Diary of a reformed snow shoveller.

[Nancy]

All faucets that are on the outside walls with no source of heat, like the downstairs half-bath, have to stay dripping a little, plus the doors have to be open to let heat into those rooms.

Some people are having gas heat problems. Their meters and pipes are freezing up. Condensation gets into them and once that freezes, goodbye gas heat.

Our house is warm. We had some replacement windows installed in the fall, they are terrific, not a single draft of any kind, warm as toast. Plus we had additional insulation put into the attic.

Anyone who keeps their cars ungaraged is in trouble. It hard to get them started and batteries just can't keep up.

Harriet (our little dog) has lots of cold weather gear, as do I. But she doesn't stay out for long.

 

[dwfreck]

January 14, 15 & 16.

Colder weather (but not a cold as other places!), but no snow. The organ pipes and packing crates are finally out of the garage, so I've got access to the thrower again. Bring on the snow! Unfortunately, the forecast for late tonight and tomorrow calls for a nasty combination of rain, freezing rain and snow (in no particular order) through late Saturday night, January 17. Personally, I'd rather have just the snow, if you please. I'm beginning to wonder what I'll do with my trusty old snow shovels (other than clean off the front porch, which is too small for the thrower). Maybe I can use them to shovel mulch in the Spring. Oops! I forgot; I'll be recovering from open heart surgery in the Spring.

 

[dwfreck]

January 17 - 25.

Nothing materialized on January 17, and nothing but flurries that didn't accumulate from then until January 25. Then we got some snow. Not the wimpy less-than-two-inch stuff we've seen so far, but a real snowfall, 4-6 inches, followed by sleet & freezing rain. The grand total in the southeast part of West Chester Township, OH, 4-6 inches of snow and less than 1/4 inch of sleet & freezing rain. I was out several times the evening and night of January 25, first to clear the bulk of the snow, then to strip off the thin layer of snow & ice that accumulated late, then to clear away the township snowplow's pile at the end of the driveway. I even got my wife into the act, since she'll need to run the thrower if it snows while I'm recovering; I practially had to wrestle her to get the thrower back! This being southwest Ohio, most schools were declared closed, for the NEXT day, by 8:00 pm. The prediction for January 26 is freezing rain turning to rain, with highs in the upper 30s to low 40s. We'll see what happens.

For all of you in the parts of the country that routinely get "real" snow, I highly suggest one of these:

 

[EVELYN]

HEY DALE.....DO YOU GUYS RENT THOSE AND CAN WE GET ONE TO LONG ISLAND BY WEDNESDAY?

 

[EVELYN]

OOPS, hit the wrong button! Looks like we're going to be hit with between 8-18 inches of snow here.....and since we live on the east end, we'll probably get more than the rest of the island. Supposed to start Tuesday afternoon and go through Wednesday afternoon. AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!

Just called the guy who plows for us and told him to come on over if it's over a foot----our trakitor can't handle any more, especially wet, heavy snow.

Boy, do I hate winter!!

Ev

 

[Nancy]

Dale-

Send that my way, we're supposed to get 12 inches Tuesday night into Wednesday.

I've been freezing my nose off here. It's been hovering at 0 give or take 10 degrees, and it's bone-chilling. With the snow, comes a heat wave of 20 or more, but then we'll have the snow to deal with.

Where's spring??

Did Peggy in Alaska say it was 38 up there? Come on now, Peggy, you can share some of this with me. We're not supposed to outdo you.

 

[hensylee]

Dale - maybe they didn't lie this time, huh? Sounds like you had great fun.

Daffodils coming up in my yard - about 5 days growth now and wow, are they poppin fast. heard a wren giving the mating call this morning. But tomorrow night we're having 24 degrees. Go figure.

 

[Nancy]

Ah Hensylee-

That's where spring is. Sounds wonderful, except for the 24 degrees.

 

[EVELYN]

DAFFODILS??? I'm so jealous, Ann!!!. Mine are smart----they're not even thinking about stretching yet.....boy oh boy oh boy oh boy, wish it was SPRING!!!

Right now we've not nothing but some flurries, so I'm off to the shower and to work. Plan on leaving around 1 so I can get home before the bulk of it starts this afternoon/evening.

Be well ALL and snowless except for Al in Co!!!!

Evelyn

 

[dwfreck]

January 26 & 27.

It didn't rain much (frozen or otherwise) on the 26th, but the temperatures did rise above freezing, and we had dense fog that evening when the very moist air started to settle back down over the somewhat-melted snow, and the temperature started to drop. Much colder temperatures on the 27th and between 1 & 2 inches of new, powdery snow meant another round of snow-blowing, just to keep the driveway clean.

 

[hensylee]

congratulations on your successful breaking in of your new machine. At least you know it works.

