Spring in Quebec is iffy - you get some beautiful weather followed
by sub-freezing temps, wind and snow. The inevitable mid-march cold
front plus snow came in last night, and is here for a few days
anyway, if the forecast is to be believed.
When I lived in New England, it was common to shovel your own
driveway, and then hire a local guy with a pickup for one or two
times a year when there was just too much to handle on your own. In
Quebec, snow tends to come in little bits, almost every day,
punctuated by big dumps of the stuff every week or two. My first
Quebec winter I shoveled my own driveway, being accustomed to it and
not knowing any better. By January my back was destroyed and I was
ready for spring.
So the next winter I hired a service, about $300 for the season
(typically November to April) and they plow your driveway anytime
more than a few cm falls. Which, as I've noted, is a lot. So it is
well worth it. And these aren't random people with a plow mounted on
a pickup - these are actual companies with commercial-grade
tractor/plows, and there are a lot of them, so the price stays low
due to the competition. Most of them switch to lawn care in the
warmer weather.
Of course some people here use snow blowers, and I considered that,
but at over $1k for a decent one, plus gas, maintenance and storage
space, it did not seem worth it.
~
I've been reading Lindsay Buroker's "Fallen Empire", an enjoyable
and light space-western which immediately reminded me of the TV
series Firefly. I've finished the first book in the trilogy and
highly recommend it if you are into that sort of thing.
~
I am looking for a volunteer to help with sysadmin duties on the
Republic. Not that they are excessive by any means, but I'm finding
it a struggle to balance my work (you guessed it, sysadmin) and
personal life and would like some help, particularly for a planned
upgrade. If you are interested and have experience as a BSD or Linux
sysadmin (and ideally you should be a circumlunar user already),
send an email to
[email protected] and I'll fill you in on the
details.
