Two bits of real knowledge!
Always interesting when people who ACTUALLY KNOW SOMETHING get into the media.

Shoveling the big clunky mess left by the snowplow is a hot topic right now. The city is allegedly testing out a "new" device that was actually INVENTED BY THE CITY STREETS WORKERS 50 YEARS AGO AND THEN FORGOTTEN BY THE IDIOT GOVERNMENT. The idea was re-imported from elsewhere.

Today KXLY did a brief interview with a retired city streets worker who said that the plow drivers formerly used a technique instead of a device: they simply straightened the plow for a moment so it would hold the snow while passing a driveway. They called the technique "carrying the berm".

Real SKILL knowledge, complete with its own little jargon. Refreshing.

KXLY checked with Copkiller Condon's official spokesidiot, who said the method never existed. Of course. Every useful method, every actual fact, goes into the Memory Hole.

I tried googling "carry the berm" with no success. Unsurprising. Real jargon of real people never gets into the dictionary. Old lexicographers only knew the jargon of fashionable assholes. Google's algorithms continue the tradition.

While searching I bumped into an even more interesting suggestion by a plow driver in some unnamed town. Simple and clever. You can minimize the blockage by thinking ahead. Shovel the part of the street that will end up across your drive. Clear out a four-foot strip, starting about four feet upstream of your driveway, and continuing across your drive. It seems like extra work, but it's actually less labor. You're going to lift that snow anyway! Better to lift it when it's soft and powdery. By the time the plow moves that section into your drive, it's granitic and heavy.

= = = = =

Sidenote: As of 12/24 evening, we officially have 21.8 inches. That's exactly half of the long-term average for entire winters. Next week should be a welcome dry break, as the jet stream is finally moving down into Calif.

Labels: defensible spaces, Experiential education

  ¶ 4:15 AM