Nor’easter’s Crop.
Yes, we are ok. This morning I dug out half of our driveway from underneath 20 inches of snow. The other half had been uncovered during the night by the snow plow fairy. And thank God for that.
Getting nearly two feet of snow in 24 hours is not always bad. In the middle of the week that kind of powder will normally get you a one day pass to the couch. If it comes on Friday or Saturday, your boss smiles and knows that everyone finished work this week and will pick up promptly Monday morning. But when it comes in the pre dawn hours of Sunday morning and quits at a quarter past four Sunday evening a decision has to be made. “Do I dig out now or later?” Time was precious and daylight dripping away.
Sunday evening I glanced out at the snow and let the mere site of the drifts inspire me to come up with a “no snow” alternative to shoveling.
“Just have someone else do it.”
I realize now that when the doorbell rang earlier in the afternoon and two visibly exhausted kids were offering to shovel off the drive for a minor fee I should have said “Yes.” Later on I was thinking “Come back, please for the love of God come back!”
I had told them I’d “get to it later.”
Next thing I knew I was peering out our front picture window trying to spot the duo in a neighbors drive harvesting Nor’easter’s crop. In all honesty it would have been worth 25 bucks the first time around, but now I’m willing to go as high as 50 to get the job done. They were nowhere to be seen. Probably lashing Abe Lincoln’s through a cash counter at a furious pace by that point.
Next I was thinking that maybe I would hire a contractor to push through the short drive with an oversized pickup and a 6 foot blade. It would take all of 30 seconds to finish the job. Based on the amount of snowfall we’ve had this year (practically none) I could’ve had two contractors working against each other and gotten it done for less than the “doorbell duo.” I’ve always been leery of this option for a couple of reasons. First, it would open the door for me to never have to shovel snow again. That’s sounds nice, but it allows me to be lazier than I care to actually be. My other concern is the well being of our cars. If I hire a contractor to hit my driveway each time it snows and receive a bill later, other things might get hit too. I don’t particularly care for someone to hit one of our cars while I’m not around. The situation would be just too ambiguous. So I passed on this option as well.
“The best case scenario.”
Maybe work would be canceled. Knowing that the likelihood was minimal, I picked up my cell phone and dialed Pat’s number. Pat is one of the four people in my group at the operations center. She is also my boss’ left hand. She is my favorite co-worker to tease. She has a short fuse and it’s easy to set her off, but she’s also like a second mother too. Ah yes, being the resident smart ass is a delicate balance. The exchange that was about to take place was my way of testing the water. It was frigidly short.
“Pat…its Jeremy.”
“Yeah.”
“Are we working tomorrow?”
“Why wouldn’t we be?”
“Well there’s about 20 inches on the ground here.”
“Yeah and? I’ve already shoveled my driveway three times. And after the third time the street plows came and plowed it closed again. I swear that guy in the truck had a smile on his face when he did it.”
“I’m sure he did Pat. You’re supposed to wait until it stops snowing to shovel out your drive. So you won’t have to do it three times.”
“I know that. Do you think I need you to tell me that?”
“Apparently you do Pat.”
“GOOD BYE JEREMY!”
Click.
At that point it was clear to me that I would be working Monday. I could’ve called my boss, but I’d rather not appear so lazy with my annual performance appraisal approaching.
“Favored Neighbor.”
After momentarily contemplating a desperation call to the boss man I closed my cell phone and decided to continue searching for options.
Sitting at the dining room table I could hear an engine running outside. It was just slightly pitched high enough and working just hard enough for me to know without seeing that it was not a car. Because I had drawn the curtains closed earlier in a feeble attempt to keep the cold out I couldn’t see what the engine was attached to. I got up and made my way back to the picture window and pulled the curtains aside. Our neighbor from the other side of the street was directing a two wheeled monster known around these parts as a “snow thrower”. It was an orange monstrosity with combine like teeth churning through the snow. The snow was seemingly sucked into the front and shot out through a smoke stack like tub on top of the mechanical mayhem. It was quite the impressive sight. He plowed through square footage similar to ours in a few short minutes. I’ve seen these things before. It’s not like Indiana has Key West winters. Usually a lot of snow in Indiana is considered six to eight inches justifying merely a snow shovel and elbow grease. I can only recall one time seeing a similar snowfall in the mid west compared to the one that had just been cast upon New England. It’s just a fact. Owning a snow thrower in Indiana is probably a waste of money. But in Rhode Island on Sunday it would have been a Godsend.
I was tempted to go out and try to bribe my neighbor into rolling that machine over the driveway a few times. We didn’t have any cookies or fudge to throw on a tray. Money wouldn’t have seemed very neighborly of me. After a few minutes of watching in awe it became obvious. The only reason he’d been out was to gain useful access to his truck. He and his wife departed shortly thereafter. And I would now need useful access to the drawing board.
