Tuesday, April 5, 2011

The Rain-X Effect

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… I’m easily amused.  It doesn’t take much to keep me entertained, which if you think about it, is a nice quality to have.  Even car maintenance can be fun.

I mentioned last year, my folks recommended Rain-X to me to help keep my car windshield clear.  And once applied, all you have to do is drive and the beaded water drops collected on your windshield will just roll right up and off the glass.  It’s cool as hell!

So this weekend while it was nice, I took the opportunity to reapply the Rain-X, as it had been over 6 months since I first put it on.  Then, as an added bonus, it rained overnight so I got to see the entertaining benefits of my weekend’s chore.

And I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to share this special moment?” 

You know, in case I’m not the only one entertained by moving water droplets…

So without further ado, here it the most entertaining portion of this morning’s commute:
The target speed is 35 mph.  Once you hit 35, (11 seconds in) the "action" really starts.

Fortunately for me, the first stretch outside my apartment is relatively deserted, so my path is unencumbered.  Just wish the camera focused on the windshield a little better.  Maybe next time it rains overnight, I’ll have someone else drive me around while I shoot the video.

Hey Pinky!  Can you drive me down the street at 35 mph, then turn around and come back home?  So I can take video of the rolling water beads?

(ducks flying coffee cup…)

Maybe this will have to do.

Bacon Update
I came across an article, today, by a reporter in Dallas that tried the infamous Denny’s Maple Bacon Sundae that I wrote about in my last post.  You can read the review here.

In a nutshell, though the wait-staff was apprehensive about even serving it, she liked it.

Lastly, WTF?
I do NOT need to know what comes out of that bottle.

20 comments:

CrackerLilo said...

Where the hell did you find that last picture?!?! I find it even scarier than the Maple Bacon Sundae, and that's pretty damned scary.

bluzdude said...

Lilo,
There's a brilliant site called failblog.org, that chronicles all different kinds of "fail," from misspelled signs, translations gone wrong, to traffic mishaps, to skateboarding crashes, to kids getting biffed in the head by footballs, to the kind of unfortunate product labeling you see above.

Raven said...

I was going to say that you are far too easily amused until I watched the vid and went, 'Now I want Rain-X.' :P

Sweet and salty is an awesome combo. I may have to head to Denny's after reading that review.

And lastly, yes, WTF?

bluzdude said...

See?? Totally cool! I was also unimpressed until I saw it for the first time. Now I look forward to rainy nights! And I'm anxiously awaiting a chance to do some freeway driving in the rain. I'm totally saving wear and tear on wiper blades.

Mary Ann said...

YOU have entirely TOOO much time on your hands. But Rain X IS really cool. I like to watch the raindrops go UP the windows.
In a nation of fat asses where obesity reigns, Denny's should be bombed. The Maple-Bacon Sundae is a WMD. Talk about M-Ass destruction.
"I love a rainy night".

DG said...

OK, so now you definately need to go to Denny's. Not that I'm stalking you, but Denny's has an online restraunt finder and there are plenty in the Baltimore area.

I, too, must admit to being mesmerized by the rain-x video. Good thing no state troopers read your blog. There must be a law against that.

bluzdude said...

Mary Ann,
Why do vegetarians have to be such killjoys? Geez, no Pop Tarts, no bacon... it's a wonder I ever ate any breakfast...

DG,
Hmmm... food for thought. Perhaps I'll need to locate a Denny's in Baltimore... Just for the sake of the blog, and some investigative reporting, of course.

Maryland has cell phone laws, but nothing about cameras. I probably should have edited that 25 MPH sign out, though.

Judie said...

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and all the saints! That is the most boring video I have ever seen. And whatever you do, don't open that 'Pussy Wind" near your computer! You could infect us all!

Cowboy, you need some entertainment, and we all know just what kind of entertainment you need. Hope you get some soon!

bluzdude said...

Judie,
I shouldn't even expect you to understand... do they even HAVE rain in Arizona? If they did, you'd know how awesome it is when it runs UP your windshield.

Burgh Baby said...

I swear that one day my husband is going to get in a wreck because he will stare at The Rain-X Effect for hours.

Cassie said...

My high school boyfriend had an unhealthy obsession with Rain X. He never EVER used his windshield wipers. I have a problem with that. If there's even the smallest drop on the windshield, I'll get rid of it. Matt takes FOREVER to use his, just to annoy me. It's my only OCD thing. I swear.

Cassie said...

Oh, and I'm with Mary Ann. We're just asking for heart attacks. I'm SO OVER taking care of 300+ pound patients. They can't even pee on their own. Try wiping THAT butt. It disgusts me anymore. I used to have sympathy, and now I'm so jaded.

Judie said...

We are currently in a severe drought. When and if the monsoon comes in the summer, we know better than to drive in it. The washes quickly fill up and run over the roadways. They can sweep a car away in a matter of seconds! We even have a "Stupid Driver Law" and if you drive into a swollen wash and have to be rescued, you pay a very high price, and must also fork over your first-born child as well.

Facie said...

