Plowing

On a snow day, this was something I had to do for an hour

We got a lot of snow, that was blowing. I wasn't sure how bad things were, and had an appointment to get my oil changed. I wanted to keep it because time is short around the holidays, so I went out to plow. The driveway wasn't bad, neither was the road. I got up to the paved part and things looked good.

So I went out. I got through our private road, started down the public road, and as soon as I turned the corner in the next neighborhood I got worried. There's a downhill section that gets really icy, but it also gets drifts. Despite most of our road having 2-3" of snow, there's a 100 foot section that had over a foot.

Fortunately someone had gotten through, and I had tracks to follow. I was a bit worried about coming back as the wind was blowing and there was still snow coming down. However we also needed juice and milk, and I decided to chance it.

My oil change was quick. A slow day for them, but they were ready and took my keys when I walked in. They finished in about 20 minutes, barely time for me to do some work and drink a cup of coffee. It's not often I'm impressed by service places, and this is the place I used for my Porsche for years, but always dropped the car off. They were usually slow then, but this time they were quick. I was pleased.

I hit the store and then headed home, hoping that snow drifts weren't too piled up. As I left town and headed up the hill, I saw a pickup off the side of the road, obviously stuck, and then a guy hiking about 100 ft further. I stopped and picked him up, thinking he must life fairly close as he was walking.

It turned out he was 20s and had moved here a few weeks ago. He wasn't entirely sure of his house number, or how far it was. I drove along, in bad and worsening weather, taking him out near where Kendall used to have Girl Scouts. An easy 20 minute drive that was 40 in this weather, and 8 or so miles away. I have no idea how he would have gotten there, and why he wasn't going back to town.

He was happy, and I felt good as I made my way home. Tia called and asked me to grab her a soda, so I stopped by the local gas station, thinking I might go through the neighborhood. It's longer, but it doesn't drift as bad in most places. As I left the gas station, I cut the corner onto the dirt road.

Mistake.

I got stuck. I couldn't believe it. Even trying to rock forward and back, not easy with the BMW transmission, I couldn't get out. Fortunately the local tire/ATV guy was open and since we've used him, he was happy to pull me out. It took a little work to figure out how to get a tow rope on the BMW, but we did and I was off.

I decided to go back the way I'd left, on paved roads. Things were fine, though our driveway had drifted over badly as I made my way down it. I ended up going back out just before dusk to clear it out and I'm glad I did. Delaney wouldn't have gotten out this am, nor would Tia's employee have gotten in.

Quite the day.