Moving snow

[W2R]

Want2, I've often wondered about what it must be like to be a resident of post-Katrina NO. Thanks for the insight. Sounds to me like a move to MO might be just what the doctor ordered...

Thanks. I think you're right!

Now, all I've got to do is tough it out for 698 more days, at which time I will be free of my "golden handcuffs" since I will finally qualify for lifetime medical. Then, I can leave. Staying here has probably been the hardest thing I have ever done, and leaving here will probably be second hardest.

Like Rich said, if I don't like it, I can always move someplace else.

 

[mb]

You know reading this thread makes me think I missing out on some of life's finer moments. NOT

Move to the east coast for a couple of years. Learned my lesson. There are some really good reasons why real estate prices are high in HI and CA.

MB

 

[RunningBum]

Thanks, Rich. I didn't think anyone would "get it", but you did.



It would be really nice if I could find a home close to businesses, so that I can walk there if necessary. I am sure that after being housebound for two or three weeks, it would get old. I have heard of people using salt, sand, and/or kitty litter on ice if they really need to go someplace; is that feasible? If not, then I would have to just walk somewhere, stay home, or call a cab.

Do you plan to get a garage? That will eliminate the ice scraping overnight.

You can use salt or chemical ice melter on your driveway if it's too icy to shovel. Don't use it on 6 inches of snow. In all but the rarest occasions the streets should be plowed clear within a day or two. The biggest problem will clearing the end of your driveway where the plow leaves a pile. Cat litter or sand are good to carry in your trunk in winter in case you get stuck, so you can put them under your drive wheels for traction. I also carry a small shovel.

You can drive mid day when the streets are just wet, but overnight it can freeze back over, so the days after a big storm try to avoid early morning and evening driving, until you learn to handle it better. In the next 30 years you may get snowbound for 2 weeks once, I'll bet. Check back with me in 2037 and let me know if I'm right.

I think you stated your case well for leaving New Orleans.

I get tired of hearing the "move to florida" advice whenever someone mentions snow in a bad way. At least if I get snowed in, I'm in my own home and have my own bed. I wouldn't want to have to be ready to pack my valuables every time a storm brews off the coast of Africa, and maybe even have to evacuate now and then. I love all four seasons, and no weather keeps me inside for very long, though 115 degrees in Arizona would put me back in as more quickly than 8 below will.

 

[Goonie]

That's amazing! Must be quite a generator. That is really all that a person would need.

It can handle ~46amps continuous, and ~70amps peak, so it'll run what we need to power up. It'll run about 13-14 hours on 1 tank of gas, and I keep enough gas on hand for at least 2 fill-ups, enough for 24+ hours continuous operation, or several days if only run occasionally. If I need more gas, the roads should be clear enough by that time to venture out and refill, even if I have to drive to the next town. We have hot water heat with a natural gas furnace, and the circulating pump is rated at a measly 0.75amps! So we have ~45amps leftover for the rest of the stuff.

If worst come to worst, I also have a portable kerosene (Kero-Sun) heater out in the workshop that I can bring in to warm up the house.....with a window cracked open to vent the fumes.

And to make a little cash on the side, I can rent out my old generator (now my spare) to the neighbors.

 

[haha]

Thanks, Rich. I didn't think anyone would "get it", but you did.

I understand too. Thanks for the eloquent answer.

Ha

 

[W2R]

Do you plan to get a garage? That will eliminate the ice scraping overnight.

Absolutely!! I am determined to find a house with an attached 2-car garage. Good - - then ice scraping won't be an issue.

You can use salt or chemical ice melter on your driveway if it's too icy to shovel. Don't use it on 6 inches of snow. In all but the rarest occasions the streets should be plowed clear within a day or two. The biggest problem will clearing the end of your driveway where the plow leaves a pile. Cat litter or sand are good to carry in your trunk in winter in case you get stuck, so you can put them under your drive wheels for traction. I also carry a small shovel.

