Dover’s Dreams Continue
When I began my latest blog, Dover’s Dreams….And Yours, I hoped that it would resonate with my readers, and it truly has. So many people have responded, especially to my Dream of finding Gary Johnson a new pony, but also with their own wonderful wishes for themselves and others.
I honestly had some very big personal dreams when I thought I was going to be able to retire with the money owed to me by Joe Zada. I still have them as future goals but first I will have to try and make back all that money.
One of my Dreams is to, along with Robert, work with organizations to fund the building of schools, libraries, and wells in Africa and other third world countries. So many people are truly desperate and I hope someday to at least make a tiny dent in the problem. But, since horses are what I know, it will require that I work hard to recoup the funds necessary to be able to make these and other dreams come true.
In the meantime, I thought I might put one more dream out there into the universe and see how it flies.
When you live in a big city like New York, you witness gridlock almost every day, and much of the time emergency vehicles are sitting still with their sirens blasting to no avail, simply because the congestion is so bad in every direction that no one can move to let them by. So here’s my Dream. On top of every traffic light there will be a siren which not only makes noise but emits emergency lights showing the direction from which EV’s are coming. And the best part is that, like with trains, they may be turned on from up to a mile or more away by the flick of a switch on the vehicle’s dashboard. Can you imagine how many lives might be saved if you could clear a path for every emergency vehicle well in advance of every intersection between their start and their final destination, be that a hospital or the scene of an accident or fire? I can imagine this system working beautifully in every major metropolitan city in the world! Any Engineers out there who might be interested in helping me to create a prototype for my dream invention, give me a holler.
So, there you have it. My future dream for helping the needy, as well as one for an invention which might also be a source of good in the world. I hope that you all will keep sending me your Dreams so that I as well as my many readers might share our positive energy with you to help make them come true!
Cheers!
RD
Sandra McGuire — July 22, 2009 @ 4:04 pm
Robert,
In parts of Ohio, we have a start to the light you’re talking about already on traffic lights in some of our cities. There are little blue lights that start flashing when the emergency vehicle workers hit the switch for the next light along a major road. The lights then change all signals to red. Now, what we kind of need to go along with that is your idea for the lanes to be cleared so that the trucks can get to the intersection sometimes. And some way to indicate which direction the trucks will be traveling through the intersection (straight, left, or right).
They also have them on the lights directly in front of the stations. That way, as soon as they hop in the vehicle, they can change the light and not loose any hearing cells by hitting the sirens when they’re still in the bays. I’m not sure of the range of the communication systems from the truck to the light, but there have been times when I’ve seen the light start flashing before I heard the squads. I’ll give a call to my brother, the fireman tonight and see if I can find out the range, who makes them, and what budget the purchase typically comes out of.
Flannery — July 24, 2009 @ 1:36 am
Hey Robert,
When it comes to circuits, I royally stink at it and usually zap myself, melt something, and a bit of a fire hazard. If you really are interested in the Africa type things, you could check out Engineers Without Borders. It’s a similar idea to Doctor’s Without Borders. You don’t need to be an engineer or have a bunch of money and it’s not tied to any religious organization. It’s a huge help just to have more ready and willing people. A lot of the projects are paid for with donations, fund raising efforts, and grants. One of the other great things is that the big focus (at least for projects I was on) is on coming up with solutions that will have minimal or no maintenance cost, so you return and continue to see the work being beneficial to the community years after.
Just thought I’d throw it out there since you mentioned it:)
RDover2 — July 24, 2009 @ 6:17 am
Hi Flannery.
Engineers Without Boarders is exactly the group that I was going to work with and raise funds for using my own 501C3 called “Well Wish For The World”.
My idea has been to partner and raise funds to build a well, one village at a time in African communities which are desperate for water.
I had even spoken with the head of EWB who was very supportive of my idea.
So you see, Great Minds Think Alike.
Many thanks!
RD