Musings during the commute home

Kansas City experienced snow today.  A fine, driving snow.  All of maybe 2" accumulation.  This would not be a big deal, except:

• As a friend noted Kansas City doesn't have a great record with snow removal or laying down salt, even when the mayor isn't suing the city.
• Local SUV drivers believe their vehicles are invincible, can manage curves and turns on slippery streets at 40mph, and that 4 wheel drive means 4 wheel stop even on ice.
  • Exhibit A: a smaller SUV didn't take the Rockhill curve at Stowers, and instead took the stone wall and streetlight around noon.  Same thing happened first snow last year, and just about the same make of SUV was involved.
• Drivers do not realize what those D2 and D1 indicators mean on the gearshift of automatic transmission vehicles.  Yeah, get out your manual and read it.  Putting your vehicle in D2 or D1 can a-save your brakes when going downhill whether on a steep incline or slick street, and b-can keep you from spinning out going uphill on a slick street.
• Drivers also like to tailgate around here, and tend to ignore the implications in wet, snowy, icy weather.  I just don't get it.  A friend drives for UPS and gave me a useful tip.  When you stop in traffic, be sure you can see the tires of the vehicle in front of you touching the pavement.  If you can see the bottom of the rear tires, then you have enough room to pull out from behind that vehicle if you have to.  Great tip.  And in wet, snowy, icy weather, leave even more room than that. 
• Because drivers tend to tailgate, other drivers sense pressure to go faster (sometimes unnecessarily so).  Which causes even more accidents...

My commute home was 105 minutes long.  So I pondered topics other than safe driving.  Among them:

• Proper nail care.  As a pianist, I've kept my nails short practically all of my life.  I used to clip them, but I don't like the ragged edges.  I file them, but wintertime poses some issues because of dry, fragile skin.  The emory board I was using yesterday slipped a fraction of a millimeter and I sliced open the skin just under the nail (yes, you can say OUCH!!!) on 3 fingers and my right thumb.  You would think once was enough, but oh no.  It happened so quickly.  And is still sore.  I'd love to hear how other pianists (and string players) deal with this.  I don't think wind players are quite as picky about nail length (or the lack thereof). 
• Right now, living in Florida or Arizona sounds good (this meandered through my brain as I scraped snow and ice off of my vehicle for the 2nd time today).
• What if I had a job requiring a shorter commute.  Like say, raising alpacas or llamas or sheep?  But then I would be out in all types of weather, making sure all the critters were safe and accounted for. 
  
  • Further along this line, imagined how the hubster would deal with using a wood stove for heat and chopping wood.
    • What if I wound up having the wood chopping responsibilities.  And if I thought those slices under the nail hurt, that's nothing compared to getting in wood without gloves as I remember from childhood.
• Perhaps a job in a city/area where public transit is more prevalent or housing closer to my job was more affordable...

Time to go.  Must get to bed soon and be ready for meetings bright and early in the morning.

Comments

[Jessica]

So you mean there are idiot drivers all over and not just in NY/NJ?!?! ;) I know what you mean though. I used to do a lot of driving between Buffalo and Albany and most of the cars in the ditch were SUVs. Idiots!

[Kirstin]

Oy!

As for the nails--I either file and clip or file, and every morning on the bus I put Burt's Bees cuticle cream or hand salve on my nails and finger tips--it helps a lot with the cracks and other unpleasantries of winter.

[PlazaJen]

Now, I will say, when the streets are well-traveled, and have just moisture on them, and there is still snow on the sidewalk? There is NO reason to drive 15 mph on a main thoroughfare. Made me nutters yesterday morning. Ice, yes, I get it, we all need to creep. But NO. El Stopo The Madness-o!