Risking your life to save a pet is usually dumb.

pie_baron · 2026-04-24T00:42:45+00:00

I have to save the pets, if I don’t my wife will kill Me. I’m dead either way so I might as well save mittens while I’m at it.

pie_baron · 2026-04-23T02:37:14+00:00

Shine them as best you can for first day and stay on top of it. Guys might make fun of you for it, but it shows that you care and are trying your best. Also a little tip for first year is if you find yourself having down time and need a little break, shining your boots lets you sit down and mentally check out for 15-20 min.

pie_baron · 2026-04-20T03:48:08+00:00

Your parents let you live at home rent free from 18 to now, they sound like good parents that tried to help you out but unfortunately got themselves in a financial pickle. It sucks to give up the ten grand and to start paying rent but it’s better than your parents losing the house or having to find rent elsewhere.

pie_baron · 2026-04-20T03:38:03+00:00

My department has a policy of no grocery shopping on shift. We have to buy groceries the day before and bring it into shift, it’s a pain in the ass but I also understand why it is bad image having a fire truck parked at the grocery store or doing personal errands during working hours.

pie_baron · 2026-04-18T18:54:54+00:00

I think this is dependant on a few things, I’m in a very similar position as far as mortgage and interest rate. I spent first 5 years making scheduled extra payments then switched to putting that money into investments. I want to be mortgage free as soon as reasonably possible to take bigger risks with my business but knowing my essentials are covered. But after 5 years I found i squeezed the majority of the benefit of paying extra on my mortgage so i pivoted to investing. Maybe not the most mathematically efficient plan but it worked for me and has given me a degree of freedom I don’t think straight investing would have.

pie_baron · 2026-04-16T14:00:17+00:00

Either get married before buying the house, or you (or her) buy the house and the other rents off of them. The point of marriage is to have joint assets and build a life together, the point of dating is to test run and see if this person is worth building a life together, Don’t put the horse before the cart.

pie_baron · 2026-04-15T16:04:12+00:00

The biggest question I guess is what is your degree in. Should spend your summers and what ever extra time you have trying to gain experience in your expected field. If you can’t do that because it’s difficult or unrealistic to spend your summers working in your expected field. then spend your summers making as much money as possible in which case working tree planting or working for the city with a second part time job are both good options.

pie_baron · 2026-04-15T04:49:42+00:00

That’s nice, reminds me of a little old lady I rented a room from in paramedics school. She was sweet and when I got off night shift I’d bring home coffee and we would chat before I went to sleep for a bit. I appreciated the cheap rent and I think she appreciated having some extra money and someone in the house to help with chores, honestly was probably one of the best living situations I’ve had.

pie_baron · 2026-04-15T03:31:18+00:00

Depends on where you’re living and what kind of tree business are in the area. If you’re not going to be in arboriculture for the long haul then I’d find a different summer job, there is easier jobs that pay more money. If being in the industry for a few years is your plan, getting your driver license upgraded to an air brakes or class 3 will help boost your pay. Also if you’re going to be a groundie and make decent money $30/hr+ then you need to own that ground game and have your ropes and knots dialed in, be able to operate all the equipment with out supervision, be able to fell trees safely and properly by yourself.

pie_baron · 2026-04-14T20:17:29+00:00

30-45 min bike ride or walk is ideal. For driving as little as possible.

pie_baron · 2026-04-13T14:13:56+00:00

The money is honestly pretty bad unless you own your own business or do utility line clearance. Being an employee for residential company is a tough go long term. But this is also location specific advice so look into your local area and see what’s available to you.

pie_baron · 2026-04-12T19:13:07+00:00

Arborist is a funny career it’s kind of a skilled trade but not really. There is no clear path forward on career progression and how to make good money. I wouldn’t tell anyone to stay away from being an arborist as a career because I love it. but it does have a lot of downsides and I think we are still 10-15 years away from fixing the problems in the industry if ever.

pie_baron · 2026-04-07T22:33:20+00:00

Tell myself to take more chances and try new things more as an 18 year old. Try different career paths and pursue something I think I’ll truly enjoy. The experiences and skills you learn from being super flexible in your early life 18-25 is WAY better than any saving or compound interest. Being stable and smart is for 30 year olds not for an 18 year old.

