Going to the laundromat is never a fun experience. It is a hot and humid place, the token/change machines never work properly, and it smells like other people’s dirty clothes. The main reason we are captives of this awful environment is that our clothing is valuable (est. $200 per load), and we need to “guard” our belongings. To make matters worse, strange men hang around laundromats, and although we have arrived wearing our least attractive outfit(s), there is still that weird guy gazing at us with his perverted stare undressing us in his imagination and fulfilling his sickest fantasies. My business model would release us from this uncomfortable confinement. My hypothetical facility would have laundry machines that act as both washers and dryers. They already exist, so there is nothing to invent there. Each washer/dryer would have a credit card machine built into it. You would pay for your laundry by credit card, and when you closed the door, it would permanently lock. The only way to retrieve your load of laundry and unlock the door is by reinserting your credit card. Basically, your credit card would act like a key to access your laundry. Now you can safely leave the facility without being concerned that something will happen to your belongings. The fee system would be hourly, not per load, so if a person is delayed in retrieving their laundry, then their credit card will be continually charged until they pick it up. With that, it might be worth an extra few dollars to abandon your domestic chore(s), especially if you’re out having a good time with your friends or something. If you want to get hi-tech, the facility could accept payments with a smart phone and have a corresponding app that reminds customers when their laundry is ready to be picked up.
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Looks are everything! I ride a motorcycle 4,000+ miles a year, and I've got a kick as leather outfit that makes others think I'm a total badass motherfucker, but the truth is, I only wear it for protection. I'd wear a freakin' tutu if that was the safest way to travel.
I have no shame or pride, and because of that, I'm willing to break tradition and ride an electric motorcycle. My current bike get 50mpg, which isn't especially efficient. An electric motorcycle would allow me to use energy from a cleaner source (the power plant), and would ultimately save me money, but finding one is the real challenge. In the meantime, electric cars have become a standard purchase, and they are readily available. Here is a list of some options, albeit with outdated price points.
In the pre-internet days, I would often conceptualize a product that didn’t appear to be available on the commercial market. Without the World Wide Web, there was no way to confirm the availability of my inventions. One such item was a watering system for a Christmas tree (basically….. a funnel that leads to the water pot that the x-mass tree sits in). In recent years, I have found this items, but it is often missing a few key components. First, the “funnel” that accepts the water should look like a Christmas ornament (see picture below). Second, it should have a battery powered electronic sensor that tells you if your tree needs water, or if you’ve filled the pot to its limit. This second feature is not yet available, but maybe before the end of 21st century, we will be able to celebrate the holidays with such a convenience. Another marketing package that I came up addresses the difficulty of opening pistachio nuts. I thought that it would be genius to create a device that would open pistachio nuts without a major battle. It appears this has already been done. But the seller above is missing a key component to my invention. I also planned to convince pistachio nut distributors to include my product with each bag of nuts in circulation. My last visit to the grocery store had a bag of pistachio nuts coming in at $10 each, so to add a cheap $5 opener to the package seems like a no-brainer. Of course, you can just buy a bag of pre-cracked nuts, so maybe this one isn’t worth the legwork.
I've only seen one episode of Shark Tank, and the dopes hosting the show were oohhing and ahhing over some guy's product that allowed a person to place a top on/over a household plate, thus turning it into Tupperware. I had thought up the same invention for canned goods that seemed more realistic. Basically, if I open a canned good and I don't use the entire thing, refrigerator storage can be complicated. Most people take the item out of can and put it in a storage container. I want to leave the product in the can, and just attach a top to it. Since most canned goods are about the same size, it seems a top that fits the standard circular shape of a canned food container would be an easy design..... Unless of course you have a can of anchovies or Spam!
The real problem with my invention is BPA contamination. Remember all those BPA infused Nalgene bottles that trustafarians carried around like Rosary Invocations? A few years back, they were suddenly a health hazard, and everyone had to replace the containers that they used for carrying liquids (anything from baby bottles to hiking canteens). As far as I know, most canned goods use BPA plastic to line the inner portion of the can, so my invention might not be marketable, but for those who don't care, you might be able to make a few sales with it.
