Great Inventions of the Western World

Every once in a while, I feel a need to recognize those inventions that make my life easier, happier and healthier. I’ve thought of a few that are listed below. But my Favorite of the Day is the newspaper tube. I have one. It’s bright day-glo yellow, and installed on the post by the front porch stairs. I cannot tell you how much I love this piece of plastic.

Every morning the delivery person (who likes to remain anonymous) puts the daily Oregonian (ensconced in a plastic bag) into the tube where I can retrieve it without bending my knees or crawling on the ground or searching through the bushes in the rain. One of the luxuries that I looked forward to in living in a metropolitan area was the joy of home delivery. In Osceola, I had to drive downtown and purchase the paper out of a machine. Reading it in the comfort of my home while in my jammies sounded pretty appealing.

However, out here in the far reaches of the county, the delivery was not on the porch like it was supposed to be. Often the paper was under or on top of the car, or around the corner out of sight, or hidden behind the trash bins. After several increasingly confrontational phone calls, the folks at the Circulation Department decided to grant me the privilege of a newspaper tube. Along with the following, it is an invention that makes my life better.

Crossword puzzles
Band-aids
Blenders
Cat litter
Coffee
Computers
Golf
Knitting needles
Paperclips
Post It Notes
Thermos bottles
Velcro
Zippers