I Hate Winter And I Hate Snow.....

[foxxycat]

I was 3? During the big Blizzard of '78. My parents have a picture of me standing next to the snow they shoveled out and it was way over my head. I don't remember much about it as I was young but where we lived in Southern NH, we got bombarded with snow all the time! I think my mother said that dad couldn't go to work for 3 or 4 days due to all the snow and yes it was 3 feet that fell on top of the foot or so of snow we already had!!!!

This morning the sun came out and melted all the snow off the trees. But it was beautiful yesterday.

I'm about 25ish miles from work and yesterday morning took an hour to get to work but that's because I took a detour into next town over.. the roads were not plowed and the route to the highway is that big massive hill I biked down this summer. I didnt want to spin out driving up this monster of a hill or slide off the road on the downside because I don't have snow tires and just never thought I needed them...so I try to stay on flat roads and avoid hills even if it takes longer.

Luckily for me there's about 4 different ways to get to and from work if things on the highway shut down. But there's only one bridge into/out of work so if that is closed off I really am up the creek unless I drive 40 miles around to get up to Newmarket then over dover and home that way which is all slow roads and stop lights. Nothing ticks me off more than stop lights!

Here it was yesterday after I shoveled off the deck for the cats or rather Honeybee. Pumps wont go back outside until it's 60 again. Which from the weather forecast isn't going to happen until next spring.

 

[Kal_shadowsmom]

You definitely need 4-wheel drive if you live in an area that gets a lot of snow. I can also relate to driving to and from work in bad weather. I think that's probably the hardest part of winter.

Yep, if I didn't have to drive in it I think it wouldn't be so bad. I'm not worried about my driving, it's everyone else. Haha
But I'm up and out to open the store at 6am so I don't get a lot of traffic that early.

 

[NY cat man]

The odd thing about the Blizzard of '77 was that there was almost no new snowfall. Lake Erie had frozen over, and there was a lot of snow piled up on it. Stir in gale-force winds out of the southwest, and all that snow was dumped on WNY. And man, was it cold! Brass monkeys come to mind.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Yep, if I didn't have to drive in it I think it wouldn't be so bad. I'm not worried about my driving, it's everyone else. Haha
But I'm up and out to open the store at 6am so I don't get a lot of traffic that early.

Wise parents tell their kids (when they learn to drive), "I trust you to be smart. It's everyone else I'm worried about."
It's a good attitude to have. People are good in general, but in bad weather I assume everyone on the road is going to make a really stupid mistake at the worst time. Defensive driving injected with steroids. I hope other people assume the same of myself and anyone else on the road when the weather isn't good.

(Nothing pisses me off more than seeing someone weaving in and out of traffic at 75MPH when everyone else is doing 30 because the roads are so bad. It's like they think they're invincible. If you want a broken neck, do it on your own watch but leave me out of it, thanks! )

 

[NY cat man]

Wise parents tell their kids (when they learn to drive), "I trust you to be smart. It's everyone else I'm worried about."
It's a good attitude to have. People are good in general, but in bad weather I assume everyone on the road is going to make a really stupid mistake at the worst time. Defensive driving injected with steroids. I hope other people assume the same of myself and anyone else on the road when the weather isn't good.

(Nothing pisses me off more than seeing someone weaving in and out of traffic at 75MPH when everyone else is doing 30 because the roads are so bad. It's like they think they're invincible. If you want a broken neck, do it on your own watch but leave me out of it, thanks! )

Amen to that!

 

[foxden]

I’m sur you remember the big Bury of Buffalo back in 1977 and 1978?

We got buried in Cleavage-town, too.

I remember that winter. I was in high school then.
That's the first time I remember seeing construction equipment clearing snow on the roads. The roads had to be "cut" through the snow.
The walls of snow next to the road were unbelievable to me. This was west of Cleveland, and well away from the "snow belt" on the east side.

 

[Loving Mickey]

I absolutely HATE snow , always have.
Sure , it looks so pretty while it is falling but turns quickly to ice. It stays around way too long and looks so ugly. It is a hassle to get around anywhere or too dangerous to drive.
Public transportation takes hours.
Winter is so dreary and seems to never end.
I am in N.Y. so our winters can be brutal.
Already had snow on Thursday , way too early.
I have a feeling it will be a long winter!!

 

[NY cat man]

I remember that winter. I was in high school then.
That's the first time I remember seeing construction equipment clearing snow on the roads. The roads had to be "cut" through the snow.
The walls of snow next to the road were unbelievable to me. This was west of Cleveland, and well away from the "snow belt" on the east side.

One of my BILs worked at a local stone quarry, and they were using their big front-end loaders and quarry trucks to clear roads and haul away the snow. Of course, none of them was road-legal, but in an emergency, you do what you have to do.

 

[maggie101]

My oldest sis has lived in Alaska for yrs. I wish she lived closer. Her allergies were bad in Houston so she won't move back! Only summer and xmas

 

[Willowy]

(Nothing pisses me off more than seeing someone weaving in and out of traffic at 75MPH when everyone else is doing 30 because the roads are so bad. It's like they think they're invincible. If you want a broken neck, do it on your own watch but leave me out of it, thanks! )

I just want to get home safely. I don't care how long it takes. If you ask other people, they say the same. Nobody says "I just want to get there fast; I don't care about safety!" So who are these people? But there sure are plenty of them. And ending up in the ditch doesn't make them drive more carefully in the future.

