Thursday, January 29, 2009

zomg it's Snowmageddon!

12.5", thanks. According to the weather dudes, it's sixth heaviest snowfall on record here in Indy, and the heaviest since 1994.

Side roads are impassible to vehicles with big fiberglass cow-catchers that dangle mere inches from the pavement. For that matter, just backing out of the garage is a no go when the snow is over the rear license plate.

We shoveled and push-broomed roomie's car out of its white cocoon and then, along with a neighbor, formed the People's Revolutionary Committee For Voluntary Communal Snow Removal. With me and neighbor on shovels and Bobbi at the helm of her 20" electric snow removal doohickey, we cleared the alley from neighbor's garage to the street.

I schlepped to the grocery store, but most folks hadn't gotten their sidewalks shoveled and side streets were still in the "you're on your own" category for snowplows, and so I had to walk the few blocks in the uneven wheel ruts in the foot-deep snow. Good for the ankles; strengthens the calves.

After I got back and rewarded the morning's industriousness with bacon and a beer, it was time for more shoveling, this time in the front of the house. Got it done in fairly short order. Go Team Me!

Boy, are my shoulders sore. I think a long hot bath is in order today, with my magic bath salts of muscle relaxing.

19 comments:

Turk Turon said...

Splitters!

I'm part of the Revolutionary People's Committee for Voluntary Communal Snow Removal. Join or die!

Anonymous said...

We only got about six inches in Daisy Hollow. I was about to fire up the John Deere 316 lawn & garden unit with the 48" plow, when Neighbor John came rumbling down the valley in his huge-ass International with the eight-foot blade. He knocked out my driveway in ninety seconds. I'm not kidding. It was glorious.

Last year, I once managed to get him to open his cab door, whereupon I was able to toss a twenty dollar bill into a far corner in the dark, where he wouldn't find it until he got home and would just have to put it in his pocket. I haven't figured out how I'll get him to open that door again.

That's life among Finger Lakes hillbillies. God bless 'em, every one.

alath said...

It is amazing how much exercise one can get just from shoveling light fluffy stuff around. Got a heck of a workout myself yesterday.

Anonymous said...

Took me most of the day to get dug out... the disadvantage of a 70' driveway. At my age and physical condition my duty cycle is about 20 minutes on/40 minutes off, and in 20 minutes I could do about 18' of driveway. Made it to work at 5:30, just in time to get the west coast orders released.

Did get to catch up on some videos I hadn't had a chance to view yet, and Alice The Cat (after a couple of rounds of "What are YOU doing home in the daytime?") determined that a lap in front of the TV isn't a bad place to be on a snowy day.


-----------
TW: "Roclingo"

High-Strength plastic film designed especially for Christo installation projects.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you have it pretty well under control. Don't have a heart attack and croak, I hear that happens a lot when shoveling snow.

Anonymous said...

Bacon and BEER! Yummy.

Tam at 5'12" where have you found a tub you can stretch out in, been looking for a 6' cast iron one for years.

Anonymous said...

I'll swap your 12.5 inches of snow for my .75 inch of ice. Chip, swear, scrape, scoop, swear some more. But 2 aspirin and some 12 year old McCallum's made the pain go away.

Anonymous said...

Only 6 inches in sunny southern New England, followed by 9 hours of freezing rain.

Shovelled the driveway in the rain (50 yards), enjoying the lovely hypothermic weather, and didn't fall even once on my kiester (said icy driveway is close to a 30 degree slope).

Lots of salt (it all runs into Long Island Sound, which is salt water anyway), and plenty of exercise on the bottom 5 yards as the snow plows reburied it in freezing slush 4 times.

When winter comes, can spring be far behind? Actually, I'm still enjoying the frontier mentality of roughing it.

It's not until about the third week of February I figure I've had enough and start daydreamind about sailing season and listening to Buffett.

Oddly, I had bacon and 10 Penny Ale. Whith spam chips and cheesy scrambles fried up in the bacon drippings. Great minds running in similar channels?

Jay G said...

12.5"? Don't you need ATF sign-off for that?

Anonymous said...

*ahem*

Flamethrower.

That is all.

Shootin' Buddy

Tony said...

Jeep still trucking along in the snow juuuust fine over here in Finland... :)

Anonymous said...

Sometimes snow removal is all about who know, or who likes you.

My grandmother was a fanatical non-drinker. But every fall she would stop by the liquor store and pick up a few bottles of a really good scotch which she would take home, tie a bow around it and then hand deliver - one to the young man who lived next door to her and one to the cranky old man who lived about three blocks down the side street from her.

Then every time it snowed, when the young neighbor finished snow blowing his front sidewalk he would just continue down the walk until grandma's was done also. When the cranky old fart down the road fired up his old tractor with the blade on the front he would clear the side street between his house and the main drag over by grandma's place, then he would scrap out her driveway also.

Grandma didn't touch a snow shovel for the last 20 years of her life. If there was a lot of snow that winter, she would occasionally deliver a batch of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies also.

Anonymous said...

I was thinking about gloating that I live in the California desert and don't even own a snow shovel.

Then I remembered - that I live in California.

Crap!

Never mind...

Weer'd Beard said...

Turned out to be about 6" by the time it switched to rain where it packed down to an uber-dense 4"

Sucked clearing it all out, and my driveway this morning was a scating rink....

Tony said...

"I was thinking about gloating that I live in the California desert and don't even own a snow shovel.

Then I remembered - that I live in California."


Yup, this is more or less why I don't feel so bad about gloating how I'm not stranded every time there is a little snow. I live in fucking Peoples Socialist Republic of Finland. We have something like 20 political parties - nearly every single one of them a bunch of commies. You wouldn't believe the taxes on motor vehicles, for example...

Xavier said...

Tam, it sounds like you and Rx need to take a trip down here to balmy Louisiana and just wait it out.

Rabbit said...

63 today, 68 tomorrow in the DeefDubya. I swear, it was so bright Wednesday the ice was sublimating off the road and gone by noon.

Regards,
Rabbit

ravenshrike said...

I remember '96. There was enough snow for me to make a 6' tall(interior) igloo in Maryland.

Anonymous said...

I have a photo taken in 1996 of my GF standing on top of undrifted snow next to our 1993 Ford Taurus. Her boots were higher than the side mirrors.