I think

I slept a grand total of one and a half hours last night, even though I went to bed at 10:30 pm. I couldn't breathe well at all, and I started coughing up stuff every time I laid down. I tried sleeping propped up. That didn't help. I changed CPAP masques and that did, a bit. But generally it was a miserable night, and I seriously considered going to the emergency room, but I figured I wasn't dizzy or starting to turn blue, so I was getting enough air. I considered the fact that I could have a cold, but it didn't feel like one at all. I don't feel sick, or have that feeling one gets with a virus. Everything is in my chest, which is tight, I'm wheezing and coughing, and I just feel like I can't get my breath, like something's standing on my chest, and I'm coughing up whitish gunk (which, at least, isn't green or ye;low). My nose has had a little congestion, but really nothing beyond my normal allergies. Today it cleared up for awhile starting about 9 am, but then worsened later in the afternoon and into the evening, especially when I was driving around doing errands with YKWIA after work. He urged me to call our doctor tomorrow and make an appointment. He has experience with asthma and has had some medical training and even worked in a hospital for years caring for patients, so I should listen to him when he says this is not normal. I'll call tomorrow.

Also today, T-Mobile released the Android Marshmallow 6.01 update for the Samsung Galaxy S5, and so I updated my operating system. For some reason my Day and Night Live wallpaper isn't showing up in Daydream mode anymore [their notes on their Google Play storefront state that Marshmallow is not yet supported for this, so hopefully it will be soon]. It was the one application I had that had special Daydream features. Some applications no longer have their normal icons, all of them ones that are partly on the SD card, instead showing just a little Android. I see applications are listed in internal and external storage,but not how to switch them like I could on Lollipop. [update: I figured that out later, and if you move the application back to internal storage, the icon pops back up]. On the other hand, things are much faster, even though I now have used 13 GB of 16 GB of my internal storage. Actually, even while updating, it specifically said it was optimising 320 applications. :) I don't have that many downloaded, though, so some are preloaded. And is it silly that while the update happened, I was amused by the little Android figure with its antennae twitching back and forth?

I'm listening to a Duran Duran station on Pandora.  I am breathing a little better with the CPAP on and the air conditioning running. I hope this clears up soon!

[2 am update: sorry for the previous errors, which are now hopefully taken care of. There are certain hazards to blogging on your phone quickly (I never learned to type quickly on a virtual keyboard, but rather learned to swipe along the more sophisticated Android keyboards, and so I can go pretty quickly, but sometimes autocorrect is not my friend). Proofreading while you're not really feeling your best is not conducive to good writing, either. Okay, I've had some water and done something that required being up in the middle of the night for someone. Now it's time to go back to bed. At least I was able to sleep for about two hours before I woke up in a coughing fit.]

I certainly found it so

Uninstalling Facebook app saves up to 20% of Android battery life: Facebook’s Android app negatively impacts performance and battery life, even when it’s only running in the background, users find

Frustrated by having to charge my Samsung Galaxy S5's battery by noon in order to have any juice by evening and preventing the phone from shutting itself down by dinnertime, I removed Facebook, Messenger, and a few other applications that I was using infrequently. The results? At the vvery least about 30%-50% or more battery at bedtime, and not having to charge during the day at all. I can still check social media through my Chrome browser. I rarely used Messenger, anyway, and it was a space hog as well. In fact, now that I removed those applications and backed up my photos from my SD card to the computer, I now have about a fourth of my internal storage and half of my SD card free again (several of the applications were partly stored on the SD card). And things are opening a lot faster. Yay!

Whew!!!!

Just put a security update on my phone and it optimized no less than 300 apps at the end.  300? Is that excessive, do you think?  I'm glad I have expandable storage on the Samsung Galaxy S5. (The lack of that was a major reason I didn't upgrade to the S6 this past year.)

But wait...I freaked out for a moment, as it was telling me that the apps on The SD card didn't exist and it was displaying their icons in grey, but the phone restarted and now everything appears to be back and working. Yay!!!

Downloading

An update to my phone that fixes,  among other things,  the Stagefright bug.  I'm hoping it will also fix some lagging issues I've had in Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. Thank you, T-mobile. Wish me luck!

PS: I fell asleep while it was updating, and two hours later awoke with the phone on my chest (no, it didn't take that long to update!) The lagging is gone, and the bug fixes apparently helped. Yay!

Well, I'm chugging along

The package was over at their house when I got there, so I snagged that. I called and left a message for them so they'd know, and then I called my mom and arranged the visit with her. I'm sitting here with the tree all lit up (okay, so yes, my holiday was Sunday, but still...I'm in the holiday spirit), and I have everything ready for latkes tomorrow. Friday morning I'm going to work on the bills and other errands I have, and then head to Danville sometime in the afternoon to see my mom. Saturday I'll work on the game notes and finish up working on the house, hopefully. Sunday there's the game prep and the game.

