It is raining really hard here.  It hasn’t rained for a while here so it’s a good thing, it cleans up the air and the streets a bit.

I pulled out my umbrella.  It was the one I purchased a month ago for Roz and Suz’s wedding when it was raining that day, and I didn’t want to get my formal clothing all wet.  And then it turned out to be dryer in Brockvegas than in Ottawa.

I realized just today I don’t use umbrellas very often.  I usually brave the rain in a waterproof-breathable jacket or something of the sort.  So I don’t get to see how amazing an umbrella really is often!

My umbrella is pretty sick.  There are a few “actions”.  After undoing the velcro strap, the first click on the button allows the shaft to extend and the arms to spread out (this is one of those folding compact ones).  After a shake or two the arms extend all the way and it’s all good and dry under.  AND THEN with another click of the button it seems like it like explodes and the arms all contract and come together, leaving the shaft extended.  I just did that as I was walking on the street and I was quite surprised!

Then, you can use your hand to pull the whole thing back into its compact neat small format.

I guess the second click is there to dispel as much water from the umbrella when closing.  And it’s really useful that way too, how many times have you tried to get into a car and tried to close the umbrella without getting wet?  Ingenius.  All for $15 at Shoppers…. Sweet.

Tags: rain, technology, umbrella

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 25th, 2008 at 5:53 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.