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There and back and in between,,,,
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30-12-2009 5:41pm#1
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Nice idea; thank you.. but i could not put them on myself; and no cash just now..though once this has passed, I am going to sort something out.
I need not go out for a good while now
That feels very good indeed.Grace get on the internet & order some snow chains or phone a car accessory shop & see if they can order you some. Where you live you could need these during any Winter & it will greatly reduce the chances of you getting stuck.0 -
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Nice idea; thank you.. but i could not put them on myself; and no cash just now..though once this has passed, I am going to sort something out.
I need not go out for a good while now
That feels very good indeed.
I can't believe that man and woman!
Good to see that there are some helpful souls out there.
Glad to hear you got back safe and have supplies. I can only imagine how bad things are with you so you must have been desperate to brave the road.Mad Men's Don Draper : What you call love was invented by guys like me, to sell nylons.
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Rember that if the coal is in the boot and it is a front wheel drive you are reducing your grip Grace.
A bag of coal/briquettes on the floor in the passenger stairwell and the spuds on the back seat is better, get the weight ahead of the rear wheels any way you can and as low as possible in the car too.
Bringing cardboard ( brown cardboard boxes) to put under the wheels is an idea too, put long strips behind the front wheels if stuck , roll back a bit and take off along the cardboard to get going.
Remember brown cardboard is biodegradeable, feel no guilt
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Never seen ice like this; just nothing for wheels to get any grip on for hundreds of yards. Sometimes one wheel in the snow at the side helped, but then the danger of ending in the ditch.. A big van y'day had to take a great run at the wee slope to get out.
Welll is all learning!
This wee car is the worst I have had...Susuki WagonRPlus..
Ah well; as you say, only a bad winter.. And yes, well stocked now.. So I can watch and wait
And enjoy the snowSponge Bob wrote: »Rember that if the coal is in the boot and it is a front wheel drive you are reducing your grip Grace.
A bag of coal/briquettes on the floor in the passenger stairwell and the spuds on the back seat is better, get the weight ahead of the rear wheels any way you can and as low as possible in the car too.
Bringing cardboard ( brown cardboard boxes) to put under the wheels is an idea too, put long strips behind the front wheels if stuck , roll back a bit and take off along the cardboard to get going.
Remember brown cardboard is biodegradeable, feel no guilt0 -
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Many years ago, I had a spell of country living here in Canada and got to experience a taste of the isolation and difficulties that our ancestors here must have faced in the harsh winters.
My location was about a hundred miles north of Toronto in what people call "the snow belt" where heavy snow squalls from the Great Lakes often dump much more snow than down in the city and surrounding areas. I had been there for one winter and summer and the first winter wasn't particularly harsh, although it was more snow than I was used to seeing.
The second winter (1974-75) was quite mild and snow-free, but it failed to warm up in March and some snow fell, so everyone was getting a bit of cabin fever on these rural sideroads waiting for the small amount of snow and ice to thaw.
Then we got hit by an enormous and for that time of year totally unprecedented blizzard, it lasted about three days and dumped three feet of snow which then started to blow into enormous drifts (and this is not wide open country, there are lots of trees around). This would have been April 2 to 4, and from the end of that storm to about the 8th, we (couple of guys at that point, this was before I married) were trapped in the house, you could perhaps walk to the corner store in the small village (named Longford Mills, ha ha) but they had quickly run out of bread and milk. The roads were impassable because as soon as the plows came along, the winds drifted the roads back in, but besides that, our vehicles were behind some massive drifts that we couldn't even move, they were frozen solid by the melting action of the warm sun and the very cold nights (it was dropping to -10 C at night).
So that's my main recollection of being storm-bound in Ontario, other people have had longer and more dangerous episodes of it in other years, but for the rest of my time in that place, we never saw a storm quite as bad and the roads kept open more or less. Of course in that part of the world, everyone knows how to drive in winter conditions and there are fleets of road maintenance trucks of various kinds. Also it is not all that hilly (some parts of the snow belt are).
Although I studied weather in college and have worked in the field in some way just about every year since, this happened to be the one winter when I was just taking time to write and do very little, and of course in 1975 there was no internet, no cable television or satellite TV, so all we had was the two TV stations from Toronto and one from a town closer to us, and none of them really had much of a warning of this storm, we were being told to expect about six inches (which may sound like a lot to you, but it can snow six inches every day for two weeks in that part of the world).
