What’s on your mind?

[GrayFlannel]

Snow is fine if you have it every year so you are set up for it.

Deep snow is generally not a problem to drive on except when it’s falling and the visibility goes to zero.

Winter driving is difficult, even if set up for it, when the temps where you live linger between 0F - 35F. Those are the harshest conditions because ice is always present and black ice in particular. The road looks clean but patches are frozen and pure ice.

 

[rm5]

Here in the PNW, we usually get a decent amount of snow each year. Sometimes it's a little. Sometimes it's way too much for us to handle. Whenever a snow storm comes through, we have plows, de-icers and every other deterrent deployed to make sure the roads (for the most part) are still drivable. The schools will only close if the roads are just too slick and treacherous for the buses to safely drive on and even then, it has to be a STUPID amount of snow.

Years ago, my sister moved down to Georgia for school and the winter she moved there, they got a freak snow storm. If I recall, it was about 6" of snow for the entire city of Atlanta. My sister described it as walking through a ghost town. She had zero problem driving on the roads, because she grew up driving in snow and 6" isn't terrible BUT she was the only one driving. Atlanta (to my knowledge) does not have snow plows or de-icers or melting salt and they had to wait for the snow to melt because it absolutely paralyzed the city.

I have never driven in the snow. I don't have a car up here in Wisconsin, and since this university is residential (everyone lives on campus), a car is not necessary. (This is also the reason why I am horribly unconfident at the wheel, because I have very few chances to practice driving, but that's another problem.)

However, this will inevitably create a problem if I end up actually living here after I graduate. Since I have no experience driving in the snow (and, honestly no desire to practice), I will just be thrown out there in a blizzard with absolutely no idea what to do. Kind of concerning.

I grew up - and learned to drive - in the arid Southwestern U.S. where the most snowfall is about 1-2 inches, and it rarely gets to be that much. Snow plows are unheard of, maybe unless you're up in the mountains.

 

[VisceralRealist]

I grew up - and learned to drive - in the arid Southwestern U.S. where the most snowfall is about 1-2 inches, and it rarely gets to be that much. Snow plows are unheard of, maybe unless you're up in the mountains.

I grew up by the beach. I don't even know what snow is.

(Just kidding, but it will literally never snow here unless another ice age occurs).

 

[Macky-Mac]

I grew up by the beach. I don't even know what snow is.

(Just kidding, but it will literally never snow here unless another ice age occurs).

Snow is that white stuff you can see on the mountains off to the east of the urban area, seriously.

Living in Los Angeles, I have to say that it does actually snow near the beach.......at least once a decade, or maybe every two decades. I've personally seen it. TV news had reported a small patch on the ground near my apartment so I walked over to take a photo. There was a traffic jam because people had seen the news report and drove over to look at it. It was about the size of a parking space and melted away after a couple of hours. This might have been before you were born.

 

[Chuckeee]

I grew up by the beach. I don't even know what snow is.

(Just kidding, but it will literally never snow here unless another ice age occurs).

When I attended UCLA there was a limit on the number of scholarships they could give to football players so The players that could not get scholarships were given “jobs”. These “jobs” Were just a way to funnel alumni dollars to athletes that didn’t have scholarships. The one particular “job” I remember Hearing about was a squad of students That were paid for 20 hours a week to be on standby to shovel snow off the intramural athletic field. UCLA is in West Los Angeles and it hasn’t snowed there in 70 years.

 

[VisceralRealist]

Snow is that white stuff you can see on the mountains off to the east of the urban area, seriously.

Living in Los Angeles, I have to say that it does actually snow near the beach.......at least once a decade, or maybe every two decades. I've personally seen it. TV news had reported a small patch on the ground near my apartment so I walked over to take a photo. There was a traffic jam because people had seen the news report and drove over to look at it. It was about the size of a parking space and melted away after a couple of hours. This might have been before you were born.

It's possible. All I've ever seen here is hail. It's beautiful to see the snow on the San Gabriels during the winter, but I've never seen snow where I grew up.

When I attended UCLA there was a limit on the number of scholarships they could give to football players so The players that could not get scholarships were given “jobs”. These “jobs” Were just a way to funnel alumni dollars to athletes that didn’t have scholarships. The one particular “job” I remember Hearing about was a squad of students That were paid for 20 hours a week to be on standby to shovel snow off the intramural athletic field. UCLA is in West Los Angeles and it hasn’t snowed there in 70 years.

Talk about make-work. Reminds me of when I was on volcano patrol in New England. 🤣

 

[Herdfan]

However, this will inevitably create a problem if I end up actually living here after I graduate. Since I have no experience driving in the snow (and, honestly no desire to practice), I will just be thrown out there in a blizzard with absolutely no idea what to do. Kind of concerning.

