A winter weather driving oath
*raises his right hand*
"I, Matthew James Keefe, do solemnly swear not to drive over high altitude mountain ridges when there is even the slightest HINT of the threat of snow in the area. In addition, I also swear not to drive anywhere within the Buffalo region during Lake Effect Snow season unless Lake Erie is frozen over, thus ending any lake effect snow. Finally, if I do decide to be foolhardy and drive in said weather, I promise to curse PennDOT every 5 minutes (every 2 minutes if I should end up skidding into a snow bank) for their incompetence on clearing and treating PA state roads in the winter time. I swear this in the name of "whoooooooah", the god of winter driving, as his name is uttered countless times by drivers who skid, fishtail, and otherwise lose control of their cars when driving in the winter. Thank you."
I have taken this oath to myself after visiting my friends in Toronto this past weekend and having to drive over the Allegheny mountain ridge and drive through lake effect snow country around Buffalo, NY. Before you all ask, yes I did the dumbfool thing of driving over a mountain pass when there was the threat of snow...and yes, I know as a meteorologist I should have known better. Also, yes, I did skid off the road into a snowbank over said mountain pass (fortunately I didn't hit anything and just drove out of it...yay jeeps!) while driving on an untreated road (*shakes fist at PennDOT*). Finally, yes I did the dumbfool thing of driving through "lake effect snow land" on the way up to Toronto. Fortunately, though, on the way back I took a detour and didn't take the same way back to State College...I didn't have a choice. The road I normally take through upstate NY to get up to Buffalo was closed from the PA-NY border to Buffalo (2-3 ft of lake effect snow will do that to a road).
If I ever, ever talk about driving up to Toronto in the wintertime when there's the threat of ANY snow in the area...please slap me. Thanks.
PS: Random Fox News laughing moment - In a discussion on a fox business show, some of the main bullet points shown over and over again were, and I quote, "Deep Freeze hits America: Proof Global Warming is a lie?" & "Democrats: Will their tax hikes hurt America?". While both topics can be the source of legitimate debate, I just bristle at the conservative accusatory tone of how they frame their debates and bullet points.
Fox News: Fair and Balanced my ass :P
"I, Matthew James Keefe, do solemnly swear not to drive over high altitude mountain ridges when there is even the slightest HINT of the threat of snow in the area. In addition, I also swear not to drive anywhere within the Buffalo region during Lake Effect Snow season unless Lake Erie is frozen over, thus ending any lake effect snow. Finally, if I do decide to be foolhardy and drive in said weather, I promise to curse PennDOT every 5 minutes (every 2 minutes if I should end up skidding into a snow bank) for their incompetence on clearing and treating PA state roads in the winter time. I swear this in the name of "whoooooooah", the god of winter driving, as his name is uttered countless times by drivers who skid, fishtail, and otherwise lose control of their cars when driving in the winter. Thank you."
I have taken this oath to myself after visiting my friends in Toronto this past weekend and having to drive over the Allegheny mountain ridge and drive through lake effect snow country around Buffalo, NY. Before you all ask, yes I did the dumbfool thing of driving over a mountain pass when there was the threat of snow...and yes, I know as a meteorologist I should have known better. Also, yes, I did skid off the road into a snowbank over said mountain pass (fortunately I didn't hit anything and just drove out of it...yay jeeps!) while driving on an untreated road (*shakes fist at PennDOT*). Finally, yes I did the dumbfool thing of driving through "lake effect snow land" on the way up to Toronto. Fortunately, though, on the way back I took a detour and didn't take the same way back to State College...I didn't have a choice. The road I normally take through upstate NY to get up to Buffalo was closed from the PA-NY border to Buffalo (2-3 ft of lake effect snow will do that to a road).
If I ever, ever talk about driving up to Toronto in the wintertime when there's the threat of ANY snow in the area...please slap me. Thanks.
PS: Random Fox News laughing moment - In a discussion on a fox business show, some of the main bullet points shown over and over again were, and I quote, "Deep Freeze hits America: Proof Global Warming is a lie?" & "Democrats: Will their tax hikes hurt America?". While both topics can be the source of legitimate debate, I just bristle at the conservative accusatory tone of how they frame their debates and bullet points.
Fox News: Fair and Balanced my ass :P