Inventions that I love

This may sound silly, but I may be in love with my front-loading washer/dryer.  Actually, I think it was love at first sight. 

I’m the kind of gal who believes in hanging onto things.  If it ain’t broke, keep using it is the motto that I live by.  My PC was at least a decade old before it finally gave up and I was forced to purchase a new one.

 

So I endured a 15-year-old top loading washing machine for no other reason than because it still came on week after week.  Whether it actually cleaned my clothes is another matter.  Not to mention that the last time I unwrapped a wad of clothing from the agitator, I’m not sure that all of my garments survived the untangling.  It was often an orgy of doom in there. 

This ended, however, when on a visit to my Dad’s place outside of Toronto, I needed to do some laundry in his fancy top-of-the-line front loader.  Very little water usage, barely any detergent required, whisper quiet and the clothes were practically dry when they emerged unscathed an hour later. I was sold.

As soon as I returned home, the search began and having had my “new” machines for almost a year now, I can honestly say…I’m not sure why I waited so long.  Not only am I energy efficient and clean as a whistle, my laundry room has never looked better.  I can now get almost all of my precious belongings into one load!  So quiet, we removed the laundry room door as my washing machine no longer exudes the decibel level of the space shuttle taking off while spinning.

Seeing that it doesn’t take much to make me happy, here are a few of my all time favourite inventions.  Easy to take for granted, these items just make life easier. My gratitude to the team of geniuses who made them possible and brought them to the marketplace.  Time well spent my friends, time well spent.

The humble Post-it note.  The efficiency of this is what I love.  Small, portable and available in an array of fashionable colours, I can’t be without them either at work or at home.  They’re like the Twitter of the written word.  Be they a modern man’s love note or a great memory jogger; small is beautiful.

I’m also extremely grateful to the designer who believed that upon entering my Ford Fiesta, a little light should come on to illuminate the ignition and then have that same spotlight turn off immediately afterwards.  Brilliant! Literally.

My Acer notebook computer.  When my monster sized PC gave up, I decided not to spend $1,400 on a new system ever again.  Not when I saw my notebook computer on the Home Shopping Channel of all things, for a mere $400.  Can you believe that I actually dialed the phone to the Home Shopping Channel?  When I finally got my hands on the smallest thing that I can actually see and type on, I was in my glory. It’s the portability that I love AND the fact that it can fit in my purse without giving me a hernia.  Oddly, fitting the PC into my purse didn’t seem practical.  Not with all those cords hanging out. 

My PVR.  Finally, I can record a show on TV at the push of a button.  Two pushes record an entire series.  The only thing left to add to this magnificent invention is the ability to electronically send the recorded shows elsewhere…like to my YouTube account.  Do you remember what we had to do in the past to record a program?  Enter in 10 digit codes from the TV guide?  I know what you’re thinking…. what the hell’s a TV guide?  In the very early days of $600 VCR’s, you couldn’t even record two programs at once.  Imagine! 

I think the test for new technology should be this: if either a 3 year old or an 80 year old can make it work, then it passes. If not, it’s back to the drawing board.

Next time, inventions that should be thrown off a cliff, were it not for the litter.

What’s your favourite, all time invention? The thing that makes your heart sing every time you use it?