Snow rant

[Z-man]

Ok, first off, I like snow. The white fluffy stuff is pretty. Makes my yard look nice. Not to mention that I used to be an avid snow boarder. I snow-blow my driveway/sidewalk and two of my neighbor's driveways & sidewalks. I even used to do it for free, but now I get a little money for my work. (Almost too much - the little old lady two doors down gives me money, and I feel guilty - like I'm stealing

What urks me is how other people deal with snow. For example:

1. Snow blowing on the street. I see guys with mondo-huge snow blowers moving the snow off their sidewalks and driveways and spraying it onto the road. (Which, BTW, is illegal in most towns in NJ) They can just as easily pile it up on their lawns. These are probably the same folks who complain about the town's street snow removal program. Geez - it's not gonna do any harm to pile snow up on your front lawn.

2. Not clearing off the car of snow. You know the folks - they clear off a 2 inch by 3 inch square on their windshields and away they go. No need to clear the rear window - that way said driver won't have to worry about the 20 car train he's leading! But the blizzard effect he generates as he drives with 1 foot of snow atop his car will slow them down anyway.

3. Driving in the snow: Let's face it folks, if you're gonna go out in snow, YOUR CAR'S GOING TO SLIDE. It is inevitable! You are driving on a very, very slippery surface. So you have three options here:

a. DEAL WITH THE SLIDING. Most cars these days have some kinda AWD or traction control system, especially the honkin' SUV's. USE IT! If the back end slides a little, countersteer, apply throttle, and voila! The car will straighten itself out. DRIVING 3 MPH to prevent slippage is NOT the proper way to drive - it is both dangerous and annoys the heck out of people who actually WANT to drive somewhere! And another thing - after the roads are cleared, and the temps are warmer - the roads are WET, not ICY. There is no need to drive 5 mph on a straight, wet road. Yeah, it's fine to proceed with caution, but geez - there's no need to slow down that much!

b. On the other hand, don't drive like it's a dry summer day. The roads are slick - expect to slow down, and adjust your stopping distances. Don't be surprised if your car spins out on the off-ramp you take as fast as you do in the summertime.

c. If you don't want to deal with the sliding, then STAY OF THE FREAKIN' ROAD! If you are so scared of a little slipping and sliding, then don't even go out there. Call your boss up and take the day off. Then you can go out there and shovel the snow that you just threw out onto the street!

End rant.
-Z-man.

[Porsche virgin]

Amen, Z-man. I really beleive that if people CAN'T drive in the snow, then DON'T!

I'd like to add: I can't stand the over-excited weathermen. I got up this morning to a rompin' THREE INCHES of snow! Hardly the 8"-14" they were calling for. They said it would end after midnight. It was still snowing when I left for work this morning.

Oh, I also hate the SUV drivers who think that there is no possible way on god's green earth that they will slide, thus they drive FASTER when it snows!

[rcecale]

We got almost a whole half-inch of snow here in Atlanta last night. After growing up in Michigan and living in Lake Tahoe for a few years, it's really hard to get excited over a half-inch, but for the people that grew up around here, you'd think this was the storm of the century!!!

Randy

[Tim Hancock]

I know what you are saying Z, people around NW Ohio seem to get caught up in the local new "storm reports" (which means 1-3"). Next morning they are driving 40 mph on roads that have a dusting. I do not understand it, when I was a kid it took a 4-6" snow to cancel school. Nowadays, they close with an inch on the ground. IMO there is no reason for anyone to drive 25 mph less than the published speed limit when there is less than 2" of snow on the road. Ice or heavy slush is cause for concern, but light snow, WTF? I live 40 miles from my job in the city and I typically drive the speed limit (or more) for the first 25 miles then I hit civilization and a more "urban" setting and this is where I start coming up on the occasional 15mph in a 45 on wet salted road type drivers. It makes me want to pull them over and strap them into my car and take them on a death defying ride down a snowcovered road at ridiculous speeds until they swear they will never drive like a granny again! (maybe I just need to leave for work a little earlier and drink a little less coffee!).

End Rant

[oldE]

Zoltan,
Truth in advertising here! That wasn't a 'snow' rant, that was an "I can't deal with the *********s who can't deal with snow" rant.
I feel your pain, brother.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta clear the drifted snow out of my 1/4 mile long driveway. Sigh.
Les

[adamred]

I drove home from work last night in the snow behind a person driving a AWD Volvo wagon, who I swear drove 10 MPH the whole darn way, the roads were just wet, temp above freezing for God's sake.....uggh if its that bad for you leave early!!

Spring is so darn close but it seems March is going to be rough for the east coast....

[wludavid]

I drove from Baltimore to DC during a snow 'storm' a few weeks ago. Most people were driving a sensible 35 mph or so on the interstate - the road was pretty slippery. What irked me were the idiots who put their brakes on when driving past state troopers. It's not a speed trap when you're driving 20 mph under the posted limit!!!

[Plum]

AMEN!!!
Last Friday I was off and doing some running around.
Went to cross the street and a guy driving a car with one windshield
wiper working to clean about 3 inches of snow off the car didn't even
see me start to cross when I had the right of way in a cross walk.
NO other windows were even cleaned.
Yes, I too have an idiot neighbor who snow blows right into the street.
Oh, his two boys got bb gun pistos for Christmas and they shoot right from their back porch to a target in the yard about 15 feet away. ILLEGAL!
And this morning I'm driving to work after about 6-7 inches yesterday and last night and I look in my rear view mirror to see a car with the front windshield clear but about 6 inches of snow on the rest of the car including covered headlights and signals.

[tabs]

Ahhhhh...WHAT IS SNOW?????

[will944]

Originally posted by Porsche virgin I'd like to add: I can't stand the over-excited weathermen. I got up this morning to a rompin' THREE INCHES of snow! Hardly the 8"-14" they were calling for. They said it would end after midnight. It was still snowing when I left for work this morning. [/B]

OH man.....I can't stand all that BS!! Every storm is going to be huge......then we wake up to nothing special.

[djmcmath]

Originally posted by rcecale
We got almost a whole half-inch of snow here in Atlanta last night. After growing up in Michigan and living in Lake Tahoe for a few years, it's really hard to get excited over a half-inch, but for the people that grew up around here, you'd think this was the storm of the century!!!

Randy, for Atlanta that probably _was_ the storm of the century! I remember one snowy morning in Charleston, SC -- we had a dusting that was completely gone by 9am. The whole town was shut down for the whole day. It was amazing. Having been raised in North Idaho, I didn't even think twice about it. I guess a lot of other folks panicked, didn't show up to work, etc....

Oh, and the road crews -- they heard somewhere that when it snows, you should put gravel on the road. Well, they didn't have gravel trucks, or salt trucks, but they did have dirt trucks. It took weeks to clear all the mud off the roads!

[rcecale]

No way, Dan. A few years ago we had a whole inch dumped on us. Twice as bad as what we received last night!

I don't know, maybe people in general are just getting soft. I remember as a kid in Michigan, waking up at 5:00am for my paper route. When there was a big snowstorm, I always seemed to beat the snow plows and salt trucks. Something about balancing 75 newspapers on my little 20 inch bike, pedaling through 10 or 12 inches of new fallen snow....what a way to start the day!!!

Randy

[Joeaksa]

Whats snow? I seem to remember it way back in my feeble memory...

JoeA

[Moneyguy1]

Same here...I seem to remember it up to my a$$ no matter what end I was standing on....