I'll probably be driving a Camry (big Toyota fan here), but I can put some kitty litter and a little shovel in my trunk just in case, if I ever decide to try driving in ice/snow (which is doubtful as well). Several big bags of salt or chemical ice melter in my garage would probably be a good idea in case I absolutely HAD to go out. I can't imagine why, though.

You can drive mid day when the streets are just wet, but overnight it can freeze back over, so the days after a big storm try to avoid early morning and evening driving, until you learn to handle it better. In the next 30 years you may get snowbound for 2 weeks once, I'll bet. Check back with me in 2037 and let me know if I'm right.

That's exactly what I was thinking! From what I have read online about the climate there, and from what I remember from visiting my grandparents there back in the 1950's, it's not like moving to the North Pole (or at least not for long periods of time).

I think you stated your case well for leaving New Orleans.

I tried. I thought about writing a long, detailed, sobby diatribe but sometimes "just the facts, Ma'am!" (as in Joe Friday) gets the point across more clearly. It's hard to write about.

I get tired of hearing the "move to florida" advice whenever someone mentions snow in a bad way. At least if I get snowed in, I'm in my own home and have my own bed. I wouldn't want to have to be ready to pack my valuables every time a storm brews off the coast of Africa, and maybe even have to evacuate now and then. I love all four seasons, and no weather keeps me inside for very long, though 115 degrees in Arizona would put me back in as more quickly than 8 below will.

I know that every area has its own natural disasters, but the sheer magnitude of the damage we have experienced is difficult to comprehend for most who don't live here, day after day. I think that having the fear of another hurricane here lifted off my shoulders would do wonders for my stress level and general health.

 

[Trek]

Everyone up here in North of Europe uses this type of snow scoop.

primoshop.net

 

[Grizz]

Sunday was incredible. It has been a long while since I have really enjoyed the snow and winter. The last few yrs I've been seeing winter as getting progressively more dreary and long.

Somehow I snapped out of that funk on Sunday when I took my ATV with it's snow blade on the front (usually just for driveway plowing) down to the pond at the back of our property and proceeded to plow a skating rink of 300'X100'. It took about 2 hours, then I brought my wife and kids with their skates, sticks, and pucks, started a fire on the ice, and played. After the kids had me tired out, I had a beer. I felt physically and spiritually great that day. It was the first time in a long time that I wouldn't have traded my cold Canadian surroundings for a more tropical locale.

I plan to keep that rink plowed all winter for the neighbourhood kids, and also have a skating party or two out there with friends. I'm fortunate in that I own a 30' extendable light tower that puts out 6000 watts, so the 5 o'clock darkness won't ever be a problem.

If any other members get the winter blahs, I encourage you to stop grumbling about the snow and cold, damn the frostbite, and just go out and play in the stuff.

 

[Zoocat]

*Sigh* Snow, beautiful snow. Six inches yesterday, four inches today. My Golden Retriever is having the time of his life! And although it's beautiful I am not loving it. Yesterday with icicles dripping from my roofline, the ice buildup on the back porch and sidewalk caused a real hazard and the HOA hasn't done anything about it in the past three years. I am pretty tired of trying to slip and slide my way around the complex to go to the garage, the mailbox, the trash can.

If only I loved winter sports I'd be happy to put up with the inconvenience, but I really don't like the cold.

I may have another move in my future. Maybe northern California or Oregon, somewhere with no winter. I'd like to live near the ocean again. In the meantime I've booked a trip to South America for three weeks in January! No snow in Ecuador!

 

[BigBob]

Maybe by that time I will have been able to "kick the habit". I have been using half decaf in an attempt to wean myself off of it. So far, no luck in that endeavor.

Yeah, half decaf allows me to drink twice as much coffee!!
I love my coffee.

 

[W2R]

Yeah, half decaf allows me to drink twice as much coffee!!
I love my coffee.

That's exactly what happened when I started drinking half decaf!! I love coffee, too.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'm doing it wrong. I drink twice as much regular coffee and run around wired.

 

[youbet]

I'm doing it wrong. I drink twice as much regular coffee and run around wired.

