turn into the skid

Us northerners have this thing that most southerners fear with immense fortitude. It's called SNOW.

*gasp!*

Every year the seasons cycle their full gamut of weather. We have sun, rain, snow, heat, sub-zero, humidity, slush, hail you name it. Have you ever heard anyone complain about too many sunny days? Well, here we should be thankful to have such variety...

That's just me trying to make myself feel better.

At any rate, the purpose here is to talk about the crazy and unpredictablity of driving in super snowy conditions. Normally I'm not one to not go out in the snow. It's gotta be really bad. I mean reeeeaallly BAD before I say uncle.

For example, a few years ago it was the beginning of January. There were only a few days before classes started at the community college I was attending. I had no clue how to find my way around the school and was just petrified that I was going to be wandering around aimlessly and embarassed that I had no clue where I was going. So my younger brother who had already been there a semester longer than me said he would take me around and show me where each of my classes would be.

However, it snowed so much that night that there was about 6 inches on the main roads. They tried to plow but it didn't matter, it was just snowing that much. But we went anyways. In my parent's old '91 Caprice with the snow tires, nothin was stoppin that bad boy.

That was pretty extreme and most definitely not advisable, but still, my point is that I usually just drive. I don't care.

My observation this year has been something new however. I found that the first snowfall incites this sort of panic among the locals though they have been experiencing crazy snow for years. Have you ever seen the movie "10 Things I Hate About You"? There is a phrase Cat says referring to driving skills that runs through my mind as I see moron after moron spun out on the side of the basically clear roads that involves removing your head from a certain body part.

Yes, I'm a meanie head. I'm cynical when it comes to driving dumb. However, I was straightened out a couple weeks ago when I had a near deadly mishap. Since then I've calmed down a little and learned a few things about how I can drive better to avoid a second occurrence and also on how to handle my car.

It is my belief that most people end up in ditches because they are either distracted, inattentive drivers who haven't been scared enough yet to get it together or they don't know how to drive their vehicle properly.

Clearly I am stating some very harsh opinions that I will not apologize for. I wish that everyone would learn to drive from someone like my dad who worked for 35 years at UPS earning continuous safe driving awards. It's because he was very conscientious about his driving and learning always how to do things better.

I understand also that accidents are called accidents because noone means to drive their car in a ditch or rear end someone or pull out into oncoming traffic, but that word does not satisfy the need for careful drivers.

So my request to all drivers out there, whether it's snow or rain or slush or honestly just plain good weather, please keep your eyes on the road and your mind engaged!

Love to all :) That's my way of showing insecurity for expressing such opinions!

the Burb (autopost)

In my family, there are 4 of us. And we each own a car. In fact, I currently own 2... you can read about that sad saga with a happy ending (sort of) here.

I own a '95 green Eagle Vision (currently out of commission and potentially sold for a total of $500) and I drive an '08 black Honda Civic... it's more than beautiful... it's a work of art *sigh*

My brother owns a '97 white (with some rust) Chrysler Concorde. It's pretty much the same as my eagle... they are both amazing cars. Truly wonders of nature.

My parents conjoinly (is that even a word???) own a '99 red Toyota Camry, but it's mostly referred to as my mom's car.

Now for the part that this post is really about. My dad's car.

It used to be the family car... replacing the wood sided station wagon we affectionately referred to as the "beaver slug". However, it has been degraded to the position of "glorified and extremely expensive" tractor.

It's the 1991 two toned blue GMC Suburban.

It has tinted windows, which we thought were SO cool when we first got it in 1996. At only 5 years old, the truck was still in it's prime. It may have even been considered an "early" SUV.

When the beaver slugs "get up and go" "got up and left" the Suburban was right there to save the day. I remember feeling so cool when we would go places in that baby.

Even into high school, the "Burb" as we came to affectionately came to call it, it was still pretty cool. I drove it to school most days when I was a senior and while I quickly became aware of the fact that it was no longer "cool" I was still highly in tune with the fact that I got a TON of attention from it. People talked about that thing like it was the "cool kid in school." I didn't need to raise my hand for roll call, because if the truck was there, they knew I was.

Well, graduation came and went... and the Burb had a couple noteworthy mishaps. The first time my dad accidentally jackknifed our trailer (like a trailer for hauling wood/rocks/dirt etc) into the side of it. We got insurance money to fix it, but decided to use it for family vacation to Hawaii.

The second time, my brother was at the bank with it... you know those yellow posts that are near the gas pumps at gas stations? I know there has to be a word for them, but I have NO idea what it is. Basically he side swiped the truck against one of those... leaving the burb with a nice stripe of faintly yellow paint that matched it's blue two tone so well.

