THE KETTLE-BASED REVOLUTION

"The hot water boiler's broken... again!" said Louise, slumping into her chair with an empty mug.

"Wasn't it only just fixed?" I asked.

"Wednesday," she replied.

I laughed, then realised it wasn't funny.

"Sorry," I apologised, "It's not that funny. Maybe though, everyone will see the light and join my kettle-boiling revolution..."

I admit, it's not really a revolutionary idea, boiling water in the kettle. In fact, some might argue that it is in fact the traditional way, and has been since the invention of the electric kettle at the end of the Nineteenth Century. If anything, it's the hot water boiler, permanently attached to pipes in the wall and supplying a constant flow of readily available boiling H₂0, who is the revolutionary here.

However, even after the engineer ripped it apart and fixed it the other day, this permanent plastic revolutionary is broken for the second time in a week.

And everyone's using the kettle.

"It's a great way to take a few moments, to sit back and take stock, remember where you are and build a little patience... it's all about those chillout minutes," I said, rolling up my sleeves.

As you know, I use the kettle even when the hot water boiler is working. Not only do you get a few minutes to breathe, or chat to someone about Islam in the middle ages or a forthcoming trip around South America with fellow birdwatchers, but you also get actual boiling water for your tea, instead of the tepid, limescale-filled, bubbling effluent that gushes out of the plastic tap on the front of that new-fangled machine.

The truth is of course, that the kettle-based revolution is only part of a much larger idea that runs throughout my thoughts this week.

That is that it's OK not to be dependent on technology, to switch it off sometimes and remind yourself who you are and the great big world you live in. True, it might be a message just for me. That's OK - I don't mind being taught that lesson and I'm not suggesting that we all ought to throw away our phones and our computers and join the Amish.

I think it's all about balance, and I think sometimes it's quite easy to get out of balance without realising.

And in fact, that's what a revolution is for, isn't it? It's supposed to restore some balance - whether it's returning power to the people after years of oppression, or disempowering a plastic perma-boiler on the wall of an office kitchen.

"Thank God the coffee machine is still working," said someone, emerging from the kitchen.

I shook my head and smiled.