Before I went to Santa Barbara it snowed. I woke up early and anxiously started the snow blower. I am so proud of my repair that I just LOVE to use the snowblower. I did our driveway in about 5 minutes, then I looked down the block and though of all of the poor whelps out there grunting and dishing scoop after scoop of snow off of their driveways. I looked down at the snow blower and said "Come on! We have a job to do!" That didn't seem right. I realized I had never named my ravenously snow hungry gremlin. I thrust my index finger into the air and announced "I shall here fore call you... CHUDLEIGH!!!" (pronounced CHUD-LY) I stood up straight, stuck my chest out and shoved Chudleigh into a long stretch of freshly fallen snow pack. Chudleigh growled contently as he gobbled through the snow. I could tell he liked his name. I ended up doing the sidewalks on the whole block. I wanted to do the driveways on both sides of my house but I was going to be late for work. I reluctantly placed Chudleigh back in the corner of the garage. It was still snowing and I knew Mandy would have to remove the new snow while I was gone. I woke here up and showed her the intricate operating procedure of Chudleigh. It is more of an art than a science, but if you know where to scratch his back he rewards you with a magnificently clean driveway and huge sense of pride and accomplishment. When I got to Santa Barbara I anxiously called Mandy to see how well Chudleigh had worked. I was disappointed to learn that he had only cleaned two stripes on the driveway and died. He was going to get a stern talking to when I got home! When I came home I tried everything I could, but he wouldn't start for me. I know every internal combustion engine needs 3 things... air, fuel and spark. (well diesels don't technically need the later, but... I wasn't dealing with diesel snow blower... but that would be cool!) I know he had the first two just wasn't sure about spark. I took the spark plug out and found several chunks of some unknown foreign matter stuck in the spark plug. Not to surprising to me. this snowblower has no air filter and actually has a nice little cup on the front of the carb which makes a nice catch basin for any number of foreign materials. I cleaned them out of the spark plug and tested for spark... yep! good spark. After I reinstalled the plug, chudleigh practically started itself. I pulled the chord and he howled to life, sputtering out a brief cloud of white smoke and then idling up to it's normal hum. I had some snow that wasn't shoveled on the pad on the side of the house. I quickly cleaned that up. That just sort of wet my pallet without bedding it back down. I decided the patio in the back yard needed to be cleaned. Chudleigh cut through all of that snow and merrily shot the snow about 30 feet away. I then tested his merit by cutting a path right through the backyard where the snow was almost as deep as the blades are tall. No problem. blasted the snow right out of the yard. I had a blast! I told Mandy that I thought it would be fun to clear all of the snow off of our entire front yard. All of our neighbors would have about a foot of snow and ours would none! That would be awesome! Well... gotta go check the forecast, see if any more snow storms are heading our way!
Hello?…Hello?…Is this thing on?
9 years ago
6 comments:
You and your Chudleigh!! I wish we lived close to you! You could do our walks any time! And our lawn..that would be so funny!
I offer a challenge to Chudleigh. $10,000.00 if you can clear a path across my front lawn!!
Is there a time limit? I was curious if I could clear a path through a bank of ice in the front yard. At first the paddles just climbed up the bank, but after I Chudleigh crushed the snow banks spirits, it began methodically chewing away. Unless you have a glacial formation of solid Ice, I think he could do it.
did you get the pics I sent? those aren't nice soft fluffy piles of snow. they are hard, crusted, windblow, snow blown, piles of crud. Although I do agree, given enough time and assuming you don't scatter the engine, it probably could be done.
For $10k I would shovel a path through your front lawn with a teaspoon.
Oh, I also forgot to tell you, we got another foot of snow last night to top off the pics I took last night.
At the first of the season I totally looked forward to clearing the driveway. This last month has toppled me from my mount of euphoria. Not only have I had to do my own driveway and the obligitory neighbor who happens to be out with their shovel while I am out. The Elders quorum in my ward had snow removal for the church this month (which means I had snow removal for the church this month. I have tried calling other members for help. I usually ended up spending an hour listening to excuses, or nobody answering (I need to block my number on caller ID) and then still end up doing it myself, so I now just skip to step 2 and do it myself) Now, don't get me wrong, the church has one COOL snowblower. It is a fairly new, 10hp, 32 inch wide ariens with all the bells and whistles (except handwarmers, I was trying to figure out how to put them on the other night, I think it can be done) and it is loads of fun to watch it devour all the juicy snowdrifts that congregate around the ward house. The problem is, after I spend an hour at home and around the neighborhood, then I head to the church and it takes about 2 hours to do that job. I have now been out in the elements for 3 hours (I didn't keep track but I know the last 2 times i did this the wind chill was minus fifteen.) I come home looking like the winter warlock, my eyelashes frozen together and just damn cold. Nicole is pissed cause she had to put the kids to bed without any help again. So, now I am cold and nobody is gonna warm me up cause I didn't help put the kids to bed again. I was so happy this morning when I woke up to more snow and then I realized it was February 1. YES!!! it is the 4th wards month now!!
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