Ideas

May 25, 2013

Ideas

Ever go to the store, or perhaps on line, and see something that catches your eye, and perhaps your wallet too, and wonder why you didn't think of it?  Of course you have.  Let's just think about a few inventions from our past.  Okay this is where anybody under the age of say 30 will begin to doze off - but the baby boomers should stick around.

Remember when pantyhose came out in the 60's?  No more garter belts unless you were trying to put some spice in your game.  And then we had little plastic eggs stuffed to the brim with a pair of pantyhose.  Somebody thought of that great little gimmicky product and for years millions (okay maybe thousands) of women bought "eggs".

Growing up as a teenager in the 60's,  back when music was at its absolute best, in my humble opinion, my music came from a a teeny transistor radio (remember those?).  It ate up batteries and unlike the radios that came after the first round of portable music, was cheap, and not worth stealing which made it the perfect companion for a day at the beach.  Of course that initial transistor played more static than music - but it was portable and everybody had one.

I eventually convinced my Dad that I needed a radio for my bedroom that ran on electricity not batteries.  We went to the store and I told Dad I needed the biggest radio my money could buy.  My new purchase was so big that it almost didn't fit on my desk.  The antenna was a wire that I taped to my wall which brought me "music" after a fashion.  I didn't mind that I heard bits and pieces of music coming out from Chicago because I really did love my first electronic purchase (okay for those of you who rely on accuracy in reporting), it wasn't really electronic but you get the gist of what I'm trying to say.

We now have power seats in our cars, collapsible side mirrors.  Where were these mirrors when I was learning to drive I careened my little Rambler into a parking lot pole!  Did a lot of damage partly because when I made my initial contact I kept on going forward.  Big mistake!

The invention of microwaves made it possible to fix dinner when you didn't leave something out to thaw.  When we moved from California to Maryland in 1986 our rental house (while our home was being built) didn't have a microwave and I forgot about dinner in the general mayhem of getting everybody out the door in the morning.  Luckily for loose brained people like myself, hot dogs can actually be cooked on the stove!

I have thought of two things that would be beneficial to people.  Actually, one invention would be beneficial to thousands of people - a retractable IV cord.  While I was in the hospital almost every day the nurse would come around and find me wrapped around the IV cord and unable to move!  My brain wasn't working at it's max capacity so the solution which was unwrapping myself was beyond my brain. 

I now walk with both a walker and a cane depending on my move.  Both of these devices some in black (cane) or gray for the walker.  They are necessary but frankly ugly.  I came up with an idea to decorate the cane.  My thought was to provide people with accessories for their canes.  I would call the company Patti Canes and would have some kind of stretchy (think small hair scrunchies) which then you could glue or pin some kind of jewelry to.  There was another patient in the hospital who had a cane just like mine and we were forever mixing up the two canes.  If I had a Patti Cane accessory my cane would be unique and there would be no confusion between "caners"!

My neighbor has just invited me to go out to lunch and is going to take me to the library today.  Other than getting my head "shrunk" twice this week I haven't been out of the house much so it will be good to sniff fresh air and load up my library bag with reading for the next week.

Enjoy your day and the long weekend.  We are going to pick up Benjamin tomorrow and we'll keep him overnight and he'll then spend a few days with Auntie Kim and her family.

P