And I’m not happy.

At all

I know, first world problems and all that. But my lovely LG G4 just decided to shut up shop last week. For no reason whatsoever. It was a  full and total system crash. It choked a couple of times as a small but insignificant warning and then died.

In the words of an oft-repeated comedy skit, my phone is no more. It has ceased to be. It’s expired and gone to meet ‘its maker. It’s a stiff. Bereft of life, It rests in peace.

It is an ex-phone.

It means I am now having to use a smashed up old Samsung. And I’m suffering. Not quite shaking yet, but suffering. Trying to get into Facebook, Twitter,  or Whatsapp are all an excruciating exercise of blank screens, seconds of frozen nothingness and delayed chaos.

Yes, I know I could just down tools. Pick up a book. Catch up on real TV. But then I would miss memes and hashtags and the angry mob on the local Facebook forums who are eternally taking photos of badly parked cars in Tesco and car-shaming other people’s friends.

As for my phone. Well, LG apparently know about this ‘little’ bug. Meekly and slightly embarrassed, they simply offered to send a courier to pick up the phone, repair it (commonly known as replacing with a refurb phone) and send it back. Oh, it takes 7-10 days. And I’ll obviously lose everything unless I can back it up (I refer you to the previous comment. ITS DEAD). And in the meantime, I’m using a smashed up almost dead Samsung. I guess it could be worse – it could be an old Ericsson.

I don’t think i’m particularly stupid. I’m no Einstein either but all in all, I think I get along fine.

Until my daughter went to school.

Suddenly I had to become a huge encyclopedic vat full of immediate knowledge and answers. I have to know every historic person, living or dead. Their thoughts, their family, their vitals. I have to understand and explain every natural phenomenon, every geographical fact and figure, every scientific discovery as if I had discovered it.

And I had to have the answers NOW – not in 5 minutes, when the question has been long forgotten. But NOW! Pronto! MUMMMMMMMMY I WANNA KNOW (that’s a bit unfair, she doesn’t whine like that. Its more constant repetition of the question until neither she nor I can bear it anymore)

Now, I’m not complaining that my daughter is so interested in things she learns at school or from books. Far from it. In fact, I thoroughly encourage it. I think its great she has so many questions and I really do try to answer them as best I can. But, for now, I just have to offer my thanks to Google. My best buddy. My friend in need. My educational support system. And not only that, I have to thank the smart phone that’s glued to me all day that gives me access to Google . Because without that, I have nothing.  I can just hear the never-ending rings of ‘who?’ ‘why?’ ‘what?’ ‘when?’ ‘how?’ reverberating in my ears. I know I could make up the answer, but you just know that’ll come back and bite you in the bum one day in the future.

So i’m trying to think back as to how parents did it PG (Pre-Google). I know we had encyclopedias – but using those was a rare occasion. And they didn’t cover everything, especially present-day questions. It didn’t cover modern authors and films and dancers and singers and modern-day environmental phenomenons. Did we just not ask the same amount of questions? Did my parents actually know everything (this makes me laugh!) Or was there just less ‘things’ going on that we wanted to know about? I half guess its the reason why we were so independent then.

“Mummy, Daddy, how many people live in China?”

“Its such a nice day, why don’t you play outside”

it would be great to know what the most difficult question your child has ever asked you. Let me know in the comments below

So, I’ll leave it here for now because I’ve got a really fun giveaway to launch my return to blogging. Its kinda fun and stupid and sums me up perfectly.

Catch ya soon!

GM

Here’s some more information:

CHANNEL 4 IS LOOKING FOR THE ULTIMATE SHOPPER

Does your other half buy every faddy home appliance from smoothie makers to exercise bikes?

Or do you have to own the latest gadgets from mobile phones to tablets and games consoles?

Or does your friend have to fill their home with the most lavish and on trend home accessories?

Do you love shopping for clothes and fashion? Or despair of your spouse and their shoe collection?

