That is so annoying and I am sorry that happened to you. The same thing happened to me at a city council meeting last year when I tried to talk about the pothole situation on my street, this older gentleman kept telling me my time was up even though the timer had not even started. He was not staff, not elected, just some guy who shows up early and sits in the front row like he owns the place. What gets me is these folks never actually speak on the issues themselves, they just want to play referee. You waited 40 minutes for your turn and the crosswalk thing is a real safety problem, not some small complaint. The board should be telling people like him to sit down and let residents have their full time.

Sounds like a lot of work to save a couple bucks.

Spikes and a flip line are for removal jobs, not climbing to prune. If you were spiking up a white oak just to get into the canopy you were poking holes in a tree you were probably trying to keep alive. That old timer did you a real favor. Throw line on rough bark like white oak is actually easier than on smooth stuff because the bag grabs instead of sliding back down. Six or seven throws is normal when you're learning, wait until you get it in two.