It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

We had to go to Petoskey yesterday, about 50 miles on primary and secondary roads.  Light snow was falling when we left, but the temp was warm enough that it wasn't sticking and the pavement was just wet.  "It could be worse", we agreed, and sure enough, it got worse on the way back.  The snow intensified and started to accumulate on the road, and darkness was upon us.

Wet snow like that is the most dangerous kind because it's more slippery than the dry powder which we northerners generally experience for most of our winter.  Common sense would tell you to leave plenty of following distance because it takes longer to stop under such conditions but, as somebody famous once said, "Common sense is no longer common".  The traffic ahead was all bunched up and their taillights were going winky-blinky, which means they were using their brakes intermittently. I have seen this before and I always stay well back of such formations.  A couple of guys passed me at one point, although I was going the same speed as the winky-blinky parade ahead of me, so passing me was unlikely to gain them a lot of ground.

Some years ago, I remember driving on I-75 in the daytime through a series of lake effect snow bands.  The snow was plenty dry, but the visibility was intermittently poor.  Common sense would tell you to slow down through the poor stretches and speed up through the clear stretches, but all the other cars were doing just the opposite.  They would pass me when the visibility was bad, and then I would catch up and pass them in the next clear stretch.  I don't know how many times we did this, but I was beginning to recognize some of the cars.  At no time did I exceed the posted speed limit, so it's not like I was trying to race them or anything like that.

Uncle Ken expressed surprise the other day that I read Microsoft News and not Aljazeera.  What have the two got in common?  This is not the notorious MSNBC, this is the news app that came pre-installed in my computer.  I suppose they have a bit of a port list to them, but I can work around that.  I find it convenient because I can access this app without closing my window to the Institute, and then quickly come back and share what I have found with my esteemed colleagues.  What's wrong with that?