Palm Sunday

But, of course, for some men, palm trees just mean labor. AP, Collecting sap to make palm sugar is an arduous, and less appealing, job for Cambodians

Chin Choeun spends nearly 12 hours a day collecting sap from palm trees that he and his wife turn into palm sugar. The 54-year-old boasts of being one of Cambodia’s most skilful palm tree climbers, having learned the skill from his father. But after 36 years scaling tree after tree, Choeun plans to retire in the next couple of years, because of age-related safety concerns.

“It was a job that I took over from my father. It was his legacy, and I don’t want it to end because of me. but I know that it will be over after me,” Choeun said. The job is not appealing to his sons and grandsons because it is both hard work and it is dangerous.
. . .
“I regret that my sons and grandsons cannot succeed me, but I respect their decision,” said Choeun, who has four children and 10 grandchildren.

A climber cuts into the stump that holds the fruit and ties it with a bamboo container to let the sap collect overnight. The next morning, another climb is made to collect the sap. This is then cooked in a giant pot and slowly kneaded with a wooden stick until it thickens.

Sounds a bit like making maple syrup. I wonder how Palm Syrup tastes?

Linked at the Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Blast From The Past up and ready for your digital pleasure.

Happy Labor Day!

Don't labor too hard.

Regular Girls Find Modelling Hard Work

This Is What Victoria's Secret Swimsuits Look Like On Non-Models



All in all, not that bad. Of course, I find the old I get, the more tolerant I become.

And remember, the SI Swimsuit models get the benefit of photoshop and professional photo-editors.

Wombat-socho snuck in under the wire with "Rule 5 Sunday: Fightin’ Words" after a bout with trolls.

Paula Bunyan

She doesn't look a day over 47. . .

I take a little issue with some of this. Her sharpening technique looks a little off to me, with the curved stroke. Putting a good edge on a blade is an art, and while I have the tools to touch up a blade on the fly if necessary, between major uses I prefer the let the professionals down at Mattingly do it when it gets bad. A well sharpened saw should cut a lot of wood before it needs much more than a touch up.

Her effort at sharpening it seems to have been pretty ineffective too; a sharp saw that size should just fly through that old dead, dry pine tree.

On the other hand, she did manage to fell it right where she wanted to, and that's a good thing when you're close to a house.

And just for fun, chain saw powered skating.



It can't really be comfortable bent over like that. Now if you mounted the skate shoes on saws, that would really be awesome, and really put the thrill into pairs figure skating.

Wombat-socho of The Other McCain is on board with "Rule 5 Sunday: Not Long Before The End."

Hammer Time!

This is what those construction guys do waiting for the lumber to arrive.

Practice Makes Perfect

another example: