Are you thinking of paper cards, or something electronic? One of the ‘romantic’ ideas we had was a “thinking of you” light / heart. It’s a device that you’d put on your desk and another person could send it a message (via the internet) and it would light up.

For example, Mike at work could send an e-mail to a special address, and your little pink light-up heart would glow on your desk, so you know he’s thinking of you. Kinda sappy, but I think it’s a cute idea.

I wonder if a short-term ‘fix’ would be to use a baby monitor. It wouldn’t have lights or anything, but you’d hear the beep (though you’d also hear the darn thing washing; think of it as soothing white noise).

Since we have to use a facility laundry room, we have measured the time it takes to do a load of wash and a dryer load. Then we get back home and set a timer. You could get a little kitchen timer. (Our washers always run for 20 mins, and the dryers for 45.)

The ‘accessibility’ idea is an important one, as our population grows older especially so. Heck, it’s even easier for us “younger” people. I love the bigger displays, handles, buttons, etc that are seeping into our gadgets.

You may want to check out http://www.micromark.com. They have a very interesting selection of hobby tools, including a good amount of train stuff. I haven’t bought from them yet, but they have tons of stuff.

The electronics kit idea for trains is a good one. I’ve seen some examples in Micromark, but they are all very expensive ($35 or more).