Driving down south and it might snow ... I'm going to die aren't I?

... and there lies the trouble with driving in the South during foul weather. The idiots in the 4-wheel drives aren't smart enough to realize that all that weight and all-wheel drive isn't going to save them when the tires hit a sheet of ice.

Then you have the others who try to call out of work when they see the first snowflake. It was pretty funny a few years ago when employees left and right were calling out, and I made it 70-plus miles one way. In a compact pickup truck (though loaded with snow in the back).

 

There are many reasons why I left the South, and the Earnhardt wannabes are just one. Oh, you know the type. Skinny guy, but with a huge beer gut, shitty mustache, racing sunglasses and a No. 3 hat pulled low.

And if you see this:



It's like The Ring. You're as good as dead. That fucker's causing an accident at some point. The same one who passes you on the shoulder of I-65 doing 90 will no doubt try it in the snow and ice.

 

If you see that, you're pretty much screwed no matter what you do.

 

I used to live in this apt. complex in north Georgia that started at the top of a steep hill and went down and around to the lake that was on its property. I lived at the bottom of the curve before it went around.

During a rare December ice storm (rare for December, not for that area) a couple years ago, I could not for the life of me get my truck up that hill because of the ice on the pavement. Tried pushing it, tried putt-putt-puttering it up the hill, tried to keep a steady foot on the gas, tried to swerve my way up the hill (dodging the other cars in the parking lot ;D) ... nothing worked. ... So even though I lived about 3 miles away from work, I had to call in -- the first and last time I ever called in to that paper. Just couldn't get up the damn hill.

My coworker, living a half-mile from work, didn't even bother warming up his car because the ice was so bad around his place. He just bundled up like Sir Edmund and walked to work. Got our pages out early and walked back home.

 

Having spent my first 13 driving years up north and the next 12 down south, I will tell you, it's not the drivers that make the difference, but the equipment. In Chicago, the army of trucks were out laying salt before it started to snow. In Georgia, the handful of trucks aren't enough to make any impact. Not even sure they drop salt---could be grits.

And my most recent experience with snow/ice was in trekking the family home to St Louis for Christmas, I believe two years ago. Got to Nashville and a big snowstorm rolls in and they shut down I-24 North. We scramble to call and get a hotel reservation--having made the trip many times previously we knew the hotels we were nearby. 90 minutes to go a mile to the next exit and we happened to get the 2nd last hotel room available.

Highway gets opened the next morning, but it's still pretty much snow covered and treacherous through TN and KY. Starts to clear in IL, but that's where you started to see trouble---folks started to open it up, would hit a patch, and find themselves on their side in the ditch. Tensest 6 hours of my life. Had a few cocktails that evening as I recall...

Good luck and godspeed, Bubbler

 

I saw this and said the same thing I say every time I see it -- Ms. Slappy does the same thing.
"HE'S DEAD. HE'S BEEN DEAD. HE'S STILL DEAD. HE'S NOT COMING BACK" (Is also interchangeable with Bear Bryant.).

 

In Ohio, you don't drive on snow or ice, but salt. Mountains and mountains of the shit. It will be caked on your car by the end of the storm.

 

We're all gonna die. Don't do it for a job.

 

The two of you are full of awesome.

 

Full of something else maybe NO. 3 NO. 3 NO. 3!!!!!!!

 

Forecast has changed, looks like the snow is going to hold off south of the Ohio River.

Earnhardt wanna-be's? Could be blizzard conditions.

 

On the other hand, if you drive up alongside one of these folks and hold up three fingers, you'll get the same back and then have a ready-made blocker through traffic. Works like a charm, just don't follow every swerve.