near miss with a chainsaw on a tree removal job that almost cost me a finger

had a close call today clearing some overgrown branches for a client, revvin up my stihl ms 261 and the damn bar pinched while i was makin a felling cut, chain jumped and nearly took my thumb off. the customer kept yappin about how long it's takin, distractin me just enough to lose focus, and i was sweatin bullets thinkin about the hospital bill and down time. been doin general landscaping for 8 years now and this is the closest i've come to a real injury, makes you appreciate gloves and hearing that safety demo again. now i'm double checkin every cut and tellin the helper to keep clients back 50 feet minimum. shit like this reminds me why we gotta stay sharp out there.

man, that sounds like the time i almost lost a hand on a hedge trimmer, clients always hoverin like they know better.