Scooby-Scooby-Doo, Where are You?

Yesterday was hands-down the best day at the slopes ever! Last night Sugarbush got a foot of new snow which made the powder great. Plus, it was still a weekday so it wasn't crowded at all. It was sunny, not too cold, and all but one of the lifts were running. You can't ask for much more than that.

As for today, I drove back to Michigan for the holidays. The ten hours of driving gave me lots of time to sing to my newly burned "Dance Hits" CD. You haven't lived until you are rocking to "Billie Jean" going 85 through Toronto. I capped off a great day with a visit to Arby's. Yummm.
-SD

I got a free ticket to Sugarbush today, so I am taking the day off to hit the slopes. Snow here I come!
-SD

So after reading my last post, some people have wondered why I felt like a "sell-out" buying snow tires. Well, it's a matter of principal really. My whole life I've totally supported that all-season tires work just fine. I mean, I went to school in Houghton for four years. Houghton averages around 250" of snow per year, which is way more than we get here in Vermont (not counting if you are living on top of a mountain of course, the ski slopes average about that per winter). Getting around in Houghton was never easy, but I never once got stuck or got close to being in accident because of my tires. My old car was a Pontiac Grand Am with front wheel drive. Granted, it had more clearance than my Honda Accord does now, but my old car also didn't have traction control. So reason tells me that the Accord should operate as good as or better than the old Pontiac. Well, after Sunday's experience I couldn't prove to be more wrong. The tires the Honda has are all-season, but they are of the low-profile performance kind, which means they are wider than a standard tire. Wide tires are BAD in the snow. Plus, the Honda is a stick. Even with over six months of driving it around I still can't quite get a smooth take off, which doesn't help when you are trying to start up a hill in the snow. One tiny miscalculation and you are spinning.

One thing I've learned from this experience is that past outcomes don't always predict future results. As for me, I'm still trying to decide to shell out all the cash for some snows (as Vermonters usually refer to their snow tires). I think I should just avoid the whole situation and move to Florida :-)
-SD

Sunday night was horrible. I tried to drive to my hockey game in a blizzard and wound up getting stuck multiple times. The only reason I got out once was because a UVM chick gave my car a push. Talk about embarrassing. After than I am looking into buying some snow tires. I feel like such a sell-out.
-SD

It's snowing again, no big surprise there. But for the second weekend in a row, we are supposed to get up to two feet! What is this, Houghton?

On a happier note, I am reading Prey by Michael Crichton. It is a very good techno-thriller about nanobots. If you like that sort of stuff, give it a read.
-SD