Monday, December 22, 2008

One Advantage of Telecommuting....

I was mentally exhausted from trying to understand a particularly complicated piece of code, so I shut down the VPN connection, took myself off the clock, and voila! I'm back in Horseshoe Bend!

One of my objections to chains and other add on traction devices for snow is that they are a real struggle to put on, especially because you are doing so in the cold, and often, in the dark. While cable devices are easier to put on than chain devices, because they are still a "ladder" design, they are still a nuisance to put on because you have to get your hands behind the wheel to hook the inside connectors together, and you have to roll the car onto the cables to pull them up and over the top of the tire.

So I was very pleased to find out about what are called Z design cables, such as this from Safety Chain Corporation of Clackamas, Oregon, so called because they make a Z across the tire. The Super Z6 design lets you install the cables without having to move the car, and without having to reach around behind the wheel where you can't see to connect everything. And the Super Z6 requires only 1/4" of clearance around the wheel. Watching the video almost makes it look painless to do.


I think I am still going to get some Severe Winter Traction tires for the Jaguar, but having chains this easy to install would make me a lot more willing to install them if needed.