Try adding Baily's. That will work to counteract the caffine and add a little mellow to your life. Tell DW it's just a flavored creamer.

 

[UncleHoney]

Before I retired I drank about 5-6 cups of extra strength black "vendo bile" every day at w*rk. While everyone else was shooting up Mountain Dew and Pepsi I loved my coffee.

Since August 3, I've only had a few cups of the black Columbian gold, mostly when we go out to eat. Even while I was w*rking I always drank decaf tea at home and DW has always been a dedicated tea drinker.

Last week I dug the coffee maker out of the basement and brewed a few cups just for a change. Doesn't seem to have the same kick that it used to. Maybe they put something extra in the vendo bile to improve productivity?

 

[FinanceDude]

I'm doing it wrong. I drink twice as much regular coffee and run around wired.

That does help explain your posts..........

 

[FinanceDude]

Try adding Baily's. That will work to counteract the caffine and add a little mellow to your life. Tell DW it's just a flavored creamer.

I usually drink Baileys on the rocks, because I don't like 6 cents worth of mix screwing up my buzz..........

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

That does help explain your posts..........

No. No, it doesn't.

Even with the cup half full of baileys, I dont think that quite covers it either.

 

[Nords]

Even with the cup half full of baileys, I dont think that quite covers it either.

You're using that 32-oz "Big Gulp" mug again, aren't you?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Did you know that each year, 7-11 sells 33 million gallons of fountain soft drinks?

Imagine if they had booze in those dispensers...

 

[FinanceDude]

Imagine if they had booze in those dispensers...

Who says they don't

 

[samclem]

Sunday was incredible. It has been a long while since I have really enjoyed the snow and winter. The last few yrs I've been seeing winter as getting progressively more dreary and long.

Somehow I snapped out of that funk on Sunday when I took my ATV with it's snow blade on the front (usually just for driveway plowing) down to the pond at the back of our property and proceeded to plow a skating rink of 300'X100'. It took about 2 hours, then I brought my wife and kids with their skates, sticks, and pucks, started a fire on the ice, and played. After the kids had me tired out, I had a beer. I felt physically and spiritually great that day. It was the first time in a long time that I wouldn't have traded my cold Canadian surroundings for a more tropical locale.

I plan to keep that rink plowed all winter for the neighbourhood kids, and also have a skating party or two out there with friends. I'm fortunate in that I own a 30' extendable light tower that puts out 6000 watts, so the 5 o'clock darkness won't ever be a problem.

If any other members get the winter blahs, I encourage you to stop grumbling about the snow and cold, damn the frostbite, and just go out and play in the stuff.

Grizz, great post. You've inspired me to go into the basement and find the sleds. There's more snow coming to Ohio soon!

 

[aaronc879]

No offense but no inspiration for me. I'm taking the next 25 days off of work to hibernate.

 

[OAG]

Hunker down for the duration! Retired, stay home, read.

 

[Walt34]

Any car guys in here? I heard that it hurts the engine to start it with the heat or air already turned on. Anyone confirm that?

In the older cars that was true of the A/C because the load of the compressor was also turned by the starter motor. If the battery or starter was "marginal" then the car might not start. And of course the increased load accelerated wear a little on those components.

In the 2003 vehicles we bought I've noticed that if the A/C is turned on at start-up the compressor does not kick in for about a second after engine start so apparently the computers in them address the issue.

I bought the service manual for my '03 GMC pickup truck (five volumes!) that replaced the 18-year-old truck. I read most of the manual. There is one whole book for just the electronics on the engine. This old back yard mechanic isn't going to be doing much beyond changing light bulbs on it. What they've done now is essentially integrate a computer network into the vehicle. It can now legitimately take four hours and 3 million dollars of equipment just to figure out what's wrong with the things. That's why shop rates are $70/hour or more.

 

[aaronc879]

" I love all four seasons, and no weather keeps me inside for very long, though 115 degrees in Arizona would put me back in as more quickly than 8 below will."

Really?!? 115 degrees is hotter than i'd prefer but i'd take 115 every day of the year rather than 8 below for even one week.