Wonderful, Chance of Showers and Storms Saturday

[Northside Hawk]

Honestly, for the cost and effort, I'd by the 369cc version and roll with it. It'll eat up whatever you throw at it. I built mine mainly because it'd be unique and I wanted to see how well it'd work.

I also have a unique circumstance in that I live on the south side of a dead end east/west street. So when the plows come, I get the entire street's worth of snow at the end of my driveway. The plows can't turn around, so they go all the way down the street, back up, and just keep taking passes until it's clear pushing everything to my side. If we get a foot of snow I easily have 3-4' at the entrance.

Here's the stock model that I tore apart for mine, it easily throws snow 50', and there is no other 24" blower on the market that comes close in engine size the way it is. I just "supersized it."

I live on the south side of my street, though not on a dead end, and it can suck in the winter. Half the driveway gets no sunlight in December and January, and then we get a vicious cycle of freeze/thaw/refreeze through February and March.

Also, our deck is on the SE corner of the house where it has gotten scorched in the summer for years. Two maple shade trees have gotten taller and taller and finally started shading our deck except for late June-early August. Next summer they be taller yet.

Our ultimate goal is to build a sunroom where the deck now stands and build a new deck on the east side of the house, where it will get more afternoon summer shade.

We don't get an enormous amount of plow build up, but we do get a West wind that can whistle across my driveway all night. It can drift three or four feet in the worst storms but not often enough to justify installing a snow fence.

 

[HawkeyeDenis]

Passed through Iowa City on Wednesday, saw the storm clouds forming. More rain from the west in Montana. Maybe a good running day. Just hope they don't have weather delays.

 

[Fryowa]

Snow plow driver has to be laughing their ass off when they drop all that there.

It’s not bad now that I can handle it better but it used to suck.

There’s a Latino family a few houses up from me that moved in a few years ago, they were out in hoodies and no gloves, etc trying to dig out with garden shovels. Moved the snow for them and was talking to the mom of the family, sounds like they moved from Guatemala straight to the Midwest and had no clue about the winter. She was about crying but if I came from that place and got hit with a no-warning Iowa blizzard I’d probably be upset too. Didn’t take them long to get winter coats and boots, but to this day I can’t get it through to her and her husband not to try and drive their car out until it’s clear, and I’d bet three or four times a year they get it stuck. I’ve tried to tell they guy a few times but I don’t think he understands me. He just takes a longer running start every time and gets it buried worse. Super nice people though, and every time I move snow they bring me some kind of kickass food.

 

[Fryowa]

I live on the south side of my street, though not on a dead end, and it can suck in the winter. Half the driveway gets no sunlight in December and January, and then we get a vicious cycle of freeze/thaw/refreeze through February and March.

Also, our deck is on the SE corner of the house where it has gotten scorched in the summer for years. Two maple shade trees have gotten taller and taller and finally started shading our deck except for late June-early August. Next summer they be taller yet.

Our ultimate goal is to build a sunroom where the deck now stands and build a new deck on the east side of the house, where it will get more afternoon summer shade.

We don't get an enormous amount of plow build up, but we do get a West wind that can whistle across my driveway all night. It can drift three or four feet in the worst storms but not often enough to justify installing a snow fence.

The wind is what’s really bad here. I live on the west edge of town and the west wind can really drift it bad. Normally if I blow it out before work, it’s drifted in again and by the time I get home.

My one neighbor always joked that we should get all 8 houses up wind from us to cooperate and all put snow fence in

 

[Northside Hawk]

It’s not bad now that I can handle it better but it used to suck.

There’s a Latino family a few houses up from me that moved in a few years ago, they were out in hoodies and no gloves, etc trying to dig out with garden shovels. Moved the snow for them and was talking to the mom of the family, sounds like they moved from Guatemala straight to the Midwest and had no clue about the winter. She was about crying but if I came from that place and got hit with a no-warning Iowa blizzard I’d probably be upset too. Didn’t take them long to get winter coats and boots, but to this day I can’t get it through to her and her husband not to try and drive their car out until it’s clear, and I’d bet three or four times a year they get it stuck. I’ve tried to tell they guy a few times but I don’t think he understands me. He just takes a longer running start every time and gets it buried worse. Super nice people though, and every time I move snow they bring me some kind of kickass food.