Anyway, for the time being, in Donegal (and I figured out from your info where you're located) I would say look out for some more snow on Saturday night or Sunday morning, maybe not a lot in your area, some parts of NI could see 10-15 cms, I'd hazard the guess that you'll see 2-4 cms. But it is going to be freakishly cold for that part of the world, I would imagine you don't see -8 C very often but it could get that cold at times in the next week.
Of course, at that latitude, you have 17 hours of darkness and if you went due west across Canada at the latitude of Donegal, you would be looking at climates where the January mean temperatures are -20 to -25 C and they see -40 to -50 C extremes routinely. Southern Ontario is actually a lot further south than any part of the British Isles, it's at the latitude of the south of France, but in the snow belt, we would routinely see 30-50 inches of snow every January, and lesser amounts totalling over 100 inches for the season, in the other months; and one night (at 0100 23 Jan 1976) I recorded -41 C on my reliable max-min thermometer in a screen at 2m. I was outside reading it and the trees were cracking in the frost. It was so cold in the daytime before this midnight reading (about -25 C) that the block heater in my car failed to work, the tow truck that came to give me a boost stalled and they had to call a bigger tow truck to start both of us. From that day on I called Jan. 22, 1976 "Tow Truck Thursday."
It's worth ending this with the thought, many of Ontario's early European settlers came from Ireland (or the UK), and arrived into this sort of climate (in the colder 19th century too) in a time before electricity and any modern conveniences. Can you imagine the hardships of their first few years in such a hostile land?
Happy New Year to all.0 -
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Yep; I got laughed at y'day.. But we have people also in Nova Scotia and Newfie who are snowed in every winter.
But then this IS Ireland..Supposedly a mild and temperate climate.
An inch last night.. And yes bitter cold.M.T. Cranium wrote: »Many years ago, I had a spell of country living here in Canada and got to experience a taste of the isolation and difficulties that our ancestors here must have faced in the harsh winters.
My location was about a hundred miles north of Toronto in what people call "the snow belt" where heavy snow squalls from the Great Lakes often dump much more snow than down in the city and surrounding areas. I had been there for one winter and summer and the first winter wasn't particularly harsh, although it was more snow than I was used to seeing.
The second winter (1974-75) was quite mild and snow-free, but it failed to warm up in March and some snow fell, so everyone was getting a bit of cabin fever on these rural sideroads waiting for the small amount of snow and ice to thaw.
Then we got hit by an enormous and for that time of year totally unprecedented blizzard, it lasted about three days and dumped three feet of snow which then started to blow into enormous drifts (and this is not wide open country, there are lots of trees around). This would have been April 2 to 4, and from the end of that storm to about the 8th, we (couple of guys at that point, this was before I married) were trapped in the house, you could perhaps walk to the corner store in the small village (named Longford Mills, ha ha) but they had quickly run out of bread and milk. The roads were impassable because as soon as the plows came along, the winds drifted the roads back in, but besides that, our vehicles were behind some massive drifts that we couldn't even move, they were frozen solid by the melting action of the warm sun and the very cold nights (it was dropping to -10 C at night).
So that's my main recollection of being storm-bound in Ontario, other people have had longer and more dangerous episodes of it in other years, but for the rest of my time in that place, we never saw a storm quite as bad and the roads kept open more or less. Of course in that part of the world, everyone knows how to drive in winter conditions and there are fleets of road maintenance trucks of various kinds. Also it is not all that hilly (some parts of the snow belt are).
Although I studied weather in college and have worked in the field in some way just about every year since, this happened to be the one winter when I was just taking time to write and do very little, and of course in 1975 there was no internet, no cable television or satellite TV, so all we had was the two TV stations from Toronto and one from a town closer to us, and none of them really had much of a warning of this storm, we were being told to expect about six inches (which may sound like a lot to you, but it can snow six inches every day for two weeks in that part of the world).
Anyway, for the time being, in Donegal (and I figured out from your info where you're located) I would say look out for some more snow on Saturday night or Sunday morning, maybe not a lot in your area, some parts of NI could see 10-15 cms, I'd hazard the guess that you'll see 2-4 cms. But it is going to be freakishly cold for that part of the world, I would imagine you don't see -8 C very often but it could get that cold at times in the next week.
