Zippers

Z is for Zipper. Or just a zip for those of you across the pond the other way.

This is for closure, a very satisfying sound and feel in a well made zipper. A simple marvel of engineering and design, although it has taken a while for the materials and manufacture, and sewing, to be consistently reliable. It's been a few years since I've had a zipper come apart, grind it's teeth, and stick half open, half closed, caught in fabric or misaligned. Once, that was more normal than not, and I never did well with zippers as a child, seeming to have insufficient hands for the task of zipping up. I don't think I've gotten that much better at it, so I must assume that state of the art zippers are much improved.

Watching old episodes of Rockford Files, the difficulty of cars starting reminded me just how unreliable cars once were. There was a 50/50 chance of it starting first time, stalling at a light, and the constant risk of needing a jump or a tow. But we've had our car for over three years, and have had no such issue. None. When I think about it, it seems unreal. My worst problem has been that a couple of times a year, the radio goes dark, including the clock, only to resume normal service the next morning. I wonder if I simply caught it in the middle of a backup.

Funny, how it's so often the details. We don't notice the gradual improvements, or degradations, until we look back with clear eyes.