Fixing my Blue Plastic Umbrella

Plastic is good for some things, right? Like keeping us dry in the rain. A few months ago, Treehugger posted an article about eco-friendly umbrellas ranging from those made from recycled plastic to one touted as the first biodegradable umbrella. So when my little blue umbrella broke, I considered replacing it with one of those — until I remembered that the most eco-friendly choice would be to repair the one I have!
The problem: One of the umbrella’s ribs was broken. (I now know it’s called a rib after Googling “parts of an umbrella.”)
Upon close inspection, I could see that a Springy Part A needed to go back into Straight Part B.
But how to hold them together? Michael came up with the brilliant idea of using a straightened paperclip. And voilà !
I twisted the paperclip with pliers to hold it in place and bent it in a circle to keep it from puncturing the umbrella.
And here’s the finished product, complete with a few… Read the rest