That dude's a nutjob. Thanks for being neighborly!
As for your question number D: 27 houses is way better. You're taking care of the strip that gets packed down by walkers, turns to ice and is much harder to shovel.
Absolutely, yeah. Footprints are the worst to shovel. I've also literally never seen wheelchairprints, so it feels like there can't be loads of people in wheelchairs just after a fresh snowfall. My sister is in a wheelchair, and she says that the main problem with being in a wheelchair and snow, isn't that other people don't shovel their walk, it's that YOU, FROM A WHEELCHAIR still are LEGALLY REQUIRED to shovel your walk. She fortunately lives with an able-bodied roommate who handles it.
I do feel a bit guilty for prioritizing able-bodied people over disabled people, but I do agree with you specifically because footprints suck to shovel.
If you did that for me, it's my duty to worry about the rest. You saved me work and bought me time. At least the walkers have a great path and I should be out there shoveling anyways
This is a really good point. There should be a program that shovels on behalf of those who are in a wheelchair or have mobility limitations. If you are able to receive a wheelchair sign for a vehicle, there should be a program of some sort that helps with shoveling.
I'd go one step further. Sidewalks are public property. Why is it my personal private job to shovel public property? Wouldn't it be a lot more efficient for us all to chip in and buy the government a really nice snowblower, and pay some dude to do all our sidewalks? One dude with a $4000 snowblower can do the same work as 50 people with shovels.
The thing is, that WOULD have been my form of vengeance, just blacklist the guy, right? BUT that's also what he wants! I'm tempted to do an excellent job of both of his neighbors' houses. Come by with a shovel and do their steps and everything.
It's also, like, next to impossible to shove a snowblower through snow when it's off. It's like shoveling with a cup. The snow still gets mostly moved away, but it takes muscle rather than battery life. I'm not sure what my final response will be but I have been bemused thinking about plowing the road...but throwing the snow (and rocks) onto his car. I definitely shouldn't do that, like, legally, I'd probably have to pay to repaint his car, but like, I am darkly fantasizing about it.
Nah, that guy is offside and clearly projecting some personal issues. We have a friendly relationship with our neighbours and sometimes they’ll do ours and sometimes we’ll do theirs. It’s a nice, neighbourly thing to do, and if you don’t have to break as much of a sweat doing it - even better. We’ve shoveled a couple of times since since the dump and the snow this afternoon was still crazy heavy.
But hey, at least now you know this guy doesn’t appreciate a good deed and you can save it for someone else.
It's so much better when neighbours do that, because it's easier to shovel before footprints. So if you shovel your neighbours' walk 1/3rd of the time, and each of them shovels yours 1/3rd of the time, then you all will have an easier time! It's just better! Even if it's a terrible job (like my singular 21" stripe) then all the footprints go onto the already shoveled stripe.
Exactly! If I’m out in the morning shovelling it doesn’t take me long to do the neighbour’s front walk. If the neighbour is out before me they do the same thing. No big deal.
Just ignore him. Skip over his patch of sidewalk and do the rest.
I guarantee all of your other neighbours are happy you're doing this, especially with this heavy crap on the ground.
Seconded. If nothing is good enough for him., nothing is what he gets. Please don't let this dumb flipping spatula ruin a good thing.
On behalf of the good humans, thank you.
Yeah the poor snowblower is just a budget $600 On Sale one from Rona. It did **not** like the heavy crap these past couple days. Still lasted 30 min, but that meant like 15 houses rather than the usual 30. I mean, it's still extremely crazy better than having to shovel this crap. And frankly 15 houses is still way more than the 1 house I need it to do.
I assumed 11AM would be fine. I'm more wondering about "what's the earliest time you would be fine with". If I regularly do it at 11, then that's usually not as helpful, because everyone else will have manually shoveled by then.
If you hate 6am, we have some guys in the beltline that get their snowblowers out around 4am. There was a scraper going at it around 230am the other morning.
Honestly, after buying one of these, like, it doesn't feel like I'm an "angel", like, it takes me just as long (now) to do my house and 27 neighbors' houses...as it used to take me to do just my house. It feels unethical to NOT drive the machine until the battery is flat. It takes me no more time and doesn't cost me anything! I mean, I suppose it costs me electricity, and wear and tear on the machine, but like, that's gotta be less than $1 per snowfall.
EDIT: And yes, to all snowblower-owners, I AM saying you have an ethical responsibility to spend 27 min being nice to your neighbors. I'm not sure how this applies to people with gas blowers, since I think they run all day, and can be refueled like instantly, but probably you now have to quit your job and become a servant of the people. Sorry. Should have bought electric.
You are an Angel! You could just go back inside after doing your own cause why not. Instead you think fuck it! Already out here might as well keep going! Angel! Angel! Angel!!
Well, so, I live in the middle of a block, and the snowblower is stored in the garage, so I need to, at least, get the snowblower from my garage, around the block, and to the front of my house. Therefore I must either keep it off and shove it through the snow in front of like 5 houses with my muscles, or I could have it running and shovel the stripe for those 5 people and have a way easier time of pushing it. Then I need to get back to my garage, and so I could go the original way, or I could go the other way, and do the 5 other houses on the other side. So that's already 13 min of my 30 min battery that I can't justify not burning. So then I have 17 min of battery left in the tank. At best I'm a 17 minute angel. Some people devote their careers to snow removal. And like, spend every evening reading books to the elderly and feeding starving homeless children and stuff. I knew some Mormon missionaries that baked cookies every month for their whole community!
I'm like, base level normal nice. Not an Angel. Maybe a Scottish Brownie at best.
Angel! I will take Scottish Brownie too! You don't get to compare yourself to other people! Comparison is the thief of Joy. I as one of a long line of Snivelers can recognize an Angel and I say you are!
One of our neighbours and us share the load during the snowfalls, works out well. Then there's the other neighbour on the other side, only do theirs, never anyone else's. We did theirs a few times but stopped when it was obvious they won't reciprocate.
What's funny though, last year they had a house fire in November and had to leave for 6 months, we freaking did theirs for them the entire season because we're nice that way. The parents were good about it but the daughter and her lazy boyfriend, not so much. The elderly mother passed away when they were moved out , she was in remission for cancer and she would still be the main one out shoveling and doing the lawn, we helped her out. But the kids, heck no :)
A) I would be happy
B) I would be happy that any is done.
C) After 8am and before 9pm would be my preference. But I don’t care if I don’t have to do it
D) I would think 1 pass of 27 houses, making a walkway for each. Rather than a bigger walkway for 9
There's a guy who comes up and down my block and does the same thing. I want to give him some cash as appreciation but I keep forgetting to actually withdraw any.
As a person with enough money to buy a snowblower, I would appreciate money a lot less than something that's a cute gift. Like if you have cookies. A bunch of people here keep saying if I was in their community they'd bake me something, and they keep saying cookies and I want cookies and I don't have them! Haha.
We also can't do steps, so if your neighbor has steps, it's lovely if you shovel them for them when you hear them outside. My next door neighbor shovels my steps for me and it's really nice.
Bro has the audacity to 1) complain about having snow cleared 2) somehow make it about himself looking lazy AND 3) bitch that the way you're doing it wasn't good enough "for everyone"?
I woulda told him to ligma balls. Dude is a sour old prick.
Haha, he looked like maybe 18 or 20. But yeah, I dunno, I'm not like, sure-sure, but something seemed "off" about him, you know? Like he was working with...like...not the complete set of marbles? I don't actually know, and maybe I'm just salty, but I don't want to shit too hard on someone who has "issues"...if he does have "issues".
My inner Larry David would be upset that you shoveling my sidewalk implies that I should reciprocate the favour next time. Even though I might do someone else's sidewalk, my inner Larry David does not want to feel obligated because of something that you did, and if I do happen to do your sidewalk sometime my inner Larry David would like you to know that it was NOT because you previously did my sidewalk.
I am largely successful at keeping those thoughts at bay. Thanks for being a snow angel in your neighbourhood.
Haha, I did a loop of my block today, and some mystery saint did my private walk and steps (snowblower can't do steps) when I was putting away the snowblower in the garage. Maybe I live near Larry David.
Every time that I’ve come out to shovel my front steps and see a kind neighbour has shovelled my sidewalk I feel extremely grateful! Not sure what this guys problem is. I have never perceived it as they thought I was lazy but more that they were already out and thought to do a nice thing.
I am also grateful when someone does mine. But also angry. Angry at myself that I didn't beat them to it and do theirs first, because it's fun to have a little internal competition in your head.
A) If I'm a sensitive old bugger seeing it as someone thinks I can't do it, or I'm anti social and don't like people just walking on to my property. The person is emotionally immature.
B) No.
C) Oh wellz for her
D) Just do the city sidewalks. Ask people if they want their private walks done if you want to go further.
I can't actually do the private walks (with the snowblower) they all have steps, and the machine doesn't do steps, sadly I still have to shovel my own private walk.
You are doing the right thing. In fact, this is exactly how we \*should\* plow sidewalks - it makes way more sense for one person to do it efficiently than leave it up to random individuals.
All it takes is one slacker or someone unable to do it and every wheelchair and stroller is stuck in the snow indefinitely. It makes so much more sense to do a whole block at a time.
It REALLY does feel like it should be handled municipally, rather than privately. Like, not even just slackers, but like people with medical conditions, people on vacation, people who are just, like, going through something right now, like depression or like their wife has been birthing twins for the past 28 hours or they have COVID or whatever.
There's a lady I see at the park who has this like offroad milspec lookin' stroller that gives exactly zero shits about the weather. Big puffy wheels like those bikes you see. She walks her dog and baby at the same time. Never seen another like it, but yeah, all others get stuck in the snow.
If none of yall are doin anything tomorrow morning.?
Id like to all meet up at 9 am.
and all 200 of us can shovel this guys walk together..
A little celebration when we finish.
And go home !
I got this one on sale for $600 like a week ago, it's apparently $800 now for inexplicable reasons, they're going on sale a bunch more now as companies are worried they'll have to store them for another year, so now is a good time to buy:
[https://www.rona.ca/en/product/kobalt-40-volt-21-in-cordless-electric-snow-blower-includes-tool-and-2-batteries-45595082](https://www.rona.ca/en/product/kobalt-40-volt-21-in-cordless-electric-snow-blower-includes-tool-and-2-batteries-45595082)
I avoided the "greenworks" ones because they have piles of bad reviews everywhere (not unexpected, they are cheaper by a wide margin). I personally have found (I'm a total novice though) that a single stage is fine for Calgary snow, it's handled the last two dumps just fine. I also don't think I would want it to be wider, since it would be heavier and harder to push, and take up beloved space in my garage. The beefier models also seem louder (judging from YouTube, not from personal experience).
