Gentle readers in my most recent column I mentioned that I was ready for the “big blow.” Yep, the weather gal said we were in for one of the biggest storms in recent history. “Sure we are,” thought I. I will be prepared for a good snow storm like March usually presents each year. We have been dry, dry and drier, so I thought that was good news and it was. However, I couldn’t imagine an 11-foot-drift in my front drive. WHAT? Yep, if I’m lying, I’m dying! With winds, heck, I don’t know, maybe 60 to 70 miles an hour and snowing like crazy, that’s what you can get. Most of the drifts around my house and buildings are from 4 to the 11 foot monster. Then, of course, the power goes out for the next 31 hours. I did have the presence of mind to fill a yard cart with firewood and bring it in the house and was I ever glad.

What really ticked me off is, here I sit two miles from the power plant with acres, and acres and acres of solar panels covered in snow and no power. I know, I know it was a bad storm and things like power lines going down and whatever can happen and usually do. I still think a good ol’ coal powered plant will not fail to deliver the goods in most situations. I have been wrong before! Finally, when the power was restored my furnace went out. It has an automatic shut off in certain situations and this was one of them. I pulled the cover off, looked at all the wires and all and called the company I bought it from a little more than a year before. I was promised a tech by 11 o’clock the next morning. He didn’t show so I called in a little upset. He finally arrived at one in the afternoon and gave me a lesson in how to pull this plate off, check the code by the number of times the little light flashes, then you go over to these wires and you do this and then you do that and there you have it. “Pard, I ain’t touchin’ nothin, that’s your job and I have a service policy with my contract,”

I declared. “Well, your service policy was only for a year so it’s not in force!” I didn’t really care. I just wanted the furnace to work and to get the feller (from Jersey I think) out of the house as he was tracking it up pretty good. At one time he pulled a floor vent, stuck his hand down in it and came up with some dust. “Well, that’s not good, says he, you need to let us clean your vents.” I responded, “ya know, it wouldn’t have been that dirty except when you fellers installed that furnace you got soot and grime all over the place. I didn’t think I would ever get it cleaned up!” Of course, that ended our conversation of needing to spend more money with this outfit.

---

---

The long and the short of it was he left and I assumed all was well. All was not well. I set the furnace on 65 degrees for the night, I got up and it was 71 degrees. It’s all good. I fiddled with the thermostat until I may have fixed it or made it worse. The jury is still out.

I was able to cut a path through the big drift, circle around behind my shop where the snow drifted away from it and make it to the front gate where I had to cut a hole in a 7-foot-drift to get out to the road. Boy is it ever gonna’ be sloppy when it melts. That’s okay. I would rather have it that way instead of bone dry.

---

---

There was one more big blow, and that was our governor and you all know that story and how all the “ag folks” came together to give him a spankin’. Good job guys, good job!

Well, I’m off to get my first Corona shot, not beer the other one.

Stay tuned, check yer cinch on occasion, remember, every day is an adventure, make the best of it and I’ll c. y’all, all y’all.