I intended to write something actually meaningful tonight — I had a notion to finally write my long overdue Rory post, but I just didn’t have it in me today. Instead I will write about maybe the most trivial thing I have covered this far, so buckle up.
I got a new car in early February. It’s a nice car. I’m enjoying driving it. I keep leaving my phone in it when I get out, which I was considering for another highly meaningless newsletter topic, but that will wait for another day.
New cars are fun, but like anything else new there is always a period where you’re learning the various features and such before they will eventually become routine. Right now, nothing is routine, I have to think about all the different buttons and bells and whistles when I do them. Which brings us to today’s topic.
This is not at all a fancy bell, but like all cars this car has three options for the windshield wipers. Intermittent, low, and high. The little knob calls it “auto” instead of intermittent, but I think that is more descriptive. Along with the auto is a little dial the dictates how frequently the wipers go when it is on the intermittent setting. I’m explaining all this as if my dear readers haven’t driven a car in the last 15 years, but I’m trying to be thorough. It is that dial that I am concerned with today.
As you can see from the photo (and as I’m sure you all know in your cars) there is the little graphic of declining sized shapes to indicate the increasing or decreasing frequency for the intermittent wipers. It was a miserable rainy day here in Connecticut today and I discovered, to my shock, that with this car, turning the dial towards the smaller shapes means that the wipers take a longer time between wipes in the intermittent setting. I would have assumed it would be the reverse, that the smaller shapes essentially represent “faster” intermittent wiping. But not in this new car.
I was flummoxed by this today, but then I really started thinking and was wondering if the settings had been the same on my previous car and I just had not noticed. Or if I’m just thinking about this wrong (wouldn’t be the first time) and it makes logical sense for the wiper increments to be longer with the smaller box shape. I’m wondering if this is some sort of wiring glitch in the car, or some factory worker put the thing on upside down? I’m just confused, and I can’t decide if I’m rightly confused, or if I’m in the wrong and this all makes perfect sense.
There’s no point to this other than when I get confused my instinct is to go to the internet and write about it. Because getting advice from people on the internet has never steered anyone wrong. But I do encourage comments here on the site or replies on my various social media platforms where I post these stories to let me know if I’m just an idiot.
Check that, I know I’m just an idiot. Please limit your responses and feedback to whether I’m an idiot on this specific topic. Much appreciated.
I think it’s just “bigger” = “more frequency.” That’s how I’ve always read it. But mostly I just keep my eyes on the road and blindly push buttons.