We Got a Little Snow

Well, to get serious, rain is a problem here. And I'm not talking floods or mudslides or any of that.

Way back in the day a lot of eucalyptus trees were planted around. And some other shallow rooted trees (cypress?) or trees that were root bound in pots and so never really developed deep roots once they were planted. When we get even moderate rain, but in a series of storms that keep the ground soft, inevitably there is something in the paper about a tree just falling over and crushing a car or taking out a house. Once a tree just fell over on 163 southm the part that's through the scenic route through Balboa Park, and killed a woman driving south on the freeway. Nothing you can predict. You can park your car and the next morning there's a tree on it and it's squished. We're not talking high winds, torrential rains or anything like that. Just a series of normal rainstorms. Not even with record breaking rainfall. The ground just gets soggy, the roots don't hold and the tree falls over. Property damage for sure. Occasionally a death. It's not so spectacular it makes the national news.

One killed when tree falls

I know this happens with trees weighted down with snow and ice in other parts of the country. But you don't need ice and snow.

Then there's the sinkholes.

The city will soon be in litigation regarding allowing houses and a road to be built in a known slide area. It slid and took out the road and a few houses.

La Jolla landslide

We joke about the nice weather in So. Cal and pray for rain because we're such an arid area and there's always a water shortage. But you have to be careful what you wish for.

 

I live in Chicagoland and I had a chuckle on the "San Diego tornado" pic.

A few weeks ago Chicago was 10 degrees WARMER than San Diego for 2-3 days straight. I had to razzle my sister (she lives out there) on that one.

 

Here's a couple pics of my workhorse Prius in action today on a Wisconsin winter mail route. The bumper cover and some other plastic parts did not survive hitting frozen blocks of snow. Gorilla tape is holding things together until the Spring thaw.

 

Here's another snow picture for you. There's an eight lane highway in there somewhere, currently closed due to an avalanche. There used to be a railway though this area, but for some strange reason they had trouble keeping up with the annual snowfall of 40 feet.

 

All that snow must be very pretty ...












... for the first 5 minutes.

 

I've posted this one before, but this is what it looks like in our neighborhood.

Tom

 

Correction. Chicago gets 38" in a typical winter, what I had heard was normally we're in the upper 20 inches by now, this year we're at 42" so far, and I dare say Lake County (between Chicago and Wisconsin) is a fair bit above that, since several storms have tracked north of O'Hare, where the official numbers are recorded. And there's more snow coming tomorrow, another 3-5" for Lake County. As I'm writing this, it's -4'F (-25'F windchill for a good part of the day), and this MN boy is finally ready for some warmer weather.

This picture was taken a day after last week's snowstorm. It's getting harder to shovel the snow over the banks now. At least this house has a short driveway compared to my previous house. The non-native trees really got bent over by the wet snow, I had to shake it off the privet hedge in back and the arbor vitae before they get permanently bent. But it definitely was pretty.


p.s. Very cool picture, Tom

p.p.s This is my 1,001st posting at PriusChat! Never thought I'd carry it this far...

 

Here's my son at the local sledding hill....before the last snowfall.

 

Here are a few more winter photos for your viewing pleasure, since we seem to be having a celebration of winter and snow. That's my wife Deb in the white helmet and yellow shell. My daughter Tegan is wearing a white helmet and red shell. My soon to be son-in-law Jon with the light-blue helmet and mustard shell. I'm wearing a red helmet and a black parka. Mad Moose Mountain is under foot.

Tom

 

It must be in here somewhere, or did I park it on the other side of the mountain? I should have put one of those little green cactus on the antenna.

Seriously, I have been in snow storms where we had to pole for cars to find them. It's just like looking for avalanche victims; you use a long fiberglass rod and pole down from the top, looking for anything hard. Then the shoveling starts. It's not great if you car has a soft top.

Tom

 

Thank you, all, for the lovely photos... memories.

I'm sitting here, looking out at green grass, wet streets, and grey skies, and I'm pretty happy with that.

 

That highway is still closed from last week. Looks like the snowplow's finally been through, but no crews have made it in to the avalanche guns yet. Even the helicopters were turned away by the weather.

 

Well, I finally had to have someone come plow my driveway for the first time this winter. My driveway's almost a quarter mile long, so it may be a little bit longer than some of you subdivision inhabitants are used to. After all the snowfall last week I just used my folks' Explorer to run over and compact as much of the snow as possible (+12" on the ground) Then my Prius makes it right out. I may be dragging the belly of my car over all the ice and snow the whole way out my driveway, but it's cheaper than getting it plowed, haha. The best part is I've only got my Prius stuck once on my driveway, and my folks' Explorer has been stuck 3 times now (with 4x4!)

 

Well, Timm, I'm new to this chat stuff, but a few people helped me get to you.

My name is Diana and I'm a Reg. Rural Carrier in Whiterwater, WI between Milw. and Mad town. I've got a 53 mile 505 del route with a 94 Nissan 4wd se6 PU. Tough runner 205,000 miles but the gas mileage...7=-8 gal. per day, and since the new contract did nothing to improve our EMA, I've been lookin and thinkin "Pruis"! But with questions.

Much of your posts were helpful, but how often do you have to do your brakes and how much are they (JUst the pads). Are they disc all around?
Batteries. I heard they needed replacing every 100,000 miles. Anything else I should know?

Anything you could offer would be appreciated and I will pass on to my co-workers. Thanks

Diana

 

Hello Diana,

Sorry for slow response time. I'd be glad to talk to you and share in detail how myself and several other mail carriers are utilizing the Prius. I'll send you my phone number in a private message. In brief: the little buggies are working GREAT on the routes. I've achieved as high as 40 MPG on the route, but 25 mpg to 30 mpg is typical if you don't use the "Pulse & Glide" driving method. I'm approaching 50K on my '05 and the original brake pads are still ok. There are disks on the front and drums on the rear, but the long life is due to "Regenerative Braking". (Driving technique helps to maximize this benefit also.) My co-worker in Arena is close to 90K on his '05 and has replaced pads once. He does a 70 mile route daily with 403 stops. The battery pack has a 100k WARRANTY, but many owners and fleets are getting much longer life.

Timm