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YIPPEE Volume 42
February 2008


Freezing Fluctuations, Frustrations and the Letter F.

 

 

February....

Snow: yes.

Ice: yes.

Rain: yes.

Sleet: yes.

Little pellets of white frozen stuff: yes.

Various other forms of frozen precipitation: yes.

Cats and dogs: no.

 

Creosote splatters and drips: yes.

Stinky wood, smoke and woodstove problems: yes.

 

Quacking: yes.

Building: not nearly enough.

 

Chocolate: yes! yes!

Love: yes! yes!

 

Tulips: nope, but plenty of ing!

 

C&C have a nice little reading habit: Cassandra reads to Chris while he showers. The bed's right up above the shower and the Park Avenue yurt they call camp doesn't offer spaciousness or even separate rooms; bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, mudroom and woodstove are all one little 153sq ft circular space. Chris stays outside and continues working while Cass showers. Then she stays up on the bed, out of the way, while he has the 'lower level' to himself. Around the beginning of February, they finished a book featuring a character by the name of Mr. Tulip. This thug's frequent vocalization of "-ing", almost every other word when he really got worked up, left other characters in the fictional world wondering what "-ing" meant. Though, it sure did sound impolite.

 

With this book fresh in his mind, Chris greeted February's precipitation fluctuations with his new swear, "-ing".

 

Freezing Frustrations: Ing!

 

"Do you think it was the wrong decision to hand-shovel the driveway?"

"Absolutely not."

"Even with all this snow?" Almost a month of winter remains and additional precipitation is surely in store.    Already, this has been the area's eighth snowiest winter on record. At February's end, YIPPEE-Land had at least four feet on the ground, no indication of actual snow fall: the snow depth at any one time does not account for freezing, thawing, rain, sleet and other conditions that happened prior. During the last week of February, nearly two feet of snow fell; although Chris grumbled, he could see Cassandra's point about it being beautiful, gorgeous and comparatively "fun" to shovel.

"Even with all the ice?" A number of February's storms had snow immediately followed by ice and rain, followed by a prompt drop in temperatures. The snow turned solid; thick ice built up on the driveway. Cassandra was able to keep after Park Avenue fairly well so that by month's end... Well, at month's end there had been nearly two feet of fresh snow. But that snow was on Park Avenue itself, not atop a thick ice layer as with most of Main Drive.

"Yup. Definitely." Shoveling the driveway, versus plowing with the Vermoose, was a good decision. Firstly, Chris isn't home enough to keep after the plowing. Also, Cassandra's immune system has had more than enough to handle without Vermoose exhaust exposures every weekend. (The woodstove continues to be problematic such that she lives daily in smoke, with creosote stench as an accenting bouquet. Working daily in the cold and wind don't help. Events like Chris coming back unsafe from the Chicago hotel are severe additional burdens.)

 

This winter turned out to be one heckuva winter to shovel the driveway. Not just any driveway. A steep, long driveway.

 

When the precipitation was snow, Chris was likely to be heard cursing. Cass preferred snow: relatively easy shoveling, quiet, pretty, fun. And dry: no getting soaked while shoveling in a snowstorm. She was more likely to curse the icy sleet and rainy, wet precipitation that was heavy to shovel, loud on the yurt roof inside, and all around nasty and miserable!

 

Ice Advice: Dance, prance but do not slip askance!

 

When there is ice, wear Yak Trax and do a little dance. What to do when the ice is thick and wetly slick on a steep driveway? Skip all attempts at dancing and slide down with as much control as you can muster up. If you pick up too much speed, swerve into a snowbank. Should you be attempting a rather ill-advised ascent of the steepest part of the driveway, not on foot, but in your favorite Xterra, please do try to miss the ditches on either side at the bottom; curses would be appropriate. If, like Chris, you get lucky and end up stopped on the other end of the driveway, with no damage, count your blessings and shout, "Woohoo!"

