Had a little mishap today
It was one of those afternoons. All day was a mixture of sleet, hail, snow and ice, Caleigh was up vomiting last night from a stomach bug, Louise got a huge metal splinter in her thumb, and Freddie the cat got sick enough to bring to the vet.
Of course, the trip to the vet came after I had already made one trip down to civilization and decided that it was just too icy to be out and about. We had ordered more bubble wrap from Staples and it was supposed to be delivered today. I got a call from the delivery guy, who was lost. I got him on track and a few minutes later he called back saying that he couldn't deliver because it was too icy to make it up Breakneck Hill: could I come down to the pavement and meet him?
I took my truck down, and to make it even stupider, the guy only had one box of bubble wrap for me because his van got too full when loading. My truck is 2wd and I have a fairly slick spare tire on the right rear. Nonetheless, I made it up the hill and back here safely. It just took a while, as the wheels spun the whole way.
When we determined it was time for Freddie to go in to the vets for help, I decided to take Wendy's front wheel drive Buick, thinking it would have better traction because of the weight of the engine being right over the drive wheels.
Big mistake.
It has been years since I had a front wheel drive car. Even then, it was a 4-speed. Wendy's Buick is an automatic. I had remembered how good my Plymouth was in the snow, but snow and ice are two different things! Front wheel drive cars "push" on ice, that is, they go straight even after you've turned the wheel. Automatics suck on ice, as you don't have direct control over the wheel speed like in a standard.
Whatever excuse I choose to give, I slid off of the road at a turn near the hill. I was only going 20mph, and the Buick "pushed". Fortunately, traffic is a rarity and there was a nice flat place to slide onto. No damage except to my pride.
On the way back from the vet, I had to get back up that hill. For a moment, I considered going miles out of my way to approach the our road from a flatter direction, then reasoned that if my truck could get up there, so could the Buick. It did, but not until it "pushed" off the road on a turn, stopping right at the edge of a ditch. I backed onto the road and slowly made my way home.
Come on spring!
Of course, the trip to the vet came after I had already made one trip down to civilization and decided that it was just too icy to be out and about. We had ordered more bubble wrap from Staples and it was supposed to be delivered today. I got a call from the delivery guy, who was lost. I got him on track and a few minutes later he called back saying that he couldn't deliver because it was too icy to make it up Breakneck Hill: could I come down to the pavement and meet him?
I took my truck down, and to make it even stupider, the guy only had one box of bubble wrap for me because his van got too full when loading. My truck is 2wd and I have a fairly slick spare tire on the right rear. Nonetheless, I made it up the hill and back here safely. It just took a while, as the wheels spun the whole way.
When we determined it was time for Freddie to go in to the vets for help, I decided to take Wendy's front wheel drive Buick, thinking it would have better traction because of the weight of the engine being right over the drive wheels.
Big mistake.
It has been years since I had a front wheel drive car. Even then, it was a 4-speed. Wendy's Buick is an automatic. I had remembered how good my Plymouth was in the snow, but snow and ice are two different things! Front wheel drive cars "push" on ice, that is, they go straight even after you've turned the wheel. Automatics suck on ice, as you don't have direct control over the wheel speed like in a standard.
Whatever excuse I choose to give, I slid off of the road at a turn near the hill. I was only going 20mph, and the Buick "pushed". Fortunately, traffic is a rarity and there was a nice flat place to slide onto. No damage except to my pride.
On the way back from the vet, I had to get back up that hill. For a moment, I considered going miles out of my way to approach the our road from a flatter direction, then reasoned that if my truck could get up there, so could the Buick. It did, but not until it "pushed" off the road on a turn, stopping right at the edge of a ditch. I backed onto the road and slowly made my way home.
Come on spring!
posted by MVTCoPete | 9:10 PM
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