This post contains a reader poll. To make it up to you for asking for your help in planning my next project, here’s a funny story about how dumb I can be.
Last week, I had a few minutes of utter triumph.
For about five minutes, I thought I had a world-changing idea and was excitedly reviewing the list of everyone I know, planning who could help me get a prototype of my invention.
Here’s what happened.
I had called a friend from the car, and right in the middle of a crucial part of the conversation, the call got dropped.
He lives in the middle of nowhere, so it was hopeless to call him back until I was basically parked underneath a cell tower, which was an hour or so away.
Finding this frustrating, I started pondering how to solve the problem.
I found myself thinking about how much I resent my phone — I’ve already told my audiologist that my next pair of hearing aids will NOT be app-controlled, so I can stop being tethered to it — and never more than when call quality is poor or drops.
What if, I asked myself, there was a way to have really good call quality and to only be accessible by phone when I wanted to?
And that, dear readers, is how I invented….the landline.
Please Help Me Plan My Next Project
I’m trying to get my student loans paid off. Several people have suggested a GoFundMe, but I’m not willing to do that. Too many people would be generous who are struggling financially themselves, including people who aren’t data scientists. It’s my responsibility to get myself out from under this stress.
So my next project is trying to sell something for people who can afford it and might want it. A subscriber who owns professional printers has offered to give me a good price on prints of my drawings. I just need to have some idea of what might be popular so I can order enough but not too much. (Each will be numbered and limited; when they’re gone, they’re gone.)
Your responses will help me decide both which to start with and the size of the initial run. Thank you!
Each will be a high quality print of a pencil drawing using selective color (one color element). A few examples below and then the poll.
