Things That Should Slip...

... And Those That Shouldn't!

For the latter, how about shoelaces? My nice wife just bought me a new pair of shoelaces to replace my broken ones. But the darn things won't stay tied. Why is that? Why on earth don't they make the skinny, dress-shoe shoelaces with some kind of friction so they actually stay tied?

Ok, for things that should... how about hoses and extension cords? When you try to pull them out over a distance, they inevitably get tangled up on top of themselves. Wouldn't it be easier if they didn't grip so well on the surface? I bet they'd get less tangled up and create knots less often. Maybe there's some good reason for it that I don't understand...

Crutches!

Not long ago, I was in a car accident (someone hydroplaned, lost control and hit me head-on). Thankfully, it looks like I'll be ok, but I've spent a fair amount of time on crutches (had to get ankle surgery).

So, this gave me a couple of ideas ;-)

One is... you know how you lean your crutches on counters and stuff? I know, you should put them in a corner or something, but sometimes you're in a hurry - maybe you're in the kitchen and just want to lean them against the counter so you can turn around and make a piece of toast.

Of course... they slide off and fall down. Why not put those grippy-type things - some kind of rough surface - on the crutches? I don't see any reason why they have to be just a smooth metal. Then, when you lean them on things, they wouldn't slide. Cool, eh? Of course, there's probably some product I could just stick on there myself. But wouldn't it be nice if crutches just came that way?

One more idea... it's tough when it rains and you've got to move outside - to the car, into the store (after your wife drives you there), etc. I grabbed an umbrella once and then realized that I had no hand to hold the darn thing. What good is it!? Lol. I felt a little silly with that one.

So why not create a hands-free umbrella? Something that could strap to your back, maybe. It seems something like that could work...

Another Beachy Idea

Going back to my beach trip...

another thought I had was this: being a guy, I hate putting on sun tan lotion. All the hair and so forth - well, I'll spare you the gory details, it's just not pretty.

I like the spray on stuff, but it still takes time. But it leads to an even better idea.

What if there was a spray-on booth, so that as you walked to the beach, you could just walk through it and it would spray you head-to-toe with the SPF of your choice? Wouldn't that be cool? And you could run back through after a couple of hours to re-dose yourself.

I think I would pay for that. ;-)

Giant Sombreros

We went to the beach recently. And of course that gave me a couple of Goofy Ideas. This is the first.

I noticed the lifeguard getting on people because their umbrellas were closer to the water than the guard tower, and I'm guessing they don't want you to do that because then it's hard for them to see what's going on in the water, if someone's in trouble or whatever. Of course, I can respect that.

However, what if you want to play with your little one down by the water, but keep them out of the sun?

So I thought - what if you had a really big hat - I mean a really big one. Like a giant sombrero, that could expand out to like 3 feet in radius, lol. Assuming you were sitting, it wouldn't block the lifeguard's view, and you could provide plenty of shade.

Then you have to wonder - would the lifeguards start getting on people for having too big of hats? What would the allowable size limit be? Maybe it's only a problem if you're standing up? Could the hat expand and contract according to proximity to the ground?

Shaving

Ok, so shaving is one of those things that just takes up too much time. I don't really like electric razors - they rub my skin raw. I just use a razor in the shower - a Mach 5,732 (or whatever the latest number is).

Here's what I want - some sort of mold that fits to your particular face. The maybe a series of miniature lasers come out and zap! Smooth shave in under 5 seconds.

Of course, the downside is if they aren't calibrated right, you may have just prepped yourself for plastic surgery...

A more comfortable bicycle

Ok, so I have a bad back. Bending over on my bicycle gets uncomfortable. One has to ask, why should such a fun activity cause me discomfort?

I wish I could push a button and my handlebars would extend up somehow so I could sit almost upright. Then when I want to go fast, push another button and they go back to racing position.

And here's a crazy idea - someone invent a comfortable seat. I'm trying the 'latest thing' out on my old bike now, we'll see if it's any good or not when I get it back from the bike shop.

First Goofy Idea

Ok, so I'm never going to do anything to make money on my ideas... so I figured, why not share them. If somebody wants to run with any of my ideas, feel free! And if someone wants to share an interesting idea of their own here (product related), feel free as well.

So first attempt here...

I had an idea for a chair built into your pants. So, you're like out at the mall, and your wife / signficant other is taking a long time shopping in the same area. And you're getting tired.

Why not just sit down, so you can wait patiently? No chair handy?

Well what if pants had a chair built right into them. I don't know how the mechanism might work - pieces of metal that join together and stiffen at the joints to form a chair? Inflatables built into the lining?

Anyway, you push the button or whatever and whamo! Your pants are now a chair, and you're resting comfortably. When you need to move again, you press the button and shazaam! - you have regular pants again.

Goofy, I know.