Hello? Anyone out there?


Communication during lockdown has been essential. Despite furlough, every week the team meet on zoom to catch up and check in on each other. It is good for us to keep updated and make sure everyone is keeping fit and well.

Of course communication is important with the wider Museum public too. Nick has been methodically uploading daily social media posts from Regimental Dunkirk history to Mystery Monday objects. No mean feat but essential to let folk know we are still here and (virtually) open for business.

For all of us, communicating with loved ones and friends has been the main way of, and providing much needed, contact during lockdown . So imagine my angst when I dropped my mobile phone into a sink of water when (stupidly) resting it on the side of the sink whilst washing my hands! I was soon to discover that my phone isn't waterproof and doesn't float (not sure why an image of medieval witch trials came to mind at this point). I tried every option to keep it alive and well but to no avail, and it soon withered and died. It was a mobile phone no more.

Picture the scene - an initial 30 minute shock followed by a long sentence of expletives which translated into 'Oh my goodness, what the heck am I going to do now?' followed by a frantic messaging on my laptop to let people know my dilemma. Cue the kettle and a much-needed coffee. Deep breath and immediate planning in my head about how this was going to impact life over the next few days. Contacting my mum, the WhatsApp group for the Ranger group, ad-hoc messaging with the team and helping Nick out when needed, communication from my dear daughter's bedroom to check whether we have any chocolate in the house, a text from my neighbour across the road to see if we have any spare eggs. And all those photos...aaagh! Great move Jules! Why did you have your phone in the bathroom whilst washing your hands anyway? 
After a few hours, as the slight panic and impact of my deed receded, I started to quite enjoy the silence and the idea that I wasn't contactable. I was no longer a slave to that wee piece of technology, I was hiding away from the world, no-one knew where I was . Maybe I could even manage without it? Maybe I should disappear into the ether and my identity would be lost forever - who was that Jules woman again? (I know, I have an very over-active imagination). The temptation, the excitement, the challenge!

But, of course, in this day and age the need for keeping in contact is inevitable and we have all come to rely on various methods of communication. Every week I speak to a couple of veterans on the telephone, I check-in with my friends on a Saturday evening, I video call my friend in Switzerland and reply to my child upstairs that there is no chocolate in the house.

After dithering and debating for a week, I succumbed and am now the owner of a new mobile phone. Thanks to Nick, I have apps and more apps to contact people and stay in touch. Now all I have to do is learn how to use it to keep up with that communication. Maybe folk will hear from me in the next few weeks once I have mastered this new technology!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adaptable Bunnies!

Image
The Adaptable Knitted Rabbit Trail... As a Military Museum, we are not normally associated with these cottontail creatures. Especially the knitted variety. But what we do pride ourselves in is engaging with our visitors. And at this time of year our woolly friends like to make an appearance for our younger audience. Our original Easter holiday activity was a quiz and trail around the Museum but we soon found that our younger visitors over the holidays tended to be under ten years old, with many even younger. So our trail was not suitable. What the youngsters really wanted to do was something a little bit more basic.  Welcome to our annual Easter trail. The wee bunnies were created by my mum (thanks mum! x) after we decided that looking for things for a younger audience would be fun. We first trialled the idea, and it proved to be an immediate success. Plus the 12 little rabbits could easily slip into our display cases and the trail can be changed each year to offer ...
Read more

The Return of the Rabbits

Image
It doesn't seem five minutes since our knitted friends made an appearance on one of my blog posts. But then in April last year who would have thought that we would be in a lockdown 12 months later?   Our wee bunnies have once again become the theme of our social media over the Easter weekend. A little bit of fun both for staff and our virtual audience.  Several weeks ago we realised that we were in the same position as last year and would not be able to host an Easter trail for visitors in the Museum. However, last year we realised just before lockdown1, managed to photograph rabbits and put together a family-friendly trail before we retreated to our own homes. This year, it was not so easy and photographing the rabbits had to be undertaken during a weekly check of the Museum. So thanks to Angela who took on the challenge of photographing the bunnies round the gallery and then came up with the 'Elf on the Shelf' idea, pulling together a week of cheeky bunny posts. Working...
Read more

Re-Opening Plans are Afoot...

Image
W e are currently looking at plans to reopen. As a charity, reliant on income from admissions, it has been a difficult few months. We have missed two periods when we receive quite a few visitors - Easter and May half term. Although we have accessed the Govt's furlough scheme and the small business grant, deferred HMRC payments and have rates relief for this year, things are tough.  So we are keen to reopen as soon as it is safe to do so. Government guidance is currently suggesting 4th July, but this is not definate. However, we need to start planning and working towards an opening date - the 4th July is the earliest date that we can go for. Of course, reopening will not be straight forward. We sit within the English Heritage managed site of Carlisle Castle and need to work with them to ensure that visitors receive the same message from both organisations. There are open spaces on-site, but we have a small building. We need to reassure visitors that we have their safety at heart bef...
Read more