How many of you guys actually keep a log of every repair or is it more of a "I'll remember it" thing? I used to roll my eyes at guys who tracked every oil change and part in a notebook, thought it was kinda overkill. But watching my buddy hit 500k on his 7.3 while my other friend's truck fell apart at 200k, the difference was mostly that the notebook guy caught stuff early. Now I write down everything, even the small stuff like when a u-joint starts chirping. It's saved me twice already from getting stranded on a job site.

Picturing your maples throwing a fit because you served them raw chips instead of the composted five course meal they wanted. Honestly though, fresh chips are like putting a wet blanket over the soil, the microbes gobbling up all the nitrogen just to break the wood down, and your trees are left standing there with empty plates. Been there in a way, spread some fresh stuff around my garden beds once and watched everything go pale on me. You have a few choices: rake them back, or just toss some nitrogen fertilizer on top to feed the little wood-eating critters so they quit robbing your trees. Next time let that pile sit for a year, or at least mix it in, because raw chips alone are a slow robbery.