He's an optomistic, wishful thinker - aka Liar!

Who is this optomistic, wishful thinker? The snow removal man who told me yesterday "schnee ist fertig!" Snow is finished. I laughed and said "vieleicht heute, aber morgen?" (today perhaps but tomorrow?) He continued to declare the snowfall finished in spite of all reports to the contrary. I was right and he was wrong. I like being right. Except it's getting inconvenient.

With snow on the mind, I have to share my triumph and joy thanks to my kind neighbor's effort:

Our driveway is up against landscaping that is part retaining wall and part hillside. The last driveway of a row of about 20. And there is a small retaining wall - about 6 feet - that juts out and makes it difficult to plow a good portion of ours and the adjoining neighbors spot. Note: all the residents pitch in to have our private drives cleared during winter.

The first couple years here, the plow would circle by, leaving a good portion of our drive uncleared but depositing the snow in an area where no one parks. I (or Bart) would clear the majority of our drive, heaving the snow into the landscaping because there's nowhere else to put it unless I block my own driveway.

Starting last year, they began to push the snow straight across our (& 2 adjoining neighbors) drive and leaving it against the landscaping edge. Thing is - I only have a 1 1/2 to 2 foot clearance on that side to back out of the garage. Difficult enough without snow taking up that space. So we've been trying to move the compacted snow from the snowplow as well as the rest it can't get at. Compacted snow from snowplows is not the easiest to move and when it turns to ice, well, you can imagine why I got frustrated.

So my kind Swiss neighbor offered to call the City for me - knowing that I could tell them what I want in High German but they'll answer & ask questions in Swiss German - she didn't want me to get lost in translation. They told her that yes, they know the place but no, they never put snow in that driveway. UH, HUH! She made a good arguement for me and then said to call again next time it happened.

Well, guess what? Yesterday, they circled around and did not put snow in my drive! Yippee! Better yet - I was shoveling the remainder off and they had come back for a second round. There were two men in the cab and the one jumped out - asked if it was better today (why, yes, yes it was) and then proceeded to take my shovel and complete the drive (and I saved the hard part for last).

Happy, Happy Day! A big thanks to my Swiss neighbor and the SnowMan who helped - even though he claimed the snow was finished.

NOT!!!!