Just in time

With only 5% charge in his phone and relying on Google Maps for finding Miss.S's home and to return back.....

This is my second shopping mission in East London but required better navigational skills, and it was a race against time. This mission taught me how relying too much on my phone for everything would have been a single point of failure.

The previous shopping missions I had done had the same templates. Meet them, collect the shopping list and cash, plan contingency/substitutes for the items, complete the shopping, and go back home. This one was all contactless. So I need to call them, note down the shopping list, pay by my card, give the bills and items back, and get the money reimbursed from GoodGym. It was already mentioned in the mission description.

My phone beeped that the battery is below 20%. I called Miss.S from a coffee shop after completing my Hackney mission and Miss.S told me the list. Though the line was not clear, Miss.S was patiently repeating the items and I noted them down on a piece of paper. I confirmed the list multiple times. I thought the list would breach the £30 limit and agreed with Miss.S that I would call her again from the shop after collecting all the items and if the total bill exceeds the limit.

I made a stop at Poundland and bought the two items needed, and it went quickly. Then went to Tesco Extra and did the remaining shopping. As expected, it was reaching £45+ pounds. So I called Miss.S and suggested what items needs to be dropped to make it under £30. When I made the payment with Google Pay at the till, my phone asked me to put my phone in battery saver mode as it hit 10%.

It's a 25-min walk from Tesco to Miss. S's home. I pulled up Google Maps and looked for the shortest route. It was a nice walk along the canals listening to my favorite music. 10 mins in I realized I was listening to music, from my phone, via Bluetooth headphones. With only 5% charge in my phone and relying on Google Maps for finding Miss.S's home and to return back safely, I quickly turned off Bluetooth, data, and GPS and started walking at a faster pace toward Miss. S's home. Miss.S was already at the doors by the time I rang the doorbell. I gave the items and the bills and Miss.S was a bit surprised that I managed to find the house with ease. My phone buzzed 3%.

So I put my phone in ultra power saving mode and was tracing my route back to the Canada Water Underground station with memory alone. After tapping Google Pay to enter the Canada Water station, I then switched off my phone and only switched it on after an hour, when I exited at the West Ealing station.