Is It Possible to Have a 'Quiet Life' Nowadays?

Technology is invaluable but because of it both the home and the workplace aren't the quiet environments they once were. Stress levels can be high with the vast variety of modern day gadgets deemed necessary by all. Consumers are constantly bombarded by advertisers, manufacturers and sales reps that they can't be without the latest everyday item which will be guaranteed to change their lives for the better. Although many things may be practical and save a great deal of time and energy, they often come with a long list of added complications.

If you were born in an era when the modus operandi of electrical household items was much simpler than it is today, you may experience constant exasperation with current day technology. The noise factor is one thing but the complexities involved in getting items to actually function correctly are mind-boggling. In bygone years, you'd have a single switch saying ON/OFF and you knew exactly where you were with it. There'd be a red light to show when an item was in use and that was it. Nothing (with perhaps the exception of your alarm clock) would be an assault on your auditory nerves or make any strange beeping sounds around the house to make you jump or erode your sanity.

Nowadays there's 'standby mode' on many everyday electrical appliances along with a surfeit of various knobs to adjust and switches to set that make unnerving noises morning, noon and night for no apparent reason. This can be annoying, frustrating and even downright infuriating especially for the safety conscious who like to make sure everything is turned off the last thing at night. They need to know that things are shut down and completely silent rather than just ‘hibernating,’ with their beady green ‘eyes’ glaring out from every conceivable corner of the house.

If you're middle-aged, there may be several items in your home that only your teenagers know how to operate. You may not have the patience to figure out the eccentricities of an appliance that refuses to tell you if it is on or off so all that technology is wasted on you. You may be quite happy to forgo all the glitzy upgrades and have no need for such complicated items. To you, they may be more of a burden than an advantage. Folk like you with a built-in resistance to change are an advertiser's nightmare.

Some will call you old-fashioned but you may well be sensible as it’s a known fact that the more moving parts an appliance has and the more complicated it is, the higher the probability that it will malfunction at some point - usually just when the guarantee has expired. You should thus make every effort to avoid purchasing items with too many complex cycles or ‘labour saving’ features. As soon as the printed circuit board is kaput, it'll cost more to replace than the item is worth so the appliance is as good as scrap- that's built in obsolescence for you.

Sudden unexplained noise blaring out at you can be jarring to the nerves, jolt the senses and have an adverse effect on blood pressure. Sensitive folk jolted from sleep are often startled and stressed by intruder alarms even if the sound isn’t that loud or is located in a neighbouring property. People have even been known to suffer severe panic attacks or noise induced palpitations. In the event of a fire, you wouldn’t object to being jarred from a deep slumber by a shrill sounding alarm but a combination of sudden unnecessary noise or even just a continuous humming or buzzing can affect sensitive folk who are said to ’feel’ noises before they hear them. How many times have you had an intruder alarm go off and can’t remember the number sequence to stop it? You can’t think straight with the alarm blaring and it can be an exasperating experience.

The thing with beeping sounds is that you can never quite determine their source and with so many appliances that could be the culprit, you waste much time and lose patience tracking down these erratic beeps.

Have you noticed that items always start beeping just when you're about to do something else? You go to empty the trash and the phone rings. You get in the shower and there’s a text on your mobile - you never seem to have a quiet moment nowadays without some technological intrusion. Technology is a good thing but it can be all too alarming when it has ultimate control over your life.

Whereas a few decades ago you'd have an uncomplicated alarm clock by your bedside, you now have an array of repetitive beeps and ringtones on your mobile to awaken you. With several people at home, the dawn chorus easily rivals an orchestra tuning up. Then there are microwaves, burglar alarms, smoke alarms, doorbells, timers on ovens, not to mention noisy designer watches which even work underwater to a depth of thirty feet but can never give you more than twenty-four hours in a day to deal with the other beeping items you have to contend with. Stress levels are at their worst when everything starts beeping at once. The washer will beep to tell you it's at the end of the cycle and then the oven will chime in when dinner is done - often accompanied by an over zealous fire alarm!

The list is endless but you should draw the line at a rain alarm to rescue your washing from the inclement weather as the garden may well be the only place you'll get any peace.