[m463]

> I am not a materials scientist or engineer, just a person who likes to wildly speculate on the internet when I don't get enough sleep.

I remember a series of science fiction stories where the protagonist would have some problem to solve, get wildly drunk and... the next morning there would be some weird device in his living room. It was the solution, but he would have to untangle what his drunk self came up with.

EDIT: Robots Have No Tails by Henry Kuttner

[zdragnar]

If you replace wildly drunk with insomnia, then I have to say that that sounds all too familiar :) Thanks for the recommendation!

[m463]

one note: it is NOT hugo/nebula material, more like old-school pulp scifi. :)