Inventions in Need of An Inventor

Yesterday, we lost power, which meant no lights, no fans, no air conditioner....and no internet.

So, as I sat in the dark holding my daughter, I began to think about how it was still 85*F and 80% humidity outside and I started thinking about what we were going to do if the power didn't come back soon.

The frig and freezer were ok for a bit because we hadn't opened them recently.

But with multiple asthmatics in the house, the humidity was going to be a problem soon.  I thought about moving everyone down into the car and running the air (and then about how the garage door is powered, so we'd have to use the emergency override...I was glad that I didn't have an electric car, though)...

...and then it hit me:

Why don't we have simple converters for our carx to use them as generators for some of the basic appliances in the house?

Like a fan or the frig...

Makes you think, doesn't it?  I mean, if you bought a power generator, it's pretty much just a gas-powered engine.  So, why can't we use our car engines?

With the growing number of people using more and more electricity in their homes, these outages are bound to continue. A simple converter would be a GREAT invention.  It might even encourage people to stick with gas-powered engines.

So, there's invention #1 that needs an owner- volunteers?

Invention #2 is more of small electronics or optics gadget, I think:  a heads-up display for reading to your kids .  Just before the lights went off I was reading to my growing daughter and thinking how much more of a cramp I'm getting in my neck now that's she's taller and we're playing the "down in front" dance while I'm trying to read and she's trying to look at the pictures.  So, I began thinking of my years in science labs where the teacher would be demonstrating on the table, but there were two big mirrors over the table to give the class a heads-up display where they could watch the demonstration without fighting for a front-row seat (which never happens in college, anyway).

So, why couldn't there be something similar on the small scale?  It would need to be very light and portable- perhaps attach to the book like a Book light or perhaps to your wrist.  It would need to show the page in some sort of heads-up type display so that you don't need to crane your neck when reading, but you could see see when your kid points to something that they like.  I know it's a great candidate for something holographic....but I don't know if that's really marketable yet.

There you go.  Two great inventions- let me know when someone makes them!