“Night and Day.”
By the time I had broken my hyper focus from the bellowing snow thrower, daylight had slipped just a little further away. The finality of the situation was setting in. I could either make a ditch effort to go out and plow into the dark hours or I could wait for sunrise. The benefits of getting it done Sunday night only meant an hour or so extra sleep this morning. What to do? I’d been cleaning in the house most of the afternoon and really had a lot of momentum going for me. However, I’d already been out in the snow earlier in the day to play with the dogs and had my fair share of cold and wet. Finally, I decided to lay the situation to rest and let this morning deal with the snow.
Today was the day of reckoning. First thing was first. A short call to my boss’s cell phone gathered the normal response from the big man.
“Al, I’m digging out.”
“Get here when you can get here, be safe doing it.”
It is a great benefit to know that this is my boss’s built in answer to tardiness that is caused by snowfall. I’ve mentioned that I love my job before and this is truly one of the reasons. A lot of employers probably insist that its business as usual directly after snow falls like this. And although that is true for my employer, there is also an understood rule that before you can get to work, you must take care of yourself. For me, this is priceless.
After I hung up the phone I prepared for my tussle with the driveway. The snow boots were on stand by and the long johns were mandatory. I put on a home made beanie cap, zipped up my flannel pullover, and wrapped myself in a 600 fill down coat that was made for days like these.
To my surprise the snow was light and easily moved (could’ve used that info last night). An even bigger surprise was that the front half of the driveway was plowed during the night. It may have been our next-door neighbors as their drive had been fully plowed with similar equipment. It also could’ve been a late night visit from the rolling monstrosity from across the street. Whoever it was, I will take it. I’m sure I’ll find out directly or indirectly later on. I owe them a thank you and maybe that tray of fudge I didn’t have Sunday.
An hour later I was through the snow and rearranging cars in order of departure times in a canyon of pavement separated by two parallel columns of snow.
You know the forecasters say it’s going to be in the 50’s by Friday. All that thought process for a few days access to a snow filled driveway.
Ah yes, weather in New England. Happy Nor’easter everyone!
Getting nearly two feet of snow in 24 hours is not always bad. In the middle of the week that kind of powder will normally get you a one day pass to the couch. If it comes on Friday or Saturday, your boss smiles and knows that everyone finished work this week and will pick up promptly Monday morning. But when it comes in the pre dawn hours of Sunday morning and quits at a quarter past four Sunday evening a decision has to be made. “Do I dig out now or later?” Time was precious and daylight dripping away.
Sunday evening I glanced out at the snow and let the mere site of the drifts inspire me to come up with a “no snow” alternative to shoveling.
“Just have someone else do it.”
I realize now that when the doorbell rang earlier in the afternoon and two visibly exhausted kids were offering to shovel off the drive for a minor fee I should have said “Yes.” Later on I was thinking “Come back, please for the love of God come back!”
I had told them I’d “get to it later.”
Next thing I knew I was peering out our front picture window trying to spot the duo in a neighbors drive harvesting Nor’easter’s crop. In all honesty it would have been worth 25 bucks the first time around, but now I’m willing to go as high as 50 to get the job done. They were nowhere to be seen. Probably lashing Abe Lincoln’s through a cash counter at a furious pace by that point.
Next I was thinking that maybe I would hire a contractor to push through the short drive with an oversized pickup and a 6 foot blade. It would take all of 30 seconds to finish the job. Based on the amount of snowfall we’ve had this year (practically none) I could’ve had two contractors working against each other and gotten it done for less than the “doorbell duo.” I’ve always been leery of this option for a couple of reasons. First, it would open the door for me to never have to shovel snow again. That’s sounds nice, but it allows me to be lazier than I care to actually be. My other concern is the well being of our cars. If I hire a contractor to hit my driveway each time it snows and receive a bill later, other things might get hit too. I don’t particularly care for someone to hit one of our cars while I’m not around. The situation would be just too ambiguous. So I passed on this option as well.
“The best case scenario.”
Maybe work would be canceled. Knowing that the likelihood was minimal, I picked up my cell phone and dialed Pat’s number. Pat is one of the four people in my group at the operations center. She is also my boss’ left hand. She is my favorite co-worker to tease. She has a short fuse and it’s easy to set her off, but she’s also like a second mother too. Ah yes, being the resident smart ass is a delicate balance. The exchange that was about to take place was my way of testing the water. It was frigidly short.
“Pat…its Jeremy.”
“Yeah.”
“Are we working tomorrow?”
