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"...Meanwhile"

Monday Night

10:02 PM

Somewhere In The N.W.

Time To Move Some Wet Cement

When we last left our chilled, intrepid homeowner and Post writer, he was out back in the South 40, watching the moisture's of March barreling down from above with small flapjack-sized flakes of the white stuff. Fully blanketing everything in sight with a huge amount of very wet, very cold, white Cascade cement. Lovingly known in these parts as "snow". And the final decision? After woefully watching this stuff coming down in 'droves' for hours on end? It was time to remove it from the various rooftops and tarp buildings around the homestead, or see them all squashed to smithereens by the morning's light. Oh the JOY, of pushing, pulling and lugging heavy snow all over the place in the middle of the night.

So, off I went, to the backyard dark of the cold, wintry mix...

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Tools Of The Snow-Moving Trade

The Ultra-Cool Tool

My absolutely amazing, homemade, exceedingly handy, get-the-snow-off-the-tarp-or-roof, removal tool. I designed and put these things together with the sole purpose of moving snow off of porch roofs and tarp buildings. Metal-edged tools don't work, because they damage cold plastic roofing and poke non-waterproof holes in tarps. But you have to get the dumb snow off the rooftops SOMEHOW. Hence, the DIY, hand operated, D.D.Schteinn-SnowPuller 1000.

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The Mitts

Snow is COLD. And pulling it all over the place with a wet, aluminum handle really freezes the old hands off. The Answer? My spiff-cool, trusty-dusty, surplus store, Korean war era double mittens. These things are GREAT. I use them for cold weather biking, wandering around the chill neighborhood at night, snow removal, safely catching wild cats, and other such chores in the cold. They have removable wool liner mitts, covered over with an outer leather and canvas material. Rounded out with a handy trigger finger. Though shooting the snow off the roof with a shotgun is not recommended.

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The Waterproof Over-Mitt

Love The Stylish Bags, Dude!

Me, in heavy action. If you don't cover your nifty wool and canvas army mittens with a waterproof liner, you can't work very long outdoors. The mitts get fully soaked-through in about twelve seconds, and you have to climb down and go inside to thaw everything out. Particularly your hands. Meanwhile, the snow still builds up, even if you aren't out there watching. And if you tough it out, and stay on the ladder? You just can't accomplished much when you can't feel your hands. I know, I've tried.

The Grand Solution? I use empty, plastic, 40 lb. pellet-stove bags for hand covers. Yes, they're huge, and yes, they look ridiculous, but they WORK. You can pull them on and off at will, unlike plastic baggies tied around your wrists. Plus, you often have to 'shoosh' the snow off the roof when it gets pulled toward you, and piles up at/onto your ladder. And these giant baggies work very well keeping you dry and theoretically warm while 'shooshing'.

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Other Necessary Tools Of The Snow-Removal Trade

Heavy rain gear is a requirement for this job. Waterproof coat AND pants. Because when you pull the snow from the roof, it falls on you, while standing on the ladder. (Particularly during all that 'shooshing', discussed above.) Once again, after your entire BODY gets wet, you can't do much work for a long period of time. And this proved to be a LOOOONNNGGG period of time...removing all this snow.

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The All-Necessary Ladder(s)

Assume The Position, Sir

I started moving snow in the middle of the night on Monday. At about 10 o'clock in the evening! There WAS quite a bit of light, with the sky lit up from city lights and snow reflection, so a headlamp wasn't needed. But a LOT of work WAS.

Standing on a ladder is a requirement of this job. Even in the 'dark'. The snow is on the roof, and if you're not up there with it, you can't clear the stuff. And let me tell you, moving ladders around the yard in a foot+ of snow is a real pain in the petoot. You finish one area, then move on to the next. Then the next. Then the next. Once you get to where you're going, you have to really JAM the ladder down into the heavy cement snow, then climb on up and start 'pulling' once again. Not fun, but SOMEONE has to do it. And I appeared to be the only someone nutty enough to be out and about at this time in the city. Moving heavy-as-concrete snow in the middle of the night.

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THE TOOL -- In Action

You have to really 'whump' the removal tool down into the snow, then pull the huge block toward you and off the roof. As I think we've discussed seventeen times so far, you have to pull it toward you and onto the ladder and down to the ground below. And as I've ALSO stated, ad nauseam, this stuff is SUPER heavy, and pulling/moving it in any sort of 'line', other than straight toward your body on the ladder, is next to impossible. Believe you me, I've tried. Though on the bright side, if you fall OFF the ladder while humping the snow toward and around your person, you DO get to land in a big drift of deep snow down below. No thank you, please. Even if it IS a soft place to 'set down' to.

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A Small, Cautionary...Caution

Watch Them Rubber Thingies, Bub

The back porch roof had to be cleared as well. It's made of rather light, 2x4 construction, and looked ready to collapse at any moment under this heavy load. And what holds the expensive, poly-vinyl roofing ONTO the porch? Screws, with little rubber, waterproofing grommets under the head. Shown on the roof in the photo above [↑], with the nifty blue arrows. (Those screws are all OVER the place up there.)

As you plunge the tool into the snow deeply enough to break it loose, you have to be careful to not plunge it TOO deep, or you'll damage the rubber screw grommets as you 'pull the block' toward you. And if you DO damage them? Your precious porch roof will leak like the proverbial kitchen colander, the next time it rains. Not a good thing, as preferably dry porches go.

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This is RIDICULOUS. I'm Tired. And It's Still EARLY!

I moved snow, moved some more snow, then moved some more. As soon as I got one roof or tarp cleaned off, another needed cleaning. By midnight, the snow was REALLY coming down. Hard. Inches and inches an hour. So I hopscotched back and forth, forth and back, ALL night long. Hauling my ladder across the yard, through the thick snow, setting up, pulling the blocks of snow, then on to the next building. Does anyone ELSE do this sort of nutty thing, out there in Steemitland?

