Tuesday, January 6, 2009

blog #13

Title: Take a Bow, Mr. Plow
Author: Debbie Musser

Would you ever think of entering a Snowplow Rodeo? Sounds a little crazy. Mike Schmidt is a street maintenance worker for the city of Eden Prairie. Everyday at 3a.m., he gets up and gets in his 30,000-pound truck and starts plowing. He is most comfortable behind the wheel of his snowplow he said though. He has been in the Snowplow Rodeo many times. It is a statewide competition held in St. Cloud and tests the skills of 110 drivers from around Minnesota. The drivers go through many obstacles and don't know the snowplow they will use until right before they perform. This makes things difficult for the drivers. But luckily, Schmidt has placed twice in first place, and once in second, fourth and eighth. When plowing the roads, the weather conditions can determine how long they plow. If it is an all day snow, they could snow till 5p.m., stopping to let residents get home to rest. Traffic also contributes to the plowing times. Some drivers get very anxious to pass plowers. But mainly, from Schmidt's point of view, snow plowers enjoy their job and make the best of it. If it wasn't for them, there would be many more car accidents happening throughout the world.

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