Finally put my new PIAA windshield wipers on today. Each blade comes with a silicone impregnated cloth to prep the windshield after cleaning it with glass cleaner, which helps the blades glide smoothly and water to bead up. Most silicone wiper blades are made just with silicone, but these are a rubber/silicone mix which PIAA says is more streak free and durable. I checked to see if people were having any issues with silicone only wipers, and many report streaking and/or durability problems. The car had RainX ones on it, and I kind of like their connectors better, as they have a definite click putting them on. The PIAAs fit, it's just that you have to really push down on them and pull the locking tabs out to make sure they're in position.
I also had bought a 4 pack of rubber "top hat" grommets to secure the rubber/plastic cosmetic strips that sit at the lower corners of my windshield. They are intended to cover up an area where the windshield molding overlaps. This wouldn't have even been necessary had the auto glass shop that I had replace my windshield not pulled them off like disposable bandaids instead of using a proper plastic pry tool to nudge them out. It left the upper tips of them permanently deformed sticking out like a sore thumb, and the driver side one is so loose it's now hard to get the whole upper half of the 6 or so inch strip to lay down. I was livid when the guy at the auto glass shop said, "they're just cosmetic".
There's a 10mm diameter short post molded into the underside of the top half of the strip. I figured I could take one of these grommets, which are 9mm ID, slip the non flange end of it over the post after roughing it up and spraying it with extra hold hair spray (a trick MTBers have used for decades to secure grips on handlebars), then tuck the flange of the grommets under the edge of the windshield and the body edge of the car. It's not a 100% ideal solution, but it won't be visible and the silicone grommet should dampen vibration well. I'm still not too miffed at the auto glass store, as the installation included a free 3 mo membership at the biggest tunnel car wash biz in our state, that have at least 28 locations.
That nearby tunnel wash has been an eye opener, especially since I don't have tenant parking yet and the street in front of our building has huge leaf trees that aphids voraciously devour the leaves of and poop sap-like "honeydew" all over our cars. It gets so bad it's hard to even see out your windshield if parked there for a couple days in warm weather. I also learned you definitely want to clean it off BEFORE rolling down any windows, as tiny grit can get stuck in it and scratch your windows when you roll them up and down. So I poke along the 30 blocks on the nearby avenue the tunnel wash is on to wash the car before I go anywhere that time of year. I think there's only about 2 tenants ahead of me on the list for our 24 stall lot, and the day they notify me there's an opening can't come soon enough! Just my luck I'll get a spot that's under a big tree.
Exactly why I don't like other people to do things to my cars. They don't care, they won't do it properly.
As for sap, the house I grew up in had a huge Cottonwood tree (still my favorite type of tree. I actually miss em when I go East of the Mississippi) and it would sap like crazy in Spring and Summer. But you can go to any autoparts store and grab a
"clay bar", which you can rub all over the vehicle and it'll take that stuff right off (make sure to soap up the areas first). It's labor intensive, but it'll give you a nice smooth finish back on your paint or windshields.
I have one that I use on other peoples cars, but otherwise my cars are bruised, dented and faded and I like em that way. Makes people afraid of me when I drive or park.
A 10 second AI slop video I made this morning. Nothing special about it. Just showing you something I made. I'm not used to directing voice acting, and it doesn't come out great. Probably can be improved with better prompting.
View: https://youtu.be/FBWn5u9l9k0
AI is still damn impressive to me, even just this short video. I used Qwen yesterday to help me troubleshoot some Linux stuff, which is just fantastic. I initially tried to Google what I needed, but I would have been there all day, so switched to my local AI and it helped me resolve the issue in half an hour, at most.
Speaking of cars, I'm trying not to get too involved at the moment and just taking a moment to drink my coffee before I gotta get out to mine again. I need to check my brakes, because they've been squealing for no apparent reason. Also speaking of Frag and windshield wipers, one of my wiper arms stopped working. Took everything apart and it looks like where the arm mounts to the swing post, the arm is totally stripped, so it just refuses to work. Ordered a new set of used ones off eBay yesterday afternoon and they're already coming today. Turns out the seller was only about an hour away.
Also, I pissed some neighbor off yesterday, but to be fair, he started it by being an a**hole. Walking my kids home and almost to an intersection in my hood and this dude just blows through the stop sign; he had his window down, so I said, "You know that's a Stop sign, right? It says STOP in big white letters.", he flipped me off and said, "Kiss my ***" and called me a dumb***. I talked some s*** to him as well. Then the rest of the way home, I had to explain to my boys how that's not an appropriate way to solve or start conflict.
That said, I still want to be petty and go find his house. I don't fully remember what car he had, but I'd probably know it if I saw it. I have no idea what I'd do, maybe just knock on his door and call him a stupid ***hole to his face and watch him back down when he's not such a big man driving away in his car. My wife says it's not a good idea and it probably isn't, but I am still tempted just to find out what house he's in, so if I need to be petty later with my position on the neighborhood board, I can be.
