Yesterday, Nov. 24, 2014, I drove my car on an ice rink and didn't crash it.
Let me paint you a word picture of my commute.
First, let's set the scene:
The night before, ice started falling from the sky, landing on water that was snow before two days of unusually high temperatures.
Clear, shiny ice coated the entire city by the next morning.
I was having an unusually bad hair day, which doesn't even matter because it was definitely hat weather outside.
The dress code at work mandates that we dress "business casual" unless local schools are cancelled.
Ladies, testify with me for a moment that there is no form of "business casual" that involved dressing for -13 chill factors.
So, I throw a pair of leggings under my loosest pair of slacks and a sweater under my thermal coat and sprint out of the apartment, knowing it would likely take me twice as long as normal to get to work.
The "sprinting" comes to an abrupt halt when I reach the door that leads to the parking lot.
Thick glossy ice coats everything, especially the sidewalks and parking lot.
Luckily I decided to wear my snow boots. What they lack in fashion, they more than make up for in traction.
Still this ice is not playing around, and I skate/slip/walk very slowly toward the garage. Imagine a giraffe learning to ice skate -- that's me walking on the ice.
There's a thin path of snow in front of our row of garages. Score! I walk at a little faster packing the snow under my boots for traction.
Finally, I get the garage open -- not an easy feat with stiff gloves on, since the latch is small and stubborn.
Once I'm on my way I test the ground a little in the apartment driveway. It's slick but not too terrible.
I pull out into the road and immediately turn, taking my usual path to work.
Whoa! That was no small turn. Even at a turtle's pace my car slides several feet to the left. Only the momentum of my car is propelling me forward. Luckily there's no one around.
There is no traction.
But I slide the block west I need to go before I turn again.
This is where my story fizzles out.
The city has applied fresh sand to the major roads, so I have no more serious issues.
By the time I head out again they've sanded all the roads, even the ice rink by my apartment.
The sidewalks all have rock salt on them -- everything is back to normal.
...just another beautiful fall day in North Dakota...
