Mr. Saver and were snowed in all of Wednesday, thanks to the Nor’easter that pummeled the lovely state of New Jersey (and a swath of the Northeast from Washington, D.C. to Boston). It’s brought us a pretty good amount of snow — over 12 inches — which I think is the worst since the crazy 3 feet of snow we got back in 1996.
And the cabin fever has led my mind to wander a lot more than usual. I’ve spent a lot of the day wishing for things that don’t exist — things I’d like to see invented.
Notice I didn’t say things I’D like to invent. I’m just not that clever!
A way for plows to clear the streets of snow without it coming back into your driveway. This is probably one that would have millions of suburbanites in the colder climates cheering. It’s been a while since we’ve had this much snow, and it’s our first major snowstorm in our new home, with our own driveway. It’s maddening, let me tell you.
A cat litter box that keeps all of the litter inside of it. I haven’t been able to solve this problem. While I know there are self-cleaning litter boxes and trays designed to keep the litter from being tracked out of the box, it doesn’t stop cats from shaking the darned stuff all over the office floor. We haven’t been able to find an unobtrusive place for the litter box other than the office in our home. The basement would require us to keep the basement door open, allowing drafts to come up — and I’m pretty sure we’d never remember to keep the door open, anyway.
A way to make computers last longer. This Compaq desktop I’m typing on now is on its last legs, as evidenced by my attempt to work from home yesterday morning. Besides the connectivity issues many of us were having, it took a good 25 minutes to boot up and get a browser open. Unreal. A nearly $1,000 computer lasted 6 1/2 years. It looks like I will have to spend some money on a replacement sooner than anticipated — I had wanted to wait until our tax refund came in, but I don’t think this thing is going to last 5-6 more weeks (the tax return, although finished, that I have yet to mail).
These are just a few of my own ideas. Feel free to chime in with your own thoughts in the comments section.
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Japan uses tiny sprinklers in the street for snow. It doesn't get below 30 usually so it never freezes. Keeps the roads clean and it doesn't screw up your driveway.
Austin @ Foreigner's Finances
I agree with your ideas! I cannot stand to have my driveway blocked in when the city clears the streets! Also every time you look at the litter box 'whiskers' keeps spilling contents out of it!! Hurry up and pitch the idea to Anthony Sullivan
I like all of these! I think that it would be great if something could be invented that could clean your house for you. 🙂
My invention is very simple. A pitless cherry – like a Bing cherry, not a Maraschino. If they can start children in a pitre dish and can clone sheep, I'd like a scientist to make me a pitless cherry =)
@Jessie: Saw a lot of people this morning clearing out their driveway ramps (again).
@Casey: I can't bring myself to buy a Mac — too expensive for my tastes. And really, I don't know how bits of litter get scattered so widely across the house.
@Georginia: That's is an excellent idea! Although I'm afraid that my older cat might tumble down the stairs if he had to jump through a cat door — the stairs start right past the door. But I definitely think it's worth a shot. I will be asking you more about it!
@The Zoo: In homes past, I used to keep the litter in an out of the way closer or a bathroom, but our bathroom is just too small for that. There's enough stinkiness in there as it is, lol.
@Revanche: Yes, we need one of those desks. Shall we co-design one?
What about a cat door? We have them on 2 doors, the door to upstairs and the laundry room where the litter box is. They were easy to install after some minor cutting, and the cats were easily trained to use them. Allows you to keep the door closed but they can get down to the litterbox. And they are pretty efficient for blocking drafts.
i keep the kitty litter box in my bathroom, since its where I do my business and its close enough to constantly check to see if it needs cleaning. I sweep the room once a day at least. I have a cat that likes to hurl clean litter out all over the floor.
And our desk! Don't forget about our space-age space-saver desk!
YES PLZ to all those ideas (although my last Mac hung in there for NINE years, which made it the Brooke Astor of computers). How the heck do the cats manage to track the litter into every crevice?
here-here to the plow idea!