I know, long time, no post. I'll explain all that later. Had an ugly blizzard Monday & Tuesday that dumped tons of snow. Took
some pictures to demonstrate the evil of it all. I was only able to shovel out the sidewalk and a little path into the garage before my back seized up. Ended up having to over-medicate with Tylenol and go to bed early. Couldn't sit in the chair anymore without pain.
I had decided that the construction crew working on the house behind mine was driving up and down the alley, so I'd be okay without any more digging. I thought that the drifts in the driveway were lower than the ones in the yard, so I thought it would all be okay. Just needed to get some momentum out of the garage and all would be well.
So at 9:15 this morning, I tried to go to work this morning and was stuck at the end of the driveway, trying to turn into the alley, within about 60 seconds. Got out, put on boots, and tried to dig it out a bit around each tire. Tried again. Still stuck. It really looked impossible, but I was supposed to be at work, and I was just certain that if I could get into the ruts that the construction guys had made I'd be okay. So more dig-dig-dig. Tried again. Still stuck. Called in to work to say I'd be late.
Next thing I knew the construction crew shows up with shovels. 1/2 of them were Mennonite or Amish from their appearance. They tell me that their trucks are higher than my Vue and that they had been dragging the bottoms of their trucks every time they went up and down the drive. Told me that I would never make it.
And then they took care of getting me to work. The Mennonite guys and the foreman pushed my car back into the driveway. One of them asked me if I lived here alone, and I said I did and that I had tried to dig out but I have a herniated disc can couldn't get much done. I thought they were just making conversation. Next, a couple more of the Mennonite guys pulled this forklift/backhoe thing that they had been using to lift things up to the second story of the house out into the alley. They had put a piece of chip board across it to create a make-shift plow. They lowered it to the ground and pushed the snow out of the alley so that I could get out. Mennonite guys not working the forklift/backhoe thing were shoveling the edges of the drive between the forklift's passes. The guys who WEREN'T Mennonite stood around, holding additional snow shovels and watching, which tells you a lot about values systems.
So within about 15 minutes they had me out of my driveway and on my way to
work. Now they had some self-interest, since they couldn't get their
trucks back down the alley till mine was moved, but they really could have
stopped once they moved my car back into my driveway. They were just nice
guys who came out to help me and apparently felt sorry for me because I didn't have anyone else here to help me.
Want more proof? When I got home from work this evening, I found that they kept working on it after I left. They drove their trucks and such up and down the alley till it was
all flattened out about a car width and a half wide and they
hand shoveled my drive down to the concrete. Mennonite construction guys (or Amish or
whatever they were) rule.
