Seconding I’m Not Dennis Bergkamp. NOVA, to their credit, has been very good about getting the snow plows out. I know because I ventured out to the shopping center across the street at 7 a.m., and I saw several plows in the short time I was outside.
I think I read yesterday that Virginia has run out of both the money set aside for clearing the roads and the emergency reserve, and has had to dip into funds intended for other programs in order to pay for clearing the roads.
Spent 2 hours in the parking lot with my dustpan, cleared about 40% of my car. It was easier than I’d expected, in part because the dustpan is light and only required a minor flick to fling the snow into the nearest bank. The rest can wait until tomorrow!
Has anybody seen someone using a leaf blower yet? 
Okay, I spent most of the day outside digging snow and helping people, not so much indoors cleaning. 
We got 29.79 inches officially – the old 2-day snowfall record was 24.8, so we beat it by 5 inches.
Some highlights:
[ul]
[li]The condo association’s snow blower burned out its motor last night and was abandoned on the sidewalk, as it is self-propelled and too heavy to lift[/li][li]Someone in the complex had a baby, like in every disaster movie. The Fire Dept sent a vehicle to help her.[/li][li]The Fire Dept vehicle bogged down and had to be dragged out by a 4wd truck – the chains on the FD vehicle gouged big dips into our asphalt.[/li][li]Tree branches have fallen like crazy – I saw two go down myself, sounding like gunshots.[/li][li]An entire tree broke in half in front of one building (see the pics).[/li][li]The snow-clearing Bobcat got stuck at least once. (See pics). The pickup-mounted snowplow got stuck multiple times and the snow-removal company guys got tired of digging it out and retreated, using the Bobcat after that.[/li][li]Although a few assholes shoveled off their cars by putting the snow into their neighbor’s spaces, most of the neighborhood came out to clear sidewalks and doorways together…since the snow blower is kaput.[/li][li]The dogs are wildly excited about the snow, but mostly they just want to run up to everyone and get attention. We had to restrain them from pestering the weary folks shoveling.[/li][/ul]
If it weren’t for people coming over for the game, I would have just kept at it. I have no where to be and need the exercise. I *think *I could have finished before the game, but I wasn’t sure. This way I’m sure. (If the guy shows up tomorrow.)
Fortunately I am none the worse for wear after shoveling a few tons of global warming off of about 6 cars and a sidewalk. I expected my shoulder or my back to be sore, but they held up quite well.
Sounds like we’re in for another 6" Tuesday night and possibly even more Friday.
Our association uses a blower and an ATV with a plow attachment. Perhaps yours could do the same?
I am from Frederick, Maryland. I feel like I am missing a great show, but on the other hand …
Alexandria City got about 17.6" and I’m glad I live in a high rise building. I just drank hot cocoa, watched team coverage of the snowfall and occasionally looked out the window to see car shaped lumps in the parking lot. I’m pretty sure the federal government will be closed on Monday, possibly Tuesday if we get additional snow. I visited my Harris Teeter’s at 9:00am on Friday and was astonished to see whole shelves emptied and large cardboard boxes in the middle of store aisles; people not even waiting for boxes of cereal to make it to the shelves. Oh well, stay warm and stay safe everyone.
I’ve also been watching California weather; they’ve gotten a lot of rain and at least 41 homes were struck down in a mudslide. I hope they’re okay.
I spent about an hour digging fifteen feet to my shed to get the other shovel out, so that my wife can help shovel our driveway tomorrow. It turns out, though, that the other shovel is actually in the *back *shed… which is a couple of hundred feet behind the house.
I’m going to have to snowshoe over to the shed tomorrow, dig THAT one out, so that we can get started on the driveway.
We got just over 18 inches (19 in one spot we checked). It took Typo Knig and the kids 2 hours to clear half our driveway (which is not a long one). Should be sufficient for us to get one car out in an emergency, which is important - as I nearly had to go to the ER in the middle of the last deluge!
They’ll finish the rest of the driveway tomorrow.
Funny: when we first moved to this house, we were delighted at having a garage. No more need to dig our cars out after a snowstorm!!
Then we got the big 2003 snowstorm.
And we realized it’s a LOT harder to clear AN ENTIRE DRIVEWAY than one compact car!! :smack:
Burke, Virginia, just West of DC. I haven’t heard an official number but my back yard is about 30" under. My front yard is a hill, and my mailbox is completely buried in the drift. Celtling got stuck twice and had to be pulled from the snow.
Even with the blower, I only got the front stoop, stairs, walk, and a path to the front of the car done. I’ll attempt the rest of the driveway tomorrow.
I had to lift my snow blower up and set it on top of the snow, then dig down and do it in layers. Really pathetic. But I’ll tell you this, that’s the best $150.00 I ever spent! If I’d known we were going to get lake effect snow in Virginia this year, I’d have sprung for the bigger model.
My dream home has gotten an addition this month - heated drive and walkways. When I win the lottery that’s what I’m gonna have. . . and they’ll be hooked up to solar panels so I don’t have to feel guilty about it . . . Yup!
Looks more like rural New England around here, with the high snowbanks and snow-covered road.
Half my guests have already canceled. 
Hey TruCelt, we are in Burke too. Right near the Rolling Road VRE station. No one can get out of here and they are telling us not to expect a plow until Wednesday. We are on one of those cul-de-sacs off a cul-de-sac. I doubt we figure much in to VDOT’s planning. No blowers or anything and I have done five trips now and the driveway is clear, but there is no way anyone can get through the 2 feet or more of untouched snow even to get to the 7-11.
I’ve managed to shovel about a fourth of the driveway at this point, and I’ve pretty much given up on trying to get to work tomorrow. I’ve settled for getting the driveway clear in time for Tuesday’s storm.
On the plus side, I’ve now got a pile of snow big enough to make a snowcave, which is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid.
Why is everyone so eager to get to work tomorrow? Just watch the Super Bowl tonight and then call in tomorrow. What are you, a bunch of Canadians or something?
We’ve been digging in spurts - we’ll go out for 30-45 minutes, clear what we can, then come in and rest. My husband has a bad back, but he found his back brace, so that has helped a ton.
We work in layers - first lift off the light stuff, then chop up the more solid underlayer. Scoop, fling, rest, scoop, fling, rest. I’d guess we’re within 25’ of the road, but the pile at the end is at least 3’. It’s going to be a booger to clear. We keep looking for someone with a plow passing by, but so far, no luck.
The plan is to find a guy with a plow and contract with him - any time we get more than 4" or so, he comes over and digs us out. We’re in our mid-50s, we’ve got a checkbook - why should we shovel??
Check me outearlier today.
Well, I dug out the area around the car and part of the driveway…my partner is working on the rest of the drive.
Part of the problem is figuring out where the hell to put the snow. On one side of the driveway we have a bunch of overgrown bushes, which are completely covered. I tried to unearth them a bit so I could free the branches and not pile more snow on top of them.
I walked to 7-11 today to get a couple items. Interesting to see the contrast with some people’s driveways and walks completely clear, then other houses where nobody has even stepped foot outside.
Kiddo has no school tomorrow and I’m hoping the feds will do the same. I take Metro anyway and our above-ground station isn’t open yet.
Now to buckle down for Tuesday’s storm…ugh.
The one time I lived where I could use a garage I didn’t all winter for that reason. I could park next to the road or 30 feet back from the road.
