Jaci Dawn

I’m ready now. I stopped at Les Schwab’s yesterday and picked up a set of chains for my car. Today I picked up extra chain tighteners. I have an extra pair of jeans, my Sorel boots and extra blankets in my car.

In short, I am ready in case we get snow.

Which means, of course, that it won’t snow. It’s the Law of Preparedness. If you aren’t prepared, you get snow. And lots of it with ice and people who don’t know how to drive on it.

If you are prepared and the whole of Portland is prepared with gravel trucks and the two snow plows they own and Tri-Met is ready to chain-up, then we will not have snow.

Why is this important? because Portland is not only a city of hills, it is a city of drivers who have never driven on snow before. Witness this from a couple years ago:

Had one of these people had the sense to just park it, some of this would not have happened. If one of these drivers had removed his foot from the brake (braking is actually the worst thing you can do in a slide) and tapped the gas, it is possible some of this would not have happened. If Portland actually owned more than two snow plows, probably none of this would have happened.

For the record, I drove to and from work every day that the office was open during that snow storm. I borrowed the 4×4 and my husband went to work with a friend in his 4×4. It wasn’t too bad if you allowed an extra half hour for the commute (due to the number of people driving with chains on who had to slow down and due to the number of people who don’t know they are supposed to slow down and spin out on the roadways).

Last year I got caught in the Big Snow Storm. It actually snowed less than 3 inches, but everyone panicked, got out on it and pounded it down into ice in less than an hour. Cars that slid off to the side of the road or floundered in the powder were simply abandoned – right where they were parked, even if it was in the lane of traffic. For whatever bizarre reason, I actually drove my husband’s big 4×4 in to work that day instead of my little red truck. If I had driven my little red truck, I would have left work at the first snow flake and probably would have been home in 40 minutes before the snow actually hit.

But I drove the Explorer and I figured I was safe. I didn’t count on Other Drivers.

It took me over 6 hours to get home. So much fun.

If I am ever stuck on Lower Boones’ Ferry Road for 2 hours again, I am stopping at a motel and spending the night. End of story.

Anyway, this year I ditched the truck for a four-wheel drive car of my own. But I still don’t know how it will handle in the snow being both a compact car and a very light weight one. I do know it only has rain tires on (which is great since it rains here 10 months out of 12).

So I decided to be proactive and get everything in my trunk that I will potentially need: warm clothes, blankets & the chains. And yes, I know how to put the chains on (the new chains are SO much easier to deal with than the old ones).

I’m ready.

Now it won’t snow. Which is too bad because I am rather looking forward to snow.