I used to go to the IBM building in downtown Dubuque for a stop on the delivery route I had at the time. There was a group of engineers from India and/or Pakistan on the seventh floor. Those guys could whip up some unbelievable authentic Indian cuisine and would frequently invite me to sample.

 

[Northside Hawk]

The wind is what’s really bad here. I live on the west edge of town and the west wind can really drift it bad. Normally if I blow it out before work, it’s drifted in again and by the time I get home.

My one neighbor always joked that we should get all 8 houses up wind from us to cooperate and all put snow fence in

When my knees could take the cold some of my favorite weather to go running in was single digits or teens IN CALM CONDITIONS.

When the winter wind was blowing, different story. You would come home with frozen eyebrows. I enjoy working outdoors in the winter when it's calm. Those strong winds can be a bear.

It's not just the west winds either. Some of the coldest winter winds come out of the south just after a cold spell ends and before the next storm.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Passed through Iowa City on Wednesday, saw the storm clouds forming. More rain from the west in Montana. Maybe a good running day. Just hope they don't have weather delays.

Our high school field took a beating last night.

So did our team.

 

[westender]

It’s not bad now that I can handle it better but it used to suck.

There’s a Latino family a few houses up from me that moved in a few years ago, they were out in hoodies and no gloves, etc trying to dig out with garden shovels. Moved the snow for them and was talking to the mom of the family, sounds like they moved from Guatemala straight to the Midwest and had no clue about the winter. She was about crying but if I came from that place and got hit with a no-warning Iowa blizzard I’d probably be upset too. Didn’t take them long to get winter coats and boots, but to this day I can’t get it through to her and her husband not to try and drive their car out until it’s clear, and I’d bet three or four times a year they get it stuck. I’ve tried to tell they guy a few times but I don’t think he understands me. He just takes a longer running start every time and gets it buried worse. Super nice people though, and every time I move snow they bring me some kind of kickass food.

Not too much different than all those people who "forget" how to drive in snow over the summer months. The first decent snow gets a lot of people in accidents and ditches.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Xir, have you seen the show Cobra Kai on YouTube? OMG. Amazing. I think you can watch it for free now with commercials. If you were a KK or KK2 fan, you gotta watch it.

I did the YouTube Red/Premium free trial the past 2 years just to watch Cobra Kai. When I read the original reviews for Season 1 I thought it was either b s., or a hidden gem.

Definitely hidden gem. I never would have thought you could take that concept and characters to the adult stage. Amazing writing and thought/development processes going on with that show. I gotta believe it doesn't get award nominations simply because people haven't seen it. It's a great show!

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Best advice in the world for anyone in 2019. Seriously. I've done shit in the past ten years I would never have even thought about trying before the internet.

Just a short list I can think of off the top of my head...

- Designed and installed a lawn sprinkler system with automated timers and valves with zero experience
- Put in laminate flooring (gets the award for looking ridiculously harder than it is)
- Fabbed an adapter bracket to put a 420cc engine on a 24" snowblower
- Drum brake job on a 2000 Dakota
- Heater core on that same Dakota (that one saved me thousands of dollars)
- Built a bunch of computers
- Water heater install
- I made both my and my son's beds

And tons of other things I can't even remember. I'd be comfortable saying that YouTube and online forums have possibly saved me $50-75K in the cost of making things I can't afford, fixing things myself and not paying labor, getting items for way less than retail, and not paying people to install stuff like garage doors, irrigation, etc.

Wish I had done that for my 2001 Dakota. But my wife needed new car and "suggested" I take her old one. When we went shopping for her car, the first thing I said driving away from the first lot was, "F it, I'm taking your old car. Oh, and the remainder of this car shopping will be done by you and you alone".

