Snow Removal

[Pete]

I really hated to read this story.

http://kstp.com/article/stories/S274209.shtml?cat=89

When my dad was alive he had a walking snow blower. When a bad blizzard would hit N/E Iowa he would crank it up and walk around the block he lived on clearing everybody's sidewalk. Took about 20 minutes to do the 12 or so homes on the square.

Nowdays? Call and complain because somebody didn't shovel the vacant home's sidewalk next to yours.

I wonder how many of those 100 "friendly nieghbor" calls were against a little old widow lady. Yeah, a $300 sidewalk clearing bill would help her a lot.

Reminds me of the "Broken Window" story for some reason.

OK, I'm better now.

[Scimitar]

What an opportunity for a small business.

Supply a kid in each area a snow blower. A bit like a paper route.
Advertise to home owners, land lords, and banks.
Hey presto, you've provided a service, problem solved, employment for little Jonny around the corner.
Hell, even donate profits to the little old lady support fund.
And I think I could get away with charging a little less then $300 / hr!
Surely this is already being done?

What happens if you’re on vacation?

Scimitar.

WE used to be a society where helping your neighbor was the norm.
It still is in some small towns.
Where I live in inner city Baltimore, my neighbors will only shovel thier tiny space in front of thier row house. If the one next to them is vacant or an elderly person who cannot get out to do thier own it gets left.

I try to help as much as I can. Unfortunately I have been castigated for my
actions. shrug.... It was how I was reared and it is how I do things and will continue to do things. It is how I reared my children.

Someone once told me that doing for others builds on your 'karma' thing. I dunno about that. I do know it gives me an inner satisfaction to know that 'today' I helped someone besides myself, 'today' I made another person smile. Isn't that what it is all about? I don't help another for me, I do it because, as my dad used to say, ''its the right thing to do." he used that instead of the word 'honorable', but its the same thing.
'bella

[Tuukka]

Snow ploughs and shovels are being needed here as well...and we have just begun our winter..

Picture from the city center webcam;

http://pelu.jns.fi/sony/webcam.jpg

[rubberneck]

Last winter the city of NY threatened to take legal action against a 93 (IIRC) year old woman to recover the fines and interest they hit her with for failing to shovel the sidewalk in front of her Staten Island home. I don't know what got me angrier, the city for fining the woman and then trying to collect knowing full well she couldn't shovel or pay the fines, or for her low life neighbors who didn't lift a finger to help her. If she had been my neighbor growing up I would have caught holy hell for not offering to help without being asked.