It's the things we know, but don't think of on our own...

[gerisullivan]

Duh.

That 40# bag of ice melt in my garage isn't there for looks or to take up space. There's plenty of more interesting stuff to cover those bases.

Many thanks to galtine1, intelligentrix, timill, and madtruk for pointing out the salt/kitty litter/dark ash metric tonne of prevention treatment options for my driveway. I've scraped the layer of slush that was willing to part with the hardened slush and ice beneath it, took some photos of the iced magnolia and alien greenery, spread a layer of Road Runner Ice Melt, then came inside and popped the Aroma Wrap from lesliet_ma into the microwave. Two minutes later and its warmth is coursing through my chilled skin and tired muscles, all the way to the bone. Nice.

As skzb has been known to sing, "War is bad. Peace is good." In addition to helping you move bodies, real friends help melt the ice and warm my soul. Thank you, all.

Comments

[guppiecat]

Were you local, I'd loan you my flame thrower.

Alas.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Clearly you need a bigger flamethrower. I'll bet we know some fans who would be glad to put something together that we could share without either of us having to leave our homes. The folks along the east and south shores of Lake Erie are likely to appreciate its benefits, too.

[readsalot.livejournal.com]

Um. A helpful warning: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/12/24/man_sets_house_on_fire_with_blowtorch/ (http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/12/24/man_sets_house_on_fire_with_blowtorch/)

[carbonel]

Or as eileenlufkin has been known to sing:

Cold is bad.
Warm is good.
Never burn plastic
When you can burn wood.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

True enough, all the way through.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

My own recent ice melting adventure hasn't had anything to do with work on my part.

The city sidewalk between our street and the girls' school has been covered with ice. During winter break, it wasn't a problem, but now that school is back in session, it is quite dangerous. One of our neighbor's kids fell on Monday, fortunately doing nothing more that bruising herself.

Last Friday a neighbor called the Public Works. Earlier this week, Elaine called. Yesterday I called the Village Hall (partly because Public Works was closed for the day, partly because they weren't responding anyway).

This morning, after last night's snow, there was a crew shoveling the corner when I walked by on my way to work. I asked about the sidewalk as a whole and they told me that they hadn't been issued a work order for it. I called Public Works again.

At lunchtime the sidewalk was still covered in snow and ice. I called PW and was told that they were working on the sidewalk even as we spoke. I replied that I was looking at the sidewalk in question and there was nobody in sight. She assured me a work order had been issued and the crew had gone out.

Half an hour later, as I walked back to work, there was a crew working on the sidewalk.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Go, you.

Chicago ate my car on December 24th and/or the 25th. The ice there was horrific.carnyjack's car was frozen in it for two days thanks to him offering up his garage space to me.

I'm glad you're doing what you can to ensure that Chicago doesn't eat its schoolkids, too. Cars are both fixable and replaceable, and trim pieces can be shoved and snapped back into place. Most of the way, at least. It doesn't quite work that way with kids.

[madtruk.livejournal.com]

Hrm. As a safety curmudgeon, I have to say to please be sure that you clean your bedroom fireplace chimney this spring before attempting a fire in it. Creosote build-up is what catches fire in chimneys, and you won't know until flames are roaring out your rooftop. Yes, personal experience should be noted :). It was really, really impressive and I was uber-glad that I had cleaned it out at least a bit and the chimney fire was very brief (if 3-4 feet above the roof).

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Creosote build-up takes fires having been burned, right? I'd be much more concerned about a possible blockage from nesting animals as all of the chimneys wer cleaned just before I bought the place.

The Wales Fire Department has a brilliant program where they will come and clean your chimney for a donation to the Fire Department. It save me needing to find and choose a chimney sweep, and puts the job in the hands of folks who have an enlightened self interest in never wanting to have to fight a fire here. Even better, however many dollars I give them, the money goes to support my town and the folks who help see to my well-being here. Win-win-win.

[madtruk.livejournal.com]

You so have this down :).