Mar 8, 2011

The 21inch snow storm of 3/7/11

With my son at the folks and the Wife working a double I could focus on the night worry free. It was a lack luster night for calls over all, which was great. A few falls and abdominal pains, a few left overs from public drunkenness day, and not a single motor vehicle accident needing EMS. Most of our time was spent working at the station keeping up with the added duty's the job description never tells you of, shoveling.

Sure we had to shovel, but it was to just keep our rigs capable of getting out of the station, but our tires were the first to tread through the untouched city roads at times. Sure we struggled with how to extricate a resident from their house with a three foot snow berm at the end of the driveway. Over all we felt it was a good night but it was only 2100hrs, and the snow kept falling, so still we shoveled and piled it in mounds, and still it kept falling. We would venture out ever so often, and shovel not knowing where to put the snow that kept falling. Inches at a time we would clear with no end in sight but we encountered a phenomenal display of  Thundersnow. We were all in good spirits, which I credit to my survival of my the trip home.

I sent a courtesy pick up for an employee walking into work, punched out and was meeting my wife to give her a ride up south mountain. The wife's two door car had no chance in making it home, so we had planned to meet at Walgreen's in hopes to park in a cleared lot and carpool home. When I arrived I found a struggling Cavalier in a barren stretch of parking lot smaller than a landing strip in the Peruvian jungle. Questioning our choice, I suggested the Hospital lot within eye sight, Wife agreeing she stepped on the gas and went no where. Physically pushing the cavalier back she got traction and turned it around, only to get stuck as I jumped in the my Wrangler. Moving it the 10 yards closer I jumped out and gave her another push where she again gained traction and was off. Back to the wrangler I head towards the exit of the parking lot rounding the building to see her stuck. Grabbing the tail end with my now frozen hands I give her a shove and off she went leaving me covered in the snowy remains of tire kick back.

Back on city streets I pursue her around the corner to come upon her stuck in a snow bank 20 yards from the very barren parking lot of the hospital. Sliding to a stop I jump out and heave ho, heave ho, oh no shes in there good. One more try and she brakes free, once more leaving me covered in snowy remains of tire kick back. No matter she was in a cleared lot and parked safe, and she jumped in the Jeep.

"Why are you so out of breath and wet?" she innocently asked, "Shut up" I replied with a smile "you know why." Off we went to climb the beast of south mountain. A direct shot from the parking lot up a mile stretch to the base, where a drastic sixty degree incline awaited. The four wheel drive making easy work of the mess that were the roads we ventured on. Rounding a slight bend I see in the distance a sight only to familiar, "Shit" I burst out, to roll up on my courtesy pick up rig wheel deep in a snow bank. After a quick explanation from the crew it was agreed upon that they were stuck and it was time to push. Freeing the rig from the snow bank we still had to battle with the absence of traction and an up hill battle to get them out. A few more shoves and the gracious assistance of a county plow truck and the rig was buried with a three foot snow berm and in need of a tow.

Back in the wrangler we ascended leaving the crew to wait, climbing we followed the evil plow hoping to pass him as he stopped. A block from our road we made our move as he sat idling as if to taunt us. With out warning he continued forward blocking my pass and pushing a five foot jeep impassible wall through my roads intersection with out a second thought. Unable to make it the final few hundreds yards to the homestead we were forced to slide back down the mountain, passing the still stuck rig and ventured back to work to plan out our next adventure.

Luckily a few hours of waiting around the station we ventured back out and had no issues as the town had enough time to clean up and let me in front of my house. An hour later of snow blowing I was able to finally pull the Jeep into my drive way.

Be Safe
Ambulance Junkie






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