Tell Hetrick

Back in the day, when time-on-hand outweighed kids-in-house, my husband started an idea book. He’s an engineer, and he filled the spiral-bound ledger with drawings and inventions that would some day make us a million dollars. I even offered a few ideas myself.

I opened it the other day and was startled to see we stopped thinking creatively several years ago (see above time/kid reference). But what we wrote when we had the energy was quite good.

Before I share, a caveat: someone else may have already invented these, but my voluminous research (okay, quick Google search) didn’t turn up anything, so we’ll claim credit.

A sampling from our book:

• Solar-powered bridge warmer to eliminate ice build-up in winter

• Microscopic transmitter to locate important items (jewelry, remote controls)

• Desktop torchiere (one of those lamps that shoot light straight up)

• Toddler utensils that change color with the temperature of the food

• Drive-thru bagel shop (that was mine!)

• Genius but still secret idea for point-of-sale at a supermarket (if you work for Marsh, Kroger or Whole Foods, contact me immediately—I’m about to save your business!)

Someday, when the kids are older, we’ll dust off the idea book. For now, I view it as a relic of a quieter, saner time.

What’s your million-dollar idea? And what’s keeping you from executing it?