April showers bring hang on what the hell

Spring in the Keweenaw. We are not amused.



There was well over a foot of snow on my roof tonight.



Well, I'm just peeved enough to take two crummy videos with my phone.

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Tom the Snowblowing Yooper

By popular demand, here's a compilation of the photos and video of Tom moving snow.

Prior to using this snowthrower (a 30" Poulan Pro), Tom had been snowshoeing to the barn to avoid disturbing the insulating layer of snow over his water line. Here he uses the snowthrower to go around the back of the house, and create a walking path to the barn.



Tom pauses for a quick break. The snow is just as deep as the auger housing is high.



The path is nearly complete. This was snow that hadn't been touched until this point.



He nears the barn. After this run, he went back and doubled the width of the path.



I walked up the path behind Tom to take this short video.

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Think you want to live in the UP?

Today, we got well over a foot of snow, most of it while we were at work. Here's Nancy's car in the parking lot at around 4:00 PM. There was no snow on it at 8:00 AM.



Sure comes in handy for winning "we got so much snow" arguments with folks from more southern climes.

Oh, if that doesn't convince you, check the historic snowfall totals, or maybe today's weather.

Snow moving action on my street

I was home this morning and caught the SnoGo, a heavy truck with an independently-driven front snowblower.

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The SnoGo took the snow from the banks and put it in the street. Then the grader scooped the snow to the end of the street, where it was picked up with a loader and dump truck.

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Oh, and my neighbor getting stuck in the SnoGo's leavings. The SnoGo driver was nice enough to dig the car out, and the neighbor returned a few minutes later with a plate of cookies.

Winter. Meh.

The Village of Laurium has excellent snow removal. I don't live in the Village of Laurium. On my block, I have to wait for the county grader to come by.

There was about a foot and a half of snow on my street this morning, with drifts higher. I got to the end of my block and saw a car stuck in the berm left by the Village plow. It was a Subaru. AWD. Uh-oh.

I thought the other side of the lane looked passable, but it wasn't. I got stuck and ended up walking back to my house for a shovel, and just as I had my car almost dug out, the grader pulled up. Um, sir, you appear to be inching up on my car. Please don't scratch my pristine paint job. It turns out he saw the rear hitch on my car with the ball mount in it, moved his blade up to push me through the berm with it.

So, if you can't be early, at least you can be helpful. Thanks, grader guy.

Have you winterized your turn signals?

Now that winter's here, you've probably already done the usual pre-winter auto maintenance. You've checked your battery, installed snow tires, and gotten that oil change out of the way. But have you winterized your turn signals?

In this season of cold temperature, decreased visibility, and increased stopping distances, it's critically important that you not use your turn signals at all. In winter conditions, use of your signals could result in electrical malfunction, loss of control, or the little green car behind you knowing which direction you're turning. Therefore, the best thing you can do to keep your turn signal circuitry in operating condition is to disable them completely during winter months.

Some vehicles, such as BMWs and Buick Enclaves, come from the factory with their turn signals disabled. If you're not sure whether your vehicle's signals have already been disabled, because you've never tried them, check in your owner's manual or with your local dealer. Dealer service centers are specially trained to be familiar with the obscure and typically unused systems of your car, such as your turn signals.

Just remember: For winter safety advocate, remember not to indicate!

Oh the drivers outside are frightful

Cripes. This morning on the way to work, one driver made a concerted effort to run over my poor little green car.

It's snowing, as usual, and a bit slick. On the way down Quincy Hill (4-lane downhill curve), Mr. 2002 Black Chevy Pickup moves to the right lane. I stay in the left lane to overtake him at around 45 MPH. He decides that no, the right lane isn't as great as he was expecting, and that an abrupt move to the left lane is in order. Immediately in front of the poor little green car behind you. About two feet, actually.

I verbally thanked Mr. 2002 Black Chevy Pickup for his lane-changing skills, and made my way around him in an effort to preserve my Neon's pristine sheet metal.

Fast forward five seconds to US-41 and Elevation St, now a three-lane (my side has one). Ms. Minivan in front of me signals a left onto Elevation, but has to wait for two cars. I stop, whistle a tune, and look in my rear-view mirror. Oh, hello Mr. 2002 Black Chevy Pickup. You appear to be bearing down on my largely-plastic rear bumper at around 45 MPH.

At the last moment, Mr. 2002 Black Chevy Pickup decides against demolishing my poor little green car, and biffs his truck up over the curb, across the sidewalk, and into the snow bank. He lands alongside me. I give him a thumbs-up and a smile. He wishes me on my way.

Unfortunately, we went along separate routes, so I wasn't able to personally thank him for the adrenaline supplement to my usual morning caffeine drink. I hope we meet again, but next time, with you in a compact car, and me in something more substantial.

Merry holidays season time

Weblogs without pictures are boring. So here's a picture. I (and Scout) put up lights last night. They're the tiny LED kind, vintage last year from Pamida.

I bought a set of simulated-C9-size LED lights from Wal-Mart last month, but they're really lousy. I've never seen dimmer yellow LEDs. To my credit, I spent five minutes in the store looking for an outlet to use for testing, with no success. In the return pile (i.e. the back seat of my Neon) they go.

Heh, you can just make out my scary deer head inside the front porch. Came with the house. In fact, I'm almost sure it's as old as my house.

Cross country skiing

Today, Nancy, James, JP, and Danielle, and I went skiing at Swedetown Trails. I skied classic style along with James (my mentor), while the rest skied skate style. It was a lot of fun, but a heck of a workout, which I need anyway.

Phew. I'll definitely be back after I recover. Yay winter sports.

Oh, and James fell more times than I did, and he's the expert-looking guy in tights. Ha.

Dollars: 12
Kilometers: 5.8
Falls: 0

Snow Plowing Action

When I finally rolled into Laurium last night, with the rental car's computer showing a trip total of 3100 miles, I was happy to see that there were not four feet of snow in my driveway and yard. There were probably six inches on the ground, but it was too late to wake up my neighbors by firing up the plow truck, and besides, its battery was flat.

So, this morning I drove to the airport to drop off the car rental contract I had forgotten to bring with me when I returned the car last night (oops), charged, gassed, and aired-up the plow truck, and made short work of the snow in my yard. Later, while flipping through images captured by my webcam, I found that some of the exciting snow plowing action had been recorded. So, for the benefit of those who don't have snow right now (Hi, family!) I put up the pictures.