Random Nuclear Strikes

Just an FYI for those who think they might want to be jealous: So long as the local weather stays nominal and no unexpected holidays pop up, this week will be the first week since the one before Thanksgiving that I have worked 5 days in a row.

With Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day all falling so closely together, and then the first snowstorm, followed by the windstorm, then followed by the second snowstorm, the largest number of days I have worked in a row since the third week in November was three.

The only holidays “Sanitation Engineers” do not pick up on around here are Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. That accounted for three weeks worth of split work weeks. If my worksite had no power, I didn’t work. Those counted for two weeks. Then the windstorm closed enough neighborhoods and we had enough drivers staying home to do repairs to knock us out for another week. And then the two snowstorms shut us down for at least one day per week for three weeks.

If the drivers don’t roll, I don’t get paid to punch in, so I don’t. Don’t be jealous. The working of Saturdays and Sundays was killing my sleep schedule and when asked how I’m doing, my usual answer as of late is “just tired”.

But on a good note, both the wife and I made it through Snowpocolypse 2007 with nary a scratch and I got to test out those new treads I was bragging about.

Let’s see here: First we got 6-7 inches of the white powdery stuff which turned into brown slushy stuff after six days of hardpacked, almost clear slick stuff. The freeways were pretty clear, with only small patches of black ice, but in my end of town, the hilly one with zig-gagging streets where no state or county DOT truck dared to tread for the first three days, we had one-to-two inches of compacted ice. It had a white frost across the top of it, but once you gave it some friction, it cleared right up and you could see the asphalt through it.

The Yokohama A/T-S (255/70-16) tires I bought just a week earlier worked spectacularly. The above link to the home-video of me clearing off my truck’s windshield was supposed to have been followed by footage of the wife and I going to the store moments later. However, there were some “Hardware Interfacing” issues (I didn’t hit the REC button) and all was lost.

The tires hit the white fluffy stuff and made it run away. Whatever didn’t run got squished and used for traction, the widely separated lugs clearing themselves very well for the next go-round.

While technically not a “snow tire” or “studable”, the compact ice was not much of a problem either, provided I kept my head about me. What they did very well was telegraph to my steering wheel and gas and brake pedals exactly what was happening so that I knew what to do next. I have upgraded the steering, suspension and braking systems to the point where the truck is almost annoying to drive because of the amount of feedback, but it saved my bacon during this time.

After five evasive maneuvers to avoid my fellow Washington drivers, I stopped counting. I dodged oncoming traffic crossing the centerline, people behind me not able to stop in time, and people in front of me not able to make it up the hill and sliding back towards me. I stayed out of ditches and yards and off the sidewalks with not so much as a hiccup from these bad boys.

And, unlike past tires I’ve had on this truck, there was no modulation of tire air pressures necessary.

10 out of 10 for these tires. Highly recommended.

Speaking of people out of control, check out this vid from Portland’s time on the ice. These folks could definitely use both some better tires and some driving lessons (yes, one of the hills within 6 blocks of me looked just like this).

Note: At around the 40 second mark, you can hear some woman explain/yell that she has “Three children under five in that car and someone has to get them out!” I almost pity this woman for being that stoopid. Seeing as how children under five years of age are NOT able to motivate themselves with any reliability under normal conditions, let alone on ice, and that they probably are NOT dressed well enough to stand out in below freezeing temperatures for any length of time, the fact that the speeds involved are UNDER 5MPH means that the safest place for them is INSIDE the car.

But hey, no one has to take an IQ test to squirt out three human infants. Unfortunately.