 

What the shovel holds: Chris threatens to buy Cass a smaller shovel and hide all the others.

 

While C&C worked together on the driveway, Chris noticed Cassandra lifting large sections of ice, huge chunks and scoops of snow, with occasional heaving grunts (although she was lifting manly amounts, this is not to be confused with manly grunting). The shovel loads were lifted up, above shoulder level, extended over the existing snow piles, to be turned and dumped out. Otherwise, the effort was wasted as the snow or ice load would slide back down, off the slick icy snowbanks, onto the driveway again. To Chris' suggestion that she should take smaller scoops or break up the ice more, Cassandra replied, "But, its what the shovel holds."

 

The shovel doesn't hold anything if its broken.

(How many shovels were broken in this winter's shoveling? One, two, lots.)

 

And Cassandra doesn't (or shouldn't) lift anything if her ab muscle is broken.

 

Faced with a white driveway and a responsibility to remove all that ice and snow, "taking it easy" and "taking smaller shovelfuls" was not a challenge Cassandra conquered before her ab muscle, pulled and hurting, unconcerned about snow and ice, screamed "No more!". She was forced into stopping ice chopping and heavy heaving.

 

As it snowed throughout the rest of the month, she did try to shovel a bit more, but could not lift the snow without excruciating pain; she resorted to pushing the snow as best she could, off to one side, for Chris to lift later. Attempts to break up ice on a few "warm" days were incredibly brief, as lifting and dropping the ice chopper caused sharp agony. So, Chris tackled the ice. Unfortunately, by the time he was home, the ice was again solidly immovable due much lower temperatures. A different type of heaving took place as Chris employed the aid of numerous bags of salt.

 

February Had Four:

(Weekend Summary)

 

Weekend 1: The only "normal" February weekend. Xpower, with newly changed batts is used for yummy morning mochas!

 

Weekend 2: Short weekend. Chris says, "-ing ice! -ing snow!"; has to stay at Poocham, unable to get home due to icy treacherous roads; Friday schedule consequently late both morning and night. Saturday features a clearing of prior days' ice due to warmish temps, just in time for a whole bunch of snow to fall during C&C's lunch break down in Park Ave. Sunday was reported to be clear, but with all the blizzard conditions, there's a whole lotta white. And, a whole lotta deep snow to shovel. Chris has to leave early for work this weekend; as C&C are shoveling the deep snow and ice off the deck, he asks what is most helpful to have him finish in the last half hour. Cass ponders briefly and says, "Let's go sledding!". No trees were harmed while they did a couple runs. Snow was too deep to get a long run going. A giant tree branch falls across middle of driveway.

 

Weekend 3: Friday is the Saturday: switched to get a path cleared on driveway, in order to Micro Moose supplies up and down, to do normal Friday chores. Can't get packages and mail; Mailboxes inexplicably closed! Cass injures ab muscles on Saturday (the actual Saturday). Sunday, C&C trade two hours of sitework for a rare break: Chris says, "Its rainy and cold. Your side is hurt. I'm wiped out. And... gosh darnit... we never seem to get any hangout time. We are watching a movie, having chocolates and you can put heat on your side. Let's do it!" Snuggled atop their loft bed, they happily relax, out of the rain and cold. Not for long, but, they did!

 

Weekend 4: Chris returns from Chicago hotel very unsafe; Cass gets extremely ill. Has happened before; but this time, in 10F temps, Chris cannot sleep on the floor. He dons a lot of layers and sleeps on top of covers, with Cass under, and there's a lack of customary snuggling. Morning's organizing and prepping done with Cass sick and struggling entire time. Chris leaves early for Friday chores, which are kept minimal since he has to leave before the driveway could be cleared. Chris comes back safe. Whew! Sunday features a second trip to Poocham to finish Friday chores.