When my daughter was learning to drive I took her to the local mall after they closed on a snowy night. I made her drive all over the lot so she got to feel what losing control felt like, she got to feel how too much power would spin the wheels and how you can't stop.

Now she lives in LA. LOL

 

[rm5]

Was gonna go to a concert tonight, but I am WAY too tired. Thank god for a 4-day weekend (midterm break).

 

[The Clark]

Ended up getting the job I interviewed for! I start on the 31st

Just wanted to share the good news with my forum pals.

 

[Macky-Mac]

Ended up getting the job I interviewed for! I start on the 31st

Just wanted to share the good news with my forum pals.

congrats!

 

[decafjava]

Ended up getting the job I interviewed for! I start on the 31st

Just wanted to share the good news with my forum pals.

Excellent!

 

[Apple fanboy]

Ended up getting the job I interviewed for! I start on the 31st

Just wanted to share the good news with my forum pals.

Great news. I hope it’s a good fit for you and rewarding.

 

[GrayFlannel]

Ended up getting the job I interviewed for! I start on the 31st

Just wanted to share the good news with my forum pals.

Congratulations.

 

[rm5]

Ended up getting the job I interviewed for! I start on the 31st

Just wanted to share the good news with my forum pals.

Congratulations!! So happy for you!

 

[jedimasterkyle]

I have never driven in the snow. I don't have a car up here in Wisconsin, and since this university is residential (everyone lives on campus), a car is not necessary. (This is also the reason why I am horribly unconfident at the wheel, because I have very few chances to practice driving, but that's another problem.)

However, this will inevitably create a problem if I end up actually living here after I graduate. Since I have no experience driving in the snow (and, honestly no desire to practice), I will just be thrown out there in a blizzard with absolutely no idea what to do. Kind of concerning.

I grew up - and learned to drive - in the arid Southwestern U.S. where the most snowfall is about 1-2 inches, and it rarely gets to be that much. Snow plows are unheard of, maybe unless you're up in the mountains.

Yeah being in Wisconsin, might I recommend you learn how to do it before too long lol. Learning to drive in snow can be an interesting experience. Here are some tips...

1. Inertia and distance are your friends. Gunning the gas and spinning your tires does absolutely nothing if you're at a dead stop. The deeper and slicker the snow, the more distance you want between you and the car ahead of you. Just because your brakes work doesn't mean you'll come to a dead stop instantly.
2. 4WD doesn't do anything to help in snow. I've seen lifted 4x4's rolled over on the interstate because they thought they were impervious to snow.
3. AWD (like in Subarus) CAN help but you shouldn't rely solely on that to save you.
4. Studded tires can help but like AWD, dont rely on it 100%.

Some of my friends absolutely LOVE driving in the snow but they're also joker-level psychotic so I dont trust their judgement to begin with.

The only weather I truly fear driving in is in freezing rain. We had a freezing rain storm come through here about a decade ago and it coated everything in a half inch of ice. It turned the freeway into a skating rink and there were 1000 accidents within minutes of the storm rolling through. It's the one type of storm where, IMO, everyone should just stay the F home from work and school and wait it out because driving on it, even with chains and spikes, is damn near impossible.

 

[MmkLucario]

Yeah being in Wisconsin, might I recommend you learn how to do it before too long lol. Learning to drive in snow can be an interesting experience. Here are some tips...

1. Inertia and distance are your friends. Gunning the gas and spinning your tires does absolutely nothing if you're at a dead stop. The deeper and slicker the snow, the more distance you want between you and the car ahead of you. Just because your brakes work doesn't mean you'll come to a dead stop instantly.
2. 4WD doesn't do anything to help in snow. I've seen lifted 4x4's rolled over on the interstate because they thought they were impervious to snow.
3. AWD (like in Subarus) CAN help but you shouldn't rely solely on that to save you.
4. Studded tires can help but like AWD, dont rely on it 100%.

Some of my friends absolutely LOVE driving in the snow but they're also joker-level psychotic so I dont trust their judgement to begin with.

The only weather I truly fear driving in is in freezing rain. We had a freezing rain storm come through here about a decade ago and it coated everything in a half inch of ice. It turned the freeway into a skating rink and there were 1000 accidents within minutes of the storm rolling through. It's the one type of storm where, IMO, everyone should just stay the F home from work and school and wait it out because driving on it, even with chains and spikes, is damn near impossible.

I would say 4WD does help in snow. There has been some instances where 4WD was necessary for traction. It also matters what kind of tires that’s on the car. Obviously, don’t be an idiot when driving in the snow. Nothing, 4WD or studs, can help an idiot driver that doesn’t know how to drive in the snow.

