Today I woke up to a major Winter Storm. What they originally predicted was a couple of inches of snow. What it turned into is a double-headed winter storm. The first half last all day today. The second half will hit around 2AM tomorrow and last through the day tomorrow. When all is said and done, it is going to be around 9 to 12 inches of snow. I don’t mind really. I like winter storms. I find them fun. I find them somewhat romantic. I mean, what could be more romantic that snuggling by the fire with a snoring Labrador at your feet, while watching a sappy movie….all the while a winter storm rages outside. Doesn’t that sound good?

How is this to top it off? A ride in antique horse drawn sleigh through the fresh, powdery snow, with the sound of jingle bells filling the air? I actually got a chance to do that today for the first time. A friend of mine has an authentic, antique sleigh. It only seats two, so it wasn’t terribly romantic since my friend is a guy! It was fun though. We took his sleigh through the woods in the fresh snow. It was really quite an experience.

After that, I had the pleasure of driving three hours on slippery, snow and ice covered freeways because I’m an idiot. I got a snow blower three years ago. Anyone who owns a snow blower knows about shear pins/bolts. These are “break-away” bolts or pins that break if the auger on the snow blower grabs something that it can’t chop up, like a rock. The idea is that when the pin breaks, the auger stops turning so it doesn’t damage the motor or auger on the snow blower. You’re always supposed to keep a few extra shear pins around so if you break one they are quick and easy to replace.

I’ve known since I got the snow blower that I needed to have extra shear pins around. In fact, my snow blower even has a compartment that says “Extra Shear Pins” on it. Do you think I had any extra shear pins in there? Of course not! Do you think I needed one today? Of course. When I started blowing snow tonight, I kept thinking, “Man! This thing is really having trouble with this snow.” Usually it throws it without any problem. After ten minutes of struggling with it, it dawned on me to check the shear pins. Of course. I had a broken one. The reason the snow blower was having difficulty is because only half of the auger was turning!

So I shut it down and started my drive to Sears to buy a shear pin. Wouldn’t you know it, the first Sears store I went to didn’t have any. I had to drive for another 40 minutes to another store to get what I needed. On the way back, I counted 9 cars in the ditch. It was very slippery. At least I finally got what I needed.

Enjoy the snow!

–Pete