1. A small boy with white blonde hair sitting on the front steps of a house. His mother was trying to coax a smile out of him for a photograph -- I wonder if it was his first day at school: he was holding, very unwillingly, a little satchel.
2. The secure feeling from replacing the battery in the smoke alarm.
3. My electronic organiser is not working -- it switches itself on, gobbling battery. I suspect a faulty on-off switch, possibly jammed with sand and whatever else its found in my handbag. I envisage unhelpful technical support staff saying: 'You kept it where?' followed by expensive repairs that leave me organiserless and in disarray for weeks. But then I check the help section of the manufacturer's website and discover an entry for: 'It keeps switching itself on in January'. Hurrah for known issues with simple fixes.
