Snow!

[altivo]

About 8 inches. (Stop that!) So late in getting here, most of the things that closed on Wednesday could just as well have stayed open. Which of course means that the next time there's a storm warning, they'll all stay open no matter what. All incredibly stupid.

It has stopped now, but the wind is blowing the powdery stuff all over. Oddly, the township (country two lane) roads are not bad at all. But state and federal highways and city streets are just horrible. Like they have not been touched, except where large trucks have gone over them and pushed the snow around.

With 4 wheel drive and many years of winter driving experience, I had no trouble getting through. But the risk is from other drivers who do not slow down, who have apparently no idea that they can't turn on a dime or stop on a hair. Especially those with heavy SUV type vehicles (Urban Attack Verhicles, really) who think that all wheel drive guarantees that they can not only drive over the normal speed limits as usual, but can still tailgate and rush up to red lights and slam on the brakes only at the last second when it doesn't turn green for them on command.

We are closing the library again today. I have the afternoon off anyway, hope to get my cross-country skis out and go play for a bit before it melts (which it will do.)

Comments

[margaras.livejournal.com]

Suburban Assault Vehicles, as Greg Proops calls them. Something about them being popular in LA, where there isn't "one iota of unpaved space". I so wish I had a subscription to audible.com. He's got rants on there, or used to.

[calydor.livejournal.com]

Heh, 8 inc ... Oh wait, you beat me to it. Damn you.

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

My company isn't closing early, but we just found out that for all the brave souls who made the trek to work, the company cafe is giving us free lunch. Woo-hoo! And we got less than 8 inches for the most part.

Drivers today were mostly pretty good around here. I saw a lot of vehicles in the ditch, though. Several had been there long enough that they were buried in snow from when the snowplows came through. Survival of the fittest, I guess.

[duncandahusky.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the north side of Chicago saw about eight inches as well. (Rowr. Um, sorry.) The main streets are clear - just wet, really - but the side streets are a wreck. And it seems the further north you go, the worse it gets; a cow-orker of mine from Racine said it's absolutely miserable up there, with a foot of snow and very little plowing on the roads.

It definitely was a good idea to take the train today.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I took a ruler out an measured. It's been donkey's ears since I saw eight inches...

[shadowtxhorse.livejournal.com]

8 inches of snow? Just enough for a lot of recreational fun *giggle*

If you can stand the cold of course.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, it *is* easier to stand the cold if there's hot cocoa and a warm snuggle afterwards. ;)

[shadowtxhorse.livejournal.com]

Cold is such a relative term. Considering I was notorious when I lived in Colorado for making snow angels in the nude. *evil grin*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

How else would you make them if you didn't unwrap them first? ;p

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

4WD ROCKS!!!! WOO WOO WOO WOO WOOO.....Why is everyone staring at me? Oops, wrong audience. No, I have a little 4 cylinder Wrangler, and I behave mostly. I does come in handy. I was amused at a Cadillac Escalade cruising the neighborhood last night with rap music blaring so loud you could hear it in my house, as they drove by with their windows up, swerving wildly from curb to curb, because they don't know the limits of their adhesion. *sigh*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I have a Cherokee Sport. So light that my insurance calls it a light truck instead of an SUV (thank goodness.) Somehow I seem to manage a lot better than most of these two-ton behemoths. Of course if one of them t-bones me at an intersection I'm the one who'll be killed.

[shadowtxhorse.livejournal.com]

Heh ... I drive a Chevy Avalanche and get a kick out of watching Escalade owners think they can drive like it is a sports car. *grin*

[murakozi.livejournal.com]

I both love and dread snow. There's nothing like walking through the woods at night after a decent snow, or just the way it looks before it's been shoveled or driven or walked in.

I hate driving in this area when it snows. As in most other places, people figure that big ol SUV they got means they're immune from the laws of physics. Most either drive way too fast or way too slow when the roads are a mess. I recall one winter during some nasty snowfall, driving home from work in my lil Tracer and having an SUV cut around me and zoom on up ahead, only to end up getting stuck on a moderately steep hill. I just chugged steadily along, going a bit wide of him while he spun his wheels, lest he drift over into me.

Learning to drive in central Missouri, we were at least taught the basics of what to do when the weather gets bad.

[dakhun.livejournal.com]

4 wheel drive just means 4 wheel slide if you don't know how to use it, or have bad tires. :-)