What did you do today? 2016 version

[pb4uski]

Walt - I think that 2 feet in 2 days is rare for almost everyone here. ....

True, but probably not unusual at all for Hermit.

 

[Walt34]

The snow stopped ~9:00 PM last night. We finished the driveway and sidewalk today but we have yet to see signs of any snow-removal equipment. I doubt the 4WD pickup would make it and the Honda Accord certainly isn't going anywhere for a while. Normally the contractors for the HOA do a good job so I suspect that the 4WD pickups that they normally use are overwhelmed by this and heavier equipment is both scarce and expensive now. The photo is the street beyond our driveway. It doesn't look that high from the camera angle but it is well over two feet.

So we aren't going anywhere soon. Oh, and I read that the prize for the deepest snow - 40" - went to Glengary, WV, not very far from here.

 

[aja8888]

Raked yard leaves and trimmed the front bushes. Filled at least a dozen large bags for the recycle pick up tomorrow. Then went to Lowes and picked up pre-emergent fertilizer to put down in a week or so.

Walt, that snow reminds me of a past life! Looks like a good day to stay in, eat some of that stew and watch the NFL playoff games.

 

[Philliefan33]

I went out this morning to learn to use our snowblower. DH is crippled with hip pain, scheduled for a cortisone shot tomorrow, so I forbade him to do any snow removal today. It probably wasn't the easiest time to learn to run the snowblower, with over two feet of snow in the driveway.

The first pass went okay, but when I turned around at the far end of the driveway the auger stopped working. We eventually figured out that we needed to tighten the auger belt, and did so. I went back out and did a few more swipes. Then I noticed the electric starter had vibrated loose from the moorings and was dangling. We couldn't find the bolts in the snow so we just secured the motor to the top of the blower with some rope.

I worked some more to clear the driveway, but soon the auger stopped again. Back to the garage, remove the belt cover to tighten the belt again....but this time the belt is totally stretched, frayed, and off the pulleys. I gave up on the blower and finished with a shovel.

At least I was able to clear a path for my car to get out. The pickup is still snowed in, but with no working snowblower I'm not going to bother. We don't have to go anywhere except out for the cortisone shot. I'll let Mother Nature do some melting and finish up a little at a time with my shovel.

A new auger belt is on its' way, thanks to Amazon Prime.

This is the first big storm since I retired. It sure is nice, not having to stress about getting to w*rk tomorrow! We've got chili in the slow cooker and football on tv...life is good!

 

[Sue J]

My sister and I met at my Dad's assisted living facility to give him the news that he's moving to a hospice facility. Not a fun day.

In Dec. his assisted living facility told us that he's at the stage where he needs a level of care that they cannot provide. My sister found a lovely new hospice facility, attached to a nursing home. It took a few weeks to get him through the process to get admitted and in the mean time my sister had a cruise planned so we waited until she got back to tell him about it.

Poor old dude, it broke my heart to tell him he has to move. He's 89 and has been in the AL facility for over 3 years and it's been wonderful. He's had hospice services provided by Medicare for the last year but he needs more than that. He's had 2 more falls in the past month even though he's in a wheelchair.

He started to get upset when we told him and then he said, "Do I have a choice?" No, you don't. "Do I have enough money?" Yes, you do for a while.

His move is next Saturday. Then my sister and I have to remove things from his AL apartment. Anything we don't want will get donated to his AL facility or a Goodwill type place. Last time we rented a truck and brought home some furniture. By now, I'm beyond taking on more stuff. I'll bring home the contents of his desk and keep what's needed (I'm his POA) and his computer so that I can pull the hard drive.

Luckily he's not attached to stuff, he just needs to take his clothing and a few personal items. We already downsized from his condo when he moved into AL.

In case you are interested here are some ballpark figures -

Assisted Living 1 Bedroom apartment - $5000/mo
Nursing home - $11,500/mo
Hospice Facility - $8000/mo for room and board. Medicare pays for the Hospice Services.

The hospice facility is 1 year old and just lovely. There are just 6 beds and he has his own large room, a spacious bathroom, and an outdoor patio (if he lives until spring). There is a central living room area with high ceilings and a fireplace. It's quiet and comfortable and does not look or feel like a hospital.

We all wish that this was over already, especially him. Just another step in the long slow decline.

 

[braumeister]

Sorry about that, Sue J. I went through exactly the same thing with my mom a few years ago and it was terribly sad. Costs were not much different, either. What made it even sadder was that mom needed a "memory care" AL facility but she had significant spells where she was perfectly lucid. It came and went on a random basis.

We were lucky in that my mom didn't last long in that final facility. It was nice, and she was well treated, but it was only a matter of months until the end.

I'm sure you'll visit as often as you can. That's what they want more than anything. Best wishes.

 

[Jerry1]

Today I made the first deposit on my downsizing. I took 10 suits and 3 sport coats to Goodwill. It didn't make much of a dent overall, but it's a start. Now to keep the momentum going. Cloths and paperwork are first because there's not much emotion involved and not much dispute that it's not something we should keep or could sell.

