I used to live next to a place where they dumped snow in winter, coming from a big part of town I think, so there really was a lot of snow. The pile didn’t melt all summer, but of course it was black by then, because of all the dirt mixed in. 🙁
This strip was probably written in February or March, and judging by the tense the alt-text probably was as well. I wonder how long that snow mound actually lasted.
Back in 2015, when we had back-to-back-to-back blizzards for half the winter, Boston had a snow farm like that in a big parking lot in the seaport. It took until July 14th to completely melt away..
Back when ‘Mighty Machines‘ was being produced, Montreal had a snow dumping area which was undercut by rushing water (presumably from the St. Lawrence) that would flush the snow away. The snow would be collected up by truck and brought to the dumping sluice.
There was a rather ridiculous amount of snow one year in the prior decade; I’m forgetting which. My employer had excellent work-from-home capability for administrative staff even before SARS2/Covid, and the building I worked out of when I actually went into work was 99% administrative staff, with the 1% being janitorial and cafeteria staff. The building had three parking lots. One small lot for visitors, two large lots for employees.
We rented the employee lots to the city. They made piles like this in them, and then made most of us work from home until they melted enough. It *seemed* like that would take years, but everyone who typically went into the office was back to going into the office by June and they finished melting in late July.
You can’t fool us with all this talk of this mythical snow substance. If it was frozen water, it would be like ice-cubes, and then how would it get up in the sky?
Reltzik
The IU Engineering school has been building trebuchets for charity. ’nuff said.
Pinkie
Snowball fight!
Pinkie
Which reminds me, my local college built a watermelon cannon.
Clif
If they froze them first, you could have had flurries of snowmelons.
Wagstaff
I do believe they are called Winter Melons, unless I’m mistaken. From what I’ve heard, they make for excellent zombie defense.
They need to steal lunch trays from the cafeteria to use as sleds.
Needfuldoer
I covered the bottom of a pizza box in duct tape one year. It worked surprisingly well until the cardboard got soggy.
Demoted Oblivious
Wouldn’t packing tape have a lower friction coefficient? But if the hill is steep enough probably it wouldn’t matter. And of course the most important metric would be the coefficient of fun had, especially since as Cfh goes to infinity all other terms disappear.
Needfuldoer
It was kind of like sledding on a shovel or an inner tube. You went where the snow took you. (And some of the ruts weaved around a lot!)
Oh, trust me, it’s for real all right. All those street-level parking lots, walkways, access roads, and what-have-you, they’ve got to be cleared — and what Mother Nature dumped has got to be taken somewhere.
I was little in Ottawa, Canada, and the snowplow would come down our street and none of the adults liked having the resulting snow ridges blocking them into their driveways, but all that snow did have to go somewhere. My dad talked to the snowplow guy, and every year, instead of blocking all the driveways, we got to have ALL the snow just on our blank front yard, it was the BEST.
Leorale
My brothers and I named it Mt. Tanenbaum, and we weren’t supposed to dig tunnels through it or play on the streetwards side of the snow-mountain, but we totally did anyway. ❄
eh, whatever
Tunneling is the whole point! 🙂
Leorale
I agree! My mom was anxious that the tunnel would collapse and bury us. Or that we’d tunnel right into the street and a car would hit us, since they probably weren’t looking for tiny snowsuited children popping out of a mountain. But it turned out OK.
Tan
Your dad is a good neighbor
Leorale
They spelled it neighbour, but yes. ??
In the spring, he and I also helped spread the lovely red poppies that grew in a field nearby. Each year we’d feel so happy as the poppies got more numerous. We didn’t learn until years later that we were both doing it — plus everyone who specifically mowed around the poppies so they could keep growing. We were all working together, and never even knew.
Yep, snow piles are a very real thing and there’s always college students, teenagers or children (depending on location) climbing them. They mostly live in parking lots or the yards of non-residential areas like schools.
Still can’t believe the fucker LEFT THE DOG BEHIND!
He Who Abides
I can. Rafael Cruz is a dick.
Demoted Oblivious
I am unafamiliar with this. Is the dog OK?
Clif
The dog is fine. Crazy Ted deposited the family in Cancun and headed back. Personally I would have been fine if he had stayed there. Preferably permanently.
As it happens, neither my electricity nor water was cut off, but if it had been and I had the option of transferring to Cancun for the duration, I would have been all over it. Of all the things I blame Crazy Ted for, Cancun doesn’t even make the bottom of the list.
