My %$#@!% snowblower

This past weekend, we got a sizable snowstorm, about 10 inches, dumped on the area - school was cancelled on Friday, Saturday was okay, but then on Sunday we got more snow and ice and sleet and freezing rain. School was delayed on Monday.

Whenever there is more than a few inches of snow, I believe I owe it to myself to use my snowblower, a very heavy, very expensive (at one time) machine, to take care of the snow removal on my driveway, which is long, and exhausting if I'm shoveling it. My snowblower, which is only five years old, has a big engine, and is imposing, for a snowblower. It should rip through snow like a hot knife through butter.

The problem is that it doesn't do that very well.

It gets clogged whenever there is the slightest amount of wetness to the snow. That means snowblowing the end of the driveway is problematic, since the snow plows add salt and dirt to the street and then plow it at the end of my driveway.

On Friday night, another bad thing happened involving my snowblower: I pulled the cord to start the engine, and the rope broke in my hand. The remaining part of the cord snapped back into the engine, disappearing in an instant.

So then I had to use the electric start feature, which sends about 90 million volts of electricity through an extension cord to start the machine. Problem was, I couldn't find the cord that came with the snow blower. I ended up using this weak little inside extension cord for a floor lamp, probably putting my life at great risk, but it worked.

Unfortunately, the snowblower later stalled a couple of times - at the end of my driveway, because, possibly, the snowblower was clogged with wet snow and slush. So I'd have to push the snowblower back to my garage to start it again. It became a cruel cycle, one that almost caused me to lose it.

I probably need to get the snowblower serviced, which I haven't done since I've owned it. I treat the snowblower as I do with most other machines I own with engines. I pour gas into the tank, and sort of expect everything to work. I pour oil into it occasionally. I don't check the spark plug. And anything else that the engine needs to work is a mystery to me.

I am dreading the next snowstorm that brings rain or is heavy snow because my snowblower will get clogged again, likely stall, and prove to be useless. We may have to purchase some better shovels if this is the case.

Otherwise, the snow plow guys may find my snowblower during the next storm in the middle of the road, abandoned, ready to advance to the big snowblower party in the sky, where snowblowers of the past are swearing at their owners for not taking care of them the way they should have.