Storms

I changed jobs back in 2022, taking a position that paid less and had fewer ways to increase compensation (OT, annual bonuses, etc). The last year at my last job, I was fortunate enough to get a sizable bonus cheque at the same time that the old Mastercraft snowblower we'd had for a decade decided to kick the bucket. We had it taken away and evaluated: it would cost a lot to repair, and it would still be (sorry, Canadian Tire) a Mastercraft snowblower. So the bonus went into buying a big, two-stage Toro. If you're not familiar with snowblowers, essentially, it's designed to be pushed into large snow drifts and make short work of them.

Good thing, because this week we've been battered with winter storms. Two Alberta clippers, one which came with heavy winds and caused havoc throughout the city, and the second (currently on-going), which is mostly just politely snowing for the last eight hours or so (with an estimated seven or eight to go).

I'm about to go check the gas in the snowblower (again), fire it up (again), push it up and down the driveway (again) and wonder why I ever decided to move back to the prairies (the answer is love). Hopefully by tomorrow morning, the main roads have been plowed. We've got company coming for a week on Sunday, and there are groceries to get, Christmas odds and ends, various tidying and cleaning. I need to buy some more stocking stuffers, beer and wine for Christmas dinner, probably other things I've forgotten. Things are going to pick up on Sunday and not let up for a week. And I expect I'll slump back into work a week Monday, make coffee in a mostly-empty office, put on my headphones, and get ready for a break from my break.