Demoted Oblivious
My sympathy to you all, not that it’ll take up a lot of space in the truckloads of thoughts and prayers. We’re in no position to throw stones here in Canuck-land.
Has there been an easier background? (or at least easier on the same scale?) Wouldn’t there’ve been plenty of blank wall panels behind various close-ups?
Discussion (107) - “Plow”
Ana Chronistic
and it won’t melt until June
Stephen Bierce
–of some year in the 2030s.
Wagstaff
Wonder how many crazy things will happen before then….
Reltzik
Lots of them, and you can take that to the bank. At least until the bank melts.
Anna
I used to live next to a place where they dumped snow in winter, coming from a big part of town I think, so there really was a lot of snow. The pile didn’t melt all summer, but of course it was black by then, because of all the dirt mixed in. 🙁
Needfuldoer
This strip was probably written in February or March, and judging by the tense the alt-text probably was as well. I wonder how long that snow mound actually lasted.
Back in 2015, when we had back-to-back-to-back blizzards for half the winter, Boston had a snow farm like that in a big parking lot in the seaport. It took until July 14th to completely melt away..
Demoted Oblivious
Back when ‘Mighty Machines‘ was being produced, Montreal had a snow dumping area which was undercut by rushing water (presumably from the St. Lawrence) that would flush the snow away. The snow would be collected up by truck and brought to the dumping sluice.
raultsi
i remember finding dirt encrusted snow/ice on the 4th of July after big snowy winters.
Some Ed
There was a rather ridiculous amount of snow one year in the prior decade; I’m forgetting which. My employer had excellent work-from-home capability for administrative staff even before SARS2/Covid, and the building I worked out of when I actually went into work was 99% administrative staff, with the 1% being janitorial and cafeteria staff. The building had three parking lots. One small lot for visitors, two large lots for employees.
We rented the employee lots to the city. They made piles like this in them, and then made most of us work from home until they melted enough. It *seemed* like that would take years, but everyone who typically went into the office was back to going into the office by June and they finished melting in late July.
Paul Grant
Been There done that, anywhere North of Indy
Rose by Any Other Name
Same, except in upstate New York.
Clif
You can’t fool us with all this talk of this mythical snow substance. If it was frozen water, it would be like ice-cubes, and then how would it get up in the sky?
Reltzik
The IU Engineering school has been building trebuchets for charity. ’nuff said.
Pinkie
Snowball fight!
Pinkie
Which reminds me, my local college built a watermelon cannon.
Clif
If they froze them first, you could have had flurries of snowmelons.
Wagstaff
I do believe they are called Winter Melons, unless I’m mistaken. From what I’ve heard, they make for excellent zombie defense.
plasticwrap
Same except Northwest Ohio. Go Falcons!
BBCC
Ahhhhh, the giant snow piles. The only thing missing is people climbing it.
Clif
Next to a college campus and no-one climbing it. Sounds pretty sus to me.
Leorale
They need to steal lunch trays from the cafeteria to use as sleds.
Needfuldoer
I covered the bottom of a pizza box in duct tape one year. It worked surprisingly well until the cardboard got soggy.
Demoted Oblivious
Wouldn’t packing tape have a lower friction coefficient? But if the hill is steep enough probably it wouldn’t matter. And of course the most important metric would be the coefficient of fun had, especially since as Cfh goes to infinity all other terms disappear.
Needfuldoer
It was kind of like sledding on a shovel or an inner tube. You went where the snow took you. (And some of the ruts weaved around a lot!)
JA
Or tunneling through it.
Doctor_Who
Nah, Sal’s just reached the edge of the world where the Other Mother ran out of ideas.
Nayann Martinelli
Thanks to you, I’ll have to watch and read Coraline again.
Doctor_Who
You’re very welcome.
Wagstaff
*plays “Frozen City Theme” by Jukio Kallio on Voxola PR-76*
He Who Abides
Wait, is that a real thing?
(Southern, not familiar with this “snow” of which you speak).
Bicycle Bill
Oh, trust me, it’s for real all right. All those street-level parking lots, walkways, access roads, and what-have-you, they’ve got to be cleared — and what Mother Nature dumped has got to be taken somewhere.
Black
You get some very large, temporary mountains here and there.