 

Ab Admonitions:

And a week "at home"

 

Chris' admonition: "take it easy and let your muscles heal". Cassandra attempted this. Building and driveway related actions like hammering and shoveling were abandoned as severe agony overrode desire to get in the site hours. Camp YIPPEE responsibilities, however, could not be skipped and all do involve those crucial ab muscles. Heck, even finding a good position to lie down at nights was painful. More than once, while doing nightly firewood, Cassandra found she couldn't stand upright. Water chores were tricky. Her back, rarely, if ever, sore, became so as she automatically compensated to limit ab muscle usage.

 

As Chris heard about her efforts to attempt building and the painfulness of simple mandatory chores, he decided to make plans for working "from home" the last week February. He surprised Cassandra with the news after arrangements were made.

 

Working "from home" meant traveling to Poocham to switch into public clothes, traveling to Keene, for wireless access, working 10 or so hours, returning to Poocham for SVP, returning to home (aka, where Cass is). The point was to spare Cass the use of her injured muscles: he did firewood and water lifting chores before leaving in morning and again at night. And it did help.

 

The snowstorm mid-week that dumped at least two more feet of snow onto YIPPEE-Land threw a wrench into plans. But C&C are -ing! adaptable and handled it. Chris couldn't get back home, so Cass did what she would have done if he was working a normal week. She did help as best she could with shoveling too, since that much snow, on that much driveway, is too much for one C!

 

(Since this newsletter is being writting well after the end of February: Cassandra's ab muscles did eventually heal. She is currently back to lifting as much as ever without any pains. Limiting usage around this time was a big boost to the get the healing going. Limiting usage was enforced by Chris saying "no, you shouldn't do that" when they were working together. Chris' handling of some basic required chores during his week "at home", was very helpful!)

 

February's Hours:

 

February's actual hours were nowhere near high enough, while the snow piles were far too high. Spirits sure felt the strain under a month with freezing fluctuations and frustrations: feet upon feet of frozen fluff 'n-stuff!

 

With all the shoveling, scraping, heaving and shoveling (was shoveling mentioned twice there? Yeah, well... shoveling, shoveling, shoveling! And, shoveling...), C&C kept themselves from being snowed under and kept a path clear for carting up supplies or walking supplies up, at the very least. But this left little time for doing work to get built. More than once, winter tasks were ignored in favor of building tasks ('cause darn it, C&C want to be done!!!), but this was to detrimental effect... Argh.

 

The best thing about February was the extra chocolate and the love! Yup, C&C remain silly and fun somehow, occasionally as sappy as the maples this time of year, and they sure do enjoy their chocolates. Mmmm... chocolate.

 

135.25 hours total:

 

14.42% A

(19.5 hours)

 

·         19.00, 213.18 Construct walls and loft - 30' yurt: framing   

·         0.25, 213.36 Site cleanup

·         0.25, 306.01 Cass tasks

 

85.58% Q

(115.75 hours,

103.25 of which was Winter Access tasks)

 

·         34.75, 310.11 Shovel Main Drive: Middle 

·         24.75, 310.05 Shovel: Park to Main        

·         22.5, 310.10 Shovel Main Drive: Lower    

·         19.75, 310.01 Keep deck cleared           

·         0.75, 310.15 Keep Utility Shed cleared   

·         0.25, 310.00 Winter access to worksite  

·         0.25, 310.14 Snow Off Shed Roofs         

·         0.25, 310.16 Bridge: Shovel and Sand     

·         5.5, 288.08 Split and stack wood

·         3.75, 300.4 Cass Phone

·         1.25, 300.45 Woodstove maintenance/problems  

·         1.00, 300.54 Fix Xpower batteries           

·         0.5, 666, Dealing with Problems at Hellhouse, Which We Can't Get Rid of Because We're Not F'ing Done Building Yet! (DwPaHWWCGRoBWNFDBY!)  

