Challenge Croquet

A game that I like to set up in the yard when we are having a gathering is Challenge Croquet. You remember croquet, right? You hit a ball around with large wooden mallets, shooting them through metal hoops (called wickets) and hitting other people's balls out of the way (called a roquet). Well, Challenge Croquet is my personal variation on the game.

You may be familiar with one of the most popular variations, known as "Poison." In this version, once you have traversed the entire set of wickets, and hit the wooden post back at the beginning, your ball becomes poison. This means that any ball you touch is out of the game. So while the other players are trying to get through all the wickets, you are chasing them around, trying to kill them. Fun huh? Except, if you ball touches a wicket, you are dead and out of the game.

But on to Challenge Croquet. This is sort of like a cross between croquet and miniature golf. So you set up the croquet set the normal way, and play the same, except that there are obstacles in the way. For example, put a large rock in front of one of the wickets. (Not too close, give people room to actually get through - about 8-12 inches is pretty good). I have a large, de-pressurized fire extinguisher I use in this way. You can even name the wickets if you want, "Where's the Fire? for example.

Use your imagination. Some of the wicket obstacles I use:

I hang a tennis racquet on a loop of pipe hammered into the ground so that the racquet is not quite touching the ground and is free to swing. When someone is going to try for that wicket, you set the racquet to swinging. In this case, the racquet is so close that you can't get past if it is in front of the wicket - timing is everything

The fire extinguisher mentioned above.

Large rocks and logs.

A four-inch drainage pipe "Y" staked down so it won't move. In this case, I put about 10 inches of pipe in the single outlet and place it in the wicket. You can only go through by going through the pipe, and only from two very specific angles.

A milk crate.

Use the local landscape: I usually try to place one of the wickets very close to a tree.

You could build purely decorative adornments if you like, perhaps give your set a theme: circus, space, super hero, whatever. Remember to keep it age-appropriate - don't make a wicket too difficult if you are playing with younger children.

Use your imagination - send me pictures.

So there you have it - Challenge Croquet, another great idea from the mind of Dave. Have fun, we enjoy it every time we play.

Fire Starters

Well, I hope you all are having a good summer. Our vacation every year is spent camping in the woods of Maine. One of the highlights of camping is the evening campfire. I'm not out to prove my manhood by rubbing sticks together or any other difficult "manly" method of starting a fire. I rely on my own version of a "fire-starter." I make them up in batches that last years. It's simple. All you need is:

• small paper cups (bathroom size)
• coarse wood shavings (I use chain saw shavings, but I suppose the stuff you buy in pet stores to line your gerbil cage would work).
• melted wax (paraffin from the store or just old candles).

Here is the process:

1. Melt the wax. CAUTION: NEVER melt wax directly over a stove or hotplate. The wax can overheat and cause a flash fire. Instead, use a double-boiler. This is a set of pans that fit together - one on top of the other. You put water in the bottom one, and the top one is heated by the steam. This is more than enough heat to melt wax, and insures that the wax never gets above the boiling point of water (212 Deg.F) which is below the wax's autoignition temperature (the temp. at which it bursts into flames).
   
2. Fill each cup with wood shavings (You might as well do this while the Wax is melting).
3. Carefully pour wax into the cups. You don't need to fill the cup completely (as evidenced by a pool of melted wax on the top of the cup). It is sufficient to pour in just enough to bind all the wood together. You will see through trial and error about how much this is, but I've found it to be about half a cup's worth (You can sort of see the wax level as it starts to melt the wax on the cup itself. CAUTION: The wax is HOT!
   
4. Let cool.

To Use:

1. Lay the cup on it's side in the fire pit (fireplace).
2. Build wood pile above it, leaving access to the cup for lighting.
   
3. Light the paper side of the cup. My fire-starters burn for about 15-20 minutes. More than enough to get any fire started.
   
4. Watch the fire build in intensity - with no other intervention from you.

And there you have it. The Astolfi Fire-Starter. Most camp stores sell some variation of this, but I like to make my own. Happy camping!

