This has to be baked, but my initial searches found nothing.
Summary says it all: you know how you put the flag up on your mailbox to signal that there's mail in it that needs sending? (this is apparently limited to the US postal system, so I'll attach a link for an example). Yep, I just want a flag on my freezer that I flip into the 'UP' position when I throw drinks in there to get cold quickly.
That way, I'm more inclined to remember they are in there.
Of course, you would think a simple timer would be superior to this invention, but nay:
1. Timers are for heating things up, not getting them cold.
2. Sometimes I want things really really cold or just a little cold is fine. Sometimes the mere act of throwing a drink in there for five minutes has a placebo effect. The entire occasion is nonchalant and setting a timer ruins that ethos. Flipping the flag after throwing a few warm ones in there, I think that would feel good.
3. Sometimes I put a whole pack of drinks in the freezer, which will undoubtedly take more time to cool than a single drink. I have no idea how to time this event. I just need to remember they are in there and eventually check on them. The flag stays up while I go through this murky water instead of constantly resetting the timer when I realize they need more time than originally anticipated.
4. If someone comes home, and I'm passed out on the couch, they'll have no idea a timer is going, or if one goes off what it's for. But if they walk to the fridge and see the flag is up, they know immediately I'm cooling down some drinks. The onus is on them to proceed with or without morals.
5. Setting a timer can be a challenging task, and easily overlooked, in various states of mind. The reptilian brain can use the flag pretty easily, however.
Clearly, I can just buy a mailbox flag and put it on my freezer, but I'm ignoring the obvious solution.-- daseva, Oct 07 2024 Mailbox flag https://www.gettyim...age/sb10067729n-001 [daseva, Oct 07 2024] You can just buy a mailbox flag and put it on your freezer, but you're ignoring the obvious solution by making an idea consisting of the obvious solution? Have a bun for exemplary corkscrew thinking.-- Voice, Oct 07 2024 You could buy a flag of a kind not intended for mailbox use, and attach it to your freezer-- pocmloc, Oct 07 2024 //The reptilian brain can use the flag pretty easily, however.//
Good visual; [+]-- pertinax, Oct 09 2024 random, halfbakery