The calculator is a no-brainer. We all need to be able to calculate tons of things on a daily basis, and most people use their calculator on the phone to do that exact sequence of motions. The Hue and Ring applications are not only for home automation, but for home security as well. In the early hours of the morning, it is easier to get into the application, turn on the living room lights and dim them to a lower setting as to not wake anyone else up with ambient light coming from under the doors. And, when I say anyone, I am including the dogs as well. Snowflake, my daughter’s dog, is hyperactive and sometimes will bark at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning.
We can’t have that.
The Ring app allows not only myself to see who is at the door at any given time, but the rest of my family as well. I have two packages waiting to be delivered, and I do not want to miss them, so I moved that to the home screen as well.
Amazon’s Marketplace is only on my screen because I have a listing that I posted a week ago. I had been checking it daily to see if it has sold, and I have realized that it has still not gotten a buyer. I am going to keep it listed, but I am looking into alternatives as we speak, because there will be other items that I will need to sell in the future that I will need to post online to make it available to a wider audience, plus get more money for what was paid for the product than just trading it in to a reseller.
So, this is the current state of my home screen:
It’s funny how you realize that there are things in life, just like your cell phone, that you take for granted how much you need of certain things, in this case, applications. If I could live without some of the things I added to the screen today, I would have.
I still have not checked my email since around 9:00 am this morning, and it is about 2:06 pm that I am currently writing this part of the post. I will probably check it, but since I am on the computer, I’ll just do it that way so I can continue to do it less on the phone.
7:17 am, 1-9-19: I did pretty good not using my phone for anything else than what you see on the screenshot above, but, I did change my watch face and I did delete one or two apps from my watch, as well as add music to my watch. To add music, I did have to play with the wi-fi and Bluetooth settings in the house, watch and phone, and after sleeping on it, I really didn’t have to load my watch with music. It was not a necessity, so I am going to rethink how I use this watch in the coming weeks. I don’t go on long jogs or walks, and if I want to listen to music, when I move some of my apps back, I have Amazon’s Prime Music that I use all the time to relax or move to.
Also, I find myself missing the fact that I do not have access to my web browser. There are so many things I want to access on the web that I would normally do with my phone that I feel like a little bit of withdrawal was happening. I cannot believe how much I depended on the phone for that. I had to remind myself to use my computer. That can be a problem in the future if I don’t keep an eye on it.
Finally, I received a prize from Bookbub from a contest they held towards the end of last year. The prize was Anthony Horowitz’s book “The Word Is Murder.” When I first opened the package, I was thrilled when it came in. As I removed the book from its packaging, I realized that it was a used book. The book was tattered and worn on its edges as though it was well used. Also, whoever the owner of the book was prior to me had left notecards with items of clothing that he was needing to purchase.
I started to become frustrated, and as I sent pictures to my wife, she was disgusted with the shape the book was in. I was not aware that I was getting a used book, and the only reason I entered the contest in the first place was to get a book, and when I found out that it was that particular book, I knew my wife would really like it since she was a fan of the author’s Sherlock Holmes books. If you are going to hold a contest, wouldn’t you at least let the future winners know that you were getting a used book?
After sleeping on it, I came to the realization that I am putting too much value onto a book. It’s not that I wasn’t looking forward to reading the book; I was, I just was expecting a brand new book. If I had wanted to, I could have gone to Half Price Books and bought either a used copy or a brand new copy. But, I am putting a lot of value on something that, if not the greatest, would be sent to a reseller and sold to another reader. I am happy I received the book, and being that it was well loved must mean that it was a good book, and I am hoping to enjoy it as much as the last person did.
Receiving that book was a valuable lesson for me. I need to appreciate the things I get, and not be so drawn into the fact that everything should be brand new in life. A man sitting on the corner begging for money or a meal is happy when someone feeds his need for the next day’s offering. I should just be happy I won something, and not be bothered by the condition of things.
I will say this. Bookbub did deceive their winners. If everyone received a used book, they should have let all of us know that it was going to be a used book, and stressed that in the giveaway. Because of this feeling of deceit, I am going to stop following their newsletters, and continue to follow the others that I have sent to me in my email. I think they should let readers know in the future that when they do a giveaway, Bookbub should specify if they are entering to win a new book or a used book.
But, as I said before, I put way too much value on the book, and I am happy to have received such a loved book. I can’t wait to read it, and I hope my wife can’t wait to read it too.