Since I have had a mobile phone, I have not used a wristwatch. I have always felt that my watch got in the way sometimes when working or playing sport. When I got my first mobile phone, I soon realized that I had a more reliable method for telling the time. It was reliable and easy to read, so I eventually ditched the wristwatch when it finally gave up the ghost!

Of course, another aspect was that I also now had mobile insurance to ensure that if I ever did have a problem with my phone I had it covered. Over the years then, I have become accustomed to glancing at my mobile whenever I need to know the time. I even deliberately got one of those phones that had a large clock displayed on the screensaver.

I got so used to just taking for granted that I could refer to my mobile anytime, so it came as a real shock when I glanced one day, only to see that the time was displayed as some unreadable hieroglyphics. A bit like that Klingon language that was used in Star Trek! I did all those silly things we do when things like this happen; like tapping the screen harder and harder, shaking it violently and finally switching it on and off. All much to the amusement of my fellow public transport travellers! Gradually, it dawned on me that it had died. Gone to mobile phone heaven!

So, here I was with a dead mobile. Luckily, when I finally got to work, I gathered my senses and remembered that my better half had nagged me into taking out that mobile insurance when we first got the handset. I called them and told them the bad news. How reassuring, that the chirpy `chappy` at the other end of the line had it all covered, just like my mobile insurance. “No problem” he stated and went on to put my mind at ease with the knowledge that my new handset would be winging its way to me as we spoke.

Like any High-Tech device these days, it can fail at any time for any reason.