Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Laziness is the mother of invention...

They say necessity is the mother of invention, but we really know that it is laziness.  People invent stuff so they don't have to move as much or remember as much.

Some of my all time favourite lazy-inducing items include:
  • The TV remote - this is now a necessity since most tv systems are so complicated that without a remote you really can't operate them.
  • The auto-shutoff kettle (cordless is best)
  • The cordless phone.  I'm so addicted to having a cordless phone that I will run to the other room rather than answer the one corded phone in the house!  I love how now they sell multiple phones with one transmitter so you don't have to have an outlet nearby.
  • The light sensor plug-in - who needs to remember to turn on/off the xmas lights this little plugins will switch on at dusk and stay on a set number of hours!
  • My BB -  I mean I don't even have to move to check FB or Twitter!  Of course that implies I haven't left it somewhere or something like that.
There are some that are permanently installed in the house that I am now so dependent on that if I were to move I'd absolutely HAVE to install in a new house.  Here are a few of my faves:
  • The automatic thermostat finally I don't have to even think about adjusting the temperature at night or wake up sweltering because I forgot to turn down the heat.
  • The motion sensor light switch.  This is a fairly new one to me that I just encountered for the first time in my current house where it was installed in the basement bathroom.  I loved it so much that I installed a second switch in the main bathroom so that way when my 3 year old gets up in the wee hours of the morning the light only shines into my room for 5 mins rather than me having to get up and turn it off (thus admitting that I was actually awake).  I've become so used to this that I find myself waving my arm as I enter other rooms trying to trigger the switch (which is not there).
  • The remote controlled ceiling fan.  This is very handy on a vaulted ceiling.
  • The built in vacuum cleaner.  Sadly my current house does not have one and I don't have the energy to try to retrofit the house with one (maybe some day).  I also enjoy having a kick sweep associated with a built in vacuum for sweeping all the kitchen crumbs and dog hair into.  Though I'm not sure it would be so great now that I have kids... can you even imagine what would be put in there (shudder).
Here are a few inventions that I think we need:
  • A homing signal coffee cup.  I always leave my half drank cup of coffee somewhere and then forget where and find it when it is way too cold.  Maybe it could just passively beep if it is warm and hasn't been drunk from in about 5 mins?
  • Sippy cup with homing signal would also be good especially if its filled with milk!  ewwww.
  • An automatic baby changer would also be good, but no good could come from something like that!  Can you imagine if it missed... poop could be everywhere (not to mention the safety concerns)... 

What are your favourite time-saving, laziness encouraging gadgets?

2 comments:

  1. Robot babysitter - doesn't bring boys home, doesn't eat food, and you can program them.

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  2. Awesome I bet you don't even have to pay them!

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