I got overly enthusiastic with the ice chopper yesterday

[Connonym]

and I'm paying for it today. I wonder how much Tylenol and ibuprofen I can take before my liver sends up a white flag. The depressing part is that I'll go out there again today and chip at the ice some more and by Wednesday we'll have a whole new batch of crap to replace it. Can one of you remind me again why the hell we live here?

[HereSince1628]

1. We live for summer. And if it doesn't rain that day it's absolutely GREAT!

To salt or not to salt
that is the question
Whether tis nobler to suffer
the aches and pains
of outrageous chopping...

Ah to sleep...to dream
but their is the rub
without liniment there is no sleep

[Connonym]

2. I haven't been able to find a bag of salt anywhere around Waukesha

I've been using regular table salt on the back stoop but that's just not practical for an entire driveway. I think that our sidewalk at the end of the driveway must be the lowest point in the entire neighborhood, there's a good 2-3 inches of ice since the melt and refreeze last weekend. Salt won't go too far on that :(

[HereSince1628]

3. In Wauwatosa there has been salt at Puhl's Hardware...

Water softener salt is another alternative...salting has drawbacks, but then so does a heart attack from chopping at the ice.

I salted the walks and the porch and chipped them as the temp came up. I take care of 2 neighbors' walks and drives as well as our own.

Look at it this way...what doesn't kill you will help you fit into that new bathing suit. :)

[Connonym]

4. lol, my right arm and shoulder will be well defined and muscular

and my left arm will be all flabby and gross. How hot will that be?! ;-) Little tiny T rex arm on one side and Hulk Hogan on the other.

[RevCheesehead]

6. Kitty litter can be your friend.

It won't melt it, but it'll give you some traction. Perhaps even a few neighborhood cats, too. :)

[dembotoz]

5. think of how much cheaper an ice chopper is than the gym.

put some tunes on the boom box and you have ice aerobics.
Scrape 2,3,4
chop 2,3,4

[LiberalFighter]

7. Was the ice from snow melting or sleet and then freezing?

Or was it pure mush that froze fast?

I find shoveling before it gets a chance to do some melting and then freeze up helps. I might just do half the driveway and maybe do stripe pattern on the other side so that the sun can help melt it faster by also heating the cement.

[Connonym]

8. it's a combination of poor drainage and the big melty rain then freeze

we had last week. The concrete for the sidewalk and driveway probably need to be mudjacked or something because it pools up with standing water any time there's any kind of significant melt off. Definitely an issue of bad drainage/lack of run off. I'm still sitting here with a heating pad on my shoulder! I am so sick of this.

[Jackpine Radical]

9. I was gonna ask,

"How many toes?"

My condolences. My back is such that I do that sort of thing to myself at least a couple times a winter with a snow shovel.

[Callalily]

10. I'm soooo tired of shoveling snow . . .

and soooo tired of chipping away at the ice. And now we've got this wonderful freezing rain, which will be turning into snow! Happy driving!

[Connonym]

11. the weather advisor turned out to be a big fat nothing here in my part of the state

I'm breathing a sigh of relief. We still haven't been able to make a huge dent in the ice dam at the end of the driveway, I was concerned about adding to it.

If you want to make a quick buck this spring learn how to put up gutters and fix roofs, I have a feeling there's going to be a huge demand for it after this winter.

[htuttle]

12. We have an iceberg at the end of our drive...haven't had the car out in months

I let it get away from me for ONE WEEKEND and BAM! instant Ross Ice Shelf...five feet high and wide.

Good thing we live within walking & bus distance from everything.

If I run into a need for an emergency out of town trip, I'm going to try a half dozen M80's... or maybe a jackhammer.