 

[GrayFlannel]

1. 4WD doesn't do anything to help in snow. I've seen lifted 4x4's rolled over on the interstate because they thought they were impervious to snow.
2. AWD (like in Subarus) CAN help but you shouldn't rely solely on that to save you.

That doesn’t make sense. 4WD and AWD are the same except for when they engage. Both 4WD/AWD, when engaged, helps with traction but does not make them impervious to the laws of physics.

 

[The Clark]

Thanks all.

Unrelated question: What is everyone's feelings here on a four day work week? Do you think that should be the new standard?

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Thanks all.

Unrelated question: What is everyone's feelings here on a four day work week? Do you think that should be the new standard?

I think we all should work less. The 5 day ≈ 40 hrs week is more than 100 years old, and we are MUCH more productive now than we used to be (and thus much richer, with out going too deep into wage stagnation in the US from the late 70s for fear of going too political).

The problem is whether productivity rises enough, by going down to 4 days, to keep (more or less) the same pay as you get for a "full" 5 day week.

In Norway a normal work week is 37.5 hrs, which is 7.5 hrs a day for 5 days a week as the norm.

There has been several trials with a 30 day week, both with 4 days à 7.5 hrs and 5 days à 6 hrs. And even though most tries have been reported as relatively positive (with productivity rising and sick leave dropping) no-one seems to take a real initiative to actually try it in large scale.

I think we should. If we had - gradually - gone down in work hours, as productivity rose in the 20th and 21st century we'd probably had 15 hrs weeks now (though probably with a lower wage and thus living standard). So that might be too radical, but 30 hrs weeks should - IMHO - be the norm in 2025.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Thanks all.

Unrelated question: What is everyone's feelings here on a four day work week? Do you think that should be the new standard?

No. If it’s going to be the same total hours over 4 days rather than 5.
Yes if it’s going to be 4 days with no daily hours increase but the same monthly pay!

Fat chance. I think it would very much depend on the role and there are other factors to consider.
Childcare for example. Or what about those doing physical jobs.

Until recently I was doing around 10 hours a week unpaid overtime. After about 12 years I’ve knocked that on the head. So for me it feels like I’ve cut back to a 5 day week from a 6.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I think we all should work less. The 5 day ≈ 40 hrs week is more than 100 years old, and we are MUCH more productive now than we used to be (and thus much richer, with out going too deep into wage stagnation in the US from the late 70s for fear of going too political).

The problem is if productivity rises enough, by going down to 4 days, to keep (more or less) the same pay as you get for a "full" 5 day week.

In Norway a normal work week is 37.5 hrs, which is 7.5 hrs a day for 5 days a week as the norm.

There has been several trials with a 30 day week, both with 4 days à 7.5 hrs and 5 days à 6 hrs. And even though most tries have been reported as relatively positive (with productivity rising and sick leave dropping) no-one seems to take a real initiative to actually try it in large scale.

I think we should. If we had - gradually - gone down in work hours, as productivity rose in the 20th and 21st century we'd probably had 15 hrs weeks now (though probably with a lower wage and thus living standard). So that might be too radical, but 30 hrs weeks should - IMHO - be the norm in 2025.

37.5 here in the UK as well. Not sure how we are all richer though?

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Thanks all.

Unrelated question: What is everyone's feelings here on a four day work week?

Very much in favour.

Do you think that should be the new standard?

Absolutely, yes.

 

[The Clark]

37.5 here in the UK as well. Not sure how we are all richer though?

Im actually curious, in the UK do you find inflation to be a large issue? In Canada and the US it's horrible right now. I don't hear a lot of people from the UK complaining, but I'm pretty ignorant.

Edit: Also, is tipping a large issue there? Tipping culture here is out of control.

 

[rm5]

Thanks all.

Unrelated question: What is everyone's feelings here on a four day work week? Do you think that should be the new standard?

No opinion. Never worked a 9-5 job, so I have no first-hand experience.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Im actually curious, in the UK do you find inflation to be a large issue? In Canada and the US it's horrible right now. I don't hear a lot of people from the UK complaining, but I'm pretty ignorant.

Edit: Also, is tipping a large issue there? Tipping culture here is out of control.

Tipping is much less of a thing here than elsewhere. I only tip if the service was good. But in reality I eat out less than most. So outside of work it’s probably only twice a year.

Every year inflation goes up more than my wages. It’s not so bad for me because our mortgage is nearly paid off. But for youngsters renting or trying to buy it’s tough.

My Dad puts it like this. When he bought his first house his mortgage was one weeks wages.

When I bought mine it was two weeks wages.

Now days it’s three or worse. Rents are higher.