Let’s Get Ready To RUMBLE…
Am I referring to the final round of Canadian leadership debates that take place tonight and tomorrow in Montréal (two weeks before our next federal election)? Or to the minor earthquake people felt in the Montréal area this morning? Are the two things related?
(Photo: Ville de Montréal)
Apparently, the earthquake felt, to some people, like “a truck driving into their house.” Since there actually were those little sidewalk snow-tanks (chenillettes) clearing my street at the time of the quake, I thought the rumble was one of them slamming into our building. No big deal, it’s Montréal — this stuff happens (try leaving your bicycle locked to a post in winter and see how these monsters mangle it)!
Of course, we have our own little paramilitary force to battle against the Evil Forces of Snow… (Hey there, Jardinero, just a minute! Don’t over-simplify — snow comes in many shades of grey!) For fun, here are the poetic names (en français) of some of the rumbling vehicles in the Arrondissement Plateau Mont-Royal’s snow-clearing arsenal:
- 12 épandeuses d’abrasifs et 2 mini-épandeuses pour les rues étroites
- 26 camions-charrues et autoniveleuses
- 15 chenillettes (my favourite and — coincidentally — the most scary. They come charging at you, full speed, down the sidewalk, and you have to leap out of the way…)
- 5 souffleuses
- 8 tracteurs-chargeurs
- 10 chasses-neiges et niveleuses
- and of course a host of other véhicules divers, like those giant (and deadly!) trucks that cart away the snow
Apparently we average 78 “snowfall events” per year, and 27 of those drop more than 2.5cm of snow, kicking our Anti-Snow Task Force into action! The big guns that actually pick up all the well-salted snow and dump it somewhere “environmentally friendly I’m sure” swing into action an average of 6 times per winter (for snowfalls of more than 15cm). And, if you live in the Plateau, all that service is yours for the low, low price of $6.4 million per year! (actually, not so bad — only $21,400 per worker involved, or about $64 per resident)
Speaking of budgets, and a shuddering planet…if only we could shake up those blathering politicians and get them to commit to ending poverty…