Be careful on that ice people.

So, I'm sitting in the emergency room with my office landlord. He stepped out of his truck, took a header on the ice and probably broke his shoulder.

Yesterday, a good friends father took a header off his back steps. Thumb broken, orbit around one eye cracked, top vertebrate in his neck cracked. He's currently in surgery.

The local PD has reported working over 1000 car crashes. 

South Carolina just doesn't do snow well. 

Watch that ice. It's slick.

And, learn how to fall!!

dculberson said:

And, learn how to fall!!

First thing I teach when teaching skating.

If you're going to eat E36 M3, do it with style and creativity.

Speaking of ice, Appleseed, do you play pond hockey? Where at?

Mchenry. There wasn't much good ice the last few years, but this one guy had a hell of a setup near Island Lake. Boards (4", or so), lights, even rigged his lawn tractor into a quasi-Zamboni. 

I suck at it, but I always have fun.

dculberson said:

And, learn how to fall!!

Being drunk often is a good teacher. 

Some people talk about thinning the herd. Ice will always make a contribution to doing just that.  

In reply to Toyman01 :

We do snow a whole lot better than we do ice.  The bad thing is the snow turns to ice on the second day.        

One of these guys was 78, the other was 82. I don't think learning how to fall would have helped. Maybe learning how to stay inside, but both of them are pretty hard headed. 

Toyman01 said:

One of these guys was 78, the other was 82. I don't think learning how to fall would have helped. Maybe learning how to stay inside, but both of them are pretty hard headed. 

 

I hope they are OK.  At that age the damnedest things can start you on a nosedive 

Spent the first two decades of my life growing up in CT. The first week I lived in Charlotte, NC I was exposed to a southern style ice storm. Lesson learned - snow has some traction available, ice has next to zero traction available. Black ice is even worse.

As of this afternoon, they are both going to be OK.

The landlords arm isn't broken, just some rotator cuff damage.

The other gent had surgery today to pin his badly damaged thumb back together. The other fractures are apparently minor and should heal with no treatment. 

Yeah man, if the ice doesn't berkeley you up, it will introduce you to a hard surface but quick.  And that surface will berkeley you up.

At the ice races we stud our boots.

ncjay said:

Spent the first two decades of my life growing up in CT. The first week I lived in Charlotte, NC I was exposed to a southern style ice storm. Lesson learned - snow has some traction available, ice has next to zero traction available. Black ice is even worse.

Problem is the natives...drive 20 under the speed limit if it's raining, but 20 over if it's snowing (more if they got 4 wheel drive).

Advice from the frozen north: Yaktrax are your friend:

If there's enough ice, these are even more your friend:

Typically when I hear "be careful on the ice" it's followed by a story of someone falling through into a frozen lake and not coming up  Glad this wasn't one of those!

thestig99 said:

If there's enough ice, these are even more your friend:

Shoe chains!  Who knew?

The problem with spikes and studs is by the time you needed them again you wouldn't be able to find them. The last time we had this much snow and ice on the ground was 1989. The time before that was 1972. We get ice/snow storms about as often as we get hurricanes. 

As a matter of fact, hurricane Ginger hit NC the summer of 71 and we had a ice storm that winter, Hugo was 1989 and followed by a snow storm. Irene was last season, followed by a snow storm. . Hmmm. We'll have to see if the next hurricane is followed by another snow storm. 

Walk like a penguin. Shuffle/waddle. Don't walk. I can even jog on ice; walking is the problem. 

Appleseed, we should play together sometime. McHenry's a little far for me, but you never know. (Live in Elmhurst)

Have the landlord get an MRA (MRI with contrast injection directly into the shoulder) there's likely labrum damage that a standard MRI won't show and possibly a bicep tendon rupture as well. It'll make things easier for the orthopedic surgeon knowing that before going in for a simple rotator cuff repair. 

My lowered e30 riding on summer tires does not like this weather at all.

my usual 45-50 min commute to work took over 2 hours yesterday and I learned more about drifting than I care to know right now.

I took the wife's 02 jetta this morning to work. way better in this mess than my car.

Walking on ice is dangerous and a skill.  You can get seriously messed up.  

Minnesota accepts lots of refugees from around on the world.  I saw on the local news that they get out them through a class on winter.  They even have to teach them how to walk on ice and snow.  It’s not an easy skill for folks who don’t have to do it often.   And still dangerous for those who live up here.   Work gives out yak trac to employees as a precaution.   Be careful out there. 

Amazing that you can hit the deck faster than gravity pulls.

Ice is no joke. Two of my parents friends lost spouses due to falling on ice.