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02-10-10, 02:02 PM
Just a few observations...
We got 8 or 10 inches of snow in the last 24 hours--not much by D.C. or Philly standards, but the biggest "snow event" so far of this easy (for Michigan) winter. I took a 4 mile walk during the heaviest part of the storm yesterday and had a lot of fun (still not riding much due to hand injuries).
I went out to shovel snow this morning, only to find that some guy named Mike had already shovelled most of it. Mike said he was a roofer and made about $40,000 over the summer. He was doing a little snow removal "because you can only watch so much cable." Mike said that he is carfree and has two bikes that he rides a lot, "but not when it snows this much." He said that he had two DUIs eight years ago, and decided to voluntarily give up driving "so I don't do something stupid again."
Mike had been hired by my downstairs neighbor to shovel the driveway, sidewalks and porches. This neighbor is 19 years old, unemployed, and looks very strong. I worry about this generation that would rather pay somebody else to do manual labor, even though they have the time and fitness to do it themselves. I bet he pays for a gym membership to lift weights too! :D So far this winter I have been doing the shovelling, even though I'm 35 years older than my neighbor and already had one heart attack. But I don't shovel the driveway (duh!) so I guess lazy neighbor decided to hire somebody. Mike, BTW said that he's 41 years old.
I walked downtown this afternoon in the fresh snow. I saw a couple cyclists out. Some were on the sidewalk--mostly on old MTBs. There were a couple commuter types also, both with panniers, tights, and helmets. One was riding a touring bike and the other was on a 'cross. They both made that cool studded tire crunching noise as they zoomed by in the street.
I also saw a set of very skinny tire tracks on the MUP--making a fairly wobbly line in the snow. ;) There were two bikes (nice ones) parked at the law school library. and four cheaper ones at the public library. This is interesting, because 5 or 6 years ago, I almost never saw another cyclist anywhere in Lansing betwee November and March.
Most of the sidewalks were plowed out, so walking was easy. It's funny that people usually do a good job of snow removal when there's a heavy snowfall, but they don't keep up with it when there's a series of lighter snow squalls.
Does anybody else have any observations on the snow that has hit so many regions this winter?
We got 8 or 10 inches of snow in the last 24 hours--not much by D.C. or Philly standards, but the biggest "snow event" so far of this easy (for Michigan) winter. I took a 4 mile walk during the heaviest part of the storm yesterday and had a lot of fun (still not riding much due to hand injuries).
I went out to shovel snow this morning, only to find that some guy named Mike had already shovelled most of it. Mike said he was a roofer and made about $40,000 over the summer. He was doing a little snow removal "because you can only watch so much cable." Mike said that he is carfree and has two bikes that he rides a lot, "but not when it snows this much." He said that he had two DUIs eight years ago, and decided to voluntarily give up driving "so I don't do something stupid again."
Mike had been hired by my downstairs neighbor to shovel the driveway, sidewalks and porches. This neighbor is 19 years old, unemployed, and looks very strong. I worry about this generation that would rather pay somebody else to do manual labor, even though they have the time and fitness to do it themselves. I bet he pays for a gym membership to lift weights too! :D So far this winter I have been doing the shovelling, even though I'm 35 years older than my neighbor and already had one heart attack. But I don't shovel the driveway (duh!) so I guess lazy neighbor decided to hire somebody. Mike, BTW said that he's 41 years old.
I walked downtown this afternoon in the fresh snow. I saw a couple cyclists out. Some were on the sidewalk--mostly on old MTBs. There were a couple commuter types also, both with panniers, tights, and helmets. One was riding a touring bike and the other was on a 'cross. They both made that cool studded tire crunching noise as they zoomed by in the street.
I also saw a set of very skinny tire tracks on the MUP--making a fairly wobbly line in the snow. ;) There were two bikes (nice ones) parked at the law school library. and four cheaper ones at the public library. This is interesting, because 5 or 6 years ago, I almost never saw another cyclist anywhere in Lansing betwee November and March.
Most of the sidewalks were plowed out, so walking was easy. It's funny that people usually do a good job of snow removal when there's a heavy snowfall, but they don't keep up with it when there's a series of lighter snow squalls.
Does anybody else have any observations on the snow that has hit so many regions this winter?