Sno more!!!

Alright, it's true, it's mid-January and the snow is already annoying me.

I live in Alberta, where a heavy snow-fall is measured in inches, not feet. Truly, I pity my countrymen and women who live in the snow-belt out in the eastern and atlantic time zones. Never in my life have I had to use a snow shovel to clean off my car in the morning.

What really leaves me puzzled is how people can still be surprised by snow? Hello? It's WINTER right now! We expect anything from slightly above freezing (which we had this weekend, making an absolute flaming mess of the roads) to 40 below zero, to a blizzard with snow and driving wind. It's the Canadian Prairies in winter - nothing should really surprise you out here!

So I'm driving down the highway, on my way home, this evening and encounter pokie... err... Pokie the Plodding Driver. And I do mean plodding... less than 40 km/h - on the highway. Yes, not a small little residential street, but the main highway. Speed limit is 70 kph, people drive it around 80 when it's bare... and I'm putting along doing 40.

Mrs. Spit said to me, after I relayed this story, that "Some people shouldn't be allowed to drive in winter."

Indeed, some people shouldn't be allowed to drive, period. We have a lot of population of immigrants from very warm parts of the world. What these people must think when it's -40, I have NO idea. But if you're going to try and drive in our winters, take a driving course!!! Unlike those of us who grew up driving in the winter, who still crash on a regular basis, those who have a winter where the temperature hits 10C (not -10C, but +10C) and consider it cold seem to have a much harder time adjusting to it.

Granted, I've put 137,000 km on my company truck in less than 3 years. I do a lot of driving - part of the job. I did 45,000 km last year. Not as much as some, but FAR more than most people on the road. So I've seen my share of scary driving. Heck, don't have to leave this fair city to accomplish that! It's actually worse in the city than on a rural road. Fewer people out there with less to run into - other than the errant head of cattle or recalcitrant ruminant.

So, for mercy's sake, no more!!! Or, in this weather, s'no more!!!

Oh yeah, I'm not looking forward with any glee to the long drive I have tomorrow, after a snowfall warning has swept through the area I have to go to! What's the warning? 10-15 cm (4-6 inches) of snow... it's the wind that's the debil though... thankfully I still get paid if the drive takes me twice as long to accomplish as if it were summer...