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Date:         Fri, 1 Aug 2008 23:17:39 -0400
Reply-To:     Oliver Mueller-Heubach <groundhogging@MAC.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Oliver Mueller-Heubach <groundhogging@MAC.COM>
Subject:      Re: Cat-Gard(tm)
Comments: To: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <4d1b79350808011908i1ac47c2bh4ea3dd991da5f23@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed

I love it. We have a 25 pound cat who I'm sure would like nothing better than to jump on those wipers- only, he's not allowed out of the house. As to Schroedinger's Cat, wouldn't he be in the box/van? What would happen if you painted the image of a wiper anywhere else on the van? On Aug 1, 2008, at 10:08 PM, Jim Felder wrote:

> I don't know if I'm the only person in the Vanagon world with this > problem, > but I'm betting not. > My cats--particularly my biggest, heaviest cat--LOVE to regard the > world > from the Westy luggage rack, and that's fine. Many's the time I've > seen a > furry streak come across my windshield as I accelerate down my > street. The > trouble is how they get up there. They know they can jump to the > wipers and > scramble up from there. Coming down, the wipers also make a > convenient stop. > > Needless to say, the Vanagon wipers were made to put up with a few > raindrops > and a little windshield drag, not the inertia of an obese, mindless > cat > going about its daily routine. My wipers all sag from time to time > and my > windshields are commonly streaked with muddy foot-pad prints. I have > repaired a snapped wiper stud before, an act I would not care to > repeat. The > weight and velocity of the cats spell trouble for the little teeth > on the > conical stud that mounts the wiper arm base. This sort of thing > can't go on > indefinitely; something has to give. Cat-Gard(tm) puts the give on > the cats, > not the cars. > > The Vanagon's unique shape contributes the the problem by being > what would > be legally known as an Attractive Nuisance, like a swimming pool is > to kids. > Other cars do not require cats to use the wipers to get to the > car's roof. > The Vanagon cannot be scaled without the wipers, if you are a cat. > > My solution is Cat-Gard(tm): An apron of blue tarp cut to cover > from the > grille top to a few inches above the wipers and from A pillar to A > pillar. I > taped a strong magnet to each corner so that the Cat-Gard(tm) can > be snapped > into place easily. > > The Cat-Gard(tm) depends on the Cat Law of Uncertainly, kind of > like our > Heisenburg Principal of Uncertainty but having to to do with cats. > In fact, > the two are very similar in that you can know either the velocity > of a cat, > or the position of a cat, but not both. But I digress. Cats will > not jump > onto something they are unsure of, and the section of blue tarp > makes the > wipers invisible to cats--and they will not take the change of > missing the > wipers. > > So far, so good. > > Jim

Oliver Mueller-Heubach groundhogging@mac.com


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