“Why wouldn’t we be?”
“Well there’s about 20 inches on the ground here.”
“Yeah and? I’ve already shoveled my driveway three times. And after the third time the street plows came and plowed it closed again. I swear that guy in the truck had a smile on his face when he did it.”
“I’m sure he did Pat. You’re supposed to wait until it stops snowing to shovel out your drive. So you won’t have to do it three times.”
“I know that. Do you think I need you to tell me that?”
“Apparently you do Pat.”
“GOOD BYE JEREMY!”
Click.
At that point it was clear to me that I would be working Monday. I could’ve called my boss, but I’d rather not appear so lazy with my annual performance appraisal approaching.
“Favored Neighbor.”
After momentarily contemplating a desperation call to the boss man I closed my cell phone and decided to continue searching for options.
Sitting at the dining room table I could hear an engine running outside. It was just slightly pitched high enough and working just hard enough for me to know without seeing that it was not a car. Because I had drawn the curtains closed earlier in a feeble attempt to keep the cold out I couldn’t see what the engine was attached to. I got up and made my way back to the picture window and pulled the curtains aside. Our neighbor from the other side of the street was directing a two wheeled monster known around these parts as a “snow thrower”. It was an orange monstrosity with combine like teeth churning through the snow. The snow was seemingly sucked into the front and shot out through a smoke stack like tub on top of the mechanical mayhem. It was quite the impressive sight. He plowed through square footage similar to ours in a few short minutes. I’ve seen these things before. It’s not like Indiana has Key West winters. Usually a lot of snow in Indiana is considered six to eight inches justifying merely a snow shovel and elbow grease. I can only recall one time seeing a similar snowfall in the mid west compared to the one that had just been cast upon New England. It’s just a fact. Owning a snow thrower in Indiana is probably a waste of money. But in Rhode Island on Sunday it would have been a Godsend.
I was tempted to go out and try to bribe my neighbor into rolling that machine over the driveway a few times. We didn’t have any cookies or fudge to throw on a tray. Money wouldn’t have seemed very neighborly of me. After a few minutes of watching in awe it became obvious. The only reason he’d been out was to gain useful access to his truck. He and his wife departed shortly thereafter. And I would now need useful access to the drawing board.
“Night and Day.”
By the time I had broken my hyper focus from the bellowing snow thrower, daylight had slipped just a little further away. The finality of the situation was setting in. I could either make a ditch effort to go out and plow into the dark hours or I could wait for sunrise. The benefits of getting it done Sunday night only meant an hour or so extra sleep this morning. What to do? I’d been cleaning in the house most of the afternoon and really had a lot of momentum going for me. However, I’d already been out in the snow earlier in the day to play with the dogs and had my fair share of cold and wet. Finally, I decided to lay the situation to rest and let this morning deal with the snow.
Today was the day of reckoning. First thing was first. A short call to my boss’s cell phone gathered the normal response from the big man.
“Al, I’m digging out.”
“Get here when you can get here, be safe doing it.”
It is a great benefit to know that this is my boss’s built in answer to tardiness that is caused by snowfall. I’ve mentioned that I love my job before and this is truly one of the reasons. A lot of employers probably insist that its business as usual directly after snow falls like this. And although that is true for my employer, there is also an understood rule that before you can get to work, you must take care of yourself. For me, this is priceless.
After I hung up the phone I prepared for my tussle with the driveway. The snow boots were on stand by and the long johns were mandatory. I put on a home made beanie cap, zipped up my flannel pullover, and wrapped myself in a 600 fill down coat that was made for days like these.
To my surprise the snow was light and easily moved (could’ve used that info last night). An even bigger surprise was that the front half of the driveway was plowed during the night. It may have been our next-door neighbors as their drive had been fully plowed with similar equipment. It also could’ve been a late night visit from the rolling monstrosity from across the street. Whoever it was, I will take it. I’m sure I’ll find out directly or indirectly later on. I owe them a thank you and maybe that tray of fudge I didn’t have Sunday.
An hour later I was through the snow and rearranging cars in order of departure times in a canyon of pavement separated by two parallel columns of snow.
You know the forecasters say it’s going to be in the 50’s by Friday. All that thought process for a few days access to a snow filled driveway.
Ah yes, weather in New England. Happy Nor’easter everyone!
posted by Jeremy @ 2:06 PM
1 Comments:
At 8:46 AM,
Ann Marie said…
Wow.. that anonymous has issues.. quite obvious that they don't know how to READ.
Either way.. the only snow I got to see was a few flakes. Nothing even stuck .. I was pissed.
Glad to hear about your plow fairy. We don't need those here in NC.. but a nice wish fairy would be nice right about now.
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