Another Ice Story

Today is 1/27/09 and it is icy. A Major winter storm has hit many states. At work, before I can do anything, I take my three pound hammer and break away the 1/4 inch of ice on the 5th wheel. Next I do the gladhands. On every trailer I pounded away the ice on the fittings for the hoses, and everything that you need to open, close or fasten the trailer doors to the trailer. Door handles, doors, rubber stops on doors, the hooks on trailer for door chain, etc. All of this had to be done to do the simple job of opening and closing the doors. Most of the trailers I worked with have chains with a hook to hold the doors open - just right for good weather. No one thought about the ice that keeps me about an inch away from getting that chain on the hook to hold the doors open! Even the landing gear needed my attention.

All day long I was outside in the rain, freezing rain, sleet, and slush - just having so much fun. The temperature was just right for the mixture of weather. The mirror heat switch was used a lot and I sure enjoy this invention. No more scraping!

Working with the trailers and moving them to and from the docks, I watched the tree limbs and power lines sag under the weight of the ice and saw a number of branches break off, along with a few of the power lines, too. Ice was so heavy on one tree that it was uprooted and it fell onto a trailer. You could hear limbs breaking off all over the neighborhood. It was a never-ending sound.

It's awesome to see the beauty of nature, but when it starts to become dangerous, that's a different story. Soon we were without power and our day was done. I was sure glad to go home!

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