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Having fun in the snow?

 
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Some days, the snow is great fun. The boy and I dug in over the weekend:

We also went sledding for the first time, though he only made it down the hill a couple of times before making snow angels became more interesting than climbing.

Some days it's a royal pain:

Some clown in his 4WD found out that 4WD will not stop a vehicle from spinning out, flipping over and closing a lane on the interstate I use to get to work making me late again :evil:
I'm surprised to see so many accidents this late in the year. There were at least 3 on my drive in today. Usually the first couple of snows weeds out the people with poor winter driving skills.
 
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Snow. The concept is vaguely familiar...
 
Joe Ess
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Bear Bibeault wrote:Snow. The concept is vaguely familiar...



I'm sure a dusting would bring Austin, TX to a screeching halt!
 
Bear Bibeault
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Joe Ess wrote:I'm sure a dusting would bring Austin, TX to a screeching halt!

It does! On that rare occasion (about once every 5 years on average) that we get snow (usually a dusting), that's exactly what happens.

For a veteran of 40 New England winters, it's quite amusing!
 
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New York City had a light dusting (about 2 or 3 inches) in the last few days. It is really nice out now. Very cold, but no wind. And everything covered in white.

Henry
 
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Joe Ess wrote:Some days, the snow is great fun.

Agreed! My local ski resort is less than an hour away, and is absolutely fabulous:


Joe Ess wrote:Some days it's a royal pain:



Likewise, agreed. Driving around in heavy snow can be an annoyance at best, and downright dangerous when people drive without taking in conditions. And lack of visibility combined with snow on the roads can be "interesting".



(I have a photo where visibility is much worse, and with far more snow on the roads, but I would need to resize it before posting).

Regards, Andrew
 
Joe Ess
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Andrew Monkhouse wrote:Agreed! My local ski resort is less than an hour away, and is absolutely fabulous:



*shakes fist* I've got to drive hours to get to a decent drop. The ski resort in my backyard has all of a 200' vertical drop. You spend more time in the lift line than on the slope.

Andrew Monkhouse wrote:
And lack of visibility combined with snow on the roads can be "interesting".



Have you ever been driving along in a whiteout and find out the tail lights you were following were actually somebody's porch lights? No? Forget I mentioned it. . .
 
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I'm less than half an hour from Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, and Brighton. Neener, neener.
 
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Joe Ess wrote:Some clown in his 4WD found out that 4WD will not stop a vehicle from spinning out...



4WD does not negate Newtonian physics. While it does help go from stopped to 5MPH, it does nothing to help turn or stop at 60.

Here, outside Washington DC, we are always on the rain/snow line. so we actually don't get much snow. But everyone gets a 4WD to be safe and make sure that they can get to the office on snow days. Duh, stay home on the three days a year it snows.

If I had a nickle for every time I was driving my two wheel drive V8 car and passed by a bozo in a 4WD who has an apparent IQ below road temperature, I'd be rich

Snow is great fun. Just don't try to drive in it around here.
 
Henry Wong
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4WD does not negate Newtonian physics. While it does help go from stopped to 5MPH, it does nothing to help turn or stop at 60.



But apparently, some technology does help... Many many years ago, I bought a Lexus SUV 4WD. It was the first year model, and I actually still own it BTW.... And it was my first SUV, as I only drove cars til then.

A few months after I got it, a friend rode with me. I exited the highway, and he went into a panic. I wondered why? He explicitely told me that you can't take a corner like a car, and that an SUV will roll over if you do. Higher center of gravity. etc. etc. It made sense, but I always took the corner like that. Never had a problem. Not even a lean -- much less a roll over.

It turned out that my Lexus was one of the first SUVs that had a anti-rollover technology (I got lucky because I picked a luxury brand). If you take a corner too fast, it will apply one of the brakes -- not sure which one, but I think it is the rear outer one. The technology protected me the whole time. Even to the point where I didn't know about and kept doing it. These days -- I take corners slower...

Henry
 
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Henry Wong wrote:He explicitely told me that you can't take a corner like a car, and that an SUV will roll over if you do. Higher center of gravity. etc. etc.



Modern technology can do amazing things. anti-yaw control is great.

Your friend was simply wrong. Cars, trucks, etc. will not roll just from taking a corner too fast. The tires slip first. You will go off line and maybe into the guard rail. If you hit a curb, sure, it may roll. If you get into a long set of oversteer slides, correction, reslide, etc. Most sane and sober drivers never get close to using the grip in a corner.

What no microcontroller can do is stop a two ton vehicle on ice, or make it turn quickly.
 
Bear Bibeault
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Pat Farrell wrote:What no microcontroller can do is stop a two ton vehicle on ice, or make it turn quickly.


Inertia is a harsh mistress.
 
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When I was a kid, we did not use ply wood for making snow fort roofs. Safety these days. Geesh....

Eric
 
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Eric Pascarello wrote: we did not use ply wood for making snow fort roofs.


So did you make the roofs out of snow? Or did you use railroad ties?
 
Joe Ess
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Eric Pascarello wrote:When I was a kid, we did not use ply wood for making snow fort roofs. Safety these days. Geesh....



Yes, half of the motivation for the plywood is avoiding that awkward "are you trying to kill our children" conversation with the wife. The other half is the fact that I have an 80-foot long driveway and I don't want to shovel more than I have to.
 
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Just rain here... freezing cold rain..! (
 
Henry Wong
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Pat Farrell wrote:
So did you make the roofs out of snow? Or did you use railroad ties?



When I was young, my brothers and cousins piled a mound about 10 foot high -- and packed it solid. Then we dug a tube straight down -- with a diameter of about 16 inches. It also had a few minor kinks so we can step and climb back out. At the bottom, we dug out to get a mini room. When that thing froze solid, we had a really cool fort....

Of course, thinking back, it may not have been the smartest thing to do...


[EDIT: Okay, it may not have been 10 feet high, but it was tall enough to look into the second floor window, when standing on top]

Henry

 
Eric Pascarello
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Pat Farrell wrote:

Eric Pascarello wrote: we did not use ply wood for making snow fort roofs.


So did you make the roofs out of snow? Or did you use railroad ties?



100% snow and ice baby!
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