TZUTC: -0500   
   MSGID: 1121.canada@1:2320/105 2ddb4815   
   REPLY: 1:153/757.21@fidonet 28b5b466   
   PID: Synchronet 3.21a-Linux master/123f2d28a Jul 12 2025 GCC 12.2.0   
   TID: SBBSecho 3.28-Linux master/123f2d28a Jul 12 2025 GCC 12.2.0   
   BBSID: CAPCITY2   
   CHRS: ASCII 1   
   FORMAT: flowed   
   RM> I don't think my plow guy has been in for close to a week though. I went   
   RM> out to dig my car out yesterday, major pain getting to it, and if he'd   
   RM> been in in the past 4 days then it had grown a lot of new 3 foot drifts   
   RM> since then.   
      
   AA>Yep..  same here.. too much snow one day after the next.  I am so sick and   
     >tired of it.   
      
   Yes, it gets to you after a while. You expect the odd day or two but   
   not a solid week of windy, drifting snow days.   
      
   But my plow guy finally showed up Saturday. He even went out of his   
   way not to bury the front of my car too badly, but you can do just   
   so much from the truck. I had about 3 or 4 feet of snow a few feet   
   out from my bumper that I had to shovel off, snow that was hardened   
   from being plowed first.   
      
   I spent 2 times 3 hours shovelling snow on Friday and Saturday.   
   I had to do the main paths due to my snow shoes falling apart.   
      
   AA>How do snowshoes get destroyed?  Were they wood types? The modern   
     >ones seem so small and made out of plastic.   
      
   Yes, mine are the big old wood and leather lace types but they   
   are about 35 years old and the leather bits have rotted a little   
   too much. Carrying water on top of 3 feet of medium soft snow   
   put a lot of stress on them and one foot went right through the   
   bottom, ripping the leather, and on the other foot the bindings   
   broke loose completely..   
      
   But.. Today a local lady who lives a bay over from me and uses   
   part of my driveway to jog or snowshoe depending on weather   
   said today she has some extra snowshoes that were just left in   
   their place when they bought and she will give me another pair.   
   Hopefully they are in better shape than mine were..   
      
   That said, I only used mine one day last year, and likely   
   would have only used them a couple of days so far this year   
   which is why I never bought newer replacements.   
   It's not a lot of fun carrying pails of water wearing snowshoes.   
      
   AA>> Why not look to get a decent snow blower?  Surely that would take would   
   AA>> be a good investment, and basically a necessity for country living.   
      
   RM> A lot of the worst parts I clear snow from is up and down rough   
   RM> bedrock hills which wouldn't work with a snow blower. The actual   
   RM> driveway bits usually don't get that much snow since they are   
   RM> flat enough it blows on past.   
      
   AA>But if you can't drive up to the cottage and leave the car out by the end of   
     >your lane, then you *do* have a lot of snow on the driveway!  :D   If not a   
     >snow blower, then how about an ATV that can be fitted with a push-blade?   
      
   I have about 400 feet of paths I need to keep walkable, and the actual   
   flat driveway part of that is maybe 70 feet long. I suppose I could use   
   it out on the ice as well, but that also gets less snow accumulation.   
      
   I'm trying to avoid more gas powered tools to store and take care of..   
      
   RM> I also don't want to get into anything too costly since I don't know how   
   RM> many more years I'll spend the winter here. I've been having some   
   RM> serious second thoughts this past week.   
      
   AA>This kind of weather is UNLIKELY to occur multiple years in a row.   
    > So.. maybe you will be better off next year.   
      
   One hopes.. I was thinking last year was bad and expecting this year   
   to be better.. and it started off that way after the first couple   
   of weeks in December, but then this last 8 or 10 days happened..   
      
   The plow guy had said that last year was the worst year for snow   
   he'd seen in the 8 years he'd been plowing this place out.   
      
   RM> This is quite possibly the worst week for snow I've ever seen   
   RM> here including the 13 years in the past when I was wintering   
   RM> here all the time.   
      
   AA>I agree.. the total accumulation seems untypically high this season.   
   However,   
     >the pile on the roof has not been as high as it has been just a couple years   
     >ago - I suppose the few milder days in January melted most of it.   
      
   I was looking at the roof of one of the out buildings here and   
   there is 3 or 4 feet of snow over almost the whole roof.   
   I also had to knock probably 100 lbs of icicles from one side of   
   my place 2 days ago too.   
      
   RM> Latest info now says it will hit -41c (-42f) Friday night.   
   RM> That's actual, not wind chill temperature..   
      
   AA>Yep.. we're in for a deep freeze over the weekend. I added some gasline   
     >anti-freeze to my truck.  I might consider wrapping the battery with   
     >a warmer while parked at the house during the day.   
      
   I'd think gas these days has enough ethanol in it that it wouldn't   
   freeze but maybe you know better..   
      
   The snowshoe lady above said that they couldn't get either of   
   their cars running today, not even with a jump from another   
   car. They were working on getting a heater under the hood too.   
      
   I decided to just leave the one baseboard heater on last night (-41c)   
   and I left the small heater on all night in the bedroom (plus my   
   electric blanket).. When I woke up this morning it was about 2c (35f)   
   in here and my pails of water on the floor in the kitchen had ice   
   growing on the insides and across the top, up to 1/2 inch thick..   
      
   When I went out to the bay for water, the spade I use to chop the   
   ice that forms on the hole had frozen so solidly into what was wet   
   snow the day before beside the 'box' that I had to go and get   
   an axe to chop the ice around it to break it free.   
      
   The fun never ends..    B)   
      
   ---   
    * SLMR Rob  * Elvis has logged off...   
    * Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)   
   SEEN-BY: 105/81 106/201 128/187 129/14 305 153/7715 154/110 218/700   
   SEEN-BY: 226/30 227/114 229/110 112 134 206 300 307 317 426 428 470   
   SEEN-BY: 229/664 700 705 291/111 292/854 320/219 322/757 396/45 460/58   
   SEEN-BY: 633/280 712/848 902/26 2320/0 105 107 304 5020/400 5075/35   
   PATH: 2320/105 229/426