Well crap, it’s that time of year again… fall. The season does have a lot of great things about it:
-Football, Hockey and Basketball are back
-Leaves are changing colour and it’s beautiful
-Pumpkin Spice stuff is back… “you know I can’t live without my Pumpkin Spiced Pringles” said no one ever
-Bugs are dying… except for those dang fruit flies
-You can cook in your kitchen again without melting into a puddle
-and Hoodies… nuff said
But the season also brings some awful things like:
-WINTER
-WINTER
-WINTER
-WINTER
-Extremely cold weather because it’s WINTER!
-and Frost… nuff said
I’ve lived in this great country for 40 plus years, you think I would would be used to winter and embraced it
I am also not a fan of frost on the windshield. The worst is always the first frost of the year because you are not ready for it. I have two kids in a small car and never have enough room for all of our crap so I remove seasonal items like the snow brush and ice scraper. Then that first cold night happens and you wake up to go to work and see this:
CRAP
How do you get the frost off the windshield when you don’t have your ice scraper in the car?
There are a couple of time tested techniques to familiarize yourself with:
TRICK #1 The Credit Card
You simply take out a plastic card from your purse or wallet and scrap away. After half of the window is done your fingers will fall off, you will get frustrated and quit, leaving yourself with just the smallest circle to see through… perfect. When using this technique, make sure to not use a card that is important… they will snap in half causing more anguish and pain. Suggested cards are library cards, empty Tim’s cards, or the good ol’ Blockbuster. Do not use a credit card… unless you are hugely in debt… I wish my wife would use a certain card in her purse.
TRICK #2 The Hair Dyer
This technique seems like a brilliant idea in theory but after executing it you are going to wish you didn’t waste an hour of your life.
TRICK #3 The Broom
After searching the back of your car for the scraper and only finding a dirty milk cup, a Super Mario Toy and an insane amount of Cheerios you then start looking in the garage for the suitable replacement. Ahhhhh the broom looks like it would do the job. It does not… unless of course you enjoy squinting through a thousand thin lines of frost.
TRICK #4 The Windshield Wipers
This technique is commonly used for the “I ain’t got no time for that” part of the population… which is most of us. It’s a combination of cranking the defrost and the wipers on at the same time. When that doesn’t yield the results you desire a simple shot of windshield washer fluid will do the trick. Unless of course it’s the middle of December and you still have the bug juice in your car, that is when you quickly resort to Trick #1.
TRICK #5 Start The Car Before You Leave
This one really shouldn’t be on the list. If you have the foresight to start your car in late September or early October before you head out there then you were probably smart enough to find the snow brush and put it back in the car before you needed it.
I hope these tips and tricks work for you and you don’t have too many frustrating morning drives.
Happy Travels,
Trent