The World May Never Know...

"Mister Owl, how many visits to the GM Service Center does it take to fix a defective windshield wiper?" 

"Ah-one...ah-two...ah-three...ah-four...ah-five...ah-six...."

Six...at least (I've lost count) and the problem still isn't fixed.

I have a lot of trouble believing that this is such a major problem. I Googled "2002 Impala Windshield Wiper" or something to that nature and found a ton of information on the problem I was having, including a lengthy video tutorial on YouTube for the exact make and model. It appears that it is a relatively common problem that many people have experienced. This is not a hole-in-the-wall garage, it's the largest GM dealership in southern Ohio but they don't seem to be able to find their backside with both hands and a mirror.

I'm pretty sure I've described the problem in previous posts, but I'll tell you again so you don't have to go back through half a dozen posts to find it.  The wipers were not folding back down in the correct position when they were turned off. Instead, they stopped sticking straight up making it look like you were driving through a pair of goal posts. This happened a while back and I drove around with them like that for almost a year. It  wasn't a major problem, so I waited until I needed something else repaired (wheel bearings) to have it done. I've tried to reconstruct the timeline below to the best of my memory....

• Trip 1 - The wipers were supposedly fixed along with the wheel bearings and a few other minor things, I turned on the wipers after leaving and discovered they were still busted. I called them when I got home and scheduled another visit.
• Trip 2 - They supposedly fixed them but, turning them on before I left, I discovered that although they folded down correctly when turned off, they stopped in mid-window in delay mode. The mechanic decided the new motor was bad and he would have to order another one.
• Trip 3 - The second new motor failed to fix the problem, it must be the wrong part. They would have to order still another. The service manager gave me tickets for two free oil changes.
• Trip 4 - They determined it was apparently not the motor, it was probably a special spring that was not available anywhere but from GM. They would have to special order one.
• Trip 5 - They still couldn't get the wipers to work correctly so they gave me a loaner car and said they would call when they were fixed. Loaner car had plenty of nice features but was so small I could barely get my head in...and I'm only 5'9" tall.
• Trip 6 - I drove their clown car for six days before the service manager called and guaranteed my wipers were working correctly. I turned the wipers on before I left this time...the original problem is back. Now they say it's not a mechanical problem, it's electrical and they have rescheduled me again for next week. 

I'm going to drive Vlad the Impala rather than try squeeze into their sardine can again.

On the health front, I'm still feeling okay. I had to cancel several doctor appointments due to the deep snow storms in February, so it's been well over a month since I've been checked. I have an appointment early tomorrow morning, I suspect they'll want to schedule a new CT scan soon to determine my progress.

One of the side effects of the medication I've been taking is supposed to be blisters on the bottoms of your feet. I haven't noticed any blisters, but I had some diabetic peripheral neuropathy in my hands and feet before I started taking the medication. Up until now I attributed the discomfort to the neuropathy, but the bottoms of my feet have become increasingly sensitive and somewhat painful to walk on. I am suspecting the medication might have something to do with that. The tremors in my hands also continue to give me some problems but the neuropathy in them does not seem to have progressed to any significant extent.