Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Driving, skillfully & gracefully

I made my return trip to Boston from my family's in "The County" in Maine, yesterday (Mon, 12/27). It was snowing quite a bit. The roads didn't seem so bad, visibility seemed to be more of an issue.

When I drive through the town of Mars Hill, I always put my cruise control on so that I stay below 25 mph. I have a bad habit of speeding so I use the cruise quite often as a tool to force myself to obey the law.

Turning onto Main St, the street was suddenly packed with snow. (??) What, they're plowing the highways but not the main streets anymore?! I started fishtailing. "Ride it out... don't put the break on!" I kept thinking. You know... braking'll make it worse. I tried not to, but because the wheels were at a constant speed, I couldn't ride it out. It got worse. I was doing the automotive version of the Triple Lutz down the middle of Main Street Mars Hill at 9:30 a.m.

I finally had to tap 'em, and stuck my landing with a 180 in front of the fire station. It was quite lovely. I'd give myself an 8.9.

Luckily, even tho it was broad daylight on a weekday morning in the middle of the town, there was only 1 witness. He was bumped off shorthly afterward. ;)