Ok, Minnesotans, it's just snow. We've all seen this stuff before.

So we get 2-3" of powder overnight last night. Roads are fairly slick because the snow dumped pretty fast, and the plows are behind. No big deal, right? Yeah, TWO HOURS later (quadruple my normal commute time) I get to work, only to find out that everyone else has had the same experience. Further, On my way up the highway, I see a grand am, pointed at me, with its rear bumper cover torn off and lying in front of it (so, the headlights were pointing at it). The culprit? A really nice Infiniti QX4 (Pathfinder Gold for those of you who don't care to know) that was too ignornant to pay attention that she's hurtling down a merge lane, that's been there since the beginnig of time. Grand Am makes an attempt to merge, gets clipped, does a nice pirouette across two lanes of traffic, and ends up facing the wrong way sitting on the center shoulder. The pathfinder apparently, found god, let go of the wheel to praise the lord (Ok, so I'm making this part up) veered across the SAME two lanes of traffic, and did its best 69 charger impression, and landed itself on top of a snow/ice berm that is taller than my Taurus. I give her a 10 for execution, how she didn't roll that pig after that debacle is beyond me.

But this brings me to my point. We're all from MN around here. Most of us are lifers. We've all seen snow before... quite a bit this season in fact. Stuff is nothing new. Why is it that everyone forgets what the hell this stuff is EVERY TIME IT SNOWS? It's worse than when I throw my cat in a snowbank and it loses it, because it can't comprehend the cold fluffy stuff. Come on people this is NOT a hard concept. Snow= be careful. If you're from Georgia or something, you get a pass, at least for 1 season. The rest of you.... SHAAAAAAAME.

mndsm wrote: But this brings me to my point.

Its the same reason people freak out when I take corners at a mediocre pace and the freak out, or my co-worker tells me I'm a danger to society on wheels when he can't even maintain a +-10km/h steady state while driving on the highway; they are retards.

Yeah I agree. I moved out here to Boston from WI and I figured they'd be fine here with snow on the roads (I mean, relatively OK, considering they can't drive when the weather is clear) because it's still the north, and it happens every year, but I was wrong. the first time it snowed (2 inches) this year, It took me 2 hours to go 8 miles. On top of that, a couple days ago I was driving at the start of out last snow storm, and I got stuck behind 7 plows that were plowing storrow drive at 5-10 mph (that's 2 narrow lanes going in one direction, with 7 plows, each staggered about 2 feet). Now, I understand they declared a winter storm advisory or soemthing, but when there is a quarter inch of snow on the ground (beginning of the storm, remember), 7 plows can't do much on a 2 lane road beyond wasting gas and cancelling out the environmental benefits of those smug hybrids. Ah the brilliance of the goverment. on a related note, I saw a CR-z the other day. Someone around here bought one! It looked pretty good driving down the road.

In reply to mndsm:

I bet most of them were too busy drinking coffee while texting to even notice it had snowed.

mndsm wrote: Stuff is nothing new. Why is it that everyone forgets what the hell this stuff is EVERY TIME IT SNOWS?

Blame MTV and ADD. I'm surprised people can remember their name if nobody adresses them every 2 minutes.

You throw your cat in the snow? That's cold.

rimshot.

TRoglodyte wrote: You throw your cat in the snow? That's cold.

He's got extra toes and is dumb enough to try and escape. I figure his feet are like snow shoes, he should be fine.

I just want to give you kudos for using the word pirouette and spelling it correctly.

I spelled it correctly? BONUS!

The title lies. No one has ever seen snow. I'm not even sure what is is, or if it exists. Let a lone how to walk and or drive in it.

You sir must be from another dimension. Or a parallel weird earth that has stuff we don't.