EDIT1: From the spec on mine, I'm not sure about this "throws up to 6" of snow 35ft!" Like maybe if you're throwing it in the direction of high winds and it's very light snow then maybe. It throws it like 2m to your preferred side. But that's like, 1m more than I need anyways. I don't need it to throw snow up onto my third storey balcony. I also don't know why they think it can only throw 6" of snow. The front scoopy thing is at least a foot high, and it does just fine eating up foot-high snow piles. So they're underselling AND overselling it. It also is not "self-propelled", so I have to shove it into the snowbanks. If you have weak noodley arms like me, "self-propelled" might be a nice feature.
But yeah, $600 gets you 30 minutes of snowblowing. If your needs are greater, you can get extra batteries. I'm happy so far with my brand new one, but it's brand new, and maybe it's the literal worst model, and all others are better, but I'm really happy with mine!
EDIT2: Sunridge Rona still has it for $600 on Clearance. They have 1 left. If you do decide you want to buy my model, save $200 by buying it in Sunridge. This edit isn't sponsored by Sunridge Rona, I promise.
I’m looking at replacing my aging gas blower which is also a single stage like yours and was considering the greenworks one but I’ve never seen any negative reviews on YouTube or anywhere else. Have you seen a lot of negatives?
Btw I’m thinking of upgrading to the two stage model since my driveway is pretty big
I'm entirely basing it off of going to Rona's/HomeDepot's/Costco's Snowblower page, sorting by highest rated, and having all the greenworks ones at the bottom. To be honest, I didn't even read the bad reviews. I just saw that they had lower stars than other brands. I'm a total novice so if you find experts disagreeing with me, they know more than I do.
I find “experts” are usually being paid by the manufacturer so their opinions are biased and worthless. Actual users who bought and use it are far more useful
But I can assure you that my options are my own… even though they are paying me and these videos are how I make a living. Now… let me tell you how much I loooove this product.
Ive gotten home from work around 9 or 10am before and my neighbour was doing it. And id go out later in the afternoon and do theirs and mine again if it was still snowing.
My wife, on the other hand, takes it as a personal insult and wakes me up to go do it if Im home. He gets it. We just smile at each other and go about it.
Unless your wife is, like, disabled or something, and she wants it done before you wake up...I can think of a way that the sidewalk could get clean without you waking up.
Guy sounds crazy. A group of us in my community fire up our snowblowers and just cruise around cleaning snow as long as we feel like doing it, sometimes people do my sidewalk, sometimes I do theirs, it's a race to see who can be the nicest.
I have back problems and find shovelling to be absolute torture. I literally almost cry for joy every time the local snowblower dad comes around and does my front walk. It makes a huge difference to my quality of life and makes me feel a lot less guilty about having a hard time with my walk.
That dude has some internal stuff he needs to work through and it’s not your problem. You’re doing a good thing.
I'm starting to think that we should have a sign like we have on cars for "I have mobility issues" like the blue tag thing, so that nice humans know which sidewalks we should do for people.
I really love and appreciate when my neighbour does our sidewalk. Even if it’s just a strip , I would never be mad.
I think this guy woke up on the wrong side of the bed .
Wow, crazy. I do my neighbours sidewalks on both sides. 2 doors down if I have time because it takes less than a min with my snow blower. In turn, if I sleep in on a Saturday or don't make it out that fast they always do the same for me. It's called having good neighbours lol
There was an old retired guy with a quad and blade that used to clear most of the sidewalks in my Mom's neighbourhood in Red Deer. The city shut him down for "liability" reasons. The quad wasn't licensed/insured for use on the street or something. Apparently, a lot of people thought it was the City that was actually doing the work and called to complain that their sidewalks weren't being cleared.
A guy on my street with a snowblower often does my front sidewalk and a couple other houses along the stretch. I am grateful every time. I would keep doing what you're doing and skip the angry guy's sidewalk.
A) I’d think it was extremely nice if my neighbour. I’d be tickled pink
B) see A
C) literally any time of day. You’re doing me a favour I am making no demands. I’m certainly not expecting 6am
D) 1 pass of 27 houses. A small path to walk through is better than no path and if your Neighbors aren’t happy with that they can clear the rest themselves.
Some people are just unhappy with the world. You can't change them, nor rationalize their angst. Best to put him on ignore, leave his walk untouched, and wait until he complains you didn't clear it (Note: he Will complain)
At the start of winter, each year, I make a pilgrimage to Princess Auto and buy a case lot of their cheap, wooden snow brushes. It really bugs me seeing the number of people too self important or too self absorbed to clear the snow off their windows before driving away. They are usually mildly embarrassed, good humored and grateful...message received.
Last winter, while waiting to get gas at Costco I realized every car in my field of view had obscured windows to one degree or another. I grabbed a handful of brushes, and did some clearing. The reactions were what I've grown to expect.
I got back in my car, and a couple of minutes later, someone started rapping on my side window. I rolled it down, and "Karen" a middle-aged, larger lady, well dressed for Costco, stuck her hand out and said " I didn't get a brush!". I said "Pardon me?", and she doubled down with "and you didn't clean MY windows!"..
A lot of things crossed my mind to say, none of them polite. So I rolled up my window. She stood there for a minute, then stomped off after calling me a jerk.
Some people just CANNOT help themselves
Don't let the guy bring you down. You sound like a good neighbour.
I do the same thing for an old couple in their 60s next door after seeing the old fella fighting through pain to do it. I don't expect reciprocity. It is really heart warming though at thanksgiving and Christmas his wife makes us loads of baked goodies and a nice turkey or in the summer he'll invite us for BBQ steaks or Smokey's.
Be good to people around you. Also don't be upset when it's not well received, you don't know what they may have been through that made them that way. Some people are hurting and are defensive even to kind gestures.
Thanks for being a good neighbour! As someone who walks to and from work every day I'd prefer living in a community where the stranger does 1 pass of 27 other houses.
But hey, I'd be happy with whatever the anonymous snow angel man wanted to do. Even if you only got part of my house's walk done because your battery died.
Ok. I’m not a wheelchair user. I do have mobility issues. And I do have neighbours who get grumpy I don’t get out to do mine and my elderly neighbour’s sidewalk when it snows and my spouse is at work. And I can tell people I had spinal cord surgery. And… I walk with an obvious limp. But I’m young. So as far as some folks in this area feel… I have no excuse.
So I have a broom. And when I’m not hurting too much I get out there and push what I can around. It’s not great. But folks don’t knock on my door to tell me to shovel. And I go back with sand and enviro salt on the parts I don’t get great. Today… was not my day. Spouse had to do it when they got home (I always feel terrible when that happens, they work 13 hour shifts).
All that said… if someone did a single pass on my sidewalk with myself and the number of seniors around here… I’d be out with a loaf of bread… or cookies. It would make it so much easier for me to get out with a broom and touch up the edges.
I’m seriously considering getting a blower eventually myself. While only the one neighbour is in her 90s. Some of the folks past her are getting up there. And it would be nice to just help everyone out.
Keep doing it. If you have to… skip grumpy gut’s sidewalk. He did tell you not to.
My sister suffers from a heart condition that requires her to be in a wheelchair whenever she isn't being active, like dancing or running or briskly walking, and she's also young, and has the exact same issue. A lot of people who don't understand her condition will yell angrily at her when she gets out of her wheelchair and walks places. The bloody government knocked on her door and told her to shovel. She answered the door in a wheelchair. And the literal government official literally just straight told her she needed to shovel or pay a huge fine.
There's a bunch of people in this thread who are asking me about my model of snowblower, to upgrade their old one. Maybe one of them will offer you their old one? Like, my blower is entry-level $600 not-self-propelled (unpowered wheels) single stage (doesn't throw snow that far) but I'm used to a bloody shovel, and I'm so so happy with it.
I don't know your mobility issue, but my sister can easily operate a snowblower. You may want to get a "self-propelled" one though so you don't have to shove it into the snow. Either way, ANY machine has gotta be an insane upgrade from a broom. You just have to lean on the snowblower if it's not self-propelled. You can borrow mine sometime if you live modestly nearby and want to try a basic snowblower.
Ok so question for you, since you're a mobility-issues-haver, would you prefer if the stranger did 27 houses with one 21" stripe? Or two stripes of 13 houses? Or fully cleared 9 houses with 3 stripes? Like if you lived on my block of 27 houses, and you could either have a 100% chance that I do a stripe, a 50% chance I do two stripes (and a 50% chance I don't shovel at all), or a 33% chance I clean your whole sidewalk, what would you choose?
Just do everyone’s sidewalk except his. If you want to be super petty, call it into 311 every time he doesn’t shove past 24 hours after the snowfall ends.
Just ignore the dude and bypass his house.
A) No
B) No
C) Any time, I don’t care. It’s one minute. A person is doing an act of kindness. We live in a city, so there’ll be the odd noise at night.
D) 27 houses, unless you specifically know that someone in a wheelchair, walker, etc. lives in a specific house, in which case I’d try to get them a path to the mailbox.
The guy was just being a jerk, I really appreciate people like you.
Call 311 and ask about the Snow Angels program for your neighborhood. They may be able to give you the names of some neighbour's who are seniors or otherwise disabled that would be immensely appreciative of your efforts.
Snow Angels isn't a formal program in that the city does not fund it, the people doing the work are 100% volunteers, but last I checked the city does at least keep a list of residents in need :)
One good thing to consider is the neighborhood you live in, and the tenant vs owner occupied premises differences.
When it comes to tenants, even if they are renting an entire house, ALL Snow & Lawn maintenance are the responsibility of the homeowner/landlord.
This is a hot button issue because many landlords will lie or put a clause in their lease that states it's the tenant' job, but that's not enforceable.
The only reason I point this out is just so you can think a little further on the "why" of the snow not being done yet at any given time of day.
If you have a lot of tenants nearby, I'm sure they would appreciate you, especially if you've noticed that seem to be a problem property for sidewalk snow issues.
