# Random Rant



## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

On another car forum I've been a part of, there was a long standing 'rant' thread where members tossed out various gripes. some spurred comments/conversation, others were just venting. After tonight's commute I thought I'd start one here 

I really, _really_ hate snow. 
It probably doesn't help living somewhere that only rarely gets snow AND the highway departments deals with snow/ice with eco-friendly (non salt) de-icers and barely a handful of plows, leaving the roads as good as not treated at all. 
It's after 9pm and the entire city is still in total gridlock from people leaving work.









for scale, from the top of this map to the bottom, is about a 45-50 miles mile drive, every freeway barely crawling. but at least better than it looked earlier with all freeways black and red instead of red and orange, I guess...


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## Michael Russo (Oct 15, 2016)

MelindaV said:


> On another car forum I've been a part of, there was a long standing 'rant' thread where members tossed out various gripes. some spurred comments/conversation, others were just venting. After tonight's commute I thought I'd start one here
> 
> I really, _really_ hate snow.
> It probably doesn't help living somewhere that only rarely gets snow AND the highway departments deals with snow/ice with eco-friendly (non salt) de-icers and barely a handful of plows, leaving the roads as good as not treated at all.
> ...


@MelindaV , understand... Had quite a bit of snow when I lived in the US (Rapid City, SD first 40 yrs. ago then Akron, OH, in the mid-nineties)... we have quite a bit less of it now here in WE, which is worse as people are not used to it any longer... Took me 3 hrs. one time to drive 25 miles back home...
Anyways, on a positive note, think of how much more pleasant it will be when you're in your Model ≡...!


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## MichelT3 (Nov 16, 2016)

The benefits of having a small government.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

When the forecast is really bad, I'll usually either work from home or schedule a vacation day. But not everybody has a job that affords them that luxury.

It's 10° F (-12° C) in Pittsburgh right now, and the high is supposed to be 12° F. Way too cold for not even being winter yet.


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## Rick59 (Jul 20, 2016)

High of 14C in Ottawa (it's a joke calling it high). Opened the back door to let my dog out and he just looked up at me and he's probably thinking, "You're kidding, right?"
(Love the rant thread. Some many possibilities....)


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Rick59 said:


> High of 14C in Ottawa


You mean -14C, correct?

There's no way that Pittsburgh is colder than Ottawa.


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## Rick59 (Jul 20, 2016)

garsh said:


> You mean -14C, correct?
> 
> There's no way that Pittsburgh is colder than Ottawa.


Sorry, -14. Brain freeze.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Rick59 said:


> Sorry, -14. Brain freeze.


I see what you did there...


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## Badback (Apr 7, 2016)

Ahh... the joys of retirement. The only time I go outside is to clear the driveway and take the wheely bins down to the lane.

Our 250' x 3 car driveway is easily cleared in 20 min with our Bobcat 5600, aka Toolcat. I preheat the cab first, of course. I never get snow on my boots as the Toolcat rests in the garage. One 6" snowfall so far this season.

Oh look it's 10AM, time for my nap. ZZZZZZZZ


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

You need to convert that Bobcat to electric.


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## Badback (Apr 7, 2016)

garsh said:


> You need to convert that Bobcat to electric.


It actually looks like this:










And I usually use all of 5 gallons of diesel a year.


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## TrevP (Oct 20, 2015)

I hate snow as well, that's why we have plans to retire way south (like Panama).

But hey, I got to use my snowblower again today! The snow was light but about 8 inches. The little sucker plowed through it like butter. I've never seen snow thrown out so fast out of such a small little machine!


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## Topher (May 11, 2016)

Since Ranting is the subject. I will rant against the idea of "eco-friendly de-icers". ALL de-icers are bad for the environment. Just in different ways.

Trev, thanks for the video review of the snowblower.

Thank you kindly.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Topher said:


> ALL de-icers are bad for the environment. Just in different ways.


Eco-friendly de-icers


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

garsh said:


> Eco-friendly de-icers



I should send that link to ODOT / WADOT. 
as un update on our 1" of snow Wednesday afternoon, streets are still iced over


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## Terrence Lemay (Apr 4, 2016)

Trev I bought the snow blower because of your review !! I already have a big gas one but it is noisy and cumbersome at best. I love it. Thanks again.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

I just spent a couple of hours with my youngest son, armed with the aforementioned "eco-friendly de-icers", trying to get the one inch thick layer of ice off of the driveway before my inlaws arrive.

</rant>


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## MichelT3 (Nov 16, 2016)

garsh said:


> I just spent a couple of hours with my youngest son, armed with the aforementioned "eco-friendly de-icers", trying to get the one inch thick layer of ice off of the driveway before my inlaws arrive.
> 
> </rant>


A layer of sand?


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## TrevP (Oct 20, 2015)

Terrence Lemay said:


> Trev I bought the snow blower because of your review !! I already have a big gas one but it is noisy and cumbersome at best. I love it. Thanks again.


Glad you like it! Make sure you keep the battery inside when not using it  I bought mine last year and used it maybe 3 times but this year I've used 4 times already! A couple of days ago I did my backyard, my driveway and my attached neighbour's driveway and did another 3 car driveway a couple of doors down, all on one charge and still had over 50% left.


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## Terrence Lemay (Apr 4, 2016)

Just like the car batteries better when warm !!


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

I had to dig up this thread just to say eclipse yesterday was totally awesome, but damn every single one of you that live north of PTLD that had to drive home and go thru the height of our evening traffic. 
My normal awful 1hour drive home was over 3½ f'ing hours. that equates out to more than 15 minutes per mile! could you not have left yesterday when no one was working? or this morning? or stopped for dinner maybe? 
if any are still hanging out, you best get thru PTLD before 5pm tomorrow :neutral:


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## Michael Russo (Oct 15, 2016)

MelindaV said:


> I had to dig up this thread just to say eclipse yesterday was totally awesome, but damn every single one of you that live north of PTLD that had to drive home and go thru the height of our evening traffic.
> My normal awful 1hour drive home was over 3½ f'ing hours. that equates out to more than 15 minutes per mile! (...):neutral:


Feel for you, Melinda...









Yet, remember, this was a formidable event!!


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## ng0 (Apr 11, 2017)

What's that white stuff on that ground? 

hahahahaha... <ducks>


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

Since I will never drive in snow (unless on vacation), I will share my 2 pet peeves (well maybe there are more)...

If only we were trained to drive like the Europeans... slow traffic to the right. Left lane for passing. All would be right with the world. I am baffled when the speed limit on the highway is 65 MPH and people camp in the left lane doing 55 MPH :rage:
Well in South Florida as soon as the rain starts with a drizzle the average speed drops by 20-30 MPH. Mind you it rains 145 days a year in South Florida so this shouldn't be anything new...
That is all (for now)


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

can not wait to not have car keys.... 

my Pontiac has 2 keys & fobs. a year or two ago, one of the fobs stopped working and when I opened it to replace the battery discovered the battery holder had came un-soldered, so started to use the other set ever since.

Today I dropped my keys and the same thing happened to the second fob. So now I have two broken fobs :/


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