The Greatest Inventions

I am incredibly fickle. Every other minute, something is my new favorite whatever- songs, for instance, or shoes, books, movies, etc. There are a few things, though, that are simply my absolute favorites, and I while I may have several in the same category, I never really stop loving them.

My favorite inventions (in no particular order) are:

Programmable coffee makers. Whoever thought of this is simply genius. Anyone who is even remotely like me can agree that this invention is sheer brilliance. The fact that you can rise from slumber to the sweet smell of the life affirming nectar in the morning and have the liquid reason for living already hot and just waiting, ready to be poured is enough to make me not want to rip someone's head off first thing.

Caller ID. I'm not a phone person, which surprises many people, given that I use on average three hundred times more words than most people to say exactly the same thing. Succinctness is simply not my style. However, talking on the phone lost its luster right around the time I graduated from high school and started paying the bill myself. Actually, I went without a phone for a few years and saw just how superfluous it was. I now rarely answer my phone, a fact that drives my father bonkers, but do always check the caller ID. Riding on caller ID's coattails in my favorite's list is the ability to assign specific ringtones to each caller. I love this ability simply because they are so customizable that my brother can have a favorite childhood song, and my father gets a song we always sing together. I know now who is calling me without even having to look at the phone, and not only is my laziness quotient as high as my talkative quotient, but hearing their specific songs makes me sweetly nostalgic or causes me to laugh at the absurd inside joke.

Food on a stick. I think we covered that I am lazy. I also dislike cooking. The thing I am best at making is reservations, but I do really enjoy food on a stick. Popsicles come to mind of course, but there are so many others- corndogs, cheesecake, pizza, caramel apples, whatever it is, it just seems better if you shove a stick through it and wrap some type of batter, bread, candy, nuts, or chocolate around it.

Wireless fencing for dogs. I love that my dogs are safe and I didn't have to dig a trench for an underground fence or put up an actual fence to ensure their safety. Some inventions are really necessary, others are just for convenience, and some are a little of both. Certainly people had dogs long before this ever came about, but I rest easy knowing my dogs are both happy and safe, and wouldn't ever go without the wireless system.

Satellite radio. I was given a satellite radio as a Christmas gift, and I really don't know how I survived pre-xm. I have always loved music, and my taste has always been pretty eclectic. It was frustrating during my commute to have to switch fm stations four times due to static issues, and there were a very limited number of stations that would come in at all in this area, all of them playing the same types of music. I will never have that problem again, and since I have the hookup for both my house and car, I almost don't need tv anymore. Almost.