So! My phone, my very precious and dear 32gig Pixel XL (got on sale at deep discount, update life expired a while ago) has been having Battery Problems, absolutely caused by my habit of riding the thing hard. Belovedest's phone, of the same vintage, is chugging along just fine.

My phone has recently taken to dropping battery power very quickly, and outright turning off when doing fun things like taking pictures without a power cord, or (recently) accepting verbal instructions in Maps *with* a power cord.

I'd been of a mind to Do Something About This soonish, and this morning when I was trying to take some pictures of the red room for my email to Mama, the phone died twice in the taking. (I had looked at replacement phones a while ago, but came to no good conclusion. Also, we were thinking of putting my phone under Belovedest's plan.)

I stomped over to my main machine and made an appointment at the local repairs + misc shop. There was just enough time that I zipped off to refuel my car and grab a bit of breakfast before Playing Games with some of the usual suspects (Belovedest's former co-worker and her husband).

The shop had estimated an hour and a half, but there was no call by 2. After game was over, I called the shop.

Tuuuuuurns out, in the process of melting the glue to lift the screen to get at the battery, the repair tech had fried the screen. He was very sorry. (There was a looooong wait on hold to find this information out.) I was understanding. Secure in the fact that I wasn't going to turn into a Karen Explosion, he went a little deeper into the details. They were going to overnight a new screen, because of course they don't keep screens for a phone that old around, and the manager who had to authorize the overnight would be in first thing in the morning! On Monday!

So between everything, it might be Wednesday before I get my phone back.

I do have some older iThings. This isn't a complete lack of any appropriate mobile electronics. I just don't have my preferred mobile electronic, and I don't have a cellphone.

I conferred with Belovedest. I called my phone company (dubbed the Yellow Bastards by norabombay on the strength of their branding) for the information I'd need to unlock the number to give to the Magenta Mob (other company).

Between the one thing and the other, Belovedest and I rolled into the store on the corner shopping complex about 20 minutes before closing time.

They, of course, had the phone I wanted on display (the XL, please) but not in stock.

And they couldn't order it. But Belovedest could do that from the website! At home!

At least I got my number swapped over, but that still left me without a working phone until the new one arrived. Belovedest offered to let me borrow theirs. Alex offered to let me borrow theirs.

I accepted Alex's offer: I would need it briefly! Tuesday! Enby's first mammogram! I am not actually going to that appointment without a reliable way of getting in touch with Belovedest in case things go Very Wrong, either there or en route to/from.

Belovedest tried to get the thing via the website, but the instructions said to call the mothership. They did. It was *le gasp* out of stock! But they could call when stock came in.

Sooooo when I get my OG XL back from the repair shop I'm going to stuff the new chip in and see how long it takes to get me a new phone that isn't bumping the edge of its storage limits. And maybe the new battery will solve the weird app freezing thing.

My dear little phone (Galaxy S7, got last January) was starting to drain with the screen on except for one card game, even while plugged in. This was a problem. But the rest of the phone's fine, and new phones are expensive, so I decided I'd try replacing the battery on my own (after finding that a kit was only $15, including little tools). I left the phone unplugged all afternoon so it would discharge, since I have an aversion to leaving naked lithium-ion batteries around while fully charged. I warned my partner that I was running down my phone battery, and it might be off before they got home. It hit about 3% at the exact moment they unlocked the door. I pulled up a list of instructions and a demonstration video.

(At this point we pause to go out and be social with one of the local crews for an hour or two. My partner joins some of The Guys in attempting 5 rail trick shots. I plug in for long enough to play silly games on the way back.)

It turns out that to open the S7 you need to heat the adhesive.

After moving away from Alaska to Phoenix AZ, I had little need of a hair dryer. Why add heat and waste electricity when I could just walk outside and benefit from the evaporative cooling a little? I was also a member of longhair for many years.

At some point I got an inexpensive hair dryer and never used it. I last remember seeing it on the table when Leopard Girl was gearing up for some fancy event. I have no idea where it got put away after that.

All this is to say that I was not prepared for that requirement. I sulked, loudly.

I tried pulling/prying without applying heat first, but that of course didn't work. When I'm particularly determined, though, I don't necessarily let these things get in the way. I thought about what I had available to apply heat. I do have an electric kettle. I decided that the best way was to fill a container with boiling water and set the phone against the container.

The best container, I decided, was going to be one of those thick silicone bags I got when I was preparing to do sous vide cooking. (I have not, as yet, been as determined about sous vide as I am about having my phone get acceptable battery life.) I rummaged around the basement looking in my various kitchen boxes for the damn things, since I knew I'd seen them semi-recently. I was down there long enough that my partner came down to make sure that all was well. All was; I just couldn't find them. We did find laundry and the cup-cap for that blue thermos.

I was only slightly daunted, and proceeded to stuff one of the lovely dishcloths (handmade by one of my partner's friends) into two plastic zippybags, and poured water on that. I clearly had the right idea, but it wasn't transmitting enough heat before it cooled. I wound up with two dishcloths, folded, nearly fully saturated with boiling water. That did it, and I was able to pull and pry the back off the phone.

My partner kept the cat from claiming my seat as I popped up and down to get things. I took my glasses off and disappeared into The Zone^TM. I was in there for a while. My partner reported that I'd sworn a few times while I was out, but not very much. I bent the old battery in getting it out (it felt a little like stiff clay as I was prying) and was glad that I'd discharged it. I Sharpied a warning on it.

At the end, my phone booted right back up. No problems. I look forward to at least a year of reasonable battery life.