Henry Kim, the bright young genius at the Rogers store on Yonge Street in Thornhill, is setting me up with an iPhone.
Yes people - some day very soon I am going to do something I swore I would never do: I am going to 'tweet'...
He is also trying to set me up with a wireless router so all the computers here at Kenzie World Headquarters can access the Internet via the same Rogers "Rocket Stick".
That has become not so much a Microsoft Moment as a Microsoft Month.
It IS computers.
It IS all binary code.
It IS all logical.
It DOES have to work.
Eventually.
Just not yet.
I digress...
In our on-going e-mail exchange, Henry asked me in passing if yesterday's weather had affected me.
Snow in February - imagine that...
I replied that no, the weather did not bother ME. What DID bother me were the IDIOTS on our roads who:
(a) fail to turn their full headlights on when it is dark, snowy or rainy. Daytime Running Lights typically do not illuminate the taillights, which on the highway are really more important than the headlights. Cars which switch on the dashboard illumination with the DRL should NOT be allowed, because it makes these brain-dead drivers THINK their full lights are on when they are not.
Who would have thought that Canadians could actually learn something from traffic safety laws in the Benighted United States of America? They're too dumb down there to even figure out health care.
Yet some jurisdictions down there (New York State is one) make it mandatory to have your headlights on if your wipers are on.
Makes sense, although it doesn't go far enough; you should have ALL your lights on, ALL the time.
Simple.
But at least it's better than our stupid Daytime Running Lights law which does not enforce that very important safety factor.
And, speaking again of the IDIOTS who bother me, those who:
(b) do not put winter tires on their cars. Yesterday was just like the first snowfall of the friggin' winter, people skidding all over the place, crashing into guard rails, into each other, or even (in front of me on the 401) rolling over like they've never seen snow before.
Fer cryin' out loud, people - THIS IS CANADA, we have WINTER HERE (OK, so not in the parts of Canada where they hold the 'Winter' Olympics).
They are called WINTER TIRES for a VERY GOOD REASON.
I then apologized to Henry for ranting, and said I was going to put it in my blog, even though I have whined about these issues many times before, and I know I'm singing to the choir.
But maybe if each one of you out there can just tell ONE OTHER PERSON who you know does NOT read this blog to ALWAYS drive with their headlights on, Day or Night, ESPECIALLY in poor weather, and to properly equip their cars for our conditions, maybe we might start to chip away at this.
I actually did hear back from someone at Transport Canada about the idiotic DRL regulation which allows car makers to illuminate the dash lights when only the DRL are on. He said that regulation was recently reworded and that this point was missed. God knows when they'll get around to it, if ever.
Meanwhile, TAKE IT INTO YOUR OWN HANDS, FOLKS.
On the winter tires thing, we recently inherited Number One daughter's old Sunfire. She and hubby moved up - WAY up - to a nice, gently used Jetta Wagon (looks the same as ours but with the full-zoot Luxury Package, and it's not a Diesel). They never used the Pon-Pon much in winter, so it did not have winter tires on it - yes, the source of many glares across the frequent family dinner table. They did put winters on the 'new' Vee Dub; it was down to us to put them on the Pontiac because even that little snowfall last Monday made it impossible to get it into our 'Wilds of Rural Milton' driveway.
Remember, there is no such thing as an 'all-season tire', with the possible exception of the Nokian WR; I have not driven on them but a blog reader from Calgary swears by them and The Star's tire guru John Mahler agrees they are very good.
So, maybe 'three-season' tires from Spring through Fall; in winter, it's WINTERS, please.
Remember: the life you save MIGHT BE MINE.
'Tweet/Text' is their a difference? I'm happy with my gmail and Facebook. I gave up on My Space awhile back. You can thank one of your country woman's friends for that. But than again if you really want to get it right, call someone on the phone. There is still nothing like the sound of a voice, even if it is angry.
Posted by: JR Jake | February 27, 2010 at 09:59 AM
Ontario should just mandate winter tire usage just like how Quebec has, and since Fantino is in charge, they should be able to impound the vehicle on the spot and give a tickets (minimum $500-$1000 as that would teach you a lesson) for not having proper winter tires on and that the car will not be released until winter tires are put on.
How much more cash does it cost to have winter tires? In the end, while saving tread on my all-seasons... an extra $200 in change plus mounting and balancing?
Spending the money on winter tires is a lot better than having a collision, going to physiotherapy and potentially writing-off your car. Once you try them, you'll never go back.
Posted by: Jason | February 27, 2010 at 10:26 AM