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My Chauffeur

I had an appointment this morning that I really needed to get to. Yesterday I shoveled enough of the driveway that I could at least get the car out without sliding into the garage. I went back out and shoveled a bit more later in the afternoon so I had about 2/3 of it shoveled. My plan this morning was to open the garage door, move my car out, then close the garage door so if the power went out (we are having rolling blackouts here), I could still make it to the scheduled appointment.

I opened the garage door, knowing I was going to be disappointed. Sure enough . . this is what it looked like.

It had snowed about 6 more inches during the night. The snow plow had not been by. They don’t come down our road but they do come down the road we go onto. I texted Jeremy (the guy we bought the house from) and asked how the roads were when he went to work. He sent me this picture of the highway I have to use to get to town.

Of course, including the bridge in the picture didn’t calm my fears.

But, then he said “Would you like for me to come and get you and take you to your appointment? I don’t mind!” I said NO .. I’ll be fine. I hate imposing on others.

Then he wrote Vince and said “I offered to take her and she said no!” Vince said YES! She doesn’t know how to drive on this and by then, the snow plow had passed. I looked at the road and it still looked pretty scary so I told Jeremy . . ok . . come and get me.

And then . . I cried. What did we do to deserve this house and that couple who treat us just like they treat their own parents (who are our age)? So, you can guess one of the things/people I’m thankful for today in my journal!

He came and got me, we drove to Joplin, he dropped me off, went to his office, did a few things, came back and got me and brought me home. Driving through town and seeing all the snow and all the slippery spots, I know I could have done it but I’m so glad I didn’t have to.

Now, I’m not leaving the house til July or later . . because it may be August before all this snow melts.

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Comments

  2. I’m with you, Judy. My truck is in the barn till this snow is gone. I tried to go to town today….didn’t make it. our driveway is on a hill….there’s a curve…..and about 6 inches of snow, with ice under that. i made it part way and got stuck and started sliding. and i have 4 wheel drive. just left it there….on the curve. no one coming or going in that driveway. haha hubby went out and moved it back to the barn. i’m in till spring.

    • I was born and raised and lived for 62 years in the Houston area and when my kids wanted to move to Indiana, I came north, although i still go back and forth and maintain a permanent address in Texas. However, as I tell people, my truck is a Texas truck and it does not know how to drive in the ice and snow and I don’t intend to teach it. I will drive the kids’ front wheel drive car on some snow but not even four wheel drive is safe on ice, so i stay in most of the time. I feel so bad for my friends and family in Texas right now. I have been stuck up here due to covid and now the weather and i want to be back down south so bad. We have had snow on the ground continuously for at least a month now which is the worst it has ever been since we got here 4.5 years ago. The roads get plowed although this last storm wore out the plowing system and there are smaller roads that still arent plowed and won’t be for awhile.

      • That’s funny. One of our vehicles came from Indiana, one from Kentucky and one from when we lived here before and all those places, the cars should know how to drive on snow. They are 4WD except for the pickup but this driver spent all her learning to drive years in southwest Louisiana so when there’s snow, and definitely ice, I’m staying home. Today was just one of those things I really, really needed to do and it got done, thanks to Jeremy.

        • there is a four wheel drive vehicle here but i have never driven it on good roads with the four wheel drive and don’t want my first time to be on snow. and it has a battery problem and would need to be jumped. my son has piled so much into and on the bed cover of my truck, i will have to clean it out before i can drive it again and that requires energy i don’t seem to have these days. so glad you have someone who can help you.

  3. It’s definitely a wonderful feeling to know you have terrific neighbors/friends who are there for you.

  5. Just think how helping you out made him feel good! You got to your appointment and back safely, Jeremy got something done at the office, nobody had a heart attack from shoveling snow, nobody had an accident, Great Day!!

  7. Perhaps you could knit him some warm mittens or a scarf as a thank you. You are definitely blessed to have these people in your life. Of course Vince is included too. I know he is as worried about you as you are about him.

  8. I’m thinking you’re reaping what you’ve sown…what a nice story to read on this cold, snowy winter day.
    We’re looking into a backup battery for my husband’s CPAP, thanks for that heads up…my other half said, “I hadn’t thought about that!”
    Also looking into solar powered chargers for phones, any suggestions as to brands or size or anything? Amazon list is kind of overwhelming.

    • Nancy, I looked back on Amazon at the charges we have and they were purchased in 2014 and are no longer available. I’m sure there are newer better models available but ours still work fine. I would suggest googling something like “solar charger cell phone” or something like that, then going to Amazon and checking those models and reading the reviews. Maybe if someone else sees this and they have a newer model solar charger, they’ll share some info. Sorry I can’t be of more help.

  9. Respectful and caring. He wouldn’t have offered if it were going to make his day difficult. I’m sure you said thank you 3000 times 😉

    • While the two other grids, the Eastern Interconnection, the Western Interconnection, cover huge swaths of the country, ERCOT covers about 90% of Texas. El Paso, parts of the northern Panhandle, and some eastern Texas regions are not part of ERCOT and get their energy from one of the other two U.S. power grids.

  11. What a kind person! But I think you do for others as well. Come on spring! My new mantra as we’ve had more snow here but next week it might get 50 degrees! I really can’t complain about the snow as we’ve had a very dry winter and were down I think to something like 30% of normal snowpack. It’s now up to almost 80% and that makes for a much better summer as that’s where we get our water.

    • That’s not the first time he’s done it! One time when it was going to be really cold and we had ice predictions, he wanted to come over and hook up the Camp Chef stove for me and I told him no . . you didn’t take us on dependents when you sold us this house. He texted Vince and said “I offered to go hook up the gas burner and she said no!” Vince called me and said “Let him come do it” and I still said no. I don’t want to impose. They both have jobs and they don’t need to be worrying about my well being on their time together.

  14. What a sweet guy! You were very lucky to happen on them. There was a man here who was giving away firewood from his truck and trailer today! What a wonderful man he must be! I bet he has another star in his crown!

  15. Well, no wonder none of the other houses worked out! You were supposed to have this one AND it’s former owners. I’m so glad for you to have that support.

    • They are an awesome couple. I would have moved here just to be their friends! 🙂

  17. They are truly a blessing to you. Just more proof that all of this was meant to be! I’m now waiting for Lee to come home. I’m working from home today but he had to go in. We’ve been going from snow to sleet all day and they closed early. The roads are a mess. Praying he makes it home safely!

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