·         0.5, 742.02, JaBoSTH: Quackers

 


 

Photos


February Journal

DateTask-NoTask-NameTimeText
2/1/080.00Notes0"Switching to a new journal format; cass still struggling to get stablized; Weather: ice sleet snow, incessant, started up late morning and kept on going, still going strong past 9pm."
2/1/08213.18Construct walls and loft - 30' yurt: framing1.5Cut wall framing boards
2/1/08300.54fix xpower batteries1Second unit is fixed
2/1/08310.15 Shovel Park to Main1.25Cass shovels
2/2/080.00Notes0Driveway is a sheet of frosted ice. Weather: cloudy and cool. We ate om the deck and were cold.
2/2/08213.18Construct walls and loft - 30' yurt: framing2C&C get studs cut and stored; joist hangers piloted
2/2/08288.08Split & Stack Firewood0.25Chris splits some logs
2/2/08310.01keep deck clear2.25we have many sucky shovels and only one that works well on the deck
2/2/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main0.5frosted ice
2/2/08310.10Shovel: main drive lower2snow covered ice; Chris plows and sands and shovels, then curses and gives up
2/2/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle0.5sucks!
2/2/08310.15Keep Utility Shed cleared0.25Cass clears
2/3/080.00Notes0xpower with newly changed batts used for yummy morning mochas! Weather: cloudy and warmer.
2/3/08213.18Construct walls and loft - 30' yurt: framing6.75End joists hung before breakfast; C&C work on posts and framing boards; all posts are up.
2/3/08213.36Site Cleanup0.25Cass does some cleanup.
2/3/08288.08Split & Stack Firewood0.5Chris splits some logs
2/3/08306.01Cass Tasks0.25Planned for the week are we
2/3/08310.01keep deck clear0.25Cass gets last bit of snow that slid off the roof.
2/3/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle0.5Chris attacks ice with shovel.
2/4/080.00Notes0"Cass, armed with recharged oqo batts does more work on getting proj file updated. almost there! jan finalized. not so many hrs. last night c+c reviewed time and see that need to be doing AT LEAST 40 non-quacking hours per week, as well as getting done at or under estimates Weather: ""warm"", i.e. above freezing at least. cloudy, gloomy, started flurrying in eve."
2/4/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main0.25
2/4/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle3.25yuck, hard, jolting work, using metal spade and snowshovel. very slow going. c&c may have made wrong choice letting chris skip driveway work... cass unsure she can get it all done by friday (and/or before weather turns colder and makes clearing drive impossible)!
2/5/080.00Notes0"Cass waits til rain stops to go out and work. Health appt preparations, and other chores. Weather: rainy sleety noisy all thru last night and into morning. ""warm"" around 34-36."
2/5/08300.40cass phone0cass gathers order info and calls to find out what's hold up with phone order placed on 1/22. apparently had some wrong info and couldnt finish it, all straight and phone to arrive 3-5bus days.
2/5/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main2.75use of metal flat spade and snowshovel. jarring work.
2/5/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle1cleared last nights addition of white slushy icy, off what had shoveled yesterday
2/6/080.00Notes0"Cass waits til heavy rain stops to go out and work. drizzly thereafter. driveway is wet icy treacherous; a large animal shit in the driveway several places; caterpillars in feb in snow? weird. Weather: rainy noisy thru morning. ""warm"" around 36. begins flurrying in evening. winter storm warnings with several inches ice and snow forecast overnight into tomorrow. argh!"
2/6/08213.18Construct walls and loft - 30' yurt: framing2.25got one frame flush and nailed sides in; had to redo ratchet strap 1st and add so could remove clamps; 3" nails are disgusting messy and prob not safe.
2/6/08310.01keep deck clear0.5cleared off mushy icy stuff
2/6/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle2cleared more of white slushy icy, off thick ice layer, aiming to at least have microm wide path down. didn't get all done before ran out of time. maybe shouldnt have done wall work...
2/7/080.00Notes0Weather: overnight: rain, ice, sleet, small hail, then snow both flakes and pellets. snowing through day. end up with 6-8 inches snow on top. temps hovering around freezing.