Shopping has become one of Britain’s favourite leisure activities and we are looking for lively, fun people to talk about their families spending habits.

If any of the above sounds like you or someone you know please get in touch with our team ASAP! Email: shop@silverriver.tv

If you prefer to call them directly, please contact me and I’ll send you a phone number

I was amazed to find out from Duracell that over 30% of all batteries thrown away may still have up to 67% of usable power left inside.

67%!! Thats crazy!

Apparently, some high-powered gadgets such as digital cameras and mp3 players may ‘switch off’ before all the power is used up – however, in reality the battery is anything but dead and can power low drain devices, such as alarm clocks or TV remotes for a long time

To combat this waste of batteries, Duracell is working with Energy Saving Trust to help consumers maximise battery power. They want to get people to tap into unused resource and reduce wastage by giving their batteries a second life. Their unique Duracell Ultra Power batteries even have a built-in powercheck that allows you to see how much energy is left inside (I LOVE those batteries!!)

Pac Man, tetris, Arcade Money Box – what more could you want!

To prove a point, Duracell sent me a fantastic box of very cool retro goodies in order to give them a ‘second life’ – that is, use batteries that I assumed were dead, to power up a Pac Man clock or Retro radio alarm clock. So I did – and they were right! I took some old batteries from a digital camera and put them in the clock radio and it worked…perfectly.

Duracell have kindly offered an iconic retro-box to one of Gadget Mum’s readers.

All you have to do is watch the YouTube video below, which shows how a very cute LED bunny can be built from ‘presumed dead’ batteries, and answer the question using the rafflecopter app. There’s also some bonus entry opportunities

The retro ‘second-life’ box includes:

• Retro Radio Alarm Clock
• Pac Man Wall Clock
• Arcade Game Money Box
• Tetris Mug
• Retro Sweets
• A Pack of Duracell Ultra Power

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Warm Up and Win Big with Samsung

And here’s the details:

As part of the Samsung Hope Relay Samsung are running their Warm and Win Competition, and it is now live!

It is really easy to take part in Samsung’s Warm Up and Win Competition. All you need to do is to choose one of the video challenges. There is a choice of Relay Run, Long Leap, Triple Jump or Star Jumps. Film a five second video of you taking part in the challenge and then upload it here:http://www.youtube.com/SAMSUNGMOBILEUK

All the video clips are going to be made into a Samsung’s Hope Relay Video.

Prizes up for grabs

•          1st prize – £5,000 John Lewis Voucher + GSIII Mobile Phone
•          2nd Prize – £2012 sports Voucher + GSIII Mobile Phone
•          3rd Prize – GSIII Mobile Phone + Galaxy Tab

Good luck and let me know below if you’ve made a video.

If you want to know more about the Samsung Hope Relay, click here

Moneysupermarket.com is a comparison website, helping you save over £1000 on your household bills

To win, simply answer the question by commenting on the post below. Follow the simple instructions using the Rafflecopter widget. Extra entries are available via twitter and Facebook.

good luck
a Rafflecopter giveaway

MoneySupermarket recently ran a huge survey about our gadget-use and have created a useful infographic that aims to make us make our gadgets make sense for the environment. It really does make fascinating reading with  some great ideas

Image source: MoneySupermarket

An infographic done well is a great way for marketers to get their message across and like many things have become a bit of an online craze.

Next has used the medium of infographic really cleverly to help men find the perfect tailored suit

From slim fit shirts to shiny new brogues, get asmart, stylish and sophisticated look. Whether you’re looking for a wedding suit or a new working wardrobe, get that bespoke feeling with Next’s men’s suits from their growing tailoring collection.

I’m loving this infographic craze – if you have any good links, let me know in the comments below

So this weekend, England plays Italy in the Quarter Finals of Euro 2012 – who are you rooting for? And do you decorate your house with football memorabilia? Or even your face?

Here’s a really cute video by The Domino Effect and promotional company, Ideas by Net – who do you support?!