Like Earl says...Karma will get you

I guess it must have been about 9 months ago, but DH and I decided that we needed a bigger vehicle. Of course he already had plans to buy his new baby (an '05 Subura WRX STi) so I was told that around August we'd be able to get mine. I test drove several SUV's...the Hyundai Santa Fe, the Nissan XTerra, and the Honda Pilot. While I was still deciding (and saving up) I noticed that the tires on my '00 Hyundai Elantra were missing any and all signs of tread. Since I was planning on purchasing a brand new vehicle and money was of the essence, I chose some of the cheapest all-season tires I could find. I figured they'd be waaay better than what I already had and if the new owner(s) wanted to upgrade, they could. It's not because I'm usually cheap, or didn't care about the new owner(s), I just didn't have the money. Okay, I did have the money but only in the sense that it was in the bank...I just thought it would be better served by going towards the down payment on the next vehicle.

Fast forward to now. Winter has come. I still don't have my new vehicle. Why? you ask. Mums the word but there are potentially big things on the horizon for me. Big things that cost big money, unfortunately. So the SUV has been put on the back burner for now. No big deal right? Ummm...kind of. For one we can't take the dogs with us anywhere as they won't fit in either of our cars with both of the kids and both of us. Secondly, as I mentioned above, Winter is here. Here in Central Oregon this means snow. A lot of snow. I love the snow...I just hate driving around in it. And now, because of my cheapness Karma has come back to bite me on the ass. While these tires are safer and much more grippier (yes, I just said grippier) they are nowhere near what good tires should be. I am learning this. The hard way. And the funny thing is, is that I drive like a grandma in the snow. I seriously anger people because my car slides at 30 mph so I typically drive about 25-30 in 35 mph speed zones. I also seem to be the ONLY person in Central Oregon not cruising around effortlessly in an SUV or AWD vehicle. Just the other day the kids and I ran to JoAnn's and despite my feeble attempts to go a "normal" speed, the guy in the big, red, Jeep Cherokee hated me. So much so that while turning into our subdivision he decided he could stand my presence no longer and floored it...passing me at MACH 5 and spraying snow, ice, and rocks all over the side of my car scaring the ever loving beejesus out of us all. Nice. I guess this is Karma's way of paying me back. Maybe I should make a list like Earl did. Who knows...it may lead me to winning the lottery. Now that would be cool. For now I am taken this as my lesson not to be cheap when I don't absolutely HAVE to be.

In the meantime, I will continue to drive like a grandma when the roads are nasty. Especially with my cheaper than, and about as useful as, dirt tires. So all you SUV and AWD-owning people out there...cut this grandma-driving chic some slack. I'm from the Midwest where 1" of snow will shut the whole city down.