No job deserves the right to make you risk your life. I've had it out many a time with management about this very issue. If I dont feel it safe to go out, I dont - no one will tell me otherwise. I had once risked my life in a horrible snow storm to drive to work 40 miles one way. I get there and my manager bitchs at me for being late - the gull of some people really pisses me off.
I must have terrible balance then. I tried it yesterday for comedy value, and sure enough, I fell straight on my arse as I expected I would. And just to clarify something - I haven't once said that I chose not to go to work, because surprise surprise, I have still been working despite the conditions.
That's great for you. Hypothetical situation: I work in London (which I do, a few days a month). There's an hours commute on the train in normal conditions, but all the trains are probably cancelled, but national rail isn't sure so they are just saying everything is delayed. I live on a fairly steep hill, in which cars have crashed on already, ATVs included, and it's a 2.5 hour walk to the train station which I'm not sure has any trains that are actually running. Does making the executive decision to not go into work make you a wimp, or, say, realistic? Just because YOU can get to work doesn't mean that everyone else in the country can't be in a more complicated situation than you. And that goes for every other genius who has said "I live in -30 for a third of the year, man up" and "you chose to live there, suck it up". It's not like any of us who chose not to goto work (and let me stress, I'm not one of them so I'm not actually defending my own situation) is getting paid for doing so.
My first car was a Vauxhall Nova 1.5 TDI. Cheap to buy, insure and run. Stoically reliable, even in harsh winters. One of the best cars I ever owned.
Buying an SUV for 4 days a year is still completely stupid although it would pollute the atmosphere so much that we never get snow. At least you can tow people out who are stuck. I have no sympathy for people who drive large 4x4s who have no need to.
That's a pretty unique thing, an Englishman from Wales. Having said that, most of the Welsh people I know come from Luton / Dunstable.
I got myself quoted on a nissan micra 1.0, £700 for third party, fire and theft. I dread to think how much a 1.5 would cost me, of course im not at that magical age of cheaper insurance yet. I think i would have a heart attack if i looked at insurance costs for a 4x4.
No doubt it does take some practise, and as I said tyre selection is key (large knobbies won't do anybody any good). Though I think the key part of your statement is that you expected you would fall, which will only set you up for a crash. It's a good rule of thumb that if you think you're going to fail, you've a damn good chance of doing just that. But hey, everybody's situation is different! And it's good that you were still able to make it in, irrespective of method.
sounds like a good business opportunity.. that's what I love about living here- if there's a need it's filled by somebody =] in connecticut I remember a lot of the backroads were cleared by regular folks with a truck and detachable plow during winter good sidemoney.. used to live in cheshire- remember taking my trike all over the state using the railroad tracks.. had some good gravel pits sounds like atlanta over there tbh bad drivers
Likely not that much more, it doesn't increase that hugely with engine capacity as a 1.5 TDI isn't something to brag about being quick. My 1.4L Golf doesn't cost all that much more to insure than a Micra and it's certainly worth it. I had just passed my practical when the snow arrived last year and it was overhyped as hell. I've seen my parents deal with snow quite casually when driving and I saw no reason to not behave the same way, we used to live in Germany so I've experienced considerably worse snow. Treat it with respect (ie. don't drive too fast, no sudden braking etc.) and it's perfectly managable.
If your milk is clear, it ain't milk and no amount of strawberry nesquik will change it to opaque pink...
As opposed to all those high performance cars that can do a limited 155mph on roads that are legally restricted to 70mph. It's not just what you drive, it's how you drive. Science has pretty much proven that the largest contributors to climate change are not the demonized motor car (by the way, a 1l rover metro, arbitrary example, built in 198- has higher CO2 emissions than pretty much any mass production car made in europe in the last 10 years or so), but manufacturing and....methane from livestock which is by far more detrimental to climate stability than CO2 (x8 more harmful, iirc). we are farming & eating too much beef. Someone driving a RAV4 in surrey is doing rather less damage than I think you are giving them credit for. I remember there being a theory some years ago that england might never see snow again (i think there's even a Marillion lyric about it) because of CFCs in aerosol cans & too many petrol cars.
That is over 1/3 of my annual wage, coupled with the higher vehicle tax and the increased fuel consumption. I don't even live in a village, we live in something technically smaller than a hamlet! And I may be mistaken, but I didn't think that 4wd will help going down a steep hill that is caked in ice. I live 2 miles from a gritted road and 18 miles from work, and it is not flat/easy to cycle. in the dark down country lanes which are unlit.
Normally insurance is fairly cheap for anything 1.4 or below. 1.6 or up and im looking at £1500+ Aye snow can be easy to drive on, its mostly down to where you live and what the road condition is like. Luckily i live in a flat as can be area and the roads are in pretty good shape but i would hate to try driving over hills and down small country lanes where 1 slide and your in a dyke.
We had 4-6 inches on Wednesday night down here in sunny Bournemouth, I made it to work no problems in a 17 yr old VW polo that cost me £20 3 years ago. Driving in it isn't a problem if you use 2nd gear to pull away and treat both the accelerator and brake pedals as if they have an irreplaceable egg underneath them. My commute is 15 miles each way on untreated back roads, there are no main routes to my workplace which is in the middle of nowhere. By Thursday evening all the compacted snow on the untreated sideroads had turned to sheet ice, still not a problem if you do the above, the only bit of trouble I had was some dopey twit trying to get up a hill in first gear and sliding down it instead, I just merrily trundled past him in third as he sailed past me down the hill whilst spinning his wheels. Rule of thumb in snow and ice never use first gear, use the highest gear you can while moving to minimise the torque through the tyres and brake gently and early.
It's not the contribution to global warming that I'm that bothered about it's the people who buy them just so their children will be safe because the other car got wrecked instead. It's such a wasteful mentality as well.
I'm sure the families driving around in their Audi Q7's really don't care about what other people think, I know I wouldn't. Also, is anyone genuinely bothered about CO2 emissions etc? We will be long, long dead before there is any impact on us, so why waste your life caring?
And to think that in FL, we whine and complain when the temperature drops a bit below 70F for a day and break out the arctic clothing gear
