And Then, Poor Visibility….

I've been busy hence the silence. Some may say blessed silence. Others may say, busy with wot? believe it or not, three days cleaning the car windscreen.

I chanced to be out and about after dark and noticed, in the light of oncoming cars, streaks all along the windscreen. Wash an' wipe is the answer, right? Not this time as adding water to the streaks an' lights made visibility pretty damn poor. Actually, pretty damn scarily poor. This became a cause for concern when it started raining lightly and the only way I could get any idea of what was going on out front was to run the wipers at full speed. So poor was the visibility I pulled over at a convenience store and got me a bottle of screen cleaner.

After twenty minutes of spraying and wiping I came to the conclusion it wasn't working. Intensive rubbing on just one small area of one streak did nothing.

Let me say that I discovered the next day that these streaks are invisible in daylight but become visible when activating the screen sprays and wipers and once the water is wiped away they disappear again. Whole different deal on a rainy night with heave approaching traffic.

Long story a tad longer, I got home and next day gave the problem a little thought. That's right; thought, NOT Google. This is what I thought. Some time ago I washed the car using a lazy shampoo with added wax. I may have under diluted and, as it was a warm sunny day, when I hosed him off I neglected to give the roof just one more rinse thus allowing the remaining shampoo and wax to run off the roof and 'bake' onto, almost into, the glass.

Guess what? I tried an area with both windscreen cleaner and also good ol' vinegar, worked in with a pan scourer. Guess what? Didn't shift it. Not a hint. Luckily, no scourer scratches resulted from this, possibly over zealous, test.

I'm now happy to report the screen, after many, many hours a rubbin' an' a buffin', resulting in red-raw, aching hands and arms, although she's not one to complain – that was a joke. She complains all the time -  rendering typing impossible, the screen is ninety percent back to clear visibility. It's also now obvious to me that I should've started with the ten percent directly in front of the drivers head…

How did I achieve this? A tube of metal polish I had in the shed. Yes, I did check, as best I could, it wasn't packed with any sort of abrasive stuff and I also did a test patch. She was heading for a shower anyway - that was another joke. It was tough, repetitive going but it worked and could be worth a go for any of you possibly facing similar visible/invisible windscreen streaking.

Finally, isn't it sad that on this day we remember all those who lost their lives in combat through the ages we then turn on the news to see that there are still vast numbers of people out there apparently determined to keep our planet the blood-soaked stone it's become. A blood-soaked stone hurtling towards the end. Who will be the last man standing to ask what it was all about? Who will offer an answer?

Quote;  Mitch Hedberg.

"I know a lot about cars, man. I can look at any car's headlights and tell you exactly which way it's coming."