Growing up in the 1970’s, there was always an aura of carcinogenic happiness in every activity that I participated in. I spent my mornings in an asbestos contaminated school building. I used my snack time to consumed preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and food coloring; all of which have been confirmed to be known as cancer agents by the FDA. I even washed my snacks down with Star Wars glasses that I got from Burger King, which were coated with lead paint, a known cause of brain damage. Inhaling the fumes of melting plastic coming from the household oven was a great way to fill my lungs with carcinogenic fumes while also entertaining myself on a rainy afternoon. Melting my sisters Barbie dolls in the oven was not an option, so the only way to fulfill my desire to melt things was through the “legal means” of the Shrinky Dink product. In case you’re not familiar with the product, here’s how it works: 1. You draw something on a medium sized piece of plastic. 2. You put it in the oven and cook the plastic until it shrivels up. 3. The details of your drawing become more defined, ultimately making your artwork look better. The Shrinky Dink company markets their product to young girls by encouraging the user to make jewelry in the image of butterflies, hearts, and flowers. My thought is they should come out with a package especially designed to make guitar picks. Shrinky Dink plastic is a bit harder than the plastic used for a standard guitar pick, so they might need to refine the recipe (maybe even add more carcinogens!!). Anyway, here is how my Shrinky Dink guitar pick project went: Coming next on this blog:
- .73MM shaped like Jazz III (for kids). - A product for melting plastic into the shape of a guitar pick. - Scratch and Sniff guitar picks! After college, I spent a good portion of my life working full-time at various dead-end retail jobs that provided me with basically no opportunity for financial success. The dream of someday owning a home was very elusive, and saving enough money for a twenty-percent down payment was certainly an unrealistic goal, but from 1995-2005, I managed to save a substantial amount of money by cutting everyday costs (no phone/internet, eating dollar-menu fast-food items on daily basis, not purchasing health insurance, living in my vehicle, etc.). By 2005, my financial circumstances allowed me to commit to the obligations of owning a home. My application for a sub-prime mortgage was approved, and I purchased a deluxe 400sq. foot apartment in rural America for the bargain price of $80,000. At the time, the reggae/funk band that I worked with needed a place to practice, so I transformed my living room into a music studio. I lived in (and I still live in) a condominium, therefore controlling volume is important; considering that I share my walls, ceiling, and floor with my neighbors. Using a combination of DI splitters, headphone amps, electric drums, multi-track digital recorders, audio converters, and other technical accessories, I managed to “invent” a situation in which the band can hear our instruments and voices thru our headphones. A few years after assembling my “silent” practice space, a product called the “JamHub” was introduced to the market. This product achieved the same results as my set-up, albeit as an “all in one” device. As a side note, one of my pastimes is skateboarding. While I rode and listened to music the wire from my MP3 player was always bothering me, so I have since purchased a pair of headphones that have a built in MP3 player. As a bonus, this product can also receive FM signals. When the band that I’m in performs live concerts, we do it with full volume amplifiers but..... What if we performed a “silent” concert with our JamHub..... and then, what if we broadcast our signal on an FM frequency (simple enough with an FM transmitter), while also providing our audience members with headphones that receive FM signals (cheap enough as listed on Ebay)? The truth is, if our band did a publicity stunt like this, it would suck, because our group doesn’t attract very large audiences to our concerts (maybe..... one-hundred people). This approach would work much better in a large venue. I’m thinking stadium size. The music would have to compliment a genre that would be willing to embrace technical innovations, so my dream concert (in lieu of my heterosexual inclinations) would host a couple of modern day performers, such as Lady Gaga and Ke$ha, combined with a few outrageous classic pop artists such as Prince or Cyndi Lauper. Imagine a stadium full of people dancing around to music that could only be heard by those who are wearing headphones. That would be stupid cool!!
I have worked for a variety of employers, thus building a diverse resume that includes working in retail sales, construction, public school administration, furniture sales/deliveries, private tutoring, restaurant employment, and janitorial services. Most of my employers provided me with absolutely NO BENEFITS, such as paid holidays, sick days, vacation days, or dental/health insurance. Whenever I got sick, I had to either (1.) Show up to work with my illness or (2.) Call-in sick and sacrifice my earnings for the day. Considering that my hourly wage was usually about $10 an hour, I almost never earned more than $20,000 a year. After living expenses, I did not earn much “extra” money each year, so I usually chose option (1.) when I was encountered with an illness. A typical sick day would have me taking variety of medications such as cough medicine, pain relievers, and nasal sprays, to help me get thru my day of work. With these over-the-counter options, I could manage the majority of my ailments, but I never found a good solution for dealing with post-nasal drip (a.k.a. the runny nose). A product that I think would solve this issue is the “nose tampon”. Sure….. It might be more marketable if it was advertised as a “running nose stopper”, but you get the point. The item would have to be inserted into the nostril and remain there in a surreptitious fashion. A perfect design would allow the user to inhale and possibly exhale while also keeping liquid from exiting the nasal cavity. It should also be able to withstand the pressure of a sneeze. The way to currently solve this problem is to stick a tissue up your nose, which is not the best way to present yourself, while you are at work.
In the modern era of unlimited availability of consumer products, I can’t understand why “air free” tires are not regularly available at bike shops around the nation. I was sick and tired of getting flat tires on my fourteen mile round-trip commute to work on my bicycle, so I looked into some alternatives. The solid “air free” option looked like the most reliable choice, so I went for it. Since purchasing my tires, I have traveled almost two thousand miles on my road bike and had no problems….. Yay!!!!
www.airfreetires.com To this day, it completely baffles me that musical instrument supply outlets don't stock the Fretlight Guitar. I can understand why large national chains like Guitar Center and Best Buy don’t carry them. They are under contractual obligations with competing manufactures; therefore they are limited by non-compete agreements in regards to what brands they are allowed carry. What I can’t understand is why small stores don’t buy a few of these guitars on Ebay or from the manufacturer and sell them as used items, if necessary. Even if there is a low profit margin, the customers would be impressed by the functionality of the instrument, and the fact that you carry it. It might convince them to become a regular customer at your establishment in the future. This ski is sometimes called a hybrid snowshoe. It has bindings similar to what you would find on a snowboard, therefore any shoe will fit into the bindings. The bindings rock/lift like a cross country ski. Skins cover the base of the ski, so you can climb hills without taking the skis off. |
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February 2018
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