Just a flick of the wrist

Now that we're all driving around in cold, icy conditions, it seems like a good time to tell a funny story.

I'm sure everyone has had to deal with ice accumulating on the windshield wiper of their car. It leaves streaks on the windshield and the wipers don't clean the windshield well. My father found that if he rolled down the window and put his hand, palm down, on the windshield, he could let the wiper ride up onto his hand. Then, he would flick his hand outward and it would push the wiper away from the windshield. Then, the spring on the wiper would bring it back hard against the windshield breaking the ice. He could do it a number of times and the ice would eventually break up and the wiper would start working again.

I tried this myself and it worked very well. Sometimes their was too much ice or the spring on the wiper wouldn't pull back hard enough (due to ice buildup) and I'd have to pull over and fix it the old fashioned way. But it usually worked and I was proud to show it to other people.

One day, during the summer, I was explaining this method to a friend of mine. I had a Triumph TR6 at the time and there were all sorts of problems with it (that's why I was able to afford it in the first place). Anyway, we were stopped at a light when I showed him how easy it was. When I flicked my hand outward, though, the wiper went flying! It flew all the way across the road. Luckily it didn't hit any other cars but I had to pull the car over and run out into traffic to pick up the wiper. I always made sure the wipers were attached correctly before I tried that trick again.

This brings to mind another "funny" wiper story. My wife and I had driven to my mother's place for Thanksgiving and were on our way home when a tremendous rain storm hit the area. The wipers on our car (not the long gone TR6) were not up to the task so I decided to stop at an auto parts store to pick up a new pair. It was still raining like crazy when I got back to the car. I waited for the rain to slow down but it didn't look like it was going to do that very soon so I decided to replace the wipers quickly. I worked as quickly as I could with the rain pelting me and then I jumped into the car to get going. As I backed out, I turned on the wipers and as they made their first swipe, both of them flew off into the parking lot. I thought my wife was going to die laughing. I jumped back out into the rain to pick up the wipers and took the time to attach them correctly this time. They worked well for the 650 mile trip back home.