Welcome to day 11! Wait, what? My last post was day 5, and that wasn’t even a good post! I seem to have fallen off the wagon a bit.
Well today is really no different. I have thirty minutes to kill before picking up my sister from the airport so let’s try smash this one out!
A recently got a new phone due to the fact I accidentally killed my old phone.
Why did your phone die?
If you really want to know, I had rooted the phone to get more control but then updated my root from within the app (I can’t remember which one, one of the root ones) and that killed it. I still hold out hope that I’ll get that phone back but I just haven’t put in the effort yet.
One mistake I tend to make is look at reviews after I purchase a product. To be fair though, I hadn’t planned on buying this specific model. I just went to a second hand phone shop and grabbed the best priced phone I could. This turned out to be an Oppo A54 5G.
Now, I can’t remember where I read it, but I read someone complain about a popping noise coming from the speakers at random times. At this point in time I hadn’t heard such a noise, but being aware of it I started to listen. Then a few days later I finally heard it.
It’s a bit hard to explain the exact noise it made, but imagine the ding sound a fluorescent bulb makes as it starts up. It was quite similar to that but shorter, quieter and slightly higher pitched.
My initial reaction was slight amazement that the people on the internet were right. But that quickly turned to frustration over the next few days when I suddenly heard the noise EVERYWHERE. My brain had latched on to the sound like my youngest latches on to lollipops and wasn’t letting go. No matter what I was doing I would always notice whenever the popping sound occurred.
I began frantic online searches trying to figure out how to stop this annoying bing sound, but I could not even find the original comment that mentioned the noise in the first place. Any time I found a similar issue it would be for a completely different brand of phone.
After awhile I began to accept the noise. I would still notice it but no longer would it cause me (much) annoyance. This went on for a month or so until one day…
I was at work and had gone to the restroom. As I walked in I heard the fateful noise once more and thought nothing of it until I realized I had left my phone on my desk to charge. I checked all my pockets to be sure but there was definitely no phone in there.
My initial thought was that I had just imagined hearing it, but once more that noise drove itself to the front of my brain and I began to notice it more and more when I didn’t have my phone. Maybe it was a sound that occurred in my office? Nope, heard it at home too.
Now, this is the first time I began to question my sanity. To my mind there should be nothing that makes this specific sound centred around me. The thought did cross my mind that maybe I’m making the sound, like my bones or something. But the sound is so inorganic that I find it hard to believe I could make it.
This went on for awhile longer until one day I was sitting at my desk at work. I was stuck on a problem so I was slumped in my chair with my feet out in front of me looking at my stomach, focusing on the silver buckle of my belt. I have one of those belts that is reversible. You can pull the latch out a little bit, face it towards the other side then it springs back in.
I took a deep breath in and heard the noise again. I guess it is because I was staring at the buckle but my brain instantly new that was the source of all my frustration, confusion and a little bit of self doubt was that buckle. That buckle on the belt I had bought roughly around the same time as my phone. That buckle on the belt that I wear with nearly EVERY outfit.
Anyway, I still wear that belt and buckle, and I still hear that noise, but at least I know the true source of it.