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November 23, 2005
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.....
The first snow of winter is falling and I'm scheduled to drive 250 miles tonight for the family Thanksgiving dinner. Snow and cold aren't the reasons people are moving south, but dodging idiot drivers who think their SUV's can stop on ice just because they're big and heavy, is getting to be a good reason in my mind.
For those of you living in the north and in community associations, a few reminders about the snow season:
- When bad weather hits up north, FEMA doesn'show up with a checkbook. You will get the level of snow removal service you pay for.
- Most contractors have to have multiple projects to get through the winter. That means, unless you pay to be first, you probably won't be. And, it means there will always be a period of time between when they first plow and when they come back to clean up.
- Equipment breaks down, especially in winter. Have a backup company on tap.
- Its a little hard to plow an area if your car is sitting in it. Move it.
- Condo's often have very little free space to push or pile up the snow. Don't make it worse by blocking a plow's path to that space.
- Remember, first they plow, then they shovel. If you have to go out early, keep some snow melter for your own porch and walk.
- Snow drifts, what was cleaned once, will probably need it again. But that will be on the contractor's schedule, not yours.
Winter is a time for patience. Keep your cool on the road and in your community association. At worst, it will thaw come spring.
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Posted by joewest at 1:20 PM
November 10, 2005
Rural vs. Urban
A story caught my eye today about a man in Florida who immediately set to work following Hurricane Wilma, clearing streets and cleaning up his homeowner's association. He commented about his background and, that it was a "rural thing", where everyone just pitches in to do what has to be done.
I remembered watching the people stuck in New Orleans sho were complaining about the government not helping fast enough and that it was a black/white racial issue. My first thought was, maybe, but its also a rural/urban thing. Remember when the Mississippi flooded a few years back. Every news story showed whole towns turning out along the river to fill and stack sandbags, using their own farm equipment to push dirt higher on levees. Do you remember seeing any of that on the news about New Orleans? I don't recall seeing many stories about people getting organized to help with food, water, medical care or just taking care of each other. I'm sure there were some, but they weren't obvious.
I live in a suburb of a major urban area. A few years ago we got hit with an early December 20" overnight snowfall. (A 20" snowfall to us is comparable to a hurricane in the South - with trees down and power out and traffic unable to move and businesses closed - we just don't get any Federal aid) The next morning I got my little snowblower out and started to clear my drive and the road in front of my house. Looking up and down my block, I could see other aging adults like myself, trying to move what Mother Nature had dumped on us. What I didn't see was a single one of the 20 or so teenagers who lived on that block. At least I didn't see them outside shoveling. I did however see a number of them trying to drive to the mall, since schools were closed. All of them ended up stuck, sitting in their cars, waiting for someone to come help them. Not one got out and tried to push themselves out. It was one of the most depressing days I've had thinking about the next generation (wow, I sound just like my Dad and Granddad). I was comfortably ignoring them until my 70 year old neighbor, who had had a quadruple bypass 6 months before, came out of his house and tried to push the cars. That shamed me into helping. The last I saw of the teens was their car doing a 360 out onto the major highway (for those of you who have always lived in the south, a 360 is what happens when you don't know how to correct a skid on ice and your car just spins in a circle). Four of us then got together and cleared out about 20 homes on our street as well as the road. It took a lot of gasoline, sore muscles and most of a bottle of 20-year old Glen Morangie single malt scotch to get it done, but it got done. I may have grown up in a city, but I spent my summers on farms or in small rural towns, and you just did whatever was necessary to help neighbors.
People who have only lived in cities, which try to provide all manner of services, have lost the ability, or the willingness, to help themselves and their neighbors when problems arise. Just because you live in a condo where you pay for others to do things for you, doesn't mean that you can't, or don't have to, help when it is needed. At the end of the day, you really do feel better about yourself, even without the scotch.
Posted by joewest at 9:30 AM