You Know, It All Worked Out

So I was freaked out that, when I left for Vegas, I would be leaving the house all alone.  What happens if, for example, there's a water leak?  It's happened before, both with a pipe and with the humidifier, and although it didn't flood the basement, the boiler room got pretty soaked, and with me being gone for a few days, the basement could get flooded.  Also, what happens if someone breaks in?  It's happened before, and with the house being dark for a few days, who's to say someone in the neighborhood isn't going to roll by a third time to make sure the coast is clear, then take us for what we're worth?

And on top of all that, a goddamn snowstorm came through Friday night.  I guess it would could have been worse and come in Saturday morning, as I was leaving.  But I woke up an hour early to see that 5 1/2 inches of snow fell between Friday afternoon and the following morn.  I actually picked up a shovel and tried to shovel the driveway before I had to go catch the bus on the way to the light rail that would get me to the airport.  I think I got done one row at the very bottom of the driveway before I just frickin' quit.  I regret not taking out the snowblower and clearing what had fallen that evening.  But it was only 2 1/2 inches at most, and I thought shoveling most of the driveway was going to be good enough because the amount of snow from that point onward wasn't going to be debilitating.  Besides, I was anxious to finish packing and getting a good night's sleep.  In a sense, I should have worried more.

I got back Tuesday evening about 90 minutes later than scheduled.  We were taxiing from Austin to MSP for an hour because of, and I may be mistaken, a mislabeled piece of luggage.  I also think I was late catching a bus that I otherwise would have caught if I didn't take a pit stop in the bathroom before hiking it down to the LRT.  I thus had to wait 20 minutes before getting the bus I wanted.  So, tired and a bit agitated, I walked gently on the ice and snow, then trundled up the inches of snow that still lain on my driveway (even though that day and the day before had highs that went above freezing).  I jammed my key (I took both keys of my main car, just in case someone broke in; if they wanted my car, they couldn't have it because I took both copies), opened the door, threw down my shit and hurried down to the basement.  Nope, no water.  Looked in the boiler room -- nope, no leaks.  And I went all around the ground floor and then the top floor for any broken windows or guys laying in wait for me.  But ... no.  There was nothing, nothing except ... everything where I left it.

OK, so the basement didn't flood and no one broke into the house.  But there was still the matter of clearing the driveway of snow.  While some of it melted because of the relatively high temperatures that day and the day previous, what was left had become icy and sticky because of the melt-freeze cycle throughout the days I was gone.  I tried digging that snow out, but halfway through I quit.  I was going to clear the rest of the driveway when I got home from work the following day.

Now, I was told even before I left for Las Vegas that this following day, Wednesday, was going to be an abnormally warm one.  I don't remember if we reached 60, but I know we reached the upper fifties the following day, and I thought that even though that would help with the snow, I would still have to spend time shoveling what remained.

Oh, no, I didn't.  I got home and saw that my driveway was completely bare.  The couple of inches or snow I left on the driveway was no match for temperatures you would see in the spring, I guess.  Didn't think all of it would melt.  I was wrong, blissfully wrong.  So hey, thank God for climate change, amirite?!

So no flooding, no break-in, and no backbreaking shoveling.  The house remained intact and safe, and I was unburdened by so many things that bedeviled me.  So yeah, it all worked out.  That makes me glad.