aquanotes

What about a waterproof voice recorder? One thing that may work is an Olympus classroom note taking recorder in a heavy ziploc bag.

Possibility (suggested by Rufus the AMZN AI robot, but not tested by me):

OM SYSTEM Olympus WS-882 Digital Voice Recorder - has big buttons that should be operable through the bag film.

I have a smaller Sony recorder that I'll try, but it may be awkward to operate through bag film.

Joe

I drape the towel over the shower door (out the main splash zone), so if I had some highly perishable brainstorm it would be pretty easy to dry off my hand and pick my phone up off the adjacent sink.

But I don’t spend extra long in the shower.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Pencil on a sheet of laminate?

I need to scribble diagrams too.

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

That's what an 80 gallon water heater is for.

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

Grease pen on glass wall?

Space pen on baking parchment paper?

Tattoo pen on back of hand?

Joe

What are these mfers doing in the shower so long they have the time to have ideas and want to diagram them in there too?

Nevermind. I don't think I want to know.

It doesn't take long to have ideas. Try it some time.

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

Indeed, if their brain cannot remember what it did in the shower then it is not working right anyways ... For those, use a voice recorder : 'Hey I think I can see a solder joint' sort of thing. May or may not help grin

Your precedent has them all the time better not store or use those!!!

I have ideas in the middle of the night too, and tend to forget them. I keep a pad and pen on my table and write down the best ones. Some are diagrams so don't document well as voice recordings.

The conscious part of a human brain is a fraction of what's going on.

The ideas-in-the-shower thing is a common effect. Google it.

I know people, even engineers, who have no ideas. I have too many, so the problem is to identify the best ones to act on.

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

I presume it is an overpriced diver's slate. eg

I did that once but, the next morning, I could not make sense of the drawing, which appeared to be the floor plan of a house. Eventually I held it up to the mirror and recognised it as the floor plan of a friend's flat. I had been worrying about some aspects of her life and this revealed what my real worry had been. The next day I was asked by someone else who knew her well if I had considered that she might be in trouble, as they had come to a conclusion that was the same as my 'dream'.

After that, whenever I found my dreams didn't make sense, I tried left-right reversing the situation and then it usually fell into place. I dream in mirror image.

That's interesting. Are you left-handed?

Sometimes I envision signal flow left to right, and sometimes the other way. But current always flows down.

It's dangerous to flip an opamp to put V+ on top, because that flips the inputs too.

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

Yes.

(According to my mother I was also a 'breech birth', which explains why my nose runs and my feet smell :-) )

I found working on a PCB circuit layout on the 'wrong' side of tracing paper for a week was no problem at all (inchuding the lettering) but I found it agonising to have to return to working the 'right way around' the following week

You learn something every day. In the US, searching AMZN for a "diver's slate" brings up multiple offerings for something like ten dollars. So by two, for bigger ideas?. And people do mention use in the shower.

Joe

Oh I had that, turned into a huge project, posted about that back then here 'IIRC" LOL. But 'like a solution' no need for detailed drawings in a shower!! Drawing and experimental testing later at work. No El Tea Spices either. This I found interesting this morning: From:

And now: A common parasite in the brain is far more active than we thought A parasite carried by billions isn’t dormant at all—it’s running a secret survival operation inside the brain. Date: January 27, 2026 Source: University of California - Riverside Summary: A common parasite long thought to lie dormant is actually much more active and complex. Researchers found that Toxoplasma gondii cysts contain multiple parasite subtypes, not just one sleeping form. Some are primed to reactivate and cause disease, which helps explain why infections are so hard to treat. The discovery could reshape efforts to develop drugs that finally eliminate the parasite for good. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have discovered that Toxoplasma gondii, a widespread parasite estimated to infect up to one-third of the world's population, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ is far more intricate than scientists once believed. Link:

Sure, and experiment, not just dream.

I have a pocketbook aqua2, waterproof (to a point) and it has a touch screen Never tried a drawing app on it Bought it for use on a sailboat. Have no boat atm so it just sits on the table... You may like this: Dark stars could solve three major mysteries of the early universe Dark matter–powered stars may be the missing link behind JWST’s strangest and most exciting cosmic discoveries:

I generally need only a word or two to trigger my memory.

I think I have an equivalent having tyveck pages in a bound book, for surveyors, used with a Parker Space Pen. Which I never used, and now cannot find.

So I'll keep the dive slate handy, and see if it ever is needed. The batteries last forever.

My usual pattern these days is that I awaken with ideas, so grab pen and paper then.

Joe