September 2014 – Not Content to Crawl

Chicago Botanic Garden

Posted onSeptember 29, 2014October 4, 20141 Comment

Sunday morning we headed to the Chicago Botanic Garden since it’s been awhile since our last visit and admission is free with our Morton Arboretum membership. I was itching to test out my new phone’s panorama feature but it doesn’t seem any better than the 4S in that respect. In fact, it seems worse, but it may be due to the drastically different lighting in the scenes I was trying to photograph since the sun had just risen. I guess what I’m saying is only time will tell for sure whether the camera is worse or better. I did try out the slo-mo video option which is pretty cool, but was disappointed to learn the only way to remain the slow motion settings is by uploading from the phone directly to YouTube.

We stopped at Smoque right when they opened to pick up some delicious BBQ beef brisket which we took home and ate while watching the Bears game. Well, Joe watched while I kinda stared off into space and ate since football doesn’t thrill me in the least. Then I worked on some of my photos.

The end of a weekend really bums me out since I always feel so incredibly happy spending time with Joe. I spent most of today cleaning the house and I’m not looking forward to the rest of the week. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful I only have to work three days a week but honestly I wish we’d just win the a Mega Millions so neither of us had to work again. I feel sorry for people who retire and don’t know what to do with themselves. I can think of plenty of things to do other than work. I only get bored when Joe isn’t around to spend time with.

Loud Teenagers, Selling My iPhone, Etc.

Posted onSeptember 29, 2014October 3, 2014

Another fabulously fun weekend has come to an end. Luckily Joe didn’t have to work on Saturday so we actually had two days together.

But first we had to get through Friday night’s high school football game to see E in the marching band. It seems like every time we go to a game the crowd gets worse and worse. This time there was a teenage girl sitting next to me who kept flipping her head around so fast to look at her classmates sitting behind her that was I literally getting slapped in the face by her long ponytail! I wish I was making this up! And even though I kept moving away from her she managed to keep moving closer to me. She also elbowed me several times and kicked my water bottle onto the ground without any apology. The kids sitting behind us kept kneeing me in the back and screaming in our ears as well. By the time half-time came around I was ready to assault someone. We left the bleachers and went down by the fence to watch E’s performance before leaving. I have absolutely no desire to go to another game ever again but if we have to, I will just stand by the field instead of subject myself to the rude and obnoxious behavior of teenagers. I just can’t believe how loud and fidgety they all were! My god, it made me so anxious! I was so incredibly happy to get back to the calm solitude of our home.

Saturday started out with a trip to the doctor because Joe’s arm has been hurting him. He may have torn something lifting weights so she gave him a referral to a specialist. She also ordered some blood work and EKG because he’s 45 now and it’s been awhile since the former and I guess with his age she wanted to check his heart with the latter. We headed straight over to the hospital to get both tests out of the way since we were close and he just so happened to have been unintentionally fasting which was required of the blood tests.

Once we were done with all that we met up with a guy who was interested in buying my iPhone 4S which I had posted on Craigslist. I was initially asking for $250 when I posted it last weekend but wasn’t getting any interest because there were a ton of people selling the same phone in my area. I bumped it down to $199 and he asked if $170 was ok. Seeing as though I paid $200 and used it for three years I was fine with that. I even threw in three cases and a portable battery because they were useless to me now anyway. The guy was nice and was purchasing the phone for his niece to play games on as she’s only six years old. He was telling us how he spoils her.

It feels weird to no longer have the phone, but I’m sure I’ll get over it soon. I actually had a dream about it the other night and started feeling anxious about getting rid of it. Does this happen to anyone else where they become attached to an inanimate object? I think this is why I never ended up selling my iPhone 3GS which is now collecting dust. I pulled it out yesterday and charged it and it felt so small yet heavy! I’m actually giving it away to Brother #1 to play games on. Once I get over the weird sense of loss I will be happy to not have these useless devices sitting around the house. I’m feeling overwhelmed by all the stuff we have so anything I can find a new home for is a good thing.

After selling my phone we decided to pay Cosley Zoo a visit since I’d been itching to take some photos.

I really wish I had a longer zoom lens, though. I checked last night and Canon released a ton of new rebates but unfortunately they’re for L lenses (the big expensive white ones that typically go for $1200+). What a bummer!

On the way home we checked out the new Caputo’s grocery store that opened on Thursday. It’s now the closest grocery store to the house and technically within walking distance although I wouldn’t brave crossing the busy intersection it’s on to walk there. It’s sectioned off in an interesting way and I haven’t decided whether I like it or find it obnoxious. It was super busy which sucked but we’d probably shop there early morning (they open at 6 am every day) anyway so it shouldn’t be much of an issue. Plus it will come in handy on those occasions where I’m missing a key ingredient for dinner and don’t want to spend a fortune at Target since it’s usually produce which is way overpriced there.

iPhone 6 & iOS 8 Review

Posted onSeptember 26, 2014September 26, 2014

It’s been a week since I got my new iPhone and it’s safe to say I’m in love. What do I love about it? It’s easier to say what I don’t love, and that’s pretty much nothing. ;)

Ok, to be honest the only thing that has me a little worried is reports of the phone getting bent in people’s pockets. It seems to be happening more with the iPhone 6 Plus, but I’m sure it can happen to either phone since they are thin and made of aluminum. I got the smaller of the two so I could still fit it into my front pocket but it’s rather snug in my jeans so now I’m really nervous about putting it in there. I’ve spent HOURS on Etsy trying to find the perfect little pouch that means my very specific criteria which is as follows:

1 – Closes at the top (whether that be via snap, velcro, or button with a bungie cord, I really don’t care).
2 – Has the ability to add a strap to turn it into a wristlet and/or crossbody purse.
3 – Has a way to attach it to a belt loop.
4 – Pattern is appealing.

