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Frustrated Inventor

December 8, 2008
posted by Andy | View Comments

tub.pngIt seems like I am always telling my wife and friends about crazy ideas I have for  an invention and then a year later, I see something that resembles my idea.  Part of me feels like an idiot for not acting on it and the other part feels like those people probably had it before me and it took years to bring to life.

Most recent, it was the “CODE BLUE” Coors Light program where the mountains on the bottle turn blue when the beer is cold.  I remember talking about some sort of temperature gauge on the side of a can or bottle of beer similar to the strips on the side of batteries that tell you how much life is left in the battery.
So before another idea slips away, I want to share some of the things in my head at the risk of sounding like an idiot, and encourage you to share some ideas of your own.

hand.png#1 – Wetnaps for Cheetos
I loved Cheetos as a kid and would eat them more now during the day, but the orange food coloring gets all over my hands and clothes.  If they put a little wet nap in each bag, I would eat them with confidence.

#2 – Curb Side Grocery Service
Going to the grocery store is a dreaded task for most people.  Men dread it because they don’t know where anything is and can never find the exact brand that their wife wants, and moms must drag young children through the store strategically avoiding the balloons, candy, and other items that incite tantrums and dreaded pubic disciplining situations.

So, what if the grocery store allowed us to keep our preferences on-line of what we purchase the most and we can make our order on-line that morning and schedule a time to pick it up that day? We could even put notes on our produce order as to degree of ripeness for our bananas.  The grocery store could also source recipes from the types of foods we buy to give us creative meal selections and expose us to new items.  Then when my wife is wiped out at the end of the day and has the kids with her, she can pull up and have them load the car up without missing a minute of Oprah on XM. Or she can put an order in and I can grab it on the way home without the anxiety of buying Cream of Chicken Soup instead of Chicken Broth.

I am sure people would pay a percentage, flat fee, or purchase a minimum dollar amount for the service.

You guys have any things that you think would make your lives easier?

-Andy

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This entry was posted on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 10:57 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Barbara

    What about Ballet parking? Andy, this was the best idea ever, and I haven’t seen it yet.

  • http://Sixthman.net mike

    I have this idea for a restaurant where you can bake your own pizza pie

  • steph

    At least 2 of the supermarket chains in New England have services where you order your groceries online and they’ll deliver them to you’re house.

    It does store previous purchases, as well as things you in-store purchases you make using your savings card.

  • http://www.sixthman.net Andy

    Well we are moving.

  • http://sixthman.net Nora

    Sorry to tell ya, but they do already have this. It’s called Pea Pod. I used to work for them in chicago when I was in high school. I was a “personal shopper.”

  • Cathy

    I’d like to see aluminum foil bags. You can only wrap up three or four rolls with a typical sheet of foil. Much easier to throw them in a bag and you could heat 5 or 6 at a time. What you don’t use could be saved, in the same bag and reheated for another time.

  • http://www.sixthman.net Steve

    I had this idea for a Jump to Conclusions mat. It’s a mat…with different “conclusions” on it…that you can “jump” to.

    On a more serious note. I often come up with ideas, spend all day writing about it, and then do some research and find a news story about the “FIRST ONE EVER” that just opened weeks earlier.

    It’s depressing, and yet reassuring as well. I have good ideas, they just happen to come a few weeks/months too late. Just keep thinking, right?

    I have a new idea that I know will make somebody millions of dollars, so I can’t give that one away quite yet. Once it inevitably ends up on Donny Deutch’s “Big Idea” show…I’ll print up the business summary I wrote and cry myself to sleep.

    -Steve

  • marni

    I swear I invented the “purple” colored sunscreen for kids (so you know you’ve got them covered) years before it hit the market. It wasn’t a hit though, it left kind of a blue unhealthy tinge on their skin.
    I would like clothes that fold themselves and then march down the hall and jump in their dresser drawer.

  • Stephanie

    Peapod is Giant’s grocery delivery service. Shoppers has one too, and probably a few other stores. I feel like Publix might have tried a variation on the “personal shopper” or delivered groceries idea and it was too costly.

    However, if they already package your groceries for delivery, curbside pick-up should be easy to accommodate IMO. Then you could save the $10 delivery fee!

  • Paula

    We have Peapod in NJ also – but certain Shoprite locations also have the pick up service. You order everything online, pay $10 extra and pull your car up into a parking space in front of shoprite where they will load the groceries into your car. We also have “curbside pickup” at restaurants where they will bring your to go order to the car.

  • Marty

    Not only is the Cheetos wetnap a great idea, something to clean the orange goo out of the teeth when you can’t brush would be nice, especially if you are going to eat them right before you get your teeth cleaned ;) .

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