The snow shovel - a parable

[BugDude]

My 1960s trusty rusty metal shovel with wooden handle is still going strong...so is my 1960s S&W 49 snubbie. Neither are the latest and greatest design or technology, but I've practiced with both enough to know my abilities with them both. Thanks for sharing the parable. Good reading and food for thought. A little over a year ago my wife was pregnant and due the end of December, 17 degrees outside, and the day our son was born the ground was covered with snow. I got the wake up at 3:00 am in the morning and it was time to go...6 weeks early. The story was very familiar.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[mercop]

Been there five weeks early...sucks.- George

[JonInNY]

Where can I get one of those shovels. I went to Home Depot today and they never heard of them.

[wormtown]

I used to shovel a lot of snow. I was highly proficient with the shovel. Fast, clean, could clear a big driveway in an hour.
Then one winter, I found that I couldn't do it anymore. The more I practiced, the worse it got.
So I bought a snow blower.
Then I moved.

[QKShooter]

This snow shoveling parable reminds me of the time that I accepted an invitation to head out onto the deep blue sea on a Nordic 44 with a person that I had assumed had extensive maritime experience & in reality had almost none. Lots of money but, not much in the way of seafaring skills.
What a near and total disaster that almost was and I am lucky that my bones are not permanently asleep in Davey Jones locker right now after the crabs have picked my bones clean.
One valuable lesson that I learned at that time was that on the ocean there is no way to EXIT or remove yourself from a bad scenario.
The expression: "Trapped Like A Rat" comes to mind.

Practice/train folks. Know your equipment intimately and your capabilities as well as your strengths and weaknesses.

[BugDude]

Went deap sea fishing on a professionally chartered rig once and we got surprisingly caught between two converging storms. My brother-in-law filmed a huge water spout waaaay too close to the boat for anyone's comfort. It was unnerving on a relatively small vessel. That was 20+ years ago....haven't been on a boat out of sight of land since.

[spf159753]

How do you turn your dish washer in to a snow Blower ?????

Ans = Hand your wife a snow shovel !!!

Just kidding !!!!
I did not write the joke..

[Hopyard]

Oh I get it.
Your real point that you're trying to make is that he probably should have gone out and bought a gasoline powered snow thrower.

Nah, he should have hired a kid with a shovel. Shoveling snow is hard work, suitable only for teens. The rest of us should pay a kid 10 bucks and put on a smile as we sit comfy in our homes.

The moral of the parable, if you need a body guard, hire George :)

[gunthorp]

Good story.

One of these days I'm gonna sell the plow truck, throw the snow blower in back and drive south until I hear "Hey boy, whatcha got in that there pickup?"

[BigStick]

Originally Posted by QKShooter
Oh I get it.
Your real point that you're trying to make is that he probably should have gone out and bought a gasoline powered snow thrower.

Nah, he should have hired a kid with a shovel. Shoveling snow is hard work, suitable only for teens. :)

I'm pretty sure he was refering to the parable side of the story with that comment, not snow