2/7/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main1.75cleared snow layer. sooo much easier than shoveling ice! cleared afternoon's snow later in eve.
2/7/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle2cass cleared one shovel wide path down, then later worked on widening it to micromoose width. got most of it done. heavy wet snow, due to slushy and icy under.
2/8/080.00Notes0"Cass apparently had opened dome last night to air out smoke and forgot to close it. Combine that with wood that didn't stay caught, and a temp drop and a cold Cass overnight. And Chris not home! stayed at poocham due to icy icy treacherous roads. Weather: much colder overnight and day. snow changed to lighter and fluffier with temp drop. very pretty with the dark skies and trees all in white."
2/8/08310.01keep deck clear1.5cleared off snow layer. icy pellet-y layer remains.
2/8/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main0.5Cass shovels more
2/8/08310.10Shovel: main drive lower0.5shoveling wet snow sucks
2/8/08310.15Keep Utility Shed cleared0.25cleared off snow layer. icy pellet-y layer remains.
2/9/080.00Notes0"C&C tired. Chris got back late last night from Po-o-cham. Breakfast together after AM chores and firewood. ""Warmish"" means icy-pellet-y stuff on deck is removable. Cass does, just in time for it to snow a whole bunch during C&C's lunch break down in yurt. C&C want to keep working on loft and walls, but are conscientous and know that keeping after snow is what they should do. C&C say the heck with getting in double hours! tis a very short weekend and they work together on same task while shoveling. Weather: warmer than yesterday, hovering around freezing, more snow. "
2/9/08213.18Construct walls and loft - 30' yurt: framing3.5
2/9/08288.08Split & Stack Firewood1Chris splits some logs
2/9/08300.45Woodstove Maintenance0.25Chris cleans outside pipe.
2/9/08310.00Winter Access0.25
2/9/08310.01Keep deck clear1.75
2/9/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main1.25
2/9/08310.10Shovel: main drive lower1.5
2/10/080.00Notes0Weather: supposed to be clear, but too much snow falling to tell. C&C go sledding; no trees were hurt in the process. A giant tree branch falls across middle of driveway. Chris departs @ 7pm to drive to a new project 4 hrs south in NJ.
2/10/08300.40Cass phone0.25One last try of US cellular.
2/10/08300.45Woodstove Maintenance0.75
2/10/08310.01Keep deck clear1.5
2/10/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main1.5
2/10/08310.10Shovel main drive: lower2.75Chris plows once more.
2/10/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle1.75
2/11/080.00Notes0"good thing we gave up trying to get the yucky stove figured out. why does it stink so badly after we just cleaned it huh? is it related to atmospheric changes, wind, draft problems, wood just fricking stinks, but smoke isnt supposed to be inside. argh. Cass does small spells of work out doors. windy and cold. Weather: Brrr! drastic drop last evening after chris left (unrelated, was on way down before). Strong winds and bitter cold. sunny today, but brr! Brr!"
2/11/08310.01keep deck clear1.5piled high at edges, still so much left to shovel, and more winter ahead. argh!
2/11/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main0.75
2/11/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle1.25cleared yesterday afternoon's addition of white, and shoveled the deep snow off the lower part to end up with one wide swath for microm. that last segment unfortunately has few inches of immovable ice.
2/12/080.00Notes0"Cass does smaller spells of work out doors again. still cold. Weather: started sunny, increased cloudy. cold. still only 2F at 8AM. more snow forecast for tonnight, then warm-up and sleety rainy. argh! "
2/12/08310.01keep deck clear1.75hardened snow makes for sloow slow progress and headache, literal headache.
2/12/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle2.5tackled upper middle, path up to gippee. is down to thick icy layer. started doing same to widen lower of middle
2/12/08310.15Keep Utility Shed cleared0.25
2/13/080.00Notes0"What a change. Ridiculous. Cass very sick and weather conditions have her working on non-site work most of day. Very difficult time encouraging herself to get up and tackle the chores yet again, and then to get out and tackle the mess that is outdoors. Messy! Snow, then icy yuck, then rain and rain and result is heavy heavy wet deep. Weather: began snowing last eve after cass inside, around 7pm maybe. continued and never really finished precipitating as of 7pm today. switched over to rain in early early morning hours. "
