Ear Buds
See the Leo (2022) and see also, Pisces (2013).
Ear Buds
I looked back, pretty sure I bought this particular pair of Apple Air Pods when Mercury was retrograde. As replacement, not new tech, but identical replacement? Sure, OK. I knew what I was getting, as that set replaced an older pair, part of the original release. The newer ones were version two, maybe? Same shape, same style, same type of case, just seemed a little better?
They worked, and looking, after more than two years? I was wondering why one started to die, first time in the morning right at an hour and ten minutes. Not the first time this has happened, but it’s just the one earpiece. Just the right one. Died — after a full charge — right at 1:10 mark.
I was talking to a Gemini, a series of Gemini people, one morning couple of weeks back. Different generations, similar challenges. The first ear bud died. I dropped it back in the charging case. Eventually rang off and answered the next Gemini. Ear bud died three times, and with only a partial charge, didn’t last an hour. Three Gemini, same problems, and the batteries were worn out after the first one.
Two more calls like that, and twice more, the right ear bud going from half-full to dead battery without notice.
“Beep-beep,” dead.
This is tech I bought when Mercury was in arrears. It was a re-placement, not new, and my expectations were fully met. Worked, has worked, has worked well for over two years. Think I got my money’s worth. Over two years, and only then they starting to show problems with the batteries.
Over the birthday break, talking with family, the left earbud died, twice, three times maybe, showing half-battery then suddenly dead at the 50-minute mark. More recently, at the 30-minute mark.
I’ve toyed with various telephony handset/headset arrangements this whole career. So far, the wireless earbuds seem to be best, and for my dollar-to-value ratio, the Apple AirPods have worked better, and those are the original generation, maybe these that are dying are gen two, but it’s the same design. My primary goal is efficiency.
Hear, talk, battery life is secondary, and at one point, I was looking for the “noise cancelling” features, as part of this set-up. I tried a set of over-ear (ear muff) Bluetooth with forward facing microphone, and they worked, but almost too well. For me, ear buds are the way to go.
With the impending demise of the current tech, I was stuck, casting about, looking, and wondering.
A summary of what I know that works for me? In-ear, wireless with microphone, and easy device linking. Apple’s AirPods work, I know that. Other contenders that are highly ranked, and possible? Beats, Beats Pro, Bose, and unknown.
I still entertain a number of clients. Not exactly dwindling in size, either. I am not opposed, for the right fee, to stand in front of my monitor, gaze at astrology charts, and make observations about planet energies and their dances as they interact, playing out dramas here on earth.
astrofish.net/shop
While technically not required? The ear buds make this task ever so much more convenient. There’s a freedom of movement, a sense that the voices are in my own head, and it does tend to cut out the noise from the neighborhood’s lawn mowers and leaf blowers. How they time those with my readings? It’s a conspiracy1 I’ll never understand.
The fineprint.
One interim set of ear buds I used? Less than $20, wireless, the two earpieces were connected by a wire with a microphone and button bank about a third of the way down on one side. It’s a fairly common design. Worked great, but were short-lived, lasting less than six month. Battery life was good enough for a trip to Austin, at an hour plus, and I don’t recall, maybe back again? Battery/wire something wore out.
The first set of Apple AirPods were over a $100, and as a toy, I got a rubber or plastic strap that held them together, worried that I would lose one. Never happened, and that plastic band proved untenable, and eventually, really useless.
The on-neck, or whatever that is, the wrap-around design? That would bug me in a matter of minutes.
When I face a decision I’m unsure about, and when Mercury is Retrograde, it’s a perfect time to grapple with ideas, pose questions, and look for answers. I don’t have to have an answer at the time.
Part of the recollection about earbuds was the first one, an earpiece that stuck out like mushroom, but it was one of the earliest, and I liked it. Didn’t cost a lot, and functioned, again, for a short period, but the cost-to-efficacy ratio demonstrated that it was a workable idea. It wasn’t until I thought about that early device, a single earpiece for talk and listening to the Shakespeare podcasts? I realized what the answer probably will be.
From that dying battery in a single AirPod? I could easily pop a single ear bud out and continue with just the other, and the Apple integration? Seamless. Doesn’t miss a beat.
Which, in part, is why there was one ear bud with a battery in hospice while the other one works fine, and the case battery is still good. There was a time, the trip to and from Austin, I would have single earbud in, to better talk with fishing buddies, clients, and family, all the while navigating some of the worst traffic in the world.
Traffic’s not that bad, but the drivers are.
The current car does the “hands-free” thing, so it’s not as much of an issue. Still, goes to show something.
Ear Buds
- Apple AirPods gen x.
- Apple AirPods gen y.
- Apple AirPods gen z?
I checked them all, Target, Walmart, Amazon, Apple.
Glad I picked up my replacements the last time Mercury was retrograde.
Ear buds & Mercury Retrograde
- “Look! Kramer’s on the phone! Fire up the leaf blower!” ↩
