As we compile, build and manage a website – a key point to remember is that we need to have certain features, actions, tools, disciplines and expectations working together to attain a particular result (i.e. a respectable/reliable website).
This past winter I was snowblowing our driveway. It's a rather long (and steep) driveway and shared by two other neighbors on the street end of it. I enjoy the sport of snowblowing. Anyway, I have an old 1978 Deere 316 Tractor with a 42" snow blower attachment on it (for winter). It is generally overkill, but this past 2025-26 New England Winter really did put it to the test. I was up doing the "city plow overpush" – the pile of snow that the street plow leaves in front of every driveway – I believe it is called a "snow berm." The snow there is alwfools-thought
ays heavier, thicker and icier than the regular downfall. Somewhere in that process I lost the bolt that hinges the blower's hydraulic ability to lift and drop – up and down. I first noticed something was wrong, but because it was still snowing (cold and miserable) I continued for a while. Then, I realized "something was (really) wrong because I could not lift the snow blower edge above the ground. It was time to get back to the house and into the garage. I took a look (photo above). Needless to say, I wasn't too thrilled once I figured out what had happened. There was no bolt in the hinge. (In the photo you cannot even see the hole where the bolt was supposed to go.)
I walked back up the driveway and looked in the snow banks for the part(s) – already knowing it was probably a fool's thought that I might find the bolt. Adding insult, there was also the chance that the bolt had made it into the auger and out the chute. In that case, the bolt could be anywhere! The blower can throw the snow a good fifteen-to-twenty feet with the right type of snow. And, I had blown snow onto the two neighbors properties, the street and just about everywhere. Needless to say, I did not find it. Eventually, I ended up buying a used pivot bolt and bushing on eBay from a guy that guaranteed it was what I was looking for. But, once it arrived (a few days later) it did not fit. The short story, I have a friend that was able to make the parts for me. All was well for the rest of the winter.
