The Bells, the doorbells.

First impressions are very important.

I was brought up by parents who themselves had come through life with a very high emphasis placed on smartness, politeness, speaking when spoken too and general good manners.

Even though me and my siblings did our best to scuff, muddy up and thoroughly abuse our footwear it was always the case that we would leave for school with a well polished pair of shoes. We were a rough and tough adventurous group of kids and became regularly soiled from our exploits in the fields surrounding our housing estate, in the bottom of ditches in pursuit of sticklebacks, frog spawn and water boatmen, falling off our bikes into dirty puddles and from really getting involved in games of football or wider ranging battles with the smelly children from the other side of town.

Whatever state we returned home in you can be assured that within a few minutes we were scrubbed up good and proper so as to be fit and ready to recieve what we thought was royalty, but was usually our Grandparents or Aunts and Uncles on a regular weekly visit.

The application of a shoe brush, plain soap and water and a comb looked after our outward appearance.

Our parents also made sure that we knew our pleases and thank you's and that we spoke clearly. Such things made a very good impression on our elders and became second nature to us.

This upbringing has served us well through our adult lives. It may even have got me my first proper job against more experienced candidates. I came over well in the interview because the prospective employers were obviously like minded with my parents generation and I blagged it on the basis of shiny shoes and good diction.

Many may call it a case of bullshit baffles brains but I am convinced that it was actually a strategy enacted over the previous 25 years of my life.

Now, in the second decade of the 21st Century, first impressions remain important although you are more likely to be judged on the type of car you drive, the designer label of your clothes or even down to what mobile phone or tablet you have on display prominently. It is all, as they say "top-show" but just watch or listen to a soundbite in the media and a thousand wannabees are actively engaged in making it in the big time on this very same false pretence.

I am not trying to put myself forward as an old school type. In fact I am a total hypocrite in this first impression beauty parade and this no more evident than in my latest purchase.

A doorbell, or rather wireless electronic door chimes.

There is nothing more annoying than calling at a house and pressing the bell with no reaction whatsoever from the occupants. Of course they may think that, dressed in a suit, I am trying to sell them a domestic appliance, Wowcher or religion and could simply be hiding away until I give up and leave.

 I get the message if the dog goes ballistic behind the letter box and then falls silent on the command of its owner lying prone on the floor below the living room window cill.

At the other extreme I can be standing on the step, face to face with the home owner and yet we cannot engage in conversation until the last few bars of "Yellow Rose of Texas" has completed and then just leaving an awkward silence.

Some chimes are plain nasty, cheap and tinny whilst others are akin to a full orchestra in the entrance hall. I have not had much luck with recent purchases of doorbells. This may be down to just going for the cheapest at B&Q and in chimes you do get what you pay for. The instruction leaflet is far too detailed for such an uncompromising item. I just want to put in the batteries, fix up the push button and receiver and get on with my life.

Oh no, it is necessary to train the equipment in its wireless capabilities so that it can recognise the chosen frequency and not interrupt or interfere with other similar products in the same street. The choice of tunes is also daunting but on a cheap version it can be very difficult to differentiate or even identify the source material.

My last doorbell was acquired to help us to sell the house so as not to miss any viewers who may have given up on the doorstep. It broke quickly and many callers found it unnerving when I opened the door quickly even before they had lifted a digit to press the bell. It must have come over as being a bit desperate or just downright creepy and may have contributed to our 24 months on the market before getting an offer.

I have bought the new chimes for our buyers. They may not like the choice and range but I am reassured by having spent more than four times my usual allocated budget on doorbells or in other terms, as much on one item as laid out in the last 18 years.

I did not of course follow the instructions but just fixed it to the wall in the prescribed locations and it works well in my opinion.

It is the same make and model apparently as our adjoining neighbours. Funny though, whenever someone announces their presence on my doorstep with a press on the back lit button it appears that my good neighbours think it is for them and open their door only to be annoyed at an apparent case of kids "knocking off ginger" or whatever those smelly children from the other side of town used to get up to.