Tuesday, February 27, 2018

PATENT APPLICATION

U.S. Patent and Copyright Office
Washington, D.C.  20001

To Whom it May Concern:

This letter represents my application for a patent and copyright for a new, innovative product. I came up with this original idea while killing rodents in my backyard today.

Some background information:

I have lived in numerous areas of these United States and, in each and every one of them, I have never seen nor experienced the effects of the rodent known as a mole (Scapanus townsendii). Here is a picture of this creature:


Here in Washington we are overrun with these miserable critters. They make numerous holes and destroy yards by the thousands. They are constant burrowers, digging as deep as 35 feet in their ever-constant search for grubs and worms to eat. You might notice that they have no eyes. Scientists say that they don't need eyes because they spend their whole lives below ground and thus, do not need them. Myself, I think that they lack eyes because they're so damned ugly - if a male and female mole saw how ugly each one was, they would never mate.

While thinking of ways to eradicate this nuisance, my mind drifted to a gift that I received as a child and still is sold to this day - The Ant Farm, pictured here:
As a kid, I treasured my Ant Farm and spent many hours watching these busy creatures working away at doing whatever ants do. This led to a lifetime of enjoying watching other people work while I sat on my ass.

Anyway, The Ant Farm made me think of something that we could do with moles that would help society observe, and thereby better understand these maligned animals. The idea is similar to The Ant Farm but on a much larger scale. My working name for this product is The Mole Farm. The product consists of two 8 x 10 foot pieces of reinforced glass with which a home owner replaces the drywall and studs in a room of their home. The space between the two panes of glass is then filled with dirt. The last part of this product is the mating pair of moles that are also sent via UPS to the homeowner once he/she has notified us that the Mole Farm is constructed in the home and filled with dirt. The two moles are introduced to the Farm via a small sliding glass door.

Then the fun begins.

Imagine the enjoyment of watching these furry critters burrowing away in The Mole Farm. As entertaining as The Ant Farm was, The Mole Farm will be a delight to all members of the family, to the exclusion of video games, TV, cell phones and Words With Friends.

We are estimating sales to at least 100 million U.S. homes which should partially eradicate moles from my backyard.

Further information about this product idea including mock-ups, artwork, advertising and product prototypes are currently in development and will be forthcoming.

Lastly, the building of our first Mole Farm prototype will be completed once I have run the idea past the wife. You will hear from me again pending her approval of the first Mole Farm in the wall of our current living room. I have no time frame on securing this approval.

In short, it may take a while.

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Readers, enjoy your day.





Wednesday, February 21, 2018

RUBIK'S CUBE

Does anyone remember the 1980's instrument of torture known as Rubik's Cube? It was invented by a Hungarian guy (guess his name!) who created a revolution in toys and games. His creation is a 3x3x3 cube with 54 individual mini-cubes in 6 different colors on its 9 faces. The trick is to scramble this 3-D puzzle and figure out a way to, well, unscramble it. This is no easy task and, to that end, numerous volumes of text have been dedicated to The Cube's solution...or I should say "solutions", as there are many.

Sometime in December of 2017, when establishing my goals for the current year, I decided that learning to solve Rubik's Cube was a noble task that I should undertake. Toward that end, I would solve The Cube by December of 2018.

Much as I learned how to properly unplug a toilet or stuff a pill down a dog's mouth, I went to that veritable fountain of knowledge known as YouTube for direction. Honestly, most of The Cube instructions on YouTube, while being deadly accurate, are done by experienced, high-speed "cubers" who rip through instructions at breakneck speed. Little do they know that their simple method is not-so-simple to the uninitiated. Thankfully there was one source of instruction which I found to be most enlightening. It was from a man named Noah Richardson who produces nicely done, well thought-out instructional Cube videos. His instructions, combined with several other sources, were instrumental in getting me through eight weeks of mental torture. At the end of that time period I was able to complete The Cube albeit with the occasional use of a cheat sheet.

The next goal was to be able to complete the entire solution without the use of supplemental aids. Said task was completed, believe it or not, in Mexico. Yes, while lying on a chaise lounge in 80 degree sunny weather, Piña Colada in hand, there I was - working by trial and lots of error through the elusive solving of The Cube. And, by some strange miracle, I had it nailed by the end of our 10-day vacation. Truthfully, there's nothing about solving The Cube that requires a degree from Cal Tech - just a lot of time, patience and many Piña Coladas.

For many cubers, the next goal after learning to complete the task is to work on improving one's time. As for me, I'm happy just to be able to finish it without a cheat sheet. And besides, what's the rush?

"José, another Piña Colada, por favor."

Readers, enjoy your day.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

CHANNEL 858

Yesterday, in my never-ending search for something wholesome, educational and stimulating, I turned on the TV. Knowing that I was looking through a veritable pile of rubbish in search of a diamond, I flipped past the weight loss channels, the botox channels, religious offerings, the Hee Haw Marathon, Kardashian TV, a ridiculous one called "Is Your Colon Happy?", and lastly, news channels of questionable virtue. Starting at channel 2 and ending up in the 800's I found nothing that would suit my immediate entertainment needs. With sore fingers due to remote control fatigue I finally came upon something that, if not appealing, was certainly unique.

There it was.

On channel 858 in the music section of the DirecTV guide.

Christmas music. Not just seasonal Christmas music, but Christmas music played 365 days of the year, 24/7.

Yes, folks, you'll be glad to know that you can tune in to DirecTV channel 858 and enjoy the madcap adventures of Frosty the Snowman in the middle of the summer. Honestly, that may not be such a bad thing. Someone living in Phoenix on July 15th peering at a thermometer reading 117 degrees may welcome the sounds of "hippity-hop-hop, hippity-hop-hop, look at Frosty go".

To that I say bravo to the good folks at DirecTV for bringing much needed cool thoughts to those in need during the sometimes brutally hot summer.

As for me, I'll skip back to another more sensible offering.

Now, what was the number of that "Hee Haw Marathon" channel?

Readers, enjoy your day.