Behold, The Day Has Come. I bought a smartphone.

If the problem is loss of mains power to your router, get a battery pack with integral inverter to power it during power outages.

 

No, but you'll still be able to get online/use Wi-Fi based communications including registering loss of power with your energy supplier, contacting your freezer/fridge contents insurance companies, and even have some power left to use a cordless phone systems.

Or you could simply sit in the dark incommunicado.

 

I was given a smartphone....... Now Carol has two! I'm still on a basic mobile that I can use for calls and texts only.

Having worked in IT for close to 20 years, I was reluctant to get a desktop but caved in eventually, now I have a laptop and printer/scanner/copier (all in one), never used the printer but Carol does.

 

When I first came here to the island to a long-empty council property, they promised to get the electricity reconnected. Five months later, ie September to January, it took a threat from a barrister to get it fixed. I lived the winter very snug with torches, candles, a gas cooker after the first two months ( illegally connected but that is a different tale!) . radio and my trusty solid fuel stove burning island turf and coal, AND my new mobile phone. I bought 2 from Tesco at E10 and E15 and my neighbour would take one each time and charge it. I have dealt with Irish phone companies before and value my sanity too much to go down that road. Oh then a kind person gave me a solar charger also

 

Amazingly given that this is an Atlantic island, we get no power cuts, oh we have had one since I was here, We get huge gales and storms... but under ocean works great..

 

What a saga! lol... I was told that before they put the underwater cables in there were so many cuts it cost more to keep fixing it. When we get the ferry we pass the signs warning where the cables are in the shallow areas.

All shows that it is those who make waves who get things done. With my power -less months, I was repeatedly told it was in hand and that reconnection took 12 weeks even after the stringent checks, When I called esb, they told me that no application\ had been made. So I made the application then but our friendly barrister was so irate when he learned that. I did not know that it is illegal for esb( the power company) to leave anyone old or disabled with no power in winter and I am both. He did and one call had them scurrying over pronto. I later heard the ferryman telling a visitor, " We soon realised that this one - ie me!- is not soft but a bit tough." Some folk come to deep rural and island places and last a few weeks. Actually I quite enjoyed that quiet winter. The one drawback was no computer or internet and I caught up when I went over.

 

Our water shut off valve is on the other side of our neighbours, utility company years ago put next door on a meter. Unfortunately the said meter was put on our supply, so they were paying for our water.
At the time a single gent lived in the property, when we moved in their bills shot up. So we worked out why ourselves, as the utility company didn’t have a clue.
The neighbour got rid of the meter and a healthy compensation refund.
My builders promptly broke their valve shutting off our water as they burst our water main, the water company came out that night and dug up the path put barriers up and went home next day valve was mended but said they didn’t fill said hole in as it wasn’t their job.
So a team filled in hole next day leaving a pile of extra earth ( where did that come from as it came out of the hole ), a wagon came and took the spoils away.
Next day a team arrived to fill in and level the hole with fresh stone, then 2 days later a team of tarmac men arrived yay!!
No yay as they have to wait for a tarmac waggon a big 8 wheeler ( we live at the end of a cul-de-sac ), 3 houses had builders in and skips.
Can we drive onto our drive now then Oh no wait for a couple of days they said, what about the cement mixer with a load my builders need to lay, you’ll need a plate of it so it doesn’t sink in.
All this because the handle snapped off the shut off water valve.

 

The Beast has now been introduced to the Selleri household. The Teenager has kindly set it up, explaining why she disables and enables things way beyond my comprehension, and has encouraged me to take a photo, send a text and receive a call. She's very kindly trying to suppress the giggles.

I have an APP. My Gmail is now an icon and I can quickly send photos to myself to be edited on laptop. That's the only useful thing so far. I hope you enjoy seeing my bathrobed knee (that's a bit of cheese btw ) as there will be a lot of photographic evidence of a new smartphone owner and trials to use the app to come.

I already have an urge to need the thing for something, but as I'm not in social media, prefer to do my online things on laptop with big screen and a keyboard, and have a handy Teenager to sort out any video calls I feel I'm artificially trying to create needs where they don't exist.

Looking forward to buying my bus ticket into my phone, and getting lost and then proudly GPSsing my location though. The 5000 flies can't all be wrong, this thing must be very useful. Swallow your pride, Selleri, and just get on with it.

 

Funnily, Google image search suggests this as a similar image