Trimming TreesThe other day as I was walking to the store in the morning I saw a bucket truck pull up near our house. The man in the bucket had a machete and was trimming the trees away from the electrical wires. It was a little scary to watch him swinging the large machete blade that close to the live wires. It seemed to work out ok and he got the trees trimmed without hitting any of the wires.

I've noticed that you see a lot more people wearing neck braces than you do in the U.S. I'm not sure exactly why unless it is from minor auto accidents. The way I understand it, insurance will pay for actual expenses involved in an accident. So if you are off work for 10 days, the insurance will pay for the time you lost at work. It is possible that wearing a neck brace gives you a good way to prove you were injured.

In NYC I've heard of a bus that was involved in a very minor accident. There were 20 people on board. By the time the police got there, the bus had 40 people on board and many of them were complaining about whiplash. People off the street saw a chance for a payout and climbed on the bus to claim they had been injured.

We saw what looked like an accident where a car hit a pedestrian a few days ago. The lady had a skinned elbow, but looked like she was fine otherwise.

Sunday we were standing on the street when I heard some music playing. There was a donkey loaded down with synthetic feather dusters being followed by two men. One was playing an accordion while the other was doing his best to play and carry a large upright bass. Behind the two men were 30 other people walking two by two. The marched down the street and turned the corner before I could get a good picture of them. We asked our friends what was going on and they weren't sure. Maybe it was some house cleaning ritual where everyone shows up at a friends house and helps dust away the cobwebs.