UPDATE 10:15 A.M.
I sent Jesse out on an exploratory run to see how blowouts would be and he determined it would not be a good day for blowouts mostly due to road conditions in the subdivisions, but also because many sprinkler valve boxes are covered up and can’t be located. It isn’t worth the time and energy to go to each one to see if we can do it or not under the current conditions. We will resume tomorrow with the same routes. Much of the snow should melt off today, and it is supposed to be in the 40’s for most of the week without precipitation, so everything should be back to normal tomorrow.
END OF UPDATE
%$$%##^%&$#^#$ SNOW!
I am not a fan of snow. I grew up in Indiana, and we got hit HARD because of weather coming down from Canada across the Great Lakes, with no mountains to slow it down. I shoveled more snow by the time I was 18 than most who have lived in the Boise area for 50 years. It would get so cold that if the city had to do maintenance on the sewer system they needed a large air compressor as we use for blowouts to attach a jackhammer to clear the ice around manhole covers. I could climb out my second-story bedroom window and slide down the snowdrifts, run back upstairs and do it again, and again.
However, snow does insulate the ground keeping sprinkler pipes insulated. It’s just a pain for us to have to work in the snow. The sprinkler systems themselves do fine. It’s our equipment and bodies that take a beating. I had to disconnect my air hose 4 different times yesterday to thaw the ice build-up in my hose so I could get the air pressure needed to do the blowouts. The only thing frozen yesterday was my toes and hose…….
Even with the issues of frozen condensation in our hoses, the day went pretty smooth. We are now down to 19 left in the Meridian 83642, which we will finish up when we make our final sweep around the valley. We are still hoping to be finished by Friday. (Fingers crossed) According to my calculations, we only need to do 39 a day to be done by Friday. If all goes well, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Something funny happened today. I went to a customer’s house and knocked on the door and told the guy who answered that I was there to blow out his sprinklers. His buddy, who was visiting, said, “Dude! You can’t blow out your sprinklers now. They’re all frozen and it will blow up all your sprinkler pipes.” My customer answered back, “Dude, did you sleep through science class? The ground ain’t cold enough yet.” The funny part is I get yelled at by my wife when I have said the EXACT same thing to customers. Sometimes I let my mouth get the better of me. It was quite nice to hear someone else say what I was thinking. Anyway, his friend watched in amazement as the water came out of all the sprinkler heads. It was beautiful……….
We will have 3 machines working in the 83709 today, and those we have on our routes have been sent texts and emails to let them know. We may not finish everything on the routes today because of weather conditions, (mostly road conditions) but if we don’t, we will get to those on Tuesday with the remaining 83709. (Our calendar isn’t updating again on our website for some reason, so be sure to keep an eye on this blog for any changes.)
Here are the streets for today:
Jesse
W Colt Dr
W Thunder Mountain Dr
W Moonlight Dr
S Silverhills Ave
W Harness Dr
S Summit Creek
S Kimmer Cove Way
W Henrys Lake Dr
W Brownstone Dr
W Jerry Peak St
W Shetland Road
W Oneida Dr
W Pontler Ct
S Antler Ridge Ave
S McCormick Pl
Jacob
S Manzanita Ave
W Kingsbriar Drive
S Cheshire Ave
S Pearl Jensen Ave
W Greenman Ct
S Ironwood Ave
W Shelborne Dr
W Weir Hollis Dr
S Fairwind Pl
W Patina Dr
S Loganberry Way
S Dewberry Way
W Lillywood Dr
S Loganberry Way
Steve
S Kirra Way
W Soluna Dr
W Oliana Dr
W Petunia Dr
W Leilani Dr
W Littlewood Dr
W Mossywood Dr
S Ravenswood Way
W Trestlewood St
S Kaywood Ave
W Hearthside Dr
W Idlewood Dr
W Touchstone Dr
W Bigwood Dr
I thought our house would have been covered when you were in the 83642 area recently, but never saw our street on your list. We are leaving the country this Wednesday, for a little over a week. Any chance you’ll be here by tomorrow or should I let our house sitters know you may be by while we are away?
We lost a day due to weather, so we will be in the 83709 Tuesday and Wednesday. However, I can tell you that yours will be done by Saturday because we hope to be finished with the entire valley by then. There may be a few stragglers we will have to tend to on Monday, but it won’t be in Meridian.