Leorale
I was little in Ottawa, Canada, and the snowplow would come down our street and none of the adults liked having the resulting snow ridges blocking them into their driveways, but all that snow did have to go somewhere. My dad talked to the snowplow guy, and every year, instead of blocking all the driveways, we got to have ALL the snow just on our blank front yard, it was the BEST.
Leorale
My brothers and I named it Mt. Tanenbaum, and we weren’t supposed to dig tunnels through it or play on the streetwards side of the snow-mountain, but we totally did anyway. ❄
eh, whatever
Tunneling is the whole point! 🙂
Leorale
I agree! My mom was anxious that the tunnel would collapse and bury us. Or that we’d tunnel right into the street and a car would hit us, since they probably weren’t looking for tiny snowsuited children popping out of a mountain. But it turned out OK.
Tan
Your dad is a good neighbor
Leorale
They spelled it neighbour, but yes. ??
In the spring, he and I also helped spread the lovely red poppies that grew in a field nearby. Each year we’d feel so happy as the poppies got more numerous. We didn’t learn until years later that we were both doing it — plus everyone who specifically mowed around the poppies so they could keep growing. We were all working together, and never even knew.
Moon
From the midwest. Yeah.
Keulen
Also from the Midwest, can confirm we have giant piles of snow in parking lots during the winter.
Pilgrim
Also from the Midwest but must point out that DoA Bloomington has gotten way more snow than IRL Bloomington gets in an average decade.
BBCC
Yep, snow piles are a very real thing and there’s always college students, teenagers or children (depending on location) climbing them. They mostly live in parking lots or the yards of non-residential areas like schools.
Mr D
Cue:
Bicycle race by Queen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GugsCdLHm-Q
CapedLuigisYoshi
Ahh, a clever ploy to avoid drawing more background. I respect it.
Reltzik
So THAT’S what he’s up to. He had me fooled. What a clever snow job.
KingoHrts
Slow (envious) clap. Well done.
Clif
Clapping is too much effort but I’m right there with the envy.
Needfuldoer
She’s going to pass John Oliver in his endless blank void soon. (Or maybe find her way to Muncie and the blank dimension Garfield inhabits.)
Demoted Oblivious
Ah yes, the endless void of existence without meaning that is the truth behind Garfield minus Garfield
Deanatay
I was just thinking that last panel must have been EASY to draw…
Lieutenant Dan
That blank panel is wandering dangerously close to 9CL territory.
Schpoonman
Ah, yes, Frappe Snowland.
Spencer
I think you mean Everfrost Peak.
Nick
Right next to Snowball Valley.
DailyBrad
Oh, I love that. Of course, being in Texas, I can admire snow from pretty afar, most of the time.
RassilonTDavros
Most of the time…
hope ya had fun in fuckin’ cancun, ted
JBento
Still can’t believe the fucker LEFT THE DOG BEHIND!
He Who Abides
I can. Rafael Cruz is a dick.
Demoted Oblivious
I am unafamiliar with this. Is the dog OK?
Clif
The dog is fine. Crazy Ted deposited the family in Cancun and headed back. Personally I would have been fine if he had stayed there. Preferably permanently.
As it happens, neither my electricity nor water was cut off, but if it had been and I had the option of transferring to Cancun for the duration, I would have been all over it. Of all the things I blame Crazy Ted for, Cancun doesn’t even make the bottom of the list.
Demoted Oblivious
My sympathy to you all, not that it’ll take up a lot of space in the truckloads of thoughts and prayers. We’re in no position to throw stones here in Canuck-land.
Cholma
Looks like somebody called Klondike5-3226 for “Mr. Plow”!
butts
ah, yeah, it’ll still be around come graduation
Kravis
The Indiana University campus is a nice place to get plowed.
Ray Radlein
If she had waited just a couple more feet before saying it, that third panel would have been her cartoonist’s easiest background yet
Demoted Oblivious
Has there been an easier background? (or at least easier on the same scale?) Wouldn’t there’ve been plenty of blank wall panels behind various close-ups?
Tan
Sal will now spend the rest of the day here, with other cast members coming and going, so that Willis no longer has to draw backgrounds.
Needfuldoer
She passes a bus stop, where a grumpy blonde and her huge dog are waiting for their ride.
ktbear
Hmmm, seems like the perfect place to stash a body. Who are we missing?
Pinkie
Mike.
Clif