Another winter storm has hit Denver, and has me pondering problem solving. If there is enough snow then it becomes an issue for people to figure out what to do with it. There are many different methods that I have seen over the years. Each person tends to choose a method that suites them, and sticks with it over time. Problem solving when it comes to snow, begins with — do you do anything at all. There are people that just let nature do its thing and never lift a hand to shovel snow. There are others that choose a to use a mechanical advantage. That might include a snow blower or atv type snow mover. Other still choose the manual method.
Snow blowers come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. We generally don’t get enough snow in Denver to need the really heavy duty sort. Most of the machines here are the small to mid range of blowers. Shovels also come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. I have seen people use a regular garden type of shovel while other choose the “back saver” versions. These tools are best to have in place long before a storm starts. Choosing the right tool for you is important.
Once you decide that you are going to move the snow, and have chosen your tool of choice, now comes the interesting part for me. How do you tackle the pattern that you use? Some use the same pattern all the time. Others “wing it”, choosing a different pattern every time out. I would define one type of pattern like this. Start on your driveway and go across it side to side removing snow as you go. Another pattern might be to create a path from the top to the bottom of the driveway, thereby splitting the removal terrain into 2 different sides. Then move down one side at a time and remove from the path you created to the edge.
Another part of the problem is when to start to remove the snow. Do you wait till it stops snowing or try to stay ahead of the storm and remove the snow as it comes down. Each has it merits. If it snows large amount over time if you wait untill it stops snowing there is a larger volume to move at one time. However if you try to stay ahead of the storm then the wind just might kick up, making it look as though had not done anything at all.
We all work this problem every time that it snows without too much thought going into it. The tools are usually available before hand, unless you have just moved, or they are lost or broken. So there is a bit of prep work but not too much of that is required.
I have found myself being a very methodical person using the same method on each storm. It generally works well for me and it is a task that I can complete pretty quickly unless there is just a ton of snow.
I also think that I use a similar methodology in web development. I have a method for certain tasks and tend to do them the same all the time. I have my tools available before hand and they are well broken in and trustworthy. Now one thing different is that in web development there is almost always something new that needs to be learned or implemented. I really like/hate this part of my job. For me it is always very cool to learn new things. I have found that keeping ahead of the storm with web development can be a big challenge. I use many different types of learning material. I really like podcasts. I can walk the dog and still be learning something fun and informational. I also try to keep up with news on the web via twitter. There is almost always someone who is chatting about something new and different. Choosing the right tool to listen to the stream has helped me filter out what it is that interests me from the stream.
I often think of my job as solving problems all day long. The problems differ but still need to be solved. Each of my clients have a different need and I try to stay mindful of those differences. I think that I am pretty good problem solver be it snow or web related issues.