Quasimodo emerges from his ice tomb

After installing the battery and giving it a couple of squirts of fresh gas in the carb throats it started on the first try .

 But the three inch thick layer of ice covering the ground had a grip on the wheels that could not be overcome . I had to use the come-along and the yellow tow strap tied to the base of the bush to pull it free .

The last three weeks were spent  doing a lot of this . . .

. . . and this . . .

. . . and some fine hydraulic engineering . . .(yea and the old Toyota started on the first try today too)

Hydraulic engineering that just barely managed to defy gravity

. . .  to keep this stuff from further flooding the Volvo shed and my garage

Quasimodo emerged from five months of stasis into the fifty degree sunshine .

Then we removed about a dozen buckets full of ice from under the various layers of plastic ground sheet . And then went for a spin in the Volvo .

Raw Physical Abuse and Pain

So I have this giant frozen turd behind the garage that caused great stress and pain last Sunday

 . . . when it rained and caused my garage to flood

So spent three hours this afternoon

Hefting this thirty pound breaker bar

 making ice cubes out of five inch thick ice

to accomplish this

And hopefully provide a channel for water to flow around

Meanwhile the neighbors across the street did the sensible thing . They sold the house , packed up and headed for Arizona leaving this god forsaken state in the rear-view mirror .