 

[Hermit]

True, but probably not unusual at all for Hermit.

We had 12 inches and then 18 inches in a little over a week earlier this year, but I haven't seen 2 feet in two days since I have been here. Walt wins the heavy snow contest!

 

[Moemg]

My sister and I met at my Dad's assisted living facility to give him the news that he's moving to a hospice facility. Not a fun day.



We all wish that this was over already, especially him. Just another step in the long slow decline.

Sue , I know exactly how you feel . My Mom went on hospice three days ago .She is still in an independent living facility but that is only temporary .She lives in a life care community so eventually she will be moved to the skilled nursing unit . It is so hard to watch our parents go through this .

 

[davemartin88]

We had over 30" of snow on Friday/Saturday- got my BobCat stuck while plowing out on Saturday. We spent about 4 hours getting it out of the snow drift I was in. As we pulled backwards with the truck, it just wanted to slide down a hill sideways- not steep so never in danger but very frustrating. It finally came up the hill and then slid on to a pile of snow and turtled- all four wheels off the ground with the bottom resting on the packed snow. About 45 minutes with a shovel laying on the ground removed the snow and we're back in business- will try to finish the plowing today. I plow our gravel road which is 1.2 miles to the closest black top which hadn't been plowed as of yesterday afternoon either.

For a snow this size, I would liked to have got out when there was about 12-15" to move it to the sides of the road or over the hills but because is started later in the afternoon, there was 2' of snow when I got up on Saturday morning. Pretty but yuck!

 

[jabbahop]

We had over 30" of snow on Friday/Saturday- got my BobCat stuck while plowing out on Saturday. We spent about 4 hours getting it out of the snow drift I was in. As we pulled backwards with the truck, it just wanted to slide down a hill sideways- not steep so never in danger but very frustrating. It finally came up the hill and then slid on to a pile of snow and turtled- all four wheels off the ground with the bottom resting on the packed snow. About 45 minutes with a shovel laying on the ground removed the snow and we're back in business- will try to finish the plowing today. I plow our gravel road which is 1.2 miles to the closest black top which hadn't been plowed as of yesterday afternoon either.

For a snow this size, I would liked to have got out when there was about 12-15" to move it to the sides of the road or over the hills but because is started later in the afternoon, there was 2' of snow when I got up on Saturday morning. Pretty but yuck!

I remember we had a similar sized snowfall and incident with out bobcat a few years ago. I ended up having to snowblow with our little one to get the suv to the place to pull it out. It took hours.

The next week I invested in snow chains and a snow blower. They make a huge difference when we get hit bad and we lose places to put the snow.

Out driveway is on 1/4 Mile long but it averages 13% grade and has a couple of switchbacks so I am glad we live at the top and plow down.


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[davemartin88]

The next week I invested in snow chains and a snow blower. They make a huge difference when we get hit bad and we lose places to put the snow.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Would love to have a blower but I should at least get a set of chains!

 

[splitwdw]

...For a snow this size, I would liked to have got out when there was about 12-15" to move it to the sides of the road or over the hills but because is started later in the afternoon, there was 2' of snow when I got up on Saturday morning. Pretty but yuck!

We had the same situation where the snow started too late at night to start snowblower. Don't want to wake the neighbors. Took me 5 hours on Saturday to do our drive and an elderly neighbor.

 

[W2R]

Sue , I know exactly how you feel . My Mom went on hospice three days ago .She is still in an independent living facility but that is only temporary .She lives in a life care community so eventually she will be moved to the skilled nursing unit . It is so hard to watch our parents go through this .

So sorry to read this, Moemg. I know this is so hard for you and your family to watch your mother go through this. Take care.

 

[Walt34]

Called my doctor's office just to let him know of a slight adverse reaction to a medication that I'm on. They called back and said he wanted to see me, and that since they'd had some cancellations they could see me in a couple of hours. She acted surprised when I said "sure". I soon found out why.

The HOA contractors had our development cleared last night with some heavy equipment and big plows so that was cleared of snow. The secondary (and some primary) state roads are still a mess. Most of the secondaries were single lane and had several inches of snow still on them. Many vehicles were stuck in deep snow. Normally a 15-minute drive, this took twice that.

When we arrived there only three staff (usually there are five) and usually there are at least a few people in the waiting room but there were none. The lights were out so apparently there were more than a "few" cancellations. I thanked the doctor for seeing me on short notice when they were so busy and he laughed. He said he still drives his 13-year-old 4WD Subaru and that works fine.

Afterward DW wanted to go out to lunch but the restaurant was closed and we saw a long line of traffic at the exit out of the area we usually take so we took the "back way" home.

A mutual decision was made to stay home for at least a couple more days before we go out again.

 

[M Paquette]

I have the 50 year old Heath SB-301 receiver electrically re-assembled and complete. I ran it through the final checks, applied power, and it both lit up (vacuum tubes... They do that) and put static out the speaker. That's the first time this thing has seen power in some 30 years, based on the condition I got it in. Now I've got to go through the basic alignment and functional checkout procedures.