Why, yes, you do have too much time on your hands. At least you did not run into the oncoming cars. It takes talent driving and camera-ing simultaneously. :-)

Although Rain-X is ever-so-slightly amusing, I cannot use it; I get a little freaked out when the raindrops first come and I must make them go away. 'Course we have lots of rain around these here parts. Rain, hail, snow, lately all of the above within the same five-minute period...

Jessica R. said...

You were driving... in the rain... while video taping? It's amazing you are still alive to do this post.

My dad is obsessed with RainX too. Must be a boy thing.

Unknown said...

Bluz, Something to help get your panties all wadded up. Tri-speed/winning wipers are still way cooler than some chemical. Here, this should help you along--

From The Toledo Blade (America's Great Newspaper):
Wednesday, April 06, 2011 -



Home » News» Religion

Published: 4/6/2011

Ohio 'Touchdown Jesus' destroyed by lightning to be replaced with giant, full-standing statue
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Facebook Twitter Reddit Digg E-mail Print Rss
Ron Carter, church administrator for Solid Rock Church in Monroe, Ohio, displays the model of the new statue "Come Unto Me" that will replace the former "King of Kings" statue, which was struck by lightning and burned. ASSOCIATED PRESS Enlarge
MONROE, Ohio — A giant statue of a full-standing Jesus with arms outstretched will replace a mammoth, partial depiction destroyed by lightning outside an Ohio church.

Administrator Ron Carter at the Solid Rock Church in Monroe showed a model of the new, 51-foot statue to the Middletown Journal on Tuesday. Carter says construction will be completed by the end of the year at the site overlooking Interstate 75 where the original had been one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks.

That statue showed Jesus from the chest up and had been nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised outward, like a referee's. It burned down following a lightning strike last June 14.

Co-designer Tom Tsuchiya (su-CHEE'-yah) says work on the replacement will begin in May or June.
___

bluzdude said...

Burgh Baby
I know that’s going to happen to me one day…

I mean, how weird is this? I could totally just flip on the wipers and clear the glass in a second. But I don’t. I drive, semi-blinded, out of my parking lot, down to the corner, then make a left on to that straight-away, just so I can watch the water droplets rise.

My only hope is that if I do it enough times, it will lose its appeal and I’ll go back to just flicking on the wipers. Maybe one day…

Cassie
I still use my wipers though… aside from that one stretch, most of my commute takes place under 35 mph, so the water doesn’t move much on its own. I, too, like my glass clear.

Having an occasional sundae does not a 300-pounder, make. And I haven’t actually been to a Denny’s since the last time we went to Cleveland for a game, I’d say around 1995.

Plus, for all my going on about bacon, I don’t actually eat all that much of it. I have bacon on 2 slices of pizza, probably once a week at lunch. I have a couple strips on a cheeseburger maybe once ever couple weeks. And once, maybe twice a YEAR, when I find myself at a breakfast buffet, I dig into a nice load of bacon.

So chill out, Nurse Ratchet, and allow me my little obsessions. I got this.

(Not that I’m without sympathy for your position… I wouldn’t want to be wiping 300 lb asses either. Or any others, for that matter. Is it bad form to yak on your patient?)

Judie
I like the “Stupid Driver Law.” In fact, I think they should widen the scope to include drivers having to reimburse everyone they made late or otherwise inconvenienced because they got into an accident while they were texting or yapping into their goddamned cell phones. Or get pulled out of a snow bank because they drove on an icy road because they decided they needed more eggs, bread, and toilet paper.

Facie
One more cool thing about Rain-X… it makes it easier to scrape the frost off your windshield in the winter… doesn’t stick as hard. This is especially big for those of us that don’t have garages and have to park outside.

Jessica
It really wasn’t that hard to record… I just turned on the camera before I pulled out, then pointed it at the windshield, with my elbow on the center console. Barely had to take my eyes off the road at all, other than to glance over and make sure I wasn’t zoomed in on the dashboard or something.

It would have been especially ironic to record my own car crash, no?

J
Thanks for the heads up on Touchdown Jesus. I’ll give them that the new version looks less frightening and more welcoming, but it’s still tacky. I still maintain that Jesus never commissioned or authorized a gigantic statue of Himself. Are there not better ways to spend the money it will take to have this statue done? Like maybe feeding the hungry? I hear Jesus was big on stuff like that…

(To see a picture of the “new edition” of Gigantor-Jesus, paste this link into your browser: http://m2.toledoblade.com/Religion/2011/04/06/Ohio-Touchdown-Jesus-destroyed-by-lightning-to-be-replaced-with-giant-full-standing-statue.html )

Unapologetically Mundane said...

I like that the Rexona is "intensive". If there's one thing I demand from pussy wind, it's that it be INTENSIVE.

The Rain-X is actually pretty cool. What happens when the rain is really coming down? Can you still see through the drops?

bluzdude said...

Mundane,
Believe it or not, I haven't really been out in a hard rain with it yet. The few times it's been raining at all, I'm just doing my 10 minute commute to the subway and back, usually at speeds of about 30 mph. So I'm not getting the good water-rolling action.

I can't wait for a good rainstorm when I'm on the freeway...

Mrs. Bachelor Girl said...

It's OK, Bluz. I, too, am fascinated by Rain-X.