Cars - I hate 'em!

I find it hard to believe that this morning I have driven a round trip of 24 miles to buy a windscreen wiper blade - and it cost me £12.57!

The OB drives a perfectly normal car, indeed, one of the most commonly seen small cars - a Nissan Micra. The rear wiper blade needed replacing, so off I trotted to our local branch of Halfords. On checking the compatibility chart I discovered that I needed blade number W23. On the shelf were dozens of W22s and plenty of W24s - but no W23. I went to the customer service counter where I was asked what car it was for.

"Ah," I was told, "this blade won't fit. You have to go to Nissan as it's a special shape."

There is no Nissan dealer in Brighton, hence the 24 mile drive.

My own car is a VW Passat, in which there is a design fault surrounding the pollen filter. After heavy rain, the filter (or its seal) leaks and causes a short circuit in the wiring of the alarm. There are only two ways to stop the alarm sounding until the car dries out:

1. leave the drivers door open (yes, open - not just unlocked)
2. remove fuse number 14 when parking. But as this controls the electric windows, and other things, it has to be replaced before driving off or the onboard computer keep saying that the driver's door is open. It also controls the remote key fob so I have to remember to lock the car manually.

Oh well, things could be a lot worse - but it is irritating!