[SGVLUG] OT: Snow

[Chris Smith]

On 11/16/05, Dustin <laurence at alice.caltech.edu> wrote:
> If you drive out of the city at all, have winter gear in your car for the
> same reason.  Blankets (for longer trips, also water and things like trail
> mix or chocolate bars) for you, chains (and practice putting them on)
> and a bag of cat litter or sand for the car.

I hear you on everything except the chains. Not that they are a bad
idea, but they seem to be used a lot more down here than they are up
in Canada, and I don't understand why, as they are really harsh on the
road when used at innapporpriate times.

> Have all-season tires on your car--some tires aren't safe to drive on when
> there is ice on the road.

Heck, if you're in Chicago it's probably approaching time to start
shopping for some proper snow tires.

> Oh, yeah--learn what black ice is and be careful!

..or don't and allow natural selection to solve the problem... ;-) I
always found that there were far more accidents on the first day that
black ice conditions appeared in the city.

> Here is one last piece of advice that nobody ever takes but maybe should:

Are you kidding? That's the best part of the beginning of snow
season!!! We'd always go out to some empty parking lot at night, and
with a couple of beers to keep us warm and "improve" our reflexes,
spend the evening doing slaloms, spin outs, fishtailing, and if you
were really good, 360's or better. Really it's more fun than snow
boarding. ;-)

--
Chris