Port and the sense of value for money

[djewesbury]

I have just bought two new pairs of spectacles. My vision is extremely poor and these are a necessity, but my very high prescription means that thin lenses are expensive - each lens costs £230.

The upshot is that I've spent the equivalent of a case of F70 on eyewear. In my case it's absolutely essential, I have to have well-made frames and I now have a spare pair for the first time since I was a kid. The strange thing is that I felt less nauseous immediately after spending money on a luxury like 12 x F70 than on an absolute necessity like 2 x specs.

Are my priorities skewed, or is this a natural reaction?

[Glenn E.]

Port is something you love but, technically, do not need. You crave Port and enjoy it as a hobby.

Glasses are something you hate, but need. You resent glasses, but wear them because you must.

So no, I do not think your reaction is skewed at all.

[djewesbury]

I reasoned along these lines, although I don't feel as strongly as you suggest about my glasses. I have worn glasses for over 35 years, all day every day, so by now I'm fairly resigned to them. But yes, paying this much for a necessity seems perverse!

[jdaw1]

But yes, paying this much for a necessity seems perverse!

Extravagance is the luxury of the poor; penury is the luxury of the rich.

Let me be surrounded by luxury, I can do without the necessities.

[LGTrotter]

I was agonising earlier this year about an extravagant chainsaw. But I have grown to love it, despite it costing as much as a good case of port once I had bought all the bells and whistles for it.

I do mentally calculate all the major expenditures of the household in terms of cases of port. I've stopped telling Emma that 'I could get a case of Graham 66 for that' as it usually elicits only the rolling of eyes and a blunt rejoinder.

[PopulusTremula]

I was agonising earlier this year about an extravagant chainsaw.

A most manly pursuit until one observes a limb slowly beginning to journey away from the rest of one's body.

Stihl or Husqvarna?

[LGTrotter]

Stihl or Husqvarna?

A man after my own heart, Stihl, bien sur. But I would not object to people buying a husky.

And it's not that manly; a MSA 200 C-BQ; a titchy cordless thing, but with a 12 inch bar rather than the 14 inch it comes with. it cuts very well and does it without all that stench and noise of a petrol saw. Fine for twiddling about, which is what I do with it, and if I ever need to cut something bigger than two feet round I would probably want somebody to come and do it for me. Being quiet I can also do 'guerrilla chainsawing' swooping in and out undetected.

[PopulusTremula]

A man after my own heart, Stihl, bien sur.

Seriously good machines those.

And it's not that manly; a MSA 200 C-BQ; a titchy cordless thing, but with a 12 inch bar rather than the 14 inch it comes with. it cuts very well and does it without all that stench and noise of a petrol saw. Fine for twiddling about, which is what I do with it, and if I ever need to cut something bigger than two feet round I would probably want somebody to come and do it for me. Being quiet I can also do 'guerrilla chainsawing' swooping in and out undetected.

Here we go with the inch thing again. You're as bad as Derek. Soon you'll upgrade to a blade long enough to cut redwood.

The fumes are half the fun, greasy two-stroke loveliness. Several listed trees, a concept i as a Swede find baffling, should be subjected to guerilla chainsawing.

[djewesbury]

I've only just stumbled across this little chainsaw chat, it having occurred when I was otherwise detained. I am intrigued by the concept of guerrilla chainsawing. Is it just stealing trees?

[PopulusTremula]

I've only just stumbled across this little chainsaw chat, it having occurred when I was otherwise detained. I am intrigued by the concept of guerrilla chainsawing. Is it just stealing trees?

For true insight you'd better ask Owen. I'm not sufficiently versed in Guardianese, being only an occasional reader. In my mind it implies a process whereby an offending tree is felled unbeknownst to its owner/caretaker whose discovery of the act is made after its conclusion and quiet withdrawal of the perpetrator. As with murder so too with GC, the victim is usually present but this is not a requirement for the act to be considered as either.

[LGTrotter]

The phrase 'guerrilla chain sawing' I came across on one of those sites (American I'm afraid) where doom is foretold and survival will be a matter of who has most canned foods and assault rifles. It refers to the practice of sneaking in uninvited and swiping firewood. So at its most basic it is stealing trees.

I take a more nuanced approach, I do not steal trees. Like our next in line I have a fondness for trees but from time to time bits fall off, or they fall over and after a chat to the auld fellas, those that constitute the Jirga of the Somerset hills arrangements can be reached. Also my Pa, despite being in all sorts of ways feckless (like his son) did manage to buy a few bits of land and it is to there that I go to furtle for the purpose of exercise and woodery. It is pleasant and affords me better views that would be got from the inside of a gym. It is a bond too with my brother and other fellows of the chainsaw.

[jdaw1]

go to furtle for the purpose of exercise and woodery. It is pleasant and affords me better views that would be got from the inside of a gym. It is a bond too with my brother and other fellows of the chainsaw.

The forest mourns in order that Mr Gladstone may sweat. — Lord Randolph Churchill

[Alex Bridgeman]

Round where I live, guerrilla chainsawing is what happens on a Saturday morning when some protected trees on an otherwise fantastic building site spontaneously fall over. It always happens at the weekend when the council planning and environmental officers are not contactable.

On Monday, said officers visit the site and have a hissy fit. Developer apologises profusely, pays a derisory fine and agree to replant an equal number of trees when the development is complete.

The new trees are normally forgotten once all dwellings have been sold.

[LGTrotter]

We are a bit better protected being on the edge of an ANOB. Which means that you can't cut down anything bigger than 100mm without getting a felling licence. And there aren't any exceptions, except for utilities. More importantly there aren't any developers pushing up houses round here just now.

[jdaw1]

Round where I live, guerrilla chainsawing is what happens on a Saturday morning when some protected trees on an otherwise fantastic building site spontaneously fall over. It always happens at the weekend when the council planning and environmental officers are not contactable.

On Monday, said officers visit the site and have a hissy fit. Developer apologises profusely, pays a derisory fine and agree to replant an equal number of trees when the development is complete.

Three months inside — for management as well as goons — would lessen the frequency of that problem.