Bad, Odd, or Crazy Things That Happened

[Really Well Cut]

Just wondering what kind of stuff you guys have ever encountered on the job. So far the worst thing that happned to me was mowing over some poor little baby bunnies. I have also encountered a snake and mice. O yeah and I recently dropped "Susan" a now ex-drunken customer.

The New Guy on The Block

[indmowing]

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Poor Bunnies, after 5 years and MANY MANY contractors I cannot think of anything really bad that has ever happened. The main problems that arise are mainly with customers, which is expected in such a diverse community. Or the dog getting out.

The one thing that got me was the dear old lady who after the contractor had done the lawn said she was going down the street to get some money for him and never returned. She was 72 years of age, and tried to rip our contractor off, he finally ended up getting the money, these oldies can be shify ones <img src=icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle>

Independent Lawn Mowing Contractors
Working together to benefit all.
www.indmowing.com.au
Email info@indmowing.com.au

[gmcarn]

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Encountered a snake just last week. Was on my knees, trimming some bushes, looked up and the big black snake was one foot from my face. Scared him as much as it did me. He was running and so was I. This week was stung by over 20 yellow jackets while trimming azelaes. Ouch!!! Should have been on video, would have been funny watching myself running all over that ladies yard fighting them off with my hat!

[Leone Lawn]

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month or two ago i was sharpening my blades and cut my finger it needed 6 stitches

Leone Lawn

[indmowing]

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Now that I think of it, we did have one contractor have a heartattck on the job, he was in the middle of mowing a lawn. Luckily he had his mobile on him, he called his son then called ourselves!

Independent Lawn Mowing Contractors
Working together to benefit all.
www.indmowing.com.au
Email info@indmowing.com.au

[Evergreen]

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Three snakes, so far this year. Two harmless, only one copperhead. Fortunately, we found him before he found us. Hope it doesn't offend any snake lovers, but he met with a gruesome end. Gotta keep your eyes open. They're easy to miss in shady areas. When I worked at a river park here in Memphis, we averaged about 1 water mocassin per week. (They also died violently).

Ran a few rats out of a badly overgrown shrub bed recently.

Never saw poison ivy with LIMBS until this week. Its limbs were almost 1" thick. It was running up a big pine. Had to chainsaw through the vine (about 6 inches in diameter) and chisel it away from the tree.

Most embarrassing (and funny now) thing this week. I'm the one always telling people "turn that hard rake over, somebody's gonna get hurt". Well, it was left leaning on a tree (I was the guilty one). I turned and stepped at the same time (abruptly) and WHACK, right in the forehead! Fortunately, no one saw me as I struggled to maintain consciousness.

When I worked at the river park, we had an invasion of red-winged blackbirds. No kidding, it was like on the old movie "The Birds". When their babies hatched, they started attacking visitors to the park, employees, etc. and the courtyard where they roosted stayed coated with their stuff. Got them to move along by setting up a sound system to go wide open at intervals during the night in the courtyard where they roosted. They would have left anyway eventually.

[Green Giant]

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Snakes? Here? All the time. Not a big deal anymore. They have a purpose too.
How bout' GATORS? Now thats something to deal with. You can never tell here when the rains start and all the retention areas fill up with water. They can be anywhere.<img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>

Dennis E.
Grasshopper Lawn
Mulberry,Fl.
(Green Giant is my truck!)

[Maddog]

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Snakes are pretty common here also. Most we have runacross are black snakes though copperheads are here also. Gators are not that common here in eastern North Carolina but just recently there was one spotted in one of the areas we do work in.

Wayne

[nohhousefire]

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Where do I start, this one woman came to my wife who was helping us and told her my trim man had hit her car. My wife comes to get me after telling David he had damaged a car. As I approach the car, this girl throws her hand up points at me screaming thats him thats him. When I get up to the car, the whole rt. front fender is torn off and the tire is cut all the way through at the 12 oclock position. Apartment security is there with a leasing agent for the complex. The girls father comes wheeling in, a city pst shows up. I deny being involved and send my crew to our truck to keep tention down. The girl came up with a witness that saw the whole thing telling the pst I had done the damage with my mower. I call the witness a liar and go to my truck, its hot, I'm POed. My wife hands me a glass of tea and about then from nowhere comes the girls father slaps the tea from my hand and calls me a drunken bast#*d cause tea looks like whiskey. He heads back to get the pst, rental agent and security guard who now call the police because I'm drunk and assaulted him.
To close the story, I almost got arrested, it turned out to be the girls jealous boyfriend that damaged her car, the witness lied which was the girls roommate and I went from going to have charges brought against me to do you want to file charges.

Edited by - nohhousefire on Aug 11 2002 3:25:24 PM

Edited by - nohhousefire on Aug 11 2002 3:28:47 PM

[Green Giant]

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Did some work years ago for a realty company in Tampa. Relo division. One of the realtors I did service for wanted me to do service at his house. He calls one day and says I hit his new Dodge van. No way. I took the rider out to his house and there was absolutely no way that my rider could have damaged the van. It just did not match up. No matter how we tried. He was mad and so was I. Just about to the point of a brawl.He said he'd put me out of business if I did not pay for the damage. I held my ground.
Come to find out later there was a group of teen-age vandals that were arrested and they confessed to "doing" his van. He never apologized and I quit doing his home (and any of his listings for the realty company).


Dennis E.
Grasshopper Lawn
Mulberry,Fl.
(Green Giant is my truck!)

[odin]

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one time two gays were haveing a love spat out at a curve one was half naked and trying to pull his pants up and get a leg in a car his boyfriend was driveing.
He tripped and the car rolled over his foot crushing it.

The dude was moaning and cussing his boyfriend and we were still laughing when the paramedics got there.

Another time a chick and guy were getting it on in a back yard beside a pool. we just kept mowing and they acted like they didnt know we were there so we just kept on working .

Another time we were at our dealer getting parts and another lco came in with a scag on fire on his trailer.

I could tell about a family member and his dealings with a lady cilent but i better not i got one damaged eye already.

Veteran 502nd inf co.d 1st bn 101st airbourne 1969-72

[Skiter]

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I'LL NEVER FORGET IT:

IT WAS MY FRIST BIG JOB I WAS SO HAPPY THAT IWAS GOING TO START MAKING SOME MONEY. I SAVED MONEY TO BUY A 48" MOWER BUT DIDNT ANY LARGE LAWNS SO I WAS STILL USEING MY 22". WELL TO MAKE A LONG STORY AS SHORT AS I CAN. I CAME ACROSS A USED 48' WB FOR 1250 BUCKS. SO I WAS MOWING THAT FRIST BIG LAWN FOR THE FRIST TIME WITH MY NEW USED MOWER AND I WAS GOING ALONG THE EDGE OF THE POND (YES A POND LIKE A BODY OF WATER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE YARD) I HIT A BIG ASS BUMP ... LOST CONTROL OF THE MOWER, AND THE NEXT THING I REMIMER IS MY MOWER COMPLETLY UNDER WATER AND I WAS WAS UP TO MY CHEST IN WATER. I FELT LIKE CRYING. IT TOOK ME ABOUT 7 HOURS TO GET IN RUNNING, AND TWO HOURS TO PULL IT UOT OF THE WATER. WELL I CAN JUST GO ON AND ON ABOUT THIS STORY BUT, IT WOULD TAKE TOO LONG TO READ. OH I HAVE RAN INTO A FEW SNAKES AT THINGS!!!! (THATS NOTHING!!!!!!!!)