I can't remember how many different mishaps that car has been through over the years, but I would like to paint a verbal picture of the current state that the suburban is now in.

The latch on the doors in the back of the truck are completely rusted off... one can only hope that going over a bump will not set the panels flying open revealing the interior.

Because the interior carpet is reminiscent of a tartan quilt assembled from scraps of various carpet clippings and pieces of cardboard collected throughout the years.

Also from the inside, you can see the ground through the wheel wells.

It always smells of gasoline due to the fact that there are holes in the wheel wells pouring exhaust into the car. This coupled with the stains of petroleum products all over the inside of the vehicle, that have come from transporting various pieces of landscaping equipment and gasoline containers, gives the vehicle the pleasant aroma of a gas station from the 80's.

There is enough rust on the car that we often caution people to make sure they stay within a 20 foot radius of the truck unless their tetanus booster is up to date.

If you could plug every oraface in your body while in that vehicle would probably be the ideal situation. However, that is not efficient or even possible. I have come to the conclusion that driving the burb is a health hazard as I have actually contracted a sinus infection after driving the car for several days.

It was Christmas two years ago and the camry was in the shop for some repairs. Since we needed to travel to Maryland with two cars for the holiday the only two left were the eagle and the chrysler... the suburban was not even an option. Well, my parents ended up taking the eagle down 3 days prior to my brother's and my trek... and since the chrysler is his, I ended up with the burb.

Yes, that's right. Me and the burb. Alone for 3 whole days. I tried to do minimal driving for multiple reasons. There's obviously the embarrassing factor, which would seem to be enough reason for most people, but there is another reason (and in fact a third that I wasn't aware of at the time)

The second reason is the fact that the burb gets anywhere from 8-12 mpg depending on whether or not dad is doing "jack-rabbit starts" with it. You can just use your imagination with that one. When we first got it, it was getting 17 on the open road... however, it's been a few many years since it's been allowed to be on the open road.

The third reason is the fact that I acquired a sinus infection after my 3 days of alone time with the burb. One could speculate that I contracted said infection because of the weather or some other environmental cause. I completely agree. The "environment" surrounding the burb was EXACTLY what caused it. There you have it.

With that said, I would like to explain what happens when acceleration occurs. To say that stepping on the gas pedal makes you feel like you're under an air assault in a WWII film would be a gross understatement. It's practically necessary to put ear plugs in while driving yet somehow the car is still road legal. In fact, it would pass inspection at a moment's notice due to my dad's meticulous care for the engine and other such necessary parts of a running vehicle.

My dad loves that truck so much. I'm not sure what he would do without it... I'm sure that the burb finds comfort in knowing that with all its inadequacies and shortcomings, there is still one person in the world that loves it unconditionally... and I guess that's all that really matters.

Me in DC

While we were in DC, I decided to update my pictures at the different monuments. Although I have been to the city numerous times in the past few years, I don't have any pictures since I was about 13.

Here we were driving through the city, past the Washington Monument (aka Pencil) and I took this out the moon roof on my new car!


This is me on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial.


I took this on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial because I wanted the Pencil in the background. It's all washed out, but it's still cool.


Then here I am in front of the two statues at both the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials.


This is a shot i took of the Vietnam Memorial Wall. I don't actually know anyone on the wall, but it's a sobering sight to look at.


I love DC. I don't know what it is exactly about the city, but I love going there. The history represented there just makes me feel closer to the country that I live in. With all the hard realities that we face everyday, and all the bad things that are happening in the world around us, it's nice to go back to a place that reminds you of where we came from and the heritage that we possess. Many people in this country do not claim themselves to be under God anymore, but I do.

Japanese Cherry Blossoms in DC

I said that I was going to follow up with the whole cherry blossom deal. On Friday, after the go karts I realized that the blossoms and the trees were just budding. The Cherry Blossom Festival is a spring celebration in Washington DC to remember the date (March 27, 1912) that the Mayor of Tokyo gave the cherry trees to America as a symbol of the growing friendship he hoped to continue between Japan and America.

I asked Rob when the Cherry Blossom Festival was and he said that it was next weekend. I'll tell ya what, every year I have wanted to go to that festival and I always happen to be here the week before or the week after. The week after, it's pretty much nastiness all over, because the petals all fall off and then they're all walked over and they just don't look nice. But since this was the week before I was ecstatic! I told him that I wanted to go to DC right then and asked if he wanted to come. I would have gone by myself if he hadn't wanted to go, but he knows the city really well and can drive better in that kind of traffic.


