help, and not just kicked out of a job if they don't fully comply or show issues that need looking at.

Fear of losing their jobs/licences, etc., has became a big factor in those people running themselves to the ground, because of all the negative stuff that will be thrown at them if the show any weakness, that's dangerous stuff..!

Be honest with yourself and share with us some of your physical and other conditions that are making your tree work must unpleasant, to say the least.

Cheers
George

KevinE

Hi Eric,

It truly is a small world, I live in the shadow of Anstey's Hill

I was scraping the foot pegs on a Suzuki GS1000 around the gorge in 1982 lol!

Eric Frei

It will good to keep an eye on this guy.

Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit | Personal Trainer | Weight Loss

__________________

KevinE

That sounds very exciting George! Did used parachute in as a sniper with your weapon & all your kit?

George Valentine

In those day, there were 2 different type of snipers within the army special forces, the ground or land snipers with would use land vehicles and on foot to reach their positions/targets and then we had the sniper paratroopers, and while we could perform ground/land operations, our speciality was the be able to jump from high altitudes (normally 3.000 meters) undetected, mostly at nigh and reach our positions on top of buildings etc, where the targets would be engaged from.

Remington 308 rifle was the tool in those days, together with a full kit which weighed about 60 kilos on its own. Was quite common to have doubled our body weight with our carrying gear...!


Cheers
George

KevinE

It must have taken a while to zero those rifles George!

How long was your compulsory service?

KevinE

I imagine 120kg hitting the deck must have come down with quite a thud George? The delicate Remington Rifle & scope dangling on a rope under your backpack must have copped quite a beating?

You must have been one hell of a soldier George, being in the special forces, a paratrooper & a sniper!

Our snipers weren't special forces, nor were they airborne, they were infantry. The course was/is the hardest to pass in the army. The failure rate of students on the course was nudging 90% while I was in the army. And these guys had already made it through the course selection process.

George Valentine

My apologies for my late reply but, I've been without Internet since last Friday at 10:00am...!

Zeroing our rifles in a mission, was always a tricky situation, which we trained vigorously to reduce the time and minimize the chances to "zero" the scope at MOA as minimal requirement. For this we practice every possible scenario of angles of fall, speed, and various impact possibilities.

The scopes mounts were of quick-lock type, extremely strong, positive, and accurate and the common tool/accessory to zero the rifle with the scope was either the dial or the digital bore sighter's.


Scopes (2) where packed and well padded in special compartments in our bags, the rifle was most time dismantled and packed also in that special bag for maximum protection. The average/requested time to put the rifle together and fire the first shot, had to be within 3 minutes, IN THE DARK...!

We knew every piece just by touch, and practice many time with our eyes closed. Zeroing these specially modified rifles, without firing a single round, was something else and after some very special training, you know you rifle well and know how it behaves/perform in pretty much any conditions. The ballistics of it was a total difference issue again and that was perfected by shooting thousands of rounds, even though each special fluted heavy barrels, was only good for about 2.000 rounds, which they would be immediately replaced. For any special mission, only barrels with less than 1.000 rounds would be allowed as they offer the very best accuracy of the rifle riffling's life.

If my memory doesn't fail me, which I don't think I will ever forget these numbers, in the 6 months recruitments were open for this "category", 680 young man have applied for. On the 4 full crazy days of the selection process that each one of us was submitted to, by the special instructors, form the 6 months duration to take everyone through the same "program", there were 80 that passed the tests.

We didn't know that, they would only endup with a full battalion or unit that was a lot small in number than most battalions, so the total number could not go over 30 men. When we got called in, to initiate our training/nightmare we had 6 months to complete the training and then be sent to the war front, Portugal had with Angola and Mozambique, some of their African colonies then. That has all ended, thanks goodness for that...!

The guys with the biggest loads to carry and jump where the guys with the dogs, they had to carry all their gear, weapon, the 50+kg German Sheppard and some of the dogs gear and he had to land with the dog strapped to his chest, now that was a load...!

The compulsory time was 2 years minimum, I was 1 week short of completing my time when I broke my spine on a routine 900 meters high strap-jump, where an unexpected 180° change of wind happened after the first man went out, and I was at the door already half out, when the light turned red, too late for me so when the strap open my shoot, one of the Hercules 4 engines/propellers (2 on each wing) "sucked" my still unopen shoot top as all its 400 meters of string, making a mess of it and nearly did a mess of me but, I manage to cut my way through and free fall for some time before I manage to open my chest emergency tinny shoot, but by then I was already too close to the ground and falling too damn fast.

The 900 meter high jump, does allow much time if something goes badly wrong, and in my case, I landed miles away than what I was suppose to and on a swamp type, cause the feet to slide forwards from the speed and I basically it flat on my back in that almost dry mud that covered 2/3 of by body, like if someone excavated a human form on the mud. Velocity calculated of impact of 68km p/h...!

Never lost consciousness but I could only move my eyes, the only sign that I was still alive. The verdict was, paralysed from the waist down, irreversible...! So they though but at 20, I wanted more from my life so, with a great deal of luck and 6 months stretched in a solid bed, getting daily painful injections in my spine, I was in physio learning how to walk again, about 2 years from my accident and walking unassisted one year after that, being off-course wheel-chair bound for all that time.

The first 3 years of desk work that, was never my thing but allowed me to game the strength so, back to the forestry and timber mills to continue what I was doing before I went to the army. Got a relatively good run, living like almost a normal person for about 20 odd years but at 46 all the wheels of my wagon fall off I couldn't no longer work 2 straight days, and not the 7 days a week 16 to 18 hour days, for months on end...!

Since then, 1 day's ( 6 to 8 hours) work require at least 1 week minimum of complete rest, lots of pain killers and that is a bloody pain in the ass...! BUT, I'm not done yet, I can assure you...!

Cheers
George