Wednesday
21
My commute, while delayed, was not too bad and I made it to work only 15 minutes late.
Monday
H: 14
L: 8
Highs down as much as 40 degrees from Sunday. Temperatures between 10 and 15 degrees remain steady or slowly fall through the day despite a partly sunny sky. Strong west winds 15-25 m.p.h. gusting in excess of 30 m.p.h. send windchills as low as 10-15 degrees below zero. Partly cloudy and very cold overnight with lows from zero at the coldest inland locations to 5-10 degrees downtown.
Forecast
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As of 9:32 PM CST on December 14, 2008
Rest of Tonight...Periods of rain...freezing rain and sleet late in the evening...then a chance of light snow after midnight. Snow and sleet accumulation up to 1 inch. New ice accumulation of less than one quarter of an inch. Blustery. Turning sharply colder. Lows 10 to 14...except 14 to 18 downtown. West winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 30 mph at times. Chance of precipitation 100 percent.
Monday...Partly cloudy. Blustery...cold. Highs 14 to 18. Wind chills as low as zero to 10 below zero. West winds 15 to 25 mph. Gusts up to 30 mph in the morning.
Monday Night...Mostly clear in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Lows 7 to 11 above. Wind chills as low as zero to 10 below zero. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph until early morning becoming light and variable during the predawn hours.
http://weather.wgntv.com/US/IL/Chicago.html?main=1
I got the call last night that my snow blower was ready to be picked up. I was so glad. I picked it up today; it runs great. It's still old. Hey, guess what? It's raining today and it's going to be almost 50 tomorrow. You all can thank me for that!
Oh, the woes I experience. Yesterday, we had our third measurable and shovel-able snowfall in the Chicago area. I say shovel-able because that's exactly what I did. Wait, don't you have a snow-blower? Yes, I do. However, it's been in for repair since October 21st. That's right, it's been almost two months to have a few simple things taken care of:
-new primer bulb
-new primer line
-check fuel line
-replace grounding bolt
-tune engine
-replace shear pins
I have an Ariens 5 HP two-stage snow thrower. It looks like this only it's about 20 years old. I bought it last winter as-is for $150 and it was the best investment I have ever made. I did some preliminary work on it (with Brian's help of course; does anything get done w/o him?) last winter and it worked out great. I figured that if a professional tore it apart, they might make it work even better when under higher loads and also extend its longevity.
The long story is that when I dropped it off in October, I was told that I was way ahead of the curve. I figured I was, too. This really didn't come to fruition because it's still in the hands of Honda House.
Why did I drop it off at a Honda dealer if it's an Ariens, you ask? I'll tell you why. 1)I was on the Ariens web site and HH is listed as an authorized retailer and 2)I bought my moto from them and 3)it was close and 4)I knew the service department staff well. Now you know. Now back to my story of woe.
The reason why the snow blower is still there is that it has taken this long to get the parts delivered that were ordered. I don't know the entire laundry list of parts, but when I called last Saturday, they stated that the last item remaining was the primer bulb. Since they don't start any work until all the parts arrive, there has been no progress. I'm not in service or sales, but if I were in charge over there, I would have called me and asked if I would like them to start work on all the other pieces and maybe have me install the primer bulb myself after the fact. I have electric start and won't likely even use the primer. Why are the parts taking so long to arrive? I'll tell you why.
HH tells me that Ariens has a very "funky" method of shipping parts. They take forever. I find this hard to believe. I've gone to my local True Value and picked up shear pins off the shelf before. On top of all this, Ariens is probably the number one seller of snow thrower products on the market. Maybe Honda House is trying to get me to buy a Honda snow thrower. Keep trying. You're over-priced.
Our team went to the Berghoff for drinks after work tonight. Our manager was in town from Omaha, so it was overdue. As the night went on, we decided it was time to throw down a few shots. I suggested we have Goldschlager. Everyone agreed. As we were ordering the shots, the bartender took the opportunity to work in the old, "Orange whip? Orange whip? Three orange whips." It was nice. I asked her if everyone "gets" that Blues Brothers reference. She said that we would be surprised how many people don't get it. The phrase has a cult following with my team so we find that hard to believe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRp8GrXffhA
I awoke this morning to see the first visible signs of overnight snowfall. I knew it was flurrying last night; I experienced it as I took our trash and recyclables to the curb. I just didn't expect anything to stick. Sure enough, my front steps were covered with a thin film of snow and ice making it difficult to walk down and other non-ground objects had accumulation as well (cars, garbage cans, tree limbs).
Here's what concerns me; I took my snow blower in for some maintenance on 10/21 and I still don't have it back. They say it is because the parts were late to arrive. Here I was, thinking I was way ahead of the game when I took it in when it was still 50+ degrees. Now I'm concerned I won't have it back in time for out first big snowfall. The service manager thought I was out early, too. Hopefully, I'll get the call today to come pick it up.
Tonight was the first night in over two weeks that I had to close the windows on the house; more specifically the bedroom windows. It's bedtime and already below 50 degrees. It has been a nice, long run without needing to turn on the HVAC...
It's a gorgeous Saturday morning; 60+ degrees, sunny. I'm in my basement...working. Time for a vacation. Go Irish.
Rain, rain, go away. Come back another day. Ike hasn't even made it up here yet!
"Warm and muggy with periods of showers and thunderstorms. Severe storms possible this afternoon. Heavy downpours; totals well in excess of an inch are likely over much of the area. Winds out of the south to southwest at 15 m.p.h. with gusts to 25 m.p.h. or higher. Temperatures warm into the 70s during the morning, approaching an 80-degree high this afternoon. Showers may weaken and diminish overnight."
I'm on a marathon conference call for work at the moment. I took a step outside the house for some fresh air. Wham! It's still 80+ degrees and breezey. It's a nice departure from my meat locker basement. This old house needs better HVAC, but it would be cheaper just to purchase a newer home I think. I'm not in that market.
UPDATE: It's 2:15am and I just got off my call. Woo hoo.
When will dreary winter end? This is getting old. We are pushing into our 6th month of chilly weather with very few days of sunshine. We all know the inevitable spring and summer *will* arrive. It's only a matter of time.
I hate running outdoors in the cold weather, it makes my ear drums hurt. Yesterday, it was in the upper 50's or the first time in quite a while and I decided to go for my first run in over four months. What have I been doing for the past four months you ask? We'll, I've been adjusting to being a father and Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, etc. I hurt today in places that I have not felt soreness for four months. It's painful, but kind of refreshing at the same time.
Today was the 36th day of measurable snowfall in the Chicago area. Four more inches over night.
The sun rose on my commute today; spring is near. Unfortunately, the air temperature was two degrees below zero.
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