But it turns out I probably could have figured out how to do the work needed on the Dakota and I'd still have it today. Miss the hell out of that truck. The worst part is the guy I sold it to, who knew how to do the work needed? He ended up giving the thing away to some sad sack friend of his who "needed" a vehicle.

 

[Fryowa]

Wish I had done that for my 2001 Dakota. But my wife needed new car and "suggested" I take her old one. When we went shopping for her car, the first thing I said driving away from the first lot was, "F it, I'm taking your old car. Oh, and the remainder of this car shopping will be Don's by you and you alone".

But it turns out I probably could have figured out how to do the work needed on the Dakota and I'd still have it today. Miss the hell out of that truck. The worst part is the guy I sold it to, who knew how to do the work needed? He ended up giving the thing away to some sad sack friend of his who "needed" a vehicle.

I still have the truck. Out of the two vehicles I own it’s the newest one.

I hate getting vehicles. Hate it. There’s not a worse investment from an average use vs. depreciation standpoint than a new vehicle.

I get shit from coworkers all the time about driving my junk stuff, usually it’s the guy who buys a $45,000 pickup every three years and has never pulled anything, used the box, or needed the 4wd. The one I’m thinking of lives less than a mile from work and got upset when I told him he was a dumbass for spending 45K on something he sits on less than his toilet. It’s fine to spend your cash however you want but I just don’t understand it myself.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

I still have the truck. Out of the two vehicles I own it’s the newest one.

I hate getting vehicles. Hate it. There’s not a worse investment from an average use vs. depreciation standpoint than a new vehicle.

I get shit from coworkers all the time about driving my junk stuff, usually it’s the guy who buys a $45,000 pickup every three years and has never pulled anything, used the box, or needed the 4wd. The one I’m thinking of lives less than a mile from work and got upset when I told him he was a dumbs for spending 45K on something he sits on less than his toilet. It’s fine to spend your cash however you want but I just don’t understand it myself.

Yep, vehicle spending is insanity. And vehicle shopping is worse.

I had that Dakota for 15 years. Hauled megatons of debris after hurricanes, hunted and camped with ut AND in it, and basically did tons of hauling and moving for people who bought shiny sports cars every couple years.

I don't mind having wife's old SUV, but if I have to choose, it's pickup truck. Every. Single. Time.

Funniest part is, onebof my buddies said, "What about when you go to charity and social events with that thing?" Easiest answer ever: I'd rather be asked to move 500 items than asked to give 500 bucks! *Nothing wrong with charitable giving at all, but it doesn't mean I WANT to part with $$.

 

[Northside Hawk]

I did the YouTube Red/Premium free trial the past 2 years just to watch Cobra Kai. When I read the original reviews for Season 1 I thought it was either b s., or a hidden gem.

Definitely hidden gem. I never would have thought you could take that concept and characters to the adult stage. Amazing writing and thought/development processes going on with that show. I gotta believe it doesn't get award nominations simply because people haven't seen it. It's a great show!

Of all the "Rocky" imitations that came out during the late seventies and much of the eighties the first Karate Kid movie was easily the best.

Hoosiers, while a much better movie than any of the Karate Kid series, doesn't qualify as a Rocky imitation because it was based on a true story (so was Rocky, but you would have to REALLY reach to make the Chuck Wepner connection)

 

[Northside Hawk]

I still have the truck. Out of the two vehicles I own it’s the newest one.

I hate getting vehicles. Hate it. There’s not a worse investment from an average use vs. depreciation standpoint than a new vehicle.

I get shit from coworkers all the time about driving my junk stuff, usually it’s the guy who buys a $45,000 pickup every three years and has never pulled anything, used the box, or needed the 4wd. The one I’m thinking of lives less than a mile from work and got upset when I told him he was a dumbs for spending 45K on something he sits on less than his toilet. It’s fine to spend your cash however you want but I just don’t understand it myself.

And your insurance is much cheaper. I'm guessing you only need liability with the age and mileage of your vehicles.

 

[Fryowa]

And your insurance is much cheaper. I'm guessing you only need liability with the age and mileage of your vehicles.

My homeowners and insurance on two vehicles is $942 a year.