Remap is fun

Sometimes very simple devices can make a big difference

I enjoyed the article about Remap but I fear you may have put people off joining the organisation by concentrating on its particularly brilliant achievements.

Sometimes very simple devices can make a big difference. In one case a Remap man was asked to devise a non standard hand rail for a bed so that a retired and disabled engineer could pull himself up and onto his zimmer frame. Since every possible grab handle configuration seemed to obstruct the client’s efforts to swivel out of bed, the Remap man almost walked away in despair. Finally he realised he could build a removable securing tether for the zimmer frame so the client could pull himself up on to it directly.

It is such a refreshing change from the normal working environment where inventing anything tends to involve the standard three stages.

Stage 1
Work out how to solve the problem and how to build the necessary device

Stage 2
Seek approval from whoever has to authorise its construction and battle against the usual depressing British views: “Has it been done this way before? All inventors are mad. We cannot afford it regardless of how much it will save. Man will never fly”.

Stage 3
Abandon the idea in despair. 

With Remap you can miss stages two and three: just build the device and experience the unforgettable phone call from the client’s wife. “It works. I got him out of bed without straining my back. Thank you. We are both so very pleased” 

Personally I cannot imagine anything more fun than that.

Paul Gillians