Snow, and lots of it.

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An Inch, three?  No, more like a foot, give or take a bit.  I got the shovel out.  No matter how deep, it has to start with that, just to get the snow blower out.  Oh my word was that some effort.  Three or four shovel widths to open up the area in front of the garage, and then shoveling some light snow, after moving trash and recycling barrels, to get into the door.  I need the room in front of the garage for starting, and then turning on the return loop, the snow blower.  Room, need it.  The side way is how I get the snow machine out.  That was a lot of work right there.

Next is getting the machine out and getting her lit.  Getting her out was easy, but lighting her, this time, was becoming difficult.  Ah, right!  I have started emptying the gas tank, or burning it dry.  A little gas and she popped about as well as could be hoped.  Oh, Lord, though... the first row was murder.  And then, out near the road, I suppose from ice and slurry being kicked over from the road as it is cleared, she just kept bogging down.  The first time, I brought her back to the garage, grabbed a small breaker bar, and loosened it all.  It wasn't ice, just hard packing snow, which is much easier.

The next time, since it sounded and felt like the bar went in without being dinged or shook, I put my hand down the shoot.  Urhm, no, there is a live auger in there.  Hurt?  Oh, well, yes.  Very thick new winter gloves probably saved the pinky from the top knuckle on, and perhaps part of the next finger... if not whole hand if it had been pulled in wet.

At first I thought it just bruised, nothing big.  But then I started getting nauseous, sweats, and some other things.  Shock.  I know it anywhere.  Man, I must be getting old.  I used to be able to handle fairly decent trauma without this much fuss.  Not anymore.  I was nearing passing out, but I didn't want to waste the trip back, so I did some light clean up, if I did hurry.  In, boots off, resting.  It seems, for now, I can type with the finger.  Shock symptoms persist, and the pinky is numb, and blackening.  I'm going to take anacin and lay down for a bit.

Oh, and by the way?  Even with the snow blower, that is brutal.  I am not sure I can do it.  Not in anything like a timely fashion.  If my hand ends up gimp...  *shrug*