On Rolling Windows

In the event of my car going into water, I am in a good situation, relatively speaking, as I have rolling windows (a.k.a. the ones you have to crank to make them go up/down).

These windows also allow me to work on my left arm muscles periodically, and since I am a right handed/arm-using person,  it provides a little more balance (at least it's a nice thought, give me credit for trying).  Finally, if I am ever feeling an old school-kickback mood, I can blast my seventies music and awkwardly roll down the windows while driving, just like they did during the golden days.

Nevertheless, there are many downsides to this rather cool window setup.  First, every time I approach a toll (I still have to go through exact change, no EZ-Pass for me), I have to begin cranking down the window while about 300 feet away from the toll so I will be as efficient as possible in the act of paying for the toll.  After the toll is paid, I have to reverse the process and crank the window up while merging back into traffic.  My friends, people who happen to be riding in my car who are not friends - I'll just say everybody - laughs as I hunch over and briskly roll the window up.

The second detriment caused by these windows, and by far the more significant detriment, is the unpredictability of what will enter your window.  What I mean by this is that if I am driving alone, I will rarely roll the passenger side window down.  If I want to do so, I have to roll down the window before driving, otherwise I have to sprawl across the seat at a red light and hope the light doesn't change while doing so.  All this aside, the unpredictability factor then comes in.  I have absolutely no control over the passenger side window, as demonstrated by a little problem I had.

The other day, while driving home from work with both windows down, I noticed a sprinkler ahead that was spraying into the street instead of watering the lawn (Remember when I blogged about sprinklers not watering what they were supposed to?  Prime example!).  I knew I was doomed.  There was traffic, I could not pull over to adjust the window, there were no side streets to avoid the impending and gushing water; it was a bad situation all around.  I waited for the taunting slap of water on the face that was about to occur.

Simply put, I was sprayed as I went by, event though I sped up to lesson the impact.  I guess nothing is perfect.