Pushing the envelope

So we've gotten over a foot of snow the last 2 days. I went out to do some snowblowing and it wasn't a good experience. I have a nice big 2-stage blower. electric start, and self propelled in reverse as well as forward. Problem is, I'm still on oxygen therapy, so I'm out there with my oxygen tank strapped to my back. Found out the oxygen didn't want to work in the bone-chilling cold when I started getting really short of breath. I had to shut down the operation and come inside to catch my breath and suck some oxygen. I think everything would have been OK if the O2 had worked. I walk the treadmill and ride the bike in pulmonary rehab for about 45 minutes, but the O2 is working there.

I feel like our old John Deere tractor, we called it a one-lunger.

Evidently I need to hire a young person to run the snowblower for me.

Good idea to hire the job out - you need to be careful!

When I was a kid I went around the neighborhood with a shovel to make (literally) a few dollars - needed money for albums! You don't see any kids doing that any more...

walrus

Gosh, dread, that sucks. Why doesn't your oxygen work out in the cold? Yeah, you need to be careful, but is that a solvable problem?

Comes a time Dread (and we all try to fight it) where you just need to farm out the heavy lifting. We got nailed with snow on this side of the state too. Looks like about 16" or so and add the frigid cold to that and it's actually dangerous. I shovel a very small path to my barn and to the bird feeders (my birds and rabbits need to eat too) but that's the extent of it for me. I also do it in stages so I'm not lifting it all at once. We'd prefer you stay with us a while so please consider finding a young, eager kid who'd like to make some extra cash. Seriously now, just do it.

+1 on Richard's advice

Take it easy Dread. I'm sure you could handle the job at full strength, but not when you're recovering/rehabbing. You don't need any setbacks.

I agree, amigo. Until you work out your diaphragm paralysis thingie going on, let's just keep you around for a while and ... attack the issues of snow with money and help. Are there kids who work these days?? I kinda wonder. When I was a kid I'd do anything for money!! Whatever anyone needed. The neighbor kid was out washing his dads truck and my truck was FILTHY and I figured he'd jump at the chance. I said, "How much is your dad paying you to wash the truck?" He said, "I don't know yet." I said, "First off always agree on a price first before you start work. But if you wanna pick up a few extra bucks, come wash my truck. Have John (his dad) talk to me okay?" Sometimes when you're of a certain persuasion you have to be careful when having kids work for you because we're all pedophiles, you know? So I wanted everything to be okay......

Nothing. And the truck's still not washed cuz I'm too lazy too do it myself and too lazy to take it to the car wash. Of course, a 2 month old knee (that's getting better all the time) has an affect on that too, but.... I think tomorrow is car wash day. (I typed that last 'wash' as 'wish' which is probably closer to the truth..... LMAO!!!

Be careful to all my people dealing with this COLD and SNOW!! Stay safe and if you can, fly here. It was 65 today. Low of 44 tonight. I'll buy you a drink..... :encouragement:

I note we are getting cold and not snow at the moment. The most recent big snow was 6"-8" and there were kids prowling the neighborhood looking for work clearing snow almost as soon as it stopped. Some adults, too. I'm guessing that while the local unemployment level is pretty low, maybe 4%, the local poverty level is about 10% so there are families that could use a little more.

+1 on the advice to take it easy and farm out the job. The money you save by doing it yourself is going to be insignificant if you end up in the hospital.

dreadnut said:

Evidently I need to hire a young person to run the snowblower for me.

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Or to perform mouth-to-mouth?

walrus said:

Good idea to hire the job out - you need to be careful!

When I was a kid I went around the neighborhood with a shovel to make (literally) a few dollars - needed money for albums! You don't see any kids doing that any more...

walrus

Click to expand...

Yeah, ever since they stopped making albums.

richardp69 said:

Comes a time Dread (and we all try to fight it) where you just need to farm out the heavy lifting. We got nailed with snow on this side of the state too. Looks like about 16" or so and add the frigid cold to that and it's actually dangerous. I shovel a very small path to my barn and to the bird feeders (my birds and rabbits need to eat too) but that's the extent of it for me.

Click to expand...

