I must confess to being a bit of a Luddite because when it comes to technology, I hate change and am comfortable sticking to what I’m used to.

However, last Christmas my son was kind enough to buy me a super duper mobile phone which has a giant screen, sat nav maps and internet.

You name it, my phone has it.

Well …….. It did have until it suddenly died on me, and I was gutted as I had only just mastered most of its functions.

The repair shop guy advised that I could track the repair online, and guessed it should be repaired within a few days.

“That’s not too long.” I thought to myself as he handed me the sim card from my dead phone.

“Just put your sim card into an old mobile.” My daughter suggested.

After dinner I rummaged through drawers and cupboards and finally found three old mobile phones.

“Great. I’ll be up and running in no time.” I was quietly confident.

But obviously when I tried to power them up, all three phones were dead.

So there I was again pulling my house apart in search of a phone charger.

Drawer after drawer I emptied each one, suddenly aware that I had accumulated hordes of useless junk.

Twenty minutes later I had found five chargers.

One by one none of them fitted until finally, like Cinderella and her glass slipper, one fitted perfectly.

Only then did I notice that the other end of the charger wasn’t connected to a plug but a USB connection, which meant it would only power from a lap top.

Now, I had an old lap top somewhere………

Eventually, after ferreting through the contents of my giant hall cupboard, I pulled out my old lap top.

And yes, you’ve guessed it.

The battery in that had died too.

So there I was again searching in places I had already searched looking for a lap top charger.

Sitting on the kitchen floor, I couldn’t believe the amount of useless cables I had acquired.

Frustratingly, I poked and poked at the side of the lap top with each cable determined to get one to fit, until finally one did.

For a moment, I reckoned I was quite ingenious being able to put all the bits and pieces together to get my old phone up and running.

Ten minutes later the lap top had enough charge so I connected the cable from my old mobile phone into the lap top.

Checking on my mobile a short time later, I discovered that there was absolutely no signs of life, so I flicked the back cover off it only to realise that out of the three old phones, the only phone with a charger had no battery.

Argh…….. I was seriously hacked off.

The last hour had been a complete waste of time and my house now resembled Steptoe’s yard, having dragged every cupboard and drawer apart.

And still I had no working mobile phone.

Then I remembered that I had set my IPad up with an App which would allow me to text.

But when I attempted to put it on, the battery on that was flat too.

Exasperated, I sat down with a cup of tea because by now I was completely scunnered.

Next day in work I borrowed a very old Nokia phone and well….. Talk about frustrated.

I kept trying to swipe the screen – which it didn’t do.

Due to it being set for predictive texting and the fact that my nails were too long for the tiny buttons, I sent umpteen garbled half typed messages.

“I’ll put my old IPhone and charger through your letterbox mum.” My daughter offered me another solution.

In my wisdom I tried to gemmy the back off of the phone to no avail.

“The back doesn’t come off an IPhone.” My colleague looked horrified as he showed me the side slot for the sim card.

Later, somehow I managed to put the sim card in sideways and it jammed.

Irritated beyond belief I threw the phone back at my daughter.

“I’ve had enough.”

“Keep the blinking thing and I’ll type messages from my IPad until I get my own phone back.” I declared.

“I’ll be able to fix it.” She offered.

“I don’t want to see another phone until I get my own back.”

And sure enough I text from my iPad and all was well until I got an email from the repair shop almost three weeks after sending off my phone.

“Sorry Ms Bell but you’re mobile is broken and we can’t get the parts for it.”

“Eh……but.” I just wanted my old phone back.

“We can offer you a……..”

Heading to the phone shop with my friend Nicola she reasoned.

“You’ll get the hang of your new phone in no time Janice.”

I feigned a smile as I thought.

“Oh well…… Don’t expect a call anytime soon!”