雪

今年は着雪の日が早かった。11月の下旬で降ったし、12月中旬現在で20センチくらいには積もった。雪かきか。

降る前日はなるべく早寝。10時位には寝たい。5時に起きて除雪機で飛ばす必要があれば、ヘッドライト点けて自宅の周辺を飛ばす。　屋根の下もどかす。屋根の雪は昼間になったら片流れのため一気に落ちてくる。その前にカサを少しでも減らすために朝の気温が低いうちにどかさないと。　

シャッター前、出入り口はスコップで綺麗にとる。長くつだとそのまま歩いても構わないのだけど圧雪すると凍ると取れなくなる。除雪機のキャタピラで圧雪もダメ。　飛ばせばよいかと言うと綺麗にとれないからやはりスコップとかで綺麗にとるのが良い。

工場のまわりは建設会社さんに依頼して助かっている。広いところはやはりプロの除雪車の威力は絶大だ。　この仕事をしていなければやってみたかった仕事だな。冬は拘束時間が多そうだけど。

最後に給油や機械の雪払いなんだかんだで1時間から2時間は見とかないと。　毎年本当に大変だ。

しかし、日中の気温は以前より高い。正午の日差しで道路や、機械の鉄部分が解けていくのを見ると子供のころより快適なのかもしれない。

Snow

This year, the first snow that stuck came early. It fell in late November, and as of mid-December, it’s piled up to about 20 centimeters. Time for snow shoveling.

The night before it snows, I try to go to bed early. I want to be asleep by around 10 PM. If I need to get up at 5 AM to clear snow with the snow blower, I’ll turn on the headlight and clear around the house. I also remove snow from under the roof. Snow from the roof will come down all at once during the day because it slides off. Before that happens, I have to remove as much as I can while the morning temperature is still low.

In front of shutters and entrances, I clean thoroughly with a shovel. You can walk in boots as is, but packed snow freezes and becomes hard to remove. Packed snow with the snow blower’s tracks is also no good. You might think you can just blow it away, but it doesn’t come off cleanly, so it’s better to shovel properly.

Around the factory, we rely on a construction company, which is a big help. In large areas, the power of a professional snow removal vehicle is tremendous. If I weren’t doing this job, it’s something I would have liked to try. Although winters probably involve long hours.

Lastly, take into account time for refueling and brushing off the machines—anywhere from an hour to two hours. It’s really tough every year.

However, daytime temperatures are higher than before. Seeing the roads and the metal parts of machines melt in the noon sun makes it feel more comfortable than when I was a child.