I’d actually take great pleasure in seeing the DC elite suffer from poor preparation and inability to exempt themselves from mother nature.
My only genuine the sympathy would be for whatever Guard troops are roughing it in the great outdoors if the weather gets ugly
Yup. The schadenfreude when driving a 4WD/AWD vehicle and easily pulling away from intersections the morning after a fresh snowfall while others struggle to even move is delicious, but if you're running summer tires, then you're one of the people I'm laughing at, regardless of how many driven wheels you have.Originally Posted by RJ
The collision shop god smiles.
For many decades folks were able to survive the winter with rear-drive cars. It's amazing how inept folks have become behind the wheel and in life generally. Having lived in New England for 11 years in my distant past I know from first hand experience that you're screwed in glare ice no matter the platform, but for snow I'd say "harden up".
I remember when I was stationed at Ft Lewis in the mid '90s after we closed Ft Ord. Eastern WA had a rare snow. I was driving a '68 Camaro at the time and managed to help more than one SUV driver that got stuck.I guess growing up and learning to drive in PA made a difference.
I didn't have any issues around four to five this morning aside from the normal having to pass people going 25 mph on Routes 29 and 3.
About 5" here in the Valley so far. Forgot my cover-the-heat-pump-with-pallets-and-a-piece-of-plywood trick for this one, so I'm headed out to do it now before any freezing rain ices up the blades and burns the fan motor out again.
That is awesome! We don't usually get much winter nastiness here but when we do it often involves ice. I have usually just switched to emergency heat and/or resorted to using hot water to try and melt it off our heat pump package unit.
Thanks for the tip.
And just like that, my life has no longer been for nothing.
Things have changed. I remember being in high school in 1984 when a freak snow storm (we lived in the "snow belt" east of Cleveland) starting dumping snow around lunch time. By the time the school day was over (there was no early dismissal), we were in the midst of a genuine blizzard. My car was a 1971 two-door Ford Gran Torino with the 351 Windsor motor, no power steering, and no power brakes. There, of course, were also no mobile phones. It was part of life to be disconnected and rely on myself.
It was nothing special for me to drive home in a snow storm. A trip that usually took me ten minutes, ended up taking about an hour. I remember starting the car, getting the front defroster running at maximum (there was no rear window defroster), and heading out to clear the snow from the car. It probably only took five minutes to clear the windows and lights, but it seemed to take forever. I got back into the car and realized I had a problem; I could not see anything beyond the green hood. It had turned into a whiteout.
The AM radio station said the snow was going to keep coming, so my choices were to take shelter in the school or risk being stranded being school and home. Being 17, staying at school was not an option. So I slowly headed out. First challenge was to find the road in front of the school. That was not too bad. I was hoping to follow tracks, but the traffic was light and the snow was quickly filling the tracks. The road was straight and intersected a state highway with a traffic light. I rolled down the driver's window a bit to better hear other vehicles as I was literally driving blind. I was creeping along as going too fast meant either sliding or hitting something. I could barely see tail lights and had to be careful to not hit vehicles in front of me. I could barely see the glow of the traffic light, but tail lights and the traffic light allowed me to know where I was. I was probably doing something like five miles per hour. Past that intersection was a problem. I had to make a left turn at the next street, and the road had a ditch on each side of the intersection. So missing the road meant putting the car into a ditch. I still could not see much at all. But there was a bump aka pot hole before where I should turn.
So the light turned green, I waited to make sure I heard no cars coming, and I slowly got going with the rear of the car fishtailing a bit on the ice forming from crushed snow at the intersection. I crept along, waiting for that bump. It seemed like I had missed it, gone too far, when I finally hit it. So now I knew where the road was. I slowly turned waiting for the ditch. When I had traveled a bit, I knew I was home free. I slowly traveled up the street, waiting my next turn, a right turn. Luckily there was a mailbox at the corner, and I could barely see it. I turned onto the next street and made my way home.
When I got home, I parked the car at the base of the driveway, got the snow blower from the garage, and cleared the driveway. I then pulled my vehicle forward a bit, so my father could get in the driveway. I would have to move it later so he could park his in the garage. We usually did the swap after dinner and did it again in the morning as he left for work before I left for school.
Funny thing is that no one treated that day like it was a big deal. It was just weather, not a reason to panic.
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