We found parking on the opposite side of the Jefferson Memorial which is where the majority of the Japanese Cherry's are, and after walking around to the Memorial, we drove over to where the Lincoln and Vietnam Memorials are.


The blossoms were just perfect. I mean seriously, they are perfect.


I am just so thankful that I got the opportunity to go this year. I have seriously wanted to get pictures of these for at least 3 years!

Go Karts!

Friday afternoon Rob, Robbie, Raelynn, Nick and I went to the go karts. It was a ton of fun!


Nick is still too short to ride by himself, so he had to go double, but I honestly don't think that made it any less exciting for him...



attempting to take pictures while driving is usually quite dangerous... but when you're in a go kart, all is fair game. I'm not sure how many times we hit the side rail while i was trying to take pictures but it really didn't matter... hey this kind of reminds me of my theory about driving... that there should be a government program set up to teach stupid people how to drive better. and that there would be designated "teachers" and those teacher people would have liberty to hit other cars when they do stupid things. HAHAHA! that would be really bad, but it's hilarious to think about.

and here's a couple shots of all of us together

the story of my car

THIS is my car. It is a lovely 1995 Eagle Vision. I have owned it for 3 1/2 years now... and today it almost came to its end. I've had a few close calls with her in the past few years, struggling with thoughts of saying goodbye, but none ever as close as today.

Last night whilst driving home from small group, the car stalled two times. Once when I was parking the car, instead of me turning it off, it decided to turn off by itself. I am not sure yet if it thought it was being cute or funny, but i can assure you that I found it to be NEITHER. The next time it decided to do this was over the bridge on 390 between avon and lima. It was dark, and there were a lot of cars oddly enough.

After that, it continued along at it's usual pace plus some intermittent "jumping" as it was having an issue with shifting into the next gear. *LOVELY*

When i got home, i explained all of this to my dad. He in turn looked very solemn and confirmed my worst fear and exactly what i had presumed. The transmission was a goner.

So this morning, i woke early and cleaned out the car (not the way you think, like when you move into another one. i was just taking the garbage out of it so that whoever had to get in it didn't have to see what a slob i am) and left the house with my mom's car. Which by the way has an automatic starter that i was able to utilize and consequently enter into a fully heated car.

My dad took the car up to the mechanic and they did the diagnostic on it which produced the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with it. That was odd, since there most surely was something wrong with it. They took it out on the road and drove a few miles while it was hooked to the diagnostic and all the while the car exhibited its symptoms and the test kept reading negatory.

So they opened the hood and started poking around only to find a loose belt that has something to do with the air conditioner. Just as an aside, the air conditioner in my car has not worked since before i got it. Hence my alternative of 60x4 (60mph times 4 open windows) and a sweaty back all summer.

to make this long story end, the final conclusion to the problem was to cut the wayward belt that served no actual purpose OFF. And the car now works fine.

I am really really happy about this. I mean i was totally ready to go and buy a car this week, and while technically i can afford to do that, i have been trying very hard to save that money for something else... and i didn't want to have to blow it on another stupid car.

the real new year's eve

i've already posted about one event that occurred last night, but this next thing i felt needed it's own post.

I went down to avoca last night to spend the night with alicia. we went to some people from her church's house where we played games and laughed about the most ridiculous things ever. things not worth mentioning here... or ever, HA!

well midnight came and went, and aside from the fact that verizon went down for about 2 hours straight and noone could text or call we had a great time. it was alicia's first time to actually watch the ball drop. we thought about tricking her into being out of the room when it happened, but realized that she would have been truly devastated if we had done that.

shortly after all that, we left and went to the local truck stop to have some late night grease. and i do mean grease. i swear, it's one of those places where you have to suppress every fraction of neurotocism in your mind to be able to even drink the water. it's NASTY. I had a brownie sundae and alicia and beth had french fries. none of which were very good but that's not the point.

throughout this time, none of us had been drinking and didn't have any plans to (besides the bars had already given the last call) I had this "feeling" that i was going to get pulled over and i was kinda worried because i didn't have my license with me. but i was telling myself that it was ridiculous, i wasn't going to get pulled over.

well sure enough. I got pulled over.

he pulled me over because apparently i crossed both the white and yellow lines while he was following me. i think i crossed the white line when i went around a curve, but not excessively. beth was driving behind me and said she never saw me go over the yellow one.

the cop was really friendly, i am pretty sure he was a newbie, and i almost asked him... but i didn't HA!

So that's my great story for new years eve. if you made it through, good for you! wow, i am rhyming... i am tired. later on i'm going to post about some more reflective thoughts, since that's what you're supposed to do this time of year.