It's fun for me to get something like this running again. It's a whole new application for my little office/workroom now that I'm not making computers go any more (the old j*b...).


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[Jerry1]

We had the same situation where the snow started too late at night to start snowblower. Don't want to wake the neighbors. Took me 5 hours on Saturday to do our drive and an elderly neighbor.

I wouldn't want to be rude to the neighbors either, but that snow was an emergency situation. I would have tried to stay ahead of it no matter how much noise or what time it was. You're a very kind neighbor.

 

[Jerry1]

A mutual decision was made to stay home for at least a couple more days before we go out again.

This is something I'm very much looking forward to in retirement. Snow is so much easier to deal with when you don't actually have to be somewhere. We've had virtually no snow in S.E. Michigan this year, but I remember one year where it snowed almost every day in December. I was either working, driving in snow (stressful) or shoveling. Thankfully that year the rest of winter was not too bad. A couple more weeks of that routine and I don't know what I would have done.

 

[rodi]

My sister and I met at my Dad's assisted living facility to give him the news that he's moving to a hospice facility. Not a fun day.
.

Sue , I know exactly how you feel . My Mom went on hospice three days ago .She is still in an independent living facility but that is only temporary .She lives in a life care community so eventually she will be moved to the skilled nursing unit . It is so hard to watch our parents go through this .

You're both in my thoughts. This is a rough stage to go through.

 

[splitwdw]

I wouldn't want to be rude to the neighbors either, but that snow was an emergency situation. I would have tried to stay ahead of it no matter how much noise or what time it was. You're a very kind neighbor.

My husband is sick and needs his sleep too. Unfortunately, I started with bronchitis that day so it took me longer than normal. Elderly neighbor wanted to chat (his wife passed last summer) even though I told him I wasn't feeling good and I needed to get done.....he's hard to get away from cause he's lonely. Took off work today cause I'm still barking like a seal. Look at all the exercise I got!

 

[John Galt III]

Here in Pa we got 31 inches. Fri night and Saturday it was blowing hard, so whatever you shoveled out got filled in again! Waited til Sun morning to get at it. Spent about 7 hours old-schooling it with a plastic shovel. Fill big garbage can with snow, drag garbage can to dump area, dump snow out, repeat about a hundred times! There's not enough space in my townhome development for the snow, so huge piles in street and in between driveways. Muscles and tendons slowly getting back to normal!

 

[Walt34]

Finished reading "The Kraken Project" by Douglas Preston. I'd never heard of the author but I got a couple of his books at the library. It's a good yarn about a self-aware AI program that escapes during an accident into the internet and the ensuing chase to capture her. (Yes, "she".) The ending is good, although a bit freaky. I started the book yesterday and finished this afternoon. I'll need to make another library run soon.

 

[harley]

Just got back from a 4 day visit to Disney/Universal/SeaWorld with DD and 9 y.o. DGD, although DD was working during part of it (gymnastics coach for some big meet at the ESPN Park). Friday was chilly and rainy, Saturday was cold (50 degree high) and windy, Sunday was chilly but clear. Had an OK time at the parks, although they're not my thing. I did enjoy SeaWorld.

By then the blizzard had decimated the DC area and all the flights were cancelled so we packed them up and brought them home with us to sunny SWFL. It was DGD's first visit to our FL home. We had a lovely visit to Manatee State Park on the way home, with more manatees than you could shake a stick at. We took them to the Dog Beach, then to Bonita Beach. The Dog Beach is always fun, dogs having a blast playing in the water. Bonita had taken quite a hit from the storms and meteotsunami a week or so ago, but they also drove a ton of shells up on the shore, so that part was fun. We walked to the river, walked over and played mini golf, and also hung out at the house. All this was in a 24 hour period. What a fabulous bonus time with the family. Put them on a plane this afternoon, and they're safely home now. Miss them already.

 

[ElizabethT]

I am currently in Costa Rica attending a Spanish immersion program, something I've long wanted to do. Yesterday I walked to school, spent fours in class, then headed to the hills for a hike in a rainforest. Stopped in at a mercado on the way home to grab some items for dinner and enjoyed them al fresco on my little apt balcony before heading indoors to work on my nightly homework assignments.

This is one of those times/experiences where I am more thankful then one could ever imagine to be ER'd.

 

[jabbahop]

I am currently in Costa Rica attending a Spanish immersion program, something I've long wanted to do. Yesterday I walked to school, spent fours in class, then headed to the hills for a hike in a rainforest. Stopped in at a mercado on the way home to grab some items for dinner and enjoyed them al fresco on my little apt balcony before heading indoors to work on my nightly homework assignments.

This is one of those times/experiences where I am more thankful then one could ever imagine to be ER'd.

Elizabeth

Would love it if you keep us updated on how you like it. This is one thing I have considered doing as well. Enjoy!


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