Lastly, as someone who has mobility issues, I can not give enough praise to people like you who are willing g to spend that extra 30 mins yo help others.
Your help could be the difference between someone like me being stuck in the house for 3+ days in this kind of weather or not.
Snow-covered sidewalks are not great for walkers, wheelchairs, canes, and in the extreme cold, not even my service dog lol.
I'm in a small town out side Calgary. It's usually a race between me and the neighbours to see who can get out and snow blow the side walk first. One of the neighbours has a mini tractor and blade that can do the whole thing in one go.
A) I would be happy if you did this to my city sidewalk. your neighbour is a grumpy outlier.
B) I would not be upset.
C) 6am-8pm is "snow shovelling hours"
D) you do whatever you think is needed. But I think 27 houses is a nice charitable thing to do.
Going forward, petty me would stop at his property line, pick up my snowblower, walk on his to be cleared snow, and start right back up again at the edge of his property line and carry on.
I wouldn’t want him to think I was commenting on his “laziness,” I guess I’m just considerate like that 😈
My HOA fee covers snow removal, but if we didn't already have it, I'd be thrilled and thankful if one of my neighbours cleared the snow for me. As, I think, would most normal Calgarians.
Ignore that guy and maybe skip his house going forward.
It's mighty neighbourly of you, but you cannot control other peoples emotions, so don't bother. Technically it's the cities property and the homeowner has a obligation to clear the snow as a easement of usage. If I was in your shoes, I would just do every other house and let him be sour.
Remember, **we're all in this together.**
One pass on 27 houses. I appreciate when a neighbour pushes a shovel through fresh snow to create a path, even without removing the snow. I try to do the same so that footsteps do not compact snow into the sidewalk.
oh look OP has a trashy neighbor.
welcome to the club. in alberta, everyone has a trashy neighbor. mine constantly has 5 or 6 cars parked in every available street spot - 2 people rent it.
This guy had no need to confront you on it, at least not in this way. He could have just asked if you needed a hand or to ask you to fully do someone else's place.
If someone did a 21" strip down the middle it might make it more difficult to shovel the remainder as the bottom layer closest to the pavement now freezes up.
A)No. I might be low key grumpy about the frozen strips on either side
B) No.
C) around here we have an elementary school so I would say 7am
D)
If it was my block, I would try and do the 3 neighbors (out of 10) on our block that never seem to do it. Fully. Hopefully to take the weight off the others that I know kick in to do these non shoveller's sidewalks.
So in your case, the 9 homes, adjacent or otherwise.
Ok, you're a good dude, but I have a related question.
If you're shovelling the walk in front your house and you notice there's a 3 foot strip of unshovelled walk in front of your neighbours house, why don't you shovel that too
Boggles my mind I'll walk on clear sidewalk, the 3 feet of snow in front of a house, and then shovelled sidewalk again. Like, why not just shovel it?
Well, I used to (pre-snowblower) take like 30 min to shovel my sidewalk. I like my neighbours and would often shovel their walk if I got there first, but sometimes I'm shoveling before I drive to work, and if I'm shoveling, the roads are gonna be shitty, and so I don't want to be late to work, because then my boss is grumpy and all that.
That's my primary reason, but still, like, I think if there's 3 feet of snow, like, some horrible polar vortex shit has gone down, and like, feck if I know how I'm even shoveling just my own walk. My neighbors can fend for themselves. Fuck this noise I'm moving to Hawaii. You know?
You’re in the right. But instead of doing 3 passes on 9 homes or 1 pass on 27 homes, I propose 2 passes on 13 homes. That way you do one pass walking away and another pass coming home. It solves the wheelchair problem and prevents having to walk back with a dead snowblower.
It still feels to me that the most important thing is to make a stripe where people don't leave icy footprints. If I can double the homes, that feels better than doubling the width.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the rationale of having battery "left" after blowing your own walkways, but why can't you save the 27min of battery for nine more days of blowing your own walkways? It's really nice that you want to help out neighbors, but I don't think the reason of having battery "left" tracks, since the battery life doesn't get wasted by sitting around waiting for the next use.
Oh, I recharge it when I'm done. Batteries don't like being cold, so you're not supposed to store them in the cold, and if I've gotta bring them in anyways, then I might as well recharge them.
You are a horrible human and should immediately start snow blowing the other direction. When your neighbours complain that you aren't doing it anymore (because almost all of them are super happy you are doing it); you can let them know the reason :)
In the meantime, how do you know it is 72% of the stripe?
Haha. I'll go back to this guy's house and blow his lawn onto his walk. Just his private walk mind you. No need to involve the public. Yes, the snowblower will absolutely also chuck over the top layer of grass as well.
As for the 72%, I just feel really silly when I've been going for like 29 min, and I'm like 2ft from the end of someone's walk, and the next neighbor has shoveled, and the snowblower just quits with zero warning (I'm a novice so maybe there's a warning I don't know how to check), and so I feel like someone walking would see this guy's sidewalk and be like "the fuck, why'd he stop?!" and maybe someone would be upset. Then again it's pretty obvious that a snowblower did a stripe because I did it for the past like 29 houses. It only becomes not-obvious when everyone but that dude does the final shovel and actually cleans it, you know? It just feels like a less ridiculous thing for a person to be upset about.
Depending on your neighborhood some people *want* to clear the snow themselves, especially if they are bored or retired. Personally, I would be overjoyed if someone cleared any of my snow for me, and I usually try to do it for others when I can.
Well, the snowblower literally can't do their private walk (due to steps) and I'm only doing a single stripe, so whether they want to or not they actually still have to clear the snow themselves. And, frankly, it's most of the snow. I maybe clear 1/4
1. No, I would think well that's really nice that someone did that!
2. No, I might think it was a little weird but then I'd probably think that was the reason.
3. Whenever if it's not loud enough to wake people
4. I don't really care it's your choice you're doing the nice deed
That guy's needlessly bitchy. He's probably one of those people who picks a culture War a week. I would make sure I never did any snow blowing in front of his place again.
It's definitely loud enough to wake most people. It's very loud when it's dealing with ice. I definitely would get hate if I did it at 2am. Reasonable hate, in my opinion. Even still, maybe most people would prefer being woken up at 2am for like the 3 min it takes to do their house and their two neighbors, but like, some people are light sleepers who have trouble getting back to sleep.
well I have a neighbour with a blown muffler on his backpack gas unit. I have gone out a 6 Am on a Sunday morning at 6 am to shut him down. He is deaf as a stone, and almost as smart.
I suggest your electric would only offend an idiot, esp. after daybreak.
Oof. Yeah. The electric motors themselves aren't the things that make the noise, it's rocks and especially ice, bonking around the plastic casing and then landing somewhere. It would wake up most people. Except I wake up well after most people.
Yeah I'll refer you to my other comment here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/comments/1bkjud9/comment/kvytvdb/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/comments/1bkjud9/comment/kvytvdb/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I will say, I have a $600 entry-level on-sale electric snowblower. It's unlikely to be an upgrade. I mean, if yours sucks, and mine blows, maybe it's better. :P
I'm very happy with it though, and it's much more than I need.
My neighbour used to do this. I will forever love him for it (I moved, he still does it for all the other neighbours) in return he parked his RV in the back alley and some of his work trucks back there and no one ever complained. He fully owned a snow removal company and I remember every year out street/are was always done so nicely by him. So shout out to Patrick
I bought an 120Vac electric snow blower a couple of years back for $60 during the summer. I've used it only 4 times total during 3 winters. Today was the fourth time. With two extension cords, I can do the neighbor's sidewalks on both sides of mine. It's a treat to use because it happens so rarely that it is needed. Most times it's faster just to push the little bit of snow out of the way.
I’ll admit: I feel guilty if someone does my sidewalk.
But I just turn it into doing their sidewalk if I’m out first the next time.
Neighbours taking care of neighbours...and stuff.
I will say this, it does add like a hint of inequality to the returning of the favor. Like, if you both have shovels, then it's totally equal. But it takes me like 1 min to do a stripe, but with a shovel it takes like 15 min. I could shovel your sidewalk all year with the same effort it would take you to shovel mine once.
So then the circle of guilt continues, because now \_I\_ feel guilty that you had to do 15 min of work when I only had to do 1 minute!
Maybe just do 1/15th of my walk and we'll call it even.
I’m usually rushing out of my house in the mornings to get the bus to go to work, and the last thing on my mind is “I should get out the door 5 minutes earlier to do the walkway quick.” I should be better about it. We live on a street with a decent amount of pedestrian traffic and our mailman delivers door to door. I always feel bad leaving in the morning with not enough time (by fault of my own) that I’m not clearing the sidewalk. I do it first thing when I get home, before I even get in the door and the next door neighbors sidewalks/walkway to make up for it.
If someone did that for my street in the morning before I left for work, I would think they are a saint. If I had their name they’d 100% be recognized as a snow angel on the city of calgary site.
Don’t let grouchy people tear you down for being neighborly as f**k because those of us out there appreciate it hugely!
I do my immediate neighbour on either side and stop there. What you’re doing use great! But probably for the passer by not the douche homeowner. Also, some people just need to have something to complain about
My own personal experience:
When I shovel, I do mine and my neighbor's walkway (an alley separates me from the other neighbor). When they get to the shoveling first, they either do 1 pass, or just the adjacent ~10 feet completely. I'm always grateful regardless.
Had you waited a few more hours and skipped him, the snow would be wet, and that guy would regret it big time.
D) it depends. Are you doing their walkway up to the door? If this is the case, I'd do the 9 in completion. Otherwise, if it's just the sidewalk excluding the way up to the front door, they're gonna have to get out and shovel anyway, so doing the 30 would be best, I'd say.
All in all, thanks for being a good neighbor.
Yeah the private walk up to the door is all a bunch of steps, and I can't do steps with the snowblower, it's just not a thing it can do. Plus, my reasoning is that if I do someone's private walk, then that helps that person. If I do the sidewalk, that helps everyone who walks by. With limited battery, to be the most effective, I feel like I shouldn't do private walks, even if it was mechanically possible.
You could ask your neighbours if they know of someone nearby who needs help with their snow. Seniors, older folks, single parents, anyone with health or back issues or a disability, someone with a loved one in hospital, a grieving family - all of these might really appreciate some help to clear a whole pathway. Or even just their front steps. Or at the community mailbox.
