January 23, 2011
Deploying Powder Against Powder?
No question, snow removal can be a pain. But tempting as it may be, Abington police ask that you resist ... shortcuts. [H/T Dave Barry's blog.]
An Abington man is being charged with creating bombs at his former address in Abington after police had been told the man was blowing up snow banks to avoid shoveling the snow.Abington Police Chief David Majenski said Leo J. Powers, 23, with a last known address of 45 Margaret Road, Abington, is being charged with threats to commit a crime and possession of incendiary devices.
After serving Powers with an emergency restraining order at a rooming house he was staying in on Washington Street in Abington, police learned Powers had a box of ammunition and a box with “some sort of powder” in it at his former address, according to Majenski.
According to Majenski, police were told Powers had devised a way to use the materials to blow up snow banks instead of shoveling the snow and had been doing it for some time.
C'mon. This is just good American ingenuity. He's saving the health care system the millions it would cost after this 23 year old slipped a disc in his back and had a lifetime of physical therapy, surgery and pain.
Hey, we didn't have plows in the 1800s, so this is exactly what our forefathers would have done. Big snowbank in your yard? Blow the thing up.
Seems pretty smart to me.
Posted by: Patrick at January 23, 2011 10:49 AMAnd, you get to blow things up.
Posted by: michael at January 23, 2011 11:33 AMIt would be a nice trick to pull off with a shotgun shell (sans-payload), but only to entertain the kids, not to actually remove snow.
I'm actually considering building a propane torch on a six foot wand that I can use to cut a channel in the bank along the curb, just to allow drainage from the sidewalk in front of my place to the catch basin in front of my neighbors'. As it stands now, the entire sidewalk and part of the driveway floods and refreezes because the water can't get where it needs to go.
Posted by: mangeek at January 23, 2011 12:27 PMFor those with snow clearing dreams, here is a bit of knowledge from a misspent youth. Kitchen flour is an excelent explosive, you need to be inventive about dispersal and ignition.
Posted by: Warrington Faust at January 24, 2011 7:45 AM