Looking out the window from my living room "study" I see snow. First major snow of the season. The roommate's 01 Cobra is now a Snowbra. He didn't get it covered again this year. I'm excited to head out. Last night it was fairly hard sleet which made driving interesting. In cold weather all the windows of the car fog up. Add the fact I only have a mirror on the drivers side and it doesn't really work. If it's really cold the windows not only fog up on the inside, they frost. So it's a learning curve for me around this time of year. There is absolutely none of the conveniences that a "modern" car gives you. You can't afford to get behind the curve because everyone else is not dealing with what you are. Working defrost front and rear, ABS, traction control, etc. I have none of this. It's a challenge attempting to integrate a vehicle such as mine into traffic in poor weather.
Gotta keep reminding myself to keep my head on a swivel, maintain my distance and be prepared for the unexpected. Those who ride with me notice I become very clipped in my responses and bark orders. It's a matter of tremendous concentration and I don't have time to let them know what I'm dealing with. A full time co-driver during the winter would be awesome. Sadly I can't hire anyone who would be willing to do that. So my passengers suffer a bit but they also get to experience what driving was like four decades ago.
It amazes me that my car really isn't that old. Only eleven years older then me. But for a car it's ancient. Compare it to a "Beetle" (SPITS) today and the differences are startling. The combined mileage for the 2012 2.5L Beetle is 25mpg. And my car gets "An honest 25mpg". This is progress! But the new car is also substantially heavier, safer, and larger. But is it worth the trade off? I'm not sure but if you'll excuse me I have to go find my second ice scraper. I have errands to run.