Tank birthday, 47+ years

[fishybizzness]

If you need to warm up Paul, just head down to the Virgin islands and I'll show you and the Mrs around! Low 80s days and low 70s at night..

 

[85173]

Hi Paul, 22 degrees celcius is 71.6 degrees in your money. That was at 2am here. It was warmer outside the house. Your jeep snowplough would be permanently unemployed here!

 

[Paul B]

Fishybizzness we are actually going to the Island of Mystick soon. I am sure I spelled that wrong but one Caribbean Island Looks like another.
Virgin Islands are very cool. Well,. Warm. :p

 

[Rybren]

I went to those islands once, but it seems like they ran out.

 

[Paul B]

I know, I think I have been to all of them except this Mystique. I don't really want to go but our Daughter wants us to go. (babysitters:eek:)

I just starting to take my Christmas decorations off my house and it is so cold outside I seen a Chicken with a Cape-on.

We went to the store this morning to buy food for the week, so we go to the fish department and my wife asks the guy if that salmon is American. He says "no" . She asks where it is from. He says "Alaska".
I said, Well, I think we will take it anyway. :rolleyes:

 

[fishybizzness]

Lol

 

[Paul B]

I just came in from shoveling and snow blowing the two feet of snow we just got, and are still getting. It is very windy so some places have no snow and others have it piled 6' high. All of the places where it is piled 6' high is around my house.
So I got dressed in my insulated pants, boots, Carharts etc. and I am sweating my brains out and can't wait to get outside. I push on the door and I can't open it because the snow is halfway up the glass on the door. I manage to get it open just enough to get my hand out there and push some snow aside so I could move it back and forth enough to get my foot out and kick snow away so I could open the door.
I get outside and the snow is up past my knees. Before I came out I pushed the button to open my garage door so I could get to the shovel. Of course when you do that to a door that has a 6' snow drift against it, all that snow falls in.
Not much of a problem. I take the shovel and make a slight path to my yard so I can get the snow blower out. Of course that door is also covered in snow.
I Now I have been shoveling for 20 minutes just to get the snow blower out.

I get the thing out, put gas in it and start it up. I have a corner house so I have a lot of sidewalk and 3 driveways. As I am running the machine I am wondering where my 2 garbage cans are when all of a sudden the thing stops like I hit a wall. I go back and get the shovel and found one garbage can. I dig it out and it is in good condition just heavy because it is filled with snow.
I run the machine a little more and I hear this noise. GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaggggGGGgggg.
The thing stops dead. I try to start it, and nothing. So I make my way through the deep snow to the front..... And I found one of the garbage can covers.
It was folded over and jammed tght into the augers in the front and half way up the shute. It wouldn't budge a quarter of an inch.

Oh great, I still have a lot of snow to move so I drag the thing to my garage 50 yards away. Now I am sweating and panting and thinking if I have to call 911 because I am croaking I left my phone in the house and someone will find me in the spring frozen halibut.

I assess the situation and it isn't good. I get my sheers and start to cut the cover, but it is cold and stiff, similar to cutting a right front fender from a 1957 Oldsmobile. I can't wear my gloves so my hands are freezing.
I get a long pry bar and I am cutting, prying, cutting, prying and my neighbor comes over. She is a girl but an athlete girl and rides her bike to Montauk which is 125 miles away, each way so she is in good shape.

Now we are both, cutting, prying, cutting, prying etc. 30 minutes later, it comes free.
I start the thing and continue moving snow.

Then all of a sudden GGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaGGGGGgggg

I found the other garbage can cover.

These pictures are not from this year but work with me, I didn't have time to take pictures.

 

[Scubabeth]

Oh my, Paul. That's one heck of a story! Of all the bad luck...that was a case of one thing after another. Did you finally get the snow all cleared?

 

[Paul B]

Most of it. But because of the wind, I have to do it again in the morning and I am sure the snow plows will push the snow back on my driveways. :D

 

[Chasmodes]

Jeez...you had quite a day! Good luck clearing it today and hope you have far less trouble.

I love the winter but hate the snow. The cold doesn't bother me. In fact, I welcome it, because I love to go ice fishing and the colder it is, the longer the ice season (safer ice too). Snow insulates, so ice doesn't build as fast when the lakes are snow covered. But, I hate the snow mostly because I hate shoveling it.

