January 7, 2014
I don't know if it's just me who thinks this way, and it just may be....but the person whose sitting around with a pencil and a piece of paper trying to determine what NAMES we should be giving winter storms should cut it OUT!
Stop naming them. Because when you name something Hercules.... it is going to feel it will need to live up to that name.
And if you need to name a storm, how about Winter Storm Wimpy?
Last Thursday, on only the second day into the new year, we were told for a week that we are going to get hit with a Nor'easter and we did. Not as bad as they have been here for us in previous years but enough to make life miserable. Starting mid afternoon Thursday and continuing on into Friday with frigid temperatures Winter Storm Hercules drowned the east coast with snow.
We received eight inches here and it was a lighter snow, thankfully. Sadly, my towns idea of snowplowing is not up the middle of the street, but off of one side on alternate years plowing. So every other year, the snow is pushed up and onto the sidewalks and against the gates of our homes. The cut in that close so that all of the snow from everywhere they just were is now transplanted in front of the homes that they pass. They took eight inches of light snow and converted it into sixteen inches of heavy clumps of snow mixed with road debris.
I woke, peeked out the window to see the back yard all winter wonderland like and looked out the front door and wanted to throw up.
After 26 years of marriage and putting up with...yes...putting up with... hearing "one of these years we need to get a snow blower" and shoveling until faint...this last storm in December...I marched inside weakened...crawled to the computer and ordered a Craftsman Beast for myself.
I call it a beast because it is big and loud and scares the beejeepers outta me.
When they were predicting all of this snow I thought...well finally I won't be shoveling. My husband went over the way to use the snow blower and I thought I knew pretty much everything.
Wrong.
I dressed warm for the freezing temps, marched down the garden path...opened the garage door, told the snow blower to buckle up...lifted the door...cussed a bit....and began my snow blower routine startup.
Nothing.
Um, key, rabbit...choke...pull.
Nothing.
cuss. KEY RABBIT CHOKE...PULLLLLL nothing.
Now I am starting to freeze and get upset. I pulled, rabbitted and choked until I was blue....and the beast sat there looking at me all shiny and red.
My husband called at break time and while near to tears I told him it wasn't working. He asked me what I did and I told him and he said it should start. Yes, well I should be laying on a beach naked somewhere too now but neither are happening.
He had to get back to work so I called my brother who had just sent a text to me that he was done with his snow blower already. I went through the entire procedure with him...took a pic of the workings so he can check to make sure I had everything where it should be....and with frozen fingers sent it to him... and still, nothing.
I know it works, we had it working the other day. All I could think of was it was so cold that it couldn't turn over.
And yes, it does have an electric starter....but we do not have electricity in the garage so that would mean running the 200 ft cord down the snowy path, plug it in at the house...start the blower....walk back to the path and unplug it. {gasoline and electric sparks don't mix} Then disconnect it from the snow blower. Plus this part was not covered in snow blower school. ;)
Frustrated, and near tears I grabbed my trusty shovel and began.
While doing my driveway, my neighbor saw me, and the snow blower and decided that it was a perfect time to have a conversation with me. I was beyond mad, and frozen but she thought she should tell me I need to use that on her side walk.
Shovel, lift....all over the driveway, garden path, around the house and to the stairs. Screw that front sidewalk. If the city wants to fine me....let them trek through it and try to open the gate to get me the fine...or better yet, get the guy who dumped it there to remove it. I am not going to try with a shovel.
I came in soaked and frozen, warmed up with tea and got the call from my husband he was done at work.
I was out there for an hour and forty five minutes and all that was left to do was the front sidewalk area. SO when I saw the garage door open I assumed it wouldn't be long before I heard the beast roar and that would be done.
Nope.
I gathered my winter gear again, and went to see what was going on in the garage only to find him struggling to pull start the beast.
He tugged so hard I thought the cord would fall off in his hand but at least he was getting it to make a noise. How he ever thought I was going to pull it like that I have no idea. We got this for our old age...how are we suppose to start it then? ha ha. { the electric start is for extreme cold temps only }
He pushed the beast out closer to the doorway, I don't know...maybe to entice it to starting or something,...pulled it soo hard and so high, he banged his hand off of the garage door handle that it looked broken. (it's still swollen and purple black). But the snow blower was running.
Shoveling is much simpler but when you have a huge job, a snow blower is the thing to use. I made my way around the house through the gates and onto the job out front. The neighbor was done stacking her snow as high as a snow man and was standing on her porch dancing around and cheering us on as if we were somehow coming over there to move her now mountains of snow.
I looked at hubby and he whispered to me... its a snow blower....not a chipper.
:)
Winter Storm Hercules proved his name as far as I was concerned. Today we are buried in extreme frigid temperatures with negatives for the highs when only a few days ago it reached the forties and fifties. I can see my breath in my attic as I try to put some holiday decorations away wearing a coat, hat and gloves. Crazy.
The seasons, they be a changin'. And not for the better. But the least we can do is not encourage them with big names to live up to.
