Wipers

Ignorance is sometimes....bliss. Until it rains. Turns out that my (well, technically not mine, but it's on a long enough T-loan) local trusty steed, a 93 Toyota Corolla (yes, the Nichts ist Unmoglich one) had a little problem. Being in the thick of the monsoon season, it isn't uncommon to run into torrential rain during mornings when I have to get to work.
Problem is, when I switched on the wipers...what I got was nothing less than total vision obliteration---total grease out. When I queried if the wipers had been changed, the answer I got was "Yeah, not too long ago". Turns out that the wiper blades were turning powdery, yes, powdery. If you think about it, all that diurnal temperature fluctuations, heat-cool cycles and punishing scorching sun under which the car is parked...little wonder that poor slither of rubber gets hysterisis streesed till it falls apart. The moment of truth came when one evening, just as I was about to head out, I turned on the wipers and heard the most hideous screech (think chalk against black board, or nails against blackboard, exceipt more shrill) almost ejected me from my seat. A leaf spring that tensioned the wiper blades had come loose and was now grinding the glass.
I sped right off to get replacements...for BOTH wipers, which I then found out...were not of equal length...