You ran over yourself

Well as I mentally prepare myself to head in for a night shift I am relieved we received rain and drizzle today instead of the additional snow which was forecast. The 30 cm we received on Monday was enough for now thank you and made for an interesting 4 wheel drive journey in and out for the last LN. After plowing, the shore captain warmed up the truck and moved his stacks of tools onto one side of the back seat and I put sheets to cover the surfaces for co-workers to sit upon. The drifts were over the boots we wore so jumping down out of the cab was interesting! When I arrived home with the 4 wheel drive the life partner had been plowing the driveway since 6 a.m. and relocated the car to the top of the hill (where it has since remained) so took off in his vehicle for work. Today it is in the auto body shop as he had managed to run himself down at the plant. Although the last time was some years ago, it's likely a first for the insurer to have two such claims from one individual - the last being when the brakes failed on his 5 ton truck at the top of the hill and he took out his pickup. He apparently (at the height of the blizzard on Monday) attempted to make it by his 1/2 ton truck with the 1 ton, slid sideways and took a hunk of the back and lights with him. Yesterday the prodigal son returned from several days absence claiming he'd been snowed in at a friend's house and spent 25 minutes attempting to get out of the driveway - the extrication was finally accomplished with a tow rope and his father's damaged 4 wheel drive.

As I drove past the driveway on Monday morning I noticed the snowplow had taken out the mailbox....AGAIN. They are 4 for 4 in as many years. Had one for 20 years at the original house across the road and here on the corner we can't keep one. When I phoned to complain and asked the Dept. of Highways supervisor to call me back he advised they weren't responsible for mailboxes which didn't go over well with me since they had obviously killed that one (and all the three previous). When I stated that we had a welded aluminum pole, secured in concrete in the middle of the ditch which was at least a foot inside any of our neighbours he stated that this was the problem as there was no flexibility and the mailbox had to be installed taller than the plow wing (approx 52 inches) with the box hung on chains or rope to swing. When I pointed out that this height was too tall for the rural route mail carrier to reach the box he did grudgingly agree. I closed with the $100 worth of smashed mailboxes quote and the question about if I was a senior who had to pay additional to have these installed? The supervisor apologized (as this is what he is paid to do) but it didn't count for much. The shore captain was even less impressed when I relayed the message although he is now scheming of some kind of pivot to mount the mailbox onto the metal arm on the post.

So glad that we're into the countdown now of only three weeks remaining before we head to the fun and sun. No shoveling after February 11th for us - yah!

Well, time to line up the car pool options, finish cooking supper and head off to get ready for work.