2/13/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main1.5
2/14/080.00Notes0Weather: sunny and temps around 30ish, but bitter cold wind
2/14/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main3.75not too bad. snowy layer under helps, start at high sides and working way into middle where harder to chip away, got more difficult in afternoon
2/14/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle0.5started to shovel single path down for chris' return at night, but not to be.... went back to park ave clearing
2/15/080.00Notes0C&C work together in celebration of Valentine's Day
2/15/08288.08Split & Stack Firewood1.25Chop, chop, chop.
2/15/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main0.75Cass finishes yesterdays work. Chris gives a bit o' help.
2/15/08310.10Shovel main drive: lower3.5Tis a frozen mess. Plowing sucks
2/15/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle6.5C&C work on scraping a cart path
2/16/080.00Notes0"chris does friday chores today. mailboxes inexplicably closed, c&c can't get their packages and mail! because of schedule, getting chris out and then him being back early eve, cass can't go out and do third session of outdoor work. Weather: sunny but brr brr cold cold brr brr. "
2/16/08310.01keep deck clear1.25how the heck are we going to get all the snow and ice off?! argh. if wasn't so darn cold, would have stayed up top and worked on walls instead, but brr.
2/16/08310.10Shovel main drive: lower1Chris finishes a single track to LAfNP
2/16/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle2.25worked on clearing path from woodshed#2 up to gippee. very sore cass: has been doing only shoveling, heavy shoveling, all week.
2/16/08666.00Dealing with Problems at Hellhouse, Which We Can't Get Rid of Because We're Not F'ing Done Building Yet!0.5Remove downed tree branch and shovel out mailbox.
2/17/080.00Notes0C&C trade two hours of sitework for a movie and chocolate because it was rainy, cold, Cass was hurting, Chris was wiped out and...gosh darnit...C&C never seem to get hangout time.
2/17/08288.08Split & Stack Firewood0.5
2/17/08300.40Cass phone0.25Hooked up new antenna
2/17/08310.01keep deck clear3.25Chris takes on big compact snowpiles and Cass joins in to clear off the snowy icy mess.
2/17/08310.10Shovel main drive: lower1Chris tries some salt on driveway.
2/17/08310.14Snow off roofs0.25Storage shed
2/18/080.00Notes0"Cass does lotta chores in yurt (laundry and poocham stuff away, dishes, coffee concentrate making cleanup, charging palms/phone, etc). when she's ready to go out, starts raining again! argh! cass' side injury excruciating when doing firewood. very very ouch, had trouble finishing and straightening up. water and shower chores hurt lots too. try the hot coaster method but without her lovey chris to help it isn't as spiffy/doesn't work too well. has to go back to hot towel method later after pains are worse. catching up on closing out 2007 money files, and starting 2008. Weather: rain thru night, since yesterday around 2pm until mid morning and few scattered showers after. fog. ""warm"" but thermometer says 34 all day."
2/18/08300.40cass phone2hassle! cass unsure how to tell exactly what makes diff. phone sitting on table sometimes gets signal, no antenna, can send txt but not complete a call. antenna sucks for unicel too, so maybe antennas just don't make diff at all, except they used to work, and without them unicel never ever gets signal inside. signal seems slow anyway, even at door and/or window. can make calls at door or window, usually. battery hardly lasts, but maybe would go longer if not always searching for signal?
2/18/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main0.75broke up ice, tried shoveling off... but can't lift it up to get it on or over the pile. ended
2/18/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle1.25"tried getting this to break and it wasn't. too thick and ground too cold still maybe. started pouring and was soaked and stopped. later, in eve, with headlamp, as temp cooled, went back at it and made progress. had to stop tho because had night chores and using the ice chopper was making side very sore. "
