John,

I heard them talking about one of the snow melting machines but I wasn't for
sure if they said Denver really was using one or they wanted to buy some for
a fleet.  We definitely have way more snow on the ground this time of year
than usual.  It has melted so much in the last two days that my basement
leaked.  So this summer, we will have to dig it up again on that side of the
house and do more sealing.  It is made of cinder blocks so it is easy for
them to develop tiny cracks and that side of the house has a down hill
slant.  We have a friend with a backhoe, however, and Everett borrows it
occasionally so we will be able to do a better job this summer.  Plus we'll
put in a couple of French drains on the side of the house to help draw the
underground water away.  This heavy snow pack has about buried my gravel
circular drivway this winter, too.  Fortunately, our backhoe friend also has
good and inexpensive access to gravel so we'll be able to get a couple of
dump truck loads when it warms up.  dumping it isn't the problem but
spreading it is a pain in the butt.  One year, we got 15 tons all in one
dump.  The piles of rock were 5 feet high.  It took us over a week, with
half the kids in the neighborhood helping, before we could get our car back
into the garage.  Even then, you had to take a run at it or you got bogged
down in the thick layer of gravel, haw.  I know one thing, I am sick of
winter.  The last two days were 55 and 60 degrees and it felt like summer.
The kids rode trikes on the concrete driveway my son has and I went out to
check on them, since it butts right up against the south wall of my office,
and checked on them but I really was going out just to feel the warm sun
again.  It was so nice, you didn't need a coat.  That's my type of winter.

Phil.