Oh, the Weather Outside Is Frightful

I have shoveled snow three times in the last week. I think it has been a week.  I've rather lost track of time.

I was off from work on Mon. Dec.  24 (my usual day off in the winter) and Tue. Dec. 25 (for the Christmas holiday).   I worked Wed. Dec. 26, although it snowed most of the day.  My boss kept saying he wanted us to go home early, but the phone kept ringing (several of the calls were from him), so I left at the usual time.  Roads were okay enough to drive, and fellow drivers were fairly sensible.

When I got home that evening, it had just started snowing in my neighborhood.  When I got up the next morning (Thu. Dec. 27), I discovered that most of Albuquerque had missed out.  I texted my boss that I could give the roads a couple of hours to melt (or at least soften) then head to Santa Fe.  He told me not to bother, as the internet was down.  In fact, I could take off the next day (Fri. Dec. 28) as well.  Since I had a couple of vacation days left (in reserve for events such as this), I did so.  (Note:  I can't really say how much snow fell, as the wind was so bad that had drifted from 1/2" in some places to 4" or more in others.)

The weekend wasn't bad.  City streets were clear, although my neighborhood roads were nothing but compacted snow & ice.  I really wanted to go to the grocery store, but my paycheck was at work, so I stayed home.

I had Mon. Dec. 31 off as my usual day off and Tue. Jan. 1 off as the New Year holiday.  There was another blizzard overnight Mon./Tue., with the same result of drifting snow in variable depths.  Still, to be a good neighbor and do my due diligence to please the insurance company*, I shoveled my walks.  I shouldn't have bothered.

Yesterday, it snowed lightly but constantly for about ten hours.  We got two inches this time.  (No wind -- yay!)  I texted my boss to ask what the weather was like in Santa Fe.  He told me to stay home again on Wed. Jan. 2.

Then came the dilemma, "Do I shovel now, or wait until the morning in case more falls overnight?"  Laziness won out, and we didn't get any more snow.  I shoveled this morning.  It was light and fluffy.  Still, I wasn't going to push it, so I shoveled the sidewalks, enough of my driveway that I can get my car out of the garage (if I ever go back to work), and a path from the front door to the mailbox.

As I type this, the sun has come out, and the compacted bits of snow on the sidewalk (from the numerous dog-walkers in my neighborhood) are melting.  The areas I shoveled might even dry before evening!

Mind you, the road will never be plowed, so getting out to the connector streets and the highways, which are always plowed, will be iffy.

* No one else on my street shovels their walks, but I don't want to be the one guy who gets sued by someone who slips & falls.