A strip isn't necessarily helpful since bylaw is the whole sidewalk, different people will feel different things about it.
You're definitely not an a-hole for trying to be kind.
Curious: what kind of blower did you get?
The mailbox is between my garage and the front of my house, so it always gets plowed, it's impossible to get a snowblower through deep snow when it's not running, so it's like, not even optional. If I want to get to the sidewalk from my garage, I must do the mailbox.
I'm directing everyone who is asking what I got to one comment, so that more experienced people can chime in there: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/comments/1bkjud9/comment/kvytvdb/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/comments/1bkjud9/comment/kvytvdb/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Are we just being angry for fun now? Can he turn his rage towards something that matters - I have some thoughts on options.
My neighbour does my sidewalk because he’s a super nice guy, recognizes my limitations as a solo parent with 3 kids and a crazy work schedule AND because his wife keeps trying to get rid of his snowblower so he’s being petty. I am so insanely grateful. I bake him bread, I give him beef from our butcher…I even loan him my cat to deal with mouse problems even though she comes back as a blood thirsty asshole. Being neighbourly goes a long way.
I would do a 2 pass job of 13 houses, one on the way there a one on the way back. Not a perfect clean but probably wide enough for a wheelchair, stroller or whatever. You walk out 27 houses and then walk back with an empty machine?
That's my fear of obtaining a snowblower - when I got my new shovel few years ago, I would shovel the entire block, probably how I messed up my shoulders. May I ask which snowblower you got?
I'm directing everyone who is asking what I got to one comment, so that more experienced people can chime in there: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/comments/1bkjud9/comment/kvytvdb/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/comments/1bkjud9/comment/kvytvdb/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I don't feel like I can recommend it, since I haven't compared it to anything else, but I sure love mine!
If your shoulders are messed up, you shouldn't get mine, you should get a "Self-propelled" one, so that you don't have to shove it. You have to shove my machine into the snow, and it might not be best for someone with a shoulder condition.
Then again maybe it'd be the kind of labor that'd help a shoulder condition. I'm not a doctor.
Lately one of my neighbors with a snowblower has been doing *exactly* what you're doing. I would never, ever consider getting upset with him about it, and am just trying to figure out what baking he'd like to be surprised with.
When I walk the kids to the schoolbus, I've started to bring my shovel. I do a half-assed job of clearing what I can all along the 2-3 block walk while still getting to the stop on time. I figure every bit someone doesn't have to shovel is a win for them, and I've got to walk there anyway, might as well clear a few scoops on the way.
It's cookies. Almost any cookie. Chocolate chip. M&M. Sugar Cookie. Dang now I want cookies. I should move to your community.
You should get a snowblower! Mine wouldn't make it 3 blocks, I don't think, not without extra (expensive) batteries. But if you spend more than $600 on a snowblower, you presumably could get a better one! That way you could do a WHOLE ass job on their sidewalk! And maybe some of the way back!
I would LOVE you if you did this for me! That guy is just a huge AH for his attitude. In the future just skip his house and do all your other neighbours I’m sure they’ll be thrilled and thank you for being a great neighbor.
Thank you for being a good neighbor! Keep doing it! This guy who was mad sounds like a shitty neighbor, just skip him. I'm sure everyone else appreciates it. My neighbors do mine sometimes, and we do theirs, perfectly neighborly thing to do.
My neighbour just started using his to clear our front walk one day a few years ago. We were so thankful. We both look able bodied, but clearing snow is very painful on our backs. I’d be happy if you were our neighbour. Any little bit helps us.
There's a guy two doors away from me with one of those and he always does the full sidewalk of the four houses on either side of him. I absolutely love him for it.
I think some people are just looking for something to be pissed off about. I'm sure everyone else is happy about your good deed.
I don't have sidewalks at my house, basically just need to do a path from the street to the front door. But my husband has a snowblower. He loves that thing. He sometimes does our whole got damn block. He'll even snow blow some of our neighbour's street parking spots. No one has ever complained. Because they're not assholes.
Your guy is an asshole. If I had sidewalks or a driveway, and someone came and did even half of my shit I would be so grateful. With a heavy snowfall, any amount of snow less that I would have to shovel would be greatly appreciated.
I agree with what everyone else says. Skip this guy's house and do all your other neighbour's. Maybe even use the battery you would have used on his sidewalk to do an extra wide strip for your neighbour's.
I don't even understand their complaint about how much you're snowblowing. If you're doing any at all you've lessened the workload for your neighbours, surely? Why does you doing a quick pass with a snowblower mean it won't get a more thorough shovelling by the people who are actually responsible for that strip of sidewalk?
If you didn't snowblow and no one shovelled, it'd be even harder for people in wheelchairs.
A. Nope, In my neighborhood we all shovel about 3-5 houses worth depending on who gets their first.
B. Nope, that’s life
C. I would 7am. If it’s loud enough to wake someone up
D. 9 houses done right. I think you would build better a report with these people too.
That guy has issues. We have a neighbour's a couple houses down from us that regularly will clear snow from the sidewalk un front of our house and we are very grateful and always thank him whenever we see him.
Sadly thats the world we live in. I see myself as a kind, empathetic person. I genuinely care about others and sometimes I really want to go up to someone who's looking down and ask them how they are doing, be a listener for them and give them a smile and some works of affirmation. But this what scares me and why I've never done this despite wanting to do so so many times.
To answer your question, if I were your neighbour, I'd have some cookies sent over your door for your kindness and consideration. Everyone is busy, but you taking the time and energy to think about others warrants gratitude
You're a great neighbor.
The only comment I have is a friend who does this too, and one of his neighbors asked him not to. She did this because she is in her 80's and considers it part of her exercise to shovel to stay healthy.
You’re a good neighbor, screw the grump. If he doesn’t want you to do it it’s his loss. Just don’t do his. I also have a blower and this morning (an hour ago, not 6 am haha) I did my corner lot, my steps, my neighbor’s corner lot, because he has shoveled our walk in the past, and our friends’ across the street.
I don’t always, but sometimes I do. I don’t expect anyone to do it for me either. But it’s a nice thing, I had the time and the battery for it today, and the snow was nice and light. Happy Friday.
Depends. Ive done snow removal and some houses request a "back to black" job in which 100% of snow and ice is scraped off the sidewalk, if I cn use my blower to get it to 100% clear, and you come by and smush down a bunch of snow with your tires on the blower, I now have to blow, scrape your tire marks, then reblow. Costing me twice as much time because you were trying to help.
My neighbour has a snow blower and I think it's incredibly kind of her to do my front sidewalk when she does hers. She's often able to do our entire cul-de-sac, but I've never seen anyone get upset for her either doing or not doing it. There was one day that she didn't get to mine, and I just shrugged & shovelled it myself.
I also make sure to take her cookies or chocolates at least once per winter to say thank you. You're good, dude who yelled at you has some issues that are all his own.
I'd would be thrilled if I woke up and my path was clear! I don't care what time you do it cuz I live in a complex qnd everyone here is super loud at the butt crack of dawn. Thanks for being awesome!
People are funny about their and other peoples snow removal.
Had one neighbor how would complain that I didn't shovel until I got home from work fiveish. Then I started to shovel before I left for work around 7-8 am he was upset because when he left for work at 5:30 am I hadn't shoved. Moved for various reasons him being one.
The next neighbor the first couple of years were great when they shoveled they would do mine when I shovel I would do theres. Then one year he stopped , he would do his sidewalk skip mine then do the next neighbors sidewalk.
I have no idea what I might have done to upset them. They have said nothing.
Anyone who will clear my walk for me is a hero. The snow was heavy AF this time.
Maybe the person’s partner was nagging at them for not doing it and you unintentionally hit a nerve. Not an excuse but perhaps a reason.
To keep it fair do opposite directions :)
Follow bylaws for the appropriate time. Anytime after is fine :)
One less person to shovel their walk. Some people will complain at anything. I do the same as you if I fire up my gas snow blower. Most people appreciate it and see it as a courtesy.
That dude's a nutjob. Thanks for being neighborly! As for your question number D: 27 houses is way better. You're taking care of the strip that gets packed down by walkers, turns to ice and is much harder to shovel.
Absolutely, yeah. Footprints are the worst to shovel. I've also literally never seen wheelchairprints, so it feels like there can't be loads of people in wheelchairs just after a fresh snowfall. My sister is in a wheelchair, and she says that the main problem with being in a wheelchair and snow, isn't that other people don't shovel their walk, it's that YOU, FROM A WHEELCHAIR still are LEGALLY REQUIRED to shovel your walk. She fortunately lives with an able-bodied roommate who handles it. I do feel a bit guilty for prioritizing able-bodied people over disabled people, but I do agree with you specifically because footprints suck to shovel.
If you did that for me, it's my duty to worry about the rest. You saved me work and bought me time. At least the walkers have a great path and I should be out there shoveling anyways
This is a really good point. There should be a program that shovels on behalf of those who are in a wheelchair or have mobility limitations. If you are able to receive a wheelchair sign for a vehicle, there should be a program of some sort that helps with shoveling.
I'd go one step further. Sidewalks are public property. Why is it my personal private job to shovel public property? Wouldn't it be a lot more efficient for us all to chip in and buy the government a really nice snowblower, and pay some dude to do all our sidewalks? One dude with a $4000 snowblower can do the same work as 50 people with shovels.
Fuck that guy and come do my sidewalk! Next time when you get to his place turn off the snow blower and move to the next person's house.
The thing is, that WOULD have been my form of vengeance, just blacklist the guy, right? BUT that's also what he wants! I'm tempted to do an excellent job of both of his neighbors' houses. Come by with a shovel and do their steps and everything. It's also, like, next to impossible to shove a snowblower through snow when it's off. It's like shoveling with a cup. The snow still gets mostly moved away, but it takes muscle rather than battery life. I'm not sure what my final response will be but I have been bemused thinking about plowing the road...but throwing the snow (and rocks) onto his car. I definitely shouldn't do that, like, legally, I'd probably have to pay to repaint his car, but like, I am darkly fantasizing about it.
Just do an excellent job of everyone else's sidewalks, and then post on /r/pettyrevenge . It's wholesome AND petty.
That's basically it. Dude doesn't want you to do his sidewalk so don't. Do everyone else's.
