In the techie world there’s an adage about doing things the right way costing less than doing things the wrong way, or the short cut way, or the half-assed way. The point is that it is costly to fix things or recover from disasters. Which in a roundabout way leads me to thinking about the amazing amount of sidewalks still blanketed by the odd mixture of ice and snow. If snow had been removed when it fell, then the clean up of the subsequent ice would have been handled by a sprinkling of salt and sand.
I speak from levels of expertise gained from shoveling snow, in the arctic, uphill both ways, otherwise known as Montreal. One of the very first photos I ever took was the aftermath of particularly bad snow storm where a VW bug parked in from of our house was completely covered, before plowing, from the street up. I had to dig out the roof so you could see that there was really a car under there. To get to the car, I had to dig a trench through 4-8 feet of snow to get off the porch, down the stairs and out the the street. Needless to say that year we had the most spectacular snow forts that extended beyond the backyard fences. But my years in Montreal produced snow removal experience that has lasted a lifetime. The most important lesson being, remove it before it freezes into ice.
The last few weeks of cold temperatures also brought in a rash of fires. Some fires could have been easily prevented with some common sense. Open flames, candles primarily, should never be left unattended. Dry paper, wood and textiles make excellent fuel, so be careful where you place heaters, wood burning or otherwise.
Laptops shouldn’t by used on blankets, there the danger isn’t fire but overheating the laptop. Nothing more tragic than frying a computer just when you remembered you hadn’t backed up your data recently.
I’m sure there are plenty more safety related items to discuss, so feel free to add your to the comments.
