So, I went to buy a snow blower.

And I ended up with this:

Well,   here it is "unwrapped".

Cute,  huh?


And I did buy the snowblower.  But it's out in the shed,  and it's cold out,  and I didn't feel like moving it around to get a decent pic.

See,  acquaintances of mine are moving and doing the big purge.  I can't say I envy them,  but they've decided to sell their house (which,  by the way,  was built by the same contractor who built the house we're in,  and that was my late father-in-law,  how crazy is that?)  and move to a townhouse about 30 minutes from here.

Out Grimsby way.

What that means is, the lady,  a retired teacher, will still be able to come to "Breakfast Babes" on Wednesday mornings for our weekly breakfast and jaw flapping sessions.

OK,  I *think* it was a townhouse.  I'm such a terrible listener.  I do know that a condo was out of the question,  as some of the local condo fees are between five and eight hundred a month!
Now,  in a high rise condo,  you do get a bunch of amenities with that,  such as a pool,  exercise rooms and that kind of stuff,  but if that doesn't really float your boat,  then you're not really getting what you're paying for.

And like,  what's wrong with going to the "Y" or "Aqua-fit" at the local pool for say, a buck fifty a session?

Anyway.   They had this damned near new snow blower for sale,  and I've been kind of missing one for a couple years now.   I used to have an Ariens,  and I think I put a pic of that one up on the blog a few years back.  Whatever.
I had bought that one used,  and it ran and ran for about a decade (or maybe longer?)  that I had it, then my son-in-law used it a few times when we were in Austria,  but then it sat out back under the back step and was looking kind of sad when I went to see just what kind of state it was in when we came back home in the early part of 2013.


At one point maybe six/seven years ago, I had taken it to a repair place for a bit of a tune up,  and was warned not to bring it back,  as any more work done to it would be beyond what it was possibly worth.   So,  seeing how wretched it looked out there,  and with the suspicion that there were likely a host of issues with it,  I decided it had to go.

It's a crazy thing around here,  but anything of a metal nature (snow blower,  oven etc.) that you want to get rid of,  just set it out at the curb,  and some "metal guy" will come by and fetch it.

Just that simple.

There was some shall we say,  scepticism? on the part of Travelling Companion that anyone would actually come and take away a derelict snow blower,  but sure enough,  about seven that evening,  as I was sitting here at the computer doing just this, I heard some commotion out front, and lo and behold, it was being hoisted (although not very elegantly) into the back of a pick-up truck.

I very quietly enjoyed a moment of smugness.  Very quietly.



So far this winter we haven't had that much snow.  And that suits me just fine.  I think however,  that Old Man Winter is just toying with us,  and having a snow blower is something I suspect that I'll be quite happy to have at some point.   We did get snow back before Christmas,  and I can't say it was a whole heap of fun doing that shovelling thing.  I'm hopeful that this new machine isn't too much of a puppy, but we'll see.

And besides,  if buying a snowblower is like some sort of insurance policy against getting any more snow?  Well hell,  I'll happily pay that premium.


The thing is,  I'll be darned if I'll pay a lot of money for a new machine.  Because we're close to the lake, sometimes we get very little snow,  but now and again,  we get dumped on.   And that's when the fun begins.  Typically though,  a snowblower around here only gets used maybe five to ten hours a season.  So, paying big bucks for a new one?  Not overly prudent.

Naturally then, when a good used one came up,  it was hard to pass it up.   And  it was offered at a very good deal.  I won't say how much (or,  how little, actually)  but just too good to pass up.
You know,  when you're in the store,  and there's something awesome for some ridiculous price there in the bin, like an led flashlight for five bucks or something,  and you think, "How can I not buy that,  at that price??"

Kind of like that.


Oh wait,  here we go.  I stole this image off the net.  And no,  we don't have that much snow.  Matter of fact,  I can still see our grass out front.


But this is pretty much it:

It's smaller than the last one I had,  but is considerably newer.   It's an "MTD Yardworks".  Um no,  I see it says "Yard Machines".
What.  Ever.  Not that that means anything.  Twenty-two inch.  I think my old one was 24.  I can't see how I'll miss those two inches.

I did notice that the wheels do not have chains on them,  whereas the Ariens did.  That might possibly make a difference.  But I can always spring for a set of chains I suppose.
Hopefully it won't suck.
I also want to check and make sure they used proper shear pins for the auger.  Of course they would have,  right?
I have been known to pick up the odd rock now and again.

It's....a bit of a story.

The upper part of our driveway is unique,  shall we say?   Has to do with beach stones set in concrete  that was a project by the original owner,  the aforementioned late father-in-law.
There's a lot of things that I've forgotten over the years,  but I DO remember thinking,  one day when I had come here for a visit, (this would have been back in the Eighties)  and he was out there painstakingly pouring individual squares of concrete and setting in all the rounded beach stones that he had schlepped up from the lake that firstly,  it would be a bitch to shovel in the winter (and it is) and secondly that,  there was a good chance that he'd never get it done!

And sadly, he didn't.

Later on,  after we had lived here for a time,  and I wanted to have some semblance of completion in the driveway end of things,  I ended up moving a bunch of them to sort of square things off,  and had the rest paved.
It was right around the time that I was doing the pillars,  and I had a little digger here,  which was just the thing for moving otherwise unwieldy slabs of beach stone encrusted concrete.


So,  getting back to the shear pin situation, every so often,  one of these lovely beach stones comes loose.  Not a good thing for a snowblower.  Seriously not.


Now,  as much as the blower was an awesome deal,  the same goes for the chainsaw.
There was a question about whether or not I was the kind of guy who might use or want a chainsaw? *pfft*!  Well Ya!
I just don't happen to own one. The next question was whether or not I'd want to buy the one sitting there in the garage?   Still in the box!
Wait.  What??

There was some story about a gift or something.  Seriously,  I suck at listening.
Plus,  I was getting cold,  and was kind of torn between wanting to get back in my nice warm truck and wanting to check out this saw.  Especially when the gentleman quoted a really,  really good price.
I also cannot say how little I paid. Wouldn't be prudent.
This thing has never once been fired up!  It even came with a little container of oil to mix in with the gas!   Now,  I'm not so sure I'm going to race off and buy some gas so I can see how it works,  as I'm not overly keen on having mixed gas hanging around,  but I'm sure it's a fine little saw.

Mind you,  it's going to be tough to resist.  We'll see.
First I'll need to take that horse shoe out of my hind end.


I've been *looking* at saws,  for like, ever.   Just couldn't pull the trigger.

Kind of like the way I browse the net looking at Jointers.   I used to have an el-cheapo one, and sold it in a garage sale many,  many years ago.  I'd like to have another one, but one that is quality wise, perhaps a step or two up from "crappy"?


None of those things help me get the bathroom finished of course,  so it's all just talk.  Something else to fritter away my time with on the internet.

I'll post some more reno pics at some point.  Don't want to bore you too badly.


Thanks for stopping by.

Sticks.

Ice.

You know the drill.