Make sure you walk back and forth a couple times past his house though. Give that snow a good tappy tap down for him.
A quick detour onto the road will solve the issue of bypassing his sidewalk.
I have a friend that splattered ketchup all over the un-shoveled walk. It started to be attended to.
hahaha
Please be sure to post your eventual ‘response’ in r/pettyrevenge
Nah, that guy is offside and clearly projecting some personal issues. We have a friendly relationship with our neighbours and sometimes they’ll do ours and sometimes we’ll do theirs. It’s a nice, neighbourly thing to do, and if you don’t have to break as much of a sweat doing it - even better. We’ve shoveled a couple of times since since the dump and the snow this afternoon was still crazy heavy. But hey, at least now you know this guy doesn’t appreciate a good deed and you can save it for someone else.
It's so much better when neighbours do that, because it's easier to shovel before footprints. So if you shovel your neighbours' walk 1/3rd of the time, and each of them shovels yours 1/3rd of the time, then you all will have an easier time! It's just better! Even if it's a terrible job (like my singular 21" stripe) then all the footprints go onto the already shoveled stripe.
Exactly! If I’m out in the morning shovelling it doesn’t take me long to do the neighbour’s front walk. If the neighbour is out before me they do the same thing. No big deal.
Just ignore him. Skip over his patch of sidewalk and do the rest. I guarantee all of your other neighbours are happy you're doing this, especially with this heavy crap on the ground.
Seconded. If nothing is good enough for him., nothing is what he gets. Please don't let this dumb flipping spatula ruin a good thing. On behalf of the good humans, thank you.
Yeah the poor snowblower is just a budget $600 On Sale one from Rona. It did **not** like the heavy crap these past couple days. Still lasted 30 min, but that meant like 15 houses rather than the usual 30. I mean, it's still extremely crazy better than having to shovel this crap. And frankly 15 houses is still way more than the 1 house I need it to do.
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I assumed 11AM would be fine. I'm more wondering about "what's the earliest time you would be fine with". If I regularly do it at 11, then that's usually not as helpful, because everyone else will have manually shoveled by then.
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just dont come out at 6AM with a leaf blower to do your front like my neighbour
If you hate 6am, we have some guys in the beltline that get their snowblowers out around 4am. There was a scraper going at it around 230am the other morning.
All throughout the inner city. I understand it's perfectly bylaw compliant, but oh my god am I sick of it this week. I'm on day 4 of 4AM snowblowers.
Thank you for being a snow angel! Random acts of kindness are amazing! That guy? That guy is a fucking Cunt!
Honestly, after buying one of these, like, it doesn't feel like I'm an "angel", like, it takes me just as long (now) to do my house and 27 neighbors' houses...as it used to take me to do just my house. It feels unethical to NOT drive the machine until the battery is flat. It takes me no more time and doesn't cost me anything! I mean, I suppose it costs me electricity, and wear and tear on the machine, but like, that's gotta be less than $1 per snowfall. EDIT: And yes, to all snowblower-owners, I AM saying you have an ethical responsibility to spend 27 min being nice to your neighbors. I'm not sure how this applies to people with gas blowers, since I think they run all day, and can be refueled like instantly, but probably you now have to quit your job and become a servant of the people. Sorry. Should have bought electric.
You are an Angel! You could just go back inside after doing your own cause why not. Instead you think fuck it! Already out here might as well keep going! Angel! Angel! Angel!!
Well, so, I live in the middle of a block, and the snowblower is stored in the garage, so I need to, at least, get the snowblower from my garage, around the block, and to the front of my house. Therefore I must either keep it off and shove it through the snow in front of like 5 houses with my muscles, or I could have it running and shovel the stripe for those 5 people and have a way easier time of pushing it. Then I need to get back to my garage, and so I could go the original way, or I could go the other way, and do the 5 other houses on the other side. So that's already 13 min of my 30 min battery that I can't justify not burning. So then I have 17 min of battery left in the tank. At best I'm a 17 minute angel. Some people devote their careers to snow removal. And like, spend every evening reading books to the elderly and feeding starving homeless children and stuff. I knew some Mormon missionaries that baked cookies every month for their whole community! I'm like, base level normal nice. Not an Angel. Maybe a Scottish Brownie at best.
Angel! I will take Scottish Brownie too! You don't get to compare yourself to other people! Comparison is the thief of Joy. I as one of a long line of Snivelers can recognize an Angel and I say you are!
You're so cute I love you.
You too Scottish Brownie! Keep being amazing 😘
You are such a kind human being!! Thank you for being a good neighbour
One of our neighbours and us share the load during the snowfalls, works out well. Then there's the other neighbour on the other side, only do theirs, never anyone else's. We did theirs a few times but stopped when it was obvious they won't reciprocate. What's funny though, last year they had a house fire in November and had to leave for 6 months, we freaking did theirs for them the entire season because we're nice that way. The parents were good about it but the daughter and her lazy boyfriend, not so much. The elderly mother passed away when they were moved out , she was in remission for cancer and she would still be the main one out shoveling and doing the lawn, we helped her out. But the kids, heck no :)
Don't let that snowblowhard bring you down. The world needs more people like you.
Haha. Nice. Thanks.
A) I would be happy B) I would be happy that any is done. C) After 8am and before 9pm would be my preference. But I don’t care if I don’t have to do it D) I would think 1 pass of 27 houses, making a walkway for each. Rather than a bigger walkway for 9
My dude, you are a snow angel. Keep up the great work!
We have a neighbour with a snowblower who clears our entire block. I love that guy!
If you live on Dawson, it's me! :P
No, I’m on a numbered street, but I bet that all of the rest of your neighbours really appreciate you!
There's a guy who comes up and down my block and does the same thing. I want to give him some cash as appreciation but I keep forgetting to actually withdraw any.
As a person with enough money to buy a snowblower, I would appreciate money a lot less than something that's a cute gift. Like if you have cookies. A bunch of people here keep saying if I was in their community they'd bake me something, and they keep saying cookies and I want cookies and I don't have them! Haha. We also can't do steps, so if your neighbor has steps, it's lovely if you shovel them for them when you hear them outside. My next door neighbor shovels my steps for me and it's really nice.
Bro has the audacity to 1) complain about having snow cleared 2) somehow make it about himself looking lazy AND 3) bitch that the way you're doing it wasn't good enough "for everyone"? I woulda told him to ligma balls. Dude is a sour old prick.
Haha, he looked like maybe 18 or 20. But yeah, I dunno, I'm not like, sure-sure, but something seemed "off" about him, you know? Like he was working with...like...not the complete set of marbles? I don't actually know, and maybe I'm just salty, but I don't want to shit too hard on someone who has "issues"...if he does have "issues".
Next time clear the sidewalks of the adjacent houses, blowing the snow onto his sidewalk.
eheheheh. This could be my plan now.
My inner Larry David would be upset that you shoveling my sidewalk implies that I should reciprocate the favour next time. Even though I might do someone else's sidewalk, my inner Larry David does not want to feel obligated because of something that you did, and if I do happen to do your sidewalk sometime my inner Larry David would like you to know that it was NOT because you previously did my sidewalk. I am largely successful at keeping those thoughts at bay. Thanks for being a snow angel in your neighbourhood.
Haha, I did a loop of my block today, and some mystery saint did my private walk and steps (snowblower can't do steps) when I was putting away the snowblower in the garage. Maybe I live near Larry David.
Every time that I’ve come out to shovel my front steps and see a kind neighbour has shovelled my sidewalk I feel extremely grateful! Not sure what this guys problem is. I have never perceived it as they thought I was lazy but more that they were already out and thought to do a nice thing.
I am also grateful when someone does mine. But also angry. Angry at myself that I didn't beat them to it and do theirs first, because it's fun to have a little internal competition in your head.
Yeah that's always been how I have felt as well.
Guys an asshole.
Someone did exactly that (cleared a strip the width of a snowblower) for me and I thought it was awesome!
If you live on Dawson, it was me!
Forget it. I shovelled all my neighbours walks for years. No one berated me (no one said thanks either).
A) If I'm a sensitive old bugger seeing it as someone thinks I can't do it, or I'm anti social and don't like people just walking on to my property. The person is emotionally immature. B) No. C) Oh wellz for her D) Just do the city sidewalks. Ask people if they want their private walks done if you want to go further.
I can't actually do the private walks (with the snowblower) they all have steps, and the machine doesn't do steps, sadly I still have to shovel my own private walk.
Skip his house and help someone that will be greatfull. Make sure you do either side of his house.
He’s the asshole. You’re doing a good thing. His next door neighbour may be incapable of shovelling.
You are doing the right thing. In fact, this is exactly how we \*should\* plow sidewalks - it makes way more sense for one person to do it efficiently than leave it up to random individuals. All it takes is one slacker or someone unable to do it and every wheelchair and stroller is stuck in the snow indefinitely. It makes so much more sense to do a whole block at a time.
It REALLY does feel like it should be handled municipally, rather than privately. Like, not even just slackers, but like people with medical conditions, people on vacation, people who are just, like, going through something right now, like depression or like their wife has been birthing twins for the past 28 hours or they have COVID or whatever. There's a lady I see at the park who has this like offroad milspec lookin' stroller that gives exactly zero shits about the weather. Big puffy wheels like those bikes you see. She walks her dog and baby at the same time. Never seen another like it, but yeah, all others get stuck in the snow.
If none of yall are doin anything tomorrow morning.? Id like to all meet up at 9 am. and all 200 of us can shovel this guys walk together.. A little celebration when we finish. And go home !
What snowblower did you buy?
