Various Bullets, Friday, December 19, 2008; 11:42 AM
* the weather IS pretty bad, pretty snowy! I shoveled an hour and a half and got the drive done, and side walk and porch etc, but of course while I'm shoveling on one end, it's filling up on the other.
* After I had shoveled about an hour, Matthew Lovely (?) from a couple houses down came over with the snow-blower to help—did the “wall at the end of the driveway (I’d made two paths through it) and up through between the two houses (I’d made one path through to feed the birds (and YES, in spite of the heavy snow, there have been birds), and he did the back part of the driveway (I'd made a path to the garage and to the garbage cans and a couple other paths to mark the width of the driveway.) I had done the lower part of the driveway, the public sidewalk, our sidewalk, the porch, and a bit around my car in the street--but then the plow went by yet again and filled it all in again. After Matthew snow-blowed (snow-blew?) the driveway, it took me 40 more minutes to get it finished and shovel some more around my car.
* Should we send the Lovelies a Christmas card and or Thank you note? If it was in fact a Lovely; I think it was.
* The man next door on the other side came out after I'd already been shoveling at least 45 minutes and started blowing his driveway. As usual, he began blowing snow behind my car so I went over and stood behind the car and started shoveling it out--he went up the driveway and stopped blowing there. I went away and he came back and blew a little more behind my car but seemed to be being more careful. I was shoveling in front of the car and he walked over and said, "When it is going to snow, could you park your car in the driveway so there won't be a wall in front of my driveway." He was polite but sounded annoyed and said he was going to be late for work because he didn't expect to have to shovel a 4-foot wall of snow (instead, he expected to snowblow it all behind my car, like he usually does--he didn't say that, but that's what I was thinking.). The problem for me is, if I want to get out, I also have to get back in. I told him that you have to leave at 5:30 in the AM and would have to dig out two cars instead of one, but that I would talk to you. I suppose if we were expecting a blizzard, we could park my car between the buildings and yours behind it, just in front of the sidewalk. I told him I would talk to you about it. I wonder if we're going to have a harder winter after two easier ones. I forgot to mention that after that man next door said that he was going to be late to work, I went over and helped him shovel the 4 foot wall in front of his driveway--probably for at least 15 minutes during which time and for some time afterward while I was shoveling, I did not have the timer running. So I may have shoveled significantly more. He did say thank you for helping him, if a bit sullenly. I'm not sure moving my car will solve his problem, but I guess we could try.
* I did not sleep very well last night or the night before (to say nothing of the night before that when I was up all night.) I'm pretty tired now from all that shoveling and I expect to shovel more before you get home. I have done nothing else at all other than eat breakfast, do my exercises, and write this note.
* And talk to Piano Boy. He had no school and came out while I was shoveling and asked if he could go to Jay's. I said I guessed so, IF he had eaten and if his room was clean. He said he had and it was and he left. When I cam in quite a long time later, I looked at his room and of course it was NOT clean. He probably did NOT eat, either.
* My packages have not come yet. They gave me a nice narrow window--8 AM until 7 PM--last time they said that they came at 7:45 PM--and with the weather like this . . . But I cannot leave, say to walk to the store and get milk etc, for fear they will actually come.
*It has snowed a LOT more--I need to go out and take more pictures!
