Things that bug me about having a car in winter [other than that usual bitter cold stuff]

Sometimes I think I'd be better off hoofing it.  Instead, because I live in the suburbs and work in other suburbs and mine is a major metropolitan area WITHOUT any reliable mass transit, I have a car.  I already hate driving, but driving in winter?  Oh, honey, no.  Here's what gets me:

Washing the car.  In that it's a dance that exhausts me.  It obviously needs it, since my normally dark blue car is now a nice salty white, marking my clothes anytime I lean into the trunk to get groceries or brush up against the door trying to get in.  But I can't wash it when it's going to snow, because then it'll just get covered in snow and instantly dirty.  I can't wash it when it's too cold, because the locks and doors may freeze.  I can't wash it ever, it seems like, because winter days are always one of those things.

The expectation that since you can drive, it's o.k. to drive in major snow.  You know what?  It's not.  Not even a little bit.  Laugh all you will at those southern cities who shut down at 2 inches of snow, but I think they have they right idea.  We'd all be better off staying home when it snows even a little instead of trying to deal with idiot drivers who think that since they have an SUV, they are quite capable of driving the actual 45mph speed limit in 5 inches of snow.  You're not.   I mean, sure you can drive in 5 inches of snow.  You just can't stop in 5 inches of snow. Which you'll find out when you try and brake.  Good luck with that.

Pumping gas.  This just sucks ass no matter the weather, but in winter?  Oh, lord.  There's the decision of whether to do it now, or wait in the hopes that the temps will bust out of the single digits.  There's the further decision of whether to wear your gloves while you do it and risk getting gasoline all over them or take them off and have gas get on your hands.  And please don't get me started on the aggravation of the stupid receipt machine running out of paper and you having to troop through dirty slush to the station to get your receipt.  Or just leaving without it and telling the husband that you lost it.

Do you drive in winter?  What sucks about it?

by Suniverse

12 comments:

Tonya said...

I was just thinking (being in NYC) that I'm sick and tired of having to move my car in the snow and why the hell can't we just shut down for like 3 months while it snows? I mean it's cost the city millions of dollars to plow so why not just say screw it and have everybody leave their cars where they are. No plowing. And, also, no work, but we still get paid! Everyone wins!

Unknown said...

It is good to know I am not alone on the car washing and gas refilling...I hate them.

Sadako said...

I don't drive but I still hate it. So glad it's starting to warm up!

magnolia said...

i drove a rental car for my christmas road trip, which just happened to coincide with that east-coast blizzard that hit christmas night. i drove through that pretty well, and the only problem i had was when the car shut my cruise control off without telling me because it thought i had skidded. on the side of a mountain. sigh.

Daughter of a King said...

I hate when snow plows go through to clear the streets, but the spots on the SIDE of the street where people PARK get neglected. Then you're stuck trying to maneuver a Camry into a spot that's got 6 inch snow piles that are frozen solid after a few below zero nights.

NIkki said...

All of this, yes! I work with a girl who just moved from Arizona and she refused to come to work when it snowed because she'd never driven in snow before. Some people were making fun of her, but I was like "No! She's got the right idea. It wouldn't be safe for her or anyone else for her to be on the streets in snow!" I wish we could all think that way - maybe it wouldn't have taken me over an hour to get from my son's daycare to my home five miles away when the snow hit.

Melanie's Randomness said...

I hate the days that my job closes in the middle of the day because of the snow storm BUT there is already 5 or so inches on the ground and I have drive home in it. A 4 minute trip will take me an hour. Other people not knowing how to drive in it. Umm...I live near New Jersey so I don't have to pump my own gas but my car doesn't warm up fast so I have to sit it in cold for 5 minutes until it warms up. The salt from the road has made my car just filthy. I hate winter in New York.

Melanie's Randomness

Anonymous said...

I absolutely hate having to fill the car with petrol in any weather too. It always seems that wherever the pump is situated, it manages to be right in the middle of a wind-tunnel and you freeze your little mitts to the nozzle even in summer. It's also a well known phenomena that rain at petrol stations ralls horizontally too. Never vertically onto the canopy, no. Horizontally and full of itsy bitsy needles but you can't turn your body to protect yourself because you've got to keep your eye on the amount you're putting in. Pah!!!

Marie said...

Scraping windows. What a horrible task. Yay for having a garage at home and paying the big bucks to park in the garage at work.

shoes uk said...

very nice place i like it. And i hope i will go their and enjoy snow

cellulite cream said...

While driving in the snow can be annoying, let's just look at the bright side of life and be thankful that we have cars to drive and take us to places. LOL!

GrandeMocha said...

I never wash my car, snow, rain, or shine. I do it once in the spring to get all the salt off & maybe once in the fall.

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