phone

A bit of a change for the next while

/ Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

One of the things I’ve tried to do is include at least photo with all my blog posts. I just find it more appealing. Of course, in general, this is a very photo heavy blog, since it’s also being used to document what we’re doing here on the property. We’re coming up on our 5th anniversary here, so that’s been a lot of photos!

Most of the images are taken with my cell phone, with others taken on the DSLR we have set up in the living room, though we don’t use is much anymore. With having to take down the bird feeders because of the racoons, there isn’t a lot to take photos of there anymore.

Not long ago, my husband traded his newer phone for mine, because of Bluetooth issues my phone had with the new OBDII reader he got for me. It takes better pictures, too, which is nice. It’s dimensions are also slightly larger. I carry my phone in my pocket while working outside, and quickly discovered a problem. The larger size meant it would get activated as I moved around, and I would suddenly be hearing voices from my pocket, as an app would start playing video. I could have set the lock screen, but when I’m in the middle of something and want to take a photo, I don’t usually have the time or ability to fight with a lock screen. So I got the thinnest wallet case I could find, which covered the touch screen, and that problem was solved.

After a while, though, I noticed something odd. Around where my thumb or fingers, depending on how I was holding the phone, rested while I was using it because to sort of bow towards the back of the phone. It seems that the pressure of my thumb or fingers was causing the case to be pushed away from the phone. This misaligned where the case covered the power and volume buttons, requiring more effort to use them. It may sound like a minor inconvenience, but with my osteoarthritis in my hands being so bad right now, it was actually quite painful.

Today, I decided to take the case off and see if there was some way to correct the problem.

Which is when I realized something.

It wasn’t the case that was bowing.

The back of my phone was coming loose.

Now, I didn’t remember this being there when my husband and I traded phones, but I thought I’d double check. As soon as my husband saw it, however, he just about had a fit.

It seems this happens when the battery expands, which is isn’t supposed to do. The phone could potentially explode or catch fire. !!!

Now, I happen to still think it’s actually been pulled away because of how and where I have to hold my phone with my wonky hands. The phone itself seems to be fine in all other respects.

Just in case, though, we went ahead and ordered a new phone on one of those $0 down, monthly payments for 2 years, plans. We are already in the habit of rounding up our bill payments, so there’s always a credit, but lately I’ve upped that so that enough credit was built up that, if necessary, we could skip a month’s payment or two. We’re not at that point, with any of our utility bills yet, but even with the new phone upgrade, the cell phone bill will still be under the budgeted amount.

Until it comes in, though, I won’t be using the phone I have now, nor will I take back my old phone from my husband. There’s no way I will drag around my daughter’s DSLR in case I want to take spontaneous photos, either. Aside from the bulk, I don’t want to take a chance of damaging it.

Which means that, until the new phone comes in, I won’t be taking any photos. Aside from the post I have scheduled for tomorrow morning, I won’t have any new photos to include with my posts.

Considering my WordPress media storage is at over 90% filled, I suppose that’s a good thing.

It feels weird to write a post without a photo, though. Those are often my “anchor” for what I’m writing about. Writing a post without a photo feels… naked, somehow! 😄

Ah, well. It shouldn’t take too long for the new phone to arrive. I’ll be getting a Samsung Galaxy S21. We’d had Samsung phones before and I was happy with them, but this one apparently has really excellent photo and video quality.

Not the best way to end up needing a new phone, though, that’s for sure!

The Re-Farmer

Morning kitties, new tech, tech repairs and estimates

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A few months ago, my husband got me a new OBDII reader for the van. The one I had worked, but didn’t give a lot of information. This one was supposed to be much more detailed in its reports. The problem was, I was never able to get it working. I had the app on my phone, but the Bluetooth connection just didn’t exist, as far as my phone was concerned. My husband tested it out, and it worked fine on his phone, and his tablet. After a bit of research, it turned out the problem was with my particular phone model. It was notorious for Bluetooth problems.

In the end, my husband offered to trade phones. His is a newer version of mine and does not have the issues mine was known for. Last night, he did the necessary back up, switched SIM cards and external memory cards, then did a data switch for the rest. We both then spent much of yesterday evening, getting our “new” phones working again, switching accounts and logging in to various apps.

It’s going to take some getting used to. Aside from the various difference in basic functions, what is now my phone is physically larger than the other one. Which resulting in an unexpected problem.

