What are you doing during the blizzard of 2016

I plan on drinking heavily.

 

Shoveling snow for all the neighbors (our cul-de-sac) while their kids instead of helping went to distant neighbors to get their $20/driveway. Way to educate kids...

Edit: yes, and drinking as well. Case of fine wine is ready to go

 

Helpers:
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My wife and I have been saying for months now - "when the blizzard hits we need to":
Organize the basement
Clean out the closet (her closet)
Do some minor home touch ups - grout, nail pops, paint touch up, etc.

Now its here. So far we watched a movie!

Now I am going to cook up some orange glazed salmon. Perhaps I will go out and clear the driveway with the tractor tonight. Then maybe a little binge watching of True Blood.

Tomorrow...? Perhaps we will be a little productive. Perhaps not.

Curtis

Well! Gina just made herself a martini! Things are not looking too good for a basement work night

 

In Costa Rica with study club! 75 sunny...sorry...

 

Filled the 4x4's up with gas, got gas for the generator and made sure it was ready to go, stocked up on beer and filled the fridge with food. Should be good for a couple of days depending on how long the power goes out, I've got about a day and a half of gas for the gen and I could take some from the jeep or truck if i don't feel like making a gas run (or they're all closed).

I was very close to ordering a propane kit for the generator a couple of weeks ago 'just in case' as I've got an 80 gallon tank for the stove and fireplace (which means it's always got at least 60 gallons in it). With that I could hunker down for a week or two. Oh well, I'm going to order it for next time.

So far we watched mad max, great movie. Tomorrow I'm sure we'll be doing snowmen and snowball fights with the kids.

 

My neighbors helped me put tire chains on my tractor.
Each chain weighs about 200 pounds.
So, gotta lift about 90 lbs of chain to lay it over the top of each tire and fasten it.

Learned a new trick using "tire chain straps" which are red nylon straps that let you temporarily extend the length of the chains so that the tractor can roll forward and lift the chains itself over the tire.
Much easier that way.

If everything goes okay, then I'll be plowing mine and the neighbors driveways late on Saturday.
BUT, if anyone in the neighborhood needs an ambulance or has a home fire and the fire trucks need to get through, then their only hope is my tractor and my neighbor's farm tractor.
So, most of this tractor prep is for the hopefully-not-needed worst case scenario.
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Honda genny is ready to go. Snow blower is ready. Plenty of wine, bourbon, scotch, and food. Rather have this than a hurricane.

Nice JD. Open cabin in a blizzard doesn't sound like fun.

Years back on the cattle farm we had a front mounted snow blower for our IH966. That thing was awesome clearing drives and feeding paths.

Something like this.
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Memories of past tractors... Had to Google images for it. Full cabin was nice but a/c never worked. So it was always hot in there until winter when it was always cold. 70's tech.
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Tractor chains are awesome. Go anywhere.

 

I agree, an open cabin on the tractor would be too cold in a blizzard.
The open cabin is an temporary illusion - only for sunny plowing days.
In storms like this one, I put the vinyl sides on the cab.
Here's a pic of it with the sides on.

The back is left open to protect from carbon monoxide poisoning since the heat comes off the diesel engine and its winter cowling.
Not as fancy as the modern tractors with their hvac-controlled plexiglass cabins, but my tractor is an old Model 4020 from 1972.

Also note how much taller the tractor is compared to the standard size garage doors.
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Nice. I miss playing with those farm toys. I don't miss dealing with hydraulic leaks and everything else that broke.

So far so good with the blizzard.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud0pn5U6hUY&feature=youtu.be


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cbeFpYU78kA&feature=youtu.be


Had some fun with the kids last night. Cannot wait to do it again today now that there is snow!

 

Snow Blizzard of January 2016 Update: Saturday, 1/23. 8:00 am.
We have some large snow drifts up around the house.
The snow in my driveway measures 29 inches deep.
Town of Leesburg, VA says the official snowfall so far is 12.5 inches.

We're expecting high winds today, 45 mph or more. Current wind is 22 mph.
Blizzard conditions with another 12 to 18 inches of snow to add to what we already have.
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We're enjoying this, snuggling, watching TV some, kids are playing well together, laughing at the dog trying to find a place to do her business outside even after I shovel for her, marvelling at the spectacle.

At the same time, I'm taking it a little seriously. Been charging every battery since early yesterday, have lanterns ready, bunch of flashlights, wife has collected up all the candles just in case. And while I'm normally conserving energy this time of year, I've opened the extra vents, including basement, raised the temp some, and strategically placed some radiators, all in an effort to make sure if we have a power outage, we weather it as best possible. Worst I've seen here has been an 8 hour outage, but that was only once. Never know though. All emergency services, utilities and snow removal are going to be responding to the most desperate outages first, so if we have one, could be a while getting it back.

 

I'm shovelling mine, eventually. Will need to pace myself. Will take hours.

 

Same here in central Virginia. My estimate is 14" although a neighbor said 18". Drifts on the north side of house are 25". It is becoming very windy and unpleasant to go outdoors- let alone try to run the snow blower now. There are some 80-90' pine trees around the house which sometimes come down on the house or people running snow blowers. The forecast here doesn't expect snow or winds to let up until sundown. Just hope the power continues to stay on.

On the other extreme, the wife is spending the month in Siesta Key but things aren't so much greener in Florida either. Earlier in the week, she had to sleep in the closet one night due to the tornadoes occurring there and last night she couldn't get any sleep due to the roar of high winds and the ocean pounding.

Snow is more fun!

 

At this point I am 100% confident that any shoveling is futile for me as well. Maybe flamethrower?

 

Now there's some good ol' Russian ingenuity. I don't have a flame thrower, but I have lots of fireworks?

 

After evaluation of the efficacy based on youtube videos, flamethrower sucks. I love fireworks idea!

 

I'm thinking a jet turbine engine would work best.
About 10 times bigger than the one in this video.
Mount it on a rolling push-cart.

The hot air blast would blow the snow away and dry the surface.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV-YjVq4Q6w[/ame]