 

[aliceneko]

I have mixed feelings about snow. It does indeed look pretty, and can be fun; however when it drags on for ages, it's not fun to be stuck inside, for people to have injuries and for practical items and other stock to be absent from shops.
We're meant to get snow this week or next week here in the UK; which is pretty early for us as we don't normally get snow here in London until February/March; however some northern parts of the country have had snow since Halloween.

 

[Kal_shadowsmom]

(Nothing pisses me off more than seeing someone weaving in and out of traffic at 75MPH when everyone else is doing 30 because the roads are so bad. It's like they think they're invincible. If you want a broken neck, do it on your own watch but leave me out of it, thanks! )

That was something that my dad told me and always stuck with me when I first started driving.
I had some crappy tires on my car one year and the car would start to go into a fishtail if you went above 35 on un plowed roads, so I went 30 so I wouldn't end up in a ditch. Didn't give a hoot who was behind me getting mad, I just wanted to get to my destination safe.
"Drive for the conditions, leave early, expect delays." That's my mantra in winter. Haha

 

[Rhall]

I will join this thread! I hate it too. Had our first blast in Southern Ontario this week. I had a lot of driving to do. Luckily most of my driving wasn't too bad - but my sister hit a tree driving into her cottage - all be it a horrible cottage road! I got in before her but got stuck in the driveway which resulted in an hour of shovelling to get unstuck and 1/2 way up the driveway! Ugh - people say they hate summer - I love it!!!!

 

[di and bob]

Anyone know how to forecast the coming winter from the wooly caterpillar? I noticed the gold 'bands' on them are really wide this year, very little black on the ends. i want to see if it's true. We already have had a 6.5 inch snow on Nov. 7th, an inch two days ago. I love the snow now that I'm retired and already have decided- I AM NOT GOING TO DRIVE ON ICY ROADS, EVER!!!!! It's not worth what it does to my heart. If it is 30 degrees out and a foot of snow coming down, that is perfect, let it snow! I can always add more clothes, but on those horrible, humid 100 degree days in the summer, you can only take off so much, the neighbors tend to call the cops......

 

[Norachan]

I can always add more clothes, but on those horrible, humid 100 degree days in the summer, you can only take off so much, the neighbors tend to call the cops......

Good point! I'd much rather be wrapped up warm than running around in my undies.

 

[di and bob]

At least those that live so far out of town could if they wanted too! I get real tired of being careful when I bend over because of the constant traffic, or watching what I wear, there's always a full moon at my house!

 

[Winchester]

di and bob Here you go, from the Old Farmers Almanac: Woolly Bear Caterpillars and Weather Prediction

Essentially, the more black on the caterpillar, the worse the winter will be. Around here, we've seen many of them with rusty ends and a black middle, meaning the beginning and end of winter won't be so bad, but the middle will be nasty.

When I worked in the paper plant, we were expected to be to work, regardless of the weather. No excuses, no exceptions. And I pretty much dealt with it and came to work (except for the Blizzard back in the 1990s, I think it was. Then I basically told them that if they wanted me to come into work, they could come get me and I'd meet them at the bottom of my driveway. Since PA DOT had to come out and clear our roads with backhoes, they didn't take me up on it.)

As I've gotten older, I just don't drive in it. Rick goes to work pretty much every day and he has no problems taking me in, too. As I mentioned, we are expected to go into work every day. Of course, the bosses don't have to and they never show up; if they do, they leave before it gets really bad. But we peons hardly ever have a snow day.

 

[di and bob]

Thank you, Winchester!

 

[foxxycat]

I agree with you Norachan I lothe summer. I love it cold so I can snuggle in blankets with a Honeybee on me. She won't snuggle in the summer.

Oh looks like we are getting another snow storm overnight! it's wayy too early for this crap!

I dont mind slow drivers as long as they stay in the right lane. We had a wingnut this morning doing 35 to 40 in a 55 mph highway. We had flurries and it wasn't like the other morning. Plow had already come by and salted. It really wasnt that bad. those of us with experience driving in the snow we kindly ask slow drivers keep to the right and stop slamming on the brakes all the time. In snow one should down shift (both manual/automatic trans) instead of brake pedal. Down shift from D into 3 or 2 will act like a brake and slow you down. Try it sometime. Works like a charm on snowy downhills.


I wish driving school taught kids more defensive skills and snow driving. It really is different than regular driving. Plus the 3 types of drive train also have seperate driving skill requirements. Rear wheel vs front wheel vs all wheel drive all handle differently on slick roads. Found out hard way in older truck that slid into snowbank along the road but it was a sharp curve i turned the wheel the wring way since I was used to front wheel drive.

Actually I enjoy driving in the snow. I like a challenge and I'm kind of crazy with no fear But I definitely keep well away from car in front. I loathe tailgaters...like tailgating will make the meatheads way up front go faster right?!

 

[NY cat man]

I am one of those beknighted souls who can sweat by just looking at the thermometer. In Charleston SC, if I stood in one place long enough, I would leave a puddle behind. Now that I don't have to go anywhere if I don't want to, I can take winter just fine, thank you very much.