Escape to the stars

Patrick — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 03:18:34 +0000

On the train today I’m thinking. I would not be surprised at all if someone like the USA government had an evacuation system to take a few select people to the moon, in case the world was going to end. Who knows? Maybe they have secretly been building a self-sustainable station on the moon, or on Mars, or just floating in space. And when that deadly virus breaks, or those nasty aliens invade our world, or that massive particle smashing tunnel creates a black-hole that starts sucking in Earth, the secret evacuation plan kicks in. Surely the USA government and others have had enough resources to secretly build such a thing. I wonder who would be the lucky unlucky people selected to take off. The president? The rich? The healthy? The smart? And how would they spend their time out there? Would they need a train? Would trains run faster? Would people be nicer to each other? Oh, that’s my stop…

The sleepy head problem

Patrick — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:37:38 +0000

On the train today, the early morning express, 30 percent of commuters were sleeping, uncomfortably.

Train time can be a good time to catch up with that sleep you missed on last night. But is it better to sleep and break your neck or to not sleep at all? The obvious answer is: It’s best to sleep comfortably. And that’s why someone should invent and sell everyday commuter accessories that will make that trip to work more comfortable.

The most common problem for sleepers on train is the dangling head.

If you sit up straight, then your head tends to lean forward and over time you’ll look like a hunchback.
If you slide down so that you can rest your head on the seat, then you’ll end up with the most sore lower back. Oh and your knees hit against the seat in front of you.
If you’re lucky to get a window seat, you lean sideways to rest against the window but you end up with a sore neck and with your head looking like it’s stuck straight on just one of your shoulders.

Sleeping on train

What if there was a portable device, let’s call it the Sleepy-Head-Support, that you could attach to the seat in front of you that would hold your head up straight even when you are sitting up straight? The device should

be adaptable enough to fit most train setups
be light and compact-able enough to carry in a work bag
affordable to the commuter
fashionable with exchangeable coloured accessories to match you outfit of the day
come with an mp3 player. Everything comes with an mp3 player these days.

How good would that be? Comfortable sleep on the train! And gone is that dangling-head problem. And gone is the waking-up-to-find-yourself-leaning-and-drooling-on-a-complete-stranger problem.

And if you decide to make a business out of this my idea, let me know. I have even better ones.

Everyday train » idea

Escape to the stars

The sleepy head problem