Friday, January 14, 2011

I'm Still Alive

I'm still alive despite efforts yesterday to kill me, or at the very least injure me.

We're well into winter here. Well enough into as a matter of fact, that most people should be used to all aspects of winter by now. We had the snowiest December on record. January's snow fall has tapered off from last month but we've still gotten more as well. Yesterday was no exception as two inches were added.

Sadly, a significant portion of the driving population that was out and about yesterday haven't a clue how to drive properly and safely when the roads are snow and/or ice covered. I saw more stupidity yesterday and accidents than I thought possible in a one day period. Usually it's the first snow day when this occurs, which occurred back in November.

I managed to get home alive yesterday from running errands and grocery shopping. I spent the evening thinking about the number of accidents I saw, and narrowly avoided myself, and came up with a few possible reasons why people were morons on the road yesterday.

1) Weird migration patterns. While January isn't normally a month people choose to move I thought maybe this year was different. Maybe people from the southern states fell in love with Wisconsin and couldn't wait for warmer weather to move and a bunch of them recently moved here and can't drive in winter conditions.

2) Snowbirds. With the economy still poor maybe the people who have the means to flee Wisconsin for Florida or Arizona stayed home this year due to the lack of funds. Since they normally don't stick around here in winter months they're probably poor winter drivers as well.

3) Alcohol. Hey, Wisconsin is known to harbor a significant portion of the drinking population and maybe happy hour started much earlier yesterday than usual. Wisconsin also has very lenient drinking and driving laws when compared to surrounding states. It's hard for outsiders to notice someone from Wisconsin is drunk until you see them sober, which is an infrequent event.

4) Astrology or Zodiac nonsense.  Many people seemed to be in an uproar about the changes in this nonsensical business. Maybe it affected their driving. Of course people who put their faith in a bunch of mumbo-jumbo like the astrological signs in the first place would be suspect drivers in any weather as far as I'm concerned.

We're supposed to get more snow later today. Not a significant amount, but yesterday's snow wasn't either. I've got my granddaughter babysitting gig to attend to though. If it wasn't such a pain in the ass I'd have my daughter-in-law bring the kid over here today so that I didn't have to contend with idiots on the road. But then I'd be putting my granddaughter out amongst them. So not a good idea.

(Also, if I watch the granddaughter here the mess we make happens here and I'd be the one to have to clean it up. I'm much fonder of making the mess at their place, where I just laugh at my son when he comes home from work and looks at the disaster the granddaughter and I create.)

So I'll be venturing out later today among the idiots myself. Winter sucks.

12 comments:

JustRex said...

When I lived in Colorado there was a restaurant up on a hill with big windows overlooking the main drag in town. On the bad snowy days I would go to that place and get a window seat and watch the ice frolics. As there was a big Army base and an Air Force base nearby, there were lots of out of state people who had no idea how to drive in snow and ice. It was quite entertaining. Until I ran out of money and had to drive home, anyway.

Dazee Dreamer said...

I'm so with you on the winter suckage

Venom said...

Wisconsin sounds a lot like Manitoba. Just saying.

The Reckmonster said...

Now you have my outright sympathy. Wisconsin sucks. And I only say that because I've been there, and my ex-douche bag is from there. And is it true (as the ex-douche bag has told me) that Milwaukee actually has the highest number of bars per square mile than any other city in the U.S.?). I'd need to drink a lot if I had to live there. Sorry. It's true. =)

BB said...

It does suck. Bigtime!

ChiTown Girl said...

When my son was small, it would have been SO nice to have someone willing to come to MY house and babysit. I always had to bundle my poor baby up and drag him to either my mother's or my mother-in-laws. Trust me, I absolutely appreciated the fact that they watched him for me (and saved me tens-of-thousands of dollars in childcare cost!) it just would have been nicer to not have to always drag my baby out. Especially during a typical Chicago winter, with LOTS of snow and below-zero windchills. Whatever mess that was made would have been worth it. And, I'll bet your son feels the same way.

middle child said...

#3 explains it all!

Sara Strand said...

Yup- Wisconsinites are pretty much all alcoholics. I have yet to meet one who doesn't have a problem or well on their way to having a problem. I'm from Florida and I don't drink so I have few friends here. HA!

Kev D. said...

The astrology nuts probably aren't even driving with their eyes on the road, they're likely too busy watching the stars align.

knancy said...

Some of the most stupid drivers are the ones with 4-wheel drive and a load of over confidence because of that! Driving like it's a sunshiny day until they have to slow down or stop on an icy spot! Beware!

Nakamuras on Saipan said...

You are gonna hate me-but I love winter. I'd give my right arm for winter right now. I've lived in a HOT and bastardy humid climate for the past 30 years and I can't WAIT for winter in Japan! I'm sick to death of sweating my arse off - even in the shower!

Anonymous said...

Amazing how screwed up people can drive. We get a small fraction of the snow down here in Indianapolis that you do, and its absolute madness when an inch hits the ground.

Good Luck with the babysitting, and great idea you have about letting your sons house get trashed..

I like how your mind works!