Oh the weather outside is frightful...

[dalesys]

Well of course. He had to go back home to change his undershorts...

"First you say it, then you do it!"

"I hope, for my sake, you were wearing clean underwear!"

"Yes, mom, I had a fresh pair in the glove box."


Mothers are more concerned about the condition of your shorts than the condition of your body.

/Cos

[JustaCashier]

Mothers are more concerned about the condition of your shorts than the condition of your body.

Similarly, guys that are into cool cars are more concerned about the car.

Somewhere around 13 years ago, the older Brother of a buddy of mine had bought his first Hot Rod in many years. Perhaps since I'd know him, which was around 17 years at the time. (I also consider the older brother a good friend).

Anyway, he'd had this rather unique car only three weeks, (I'd seen it, but never got a chance to ride in it), and he ended up totaling it, misjudging and turning left in front of an oncoming car.

When (Buddy) told me that (Brother) had been in an accident with the Rod, my first reaction was;

"OMG!! How's the car?!?"
Buddy: "It's totaled.... "
Me: "Aw FUCK!!" "Oh, BTW, how's (Brother)?"


Mike

[ThirdGenRetail]

Provided your sight, reflexes etc are up to it, that means you'd probably be a much better driver than average once you got past the fear.

By see a lot, I mostly mean "I observe things drivers don't notice." We've been here 10 years, driving from the semi-boonies of our city to down town Norfolk some... 5+ years now? Because I'm often in clinical studies for treatments for my psoriasis. Now, after 3 years of driving back and forth, back and forth... Mother only noticed a waterway right next to the freeway two years ago Granted, it's a LITTLE hidden by trees and the wall for the freeway as it crosses the water, but I'd noticed it, by that point, some 4 or so years ago. I also notice a lot of deer in the big field across from the base... And, also... My reflexes are absolute shit, I will freely admit this That's why I don't like people tossing drinks down to me when we restock the coolers in the evening. I'm easy to spook away from things I perceive as 'dangerous,' so when a wee 7th grader TGR was doing volley ball dribbles against a wall for PE and got smacked in the face... Yeah, I've come to not like stuff flying at my face, because my reaction time is terrible.

It's a wonder I don't die in video games...

Also, small update in relation to my third point... We saw at least three cars in the ditches on the way to dropping me off at work this morning, and Mother said she saw a SNOW PLOW in the ditch on her way home Now, besides the snow plow, the kickers were... One car was an SUV, and another a newer pickup truck. Repeat after me, people, "Four-wheel drive does NOT mean ICE-wheel drive!"

[Jester]

"Four-wheel drive does NOT mean ICE-wheel drive!"

Hell, sometimes it doesn't even mean four-wheel drive!

Perfect example: my friends in Phoenix and I often go down to this awesome little place in Mexico, Puerto Penasco (gringos call it "Rocky Point"), a lovely little shrimping/fishing village that also caters to tourists, though to a MUCH lesser degree than the usual tourist spots (not as many people know about this spot, for one thing).

One of the main spots in Puerto Penasco is Sandy Beach, the main beach where everyone hangs out and a lot of people actually camp out, as we did. ($15/week beats the hell out of any hotel!) The road to Sandy Beach was this big sandy unpaved mess (at least it was back then, though I hear it may have been paved since), but as it was the only road to Sandy Beach, you had to drive it. (It was far too long to walk.) And we would go flying down it, slipping and sliding, but getting to Sandy Beach. Invariably, we would see several idiots each time stuck in the sand off to the side, because they had tried something stupid beyond their vehicle's ability. We never got stuck ourselves, because we never tried anything stupid. The idiots were invariably driving SUV's.

We were in a Toyota Corolla.

[JustaCashier]

I'm easy to spook away from things I perceive as 'dangerous,'[......]Yeah, I've come to not like stuff flying at my face, because my reaction time is terrible.

Same here.

It really pisses me off when I actually have the chance to tell the person that I can't catch worth a damn, and they insist on throwing the thing anyway. Even if it's something relatively harmless. I still perceive it as a "threat", or, if nothing else, afraid I might "clip" it trying to catch it, and rebound it into something else that gets knocked over and broken.


And yeah, it comes from long ago fears of being smacked in the head by footballs, softballs, and such in school, whether by accident on the part of the thrower, or intentional, because they were the bully type.

Mike

[Frantic Freddie]

One car was an SUV, and another a newer pickup truck. Repeat after me, people, "Four-wheel drive does NOT mean ICE-wheel drive!"

Been meanin' to mention this: Not all SUVs are 4WD,in fact most of them aren't,in non-mountainous areas & big cities they're rare,dealers certainly aren't going to keep stock in something that doesn't sell.A lot of buyers will look at the $1000-$3500 extra for 4WD,not to mention the reduced gas mileage & figure they just want the extra room but don't need the 4WD.You can actually buy a 2WD Jeep Wrangler,which us Jeep people consider sacrilege (& it still gets shitty mileage,so what's the point?)

An example,we were in Orlando last September on vacation & as an idle exercise I decided to see how many Wranglers I could see & I saw as many in one week as I see in a day here.So I looked at Grand Cherokees,a favorite among Realtors (Jeep knows this & has a Realtor Discount,I got mine ) & I didn't see a single one with the 4X4 badge.It makes sense,Florida's a bit short in the mountain & snow departments ,why would they pay extra for stuff they don't need?

Truth is,most people don't have a damn clue how to drive on snow & ice & most cars/trucks/SUVs aren't set up for it.

[Solumina]

That and a lot of people assume that the have four wheel drive and they really don't. It sounds like common sense to know what you are buying but I've had to give a lot of friends the news that their big bad SUV or truck isn't going to make it wherever were were going but its okay because my little ol' Forester will do just fine.

[smileyeagle1021]

A point I've always made, your tires are the most important thing. Four wheel drive with shitty tires equals going in the ditch first time you hit the breaks, two wheel drive with good tires equals slower start but control when you have to stop!

[Sapphire Silk]

One of the main spots in Puerto Penasco is Sandy Beach, the main beach where everyone hangs out and a lot of people actually camp out, as we did. ($15/week beats the hell out of any hotel!) The road to Sandy Beach was this big sandy unpaved mess (at least it was back then, though I hear it may have been paved since), but as it was the only road to Sandy Beach, you had to drive it. (It was far too long to walk.) And we would go flying down it, slipping and sliding, but getting to Sandy Beach. Invariably, we would see several idiots each time stuck in the sand off to the side, because they had tried something stupid beyond their vehicle's ability. We never got stuck ourselves, because we never tried anything stupid. The idiots were invariably driving SUV's.

We were in a Toyota Corolla.

What some people fail to understand about driving FWD is you usually must go much slower so the wheels can "catch" and gain traction. That's all FWD does . . . give you better traction in SOME driving conditions. It does not make you invincible.

As for tires . . . to FWD in some instances, you actually have to let air out of your tires . . . something the uninitiated seldom know. The real diehards actually carry air compressors on the road with them so they can reinflate quickly when they're ready to hit the normal road.

I have a Jeep CJ-7 (that I seldom drive anymore, sadly) that is true 4WD, and could run over just about any terrain . . . that doesn't mean I have the skill to take it there, however.

My Honda Ridgeline has FWD . . . but not the full FWD a Cherokee has. It'll be great for driving through snow, on muddy roads and some driving conditions (not ice) where better traction will help me. But I don't offroad, so I don't need anything more.