Yet Another Car Accident
This morning, on my way to work, I was stopped at a stop sign when I was rear ended by a sliding car. It was nothing major; nobody was injured and there was no visible damage to the involved vehicles. We did swap the necessary information in case anything was to come of this but all in all it was just an inconvenience. And surprisingly, I didn’t get angry. It did, however, spark a trip down memory lane. Specifically the events that resulted in my car being banged up.
For instance, last fall there was a big hail storm that swept the city. I remember that night because it set off the fire alarms in my apartment block somehow. Anyway, my car ended up with over 2 grand in hail damage.
In winter of 2006, I was driving on the highway one night and a deer ran in front of my path. Actually, it wasn’t exactly running. It was just stopped there in the middle of the road. I put on the brakes but it did no good as I slammed into the poor animal. I remember the deer running into the nearby woods where I assumed it died of the injuries. I’m assuming that it died because of the noises it was making; it wasn’t pretty but it sure was loud. My car was totaled.
A couple of months before that happened, my car was the victim of a hit and run. I was at a buddy’s place and I had to park my car a block away. A drunk driver ended up nailing the front end of my car with his truck and then taking off. One of my friends who was outside having a smoke saw the whole thing but didn’t realize that it was my car until the truck took off. The fucking asshole was never caught and I was left to pay my deductible. There was $1,300 in damages.
During the winter of 2003 I was involved in a 3 car accident. My car was in the middle. It began by my car getting T-boned by yet another car that slid through a stop sign. Only this time I was hit hard; hard enough to send me flying 2 lanes down where I was hit by a van. I was taken to the hospital by my friends who happened to drive by and recognized my car. I was fine; just a headache for a couple of days. But my car sure wasn’t. I remember the passenger side was completely caved in and the rear bumper was decimated. Needless to say, that car never drove again.
I’ve also had my car stolen once and broken into twice but those stories deserve a post of their own.
Do All Windshield Wipers Suck?
It’s absolutely ridiculous that in all the years that I have owned a vehicle, I have not had a pair of windshield wipers that worked to my satisfaction, especially during the winter months. At first I just put up with the default, factory installed sets and bought the cheap, generic brands as replacements when they wore out; and wore out often they did.
After I got tired of only being able to peek through the slits where those junkie generic wipers actually touched the glass, I smartened up and bought the more expensive sets. I didn’t want to overdo my expenditure and so I went with the semi-expensive sets; the middle class of the wiper blade selection. These didn’t fair much better. Though they allowed for a bit more visibility they simply were not dependable when I really needed them. The wipers rubbed and streaked and I had to constantly free the blades from any snow, ice, or road muck that stuck on. They definitely were not worth the price of the upgrade.
This year, I decided that I have had enough. I went out and bought the most expensive pair that Canadian Tire had in their arsenal for my vehicle. I bought the MotoMaster Teflon Winter Brand with precision fit. Luckily, they were on sale for 25% off and I walked away with only a $40 hole in my wallet. Let the MotoMaster trail being.
During the early days of this year’s winter, the wipers held up, clearing the glass in front of me with a streakless proficiency that pleased me deeply. There was no need to clean the blades. No need to worry. I felt victorious; I finally found a pair of wiper blades that I could depend on. My winter driving qualms were left only to the slick roads themselves. Or so I thought.
One morning, the weather crept to a chilling -25 degrees Celsius; that’s -13 degrees Fahrenheit to my neighbors to the South. Also known as, frickin cold. And so I put on my long underwear and made my way to work. The trek began as normal. The car took forever to warm up and I was forced to take small sips of my morning hot chocolate to survive. The roads were slick and I, like everyone else, slowly made my way through the rush hour streets. To top it all off, it began to snow.
But, I thought nothing of it as I had my trusty MotoMaster wipers to clear my view. And so I clicked my wipers on and watched as they glided across my sight. The problem was, they didn’t take all of the snow with them. There were thick streaks left behind on my glass and my visibility soon became hindered as the snowfall intensified. This can’t be right, I thought to myself; there must be something stuck on the blades. I pulled over and checked on the wiper blades. Nothing. And then I saw it.
The wipers weren’t clinging to the glass as they usually did. I tried to reform the bend of the wipers manually but this was a lost cause. I began to fill up with a feeling of anger and failure. The cold winter had defeated me again and I looked at my once glorious wiper blades in disgust. And so my journey to find a solution to my windshield woes continues. You may have won this battle, winter. But the war is far from over.