Inventions I'd Like to See
Every now and then, like most of us, I imagine, I wonder why something useful doesn't exist (or perhaps it does, and I just haven't found it). In any event, here's a currently short, but probably growing, list of things I wish I could find. Feel free to suggest any additions (bytw2calvin.edu -- replace the "2" with an "@"). Even better, tell me what I want already exists, or invent something on the list and sell me one. 1. A temporarily non-ringing phone: Just about the time a settle nicely into a nap, the telephone rings. Of course, one can take the phone off the hook, but what if one forgets to put it back on? I'd like a button on my answering machine that would stop the phone from ringing for a set period, and also provide a message ("Hello, I'm taking a nap. Leave a mesage or try back in an hour."). Somehow, it would need to stop all phones in the house from ringing. It would be nice if it provided an option for callers to punch a button to override the system (e.g., "If you happen to have noticed that my house is on fire and would like to wake me up, punch 7."). And maybe something for the doorbell, too? 2. A better way of de-icing car windows: I live in Michigan. After a good snowfall, my car windows are often coated with icy, hard-to-remove, snow. Now, most cars have rear-window defrosters. Front windows are another matter. I find myself scraping for a while, then driving off before I really should, hoping the defroster will soon clear things up. There are spray products that are supposed to melt the snow more quickly. They help, but aren't good enough. 3. A way to stop shower doors from dripping: My last two houses have had shower doors that left a quarter circle of water when I opened the door after taking a shower. There has to be some way to stop that from happening without buying a new door. 4. An anti-dust spray: There are sprays to remove dust, but I'm looking for something that repels dust in the first place. Our house has lots of doors with various insets and the like, which look good, but collect dust. I'd like a transparent Teflon-type spray that would hinder dust from gathering. 5. Stopping squirrels and raccoons: We've got a second-level deck with birdfeeders and plants. Raccoons in particular climb up the supporting posts. In a former house, we put metal ducts around the pillars, which worked fine, but now we live in a condo, so such an ugly solution would be against the bylaws. I'd like a transparent separable pipe that I could fit around the pillars, which would not be visable from a distance, but would be impossible for squirrels and raccoons to climb. I suppose this could be with a slit, if the tubing or piping were flexible, or two halves that would interlock together if it were stiffer. 6. I dislike obnoxious logos on clothing, appliances, etc. Most are difficult to get rid of, however. I'd be the first customer of a product that somehow enabled me to make the blatant advertising on my television set, for example, go away.
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