Lady pockets.

It is large enough that it can’t fit all the way in my pants pocket, and a corner of it sticks out. I’m going to have to be careful mucking about outside, or the darn thing is going to fall right out!

One huge benefit to the newer phone is improved camera quality.

My first test picture, taken while starting my morning rounds.

On a completely different note: Rosencrantz no longer looks pregnant, so there’s a new litter hidden away somewhere. The Distinguished Guest made an appearance this morning. Unfortunately, the patch of missing for on his shoulder is looking newly injured, and larger. I can’t get close enough to see more than a flash of red injured flesh as he runs away from me. :-(

I am zoomed in for this picture of Caramel and Broccoli on the cats’ house. Wow! With my old phone, this would have been a horrible blurry mess!

A definite step up in the photo department.

Yesterday, while checking out the trail cam files, I saw someone pull into our driveway, slip through the gate, then slip back again some time later and leave. This happened while I happened to be out, but clearly whoever it was did not knock at the door, because everyone else was home.

I suspected it was the tree removal company checking things out, so I called them again. Sure enough, it turned out to be the owner.

I’m glad I marked those trees with marking paint!

I had marked 22 dead treed. He commented on how we have SO many of them; he counted about 30 in there. I told him it was the ones closest to the house, and the one by the garage, that was my main concern. I also mentioned wanting to keep the wood to use to build garden beds. Normally, they’d take the trees down in chunks shorter than was I’m wanting. We brought it down to about 10 trees, including the one by the garage. He told me that, for a job like this, he would be sending a 4 man crew, at $400 an hour, and estimated it would take about 10 hours to do the trees closest to the house.

He didn’t hesitate at all when I starting talking about fewer trees! That’s a LOT of money. We brought it down to 5 trees closest to the house, plus the one by the garage. For that, I got an estimate of $2500.

Yeah…. we have a bit set aside, but not that much! It’s actually a very reasonable price. Four man crew, with their specialized equipment to get up into the trees, their massive chipper to take care of the branches, they’d stack the logs (or trunks, in this case) neatly aside and do a clean up at the end. Yes, it’s higher than when we got work done before, but the increased cost of fuel alone would kick their prices up.

So I asked about chipping the big pile in the outer yard – adding that there was no hurry on that, because there are kittens living in it right now. He said he would have to take a better look at the pile, and said he would swing by the next time he’s in the area.

For that job, at least, we’ll have more time to set funds aside. Because of little guys like this.

This branch pile kitten is one that I’ve been able to pick up, several times now. This morning, I was able to pick it up and pet it for a while, and when I put it down next to the food, it actually stayed and started eating, rather than running away. There is a second one I’ve been able to pick up more than one. It is less tolerant of being picked up and still hissed and spit at me, but not as much as the last time I was able to pick it up.

Along with the food I’m leaving near the branch pile, I’ve also brought an extra old baking tray over for water. It’s heavy enough to not get blown away, and shallow enough I don’t have to worry about a kitten falling in and drowning. I’ve seen the kittens drinking out of it several times, since. 😊

Hopefully, I’ll be able to grab and cuddle some of the other kittens, too, and get them at least a little big socialized!

We had some other crazy tech problems going on yesterday. It started with my not being able to get through to my mother on the phone. I don’t know it that problem was at all related, but we started to have issues with our land line gain. My brother had tried to phone me several times, and just got crackling noises. I was actually on the phone with the phone company to arrange having someone come out to fix it, when our prescription delivery arrived. He’d tried to call, too, and didn’t get through. On my new prescription, was a note to call the pharmacist about the dosages; she had tried to call me, but couldn’t get through.

The guy I was on the phone with was doing his computer stuff but had not put me on hold as he did it, so when my husband and I talked about the delivery driver’s call not getting through, and the pharmacist not being able to get ahold of me, he could hear it all.

This morning, while walking in the outer yard, about to head back inside, there was a shout from the gate.

The guy from the phone company was already here!

It took a while, but the problem was traced to corroded wires at the phone jack in my husband’s room. He had to replace wires and the jack itself. He ended up having to go back and forth into the basement a few times, but he got it working.

I’m really happy about how quickly they had someone come out. Having a working land line is really important to have out here, where cell phones and internet connections are far more likely to have issues. That and the tech guy was really nice, too. 😊

The Re-Farmer