windshield died
 

Today on my way home from my comp @ Alpine Meadows a Chevy Tahoe was spining its tires in front of me. Idiot didn't have it in 4 wheel drive. Anyway, his tires picked up a rock with the snow and hit my windshield. Needless to say it was the last hit for my poor windshield which had some rock abuse previously. This one hit and then the windshield cracked from one side to the other almost instantly. It was insane. So hopefully this one will hold for the rest of winter and when i have a job and cash in the spring I will get a new one.

At the comp, my ankle couldn't hold the lines I needed (I was on 1200 mg of ibuprofen) and ended up collapsing in the semi-finals, throwing my huge lead away and I ended up taking my buddy out.

Many insurance places will wave the deductable for cracked windshields, you might want to call 'em and possibly get it fixed for free.

word.

And the worst thing about driving in the snow (this is from my experience as a passenger btw, I have limited "driving" experience in snow) is the other people on the road. Going too fast or spinning their tires because they're clueless. In fact the one time I drove in fresh, unplowed snow, I was going about 15mph because it was snowing, dark and you couldn'r see the lines on the road (plus no street lights on that part of the road) and this blazer rips by me at about 50mph. Idiots

I'm always the guy doing 50+ past all the clueless gapers who have no business being in snow in the first place. Like Donny says in Gone in 60 Secs when talking to the asian lady who cnat drive. " I know I can't swim, so I stay my black ass out of the pool. " All gapers (everyone I asume knows what I'm talking about now thanks to an earlier thread) need to follow this example. If you don't know how to drive in snow you should stay ur ass out of the snow.

How else would you learn how to drive in the snow if you ... never drive in the snow? In my case I got stuck at my girlfriends house. Went in, it was fine, left and it was snowing like a bitch.

For me, I drive slow in the snow because I don't want to have an accident. Seems to me if you drive too slow in the snow, people like you who haul ass go "god damned gapers move it!!" yet if you drive fast and wreck, people like you go "god damned noobs shouldn't be in the snow!!!"

So speed up and don't crash, you frikkin noob. :p

God I hate the whole "gapers" crap. You guys realize that without the tourism, Truckee, Tahoe, etc would be a shithole, freezing, podunk mountain town right? There'd be no skiing, no jobs, no place to live... there'd be *nothing* without the millions of dollars pumped into the area each year by out-of-towners.

Every time you see a "gaper", you should shake their hand and thank them for giving you the oppertunity to live in such a beautiful place they only visit.

Not to mention how absolutely self-important people sound when they use juvenile terms like "gaper", or "leafer", etc.

That was a short rant Scott, but it's late so you must be tired! :P

I think "gaper" just sounds dumb, but I think that about all words that aren't really words. Must be all that school I went to.

Yeah.... mini-rant, I'm watching hours 1-6 of Daytona on the DVR.

Parking lot.

In a word no. Tahoe was around before it was a tourist "town." Hell when I moved there it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it is now. The shitload of idiots who not only visit but live there now is why my family left. It was a fine place before it was full of "gapers" constantly.

we should start a winter vent thread. It seems like a lot of posts turn into a big debate over tourists in the area and their driving ability. However, I am checking out my windshield with my insuance company. Thanks for the helpful insight guys.

It's COD!. Only noobs say GAPER!

People that call CODS: gapers are the one's going 50 mph in the snow causing accidents! When it's slick, slow down, because everyone out there is probably driving worse than you.

I can't tell you how many people I see driving off the road like an A$$ because they have the almighty AWD. Guess what, you're going down a 10% grade with 0 throttle, you are just another target.

Oh that's rigHT I quoted Scott because I agree. Without all the CODS this area would have no support for any of the other businesses in the area. They are essential to this area.

Unfortunately we don't have a whole lot of snow filled parking lots down here in Sac and getting up to a snow filled parking lot would require....you guessed it! Driving in the snow.

Tahoe has always been a tourist destination for the ski areas and the lake. Without all the tourists coming up here none of the industries that exist would survive. The only aspect of this area that was not based on tourism are the industries that have all long since left the area: logging, railway stop and ice harvesting. While Tahoe has clearly gotten "worse", it is because it is more popular, but it has always been and always will be a tourist destination. Everyone's business up here can be tied to the success of the tourist industry.

Ok, so we have determined:
-YES, Tahoe is a giant tourist destination and that they are NEEDED for the area to survive.
-YES, More tourists are comming.
-YES, People who live on the lake and surrounding areas year round do "suffer" with the extensive extra traffic and flow durring peak tourist season.
-Tourists can not drive in the snow (unless they are from an area which recieves snow and/or ice)

Sounds about right to me. Don't get me wrong either, we all get extremely annoyed with the stupidity that goes on. Yesterday getting up the Alpine Meadows road was classic:

Big sign at bottom of access road reads: "Chains or 4WD with snow tires are required to reach the parking lot" 1 mile later traffic is a dead stop. Why?, because two boneheads in rear wheel drive sedans decided that their traction control on A/S tires was enough and it wasn't. They sat there in the middle of the road spinning their tires thinking somehow they would get some magical traction. After getting out of my car and explaining that they needed to back up and get out of the way, they both just stared at me like I was crazy. Fortunately two other people got out and offered to help push them down hill so they could install their chains. Again they looked at us like we are crazy and said: "but we're so close" - traffic is now backed up probably all the way to 89. After several more people got out of their cars and the Alpine shuttle bus driver coming down the hill is now stopped, he got out and said: "either move out of the way or my bus is going to push you out of the way" - they backed up and started the painful chain install with everyone yelling at them as they passed. So we move on and guess what? Same condition again 1 mile later..................another dumbA$$.

See that's frustrating. Signs such as "CHAINS or 4WD required to reach parking lot" are rarely a suggestion (like speed limit signs, for example). I would be pissed at someone like that too. I can't stand people who are too dense or that think they are above reading/following directions. It's so aggrivating.

alpine meadows road is always that way, especially on the weekends. Weekdays are great their even when it dumps, you can get in and out with easy, weekends with the cods/gapers on that road is the pits. I felt that pain too many times when i worked there

This board needs a filter installed that deletes the words "gaper", "cod" & "LOL".

and "hella"

What? Now I can't talk about my lights!

You gaper....................LOL

Amen.
And people crashing subies because they're going 50+mph (not only because they are losing control, but also other cars around them freak out and dart one direction or another and cause a chain reaction) are just raising the insurance rates for everyone. Jeez, what does it cost you to slow down a little bit, maybe 5 minutes out of your day!?
Love,
Mom

I talked to the insurance people yesterday and no luck on a windshield replacement. Looks like I'm paying for it. For teh rest of winter until about april I will be cruising around with a busted windshield.

That's too bad. :( That might be better anyway, if it's safe -- just in case it happens again this winter.