2/19/080.00Notes0"cass' side injury even more excruciating this morning. chris tries to get her to say that she won't do any site work, but she can't honestly do so... wants to spend some time outside the shitty little fire-crappy-smokey yurt. maybe if the little yurt was relaxing place to recover it'd work, but no 'tis not. chores hurt lot. moving hurts lot. up hill in snowshoes hurts lot. heck, just getting the darn things on hurts lot. Weather: ""warm""ish. some sun. some snow. clearing skies, maybe."
2/19/08213.18construct 30' walls/loft: framing1"cass tries working, but lo and behold, chris was right about the hammer. urgh. ouch. got cedar shims under one wall frame, but only installed 3 nails before realized can't do. even moving boards and tools around to do marking hurt like hell. M is all marked and D and I redone except for reallocating studs, since couldn't lift to go thru pile."
2/19/08300.40cass phone0.5tried again, since no rain. doesnt want to stay attached, but can't really hook up in case are returning. signal constantly switching back and forth. couldn't complete a call. dropped both times tried. then phone just turned off in middle of transaction. perhaps hit end by accident.
2/19/08310.01keep deck clear0.5most of deck clear thanks to c&c's work on sunday and yesterdays rain and relative warmth. hacked away (carefully) at some icy chunks and pushed off but couldn't get most of back areas.
2/19/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle0cass looks at last nights work and wishes soo much she didn't hurt. would be so easy to just chop and clear ice. she lifts ice chopper and does a few stabs and realizes she can't do it.
2/20/080.00Notes0"fire went out overnight. brr. unlike past nights, this one was cold. less than 10. cass is out getting firewood in pretty snow layer (from last night) and early presunrise orange sky. after fire started goes back out to shovel the layer and the morning plane goes by and holy ing! that was low. it always sounds loud inside but cass hadnt seen bfore. goes along ridge and if not under 500 then right at it! youd' think the trees could reach up and slap it. cass was going to keep shoveling but based on jan's backwards on treatments due to plane, went in. Cass heeding Chris' admonishments and not doing work she doesn't have to to live here. All that hurts enough. Getting up in bed to lie down hurts enough. Lunar eclispe shared via phone C&C...wish they were instead finished and up on deck, bundled warm and appreciating the gorgeous clear sky and neat view of eclipse. Weather: cold. clearing but cold."
2/20/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main0.25shoveled porch and woodpile path, and solar panel. but no more.
2/21/080.00Notes0"Cass 2nd day of heeding Chris' admonishments and not doing work she doesn't have to to live here. All that hurts enough. Day of noisy irritations, with occasional respite. snowmobiles, and then guns late afternoon. Weather: cold. sunny but cold windy."
2/22/080.00Notes0"Chris says there were snowmobiles on Oregon Falls Rd. Oh no. Grrr. Chris picked up unsafe -mega unsafe- substances this week at darn hotel. cass extremely ill last night(and this am, to be cont'd til recovers). Chris couldn't sleep on floor in 10F temps, so dons lots o layers and is on top of sleeping bag, cass under, protected better than if both inside. cass very cold but due to reaction. c&c organize in am while cass sick whole time, and chris does a shortened fri, minimal, since can't get up and down driveway. sat will be cleanup day, and then sunday finishing of normal fri chores. Weather: snow"
2/22/08288.08Split & Stack Firewood1.25
2/22/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main1.5C&C shovel at different times
2/23/08213.1830' walls0.75a bit of progress.
2/23/08300.40cass phone0.25
2/23/08310.01keep deck clear1.5C&C have a somewhat easy time with this.
2/23/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main0.25Chris does a bit
2/23/08310.10Shovel main drive: lower4Chris uses a couple shovels, the plow, and a lot of salt to make the driveway passable. In finding out it is still icy he almost crashes the Xterra when it slips backward after losing traction on the initial steep part of driveway
2/23/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle1chris slides downhill while shovelin'.