Of course, at that latitude, you have 17 hours of darkness and if you went due west across Canada at the latitude of Donegal, you would be looking at climates where the January mean temperatures are -20 to -25 C and they see -40 to -50 C extremes routinely. Southern Ontario is actually a lot further south than any part of the British Isles, it's at the latitude of the south of France, but in the snow belt, we would routinely see 30-50 inches of snow every January, and lesser amounts totalling over 100 inches for the season, in the other months; and one night (at 0100 23 Jan 1976) I recorded -41 C on my reliable max-min thermometer in a screen at 2m. I was outside reading it and the trees were cracking in the frost. It was so cold in the daytime before this midnight reading (about -25 C) that the block heater in my car failed to work, the tow truck that came to give me a boost stalled and they had to call a bigger tow truck to start both of us. From that day on I called Jan. 22, 1976 "Tow Truck Thursday."
It's worth ending this with the thought, many of Ontario's early European settlers came from Ireland (or the UK), and arrived into this sort of climate (in the colder 19th century too) in a time before electricity and any modern conveniences. Can you imagine the hardships of their first few years in such a hostile land?
Happy New Year to all.0 -
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Is that so? The laughter is coming from... VANCOUVER and BC in general!!
Isn't that interesting!!! I wil have fun with this!!
Yes our folk are snowed in for three months every winter in NS and Newfie; whcih they call Little Ireland of course.
And yet; so am I now.. No difference in fact.I used to live in Vancouver and if we'd get an inch, the city would come to a stand still. Rest of the country would laugh at us. Almost moved to NS but couldnt stand the thought of all that heavy snow.0 -
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Is that so? The laughter is coming from... VANCOUVER and BC in general!!
Isn't that interesting!!! I wil have fun with this!!
Yes our folk are snowed in for three months every winter in NS and Newfie; whcih they call Little Ireland of course.
And yet; so am I now.. No difference in fact.
Haa Van is famously awful when it snows. They're clueless.0 -
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Join Date:Posts: 8797
Thank you for this.. Is it the small wheels on the wagonr? I drove a mini for decades and she would take icy hills backwards.
BUT never have I seen roads like this before.
In general, smaller wheels result in increased torque delivered to the wheels (seen as acceleration) but a lower top speed once you get going.
Larger wheels do the reverse.
Too much torque (the oomph that twists the wheels and resists them being slowed down by resistance) in a low traction environment will cause them to spin once it excedes what the surface can be cope with.
Counter-intuitively, changing up a gear may allow traction to be returned. As would reducing the accelerator pressure (you may have experienced this in a muddy spot as you try to pull off).
If your engine can't cope going up a gear you may stall you so the accelerator has to be used but with caution.
So 'yes' small wheels may not have helped but larger ones mightn't have solved your problems either.
4wd may have got you further before running into problems......and that further may have got you home....or not.
Full blown off-roaders have low range gears, like a tractor, which allow the speed of the wheels to be slowed right down (so as not to exceded the traction limits) without losing the 'beef' behind them- so they won't stall.
Reverse gear is usually lower than first so the wheels turn slower and the car is less likely to stall at the low revs needed to be used.
In a front wheel drive car this could be a useful trick as the weight of the engine is over the wheels being driven enhancing traction also.
We have a good friend Susuki dealer and he will get my email soon.
Depending on liquidity, the model of car I'd suggest would be SX4 in 4wd (probably would have to be new or nearly new!) or similar. Essentially a 2wd car that will become 4wd as required- probably without any driver input..jpg)
Or a Jimny 4x4, if you can live with it's size and ride. Proper 4wd with low ratios and available as a commercial (so cheaper) and probably available 2nd hand. Petrol only- mpg not going to be as good as a car.
The older SJ models are probably too old, too rusted and too uncomfortable as a daily drive.............good fun to play in though! If one was in exceptional condition and caught your eye....................................and heart.........
Similar vehicles.....Mitsubishi Pajero JUNIOR
Daihatsu Fourtrak/Sportage.
Essentially these are only suggestions and more to the type of vehicle than the exact model. The first generation Honda CRV is worth checking out too.
Toyota RAV4
You may prefer a slightly more 'butch' vehicle, (I've been making several assumptions as to your preferences in what's written above.......), some second generation diesel Pajeros may do the job nicely. Japanese imports can be cheap, in good nick and available. It would be more expensive again to run- get a commercial diesel- but would have low range gears.
The most alarming part was when she started sliding backwards down the hill ignoring gears and brakes totally. She went a few hundred yards like that... Steered her gently towards the side whereupon she finally stopped. Phew!
That could happen in a 4wd too.
Heavier, more momentum, more traction perhaps.The bigger cars made it fine..
Bigger bang when things go wrong though! Maybe stronger if they end up in tussle but the way things are made today.........................
