Friday younger brother arrived home in his car at about 3.30, just before sunset. We have about 8 inches of snow on the ground, all of which had landed before he went out to work in the morning, so there is a car sized clear bit of ground on his driveway. I was just pulling our bedroom curtains to warm the room up, when I glanced out and saw him reverse onto his drive. He manages this fine, but decides he is too close to the hedge and pulls out again.
He then spends the best part of an hour attempting to get back onto it!! I was nearly wetting myself, it was so funny. Every time he got to the kerb his front wheel would spin. The more he tried, the more it spun and the more icy patches he created. He kept pulling out, and trying from different angles, slide again, try again. He had to keep pulling up to the kerb to let other traffic past as with the cars all parked along the road, it makes it only one car wide.
Ok so that in itself is not funny but I know I am only a girlie and shouldnt know much about cars, however as an avid watcher of Top Gear I do understand the concept of front-wheel drive. If the back wheels can get up the kerb but you are getting front wheel spin, do you get out with your spade and dig out the back wheels???? If you are my neighbour with the one brain cell you do!! The more times he got stuck, the more snow he dug from behind the car.
I did think I might go out and offer to steer while he pushed but decided it would probably make matters worse, and if I pranged his car there would be real trouble. And I simply couldnt understand why he didnt turn it round and drive on frontways. We always do.
Anyways after about half an hour trying, and making the bit of his road so compacted with ice, he parked up his car. As it is now almost dark I thought he was just giving up and leaving it on the road (after all its a very quiet road and none of our drives have gates on, so it made little difference). But no, armed with his spade he spent 20 mins digging out two trench lines from the kerb to his car parking place on the drive. He didnt clear the bit just in front of the kerb where he needed to bump it up, but he did clear two holes further out where his front wheels would go.
Back in his car he gets. Success?? No, and I am sorry I really did laugh out loud now, the two trenches were wider apart than his wheel base!!!!! One wheel tracked along it, the other was left high and dry on the large pile of snow he had just dug out!!
He gave up and stuck it out on the road.
This morning (as if that wasnt enough) Older Brother is out there with a spade. No idea why as the snow is thawing rapidly and most of the drives and paths are clear, the road is more compact ice but if the thaw continues it should be ok by this afternoon) So I look out at the noise of spade scraping concrete. I have to walk away shaking my head. DH goes to look, and even he shouted out to me that he had to wonder at the guy's mentality. He is scrapping up the snow from his drive and the pavement in front of his house ........ and throwing it into the road in front of his house!!!!!!! As we watched he then got a very small bucket (about the size of a 12" flower pot) full of grit, which he then threw over the pile of snow/ice in the road and around the hedges of his front garden (and no where near his car)!!!
One really does wonder!!!
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