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[tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT infionline.net>]

Gene GeRue wrote:

> > ---so she bought me a three-piece pillow set you heat in a microwave. 
> > One a contoured one you drape over the feet, two are mittens for the 
> > hands. Contents basically flaxseed and an herbal mix. . . .The woman 
> > who makes and sells them rents a kiosk inside a shopping mall for 
> > four months each year before Christmas. . . . nets about $50,000 each 
> > of the past several years---with no  equipment cost other than 
> > cutting patterns and a sewing machine---doubt she even owns a clicker 
> > press.
>
>
> We have two of such items which even now I am using to comfort my 
> lower back from a stupid attempt to touch my toes. Not sure if the 
> contents are flax seed or something else. These were made by our 
> neighbor back home in the Zarks. The design limitation is that forty 
> seconds in the microwave only produces about fifteen minutes of heat 
> to the body. More seeds inside would no doubt be better, and perhaps a 
> double layer of flannel.
>
> Reminds one of the old hot water bottles used in a similar fashion. 
> For cold feet, consider a hot water bottle below and a solar blanket 
> above. And there is red pepper powder inside the socks.
>
> Surprised he has not yet invented a machine of a thousand parts to do 
> the same.

tvoivozhd--- when I was five or six, we had two teams of Morgans, and 
mostly out of nostalgia (parents owned three automobiles) we would 
occasionally go to Whitewater, Wis. seven or so miles away in a buggy.  
A charcoal brazier on the floor of the buggy kept our feet warm.
For simplicity and long-span heating effect, hard to improve on glowing 
charcoal in a pan with sliding top, and long handle to carry it around, 
move it  under foot blankets.  I think about it every time we have to 
drive the car fifteen miles before the stupid water heater starts to 
blow hot air.