Monday, February 23rd, 2026

We got over a foot of snow. Fortunately, it was easy to shovel. This time around, I was clever and dug myself a trench from the back door to the trash cans. I didn’t do that the last time we had serious snowfall, and wound up crunching my way through 10 inches of iced over snow for weeks.

I’m not sure how I’ll actually get the cans to the curb on trash night. Clearing out the driveway was a lost cause. Large branches fell from one of the cedars, bounced off my next-door neighbor’s car, and now block the path. The branches will be too heavy to move until the snow melts. It doesn’t seem worth the effort to dig them out.

The neighbor’s car looks okay, but it’s hard to tell with all the snow. They were cool about the situation. We both assume financial responsibility for any damages falls on the owner of the house, so there’s no dispute to be had between us.

I’m in the process of renewing my lease for another year. I’m slightly nervous about it, because my upstairs neighbor is moving out soon. I would hate to get stuck with a bad neighbor. Moving would be a great deal of work and expense, while dramatically increasing the risk of acquiring a bad neighbor, so there’s no point in that. And it’s nice here. Let’s hope the karma holds.

I’m trying to talk the landlord into allowing pets. A dog might be fun to have around to keep me company on my long walks. I’m not committed to the idea. I’m a little concerned that I’m around the house so much that a dog might develop separation anxiety when I go out on my own. It’s better to have the option, even if I never use it.