B…A…S…S

[Alex2507]

The real b!tch of it has been that we have banana bread but not really enough milk for me to wash it all down with. I was gonna go out today but said f^%& it. All I know is that if I drink all the milk and there is none for morning coffee, I'm dead. My life is hard.

 

[Swerd]

To be fair to the condo contractor, he can't be everywhere at once. With a big fall like you just had it will take a while to get to all the accounts.

… …I would just be patient and wait for the snow removal service. They will get to you in the end.

You're right of course. I have no choice but to be patient.

But I will not be so understanding to the HOA. I've lived in this neighborhood for 23 years and the snow removal has always been very good, until this year with a new contractor. The new contractor dropped the ball, so the HOA (a bunch of 3rd rate sand-lot politicians who couldn't get elected dog catcher) will hear from me.

 

[Swerd]

The real b!tch of it has been that we have banana bread but not really enough milk for me to wash it all down with. I was gonna go out today but said f^%& it. All I know is that if I drink all the milk and there is none for morning coffee, I'm dead. My life is hard.

Never Ever run out of coffee and whatever you need to put in it.

I roasted ¾ lb on Friday before the snow began. I've got a hand cranked grinder, a manual drip pot, and a gas stove in case power fails. After a hurricane knocked out electricity for 5 days, I got that hand cranked coffee grinder. Never again! I may have to shovel snow the hard way, but I will not do without coffee.

OK, maybe I need one of these as well

 

[KenM10759]

Not all of us can have a tractor and need to make do with a snowblower. Then there are those who don't even have a place to put one of those. Sad.

I shoveled for over 20 years. My next door neighbor would sometimes come over with his snowblower and do the driveway and I appreciated that. Once my sons got old enough (strong enough), they would help out. In 2011 I finally bought a snowblower myself. I could never justify the $1500+ for a good new one, so a used 2005 Husvarna SBE1030 for $500 was it. My older son handled it fine, I would watch frome inside with coffee in hand.

Last winter killed that snowblower (and the one at mom's house, 7.5 miles away.) I was spending 2 hours fixing the POS for every hour of using it. The one at mom's was a 1995 "Brute", and it mangled the auger and housing beyond repair. The situation in late February here was such that I found one local shop that had but two remaining new snowblowers and no used ones. I bought one, and it turned out to be a "special model" Ariens Deluxe 28+. Ariens had run out of the normal 291cc motors and shipped about 350 of that model with a 414cc motor. It was so good that I had to have one.

I found a 2013 Ariens Platinum 30 with that motor, plus heated grips and different chute control. I paid nearly the new price, it had perhaps less than 10 hours on it and another year & a half of warranty remaining. When I was using it to clear my driveway yesterday (both sons moved out now), it was pure joy. It likes to eat BIG piles of snow, not the 2 or 3 inches I got. Picture from a year ago:

 

[markw]

Sorry, I couldn't resist this. It was 72 here today.

 

[KenM10759]

I dunno...I kinda like the excitement of a good snowstorm and with a GOOD machine don't mind the cleanup one bit. Having 4 full seasons with no real extremes (as compared to the extreme heat of south Texas or bitter cold of northern Minnesota/North Dakota) is rather fun.

 

[markw]

Aside from a brief stint in the Air Force, I've lived in New Jersey for 66 years and have done more than my share of snow shoveling. Particularly when the city comes by later and plows up big ice boulders allover the driveway and sidewalk I just shoveled.

 

[KenM10759]

Shoveling is what I did for over 20 years and finally got into snowblowers. No turning back, and the EOD (End Of Driveway) lumps are JOY to attack with the Ariens now. The 13HP beast tosses it clear across the street to my a-hole neighbor's unkempt property!

 

[markw]

That would have been a great option but living in a row house with no garage, there is no way to store one.

So, I got my exercise that way.

Yeah, I would love snow if I didn't have to shovel it or go anywhere but I really didn't mind sitting this one out.

But, I do miss pastrami, good pizza, bagels, Taylor ham, and diners.

 

[afterlife2]

Blizzard 2016

 

[lsiberian]

That would have been a great option but living in a row house with no garage, there is no way to store one.

So, I got my exercise that way.

Yeah, I would love snow if I didn't have to shovel it or go anywhere but I really didn't mind sitting this one out.

But, I do miss pastrami, good pizza, bagels, Taylor ham, and diners.

I know you can get good bagels in Houston. Not sure exactly how close you are to it.

 

[Midwesthonky]

Living in the Midwest, we just laugh at all the complaints and news feeds about the east coast blizzard. We enjoy blizzards as it's a good excuse to slack off and stay indoors. When it's over, we clean up and are usually back on track within 12-24 hours. But we also realize not all streets can be plowed instantly and are generally patient accordingly.

The last major blizzard we had, the city shut down for 24 hours. When it ended, everyone went out and cleaned up. I took my time since the street was still full. Why hurry? But I also have a Kubota lawn tractor with a 46" cut width.

As for the Ariens, love those machines. I have one I used before I bought the Kubota. They really throw the snow!

I remember living in Minnesota bout 10 miles from Canada. When I couldn't see the thermometer because of the ice on the window, I knew it was at least -25F outside. Don't miss that.

 

[slipperybidness]

Almost relevant to the thread.

 

[markw]

 

[Swerd]

Living in the Midwest, we just laugh at all the complaints and news feeds about the east coast blizzard.

I live in the East, and we also laughed at the news feeds we saw on the tube. It may not have been false per se, but it didn't really resemble things in general.

I think anyone who has had a 'major news event' happen nearby them, knows that TV news focuses only on the worst cases. This tends to exaggerate things.

Whenever a tornado strikes somewhere, the TV cameras fill the screen with the damage, and undamaged areas nearby fail to get covered.

 

[KenM10759]

Last year up here it got to be pretty mundane to get 8" on Tuesday, 6" on Thursday, 12" on Friday and cleanup on Saturday. After 3-4 weeks of that we had over 7 feet still on the ground and the only complaint was that snowblowers of every size and shape were completely sold out and no place to put more snow.

News trickled down to the weekly report on how many months it would take the bigger piles to melt. I think it was June 17th when the biggest in Boston finally petered out. We out in the central-western part of the state couldn't care less.

 

[herbu]

Whenever a tornado strikes somewhere, the TV cameras fill the screen with the damaged trailer and the guy with no front teeth...

Fixed it for you.

Now, time to get back to the real BASS...

 

[lsiberian]

In the 70s today.

 

[Midwesthonky]

Rained yesterday. Now another system headed to Wisconsin. Course, the computer models all differ. One says 6+ inches. Another says rain. Third says mixed. Kids wanted a blizzard.

So to prepare for this event that would shut down DC, I washed my Packers hat and bought an extra box of Cheez-Its (white cheddar flavor...yum!).

 

[KenM10759]

Rode my motorcycle around yesterday, hit 60ºF here today. Not bad for the first of February! I can do without snow, though I just have a feeling we're going to PAY dearly for this within a couple of weeks. We always do!