Date:         Fri, 13 Jan 1995 09:27:10 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Patrick Tower <poser@leland.stanford.edu>
Subject:      Of wipers, windshields, and gas-station attendents...

All this talk about wipers, Rain-X, etc. reminded me of my unfortunate
incident at the local gas station.

The rainy season was just starting (and I had no idea what was in store
for us!).  Since my wipers weren't quite doing the job, I figured I'd
get the blades replaced.  The only time I remembered this was at the
gas station, so I figured, "what the heck, the refills (the rubber part
that just slides into the part that clips onto the arm) must be pretty
universal, so although they probably don't have a whole replacement that
will fit, I can at least get that part replaced."

Well, the attendent either couldn't or wouldn't listen to what I was
saying and insisted that he could find the right replacement.  On the
curved windshield, they worked predictably well, as in not very.  He
went to work with a pair of pliers and started getting them to work a
bit better.  Then, while running the wipers to check them out, the
driver's side wiper fell of, leaving the end of the arm (bare metal)
to scratch a nice (not!) semi-circle across the windshield before I
could shut it off.

At this point, I insisted that he put the old blades back on and look for
the refills.  He found them with little trouble, threw the nearly-new
but now bent blades in the trash, charged me for the refills (which cost
less than half what the blades would have), and left me to go muttering
on my way.

I don't know if polishing compound will take care of the groove in my
windshield but I'm going to give it a try.  I guess that means I have
a groovy windshield! :}

Also on the subject of windshields, what can I do to eliminate/minimize
fogged windows?  Does Rain-X work inside as well?  Do those anti-fog
cloths really work?  Anyone?

-Patrick
poser@leland.stanford.edu
'73 Safare' Custom Camper -- Ms. Pickle