No, not a new post, the SNOW!!!!! Before anyone starts on about how it has already snowed in Vancouver (and probably in Toronto too Auntie Sue…) I am not talking about a little snow. We have had our share of flurries over the last few weeks, but I am talking about a full-on dump of snow. Snow that even makes die hard snowboarders cringe (well really only when armed with a shitty Japanese snow shovel…but more on that later). So here is the deal:
Monday night, my buddy Derek came over to watch some hockey (yeah for Liz and the delivery of recorded hockey games…the lock out didn’t end for me until yesterday.) At some point in the region of 8:30, I ran out to my car to grab something. The odd night time snow flake was making its slow way to the bare ground; nothing unusual there. I went back inside to watch the rest of the game.
Derek had a hockey practice later that evening to attend, so he booked out around 9:20. I was seeing him to the door, when I happened to glance at the winter boots I bought at Mountain Equipment Co-op. They are rated for -10 and they are comfy and really nice to walk in. Looking at them while Derek was putting on his shoes, my exact words were “Man, I can’t wait for it to snow enough for me to finally get to wear those boots…”
It was seriously not 10 seconds later when Derek opened the door to go, and…all he could say was “ask and ye shall receive.” He stood aside to reveal the ground entirely coated, nay, blanketed in snow. There was a good 8 cm on the ground already, and it had only been snowing for less than an hour!
It was absolutely puking. It made some of the snowstorms I have seen on the Sea to Sky highway look like dry heaves! Everything was coated in fluffy whiteness, even the links in my neighbour’s chain link fence. It was a beautiful sight to see, and yes indeed I got to use my new boots right then and there.
I followed Derek out to his car, only to see that both his and mine were simply amorphous white blobs in a sea of white. As Derek got started on cleaning off his car, I decided that I should do some preparatory snow removal as well…since it didn’t show any signs of letting up. After dusting off (and I use that term very liberally) my car with my little scraper/brush combo, I hauled out the snow shovel to work on my disgustingly large drive way.
A little side note here on Japanese snow shovels: They suck. They are quite unlike the ones we have back in Canada. They don't have that nice curve on them. They aren’t wide. Worst of all, they aren’t made of thick plastic or metal. They are rather flat, only about 20” wide, and worst of all they are kinda like flattened baskets. They are full of holes, as if they were woven. Now maybe in the olden days that’s what they were, woven, but come on now, a flimsy, narrow piece of plastic that is full of holes is not a good way to remove snow.
***Amendment***
I have found the snow shovels that are like the ones in Canada. Apparently they don't stock those till it really snows. By really snows I am talking about feet of snow in a day. I have gotten myself a nice new orange Canadian-style snow shovel now.
Back to the story.
So my driveway and car were clear from snow, so I went back in to my house to do some reading. About half an hour later I went outside to take a peek at the weather. I didn’t think it was possible, but it was coming down even harder than it had been before. I took a walk to my car, and found it covered in another 5 cm of snow. That’s 5 cm in 30 min, which breaks down to about 1cm every 6 min. I am not exaggerating that at all either. At that point I decided that I was just gonna deal with it when it was all down. If all the work I had done was erased in half an hour then I wasn’t gonna bother.
Later that night I was awake reading in bed. It was around 1am, and I was trying to muster enough desire to sleep (I was reading the 11th book of a series that I am severely addicted to). It was all quite, then I started hearing a strange scraping sound. I took a look out my door, and my neighbour Brandon was out shovelling. When I asked why the hell he was doing it at 1am, he said that last year he found it easier to get it done before the morning. The reasons for that being are that you get your driveway before the plough fills it with more snow, and you can get the road in front of the house before it becomes hard packed and hard to drive on or clear.
That all being said, I was soon hauling on some warm clothes, and my faithful winter boots, and trekking out to my car. The snow had eased significantly, but not before it had thrown down 6 or so centimetres. I cleaned where I had before, my car, and this time I did the road in front of my house as well. After that it was on to the area around my car, and then to my door. Brandon and I were planning on doing the neighbours roadway as well. They are old, and it just makes it a little easier for them come morning. I say planning, because a series of events was put into motion that wouldn’t be resolved till the next afternoon.
It was about 2 am. I was just finishing my snow removal when Brandon came out side. For some reason his gas heater was not working. It was clicking (the electric starter) but not engaging, and then the safety shut off would engage after about 15 seconds of not working. I went in with him to check it out. We tried a bunch of hunches I had on what it would be. None worked. We hauled out another heater he had, and that didn’t work. Brandon was getting a little upset at this point…it was getting damn cold in his house. I have a spare electric only heater, and I told him I would let him borrow that. After trying a few more things, we went into the kitchen and checked the gas range. Low and behold it wasn’t working either.
So we had the problem diagnosed, now time for a prescription. I asked B where his main gas shut off was. He kinda looked at me like “what the hell is the main gas shut off?” I just went outside to find his gas meter. After a little searching, I found the meter and the valve. There was a red light on the meter flashing. For me, that was a sure sign that that was where the problem was. I turned the valve to off, then back on. I looked for something else to do, but it was really dark, cold and late. We went back in, and the gas was still off.
B was gonna lose it at this point. I told him I was gonna go get the other heater I have. On the way to my place, I went to my meter to check out what it looked like to see if there were any clues to how to fix his.
I got to my meter and there was no flashing light. Decided to turn the valve to off, and then back on. I left it in off for about 2 seconds when I heard a very loud, very ominous click. If my suspicions weren’t enough, the little red light on my meter started flashing. Sure enough, my gas was off now too. (note to self: don't mess with the gas lines unless you need to shut them off in an emergency)
I went over to B’s, and told him I couldn’t lend him the heater. He asked why not. I was trying to explain, but I just started laughing. I couldn’t talk. Every time I tried to get out what had happened, I just started laughing more and more. It got to the point where I was in tears, and doubled over in pain. After that had subsided, I managed to squeak out what had happened. B went from chewing nails to doubling over as well. We were both wrecks, but at least it put B in a bit of a better mood.
It was about 2:45am. Our houses were cold. Neither of us could cook breakfast. Neither of us could have showers, but surprisingly we both headed to bed laughing. The situation was just too silly not to laugh at.
The resolution is that we called our boss the next day. While we were at work, a little cold, hungry, and stinky, our boss called the gas company. By the time we had both made it home that day we had gas again. One cold night, and a hungry morning, but in the end all was normal.
As far as the snow goes, there was 20 cm on the ground when I woke up. I stopped snowing sometime in the night, but started up in the afternoon. It has been going on and off ever since. Last time I checked, it is coming down pretty hard again tonight. The real irony is that a few months ago while I was talking to Brandon about when winter arrives, he simply told me “you’ll wake up one day, and there will be a foot of snow.” He wasn’t that far off. The snow is still on the ground, and winter had most definitely arrived.
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So I have a lot of adventures to relay to you all, but they will have to come in time. Since the snow is coming down fierce, the hills are prime for shredding. I hate to tell you all, but ripping up fresh powder with my board is probably my top priority other than the necessities. Who am I kidding, it is one of the necessities!
Well that’s it from Nakano. I have a hockey game to get back to watching…albeit from Oct. 8th. Big big props to Liz for bringing me a few months worth of NHL on tape (amongst all the other things I requested)…the lock out didn’t end for me until yesterday when I watched my first game in a year and a half.
Cheers Beers all!
Adam