I got this one on sale for $600 like a week ago, it's apparently $800 now for inexplicable reasons, they're going on sale a bunch more now as companies are worried they'll have to store them for another year, so now is a good time to buy: [https://www.rona.ca/en/product/kobalt-40-volt-21-in-cordless-electric-snow-blower-includes-tool-and-2-batteries-45595082](https://www.rona.ca/en/product/kobalt-40-volt-21-in-cordless-electric-snow-blower-includes-tool-and-2-batteries-45595082) I avoided the "greenworks" ones because they have piles of bad reviews everywhere (not unexpected, they are cheaper by a wide margin). I personally have found (I'm a total novice though) that a single stage is fine for Calgary snow, it's handled the last two dumps just fine. I also don't think I would want it to be wider, since it would be heavier and harder to push, and take up beloved space in my garage. The beefier models also seem louder (judging from YouTube, not from personal experience). EDIT1: From the spec on mine, I'm not sure about this "throws up to 6" of snow 35ft!" Like maybe if you're throwing it in the direction of high winds and it's very light snow then maybe. It throws it like 2m to your preferred side. But that's like, 1m more than I need anyways. I don't need it to throw snow up onto my third storey balcony. I also don't know why they think it can only throw 6" of snow. The front scoopy thing is at least a foot high, and it does just fine eating up foot-high snow piles. So they're underselling AND overselling it. It also is not "self-propelled", so I have to shove it into the snowbanks. If you have weak noodley arms like me, "self-propelled" might be a nice feature. But yeah, $600 gets you 30 minutes of snowblowing. If your needs are greater, you can get extra batteries. I'm happy so far with my brand new one, but it's brand new, and maybe it's the literal worst model, and all others are better, but I'm really happy with mine! EDIT2: Sunridge Rona still has it for $600 on Clearance. They have 1 left. If you do decide you want to buy my model, save $200 by buying it in Sunridge. This edit isn't sponsored by Sunridge Rona, I promise.
I’m looking at replacing my aging gas blower which is also a single stage like yours and was considering the greenworks one but I’ve never seen any negative reviews on YouTube or anywhere else. Have you seen a lot of negatives? Btw I’m thinking of upgrading to the two stage model since my driveway is pretty big
I'm entirely basing it off of going to Rona's/HomeDepot's/Costco's Snowblower page, sorting by highest rated, and having all the greenworks ones at the bottom. To be honest, I didn't even read the bad reviews. I just saw that they had lower stars than other brands. I'm a total novice so if you find experts disagreeing with me, they know more than I do.
I find “experts” are usually being paid by the manufacturer so their opinions are biased and worthless. Actual users who bought and use it are far more useful
Too true these days. "Thanks to for sending me a free , I really love ! It's so great! This video has been sponsored by NordVPN!" Augh.
But I can assure you that my options are my own… even though they are paying me and these videos are how I make a living. Now… let me tell you how much I loooove this product.
Ive gotten home from work around 9 or 10am before and my neighbour was doing it. And id go out later in the afternoon and do theirs and mine again if it was still snowing. My wife, on the other hand, takes it as a personal insult and wakes me up to go do it if Im home. He gets it. We just smile at each other and go about it.
Unless your wife is, like, disabled or something, and she wants it done before you wake up...I can think of a way that the sidewalk could get clean without you waking up.
Guy sounds crazy. A group of us in my community fire up our snowblowers and just cruise around cleaning snow as long as we feel like doing it, sometimes people do my sidewalk, sometimes I do theirs, it's a race to see who can be the nicest.
I shoveled for my neighbor who then told me I did it wrong. That was the last time.
Username makes sense now.
I have back problems and find shovelling to be absolute torture. I literally almost cry for joy every time the local snowblower dad comes around and does my front walk. It makes a huge difference to my quality of life and makes me feel a lot less guilty about having a hard time with my walk. That dude has some internal stuff he needs to work through and it’s not your problem. You’re doing a good thing.
I'm starting to think that we should have a sign like we have on cars for "I have mobility issues" like the blue tag thing, so that nice humans know which sidewalks we should do for people.
I do mine as soon as possible to prevent it from being compacted by pedestrians.
Me? I’d bring you a cup of hot chocolate and a goddamn hug!! Don’t stop being awesome, my friend!
I really love and appreciate when my neighbour does our sidewalk. Even if it’s just a strip , I would never be mad. I think this guy woke up on the wrong side of the bed .
You’re a nice neighbour. Keep sharing your love with the world.
Wow, crazy. I do my neighbours sidewalks on both sides. 2 doors down if I have time because it takes less than a min with my snow blower. In turn, if I sleep in on a Saturday or don't make it out that fast they always do the same for me. It's called having good neighbours lol
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Can you come over to our neighborhood? Screw your neighbor. :D thank you for being a good Samaritan
There was an old retired guy with a quad and blade that used to clear most of the sidewalks in my Mom's neighbourhood in Red Deer. The city shut him down for "liability" reasons. The quad wasn't licensed/insured for use on the street or something. Apparently, a lot of people thought it was the City that was actually doing the work and called to complain that their sidewalks weren't being cleared.
A guy on my street with a snowblower often does my front sidewalk and a couple other houses along the stretch. I am grateful every time. I would keep doing what you're doing and skip the angry guy's sidewalk.
A) I’d think it was extremely nice if my neighbour. I’d be tickled pink B) see A C) literally any time of day. You’re doing me a favour I am making no demands. I’m certainly not expecting 6am D) 1 pass of 27 houses. A small path to walk through is better than no path and if your Neighbors aren’t happy with that they can clear the rest themselves.
Guessing he drives a Dodge Ram. City owns the sidewalk, not him, you keep doing you!
Don’t let his shit drag you to his level. You sound like a good person and neighbour.
Some people are just unhappy with the world. You can't change them, nor rationalize their angst. Best to put him on ignore, leave his walk untouched, and wait until he complains you didn't clear it (Note: he Will complain) At the start of winter, each year, I make a pilgrimage to Princess Auto and buy a case lot of their cheap, wooden snow brushes. It really bugs me seeing the number of people too self important or too self absorbed to clear the snow off their windows before driving away. They are usually mildly embarrassed, good humored and grateful...message received. Last winter, while waiting to get gas at Costco I realized every car in my field of view had obscured windows to one degree or another. I grabbed a handful of brushes, and did some clearing. The reactions were what I've grown to expect. I got back in my car, and a couple of minutes later, someone started rapping on my side window. I rolled it down, and "Karen" a middle-aged, larger lady, well dressed for Costco, stuck her hand out and said " I didn't get a brush!". I said "Pardon me?", and she doubled down with "and you didn't clean MY windows!".. A lot of things crossed my mind to say, none of them polite. So I rolled up my window. She stood there for a minute, then stomped off after calling me a jerk. Some people just CANNOT help themselves
Well, now that you can skip his house, one other person further down the block will have their walk done. Thanks for being a snow angel!
I hope it snows again so you can do everyone's sidewalk and just bypass this guys place
Sidewalk is public property. If it bugs that guy, do it more.
Don't let the guy bring you down. You sound like a good neighbour. I do the same thing for an old couple in their 60s next door after seeing the old fella fighting through pain to do it. I don't expect reciprocity. It is really heart warming though at thanksgiving and Christmas his wife makes us loads of baked goodies and a nice turkey or in the summer he'll invite us for BBQ steaks or Smokey's. Be good to people around you. Also don't be upset when it's not well received, you don't know what they may have been through that made them that way. Some people are hurting and are defensive even to kind gestures.
Do it again, but next time just skip his pathway and see if he gets mad that you didn’t do it
Thanks for being a good neighbour! As someone who walks to and from work every day I'd prefer living in a community where the stranger does 1 pass of 27 other houses. But hey, I'd be happy with whatever the anonymous snow angel man wanted to do. Even if you only got part of my house's walk done because your battery died.
Ok. I’m not a wheelchair user. I do have mobility issues. And I do have neighbours who get grumpy I don’t get out to do mine and my elderly neighbour’s sidewalk when it snows and my spouse is at work. And I can tell people I had spinal cord surgery. And… I walk with an obvious limp. But I’m young. So as far as some folks in this area feel… I have no excuse. So I have a broom. And when I’m not hurting too much I get out there and push what I can around. It’s not great. But folks don’t knock on my door to tell me to shovel. And I go back with sand and enviro salt on the parts I don’t get great. Today… was not my day. Spouse had to do it when they got home (I always feel terrible when that happens, they work 13 hour shifts). All that said… if someone did a single pass on my sidewalk with myself and the number of seniors around here… I’d be out with a loaf of bread… or cookies. It would make it so much easier for me to get out with a broom and touch up the edges. I’m seriously considering getting a blower eventually myself. While only the one neighbour is in her 90s. Some of the folks past her are getting up there. And it would be nice to just help everyone out. Keep doing it. If you have to… skip grumpy gut’s sidewalk. He did tell you not to.
My sister suffers from a heart condition that requires her to be in a wheelchair whenever she isn't being active, like dancing or running or briskly walking, and she's also young, and has the exact same issue. A lot of people who don't understand her condition will yell angrily at her when she gets out of her wheelchair and walks places. The bloody government knocked on her door and told her to shovel. She answered the door in a wheelchair. And the literal government official literally just straight told her she needed to shovel or pay a huge fine. There's a bunch of people in this thread who are asking me about my model of snowblower, to upgrade their old one. Maybe one of them will offer you their old one? Like, my blower is entry-level $600 not-self-propelled (unpowered wheels) single stage (doesn't throw snow that far) but I'm used to a bloody shovel, and I'm so so happy with it. I don't know your mobility issue, but my sister can easily operate a snowblower. You may want to get a "self-propelled" one though so you don't have to shove it into the snow. Either way, ANY machine has gotta be an insane upgrade from a broom. You just have to lean on the snowblower if it's not self-propelled. You can borrow mine sometime if you live modestly nearby and want to try a basic snowblower. Ok so question for you, since you're a mobility-issues-haver, would you prefer if the stranger did 27 houses with one 21" stripe? Or two stripes of 13 houses? Or fully cleared 9 houses with 3 stripes? Like if you lived on my block of 27 houses, and you could either have a 100% chance that I do a stripe, a 50% chance I do two stripes (and a 50% chance I don't shovel at all), or a 33% chance I clean your whole sidewalk, what would you choose?
Be kind to your neighbours and expect nothing in return. This guy sounds a little off.
That guy is crazy you are the best neighbor imo.
Just do everyone’s sidewalk except his. If you want to be super petty, call it into 311 every time he doesn’t shove past 24 hours after the snowfall ends.
That guy is an idiot. Just skip him from now on.
Just ignore the dude and bypass his house. A) No B) No C) Any time, I don’t care. It’s one minute. A person is doing an act of kindness. We live in a city, so there’ll be the odd noise at night. D) 27 houses, unless you specifically know that someone in a wheelchair, walker, etc. lives in a specific house, in which case I’d try to get them a path to the mailbox.
