Dec 18 2008
Procrastination bites me in the ass.
If you are suddenly interested in buying a snowblower, the night before what Environment Canada is coining “Snowmageddon” is not the time to go shopping for it.
I was laughed out of several stores this evening, along with other fools like me who decided to wait until the last minute and then panic. At virtually every single store we went to snowblowers were nowhere to be seen - even floor models had been snapped up and taken home in preparation of the multiple significant snowfalls we’re scheduled to receive over the next 3 days.
Admittedly, I did find 6 snowblowers at one local WalMart, but instead of being a small-ish model that I had in mind (we do only have a two-car driveway, after all), they were of the large (and $900 before tax) breed. I took a pass, but there was several others who weren’t - one family was eagerly watching a WalMart employee assemble their new purchase. I struck up a conversation, and like myself his initial target price range earlier in the day was “about $400″, but out of sheer desperation he was now going to pay over $1000.
In a last ditch effort I returned to the adjacent Home Depot and rummaged through the “crap we can’t get rid of” section…and found a lone dejected floor model snow blower. Well, actually, a Toro “Power Shovel”.
It looked tiny, but it has some impressive stats, and the size and lightweight appealed to me since it can be easily transported. I literally threw it over my shoulder while in the Home Depot finishing our shopping.
I’m sure it’ll have it’s limitations, but I tried it out this evening on some leftover snow from our last dump a few days ago and I was actually quite impressed. Regardless, at this point in my desperation scale, “Anything that moves snow without back breaking effort” rates highly.
After last winter (link goes to pics of the crap we dealt with then!) I swore I’d buy a snowblower in time for this winter. But then, of course, doubts about having two bad winters in a row crept in and I got complacent. Complacency teamed up with procrastination, and I was served the results tonight.
Meh. My new “power shovel” only cost me $125. Snowblower guy at Walmart is $875 poorer then me.