Damaged Bolt Remover

I'll be the first to admit - I'm not the only one with good ideas. A few weeks ago I discovered one from the Sears Tool Dept.
I was working on one of my cars, and came across a bolt that was pretty rusty and didn't want to come out. The head became rounded, and it was in such a spot that I really couldn't fit vice-grips on it. What to do? Then, I remembered that my son and his wife had given me a set of "Damaged Bolt Removers" from Sears a few years ago. I'd never used them. But I decided to give it a try.
They look like a funny-looking socket: instead of the 6 or 12-sided hole, there is a fluted, spiral-shaped hole. I found the one that fit snuggly onto the bolt in question, and . . . it came right out! The shape of the hole is such that as you try to unscrew it, the socket grabs tighter onto the bolt. It was VERY cool!
This is the sort of tool that will sit in your toolbox for long periods of time, but when you need it . . . it's exactly what you need. Thank you Sears! Go to their website, take a look. This is a really cool tool.

The Ultimate Answering Machine

I agree with "Dear Abbey." My telephone is for my convenience, not for those who wish to sell me something. Telephone answering machines are pretty old technology. Oh, sure, they feature digital recording, but basically, all they do is record a message from whoever wants to leave a message. Caller ID can help you screen calls, as can an answering machine ( I know someone who never picks up his phone, but waits to hear the start of the message to see if it's someone he wants to speak with. )

We can do better.

How about, instead of an answering machine, we could buy a "call management system?" Here's how it could work:
Utilizing caller ID, the system would allow you to sort your callers into categories:

1) I want to talk with you.
2) I might want to talk with you.
3) I don't want to talk with you.

Initially, all callers would be in category 2 - I might. But once you tell the machine to put it in another category (with one button, of course), the next call would be treated differently. And it would remember (perhaps even on a removable memory card).

If someone you want to talk with calls, the phone will ring, and an answer could be left if you are unavailable.

If someone you don't want to talk to calls, the phone doesn't even ring! They hear a message, "Dave is not taking your call right now." or whatever.

Why can't a machine do the call screening? We have the technology. We just need to put it together. Maybe someone has, but I'm not yet aware of it.

Inventors - have at it!

Twinkies Roasted Over a Campfire

OK. A post about ideas on an idea blog is not very fresh. So here's a real idea.

A couple of years ago, I discovered that Twinkies* roasted over a campfire are really, really good! You just put them on a stick like you would a hotdog or marshmallow and roast until brown (not burned). The outside is crunchy and sweet - the sugar caramelizes, and the creme filling melts and oozes into the cake. If you have a sweet tooth, give this a try.

* Hostess Twinkie is a Trademark of Interstate Bakeries Corporation

The Big Idea

So what's the idea? After all, this blog is called, "Dave's Idea Page." So here it is. I am always thinking up ideas. At first, I was going to do some of them (for example, I have three or four books I want to write). But I'm very busy. I realized a couple of years ago that I'm probably not going to implement most of these ideas. So ...
I thought it would be a good idea to write a book with my ideas in it. A few months ago, I realized I'm probably not going to get around to writing that book (the idea book). So ...
I thought maybe I could start an idea page on the web. Add an idea a week. It's not as imposing as a book. Some, or maybe even one of my ideas might be interesting to someone.
And this is really the point. It's not that I'm some sort of egomaniac who needs attention. It's just, that I think up stuff. I'm probably not going to use the ideas (most of them). So ...
If you find anything here interesting. Have at it. Understand, (get ready for fine print) that I have no idea if these are new ideas. If you want to try and make money using one of my ideas, go ahead. I give you full permission. But ...
Check to make sure it's not patented or whatever by someone else.

Diversion: Unless otherwise noted, I believe these ideas to be original, that is, I thought them up rather than copying them from someone. Now, it's quite possible that someone else has thought up many of them already. I still thought them up, so they are original. But they may not be new or unique. Example: Back in the early days of computer mice, when people started developing repetitive stress injuries from using the mouse. I thought, "It's the pushing of the mouse button in combination with moving the mouse that's really the problem. What if you could 'steer' the mouse with your hand and use a foot pedal to 'click.'" So I did a patent search. Wouldn't you know someone had patented that exact idea a good 10-15 years earlier. Bummer.
It was an original idea, but not new or unique.

So ... These will be my ideas, but they may not be unique. Do you homework if you want to pursue one.

So that's what the idea page is about. Welcome to my mind.