Aphelion

Those of you who live in more temperate climates may not understand, but I've had enough snow blowing this winter. I don't mind the snow itself, or even the cold. I don't live in Wisconsin by accident. However, I'm sick of blowing the snow out of driveways 2 to 3 times every week with my snowblower.

For those not from a northern (or extreme southern) country, snowblowers are essentially big lawn mower engines mounted in a wheeled frame above spinning augers that force snow up into a chute that makes it blow through the air and out of your way. We get up well before the crack of dawn and use them to clear out driveways and walks anytime we get more than an inch and a half or so of snow. Less than that, it doesn't pay and we use a shovel. You get 24 hours to empty the snow from your walks before the city fines you, but considering the insurance liability if some little old lady breaks a hip on your slippery sidewalk, you really don't want to wait.

I think the last time I heard, we were up to nearly 38" (approx. 97 cm for those of us metric) for the season. This is already our 6th snowiest year on record (average is about 48" (122 cm)for the year), and its only just the start of February. February & March usually have the highest snowfall totals in it. Don't know why, but they do.

Last night, I stripped the auger worm gear on my snowblower on a big hunk of ice hidden by the snowplow because the cheap shear pins didn't do their job and break when they were supposed to and save the gear from stripping. Spent most of today figuring how to get it all apart to find that out. Cost me $70 in parts that won't be here until the 11th, and it's supposed to snow twice more this week. They only way I can use my blower is to plow the snow with it, which I don't expect to work. Gonna have to shovel, no matter how deep it is.

I hope I remember how to put it back together by then.

Dang blammed northern climate. Nothing in comparison to a mountain snowstorm, I realize, but darned annoying.

Nate

PS-My beloved Packers aren't in the Superbowl, so if only I had a new issue to read instead... ::) Lotsa luck, I realize.

Just for the record, I missed the foot that fell on Milwaukee a couple days ago, but it did snow every day this week here.

Parts came today, so I'm ready for the expected 1" tonight and 1" tomorrow.

Yippee.

There's a cultural thing going on here somewhere.

New England gets its share of snow, but my family has never owned a blower. We also never shoveled our rural driveways that were far too long. Instead, the hunt is on for a guy with a plow truck.

We laugh at anything less than 3 inches, and I laughed at the subsequent foot. I'd just park at the end of the driveway and tromp my way back and forth. I never shovel my current front steps either: I just kicked most of it away, and spent twenty minutes pouring buckets of hot water on the rest. My landlords had to plow the common areas.

There's no such thing as a sidewalk, and the little old ladies were kind enough not to walk in the road.

You might be right. We obviously never get Noreasters (however that's spelled) for sudden, foot-deep dumps of the white stuff, but we get our share. We can get lake-effect snow, which is a similar, but nowhere as strong, event.

That little old lady lives very close to me (our houses are separated only by the width of my driveway). But if I didn't clean off that sidewalk or driveway, she would. She's 75. When I have the audacity to sleep in to 8 a.m. on a Saturday, she has her husband out there in my driveway with his 30-year old beast of a blower, and he can barely walk to begin with (she shovels while he blows). I bust my ass to clean up both our driveways and the sidewalk on this side of the block so neither of them have a heart attack and die doing it--especially on my property. I can't just tell a sweet old grandma to shove off and get the hell out of my driveway. I just can't. Plus, it's not right to have them out there like today when the wind chill is -45°F. So I put on all my snow gear and do it.

So maybe it is a cultural thing after all.

Nate

National weather service says 98° in Athens right now. If I could send you some snow, I would.

If it rubs it in... er, helps, there were lakes in northern Wisconsin still partially frozen 2 months ago. :)

Nate

PS. We totaled over 87 inches of snow for the season.