Snow, Snow . . . Did I mention SNOW?

So. Winter. I wish I could say it's almost over, but (especially in Michigan) there are no guarantees. I don't start breathing a sigh of relief until May. Seriously. Poor Michiganders (and I am sure many other states) suffer through ice and snow storms until late April. It is rare for winter weather to continue until May, but not impossible.

This is a bit late considering how much snow has been dumped across the country at the end of 2008, but it is still something rather annoying. Snow removal. Bay County is pretty decent. They are doing well to keep the roads (the main ones at least) salted and plowed. Woohoo. The sucky part in all this is that the residential streets within the city always seem to be covered in snow and ice. Last year, there was damn near a foot of packed ice and snow to drive on. Not fun at all. And of course living out in the country you have all those secondary side roads (gravel, dirt) that rarely see a salt truck let alone a plow. I am happy that I live on more of a "main" road.

Now for the annoying part (aside for the huge amount of pileup - but there really is nothing to be done about that unless your run your plows 24/7). My sister lives in Lenawee County. Or rather the city of Deerfield, but due to fiscal issues, Lenawee is not salting their roads. Seriously. There was the salt shortage the year before and this past year, salt prices sky rocketed so Lenawee's big idea is to not salt. And I have no idea if they are plowing at all.

Now, there are enough accidents with regular salting and plowing . . . can you imagine how much it would increase if there was none at all? Sure, pickups have four wheel drive, which works well in snow generally, but ice . . . NOTHING works well with ice. It's just a wing and a prayer and a hope to make it through without spinning out. Not fun at all. You would think the county would try to find another option instead of salt if the price is really that far out of their range. It is rather ridiculous they are doing nothing to the roads. Especially when you have idiots who drive like bats out of hell regardless of conditions. Sigh.

To top off troublesome winter roads, we have huge-ass potholes. Which so happens, winter just makes worse. Ice and snow and below freezing temperatures takes the cracks and holes and turns them into a nightmare for vehicles. It would be nice to go down a road without the annoying uh-uh-uh from all the pisspoor patch jobs and increasing cracks and holes. This one section of 23 between Deerfield and Ann Arbor is particularly harrowing.

Is it too much to ask for better roads? And snow removal (at least in counties where they decided that it was too costly to do a damn thing)? I think not. But hey, why expect bang from your tax paying buck?