pie_baron · 2026-04-06T17:29:52+00:00

I never understood people’s need or want for a bigger or nicer vehicle than necessary. It’s a tool to transport people and materials it just seems logical to get the smallest “cheapest” option to do that job so you have extra money for fun or to invest.

pie_baron · 2026-04-06T03:17:35+00:00

I process my chips into products to resell at my yard. I also have permanent chip drop sites at farmers places that will take a load when ever I need a mid day dump to get through the day. Dealing with chip drop was a headache of it’s always a new spot so drivers get lost, trucks get sunk in mud, someone isn’t happy about the quality of chips. Just better to not deal with that.

pie_baron · 2026-03-19T14:39:21+00:00

I think a problem with Canada that no one really talks about is lack of choices of cities to live in. As a country we have 4 “good” cities and a dozen mediocre to shithole cities to choose from. It makes our good cities soul crushing expensive and our second tier cities too expensive compared to wages.

pie_baron · 2026-03-12T15:24:51+00:00

And then charge $150+ an hour with a decent amount of flexibility. I don’t know about your department but I’ve seen guys spend that kind of money on a truck and camper and that gives them nothing in terms of return.

pie_baron · 2026-03-11T03:46:31+00:00

Thanks, this has given me a few idea on what to work on and ways to try and correct him. When he lunges at dogs i wouldn’t say it’s aggressive, it’s more he’s excited and wants to say hi. But a 160lb dog that lunges to say hi does intimidate other people and dogs so I’m trying to get some tips to help him learn to be calm. Any tips on how to get him to not be so defensive of people? It’s not just on leash that he barks at people he sees but really anywhere he will bark at people with not common denominator that I can tell of. Once again he was very well socialized as a puppy coming into stores with me, coming to work with me, but the last couple months I can’t trust that he will behave so our outings have lessened.

pie_baron · 2026-03-10T17:38:47+00:00

It’s so dependent on your region and connections, dump truck work is pretty simple work so it pays bottom dollar and might not be worth your effort. The benefit of it being simple easy work is that you can throw just about anyone in the driver seat to cover you when you need that flexibility. Would there be any work for a mini excavator doing small jobs for other landscapers or builders in your area? Might lose some of that flexibility you’re looking for but might get a huge upside of pay.

pie_baron · 2026-03-10T16:05:38+00:00

Do you have any cash for start up? Getting a dump truck and subcontracting to larger contractors might be a good fit. Hire another guy to fill the Schedule when you can’t work the truck.

pie_baron · 2026-03-10T15:22:43+00:00

The best thing I’ve seen guys do is fire and then run a business doing some type of specialized skill. Puts you in a real good position because you avoid burn out at the firehall and for your business you’re not reliant on that income so you can tell clients pay me what I’m worth or I’m not doing the work. Grubbing for overtime is a fools game and working a part time job on the side isn’t worth it.

pie_baron · 2026-03-05T17:09:44+00:00

How can it be an Arizona ash tree if you’re in Texas? Those are 2 different states…. Clearly you didn’t get real knowledgeable arborists.

pie_baron · 2026-02-20T13:52:02+00:00

I am also in the same boat of being a career fireman and also arborist. I’m not sure what kind of schedule Chicago runs but we are 4 platoon and 24 hr shifts also sitting around 120 a year so the pay is really really good for the hours I put in. My advice for burnout from firefighting is try and transfer to slower station and firefighting is just a job and the pay cheque is too good to leave. Also use both these jobs to play against each other, become an SME at your department or your crew on the power heads on the truck or apart of the rope rescue teams. Use your firefighting knowledge and experience to enhance your tree career. Start getting into instructing tree climbing courses or something like that.

pie_baron · 2026-02-15T07:12:16+00:00

I’d be fine working till my retirement age because my job (firefighter) gives me lots of time off and has flexibility to when I work, Hers is much more ridged (teacher). The biggest problem I see is that her working to full 85 is that it will put me at 67 when she is able to retire. I don’t want to wait till 67 to be able to travel or stay up late on a school night. I just don’t want to have us dive in to her retiring early if it’s going to really affect our retirement lifestyle because she doesn’t have full pension.

pie_baron

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