The guy was just being a jerk, I really appreciate people like you. Call 311 and ask about the Snow Angels program for your neighborhood. They may be able to give you the names of some neighbour's who are seniors or otherwise disabled that would be immensely appreciative of your efforts. Snow Angels isn't a formal program in that the city does not fund it, the people doing the work are 100% volunteers, but last I checked the city does at least keep a list of residents in need :) One good thing to consider is the neighborhood you live in, and the tenant vs owner occupied premises differences. When it comes to tenants, even if they are renting an entire house, ALL Snow & Lawn maintenance are the responsibility of the homeowner/landlord. This is a hot button issue because many landlords will lie or put a clause in their lease that states it's the tenant' job, but that's not enforceable. The only reason I point this out is just so you can think a little further on the "why" of the snow not being done yet at any given time of day. If you have a lot of tenants nearby, I'm sure they would appreciate you, especially if you've noticed that seem to be a problem property for sidewalk snow issues. Lastly, as someone who has mobility issues, I can not give enough praise to people like you who are willing g to spend that extra 30 mins yo help others. Your help could be the difference between someone like me being stuck in the house for 3+ days in this kind of weather or not. Snow-covered sidewalks are not great for walkers, wheelchairs, canes, and in the extreme cold, not even my service dog lol.
I'm in a small town out side Calgary. It's usually a race between me and the neighbours to see who can get out and snow blow the side walk first. One of the neighbours has a mini tractor and blade that can do the whole thing in one go.
If you can keep a secret, I actually live in Chestermere! But I still identify as Calgarian.
A) I would be happy if you did this to my city sidewalk. your neighbour is a grumpy outlier. B) I would not be upset. C) 6am-8pm is "snow shovelling hours" D) you do whatever you think is needed. But I think 27 houses is a nice charitable thing to do.
Going forward, petty me would stop at his property line, pick up my snowblower, walk on his to be cleared snow, and start right back up again at the edge of his property line and carry on. I wouldn’t want him to think I was commenting on his “laziness,” I guess I’m just considerate like that 😈
My HOA fee covers snow removal, but if we didn't already have it, I'd be thrilled and thankful if one of my neighbours cleared the snow for me. As, I think, would most normal Calgarians. Ignore that guy and maybe skip his house going forward.
No, the guys a weirdo, leave his patch and do both sides of it from now on. These types have some type of ego problem.
It's mighty neighbourly of you, but you cannot control other peoples emotions, so don't bother. Technically it's the cities property and the homeowner has a obligation to clear the snow as a easement of usage. If I was in your shoes, I would just do every other house and let him be sour. Remember, **we're all in this together.**
One pass on 27 houses. I appreciate when a neighbour pushes a shovel through fresh snow to create a path, even without removing the snow. I try to do the same so that footsteps do not compact snow into the sidewalk.
oh look OP has a trashy neighbor. welcome to the club. in alberta, everyone has a trashy neighbor. mine constantly has 5 or 6 cars parked in every available street spot - 2 people rent it.
At least he is like 7 doors down from me, not right next to me.
You blow.
This guy had no need to confront you on it, at least not in this way. He could have just asked if you needed a hand or to ask you to fully do someone else's place. If someone did a 21" strip down the middle it might make it more difficult to shovel the remainder as the bottom layer closest to the pavement now freezes up. A)No. I might be low key grumpy about the frozen strips on either side B) No. C) around here we have an elementary school so I would say 7am D) If it was my block, I would try and do the 3 neighbors (out of 10) on our block that never seem to do it. Fully. Hopefully to take the weight off the others that I know kick in to do these non shoveller's sidewalks. So in your case, the 9 homes, adjacent or otherwise.
Ok, you're a good dude, but I have a related question. If you're shovelling the walk in front your house and you notice there's a 3 foot strip of unshovelled walk in front of your neighbours house, why don't you shovel that too Boggles my mind I'll walk on clear sidewalk, the 3 feet of snow in front of a house, and then shovelled sidewalk again. Like, why not just shovel it?
Well, I used to (pre-snowblower) take like 30 min to shovel my sidewalk. I like my neighbours and would often shovel their walk if I got there first, but sometimes I'm shoveling before I drive to work, and if I'm shoveling, the roads are gonna be shitty, and so I don't want to be late to work, because then my boss is grumpy and all that. That's my primary reason, but still, like, I think if there's 3 feet of snow, like, some horrible polar vortex shit has gone down, and like, feck if I know how I'm even shoveling just my own walk. My neighbors can fend for themselves. Fuck this noise I'm moving to Hawaii. You know?
You’re in the right. But instead of doing 3 passes on 9 homes or 1 pass on 27 homes, I propose 2 passes on 13 homes. That way you do one pass walking away and another pass coming home. It solves the wheelchair problem and prevents having to walk back with a dead snowblower.
It still feels to me that the most important thing is to make a stripe where people don't leave icy footprints. If I can double the homes, that feels better than doubling the width.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the rationale of having battery "left" after blowing your own walkways, but why can't you save the 27min of battery for nine more days of blowing your own walkways? It's really nice that you want to help out neighbors, but I don't think the reason of having battery "left" tracks, since the battery life doesn't get wasted by sitting around waiting for the next use.
Oh, I recharge it when I'm done. Batteries don't like being cold, so you're not supposed to store them in the cold, and if I've gotta bring them in anyways, then I might as well recharge them.
You are a horrible human and should immediately start snow blowing the other direction. When your neighbours complain that you aren't doing it anymore (because almost all of them are super happy you are doing it); you can let them know the reason :) In the meantime, how do you know it is 72% of the stripe?
Haha. I'll go back to this guy's house and blow his lawn onto his walk. Just his private walk mind you. No need to involve the public. Yes, the snowblower will absolutely also chuck over the top layer of grass as well. As for the 72%, I just feel really silly when I've been going for like 29 min, and I'm like 2ft from the end of someone's walk, and the next neighbor has shoveled, and the snowblower just quits with zero warning (I'm a novice so maybe there's a warning I don't know how to check), and so I feel like someone walking would see this guy's sidewalk and be like "the fuck, why'd he stop?!" and maybe someone would be upset. Then again it's pretty obvious that a snowblower did a stripe because I did it for the past like 29 houses. It only becomes not-obvious when everyone but that dude does the final shovel and actually cleans it, you know? It just feels like a less ridiculous thing for a person to be upset about.
Depending on your neighborhood some people *want* to clear the snow themselves, especially if they are bored or retired. Personally, I would be overjoyed if someone cleared any of my snow for me, and I usually try to do it for others when I can.
Well, the snowblower literally can't do their private walk (due to steps) and I'm only doing a single stripe, so whether they want to or not they actually still have to clear the snow themselves. And, frankly, it's most of the snow. I maybe clear 1/4
1. No, I would think well that's really nice that someone did that! 2. No, I might think it was a little weird but then I'd probably think that was the reason. 3. Whenever if it's not loud enough to wake people 4. I don't really care it's your choice you're doing the nice deed That guy's needlessly bitchy. He's probably one of those people who picks a culture War a week. I would make sure I never did any snow blowing in front of his place again.
It's definitely loud enough to wake most people. It's very loud when it's dealing with ice. I definitely would get hate if I did it at 2am. Reasonable hate, in my opinion. Even still, maybe most people would prefer being woken up at 2am for like the 3 min it takes to do their house and their two neighbors, but like, some people are light sleepers who have trouble getting back to sleep.
well I have a neighbour with a blown muffler on his backpack gas unit. I have gone out a 6 Am on a Sunday morning at 6 am to shut him down. He is deaf as a stone, and almost as smart. I suggest your electric would only offend an idiot, esp. after daybreak.
Oof. Yeah. The electric motors themselves aren't the things that make the noise, it's rocks and especially ice, bonking around the plastic casing and then landing somewhere. It would wake up most people. Except I wake up well after most people.
Can you please tell me which snowblower you have? I desperately need one. The one I already have sucks!
Yeah I'll refer you to my other comment here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/comments/1bkjud9/comment/kvytvdb/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/comments/1bkjud9/comment/kvytvdb/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) I will say, I have a $600 entry-level on-sale electric snowblower. It's unlikely to be an upgrade. I mean, if yours sucks, and mine blows, maybe it's better. :P I'm very happy with it though, and it's much more than I need.
My neighbour used to do this. I will forever love him for it (I moved, he still does it for all the other neighbours) in return he parked his RV in the back alley and some of his work trucks back there and no one ever complained. He fully owned a snow removal company and I remember every year out street/are was always done so nicely by him. So shout out to Patrick
Patrick, you're the best.
I bought an 120Vac electric snow blower a couple of years back for $60 during the summer. I've used it only 4 times total during 3 winters. Today was the fourth time. With two extension cords, I can do the neighbor's sidewalks on both sides of mine. It's a treat to use because it happens so rarely that it is needed. Most times it's faster just to push the little bit of snow out of the way.
I’ll admit: I feel guilty if someone does my sidewalk. But I just turn it into doing their sidewalk if I’m out first the next time. Neighbours taking care of neighbours...and stuff.
I will say this, it does add like a hint of inequality to the returning of the favor. Like, if you both have shovels, then it's totally equal. But it takes me like 1 min to do a stripe, but with a shovel it takes like 15 min. I could shovel your sidewalk all year with the same effort it would take you to shovel mine once. So then the circle of guilt continues, because now \_I\_ feel guilty that you had to do 15 min of work when I only had to do 1 minute! Maybe just do 1/15th of my walk and we'll call it even.
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I’m usually rushing out of my house in the mornings to get the bus to go to work, and the last thing on my mind is “I should get out the door 5 minutes earlier to do the walkway quick.” I should be better about it. We live on a street with a decent amount of pedestrian traffic and our mailman delivers door to door. I always feel bad leaving in the morning with not enough time (by fault of my own) that I’m not clearing the sidewalk. I do it first thing when I get home, before I even get in the door and the next door neighbors sidewalks/walkway to make up for it. If someone did that for my street in the morning before I left for work, I would think they are a saint. If I had their name they’d 100% be recognized as a snow angel on the city of calgary site. Don’t let grouchy people tear you down for being neighborly as f**k because those of us out there appreciate it hugely!
