Turbo Power

A while back, my trusty cell phone needed to be replaced, so I purchased a new Moto G Stylus on sale. In fact, the only reason I got that phone was that it was a pretty hefty sale, so I paid less than half the usual price for it. I'm not about to complain if I can get a smart phone for less than one hundred dollars.

As it is, I'm not a huge gadget guy, so I don't need a top of the line device. I just want something that takes phone calls, sends and receives text messages, and lets me connect to a few applications. It's a pretty simple list of requirements. Since this particular device checked all of those boxes, I was pretty happy to find this particular deal.

When I first got it, I noticed that it had a different charger than my previous phone, so I had to switch over to the new one. My new phone had a USB-C port (the one that looks like a flat, symmetrical oval), while my old one did not. Well, they sent a charger with the phone, so I just plugged it in. When I did so, I happily noted that the phone told me, "charging rapidly."

Well, great. I like a rapid charge, since it means I don't have to sit there for hours waiting for my phone to be usable. Heck, for all I know it takes the exact same amount of time, but since I think that it's charging rapidly, I'm content. In either case, I was happy to switch over to the new charger.

Fast forward a few months, and I needed to charge my phone on a random day, but the Mild Wife's phone charger was closer than mine. I don't remember why mine was out of reach, but it involved an extra walk to another room. So, out of sheer laziness, I asked the Mild Wife if I could borrow her charger. She consented, so I plugged it in.

Immediately, my phone greeted me with "Turbo power connected." My brain immediately did a double-take, since this was not a message I had seen before. Turbo power? What is that? Years of playing video games immediately made me suspect that this new charging mode was faster than my usual "rapid charge," so I sort of inspected it for a few minutes. Sure enough, my phone seemed to charge faster than usual.

As it turns out, my phone had a hidden secret when it came to the battery, and I discovered it entirely by accident. I have a turbo mode, y'all.

For a brief moment, I turned back into an eight year old, and I was picturing an old-school NES controller and a boost of speed/power on the screen. I can't even tell you what game or character I pictured, but I do know that I had a distinct mental image of pushing one of those red buttons on the NES controller. It was a brief moment of imagination, but I walked away with a fat grin on my face.

I can promise you that that won't be the last time I chuckle when plugging in my phone.