Sahara sand all over the windscreen of the merc which was sitting in the sun. I decide to wash the sand off and got a watering can filled with water. Poured it over the windscreen and as I did so heard the crack 
The screen is split top to bottom.
The good news? The garage is going to look at the back seat locking mechanism when they replace the windscreen.
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Oh… good grief… I was flinching as I read the title…
You are certainly having a spate of bad luck at the moment…
Your luck will change now the full moon is over… (prophesy of an elderly neighbour)
fingers crossed…
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Everything happens for the best and every cloud has a silver lining! Hope the seat gets sorted for you, as I’m sure it will:crossed_fingers:
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Sorry to read that - hope it’s not too expensive to fix.
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So do we! We’re hoping (fingers crossed) it might be covered by our insurance. The garage and our broker are buddies, so the garage is going to let us know tomorrow.
Thanks for also inadvertently warning the rest of us - OH’s Apartheid-era fear of dirt or contamination often leads to spontaneous, quasi-irrational bouts of spontaneously cleaning things.
I try to counter such endeavours with cautionary accounts of how my first SA maid (employed reluctantly because I didn’t want servants) spent her first day at my place carefully removing the 70 year old verdigris from a bronze Art Deco tray and then used a Brillo pad to remove the tarnish (and silver plating) from a1920’s cocktail shaker. I wasn’t angry with her because she’d never previously encountered such items, but they remain useful examples of the dangers of uninformed, over-enthusiastic cleaning!
In his autobiography, The Naked Civil Servant, Quentin Crisp noted that household dust doesn’t seem to get any thicker after the first ten years 
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another good point… in certain areas, water is being rationed/conserved and carwashing at home is a no-no.
The Blue Elephant etc… pay-your-money car-washing places… recycle the water and are OK to use when the “home-ban” is in force.
On another point… Sahara sand is ghastly on the cars and if possible put 'em away or under a cover if you can… when the warning is given…
A good idea is a cover across the outside of the screen (tucking into the doors if necessary) will also help keep the sun of the steering wheel etc… and just might keep the car a fraction cooler… who knows.
It certainly was in our case, the man from Carglass came to our house to do the job. No charge. Hope you get the seat fixed too though.
Sadly not!
I digress - I went to Brazil with the same attitude but then learnt that my salary could be useful to someone who otherwise might not have I job if I did not pay her and I had a responsibility to return some of my salary to the economy.
Brazilian women enjoyed working for English expats. We felt guilty, paid more and asked for less.
Maria worked for me the last two years I was in Brazil. During that time her husband had a heart attack and she was the sole breadwinner (no social support at that time). She needed my money. When I left she asked if she could take some of my furniture which I gladly gave her. This was a woman who, among other things ironed my knickers! They have never been ironed since.
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