QuietComfort

I went out for my morning walk. For the working day, I felt in a good mood. There is a correlation between my mood and getting some early exercise. But at 7:30 am, my body doesn't agree and wants to go back to sleep. It's a constant battle with myself.

Yesterday evening, I kept thinking of things that I should have charged during the probably-not-free electricity hour. One of those 'things' was my over-ear noise-cancelling headphones. I bought these many years ago when I used to travel a lot for work when I found that the noise on an aeroplane - of other passengers or of the aircraft itself - stopped me from getting sleep. In those days, I did a lot of 4 am starts or transatlantic flights, and my body craved sleep anywhere it could. Despite having a reputation of being able to sleep anywhere - including once while sitting on a scaffolding bar when Formula One cars were in full engine-roar practice mode at Silverstone - I couldn't sleep on a plane.

At the time, Bose QuietComfort was considered some of the best noise-cancelling headphones at a price that didn't - ultimately - bankrupt people. I wonder if I can look up where I bought them? My memory tells me it was at an airport where I might have benefited from a duty-free price or was desperate for some shut-eye.

The headphones were mainly used for business trips because they are transported in a hand-baggage unfriendly bulky carry case, and there are much smaller headphones when I am out and about, more generally. Most of the time, they sit at the back of a cupboard.

When next door was doing some building work in the last few years, I dug them out and tried to use them for work. But, the battery wasn't charged, and it seemed they wouldn't hold their charge like they once did. After thinking about them last night, I was determined to see if they still worked properly and if they could stay working for a few hours - which would make them still useful on a long journey.

While I charged them this morning, I looked to see if Bose offered a refurbishment service because they are in excellent condition apart from the potential battery issue. I found replacement options for the ear pads but not for the battery.

I wore them for most of the working day when I was not in a meeting. It's an odd experience working in the house with music right in my ears rather than from a speaker behind me as I couldn't hear anything else (including message alerts from my computer and the doorbell - I only knew somebody was at the door because my phone popped up a message from the bell). I'd picked an upbeat playlist to work to and I found it remarkably energising. I'm unsure if I can work without disconnecting from the world every day, but it was different and better than I expected.

I started wearing them when the associated app told me they were 80% charged. I wore them all afternoon and ended, before I left the house, with 50% (and, sitting unused until 11 pm when they were down to 40%). I am not convinced the in-app number is reliable because I need to disconnect and reconnect to get an updated number, the battery is much better than I had expected.