A short blog post to get me into writing today – a practical tip on how to be sure you always have batteries with you when you need them.
About a year ago I went Mac – mostly good, some bad, but overall a good choice. That means that I regularly take my laptop to uni, hook it up to an external monitor, and transport around my bluetooth Apple keyboard and magic mouse. These are both great devices. Unbeatable in fact. However, they do chew through the battery power (kind of like my 1985 Jaguar XJ6 is with petrol – ouch!).
Now, I like to use rechargeable batteries – I saw a documentary on disposable batteries, not good. Unfortunately rechargeable batteries don’t last as long as your environment-destroying long-life high-power AA. So that I don’t run short on batteries, I transport them around with me in a handy case:
These Eclipse mints are quite good as mints, but they come with this awfully good tin. Which seems too good to just throw away. And so, need meets need results in opportunity. They’re just the right size for transporting AA batteries – but they clunk when you walk around. So – an old technology solution involving cotton balls:
And bingo:
I have two of these, as otherwise it is likely that both my keyboard and mouse will go at the same time. I just cycle these through the battery charger as needed (I put used ones in a different spot to the fresh ones!) and I’m all good.
Bingo – a practical tip for the risk averse who occasionally think of the environment (except when they are driving their 24 litres per 100km Jag.