Google Now on my phone sends me cards with stories it thinks I might like, and today there was one on Samsung producing a video with emphasis on the fact that the Samsung Galaxy S5 (which I have) is water-resistant, that I thought was cute. There's also one about the phone and Christmas sweaters. I'm not a Christmas sweater kind of girl, but I did find it interesting. Let me share them here:





Yes, silly, I know.

Okay, it's time to get back to doing things around here, and wrapping a present for my mom that I cleverly found a way to provide without current funds. In case I don't write again, if you do celebrate Christmas, may you have a wonderful 'silent night' and enjoy your holiday, and also I hope everyone who celebrates Chanukah had a fun time with it.

It's been so quiet at work this week

Although I am the only librarian in the library, there is another person who is my cubicle-mate who oversees an outcomes programme, and a research director in what used to be my storage closet. This week, the cubicle-mate is away visiting relatives for a wedding, and the other person worked Monday and Tuesday, but is off the rest of the week, so needless to say, with the exception of an occasional printout (the library has the two main copiers, a heavy-duty black-and-white one, and a colour one). It's been quiet enough that instead of listening to music while I do the data entry job on my earphones, I've been listening (softly) via the speakers. But, when that happens, and someone calls me, the music cuts out as its supposed to for the call, but there's crackling and popping on the other end and the person can't hear me unless I hold the phone directly in front of my face and speak into the microphone, if that. I recently had an update to my phone via my carrier. Granted, the reception is not always great in the hospital, but I have better luck than most because I have windows. It hasn't happened before. It doesn't seem to be an issue when I'm elsewhere, but I haven't been listening to music anywhere else, either. I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 with Android 4.2.2, with the latest firmware T-Mobile is providing. Any ideas? I did look through the settings and there was noise-cancellation feature (like if there's a siren or something in the background) that I turned off, thinking that the copiers or some other background noise could be working with that to cause the problem. But I doubt it. I don't think they've been printing at that point, and if anything, it's been quieter in the library this week than normal. So, I'm thinking it may have been the update, which was supposed to bring greater stability to the system, and I'm not sure, audio may have been affected. I searched for anything like this problem, and I haven't found anything as of yet. The latest update was yesterday; there was another a couple of weeks ago, I think. What I really wish is that they would go ahead and upgrade me to Android 4.4.4, or at least 4.4.3!

A quick review of the Samsung Galaxy S5

Things I like about the S5 (some of the features are based on 4.4.2 Kit Kat software, which is what I have on it). My last phone was a Samsung Galaxy S3, so it's a comparison to that:

1. Appearance: I like the dimpling on the back, which if out of case, makes it easier to hold. I got the white one, since I wasn't able to go over there on the first day due to the Chicago trip, and they just had white rather than black. But that's fine, I put them in cases anyway, and bought an Incipio lavender and grey case that works really well.
2. Much faster processing power than my S3.
3. The battery life. On an average day, my S3 was dead in the water without a boost by the end of the day. Today my S5 is greater than 50% without any charging and its almost midnight, and that's using a live wallpaper.
4. Having a shortcut to the camera on the lockscreen (yes, even when locked with PIN or fingerpint), although sometimes it takes more than one swipe.
5. The heart monitor/fitness application and ability to work with Samsung Fit (which I do not have, but can see how it would be a benefit for some).
6. The ability to add home screens (up to 7) and organize applications into folders even in the applications area (not just the home screens).
7. The camera is much better than my old S3.
8. The phone is rated for water. It is less likely to die if dropped into something wet, etc.
9. It comes with a quick charger that is two-pronged USB 3.0 but still takes a normal USB car charger or other charger, as the right half of the two prongs is the regular USB socket.
10. It comes with a very sturdy pair of ear phones that have volume buttons and an on/off button on the for easy volume control. Unlike some that come with ear buds, these have equal length, rather than the ones that are shorter on one side (those drive me crazy).

Things I dislike about the S5:

1. The cover over the USB charging port means it doesn't fit my dock anymore and the stupid thing will probably break at some point, as it's not very sturdy-looking, being kept on by a small rubber loop. Of course, this probably does have something to do with that waterproof rating.
2. It's a little hard to find wallets or purses with phone pouches that will fit the phone with a case on, because of its size. With my Incipio case on, for example, the dimensions are 5 3/4" x 3 1/8" x 9/16" . I did have a Vera Bradley all-in-one crossbody, and it did fit in the pocket without a case on at all, but the idea of going out without a case really defeated the point of using it daily, so I sold the wallet to a co-worker whose iPhone (much smaller) fit with a case. I won't give up, though. In the meantime, I've ordered a little $10 case from Amazon that has credit card slots and a space for cash (not change) and a wristlet, where you can still access the camera, heart-rate monitor, and speaker. I've also ordered a fitness holder for putting on your arm while walking.
3. The left-handed settings key being made a 'recent' key instead, like it was in Ice Cream Sandwich. I really wish Google would make up its mind over this. The settings key is frankly more useful. I've very rarely used the recent button in any iteration of Android I've had, and I've experienced Froyo, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, and now Kit Kat.

