first significant snowfall

[mellowtigger]

This morning at 10am, it is -4F / -19C outside. The windchill brings it down to -19F / -26F. Pretty much the same as yesterday, I think. Somehow it feels a lot worse today though.

Yesterday, though, I was outside for a long time shoveling snow. There was so much wind that all the snow on rooftops has ended up down on the ground, so drifts piled up kind of high.

Here's the first pile of snow of the season. I tossed it up against the wall of the garage after scraping it off of the driveway in back. I'm rather sore around my shoulders and spine today from all the lifting and throwing. I ended up skipping work yesterday because of the time and energy it took to clear out the drive. After I finished, I ate some quick food and then slept for about 3 hours afterwards in a bout of minor exhaustion.

You can see the tail end of my small pickup on the left. I still need to find a way to secure the 4 sandbags in place (280 pounds) since I don't have a tailgate yet. I need to get outdoors and install grommets and rope. Hopefully it helps. Otherwise I'm going to end up sliding all over the roads, and I really don't want a 2nd accident of the year. :( I guess I can always add more cheap sandbags until the tires finally "stick".

Comments

[litch.livejournal.com]

It's often a good idea to include a bag of salt with your bags of sand

[mellowtigger]

Any idea how much weight is "proper" for a truck? I added just 1/4 ton to my B2300 pickup, but I was wondering if maybe 1/2 ton would be better.

I'll find out in a few minutes just how successful this is.

[litch.livejournal.com]

I notice a difference with just 50lbs so a 1/4t should be plenty.

You do have good snow tires, right?

[mellowtigger]

Nope. These are the tires that were on it when I bought it a month or two ago. I was hoping to get out of debt (which could happen this month if I scrimp) before racking up another $1k on the credit card for parts and repairs that are needed. :(

[litch.livejournal.com]

*wince*

Snow tires make a huge difference. I encourage you to bite the bullet, it's worth the $500.
http://www.tirerack.com/videos/index.jsp?video=23&tab=winter

[foeclan.livejournal.com]

Feel free to pull your car into the garage while you're working on the sandbags. Should save you from the wind chill at least.

There's also a folding table in the garage, and a small space heater on the workbench in the basement. You could set those up to keep you warm while you put in the grommets.

[mellowtigger]

I didn't think about moving into the garage. My fingers froze so fast outside of gloves that I couldn't even get one of the grommets to work before I went numb. I did lots of rope bondage (yeah, like I know anything) on the sandbags, though. Though don't shift easily any more.

I'll probably rearrange as soon as the windchill gets more reasonable.