"There's a beeping and a red light flashing..."

Thursday, January 2, 2014
The first two days of 2014 started pretty much the same way…snow removal.  I didn’t have time to shovel out the neighbor’s drive before heading off to work, but had only gotten half way to Warren when I received a call from my son, Jack, who was experiencing vehicular problems. 

“The red warning light came on and it was beeping and flashing so I pulled into a parking lot and turned it off,” he said.

“That was a good move.  Was the heater blowing heat when you turned it off?”

I’d driven the van on Christmas Eve and it had never gotten warm.  Jack was in the vehicle and said it took a while, but would eventually warm up.  It never did.  He said he really didn’t mind, but I tried to dissuade him from ‘being tough’ on these kinds of things.

“If the car isn’t heating up, something’s wrong and you need to let me know,” I told him.  When I checked the fluid levels the following day, I found the radiator was low.  I added water and anti-freeze and it was again blowing hot.

“No – it was still cold,” he said.

I knew what the problem was, but refrained from reminding him how I’d told him to let me know if it happened again.  I drove home, filled up two gallon jugs with water, grabbed the anti-freeze and headed for his last known location.

Once I found him and lifted the hood, I quickly discovered the nature of the beeping and red lights on the dashboard.  The radiator was practically empty.  We refilled it and drove it to Dan’s in Chardon for a weekend repair after which I took him to work in Mentor on snow-covered roads.  By the time I finally arrived back in Highland Heights, it was close to noon and Warren, a two-hour drive in the winter conditions we were experiencing, was looking like a very bad idea.  I aborted that quest and began shoveling again.

It turned out to be a good decision.  Warren was on a winter storm warning with the police advising residents to stay off the roads.  We closed the YMCA at 6 p.m. to allow employees the chance to get home before it got worse.  Few members had ventured to the facility, in any event.  I managed another three hours of snow removal throughout the day and added a 1-hour ride on the trainer, as well.  I received a call from Performance Bike telling me my bike was ready to go.  Good thing – I could see I’d be riding it soon. 

Bike Workout:  60 minutes.  Snow removal:  Three hours 
Training Heart Rate:  120 on the trainer and 80-120 bpm on snow removal.
Calories burned during workout:  850 riding and 1250 on snow removal.

Working out with a snow shovel...

Wednesday, January 1, 2014
When I looked out my picture window to the winter wonderland beyond, I had little doubt what I’d be doing for my first workout of the New Year.  I bundled loosely, but covered all exposed skin because I knew I’d be sweating shortly.  I began pushing snow in my driveway, working the apron first where Highland Heights finest had pushed most of the snow from the street.  Being on the curve of the road automatically means you get more snow in the bottom of your driveway, which is only a problem if you don’t consider snow removal an extreme workout.

Over the next two hours, I removed snow from my double drive and the driveways and sidewalks of my two neighbors.  I was already out and I knew they’d been drinking the night before and would be in no condition to shovel for several days.  It was a great way to add to my workout and I knew I’d get extra Christmas cookies as part of the deal.  I’d be needing them.

Snow continued to fall throughout the day and I used that as my only workout.  I felt somewhat guilty for never climbing on the trainer, but not guilty enough to do it.  I again pounded too many hollow calories as there remained certain Christmas treats in the house.  To make matters worse, Holly offered to make chocolate, peanut-butter pudding and I didn’t discourage her.

Tomorrow will be different.  It’ll be a work day; I’ll have more snow and do a regular workout of some kind.
Snow removal:  Two hours and 30 minutes. 
Training Heart Rate:  80-120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1050.