How Many B(e)ars?
H took on my elderly Nokia (the blue and orange model which is now almost a Collectors' Item) when I updated a long time ago. The fact that that is still working and the replacement I then got isn't is possibly a major comment on Nokia and their original policies. Of course they've long since been taken over by Management with the all too prevalent 'Make it cheap. Make it break down soon disposable. Make them replace it often' mentality.
This sits ill with those of us who want our phones to act as phones rather than fashion accessories, and believe it or not some of us do. It sits extremely ill with those of us who believe in 'value for money'. And it sits worst of all with the increasing number of us who would like to have some sort of reasonable world to pass on to our grandchildren (or in our case - other people's grandchildren!)
Anyhew, H has a rather Smarter phone which he uses as a phone, the Nokia he keeps as an alarm clock*. Dunno why, he has a perfectly good (70's dark brown) alarm clock on the bedside table but . . . Yes, alright, I'm approaching the point circuitously, in the manner of a wildlife watcher, lest it take fright and flee. I'm writing of B(e)ars after all!
'K, you know many phones used to indicate their state of 'chargedness' with a line of bars down one side of the screen? H's Nokia shows up to seven. Two is a minimum requirement to last the night. One bar will have the phone warbling at intervals to say that it needs recharging or will die on him long before he needs to know it's 'Getting Up Time'. Usually he's well awake by then, occasionally he sleeps through, and he really doesn't want to do that on a work day.
Often at bedtime H'll tell me how many 'bars' there are, or I'll ask, and we'll proceed to invent stories about what the b(e)ars are doing. Three B(e)ars is obvious - something involving porridge, a walk in the woods (ok, so they have an outside loo!) and maybe a blonde, hungry and tired human intruder!
Seven Bars is full house, they evidently have both sets of grandparent b(e)ars staying. Two b(e)ars means one of the nuclear family is out - Daddy B(e)ar working late/at the pub; Mummy B(e)ar on a well-earned evening out - before coming home to put the oats on to soak; Baby B(e)ar on a sleepover with her/his friends or, being by now a teenager, being a dirty stopout?
Hmmm, note the sexist genderisation implied in what Daddy and Mummy B(e)ar's night out might entail!
Then, having told each other a bedtime story, we pray and drift off to sleep (usually.)
Dear Reader, I never claimed to be that sensible, did I?
'K, y'all have a good day now. Anyone know some good bedtime stories**?
*H could use his Smartphone as an alarm too. Except it takes halfway to forever to charge fully, then very little time to discharge. Even when it's just keeping time. Hence he has it switched off most of the time. This preserves battery charge but can make it a bit difficult if I need to get in touch with him. Particularly when the 'incoming txt' notification is but a single, polite 'bong!'
**Yes, I could have blogged about something serious, goodness only knows there's enough serious stuff going on. But even knowing Almighty God has it all under control and it's all going according to His Plan, it gets a tad depressing at times. For a while anyway, til I remember.
This sits ill with those of us who want our phones to act as phones rather than fashion accessories, and believe it or not some of us do. It sits extremely ill with those of us who believe in 'value for money'. And it sits worst of all with the increasing number of us who would like to have some sort of reasonable world to pass on to our grandchildren (or in our case - other people's grandchildren!)
Anyhew, H has a rather Smarter phone which he uses as a phone, the Nokia he keeps as an alarm clock*. Dunno why, he has a perfectly good (70's dark brown) alarm clock on the bedside table but . . . Yes, alright, I'm approaching the point circuitously, in the manner of a wildlife watcher, lest it take fright and flee. I'm writing of B(e)ars after all!
'K, you know many phones used to indicate their state of 'chargedness' with a line of bars down one side of the screen? H's Nokia shows up to seven. Two is a minimum requirement to last the night. One bar will have the phone warbling at intervals to say that it needs recharging or will die on him long before he needs to know it's 'Getting Up Time'. Usually he's well awake by then, occasionally he sleeps through, and he really doesn't want to do that on a work day.
Often at bedtime H'll tell me how many 'bars' there are, or I'll ask, and we'll proceed to invent stories about what the b(e)ars are doing. Three B(e)ars is obvious - something involving porridge, a walk in the woods (ok, so they have an outside loo!) and maybe a blonde, hungry and tired human intruder!
Seven Bars is full house, they evidently have both sets of grandparent b(e)ars staying. Two b(e)ars means one of the nuclear family is out - Daddy B(e)ar working late/at the pub; Mummy B(e)ar on a well-earned evening out - before coming home to put the oats on to soak; Baby B(e)ar on a sleepover with her/his friends or, being by now a teenager, being a dirty stopout?
Hmmm, note the sexist genderisation implied in what Daddy and Mummy B(e)ar's night out might entail!
Then, having told each other a bedtime story, we pray and drift off to sleep (usually.)
Dear Reader, I never claimed to be that sensible, did I?
'K, y'all have a good day now. Anyone know some good bedtime stories**?
*H could use his Smartphone as an alarm too. Except it takes halfway to forever to charge fully, then very little time to discharge. Even when it's just keeping time. Hence he has it switched off most of the time. This preserves battery charge but can make it a bit difficult if I need to get in touch with him. Particularly when the 'incoming txt' notification is but a single, polite 'bong!'
**Yes, I could have blogged about something serious, goodness only knows there's enough serious stuff going on. But even knowing Almighty God has it all under control and it's all going according to His Plan, it gets a tad depressing at times. For a while anyway, til I remember.