Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Snow bound!

Baltimore received a decent snowfall last week. At least, it was decent for our part of the country, where the occurrence of good snow is few and far between. It makes a snowboarder want to weep... The plan was to pick up some new snow pants for M and some beer. The parking lot of The Old Vine is somewhat sloped, but the GTI is front-drive and my tires are in good shape, so I didn't think about it. Mistake.

I used to drive one of these:




I would've been better off and I could've ticked off that time without any sort of acknowledgment. Sometimes, I miss my Rangie, but it broke down. Alot. Of course, buying a British car of somewhat indeterminate mileage probably wasn't smart to begin with. In fairness, that's how everyone bought their used Range Rovers back then. There's also the fact that filling up said beast with petrol would cost me over $80 each time. I could pretend that I'm very concerned with global warming and that my car purchases are thus affected. Actually, that's the truth. My '06 GTI gets around 25 mpg in the city and 32 mpg on the highway despite its sporting nature. That and good snow tires would've made for a completely uninteresting anecdote.

No one likes getting stuck in the snow, but it's particularly abhorrent to me since I'm used to driving vehicles quite proficient in the slippery stuff. I rescue - I don't get rescued! After trying for an hour to drive/race up all possible side streets to the mecca of the main road, I gave up, called for help and walked 2.7 miles to meet my ride. The walk was nice, despite getting splashed by a dorkus in a Jetta, because: 1. I had beer to keep me warm and 2. I like a quiet walk now and again. It's probably as close as I'll ever get to being on Survivor.

My lovely bride came to rescue me, and all was well. My folly in the snow was rewarded with a bike ride back to Mt. Washington to get the car a few days later. Thankfully, the car was where I'd left it. I guess it's off to get new tires for me!

1 comment:

Hilary said...

I think "drive" is a generous verb for the beloved Rover of yesteryear.

"abandon"
"repair"
"dust"

Juniper sure did look cute in it though :)