Inspiration from a nomadic piano tuner and a chat about technology and consumerism

My favourite hobby is surfing the net. On a phone, a computer, anywhere, anytime.  The feeling of being “connected” at all times is paramount to feeling calm and every day these are my comforts.



Then there’s googlereader (for the blogs I like to read), instagram and twitter occasionally. A short attention span, limited brain space and the need for things that are short and snappy means I will reply my whatsapp and text, but often set aside email and facebook, then forget about it.

I really like blogs and am always on the hunt for something new and engaging to read. A couple of days ago I came across Richard the piano tuner’s blog, a London based piano tuner that is nomadic. He has no fixed abode (even in winter) and carries his life on his back, gets about on his bicycle to get from job to job tuning pianos …  but in all other aspects sounds to be as much of a “normal” or “average” person as you and I. Instant respect for being able to live outdoors London in winter! The blog is also really nicely written and a great read about his adventures.

Whilst Richard's lifestyle would never be me (I can’t even tolerate an itty bitty bit of camping), it did get me thinking about how much stuff we have (and don’t need) and the insatiable need for new and different things. So starting with me I’m going to try and hit pause on the “stuff” and buying unnecessary things, and try harder to reuse, recycle.

Phones and other technology

My phone screen really really cracked and non repairable without paying a silly amount. I do often get the “what happened to your phone” comment, and whilst I’d really like a Galaxy Note 2, I can’t bring myself to buy one while this is still alive and kicking.



The annoying thing about Tech though is that it encourages consumerism. The printer ran out of ink a couple of weeks ago and instead of replacing the ink it was way cheaper to buy a new one. So I ended up trekking 20min to the small appliances recycling to dispose of the old one since I would have felt way too wrong just putting it in the bin.

I’m not even going to go into the living room technology. Partially understandable since Mr T stands for Mr Technology, but I’m really hoping nothing needs replacing or repairs for at least the next 3 years.  Either way, this is a big stop for now if I can possibly help it. On the upside, my little macbook is still going after 3 years!

Stopping to smell the flowers (instead of looking at an LCD screen)

This is one of my favourite photos (that’s me about to sink into a wave) and my technology tells me that it’s from summer 2006, which happened to be my last summer of freedom, i.e. uni.



The echivera is from my mum’s garden in 2005 when she first got into garden photography and I remember thinking that digital cameras were so cool back then (they still are, but the novelty value is less).



And last but not least I’m going to make an effort to skype my parents and my Radley more often, because I should (and Radley is one of the most awesome things that's ever come into my life).



Will any of these things turn me into a better person? Possibly, possibly not but at least I can try. Thanks for the inspiration Richard!