I was showering this morning, and thought to myself, "The guy who invented the shower did a good thing!" You know, a shower is such a relaxing, efficient and civilised way of getting clean (and starting the day, for that matter), and so superior to what we had before. It made me start thinking about other civilised inventions, things we have that make our lives easier, more convenient, and just downright NICE! So, here's my (partial) list, in no particular order: The remote control The dishwasher (no fights, no soggy dishtowels) The La-z-boy The garage door opener Stereo The internet (thankyou Al) Big TVs Email
Any others??
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Toilets.
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
Toilet paper.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Tampons.
Oh boy, I'm going to get it. Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
*gives it*
Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
TiVo. Automatic transmission.
*Doesn't watch TV and drives a stick. And likes it.*
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Elevators. Drink dispensers. Velcro.
Posted by Cashew (Member # 6023) on :
Those office chairs with wheels. They make it so much easier to get to the filing cabinet.
Posted by Cashew (Member # 6023) on :
Wow, that was my 100th post. Pretty stupid post, really. Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
mp3s beds potato chips schoolboy biscuits stoves oven mits though i have none toilet paper so you don't have to use newspapers, corn cobs or your hand. Or Poison IV Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Personal audio systems (phonograph, hi-fi, walkman, CD player, mp3 player, etc) that allow me to enjoy music even when I am not in the presence of somebody performing.
Posted by CStroman (Member # 6872) on :
Indoor Plumbing.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
One invention I am not grateful for is the razor.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
eBay.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Indoor plumbing & toilet paper.
Prepared food.
Central heat/air.
The basic necessities of life all made less messy and time consuming.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
As somebody who spent several months washing all this clothes by hand with a washboard:
Washing machine
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
To quote the 2000 Year Old Man, the best invention ever--Celophane.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
quote:So, here's my (partial) list, in no particular order: The remote control The dishwasher (no fights, no soggy dishtowels) The La-z-boy The garage door opener Stereo The internet (thankyou Al) Big TVs Email
Do you realize that with that whole list, we sit on our butts and do almost nothing? No wonder we are all so out-of-shape! (unless you boogie to your stereo)
FG
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I was about to say that Porter. Powered washers, and even better powered washers that you don't have to tend while they're running, are a great thing. So are refrigerators and microwaves. Electric lighting is up there. Flush toilets are great. Hot water heaters too.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Farmgirl, maybe Cashew would consent to add Dance Dance Revolution to that list.
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
Only two things appear on my list that haven't been mentioned already:
Sweaters and the forward pass.
Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
Power tools!! Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Noemon!! ......> Pet peeve alert!!!
They ARE NOT "hot water heaters!" They don't "heat" hot water! They are just water heaters because they take regular water and heat it -- or you could say more precisely "cold water heaters"
FG
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
*laughs at FG*
My pet peeve is "ATM machine"
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
Or estimated ETA? I get many, many people who are upset when something comes in not on the day the ETA says. Uh, do you remember what ETA stands for?
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Belle, I love you!
I, too, DESPISE "ATM Machine." The other one I hate is PIN number. I worked in a bank for a summer going through old files, some of which contained correspondence. One poor soul asked the bank to change her "PIN # Number."
I was torn between hilarity and tears.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Farmgirl, you're right! I usually don't do that kind of thing (although I find it funny rather than annoying when I hear "ATM Machine" or "PIN Number". I'd just never really thought about the term "hot water heater" before. Man, that's funny!
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
That's because you're from Kansas, dear Jake. They ALL say that here!!! Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
I'm going to back Noemon up on this from a plumbing perspective. Technically, when lines are run into a water heater, they are usually already separated into "hot" and "cold" lines. So, the plumber would say it's a hot water heater because it's the hot line that is going into it. Regardless of the temp of the water inside the pipe - it would still be called hot water that was going into the heater, just by virtue of it being from the hot brancho of the water service.
Yeah, that's a weak argument, but in some shape form or fashion - hot water heater could be a correct term. Posted by Cashew (Member # 6023) on :
QUOTE (sorry, dunno how to do the quote thingy) "Do you realize that with that whole list, we sit on our butts and do almost nothing? No wonder we are all so out-of-shape! (unless you boogie to your stereo)" That's what makes them civilised!! Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Cashew, the quotes are pretty easy to do. Surround the piece of text you want to quote with UBB code so that it looks like this:
{QUOTE}Text that I'm quoting{/QUOTE}
instead of "{" style brackets, though, use these: "["
Farmgirl--cool! You've spotted a linguistic trend! I had no idea that that wasn't a common term all across the country.
Belle--Interesting point (although yeah, not the strongest argument in the world). Tell me something--in the house I just bought this past summer, both water heaters (I actually typed "hot water heater" and then had to delete the word "hot", Farmgirl) were installed new in 1985. I've noticed that when I run the hot water, the water heater makes all kinds of loud banging noises. I assume that this is from mineral deposits that have formed in the tank over the years? How much of a problem is this? Are the deposits likely to get into my pipes, lodge there, and become points of corrosion?
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
That's called water hammer, and it can have many different causes. Unfortunately there is no way to tell without someone looking at it what is causing it in your case.
Is the tank balanced properly? Use a level and check.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I'll do that.
::adds level to the list of tools to buy, now that he owns a place::
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Quark XPress and electronic publication design.
Posted by Cashew (Member # 6023) on :
text messaging
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
The railroad. The telephone. The cellular phone.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
The faster than light drive.
Oh wait, wrong century. ::taps time travel chronometer in an irritated fashion:: damn thing! Daylight savings time always screws up the display.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Instant Messaging programs (or does that count under Cashew's text messaging?)
One of my coworkers managed to get his hands on a Robosapien for $30 at Best Buy over his lunch hour, and we've been playing with it almost the the exclusion of doing anything else all afternoon. Cool little toy--I'm really resisting the urge to take it apart. Man I'd like to have the ability to build one of those.
Posted by Cashew (Member # 6023) on :
MSN, so I can chat with my son or daughter in the US in real time whenever we are online at the same time (which with the 6 hour time difference at the moment isn't often). It's great!
Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
ssh, bash, screen, to name a few.
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
beer
Posted by cochick (Member # 6167) on :
Eye glasses - I'd be lost without them (literally)
& Chocolate (of course)
Posted by cochick (Member # 6167) on :
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I get many, many people who are upset when something comes in not on the day the ETA says. Uh, do you remember what ETA stands for?
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