Winter 2016 (Portland, Bend: neighborhoods, law, store)

[Thom52]

Originally Posted by darnselfly

Thom, where did you get that scoop? I haven't seen the likes anywhere here.

Not that ANY snow-clearing devices are to be had anywhere in Bend/Redmond anyway....

The Ace hardware on Newport is where I got both the "snow sleigh" and the 3 foot wide scraper "plow".
Less than $50 each. Home Depot carries the "snow sleigh" and a pricier version of the wide scraper called the "Nordic Plow" at twice the price of the one at Ace. Amazon carries them at about 3 times their suggested retail price.

Another variation of snow clearing conditions this morning. Overnight a mere inch or so of corn snow fell. It froze into a sheet of ice basically. No one was able to use their plows on it. A lot of neighbors were chipping away at it with metal shovels. I found I could just lean on the snow sleigh and get down to the pavement and scrape along. Took longer than the planned quick sweep with the 3 foot plow, but a whole lot faster than the neighbors chipping away. And I cleared out into the street including a mini berm left by a plow last night. It was odd they plowed, after only a trace of snow, when we have had over a foot of snow with no plowing.

Of course I still use a snow shovel for tight spots and minor touchups.

more snow predicted tonight and tomorrow. Sure would be nice to get at least one day of rest between shovelling....

[Coniferian]

Our cul de sac was just plowed here in Redmond. Left a heavy berm of snow at the end of our driveway but I'm not complaining. Tomorrow is our trash pickup day so it will be interesting to see how much snow we get overnight. Ch 21 says 5 - 15" possible.

[BendLocal]

Be careful out there!

After a snowy, icy weekend that brought a fatal Sunday crash on Highway 97 in La Pine and two large roof collapses, more snow arrived in Central Oregon Monday

OSP said they responded to 750 incidents in 36 hours and urged people to not travel if at all possible.

Snow fell for much of Saturday, making for more travel woes. A Deschutes County 911 dispatcher said sheriff’s deputies and others had responded to numerous slide-offs and crashes on roads across the region, continuing into the evening hours.

Snow and sleet were making for treacherous roads over much of the state, with Oregon State Police warning that they can't keep up with all the crashes.

[BendLocal]

This AM it is 32 degrees with 4" of new snow. Time to build a big snowman.

[Thom52]

Originally Posted by BendLocal

This AM it is 32 degrees with 4" of new snow. Time to build a big snowman.

and clear the driveway and sidewalks....again.......

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by Thom52

and clear the driveway and sidewalks....again.......

It's starting to feel like doing the dishes. It doesn't matter how much you clear snow, you turn around and there is a big pile of snow to clear and it looks like you have done nothing.

There is no telling what the rest of the winter will bring. Sometimes we get massive snow for a few weeks and then it warms up --- or at least stops snowing. But I have seen winters where it does this all winter long, except it is much colder. So far, this snow season hasn't been that bad for cold.

[darnselfly]

Because I'm a recent transplant from SoCal, everyone keeps asking me how I'm doing and jokingly asking if I'm going to stay. I'll take this over 90-100 humid weather anytime. The shoveling was getting to my shoulders (I have a LONG driveway), but my neighbor managed to score a snowblower a few of us are going in together on. Used it today and was soooo happy!!!

[Coniferian]

I've noticed that in our neighborhood no one is clearing their walks, not even the cop across the street. I saw our mail carrier shoveling out the mailboxes yesterday, which should have been the responsibility of the guy on the corner. The problem with those corner lots is you have a LOT of sidewalk on three sides. Even the guy with the snowblower who was clearing everyone else's gave up - don't blame him. Guess I'll go shovel my drive again.

[BendLocal]

What are you guys doing about your roofs?

[Thom52]

We avoided choosing a corner lot just to avoid all the extra responsibility and maintenance it entails in a sidewalk, suburban neighborhood. Not many people think about that. But then I have always avoided living on hills when living in an area that gets snow and ice, so I tend to think about worse case scenarios. Must be the Engineer in me.

Our street has been very good about clearing sidewalks, and the cop a couple doors down sets a good example. Overall in the neighborhood its been a bit spotty. We have a lot of older folks in the area, so I try not to judge. Although some of the people that do the least clearing are younger, able-bodied folks.

The problem people are running into is not having anywhere to put the snow anymore. We are in the UGB of Bend and have small lots. Normally I consider this a plus, and in fact I am still happy I have a short driveway. But that also means less area to clear the snow to, than the area you are clearing. I am finally finding out why a lawn is a good thing....its a blank area to dump snow. But I have to figure out where to put each load of snow now, and its starting to just tumble back down when i throw it on the piles.

And people are getting tired. Manually shoveling once or twice a day for weeks on end wears a person down. So, people are starting to get less on top of clearing sidewalks. And as mentioned, also in our neighborhood, even the snowblower guys are starting to do less.

Anyone know what the rules are for people who "host" a fire hydrant on their property? We also avoided that lot, as I wondered about what extra duties that might have, plus loss of parking. I notice our neighbor that has the hydrant lot is NOT clearing the hydrant area, and the hydrant is buried. All the other hydrants in the general area seem to be cleared by the property owners. Our neighbor does take the minimal approach to most property care. His neighbor on the other side is a cop, so I am guessing its ok for him to let it get buried. Although I do not get a warm fuzzy feeling thinking about a fire dept searching and digging out the hydrant if something happened.