I spent an hour this afternoon trying to dig my car out of the 18"-wide, fender-high wall of plowed snow surrounding it, and I have come to the conclusion that the car isn't moving until spring thaw.

I didn't move the car immediately after the snowstorm last week because there would have been no place to put it. On-street parking in the city is extremely competitive, and piles of snow limit the available spaces even further. Since the big snow, we've had another couple of inches, which meant more snow plowed against the car, and some nights of very cold temperatures, which froze the snow into ice. You see where this is headed.

Today, the temperature rose to the mid-forties, but the side of the block where the car is doesn't get direct sunlight, so the snow hadn't softened much. I had to chop through a layer of ice with the blade of the shovel, shovel it out of the way, then go back to chopping. Slow and tiring work.

And there was no place to put the snow and ice when I finally gathered a shovelful. Tossing it into the street is illegal (yes, they'll ticket you) and it's a busy street. After an hour of chopping and shoveling, I hadn't even cleared the front wheel.

I have absolutely no idea what to do. I could call the cops and the parking department and ask them, but they're unlikely to give a damn and I hate attracting their attention.

But it's just about guaranteed that right now, no one can steal my car.