Upgrading to a Nexus 5

After serving faithfully for the past ~2.5 years, my Galaxy S2 is being replaced with a Google Nexus 5 (16GB version).

Although the S2 is still working pretty well (especially after the Cyanogenmod upgrade), it’s starting to suffer from some hardware problems with the buttons. It’s already been sent in for one repair and probably not worth the time or cost to send in again.

We’re switching over to Ting mobile service (<- referral link), which was another reason for me to get the Nexus 5. Ting’s pricing model is appealing, which is the main reason for switching. Based on current usage, the cell phone bill can be cut by about half with Ting’s pricing.

There isn’t much that comes in the Nexus 5 box. The phone itself, wall wart and USB cable. Since I got it from Google, the SIM card was a separate acquisition.

When I first got the S2, it was a humungous phone, especially compared to the Cliq the S2 was replacing. The Nexus 5 is even longer than the S2, although fortunately the width is about the same as the S2.

A Samsung Galaxy S2 next to a Google Nexus 5

The Nexus 5 is marginally thinner than the S2 and has a nice rubberized grippy back. I doubt I’ll notice it much after I put it into whatever case I’ll be getting for it.

Samsung Galaxy S2 sitting on top of a Google Nexus 5 for size comparison

So far the only thing I don’t like about the Nexus 5 is that the battery isn’t replaceable, which is something I like. It’s much easier to pop in a fresh battery than it is to find a place to plug in and wait for the phone to charge. Fortunately I have one of those big 15 Ah battery packs that I can use for charging USB devices. I’ll probably be carrying that with me more often now.

I think I’ll like this phone.

Showing its age

The Camry is starting to show its age with parts giving out from old age and wear and tear. Had a big chunk of the driver’s side door handle break off when I went to open it a couple weeks ago. Earlier this week it started to develop a bit of a rough idle so we took it in to the shop to have it looked at. After a big tune up and a new fuel filter, it’s running a lot smoother now. While it was being checked out they also found a coolant leak in the radiator and possibly the thermostat. That’s something else that will have to be fixed before I road trip to Charlotte for Southeast Linuxfest next weekend.

If you’re looking for a place to take your car, the people at the Firestone on Savannah Highway in West Ashley, next to East Bay Deli, are phenomenal. Great customer service there.

Hops Tower Dedication

The dedication ceremony for Theresa’s hops tower happened this afternoon. I made sure to get there early before there were too many people around and got some more pictures. The hops vines grew even more over the weekend. Before the weekend (on June 4) some of the vines had reached the top.

IMG_20140604_080231.jpg

Today, it looked like this

IMG_20140609_141657.jpg

The dedication ceremony was a very nice event with some words and memories shared by Theresa’s family and some of the people she worked with and for. There was a pretty good crowd in attendance, a testament to the number of people Theresa touched and the people she inspired.

DSC01543.JPG
DSC01544.JPG

The plaque at the base of the tower is fabulous.

Hops tower dedication plaque
Hops tower dedication plaque

A very nice reception followed after the dedication ceremony and after that a nice gathering of family and friends at Tommy Condon’s where I got to meet some more of Theresa’s friends and shared some stories.

Everybody seemed to agree that this was a very fitting way to remember Theresa, and I’d have to agree.

Memorial Hops Tower

It’s been a little over a year since my friend Theresa died.

A few months ago, one of the people she worked for at MUSC arranged to have a hops tower put up in the MUSC Porcher Medicinal Garden (if you’re on campus, you’ll find it located between the library, the Basic Science Building and the Drug Discovery Building).

The tower was installed in April, the hops planted and over the past few weeks they’ve been growing pretty quickly.

I took this one on April 21, shortly after the hops tower and hops were planted. The little bit of green vine-y type stuff directly below are the hops plants.

HopsTower01
New hops tower

This was a couple weeks later, on May 5.

IMG_20140505_113843.jpg
New hops!

Here it is yesterday, May 26. The vines are climbing up pretty quickly to the top and every time I walk past it, they seem to have gone a little higher.

IMG_20140526_162058.jpg

There’s even a little Carolina Anole that likes to hang out on the tower.

IMG_20140520_123738.jpg

On June 9 at 3PM, there will be a dedication ceremony for the tower with a reception afterwards. From Theresa’s dad,

The Medical University of South Carolina will be dedicating the Hops Tower in the Medicinal garden on the campus of MUSC in memory of Theresa Peters on Mon 6/9 at 3:00PM. There will be a reception immediately following in Colcock Hall.
Thank you Bart Yancey, Marcia Higaki, Dr. Lanier and all at MUSC.