How to Spend Less Time Clearing Your Driveway Every Winter Everyone loves the snow — at least until it settles on the driveway, a barrier between your car and the open road. Shoveling snow off your driveway and walkway can be so tedious that you might be tempted to just hope and pray that the sun melts it all before you have to shovel it — which, of course, almost never happens. However, there are a few tools and methods you can use to clear the snow away that are faster than shoveling for hours on end. Check them out below. CREATE A NONSTICK SHOVEL. Wet, partially melted snow might work well for packing snowballs, but it’s a pain to shovel. It has a tendency to stick to the scoop and not let go — unless you spray it with some common household cooking spray. This will make it a lot easier for the snow to slide off your shovel. Just remember to wipe your shovel down afterward! MAKE YOUR OWN SALT ALTERNATIVE. Sometimes you start shoveling, only to find that the snow concealed a layer of ice that you can’t scoop up with your shovel. However, if you combine 1 teaspoon of dish soap, 1 tablespoon of rubbing alcohol, and 1/2 gallon of water in a bucket, you can spread the mixture over the ice and melt it away, much like the salt you see on major roadways. SNOW SHOVELING HACKS
BE PREEMPTIVE WITH SOME TARPS. Did you see on the weather forecast that your area is about to get some major snowfall? Throw down some tarps on your walkways and driveway. Then, after the snow stops falling, lift the snow off to the side, and your walkways will be as clear as if it hadn’t snowed at all. BLOW THE SNOW AWAY. If you’re lucky enough to be clearing your driveway while the snow is still powdery, rev up your leaf blower instead of breaking out your shovel. You’ll be able to clear your driveway in a fraction of the time it would take to shovel and dump it off to the sides of your driveway.
With one (or a few) of these methods, you can clear your driveway and enjoy the fun side of snowfall in no time!
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Of course, Horst was extremely disheartened with every passing day and every transfer. He was hoping for a rescue from his countrymen, so he could return to the “fatherland,” as he called Germany back then. However, despite the transfers, he held out hope. He kept hearing very positive rumors that the Germans were winning. So, at about 17 years old, Horst and his crew were shipped to a POW camp in Ontario, Canada. With their famed politeness, it might shock you that Canada ever had POW camps, much less a very large camp that could hold Horst’s entire crew and many more. Though, it may not shock you that Horst said he was treated very fairly as a prisoner there. There was never a concern over food, clothing, warmth, or shelter. Medical attention was always given as needed. Still, Horst was young and didn’t see the treatment as out of the ordinary. Eventually, word came down that the Canadians were going to put the Germans on a train. It created a lot of concern because they had no idea what this meant. They’d heard very good things about possibly being swapped out and brought home since this was around 1942 and the German army was fairly successful.
Now 18 years old, Horst boarded the train and surmised from the setting sun that they were headed westward, perhaps towards Alberta or British Colombia. But what surprised him and the crew the most was that the conductor of the train spoke fluent German. In their own language, the conductor explained that they’d be stopping periodically and sending them off one or two prisoners at a time to various Canadian farms as POW workers. Amazingly, all of these Canadian farmers spoke fluent German as well. Horst couldn’t believe it. The level of communication was immediately reassuring to him. Eventually, he was told to get off the train and was met on a dirt road by a couple of German farmhands who told him to get in and then explained his new accommodations. Horst wouldn’t get much in way of pay, and it was illegal for him to live in the residence of the farmer. However, he would have a room fitted in the barn to stay in. Horst had to wear a shirt with “P” written on it (for “prisoner”) at all times, but he began to grow accustomed to his new life. They treated him very well and even let him break some rules. One day,
the farmer came out and offered him a shortwave radio, a bottle of whiskey, and street clothes to go out into town with the other farmhands. As a 19-year-old, though, he became understandably anxious that this would be his permanent life. He used his radio to tune into a Berlin propaganda station to find out how the war was progressing. He noticed that they were sharing less and less jubilant news but never mentioned any failures. One day, he realized that something was severely amiss among the farmhands — who had been avoiding telling Horst about the truth of the war — and on the radio. Finally, it was clear to him that Germany had surrendered. Even though he was never a Nazi, he was devastated, and, as the Canadian government wanted to take him away, Horst had no idea what was ahead for him. I can’t wait to continue this story with you in the next edition. Please stay tuned, and have a beautiful holiday season, a Merry Christmas and happy New Year.
–Captain Lance
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DREW: 716-946-3598
LANCE: 716-912-9939
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