It really depends on the day. Almost everyone (id say everyone who can afford it) uses snow tires in the winter.

Cheer, I saw the Nordman and was wondering about it too. My friend did say Nokian are all good in general, so good to know. Will look for General Altimax Arctic if we can't find Nokian here.

Nokian Hakkapelittas are great snow tires. Pricey though. Nokian Nordman are also excellent, just one tier below the Hakkapelittas, and more affordable. I've had good experiences with both of them. I've also had good results with General Altimax Arctic snow tires as well.

We'll see 😬

And which one needs to gerrymander for survival? This is the same "logic" applied to super pacs. Republicans rush to use a whole lot of dark money (or gerrymander) and Democrats respond in kind since that's how the rules are set up, but let's not pretend they are equal.

Oh I used to do that when I lived in NYC (I'm a VA transplant) and the siren blared during work. Do you use an actual physical scanner or an app? I used Broadcastify, but I don't think it had all the channels.

Both parties gerrymander. The gop has a majority in the house because of a failure by Dems in NY

Our state gerrymandered the islands and parts of Franklin county this year.

It is a process both parties abuse, this is a known fact.

I knew someone would say it! Lol

Well fair enough. I mean I wouldn't personally borrow someone else's car to do something risky or just even borrowing it in the first place. I wouldn't lend someone my vehicle either.

I ride, so I want to know about my motorcycle and maintaining it. My partner typically maintains the car, I pitch in half. But she maintains her car pretty well, and for the type of driving and weather here I don't really need to know, not for function not for safety. The difference that makes no difference is no difference for me. Going to VT is the niche circumstances.

But yeah, I'm getting a lot of comments to get snow tires. I'm okay with getting them. My friend that used to live in Vermont but moved to Canada where her town/city has similar weather has recommended Nokian / Hakkapelita. So it looks like we'll be getting them.

I'm not sure I agree. There are a large number of Americans who would become active domestic terrorists under an actual authoritarian fascist government.

It is not just the far right who are amassing firepower.

Politicians go down with one bullet just like anyone else. Piss off the majority of Americans and it will explode into civil war, and then politicians become legitimate targets of that war.

I agree with you, and we don't want to continue fighting this. We just want to move. The problem is, apartments are going for like $2500 and we're disabled so we can't afford that, yet we don't qualify for most rental assistance either. We've been on waitlists for a year and we are actively searching for a new place, it's just not an easy market at all. If the landlord does renew our lease and it's still an affordable rent for us, and if we haven't found a better place which is likely, we would have to stay here until we are approved for a different place.

If anyone is looking for a builder near southern Rutland county, I am available this summer. Smaller projects only, can't find enough people to work on a Mcmansion.

Nope. Hasn't crossed my mind. And I don't really care about whether or not my comments/questions are on-topic, or judgy. I'm sure couples have reasons for keeping their finances separate, or for keeping their vehicles and other possessions from being part of a pooled household.

Again, I don't understand that personally. Like I said, not everyone knows, or cares to know anything mechanical about their vehicles. The way you stated it in your initial comment down in the thread, about the car not being yours, made it sound like you were borrowing a car from a friend or a relative to make the drive from VA to VT.

If that was the case, I could conceivably understand being unfamiliar with the vehicle. But as the Matrix belongs to your partner I'd consider it a common vehicle to you both, and something you'd both be familiar with and at least minimally knowledgeable about. Anyway, I digress.

The question really is: do you want to spend the money on snow tires? The stock tire size for most Toyota Matrix is 205/55/16. The link below to Discount Tire lists snow tires in this size from cheapest to most expensive. Hard to find any snow tires for less than $100/each. That doesn't include the cost for mount and balance. You're easily looking at spending $500. Not sure this is worth it, honestly. Just drive carefully, decisively, and predictably in the snow and you should be fine, unless your Matrix is already rocking tires with worn out tread. Maybe you could find a better deal local to where you live.

https://www.discounttiredirect.com/fitmentresult/tires/size/205-55-16?q=%3Aprice-asc%3AtireCategory%3AwinterTires&sort=price-asc&page=0

We have considered getting a cat, but my partner is severely allergic. Might be worth looking into if we can manage the allergies.

Well in PA I was on a very narrow road - think backcountry road in a mountain, or going to State parks, except this was open farmland. I was already driving further toward the outside of my lane so oncoming cars would have room, but this car came in fast on a turn and I made I guess too quick an adjustment under too fast a speed (40-50) and it slid out sideways slightly. Fortunately was able to recover and continue on my way.

But yeah, slow and steady. And it seems like I'm getting snow tires :) Thanks.

Can't help but notice you ignored voter suppression, can't 'both sides' that one, can ya?

Our landlord only has the one rental property.

You won’t regret it. It’s snowing right now with a couple inches already accrued (southern vt. Probably more up north). I listen to the police scanner while I work and every 10 minutes is a call about a car with an out of state license plate sliding off the road and into a ditch. Better to play it safe and not have to worry about it during your vacation.

We realize many Vermonters have to boil their water from time to time, but there are strict rental laws about tenants having a safe, potable water supply. Sometimes renters have to boil it when there's water boil notices, but legally they can't have to boil it for every time due to consistent unsafe water that is due to a problem with the water supply. For weeks we couldn't use the water for anything at all, even washing our hands or showering, because it was full of bleach when they kept just pouring bleach in the water supply to try to fix the issue.

We mentioned the mice to the health inspector due to the very fact that our landlord wasn't taking sufficient action to curb the mice. They told the health inspector they were doing lots of trapping and blocking holes, but in 5 months they set 5 single traps and filled 3 out of many many holes. That's it. We realize our landlord isn't solely responsible for trapping and filling holes, we ourselves set and empty traps daily and continue blocking holes regularly. Our landlord often tells us they are coming to check and reset traps but they never come, and they don't want us removing certain panels to set traps because they don't want the panels to break, but there's always tons of mice in those places so we have no choice but to do it ourselves.

The mice issue was among the issues we reported to the health inspector. The chimney and roof were leaking, with water pouring down a wall whenever it rained. Our landlord responded by simply placing a trash bag over the chinney. There was tons of mold resulting from the leak. Additionally, there were fire safety violations that the health inspector was very concerned about and made our landlord fix.

Sure. Because the VT legislators didn’t gerrymand our state districts last year.

If you believe I s only republicans that gerrymander districts you are hopelessly naive.

Yep, I mean it was kind of light snow that iced up probably, and it was a thin road - think backcountry up the mountain or going to State parks, except fortunately this going past wide open farmland. I was already driving as far out my lane as possible when this car came fast on a turn, and I was just trying to adjust to have a little more room and a little further out. Slid out a little, fortunately was able to recover while driving and go on my way.

Sounds like I'll be getting some snow tires.

That's how I slid out, we were on a tiny road (think dirt roads on the mountains/going to State parks, except this is pass farms), it just snowed a bit and the lines were covered and I was trying to stay as far out while not going off the road as possible, and this guy came in a turn really fast and I made a minor adjustment to drive a bit further out, started sliding. Fortunately was able to recover and just keep driving.

Sounds like I'll be getting the snow tires :) Thanks for the response!

Near as I could tell, they were down at the end of Eden in the cul de sac, close to the tracks. They’re such beautiful animals!

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No actually I don't mind spending for the tires. I just wanted to know if I'll need it, rather than get something I don't need. Or if I couldn't get it, just not go.

I queried a local friend and she's suggested snow tires as well as the rest of this thread, so I'll go with them.