It's

Rest in Peace

March

Actually, it was the opposite of that. It is March after all. Time for something new.

375 lbs

How's that for cargo capacity?

Don't Talk About...

"...Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."

While I was listening to that?

Outside, it was making that. 

<---------

Like the Energizer Bunny...

Drive it like a 4x4

Now I need a new shirt that says something like, "How does that thing do in the snow?"

I know people are curious but it started getting old. It's not like there were any other Smart Car drivers on the road to ask so they had to ask me. I started tailoring my response to their situation. To one guy in a big 2 wheel drive pickup, I responded, "Better than yours." He agreed. To pedestrians, it was, "It's a lot easier than walking." It handled much better than a charter bus going down E Thomas St. between Bellevue Ave E and Melrose Ave E. So for anyone else wondering how a Smart Car handles in the snow, here's what I learned over the past 2 weeks.

Rear wheel drive, rear engine vehicles tend to do pretty well in the snow. The weight is over the drive wheels where you need it. If you add in the Electronic Stability Program (ESP), Anti-Lock Brakes and no power steering, I think it is the best set up short of a 4 wheel drive you can have. Sure the ground clearance could be better and the car is light weight, but one person can push it out of trouble instead of having to recruit a team of strangers to push your car free. Usually, a bit of rocking back and forth did the trick for me. Be careful where you park. You don't want to have to clear a little snow mound on the side of the road at a bad angle with no momentum. Also, the ESB doesn't work in reverse. Those tires will spin all day in reverse, so backing into parking spots is a must. If you think you need chains, don't expect any help from your Smart dealer. They don't carry them because they are not an "official Smart USA product". You have to get your tires from the dealer and I'm pretty sure Continental is not owned by Smart, but that's another story. So find them on the internet and order them early. I'm sure you could also make your own snow tires if you wanted to drill in some studs yourself but then you are going to need another set when the winter is over.

Bottom line is that I was very happy with the Smart's ability in the snow. It might be a good idea to carry a shovel with you in case you need to dig out of a parking spot, but I managed without one.

I also learned that pedestrians are jealous of my cane when there is snow on the ground. I told most of the one's who mentioned it that I would gladly trade my cane to them if I could have their ability to walk normally or run. Unfortunately, I didn't have any takers.

Thunder Snow

Thunder woke me up this morning. I rarely get to hear thunder anymore since moving to Seattle. It rumbled for several seconds. Then a few minutes later, it happened again and it snowed for the next twelve hours. Here's a few photos from today.

39.33952 meters per second