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Another One Down, Forty Seven More Trips To Go

On To The Next Building

A larger tarp building, used to house a vehicle and other necessary farmer things. The snow piled up like a North Canadian glacier on this building. You can see it IS rather deep, by this time of...morning? At least this was a newer tarp, and the snow slid off a bit easier. But was still a mountain of work. By 3:30 AM, I was absolutely EXHAUSTED. And very hungry. I took occasional breaks, and had some middle-of-the-night snacks, then headed back out to the snow once again. No rest for the weary. Or the goofy.

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Calving Glaciers On My Tarps

These blocks reminded me of glaciers I've seen in photos from Alaska, Canada or the fjords of New Zealand. Sliding off and calving at the edges as they reach their outer edge.
NOTE: Most of these photos were taken the next day. Once the sun came up. But this is EXACTLY what things looked like, all night long. Only darker. Me, out there, moving snow hour after hour after hour after hour. The white stuff just kept coming, and coming and coming. But I had NO time to take pictures during the night. All I could do was keep moving from building to building, trying to stay ahead of the craziness.

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Let's Not Do THIS Again

After about sixteen straight hours of work, I was TOTALLY exhausted. My muscles hurt down to the bones, and were cramping up now and then from pulling on that aluminum handle and 'shooshing' in my giant bags. But I kept going. Until 2:15 or so in the afternoon. The next DAY. No sleep and not enough food and some nasty muscle cramps later, I got most of the snow removed. Over and over again. Then it snowed some more! But only a few inches. By the time my 'day' was done, there was around twelve to fourteen inches of snow on the ground. And VERY LITTLE on my tarps. All I can say is, "Yippee" to that.

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Ooh, Such A Nice View From Up Here

One of the few advantages of being up on a ladder over the roof after a long day and night, and day: Gorgeous Sunsets. Looking out over the house roof on that next, late afternoon of continuous snow removal, I beheld a very glorious sight. Finally, the sun. Very lovely indeed. Almost feels I've been awake for days. Oh, that's right...

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Let's Check Out The Neighbors

My Homemade Gazebo

I made this funky structure for the neighbors to grow things under. And the snow covered it over rather efficiently on the first days of the storm too. Imagine that. This photo was taken two days later, but much of the snow was still there. I was worried the the building might rotate and collapse with all that weight. Plus, rain was predicted for the next day, and you can imagine what happens when you add lots of water to Cascade cement. It doesn't get any LIGHTER.

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Back To More Fun

Pulling large blocks of frozen snow to my ladder and over the edge. My arms were pretty worn out by day three, but were certainly better than day TWO, as I'd had a full day-off from snow moving. And a bit of sleep. And some food and Gatorade (that stuff is cramp-magic). Yes...sometimes you just gotta search out that silver lining, no matter how large the ominous, snow-filled clouds might be.

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Another huge block bites the snowy dust. And about knocks me off the ladder. Once this stuff melted and re-froze, it was even HEAVIER than during day one and two. But I plugged away, climbed up and down and pulled, and got it done.

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My Very First GIF -- Life Is SO Exciting!

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Showing the movement of the huge, heavy snow blocks. This IS almost real life, full speed action. You have to go slow, or the giant blocks will knock you off the ladder if you're not careful. Please note the really nice, hand-tied handle extension system adding the long pole extension to my official, D.D. Schteinn - SnowPuller 1000. The long pole means you can reach all the way across the building roof to the far side. (Remember, you can't push this snow, it has to be pulled. Ever try to shove a large bag of wet cement across a roof with a stick? While on a ladder?)
BTW: I managed to stay on the ladder, most of the time during all this work. Thanks be.

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Final SnOwregon 2019 - Snow Removal Discussion

I discovered that any time you stay up for two and a half days straight, particularly if busy doing hard work, it's difficult to tell which way is up in the end. I wasn't sure what day it was, and simple things like time and meals and sleep get REALLY wonky. I don't think we human beans are designed to do this sort of malarkey very often.

I'm also pretty sure I moved about seventeen TONS of snow over three days of time. At least my little stick-arms suggest it was this much. This Cascade Cement is truly amazing. If only I could figure out something to DO with this snow, I might become rich. Anyone want to buy some really heavy snow? Online? I'll give you a GREAT deal. It has many fine uses. Say, as ballast in an ore barge or other large freight boat. Maybe freezer slush-balls for mixed drinks? Or just pile it up, then move it back and forth across your yard with a push broom, to get some PHENOMENAL aerobic exercise. Just remember to pull it, not push it. You might break your broom.

Let me know, I'll box some up and send it your way. But you better hurry. As they say on the TV infomercials: "Act today, this stuff is going fast, folks."

Well, that's about it for now. Though the weather guesser's said something today about the possibility of more snowfall in the near future. Yikes. I'm going to need some major carb pre-loading, and some heavy napping, before staying up all night moving snow again. Think I'm getting too old for this stuff. And I'm not even that old. Though I WILL be, if this keeps up.

~ Finto ~

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Thanks for stopping in and viewing Part II of my Snow Storm-Snow Removal Marathon. If you have any thoughts about winter storms, moving TONS of snow for days on end, what staying up all night MOVING this snow means to you, your body and mind and time/space dynamics, Gatorade for muscle cramp removal, or anything else this post reminds you of, please feel free to comment away in the spaces below. I'd love to hear from you.

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Please UPVOTE, COMMENT and FOLLOW if you enjoy my works.

And go to @ddschteinn -- There's a whole lot more...

_{Posted: 03/12/2019 @ 12:50}

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Excerpts From Late-Night Conversations With A Mechanical Cat

Fact Number 126