Lawrence Ray Yates

    My  last name "YATES" (which means dweller by the gates) is a name I've always been proud of (despite of Andrea) and I was O.K. with my first name to when I was a kid, but as I grew up, all my friends names grew to. Frankie became Frank, Timmy became Tim and so on. I relized I was stuck with LARRY the kid or LAWRENCE the stuck up. So I thought if I changed my name to LAIR I could finally make that change. But then I relized my full name would then be LAIR RAY YATES. So I guess I'll always be LARRY YATES. 

   I've been climbing and trimming trees for over 20 years now and so far I've avoided the accidents that have taken so many of my friends. Its a dangerous job and I'm not gettin any younger. I've also avoided any major property damage as well (broken a few fences is all). I'm still doing it but only as a side line. Haven't met my match in the trees yet. ( I don't have to knock on wood, I eat wood for breakfast). I started to get a decent wage finally too, until Child Support came in and took half my wages. Now I bring home less money than I did 20 years ago. And unfortunatly you have to learn how to do this job by some old-timer showing you how. There arnt any tree climbing schools that I know of. I have driven the best truck (1996 GMC Top Kick with a Sky Rider lift) for the best and biggest tree service (Tree Care INC.) in the Tree Capitol of the World (Sacramento) so its a shame that all my experance is just so much dust in the wind now that I'm not working with anybody.

   I have an ARBUCKLE DAYS web page also. Click on this 30+ year old poster (I found it in a pile of garbage under my parents house), to go to it.