Yes, laughter medicine aside, that subzero cold's even making the local news out here.
Just, WOW.
Probably no surprise the O2 tank's seized up, a google search indicates that stuff isn't really intended for outdoor use at those kinds of temps, the regulator can seize up and I also saw references to cracked tubing from the sudden temperature changes, (tubing checking?) just in case nobody warned you about that.
So that might come in handy to know even if you're not out there particularly exerting yourself.
Good luck buddy.

adorshki said:

Or to perform mouth-to-mouth?



Yeah, ever since they stopped making albums.


Yes, laughter medicine aside, that subzero cold's even making the local news out here.
Just, WOW.
Probably no surprise the O2 tank's seized up, a google search indicates that stuff isn't really intended for outdoor use at those kinds of temps, the regulator can seize up and I also saw references to cracked tubing from the sudden temperature changes, (tubing checking?) just in case nobody warned you about that.
So that might come in handy to know even if you're not out there particularly exerting yourself.
Good luck buddy.

Click to expand...

I'm familiar with air/oxygen in many applications in the cold and you have to add a little alcohol so nothing freezes up, but not in this case, I'd differently farm this job out, take care.

Ralph

Here's the view from my front door this morning. All that fresh snow fell since yesterday when I blew the driveway off. My wife properly chastised me as well for doing that.

Al pointed out to me my "I'd do anything for money" comment might have been taken the wrong way. I meant like chores and stuff. i was a little kid, not a sex worker. These days I'd probably do anything, assuming i could get everything to work right...... ;-)

p.s. - my friend David Kendrick sent me a video shot off his back porch towards the barn in upstate New York. Snowing and Blowing!! Temp inside the barn is 25 degrees and he just got all the horses fed and tucked in for the day. Outside it's -27..... (i was mean and told him it's 65 here today with a low of 42). Stay safe and warm, friends!!

dreadnut said:

Here's the view from my front door this morning. All that fresh snow fell since yesterday when I blew the driveway off. My wife properly chastised me as well for doing that.

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Love the scene, "from here".

Ralph

I'm with Ralph! That looks beautiful..... from here with partly cloudy and 65 degrees!

Right now it's -5 degrees F here, with a wind chill near -50 F! Looks like a frozen wasteland. The wind just keeps blowing across Lake Michigan and picking up moisture, and it falls here like salt coming out of a shaker. "Lake effect" snow is what they call it. Buffalo, NY usually gets even more of it than we do. Here's a shot from my back yard, sure is pretty!

dreadnut said:

Right now it's -5 degrees F here, with a wind chill near -50 F! Looks like a frozen wasteland. The wind just keeps blowing across Lake Michigan and picking up moisture, and it falls here like salt coming out of a shaker. "Lake effect" snow is what they call it. Buffalo, NY usually gets even more of it than we do. Here's a shot from my back yard, sure is pretty!

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I'm seized with an uncontrollable urge to see if that trampoline's got any bounce in it.

dreadnut said:

Right now it's -5 degrees F here, with a wind chill near -50 F! Looks like a frozen wasteland. The wind just keeps blowing across Lake Michigan and picking up moisture, and it falls here like salt coming out of a shaker. "Lake effect" snow is what they call it. Buffalo, NY usually gets even more of it than we do. Here's a shot from my back yard, sure is pretty!

Click to expand...

Those temps are crazy! I heard on the radio that folks in Chicago were advised not to go outdoors!

We get lake effect snow here in Salt Lake, that light, fluffy stuff, "the greatest snow on earth," with several ski areas in the nearby mountains. Doesn't look like you're "snowed in," but rather "froze in"! Take care!

adorshki said:

I'm seized with an uncontrollable urge to see if that trampoline's got any bounce in it.

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Once again Al, you are a very strange man. (and good on you for that)

richardp69 said:

Once again Al, you are a very strange man. (and good on you for that)

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Hey I just say out loud what everybody feels in their heart of hearts, right?
:glee:
Speakin' o' which, isn't there some way they could build a wall to keep all that cold stuff from barrelin' on down from Canada?
(Ducks and covers from the mods)

dreadnut said:

Right now it's -5 degrees F here, with a wind chill near -50 F!....

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Wow, that's crazy cold.

Over here it's +77 degrees F, and with our wind chill factor, it feels like +77 degrees F.....

I really do miss the changing seasons though.

Tommy