Post by Steve on Nov 8, 2019 8:31:46 GMT -8
It's time for a review.m What worked, what could be better. Not talking about anything more than how to spend your time.
The big thing for me was keeping from being bored to tears! No computer? I spend 12 hours a day using my Mac. No TV? Not a big deal except for wanting some news. Oh, the radio will serve, right? Maybe you have a better radio than I had? With all the advances in computers, digital music and videos, smartphones with loads of power, how did radios get left behind? Granted, it was literally the last one on the shelf, so obviously I had no opportunity to test it. It was only $20, and since it was a CD player with AM/FM radio included, I knew it was not going to have great performance. But all I wanted was some local weather news, maybe a chance to hear a Kings game> Sports radio must be a certainty, right?
I had my iPhone and iPad all charged up, I was ready. I had actually loaded a few audio books, one on the iPhone, two on the iPad. Plus I had added many playlists of music on the iPad. I knew I even had some old videos. In a pinch I could watchBreaking Bad again. I was set.
Here comes the discovery! Techno-Boy sat here and found I had not tested my set-up. Most of my files were only icons that would play when they connected to the real file in the Cloud! I had failed to think it through. Happy that I had some files really ON my devices, but mad I had been too casual and failed to turn OFF my wi-fi before the power down so I could prove I had the actual working files loaded.
The good news was that I did have an audio book on my phone, and I had a number of songs to listen to. So I kept myself entertained for the day, even as I watched the battery level on my iPhone dropping. At a point late in the day, I knew I had to save some in case I needed to use the phone. I was lucky that Candy, my caregiver, called to say she would come by to get me so I could charge up in her car. I was already hearing others talking about going to their cars for some power, so I was in that group.
Jumping ahead, after the days of dark, here are a few important things realized:
1. Cellular Data, finally made clear! Of course a smartphone is, IMHO, a better choice for a list of reasons, but at least a flip phone does have an option for Cellular Data. Again, I had only a sketchy idea of what it was or why it mattered! My bad. But I sure know now why you want to know about it and how to use it. Read this page that explains it.
2. I realized that people why only have a smartphone should really add a tablet to the list! I clearly think that $50 or maybe $100 spent will prove to be a good decision if the PG&E outages are going to continue. In a nutshell, here are the key reasons: a) Bigger screen size, of course, but more important is battery life. I sed my iPad for lots of music during the day, never even dropped to 90% charge. My iPhone is many years old and 15 Gigs was that standard memory. That is nothing by today's standards, If you have 64 Gigs, good for you. Load up a few videos and hope the battery lasts.
3. Batteries? Yes, you might go to a car, but that might not be the best idea. Instead, be prepare with a T90 Power Bank is a SOLAR back-up battery for under $25. Keep it in a drawer, then plug in your phone to RE charge the phone to 100%. The Power Bank is recharged by sunlight.
4. Of course the Emergency Lanterns I found use AA batteries and they last a long time. Best part? FOUR of them for about $25.
I'm still looking for a decent affordable radio.
The big thing for me was keeping from being bored to tears! No computer? I spend 12 hours a day using my Mac. No TV? Not a big deal except for wanting some news. Oh, the radio will serve, right? Maybe you have a better radio than I had? With all the advances in computers, digital music and videos, smartphones with loads of power, how did radios get left behind? Granted, it was literally the last one on the shelf, so obviously I had no opportunity to test it. It was only $20, and since it was a CD player with AM/FM radio included, I knew it was not going to have great performance. But all I wanted was some local weather news, maybe a chance to hear a Kings game> Sports radio must be a certainty, right?
I had my iPhone and iPad all charged up, I was ready. I had actually loaded a few audio books, one on the iPhone, two on the iPad. Plus I had added many playlists of music on the iPad. I knew I even had some old videos. In a pinch I could watchBreaking Bad again. I was set.
Here comes the discovery! Techno-Boy sat here and found I had not tested my set-up. Most of my files were only icons that would play when they connected to the real file in the Cloud! I had failed to think it through. Happy that I had some files really ON my devices, but mad I had been too casual and failed to turn OFF my wi-fi before the power down so I could prove I had the actual working files loaded.
The good news was that I did have an audio book on my phone, and I had a number of songs to listen to. So I kept myself entertained for the day, even as I watched the battery level on my iPhone dropping. At a point late in the day, I knew I had to save some in case I needed to use the phone. I was lucky that Candy, my caregiver, called to say she would come by to get me so I could charge up in her car. I was already hearing others talking about going to their cars for some power, so I was in that group.
Jumping ahead, after the days of dark, here are a few important things realized:
1. Cellular Data, finally made clear! Of course a smartphone is, IMHO, a better choice for a list of reasons, but at least a flip phone does have an option for Cellular Data. Again, I had only a sketchy idea of what it was or why it mattered! My bad. But I sure know now why you want to know about it and how to use it. Read this page that explains it.
2. I realized that people why only have a smartphone should really add a tablet to the list! I clearly think that $50 or maybe $100 spent will prove to be a good decision if the PG&E outages are going to continue. In a nutshell, here are the key reasons: a) Bigger screen size, of course, but more important is battery life. I sed my iPad for lots of music during the day, never even dropped to 90% charge. My iPhone is many years old and 15 Gigs was that standard memory. That is nothing by today's standards, If you have 64 Gigs, good for you. Load up a few videos and hope the battery lasts.
3. Batteries? Yes, you might go to a car, but that might not be the best idea. Instead, be prepare with a T90 Power Bank is a SOLAR back-up battery for under $25. Keep it in a drawer, then plug in your phone to RE charge the phone to 100%. The Power Bank is recharged by sunlight.
4. Of course the Emergency Lanterns I found use AA batteries and they last a long time. Best part? FOUR of them for about $25.
I'm still looking for a decent affordable radio.