2/24/080.00Notes0Weather: bright and sunny, a good day for relaxing. Oh well. Stupid rednecks shooting off stupid firearms are stupid.
2/24/08213.1830' walls1.25cass shims, chris finishes an in-prog frame, then they put it in place
2/24/08288.08Split & Stack Firewood0.5supplies getting low
2/24/08300.45Woodstove Maintenance0.25stinky stinky
2/24/08310.10Shovel main drive: lower2.75icy. salt only makes it slushy, doesn't break on thru.
2/24/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle1.75holy sh*t, there IS a driveway under all that ice!
2/24/08742.02JaBoStH0.5Chris puts up No Snowmobile signs and ropes off ends of Oregon Falls Road.
2/27/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main1.25
2/27/08310.10Shovel main drive: lower3Chris shovels up to Park Ave
2/27/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle2Chris shovels up to Park Ave
2/28/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle0.25
2/28/08310.16Shovel: Bridge0.25
2/25/080.00Notes0Weather: sunny warm, mid-30s
2/25/08300.40cass phone0.5"well... no signal inside but tried call outside. signal avail when no unicel, but call was dropped in middle and c&c had problems hearing. grrr. c&c discuss possibility: using unicel basic svc for calls and us cellular for data?..."
2/25/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle1.25Cass may suffer the "wrath of chris" later for being so stubborn but... she was walking outside and decided just to see how working the ice chopper felt. and then kept going, slowly and carefully, using right uninjured side and not extending. shoveling up chopped bits was harder. thick part up near woodshed was breaking apart nicely due to chris' salt usage and warm weather.
2/26/080.00Notes0" Weather: "
2/26/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main0.5push shoveled -mostly - to clear at least one path down
2/26/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle0.75push shoveled -mostly - to clear at least one path down
2/27/080.00Notes0"Chris stuck at HH last night, shovels way back to Cass for lunch... their shovels meet at intersection of Park and Main, chris was singing a 70's ...'and I'll shovel my way back to you babe'... cass really sick -unrelated detox from treatment. since chris never got home last night, cass has to start day by shoveling to get to wood pile for fire. (chris had been doing firewood at nights for her) Weather: strong cold wind"
2/27/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main1.5"lotta lotta lotta lotta snow. chris never got home last night. cass has to clear out solar panel and surrounding to get cleared for power. and dig way to get firewood. carefully. chris digs down sections of snowbank so cass can shovel"
2/28/080.00Notes0"chris back to working today. cass stresses her side to do more shoveling. driveway can't be done by one person in a half a day (yesterday, chris)! the mla is still untouched and in need of shoveling. argh. Weather: sunny but brr. cold wind. park ave thermometer says the snowbank outside is 32F. "
2/28/08310.05Shovel: Park to Main2.25"cass climbs snowbanks several spots and digs them down to make space for shoveling snow off park ave. park ave is cleared and ready for tomorrow."
2/28/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle0.75cass climbs and then cuts down the -higher than her- snowbank in two areas and shovels to widen part of driveway for micromoose tomorrow. she'd like to do more, but side is really hurting by this time. 3hrs of shoveling with a hurt muscle is prob enough.
2/29/080.00Notes0"beautiful beautiful snowshoeing snow. clear blue sunny skies (except for the plane exhaust trails). Weather: snowpile still is apparently 34F. outdoors much colder, with strong cold wind"
2/29/08288.08Split & Stack Firewood0.25
2/29/08310.01keep deck clear2.25lotta shoveling, against wind but in sun
2/29/08310.10Shovel main drive: lower0.5
2/29/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle0.5
2/29/08310.11Shovel Main Drive: Middle1.25in lieu of snowshoes and hiking uphill, cass works on driveway, widening -cause it has to be done eventually to get back on track - and cutting down a few sections of snowbanks for pending storm shoveling
Project YIPPEE - An Adventure in Safe Living
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