All Hail the Mighty Snowblower Man!!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

OK, so we had a few flakes this weekend . . . about two feet worth so far. Mr. S and I woke up Saturday morning and introduced the dogs to Real Snow. A little while later we realized that we were out of bread, and low on milk, and gee, snow days are nice for making soup but we don’t have much for fresh fixin’s. Oh well, we won’t starve, there’s plenty of other stuff to feed us.

But meanwhile there was the other consideration of clearing the driveway. Mr. S just had hernia surgery, so shoveling is out for him. I could have done it, but it would have taken me a week and I’m swamped with work (I work at home, so at least no commute) and literally can’t afford the time and energy. I’m working 10- to 12-hour days for at least the next week to get caught up. But we need to clear the driveway for UPS, FedEx, etc. for my work shipments. I shoveled out a small path for the dogs to pee on, but that was about all I could spare.

So Mr. S calls up his 70-year-old brother who lives just down the road. Normally we’d just shovel ourselves out as usual, but this is a special case and could he help us out? Sure thing! So this afternoon here he comes toodling down the road behind his big-ass snowblower. I never saw one throw snow that high. Up and down the driveway he went, up and down. After about twenty minutes the job was done and away he went, back down the road.

We were so happy, and appreciative, and grateful! I went out and CLEARED ALL THE SNOW OFF THE VAN (ahem), moved it and shoveled up the detritus while it warmed up, and we went to town for our perishables and fixin’s. And we picked up a big old gift card for the grocery store and dropped it off next door on our way home, with effusive thanks. They said, “No, no,” but I stuck it to a clip on the fridge and insisted that they use it with our thanks.

So hats off to all those solid neighborly dudes, young and old, with their mighty magical machines. You’ve seen 'em – the ones who do the sidewalks for the whole block just because they can. I hope that if you have one, you’ve thanked him, even though he’ll probably say it was nothing. No way – he was out in the cold while we were snug inside, burning up his gas and energy, and this after clearing his own place, when he could have been in the easy chair with his feet up and a mug of something hot.

Thank you very much for your services, sir!

2

You’re very welcome. Truth is, it’s a selfish pleasure for me, watching that big ole white rooster tail of snow go flying off…

It’s a Guy Thing.

3

Yeah, that would be me.

We moved here about three years back, and I figured a snow blower would be a good thing. Got one at a garage sale, and it worked. Once. Then we got 28 inches of snow overnight, and the durn thing died, and I almost had a stroke myself trying to pull start that old thing.

The next day I went to Lowe’s and said “I want a snowblower with an electric starter.”

I spent almost a week’s pay on it, and it was worth every dime. However, I’ve only used it about a dozen times since I got it, so you can bet your bottom dollar I’m going to go clear around the block with it on the occasions that I can.

Not to mention it makes walking the dog easier.

4

Hell yeah. My parents got one this winter, and every snowfall, my dad and I argue over who gets to clear their driveway. It feels so great to be able to do effortly in 15 minutes what used to take two hours of sweating and swearing.

It’s like getting a machine gun after a lifetime of hunting woolly mammoths with spears.

5

I for one welcome our new Mighty Snowblower Overlords.

6

The Bog does this for our neighbor. Her driveway is about 1/6 mile long and ours about 1/4 mile. He’s out there for a while, needless to say.

She (the neighbor) bakes him homemade treats as a way of thanks. Bog loves treats. :stuck_out_tongue:

7

Back in the days when I lived in Nebraska, I always loved the first good snow of the year and I got to use the snowblower :smiley:

It it was only a little bit of snow, less than 4 inches or so, my parents would make me shovel the driveway. It was a big driveway, it sucked. Stupid shovel.

Now I live in Las Vegas and see “snow” on rare occasions.

8

We moved from Edmonton where we only had to clear the steps to northern Quebec with a quarter mile of driveway. My wife brought me a bigger shovel. :mad:

This year I ignored the wife and brough a new snow plow for the quad. :slight_smile:

She complained it was going to take me forever to clear the drive. I asked her how long she thought it took with the shovel.

We have been paying a neighbor to do most of it with his tractor but, at $800 per year and his random appearances and whining that 3 - 4 inches is a waste of time and fuel to clear. Well I’m happy I’ve got my plow. Talk about fun, only down side now is every time it snows we get visitors asking if they can try it. :frowning:

9

And to complete the look…

I’d pay to see someone actually use one of these beauties!