I do my immediate neighbour on either side and stop there. What you’re doing use great! But probably for the passer by not the douche homeowner. Also, some people just need to have something to complain about
My own personal experience: When I shovel, I do mine and my neighbor's walkway (an alley separates me from the other neighbor). When they get to the shoveling first, they either do 1 pass, or just the adjacent ~10 feet completely. I'm always grateful regardless. Had you waited a few more hours and skipped him, the snow would be wet, and that guy would regret it big time. D) it depends. Are you doing their walkway up to the door? If this is the case, I'd do the 9 in completion. Otherwise, if it's just the sidewalk excluding the way up to the front door, they're gonna have to get out and shovel anyway, so doing the 30 would be best, I'd say. All in all, thanks for being a good neighbor.
Yeah the private walk up to the door is all a bunch of steps, and I can't do steps with the snowblower, it's just not a thing it can do. Plus, my reasoning is that if I do someone's private walk, then that helps that person. If I do the sidewalk, that helps everyone who walks by. With limited battery, to be the most effective, I feel like I shouldn't do private walks, even if it was mechanically possible.
Crazy person. Continue on.
You could ask your neighbours if they know of someone nearby who needs help with their snow. Seniors, older folks, single parents, anyone with health or back issues or a disability, someone with a loved one in hospital, a grieving family - all of these might really appreciate some help to clear a whole pathway. Or even just their front steps. Or at the community mailbox. A strip isn't necessarily helpful since bylaw is the whole sidewalk, different people will feel different things about it. You're definitely not an a-hole for trying to be kind. Curious: what kind of blower did you get?
The mailbox is between my garage and the front of my house, so it always gets plowed, it's impossible to get a snowblower through deep snow when it's not running, so it's like, not even optional. If I want to get to the sidewalk from my garage, I must do the mailbox. I'm directing everyone who is asking what I got to one comment, so that more experienced people can chime in there: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/comments/1bkjud9/comment/kvytvdb/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/comments/1bkjud9/comment/kvytvdb/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Are we just being angry for fun now? Can he turn his rage towards something that matters - I have some thoughts on options. My neighbour does my sidewalk because he’s a super nice guy, recognizes my limitations as a solo parent with 3 kids and a crazy work schedule AND because his wife keeps trying to get rid of his snowblower so he’s being petty. I am so insanely grateful. I bake him bread, I give him beef from our butcher…I even loan him my cat to deal with mouse problems even though she comes back as a blood thirsty asshole. Being neighbourly goes a long way.
Come blow me!
I would do a 2 pass job of 13 houses, one on the way there a one on the way back. Not a perfect clean but probably wide enough for a wheelchair, stroller or whatever. You walk out 27 houses and then walk back with an empty machine?
Walk 13 minutes down the block and 13 minutes back and do the whole thing for all those people, hopefully his house is at minute 14.
That's my fear of obtaining a snowblower - when I got my new shovel few years ago, I would shovel the entire block, probably how I messed up my shoulders. May I ask which snowblower you got?
I'm directing everyone who is asking what I got to one comment, so that more experienced people can chime in there: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/comments/1bkjud9/comment/kvytvdb/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/comments/1bkjud9/comment/kvytvdb/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) I don't feel like I can recommend it, since I haven't compared it to anything else, but I sure love mine! If your shoulders are messed up, you shouldn't get mine, you should get a "Self-propelled" one, so that you don't have to shove it. You have to shove my machine into the snow, and it might not be best for someone with a shoulder condition. Then again maybe it'd be the kind of labor that'd help a shoulder condition. I'm not a doctor.
Lately one of my neighbors with a snowblower has been doing *exactly* what you're doing. I would never, ever consider getting upset with him about it, and am just trying to figure out what baking he'd like to be surprised with. When I walk the kids to the schoolbus, I've started to bring my shovel. I do a half-assed job of clearing what I can all along the 2-3 block walk while still getting to the stop on time. I figure every bit someone doesn't have to shovel is a win for them, and I've got to walk there anyway, might as well clear a few scoops on the way.
It's cookies. Almost any cookie. Chocolate chip. M&M. Sugar Cookie. Dang now I want cookies. I should move to your community. You should get a snowblower! Mine wouldn't make it 3 blocks, I don't think, not without extra (expensive) batteries. But if you spend more than $600 on a snowblower, you presumably could get a better one! That way you could do a WHOLE ass job on their sidewalk! And maybe some of the way back!
I would LOVE you if you did this for me! That guy is just a huge AH for his attitude. In the future just skip his house and do all your other neighbours I’m sure they’ll be thrilled and thank you for being a great neighbor.
Thank you for being a good neighbor! Keep doing it! This guy who was mad sounds like a shitty neighbor, just skip him. I'm sure everyone else appreciates it. My neighbors do mine sometimes, and we do theirs, perfectly neighborly thing to do.
My neighbour just started using his to clear our front walk one day a few years ago. We were so thankful. We both look able bodied, but clearing snow is very painful on our backs. I’d be happy if you were our neighbour. Any little bit helps us.
F that guy. Next time, if you still feel like it, clear your neighbours' sidewalk, but skip his.
Nah screw that guy, you’re fine.
Shoot some extra snow in that guys direction. In the summertime when you’re mowing your lawn, do one strip through his front yard too.
Not a straight strip neither.
There's a guy two doors away from me with one of those and he always does the full sidewalk of the four houses on either side of him. I absolutely love him for it. I think some people are just looking for something to be pissed off about. I'm sure everyone else is happy about your good deed.
He's an asshole. Keep doing it but skip his section.
Our neighbur across the street did ours a few times. I took them baking. We are good friends now.
Ignore him on future routes, his anger (and insinuating that you think he’s lazy) issues are his and his alone.
I don't have sidewalks at my house, basically just need to do a path from the street to the front door. But my husband has a snowblower. He loves that thing. He sometimes does our whole got damn block. He'll even snow blow some of our neighbour's street parking spots. No one has ever complained. Because they're not assholes. Your guy is an asshole. If I had sidewalks or a driveway, and someone came and did even half of my shit I would be so grateful. With a heavy snowfall, any amount of snow less that I would have to shovel would be greatly appreciated. I agree with what everyone else says. Skip this guy's house and do all your other neighbour's. Maybe even use the battery you would have used on his sidewalk to do an extra wide strip for your neighbour's.
He’s having a bad day. Random neighbour shovelled my walk the other day, made my day coming home in pain better with one less thing to do!
I don't even understand their complaint about how much you're snowblowing. If you're doing any at all you've lessened the workload for your neighbours, surely? Why does you doing a quick pass with a snowblower mean it won't get a more thorough shovelling by the people who are actually responsible for that strip of sidewalk? If you didn't snowblow and no one shovelled, it'd be even harder for people in wheelchairs.
A. Nope, In my neighborhood we all shovel about 3-5 houses worth depending on who gets their first. B. Nope, that’s life C. I would 7am. If it’s loud enough to wake someone up D. 9 houses done right. I think you would build better a report with these people too.
That guy has issues. We have a neighbour's a couple houses down from us that regularly will clear snow from the sidewalk un front of our house and we are very grateful and always thank him whenever we see him.
A-glad and thanks B-bummer! but thanks C-after 7am, before 9pm D-27 houses for my vote
I'd start pretending to snow blow that guy off my steps for sure
I'd just skip that persons property. He's an ungrateful shit anyway.
I just skip the sidewalks of the neighbours that I don’t get along with.
Sadly thats the world we live in. I see myself as a kind, empathetic person. I genuinely care about others and sometimes I really want to go up to someone who's looking down and ask them how they are doing, be a listener for them and give them a smile and some works of affirmation. But this what scares me and why I've never done this despite wanting to do so so many times. To answer your question, if I were your neighbour, I'd have some cookies sent over your door for your kindness and consideration. Everyone is busy, but you taking the time and energy to think about others warrants gratitude
I mean, I do the blocks sidewalk if I'm using the blower. Being neighbourly is my jam!
You're a great neighbor. The only comment I have is a friend who does this too, and one of his neighbors asked him not to. She did this because she is in her 80's and considers it part of her exercise to shovel to stay healthy.
You’re a good neighbor, screw the grump. If he doesn’t want you to do it it’s his loss. Just don’t do his. I also have a blower and this morning (an hour ago, not 6 am haha) I did my corner lot, my steps, my neighbor’s corner lot, because he has shoveled our walk in the past, and our friends’ across the street. I don’t always, but sometimes I do. I don’t expect anyone to do it for me either. But it’s a nice thing, I had the time and the battery for it today, and the snow was nice and light. Happy Friday.
Depends. Ive done snow removal and some houses request a "back to black" job in which 100% of snow and ice is scraped off the sidewalk, if I cn use my blower to get it to 100% clear, and you come by and smush down a bunch of snow with your tires on the blower, I now have to blow, scrape your tire marks, then reblow. Costing me twice as much time because you were trying to help.
My neighbour has a snow blower and I think it's incredibly kind of her to do my front sidewalk when she does hers. She's often able to do our entire cul-de-sac, but I've never seen anyone get upset for her either doing or not doing it. There was one day that she didn't get to mine, and I just shrugged & shovelled it myself. I also make sure to take her cookies or chocolates at least once per winter to say thank you. You're good, dude who yelled at you has some issues that are all his own.
Dudes just feeling guilty because hes been putting it of and knows it should have been done already
I'd would be thrilled if I woke up and my path was clear! I don't care what time you do it cuz I live in a complex qnd everyone here is super loud at the butt crack of dawn. Thanks for being awesome!
Thanks for being a good neighbour! Some people always gotta see everything negatively lol
People are funny about their and other peoples snow removal. Had one neighbor how would complain that I didn't shovel until I got home from work fiveish. Then I started to shovel before I left for work around 7-8 am he was upset because when he left for work at 5:30 am I hadn't shoved. Moved for various reasons him being one. The next neighbor the first couple of years were great when they shoveled they would do mine when I shovel I would do theres. Then one year he stopped , he would do his sidewalk skip mine then do the next neighbors sidewalk. I have no idea what I might have done to upset them. They have said nothing.
Anyone who will clear my walk for me is a hero. The snow was heavy AF this time. Maybe the person’s partner was nagging at them for not doing it and you unintentionally hit a nerve. Not an excuse but perhaps a reason. To keep it fair do opposite directions :) Follow bylaws for the appropriate time. Anytime after is fine :)
One less person to shovel their walk. Some people will complain at anything. I do the same as you if I fire up my gas snow blower. Most people appreciate it and see it as a courtesy.