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December 22, 2006
It's Christmas and My Lawn Needs Cutting (and other wintertime thoughts)
It's December 22nd and it's raining. I'm standing outside trying to decide if I should pull my lawnmower back out from the back of the garage and cut my lawn. It sure needs it. Now, for many of you around the country, the lawn gets cut year-round. But here in Michigan, the last cut usually is in early November, and at this time of the year, you're more worried about the snow on the roads for your holiday traveling. Not this year. With the exception of one week, the temperatures here haven't dropped below 40. Maybe Al Gore's right.
I was reading the news this mroning about the storm in Denver that has stranded so many travelers, One article commented on HOA's and the problem of who plows the snow. People were muttering about the association not plowing the snow, while forgetting that every plow in the area has probably been working around the clock, and even if they were to get out of the association, where would they go?
This reminded me of an experience I had my very first year as a condo manager. 1975, and I was the resident manager of a small, condo association located on an island in the Detroit River. That's right, resident manager - my wife and I lived in a small apartment in the clubhouse. My first winter, I heard a news report on the radio (no Weather Channel back then) that said Detroit was in for a very heavy overnight snowfall. Since I was responsible for plowing the snow (with my trusty 8HP John Deere tractor), I knew that if I didn't get ahead of it, I would never be able to push as much snow as they were forecasting.
So, at 8PM, I put on my longjohns, two layers of clothes and socks, parka, boots, scarf, woolen hat that pulled down over my face, and two pair of gloves and headed out into the night. From 8PM until 7AM, the next morning, I plowed and shoveled continuously. There were 8 buildings with two floors on each, with carpeted, open stairways to the second floors, which had to be hand shoveled (of course not tearing the carpet); 4 two-car garages per building that had to be kept clear, and all of the roads connecting them.
The snow stopped at 6AM, after having deposited 22" on the ground. I must have looped those roads 100 times, pushing as much snow as that little John Deere could handle on each loop. At 7AM, I looked around, and every road was clear, every stairway cleaned, every garage entrance totally free of snow. I'd even managed to clear a few of the open decks that sat above the garage, knowing that the weight of the snow could create more problems. Those decks that I cleared were from units that the owners were gone for the winter. I knew I would have to clean the others later in the day.
So, I decided to take a break, after 11 straight, freezing, hours, to warm up and catch a nap. No coffee or hot chocolate for me, I knew that to unthaw my bones it was going to take a rather large slug of 12-year old single malt scotch, which did the trick wonderfully. I was just starting to peel of the second layer of ice-crusted clothing when a rather heavy-handed pounding sounded at my door. I opened it to find an irate owner who prceeded to inform me of my uselessness as a manager and how grossly overpaid I was, and how he was going to get me fired at the next board meeting. Taken aback and feeling the effect of the long night and straight scotch, I asked him what he was talking about. He said he absolutely had to get to work and couldn't get out. I stammered that I was sure I'd cleaned the area in front of his garage, and in fact, remembered that he lived in an area where I had had to use the shovel to pile the snow up over 6' high because there was no place to push it.
He said "Come here!!" and led me out front, where he pointed to his car, at the end of the association road, where it turned onto the main street. "I CAN'T GET OUT!!!" he yelled again. The city plows hadn't been by on the main road yet. I guess I was lucky that I had taken that drink before he showed up, because I just started to laugh, rather than hitting him with the snow shovel. I at least had the presence of mind to respond quietly, pointing out that I wasn't allowed to plow city roads with my little 8HP John Deere tractor, and that he might want to call the city or county, and then left him standing there.
He actually did complain to the board, but the President used the terms I couldn't when responding - "jerk", "idiot" and a few I won't re-print here. The board gave me a bonus ( I think as much as a way of apologizing for that owner, as for the work) $25. Hey, back then that was a lot. Anyhow, for the people in Denver - kick back, listen to holiday music, if you haven't done your Christmas shopping, forget it, and don't go driving around, you'll just be in the way. The plow will get there when it can. The people driving them are working as many hours as they can stay awake and they want to be home for Christmas too.
To all of you, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and drive safely.
Posted by joewest at December 22, 2006 11:30 AM