A home-made pendant timer-alert

There are all sorts of sit­uations where one wants to keep track of time and be alerted when the time is up. The obvious example is for cooking, but there are numerous others, all of which call for a timer-alert of some sort. Even if you have found a suitable timer alert for someone with hearing loss - it is all too easy to miss its alert if called away for some reason.

My solution is making the suitable timer alert - and I stress suitable - into a pendant to be worn while the timer is in opertion.

My first and very successful attempt was with kitchen timer fridge magnets. They were sold in several bright colours shaped like medallions - see the photos - which felt right to wear with various changes of outfits.

 Fortunately, they continued to ring until their stop button was pressed, rather than just giving a single ping and the volume was acceptable when worn next to me as pendants. So I hit on the idea of buying some in a colours I liked, drilling two holes in them and threading a cord through. Then I wore one or the other as a pendant to match my clothes.

These coloured timers are hard to find in shops now, although as I write they are still available on the internet. For me, though, when my pendant timers eventually went the way of all good things after some years of good service, my hearing had deteriorated further. So that I now use a stronger alert - see the page on choosing a timer, but I still use it as a pendant.

Incidentally the timer pendant provides a useful strategy when cooking for guests. So often one has to leave the group because the meal needs attention, and yet it feels rude to do so while everyone is talking animatedly about something close to their hearts. The surreptitious ring from the pendant indicates that there is a good reason for making an exit and so gets round the need to interrupt with explanations or excuses. This strategy is so useful that a number of my hearing friends now also use it, and even their menfolk can be seen wearing the timer around the house to help them keep track of time.

The pendant timer also has the advantage that it stays with you if you are called away for any reason. Even people with normal hearing report that they have burnt some cooking because they were called away from the kitchen and missed the timer alert.

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Disclaimer: The information on this site is for a lay audience and I cannot be responsible for errors or omissions. The views, strategies, advice and suggestions etc are based on my personal experience and are not necessarily appropriate for anyone else. They should, hopefully, stimulate individuals to develop their own strategies.