On 2/23/2016 7:12 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Don Y:
OTOH,
dig for two minutes and it's hammering away!

I avoid digging and shoveling snow. Both are just too far outside of
my accustomed exertion window.

Snow is problematic for several reasons:
- WET snow (slush) is just too damn heavy! Couple that with the size of most
snow shovels and it's backbreaking (and heart-stopping) work!
- dry snow (powder) is light -- often too light and blows off the shovel in
brisk winds -- but it's still up-and-down, up-and-down... lower back abuse
- inevitably, snow is accompanied by an underlayer of ice. This makes
keeping your footing difficult. And, means you have to CHOP ICE to
complete the job.
- it's cold when you're shoveling; you're bundled up so you're PERSPIRING
from the exertion while your exposed skin is FREEZING. Easy to overheat.
- snow *needs* to be cleared "now"; it's not like you can spread the job
out over several days! By contrast, I can dig a ditch for an irrigation
line over the course of WEEKS, if I so choose! (when I dug out the last
tree stump, the front yard looked like an archeological excavation for
6 full months!)

Guy I used to work with went outside one night to dig a drainage ditch
around the house because of severe rain.

Wife found the body next day...