Wi-fi vs husbands – which is better?

As you probably know, we’ve just moved to a new building. It’s not quite all sorted yet, so I’ve got a temporary desk. Not a problem, but it means I haven’t unpacked all my stuff yet (apart from my tea mug and a photo of the boys… priorities!)
And every so often, I reach for something I need and remember that it’s packed away in a box, probably right at the bottom of a stack in the warehouse… but that’s given me a useful tip for today…
A tiny tip that might save you time and frustration
The other day I needed a calculator, so I reached for my desk drawer to get it… and it wasn’t there. Not just the calculator – at my temporary desk I don’t even have any drawers!
Nevermind, I thought, I’ll just use the one built into Windows. So I went into the start menu (I use Windows 7) and into Accessories and there it was.
I find it really handy when my calculator is out of batteries, has been “borrowed” or (as I found out this time) when it’s packed away in a cardboard box.
But this tip isn’t just that there’s a handy calculator built into Windows. It’s more than that.
When you start the calculator program, it has little buttons that you can click on to type in numbers. It’s a bit of a fiddle and not everyone realises that there’s an easier way.
In fact, once you’ve started the calculator you can just type in the numbers on the keyboard. I use the ones on the right hand side – the keypad, but you can also use the numbers across the top. And you can type * for multiply, / for divide and use the enter key for =.
Much easier if you have lots of sums to do than clicking on the number buttons on the screen.
Wifi laptops, wifi printers, wifi phones… whatever next?
Come to think of it, this is something else that might save you time – and give you an extra couple of minutes in bed.
I’m still not quite sure I really believe this but it is real – someone is selling a wifi kettle.
The idea is you can leave it with water in overnight, leave a smartphone (with wifi on it) then in the morning when you wake up and think “I could really do with a cup of char”, you reach for your phone, tap on an app on it and it tells the kettle to start boiling. Then when you go down to the kettle, it’s already boiled.
It doesn’t actually make the tea, just boils the kettle, so it only saves you the time while the kettle boils. Not like an old fashioned teas-made.
It’s set me wondering what’ll be next – it’s hard to imagine.
Anyway, Julie assures me that you don’t need a wifi kettle – that’s what husbands are for. At least I have the satisfaction of knowing that since I can actually make the tea, not just boil the kettle, I do a better job than wifi.
Anyway, this is the last newsletter this year, so I just want to finish by saying I hope you have a really lovely Christmastime and thank you for reading the newsletter this year.
You’ll hear from me again next in the New Year.
Merry Christmas