My wife and daughter get all excited when it snows, even though my daughter is long out of school now. Yeah, it's pretty and fun to play in, hurray for them. I hate it because it is work for me. We don't get as much down my way as you do but enough that it's a pain, and I don't have a snowblower. I shovel it and once in a blue moon, my wife will come out to help (usually, I have to go behind her so it doesn't save me much work). I need to invest in a snowblower but keep putting it off.

Now, when I shovel, I need to clear every inch of space on my driveway (because I'm picky and anal about it). It's a 100' driveway leading to my carport with two parking spaces off to the side. I live on a steep hill, and if you don't clear the snow, the driveway becomes a sheet of ice. Even a dusting of snow will prevent our car from getting halfway up the driveway. Four wheel drive vehicles can get up without an issue. It is too steep to plow. The last guy that tried to plow it had the front wheels off the pavement and the back wheels spinning and got stuck. His buddy had to pull him back and it scoured my driveway.

So, I need a snowblower. I guess I'll bite the bullet and buy one.

 

[Rybren]

So after clearing my driveway last night, I decided to do the neighbour's because they don't have a snowblower and even if they did, they were out of town so it wouldn't have mattered.

I'm trucking along skinny, bald, and happy when I hear the dreaded GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaggggGGGgggg sound that Paul described so well. My machine is still running, but no snow is coming out. I shut off the machine and take a look at the front end. There is a 14"x2" piece of firewood jammed between the auger and the frame (the neighbours had a wood delivery about 3 weeks ago and I guess they missed a piece.) I managed to get the wood out but noticed that the auger is spinning freely - it's not supposed to do that. Luckily, it was only the shear pins that broke and was a quick repair, even though the windchill was -35F. The last time this happened with my old snowblower (doing the same neighbour's driveway but it was a hockey puck instead of wood), the shear pins didn't shear and the gear box shattered into a gazillion pieces (that's why I referred to it as my old snowblower).

So much for doing the neighbourly thing.

 

[Paul B]

Kevin, get a machine. :rolleyes:

I had a snow plowing business in the 70s when no one had a 4 wheel drive but me. I had this 1960 Willy's Jeep which was a military model. I made more money with that thing than I ever made in my life and it helped me pay for my house.
Nothing before or after was ever built like a Willy's Jeep. I took the thing apart and replaced some of the pistons and all of the valves. I also honed the cylinder walls and grinded the valves. Then I added a larger clutch.
It had 6 forward speeds and 2 reverse. I could drive it up against a brick wall and get out and walk away, the wheels would still turn even in idle. You couldn't stop it and in low, low range it only went about 3 mph.
It also had a military ignition system so all of the spark plug wires were in plumbing pipe and the distributer cap was cast iron. There was no timing chain, just a huge, steel gear with a plumbing pipe over it pumping oil. You could drive it through 6' deep water with the snorkel, but I never tried that.
Fantastic machine.

 

[Paul B]

I also do the neighbors and if they get out first, they do mine. :D
Glad you got the thing back and running.
I just bought a new garbage can.

 

[SpartaReef]

I don't have a snowblower. I have an 11 year old though...

 

[Brew12]

I don't have a snowblower. I have an 11 year old though...

How does texting and watching youtube videos help clear snow from driveways? :confused:

 

[SpartaReef]

How does texting and watching youtube videos help clear snow from driveways? :confused:

Lol

First, no texting as he doesn't have a cell yet.
Second, no tablet or laptop till chores done except for school work usage.

 

[Sea MunnKey]

Kevin, get a machine. :rolleyes:

Paul B ... you sure are a Man of all Trades!!! ;)

 

[Chasmodes]

Kevin, get a machine. :rolleyes:

Last time that I had the money, I bought a fancy LED light fixture instead:confused::p

 

[Paul B]

:D

 

[Paul B]

Paul B ... you sure are a Man of all Trades!!! ;)

Not all of them. I have not been a Male model yet, or astronaut, entomologist, ballet dancer, or stunt double for Evil Knevil.
But most other things I can do. :rolleyes: