the dummies...

January 12, 2011, 04:34:23 AM

Who think it's perfectly normal to drive 70 miles an hour in 6 inches of snow because they're in a 4x4. I'll be the one offering to pull them out when they slide off into the ditch....or maybe I'll flip 'em the bird as I drive (safely and slowly) past..

People who panic like it's Armageddon over 2 inches of snow, and rush to the store to buy every last god gallon of milk and loaf of bread because they fear they'll go w/o a bologna sammich or a bowl of corn flakes tomorrow afternoon.

People who only drive 2 miles to work, who call in because they are afraid of snow. Also known as people who can't change their own oil or flat tires.

Really people, there's a global warming happening, and according to history, they last a few years. Ain't it time to by god learn how to drive in inclement weather and bad conditions?

I'm not the best, safest, most perfect driver, but I learned how to drive in this wet white stuff in a Jeep CJ, no less, when I was 11 years old.

I'm simply amazed at how coochfied people are getting. What's next, the car supposed to come in the house and kick the door open for you on it's own?

I think the knowledge of changing a wheel/tire and brake pads/shoes should be a requirement of possessing a driver's license, and no vehicle safety inspection should be complete without a set of jumper cables, a quart each of engine oil and trans fluid, a tow rope, at least 1 gallon of properly mixed antifreeze/coolant, and a fire extinguisher. Did I mention a fire extinguisher?

I came close to losing a car and most of my clothes, books and cds/dvds because I didn't have a fire extinguisher in my white car...thankfully there was one nearby, and I used it. Pretty dramatic and habit-altering when you have to run from a car that's in a pretty big fireball.

Anywho, as I sit and rant, it's about 3 degrees outside, windchill takes that down to below zero....there's a time to be lax, and there's a time to be dead, and if you're lax now, and out in this cold slick shiznit, you could very well end up dead.

Be careful and use your head.

/rant.

the dummies...

Reply #1 – January 12, 2011, 08:17:00 AM

Amen buddy

the dummies...

Reply #2 – January 12, 2011, 08:23:11 AM

Quote from: ThunderbirdSport302;349410

and rush to the store to buy every last god gallon of milk and loaf of bread

Don't forget the eggs! You need eggs for your Snowpocalypse French Toast!

the dummies...

Reply #3 – January 12, 2011, 08:36:03 AM

ThunderbirdSport302,

Spoken like a true gentleman.

I watched some yuppie bimbo in some fancy Acura SUV today fly by me on route 9 in Shrewsbury doing about 60mph. She laid on the horn and she went steaming past. I came over the next hill and she was at the bottom smashed into the guardrail, as I went by I gave her a nice friendly toot.

There really in no excuse to be that stupid. Especially considering there is roughly 12 inches out there, and they have all kinds of safety features. 4 wheel drive, "snow mode", anti-lock brakes, auto compensate this, auto compensate that, and then there is me in my old busted up 88 Thunderbird, with a v8, rear wheel drive and no safety features except seat belts, and I (knock on wood) made it to work. There is no excuse why anyone else in New England shouldn't be able to do the same.

the dummies...

Reply #4 – January 13, 2011, 06:27:10 PM

Quote from: Chuck W;349420

Don't forget the eggs! You need eggs for your Snowpocalypse French Toast!

You forgot the toilet paper. Ya gotta have adequate clean up material.

the dummies...

Reply #5 – January 13, 2011, 06:36:45 PM

heard that lol it's amazing all the stores are out of food here cause everybody and they momma bought up all the food, Now GA is running out of gas because they can't figure out how to plow a road or spread salt. And because nobody knows how to drive in a little ice, by god i learned how and i aint scared to drive in it but then again its the dummies that cant drive that scares me.

the dummies...

Reply #6 – January 13, 2011, 08:29:52 PM

Quote from: Thunder Bantam;349594

i aint scared to drive in it but then again its the dummies that cant drive that scares me.

Word. It never fails that I get sandwiched between the person too timid to drive in ANY snow and the a-hole in the SUV with someplace to be. That's a great situation to be in.

the dummies...

Reply #7 – January 13, 2011, 10:58:08 PM

Its like that the first two major storms here. I laugh at all the car adds for banged up cars with trade for a 4 wheel drive this time of year.

the dummies...

Reply #8 – January 14, 2011, 12:19:17 AM

I drive a peg leg MN-12 in the snow. The MN-12 cars are regarded as possibly the worst ever snow cars. I never get stuck and I drive around with a pretty much empty trunk. It's easy when you know how to drive in the snow. The people at TCCOA whine about driving MN-12s in the snow like it's some kind of horrible thing. I really don't see what the problem is. It's not hard.

the dummies...

Reply #9 – January 14, 2011, 12:01:53 PM

Quote from: thunderjet302;349659

I drive a peg leg MN-12 in the snow. The MN-12 cars are regarded as possibly the worst ever snow cars. I never get stuck and I drive around with a pretty much empty trunk. It's easy when you know how to drive in the snow. The people at TCCOA whine about driving MN-12s in the snow like it's some kind of horrible thing. I really don't see what the problem is. It's not hard.

Just an observation on my part , your location says Chicago so I'm assuming you live in a munility that actually plows/ sands roads , where there is a semblance of snow removal just about anything can be driven effectively , where I live now we got 8 inches of snow over the weekend and I still haven't seen a plow within 3 miles of my house there is NO way my bird could leave my street with any sense of ease .
Now back in Mass where I grew up the got almost 2 feet of snow the other day and the only thing that was moving the first day according to my family was plow trucks and 4X4s.

the dummies...

Reply #10 – January 14, 2011, 12:30:43 PM

Quote from: hypostang;349687

Just an observation on my part , your location says Chicago so I'm assuming you live in a munility that actually plows/ sands roads , where there is a semblance of snow removal just about anything can be driven effectively , where I live now we got 8 inches of snow over the weekend and I still haven't seen a plow within 3 miles of my house there is NO way my bird could leave my street with any sense of ease .
Now back in Mass where I grew up the got almost 2 feet of snow the other day and the only thing that was moving the first day according to my family was plow trucks and 4X4s.

Not true, about plow trucks and 4x4's my bird made the trip from westborough to Worcester, and back without a hesitation. Worcester is very hilly, and even with a peg leg and a v8, she made it through like a CHAMP! :). I had to go to work. lol

Quote from: thunderjet302;349659

I drive a peg leg MN-12 in the snow. The MN-12 cars are regarded as possibly the worst ever snow cars. I never get stuck and I drive around with a pretty much empty trunk. It's easy when you know how to drive in the snow. The people at TCCOA whine about driving MN-12s in the snow like it's some kind of horrible thing. I really don't see what the problem is. It's not hard.

And the foxes can't be any better than the MN-12's. I only have a full size spare in the trunk, the stock jack, and a pair of booster cables. And maybe a couple of screwdrivers, haha.

the dummies...

Reply #11 – January 14, 2011, 02:26:50 PM

Quote from: hypostang;349687

Just an observation on my part , your location says Chicago so I'm assuming you live in a munility that actually plows/ sands roads , where there is a semblance of snow removal just about anything can be driven effectively , where I live now we got 8 inches of snow over the weekend and I still haven't seen a plow within 3 miles of my house there is NO way my bird could leave my street with any sense of ease .
Now back in Mass where I grew up the got almost 2 feet of snow the other day and the only thing that was moving the first day according to my family was plow trucks and 4X4s.

I live in the city of Chicago. When snow hits they plow the main streets first and get to the side streets when the snow stops. So if we get 12" of snow the side streets (residential streets) don't get plowed till the snow stops. So to leave your hose you have to drive through 12" of snow at times till they plow.

the dummies...

Reply #12 – January 14, 2011, 03:29:29 PM

Quote from: jpc647;349688

Not true, about plow trucks and 4x4's my bird made the trip from westborough to Worcester, and back without a hesitation. Worcester is very hilly, and even with a peg leg and a v8, she made it through like a CHAMP! :). I had to go to work. lol

RTEs 9 or 20 aren't exactly secondary streets

I grew up in Worcester, lived there 34 years. I was talking about the middle of the night when My brother and brother in law were out plowing at 2:00 am there were only plows and 4X4s
I had two different TCs that I drove through Worcester /central Mass winters , and while I was able to navigate when I needed to I would not say either was "good"" in the snow.
I suppose my definition of good may be different than other peoples . Not getting stuck does not to me mean, the car is good is good in the snow .
The 18 winters I drove through I always had better luck with front wheel or four wheel drive . ( which was only about 5 of those 18)
To be honest the phrase "You just need to know how to drive in the snow " irritates me .
Knowing how to drive is not going to make a bit of difference in how a car handles / behaves, some vehicles are better in the snow than others.

the dummies...

Reply #13 – January 14, 2011, 03:32:10 PM

Quote from: thunderjet302;349693

I live in the city of Chicago. When snow hits they plow the main streets first and get to the side streets when the snow stops. So if we get 12" of snow the side streets (residential streets) don't get plowed till the snow stops. So to leave your hose you have to drive through 12" of snow at times till they plow.

Sounds like where I grew up ..
Where I live now (in the Great Smoky Mountains) You aint going anywhere around here without four wheel drive until at least some of the snow melts .

the dummies...

Reply #14 – January 14, 2011, 06:30:50 PM

I'd have to agree with hypostang, I love my 87 cougar in the snow, i Love my 99 jimmy in the snow, i hate my parents 96 blazer in the snow bc i feel drag slicks have more tread then the tires on thier blazer. I wouldn't take my cougar out in more than 5-6 inchs of snow (mostly because i have the choice between something that would be bottoming out in the snow and something that would drive over it with a few inches to spare.) Getting started from a stop in the deep stuff is the hardest part. I find when the cougar does start fish tailing (unintentionally) it is very predictable. I had a 93 f150, 91 tbird and an 89 scorpio and niether of them are what I would consider predictable in a fishtail.