Geeks are Hot

Thanks to Q, who showed me how to get a new profile picture up on my blog. Isn’t it great? Momma goose with all the babes in her care – and a Canada goose at that. Seems so right, somehow. Further thanks to Q, who took the picture last summer, then realized how fitting it would be as my signature pic.

And, just to show what a truly manly man he is, Q has been converting files!! From analog to digital! (Be still my heart.) Go check it out – too funny.

Snow Removal = Excitement Plus!!!

1. When these signs appear in the snowbanks, the tots are in for a treat, because some serious Snow Removal is heading our way. Even those of you where the flakes never fall know about snow plows, I’m sure, but have you ever wondered what happens to the heaps after they’re shoved to the side of the road? They can’t stay there – by mid-January the banks would cover the roads, and be creeping onto your front porch!

So first the signs: don’t park here or you’ll be towed. People co-operate with these things because we all want those snowbanks gone!

2. Stage one: These are city plows. Highway plows are different beasts, more like honkin’ big dump trucks with a couple of immense blades out front, but these graders work better on city streets. Though you can’t see it in these photos, their front wheels can, when necessary, tip to the side to about 45 degrees. Very cool!

The plows come in and push the snowbanks into the middle of the street. Deliberately. And again, drivers co-operate. Not without a little grumbling and muttering, perhaps, but it’s better than the alternative!

3. Then this cute lil guy, the sidewalk plow, comes along to shove the remainder of the rill out into the street, too.

4. Here’s a good view of the rill that’s been made down the centre of the street. But what, you ask, is the machine which faces it?

5. This is it! See those circular blades? They slice right into the banks, and then suck up the snow and shoot it into the waiting dump truck. They trundle in tandem down the street.

That spout can move from side to side, the better to fill the dump truck.

The line of dump trucks await their turn. We have a LOT of snow! This kind of snow removal does not happen after every snowfall: can you imagine the expense? We’re all happy when it happens, though!

You can see why this is a toddler thrill: TWO kinds of snowplows, a mondo snow-blower, and a gazillion dump trucks! Does it get any more exciting?

And for me: clear sidewalks and – oh, the excitement! – on-street parking once more!!