 

[dwfreck]

Arrrgh!

Arrrgh!

January 28 - 30.

No new snow on the 28th, but we got another 2-4 inches the evening of the 29th. Since the forecast said it wouldn't stop until midnight, I decided I'd wait until the morning of the 30th to clear the driveway. I got up early, checked the school closing report, and went out to throw some snow...

...and couldn't get the thrower started. I tried the pull-handle, which, until this morning, had always worked on the first or second try. Then I tried the electric starter, figuring the extra cold temperature might dictate a little more pull on the starter than I can manage. Then I went inside and double-checked the owner's manual to make sure I hadn't missed anything.

I did everything exactly as the manual described, but couldn't get the thrower started, even with ten consecutive tries on the electric starter.

So, the thrower is now in the dealer's shop (still under warranty), and there's four inches of snow still on my driveway, which will remain there until it melts or my thrower comes back, whichever comes first. With the forecast for high temperatures barely above freezing through this time next week, I suspect I'll have the thrower back first. At least the forecast doesn't call for more snow until Monday...

Do I dare blame this on Hensylee for jinxing me by saying:

Originally posted by Hensylee:
congratulations on your successful breaking in of your new machine. At least you know it works.

or will she change her post to read:

Never posted by Hensylee:
congratulations on successfully breaking your new machine. At least you know it worked.

 

[hensylee]

was there gas in it? hee hee

I once couldn't get the riding mower started, looked in the tank, saw gas. Finally called male cousin after many tries to crank it - he came over, after asking if there was gas in it and daughter and I said, of course. He checked the gas (with a stick - who knew?), busted out laughing; there was only a wee bit in the bottom - we thought it LOOKED full.

 

[dwfreck]

January 31.

Got the thrower back from the dealer with no problem found. They primed it, choked it, and started it on the third pull! For hensylee, yes, there was gas in it. I've talked to the service techs at the dealer, and we've all come to the conclusion that I might not have turned the key to the on position , or that it needed "extra" priming because I had recently refilled the tank. Of course, with the cold temps the morning of Jan 30, I had my extra-warm ski gloves on, and couldn't really "feel" anything through the fingers of the glvoes, so maybe I didn't get the switch twisted all the way to "on" or didn't feel the lack of fuel in the priming bulb. Either way, I got the snow off the driveway this afternoon. I had to use a shovel to clear the end of the driveway because the township plow had piled up large chuncks of ice which the thrower didn't like at all. Talk about work! I was a few minutes on, fifteen minutes off, for three hours, shoveling that mess. At least the sun was out to soften it up a bit, or I'd have needed a pick axe!

On a somber note, I got word that our church receptionist lost her husband to sudden heart failure while he was, you guessed it, shovelling snow.

 

[dwfreck]

February 1 - 3.

Above-freezing temperatures and rain are quickly melting the snow, except for the great piles left by the plows and snowthrowers. Could this be the last of Old Man Winter?

 

[Georgia]

For to laugh, Dale hahaha

Old man winter's just gassing up for the next round. 18 degrees today, 3 wind chill, down to +5 tonite. And the rain yesterday turned to snow last night. And friend, YOU ARE DOWNWIND FROM US. So duck quick and take snowblower in hand.

 

[Birky]

weather

weather

I agree that winter is just getting a good start. We had 5 inches of snow last night and getting below zero weather tonight. Forecasting snow again Thurs. and Friday. I can handle the snow but not the cold. My neighbor has a plow on his truck and did our driveway this morning. That really helps tremendously. Looking forward to staying in tonight and watching the darn reruns.

 

[Granbonny]

Dale

Dale

Be careful using a pick axe. Two winters ago..we had a heavy ice storm. Ice on ground for a week. Sun never hits our yard in winter..Hubby took a pick axe..and sure enough..BONG.. NOTHING Just had to wait it out..Calling for more freezing rain here in Georgia..Thursday. Bonnie

 

[hensylee]

we arent even done yet and this is FLORIDA! Don't think y'all are going to get warm yet. We're promised more of the same next week - COLD, that is. Our last spell is usually Easter and the next day, it's instant summer.

 

[dwfreck]

February 4 - 9.

Say it with me again: "Flash flood warning." We got more rain, and more melting snow toward the end of the week, so, of course, my basenent started leaking. We got colder temperatures and shunshine on Friday, which continued the melting. We got what I estimate as one-eighth of an inch of snow early on Saturday - enough to turn the driveway white, but I could still see the contours of the joints in the concrete. With continued sunshine, by Sunday morning, all of that snow had melted. Sorry to say this to all you folks north (and/or west) of here, but it looks like Old Man Winter is giving Cincinnati a pass, for now.