I have yet to find one that matches all that criteria and price is not an object (within reason; but everything I see is below $50 anyway).

Ok, so here’s my review of the phone itself.

Predictive keyboard – This feature is awesome! As I’ve written here before, I suck at typing on my phone (or any digital device, really) and between the larger keys and the suggestions, I rarely have to type out a full word. I love that! It saves time and aggravation and is much better than the iPhone just auto correcting words since it likes to change correct ones to incorrect ones (at least for me).

Larger screen – Love that it’s easier to read text, plus I gained two extra rows of apps per page over my old phone.

Battery life – I used my phone on and off all day at work and when I got home it was around 60% whereas my old phone would have been almost dead. I’m not sure is an actual improvement over the 4S or just because the phone and battery is brand new opposed to three years old. In any case, now that you can view which apps are using up the battery, I have turned off Facebook and Facebook Messenger notifications as they were eating up 36% and 25% of my battery life respectively. eBuddy XMS (the app I use to chat with Joe) is also a battery killer but until I find a better alternative I will have to deal with it. I just wish I could pick certain apps to override the volume settings on the phone so that even if the volume isn’t turned all the way up the notifications from my chat app would still be at full volume.

Touch ID is frickin awesome! I let my phone lock within a minute because it saves on battery plus it’s so effortless to unlock it. I hated having to type in my pass code all the time. Plus I can use Touch ID to download apps which rocks because my Apple password is letters and numbers and switching back and forth between the two on the keyboard is annoying.

The camera is amazing and a very noticeable improvement over the 4S. I don’t feel the need to post-process anything before uploading it to Facebook. I’m impressed with the detail it picks up even in lower light situations and the focus appears to be spot on without any input from me. I am itching to make use of the panorama feature as that was always good even on the old phone so I suspect it will be even more awesome on this new one.

I haven’t really tested the video quality yet as I just learned this morning that if you want to shoot in 60fps (i.e. full HD) you need to turn that on in the settings.

I was having a weird issue where if I had the phone in landscape orientation with the volume buttons facing down, the red record button wouldn’t respond when I pressed it. After speaking to an Apple rep and updating to iOS 8.0.2 this morning that issue is now gone. Whew!

The larger screen has made me want to play games on my phone again so if anyone has recommendations, please post a comment!

Bats & Clues

Posted onSeptember 22, 2014

I have a cold. I’ve actually had a sore throat since last Wednesday but no other cold symptoms until yesterday when my nose and eyes started running and I started sneezing often. Last night I went to bed at 9:30 pm and slept until 8 am, yet I’m still tired!

Despite not feeling well the weekend was pretty good. Friday night after dinner I ran to the AT&T store to get a case for my new phone. They didn’t have much of a selection but the guy showed us what he called the overstock drawer and I spotted the purple case I showed off in the last entry. Now I just need to get my hands on a spare lightning cable for use in my car and/or at the office and a 30-pin to lightning adapter so I can still use my spare portable battery when needed. I’m not a big hurry since I don’t anticipate having to charge my phone multiple times a day until it’s at least a year old.

Saturday afternoon E’s mom dropped him off and we played Angry Bird Star Wars II on the Wii until Joe got home from work. Then I made spaghetti and meatballs and my SIL joined us for dinner. She brought my favorite dog, Bella, along to visit. They are both moving back to Arizona in two weeks which sucks.

After dinner we played Catchphrase which I had borrowed from the library. It’s very similar to Taboo except for the annoying beeping when you’re trying to think of a clue. Plus after several rounds we were getting all the same clues already. After we grew tired of the game we switched to Uno Attack.

After my SIL left we watched the Christmas Vacation movie since E had never seen it.

Sunday morning Joe and I went to Target while E stayed home to play video games. I came across these self-adhesive bats in the Halloween section and bought all three boxes they had left. I had seen them last year and by the time I decided to get them they were completely sold out. With my 20% Cartwheel discount they were only $4 each. I love bats and can’t wait to put these up! I also got some Martha Stewart ones from Michael’s for around $6 so we’ll see how they compare.

I also couldn’t resist this cute owl insulated cup. I have a few I bought years ago and the seal on them is now broken so I plan to use this one for work.

After our lengthy Target trip we played CLUE – Big Bang Theory with E and had pizzas (Target’s Market Pantry brand aren’t bad for $2.50 each; we tried them on recommendation of a coworker of mine) before dropping E off at home.

Today I ran to the library to drop off some stuff that was due and picked up a couple of books to read. I also stopped at Target to grab some cold medicine since I finished what we had last night. I love drinking that stuff; you go off to la-la land quickly. I hope to get some extra rest tonight since it’s back to work tomorrow.

iPhone 6 Case

Posted onSeptember 19, 2014

I ran out to the AT&T store tonight to look at cases since I was afraid to take my new phone out of my pocket (which thankfully, it still fits inside) otherwise. I ended up buying the tough case by Case Mate in purple (naturally).

It doesn’t add much extra weight or thickness which is perfect. It’s actually the most expensive iPhone case I’ve ever purchased at $30 but it was well worth it to protect my $400 phone!

I’m loving the new screen size and features of iOS 8 so far too. I haven’t been able to test out the camera yet, though, because traditionally the first photo I always take with my new iPhone is of Joe and he got home late. So tomorrow I’ll be testing it out on the rats taking photos and videos in natural light.