I just checked the weather channel web site thingy. They are using terms like "Winter storm Twitter updates | Dangerous storm ahead | Crippling ice threat | A travel nightmare "

I have no idea whats going on. I'm just going to put a spare rim and tire and my tools and jack in my light little 240sx. Good thing I have half bald rear tires and a LSD. I think

~Alex

Some people just do not understand how to drive and low friction makes them worse. This past weekend I am at the Sno Drift Rally with 7 friends. One of my oldest, dearest friends is there. He has always had problems with driving well. He is driving a 4x4 Nissan Pick Up. On saturday afternoon as he was leaving my cabin, those of us remaining jokingly made bets on how far he would get before being hopelessly stuck. We all guessed about 100 yards or so where the 2 track starts uphill. We were wrong, within 3 feet he is sliding sideways off the trail, after 3 car lengths he is perpendicular to the trail. A 2wd Saturn and a Subaru Legacy , both without snow tires had negotiated the same trai with out a problem. Some people just can not drive.

mndsm wrote:

TRoglodyte wrote: You throw your cat in the snow? That's cold.

He's got extra toes and is dumb enough to try and escape. I figure his feet are like snow shoes, he should be fine.

And don't worry, they always land feet down.

Cat in the snow? I've seen that. It's funny

Given that my experience in the UK suggests that people can't drive in the rain either (I mean, it never rains in the UK, right?), I'm not surprised that people who see snow every winter can't drive on that, either.

Rufledt wrote: Cat in the snow? I've seen that. It's funny

Yep. it's just like that. Only about 2x the size, and 100% more orange stripey.

It happens in California too every time it rains. I once was driving in fairly heavy trafic when a ford excursion spun across the freeway from right to left and ended up going sideways into the guard rail so it was facing me. I was able to avoid it, but i really hate the people that spin their suvs all over the road in heavy traffic just becasue they panic that there is a little bit of water on the road (in either frozen or liquid form).

mndsm wrote:

Rufledt wrote: Cat in the snow? I've seen that. It's funny

Yep. it's just like that. Only about 2x the size, and 100% more orange stripey.

Orange Tabby is best kind of cat.

same thing happens here in Michigan....

oh man i can't wait till friday, we're supposed to have the first ice/snow of the season here in houston, and even though the steepest incline is going up the highway flyovers, there is sure to be some rediculous carnage. i'll be carrying my camera all week.

even better, it might actually stick for a bit since its supposed to be down in the 20's at night all this week.

I don't remember snow in Michgan causing the same amount of carnage that rain in California does. It could be that has changed in the 14 years since I left.

As far as Minnesotans driving poorly in snow. I suspect its nothing new. My dad is from Minneapolis. He told me stories about how in high school, he and buddies earned some extra cash by going out in big snow falls to help people who got stuck. This was in the 1940's.

The last winter driving I did was about 3 years ago. I took my wife to the Grand Canyon in December. (her birthday is December and she wanted to go) We rented a Chysler 300 in Phoenix and drove up to park. The night before we were schduled to drive back to Phoenix to fly home, it started to snow. By morning there was 3 inches of powder on the ground an it was still coming down. Early in the morning we packed up and started out. By moving fairly slowly and using the "egg under the throttle foot" technique Bobzilla decribes in his "How stupid was I' post, we got to the interstate without any drama. and headed toward Flagstaff. I could tell by the number of snowplows and salt trucks working that snow is pretty common in that part of the state.

The snow kept coming down harder and by the time we got to Flagstaff, there were 4wd SUV's and pickups off the road everywhere. I continued moving slowly and using gentle inputs. I remember thinking, "If I can get this automatic rwd land yacht through this mess after not seeing snow in 10 years, there no excuse for your Landcruiser to be buried up to its axels in the ditch. Especially when it snows here every year." We made it back to Phoenix with no problem.

Q- that is precisely the reason I want a bigass plow truck. I figure I can haul people out of the snow, charge em a few bucks, follow em home, and make a few more cleaning off their driveway. I figure me and some chains is gonna be a lot faster than AAA and a wrecker anyhow, and I need pictures of presidents, not plastic.

mndsm wrote: Q- that is precisely the reason I want a bigass plow truck. I figure I can haul people out of the snow, charge em a few bucks, follow em home, and make a few more cleaning off their driveway. I figure me and some chains is gonna be a lot faster than AAA and a wrecker anyhow, and I need pictures of presidents, not plastic.

Since popular mythology is that all wheel drive and antilock brakes have fundmentally altered the laws of physics, there will be plenty of vehicles to get unstuck.

For the record, I don't think my dad made that much money back in the day. Going out in snow storms to help people get home was way more fun than than being stuck at home with my strict German grandfather who wanted his children doing something "productive" every waking minute.