pedanther

If we've known each other long enough, you may recall me mentioning seven years ago that I'd finally bought my first ever mobile phone.

I don't think I have any recollection of it ;-p

I was given my first-ever mobile phone in I think 2011, when I went off on a solo boating trip with no other means of emergency contact. I remember it took about three days for me to learn how to switch it off, which was a worry since I had no means of recharging it on board... that was *not* a 'smartphone', which would have gone flat in 24 hours or less!

I'm currently on my second. I can't remember what happened to the first, but by the time I needed a replacement things had moved on so far that it was actually quite difficult to buy a mobile that simply telephoned people instead of running apps. Fortunately there was a market in cheap basic phones 'for festival use', presumably the thinking being that they were likely to get stolen while their users were stoned out of their minds or else get dropped in the mud. It currently costs me £5–£10 a year to run, apart from the annoying discovery that if I don't spend any money at all for more than a certain period of time then all my current credit gets wiped and it forces me to top up again with the loss of however much money was on there :-(

So obviously I'm not terribly keen on the idea of parking meters, doctor's surgeries, test&trace systems, etc. that only function via 'apps'...


The only incentive I've found for a daily walk routine is the idea that it's the only effective way for me to write -- which makes me quite happy to go on and on walking if I'm feeling that I'm actually getting something done. I very rarely walk until I actually get tired, because that would take an awfully long time (several hours, anyway -- I generally get footsore first). But a writing session might well last over an hour, even if I only come back with a couple of paragraphs at the end of it.

he sent me a very nice message thanking me for playing because until I'd cropped up he'd spent ages with nobody to play against and now he was enjoying the game again

That was decent (and intuitive) of him!