Some of the bigger 4wds are very cheap in the current recession, running costs are higher and servicing more expensive. Against that.... low annual mileage (?), cheaper non-main dealer servicing and get a good reliable make and model to start with. You would need to look around carefully but they ARE there to be found.
Smaller 4wds are likely to be more sought-after these days but older ones in good nick could be a good buy.
All of this is my own opinion and much of it could probably be disputed in detail/fact. I'm no expert on any of this. It's just a starting point if you are thinking in that manner.The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress. Joseph Joubert
The ultimate purpose of debate is not to produce consensus. It's to promote critical thinking.
Adam Grant
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WOW; what an amazing and expert mail.. Thank you.
As an impecunious pensioner, will wait now to see what out friend at Suzuki says and has.... He has been so very good to me.
This one is 98; he replaced the previous 94 we had.
May also get snow chains; is all academic just now of course until this weather eases. I am dubious as I do have limited mobility.
But something will be done and soon.In general, smaller wheels result in increased torque delivered to the wheels (seen as acceleration) but a lower top speed once you get going.
Larger wheels do the reverse.
Too much torque (the oomph that twists the wheels and resists them being slowed down by resistance) in a low traction environment will cause them to spin once it excedes what the surface can be cope with.
Counter-intuitively, changing up a gear may allow traction to be returned. As would reducing the accelerator pressure (you may have experienced this in a muddy spot as you try to pull off).
If your engine can't cope going up a gear you may stall you so the accelerator has to be used but with caution.
So 'yes' small wheels may not have helped but larger ones mightn't have solved your problems either.
4wd may have got you further before running into problems......and that further may have got you home....or not.
Full blown off-roaders have low range gears, like a tractor, which allow the speed of the wheels to be slowed right down (so as not to exceded the traction limits) without losing the 'beef' behind them- so they won't stall.
Reverse gear is usually lower than first so the wheels turn slower and the car is less likely to stall at the low revs needed to be used.
In a front wheel drive car this could be a useful trick as the weight of the engine is over the wheels being driven enhancing traction also.
Depending on liquidity, the model of car I'd suggest would be SX4 in 4wd (probably would have to be new or nearly new!) or similar. Essentially a 2wd car that will become 4wd as required- probably without any driver input.
Or a Jimny 4x4, if you can live with it's size and ride. Proper 4wd with low ratios and available as a commercial (so cheaper) and probably available 2nd hand. Petrol only- mpg not going to be as good as a car.
The older SJ models are probably too old, too rusted and too uncomfortable as a daily drive.............good fun to play in though! If one was in exceptional condition and caught your eye....................................and heart.........
Similar vehicles.....Mitsubishi Pajero JUNIOR
Daihatsu Fourtrak/Sportage.
Essentially these are only suggestions and more to the type of vehicle than the exact model. The first generation Honda CRV is worth checking out too.
Toyota RAV4
You may prefer a slightly more 'butch' vehicle, (I've been making several assumptions as to your preferences in what's written above.......), some second generation diesel Pajeros may do the job nicely. Japanese imports can be cheap, in good nick and available. It would be more expensive again to run- get a commercial diesel- but would have low range gears.
That could happen in a 4wd too.
Heavier, more momentum, more traction perhaps.
Bigger bang when things go wrong though! Maybe stronger if they end up in tussle but the way things are made today.........................
Some of the bigger 4wds are very cheap in the current recession, running costs are higher and servicing more expensive. Against that.... low annual mileage (?), cheaper non-main dealer servicing and get a good reliable make and model to start with. You would need to look around carefully but they ARE there to be found.
Smaller 4wds are likely to be more sought-after these days but older ones in good nick could be a good buy.
All of this is my own opinion and much of it could probably be disputed in detail/fact. I'm no expert on any of this. It's just a starting point if you are thinking in that manner.0 -
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Ah I do have one; with just enough for an emergency call .
But on a pension. even E10 is hard to find at the rates of calls.
So I do not run it
I last used it to freecall eircom when they lost my landline order.
The big advantage for me of a mobile phone is the ability to use free webtext - I therefore keep in contact (in real time) with people all over the world for NOTHING! I send the text via the internet and receive the replies on my phone. Most operators offer a number of free webtexts per month - not all are international, but Vodafone and O2 are. I have 600 with Vodafone and can never use up that amount I have to top up once every 6 months to keep the phone activated but the minimum is 5, I think (could be wrong, might be 10). Great value Grace, especially if you have family abroad. 0 -
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