Up this week is Angus McMahon. Hailing from the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria, Angus is a second generation Arborist with Sherbrooke Tree Services. Oh…and he has a coffee problem.
1. I became an Arborist because…
Sawdust and glory!
2. My favourite tree is…
Messmate (E. obliqua).
3. I can’t leave home without…
Car keys and a caffeine management plan.
4. The perfect day at work would include…
Top coffee, roaring bonfire, cruisey machine operator, bombing heads out, BBQ and beer by early afternoon.
5. The worst part of my job is...
Not knowing whether to trust an untested Barista with my morning coffee.
6. The best slice of wisdom I can pass on is...
Stay attached. Look up.
7. If I could hang out in a tree with one person (past/present/living/dead), it would be…
The customer that won’t accept “too windy and wet” is a valid reason for their job to be delayed. It’d save a heap of talking if we could just ‘hang out’ in the tree together!
8. The one tree I’d like to climb is…
The infamous ‘money tree’. I only ever seem to get the leafy, non-money trees.
9. If I wasn’t an arborist I’d be a…
Tree lopper. Or Barista. Possibly both.
10. True Tale or Tall Tale?
Growing up around forestry, I always wanted to use the chainsaw. My father wouldn’t let me until my hands were big enough to activate the chain brake and that I could wear chainsaw chaps. The day finally came where I could start to use the saw on the job. I wandered off to cut a heavily tensioned log. As I finished the cut, the log fired toward me, pushing the moving chain straight across the top of my knee. The bruising lasted weeks but since that day I won’t use the saw without chainsaw pants – even when I’m out camping with mates.