thanks for the tips everyone. oh, and i DID try to replace the wiper itself, thinking it was just worn out, to no avail. its good to know about the cheaper alternatives out there, because the only ones i could find were almost twice as expensive. i'm pretty sure they were rainbirds, too... i didn't think rainbird even produced them. the catching is kind of like when you hit the wipers on with not enough water on the windshield. i guess i'm just doing to have to take it in though.