Things I'm a bit indifferent on:

1. Fingerprint scanning: It is a great idea, impressive when it works, and it does work, but sometimes it works better than others. Trying to unlock it outside in the snow was impossible this morning. Getting it at just the right angle seems key. Plus, if it doesn't work after so many tries, you don't go to your PIN if you have one set up, but rather a backup password which is longer and a mix of letters and numbers, and that takes longer in the long run to get into the phone.
2. Samsung has replaced Google Now (which intuitively provides 'cards' related to your e-mails, shopping, searches, etc.) with 'My Magazine' to the left of the home screens, which is a Flipboard-like news magazine. Unfortunately, it is more annoying than useful. However, you can customise content within its settings and actually remove it from display (you do this by long-pressing on a homescreen blank area, go to Home screen settings from the bottom of the screen and uncheck the box under My Magazine that says 'View all My Magazine updates in one place on the home screen'. You can access Google Now by pressing on search field for Google, but you can't add a widget to the home screen for Google Now like we used to have.
3. The inability to move applications to the SD card. I'm a bit indifferent on this because I wasn't doing it. I did a lot when I had Froyo, then Ice Cream Sandwich took the ability away except for very large applications. Then Jelly Bean restored the ability, but I used my SD card primarily for music, pictures, and documents, along with data from some applications. So I was able to just transfer my card without any issues.

Is it really worth the price of upgrading to a new phone? The jury's out on that. From an S4 to an S5, unless you really wanted to get the heart-rate monitor or something, probably not. From the S3, I think its performance and the fact that the S3 will not probably receive much in the way of new updates, it was worth it. It is much faster, has a much better battery, etc. You can get a battery cover that will allow for wireless charging (I'm not sure that's available for the S4). I just wish I could use my dock, which I use to play music at night and route it through my boom box by the bed, then wake up to alarms that are louder since it's got the boom box speakers to boost them. I did try with the little door pushed all the way back, and it did plug up, but it didn't charge or actually connect. So, no dock, and I don't see one listed for the S5 anywhere, probably because of that little annoying door.

Carriers vary in their offers, of course. I got mine down with 40% down and $15 a month, with no contract, and with T-Mobile's Jump, which not only insures the phone but which, once it's paid half off (which will be three months for me, since I went ahead and put so much down), I could technically upgrade to a new phone in three months. But I do like this one overall and will probably keep it for awhile, anyway. Anyway, I thought this might be useful for someone looking to upgrade. And that My Magazine tip doesn't appear on any of the forums I've found as of yet, but I came across it and thought I'd share. If you want to enable My Magazine after disabling it, just re-check that box.

This weekend I:

1. Upgraded my phone to a new Samsung Galaxy S5.
2. Learned to use the new features and Kit Kat 4.4.2.
3. Added my applications from Google Play and Amazon onto the new phone, put them in order, and created screens of widgets.
4. Went to the library, picking up an interlibrary loan and hold, and giving back an ILL book and a DVD they'd sent me by mistake.
5. Picked up a book I'd ordered for a friend from Barnes & Noble.
6. Prepared my crossbody wallet for a co-worker who's interested in buying it, changing my cards, etc., over to a plain wallet. I've only had it for a short time, and it's a pretty Vera Bradley, but the new phone doesn't fit with its case, and probably not without it, either. The other one barely did, and it was two models back and smaller. If anyone knows one that would fit a Galaxy S5, let me know. This one had a wallet, the pocket for the phone, a wristlet, and strap across the body. I will miss it. It's great for not having to bring my whole purse with me to stores, etc., or wandering around work (my phone keeps track of my steps, and sadly, I don't always have pockets.
7. Spent time over at my friends' house, where I (in no particular order):
   1. Watched The Bad Seed (again), bits and pieces of 'Law & Order', Take the Lead, 'The Astonishing X-Men', and some of an animated movie of Doctor Strange.
   2. Took a friend to the grocery.
   3. Hung sheers and drapes.
   4. Cleaned their house.
   5. Did my laundry.
   6. Ate carryout from Texas Roadhouse.

So it's been a fairly busy weekend, but fun, and it was nice to be back in beautiful Lexington with friends. Now I'm cooling off (hot again) and will probably turn in for bed. Good night.