Drove A Clown Car to Charge the Cell Phone

[MilwaukeeStubble]

Sadly, this one was me (face, meet fist).

Over the weekend I drove down to Chicago to visit family.  On Sunday my phone died and the only charger I had used the car plug.  So, when we went to Friday's for lunch, I drove (normally I would rent a bike or take the bus) so I could plug my phone in and get enough juice to make sure no one was trying to get a-hold of me.

In the end it was 4-5 miles of driving (rt) and $4 in the meter, because I didn't think to pack a wall charger.

Edit: In Wall of Shame and Comedy to see if anyone else here has a story of a minor cost for a stupid (and seemingly unrelated) reason. 

[Brad_H]

I dunno, this is such a minor cost; I will hold off on a face punch until you buy a new phone because you left a charger at home, or something.

[daverobev]

Huh, what phone is it? The car chargers I have are just USB ports, so as long as I have the right USB cable I can just take that out and plug it into a computer to charge it, at need...

[MilwaukeeStubble]

It's a (brand new to me) Nexus 4, but the car charger I have is a few years old and has the phone end hard wired into the car end.

The bigger mistake here is probably spending $200 on a phone with a battery that doesn't last 2 days.  I'm really liking having a smartphone but since my past 3 dumb phones have all had week+ battery life I'm sorely tempted to go back.

Brad:
It's small, but it's more that it was a stupid cost than that it was a big one.  Plus, it really irks me because I rarely drive anything less than 20 miles unless I need to bring a lot of tools or something.

[kt]

You can reduce battery consumption on a smart phone.
Seeing as you only recently changed and are considering going back, do you have automatic email alerts? If so, turn these (and any other push notifications) off and make sure the internet is only connected when you want it to be. Also, make sure bluetooth is off because that is a major battery suck.
Basically, let it act as a dumb phone most of the time but enjoy being able to utilise the internet when you really need it.

[TygerTung]

Just park it and put the key on ACC. Unless the battery is absolutly stuffed, you won't drain it.

[daverobev]

Yeah most smartphones don't last more than a day tops. Mine does but that's because I don't use it much. My wife's HTC One V would last two days with light usage, I think.

I picked up 12v -> USB adapters at Dollarama here in Canada for $3. Then you just need a microUSB cable in the car... which you can pull out in an emergency.

[dragoncar]

Just park it and put the key on ACC. Unless the battery is absolutly stuffed, you won't drain it.

Yeah not sure why the car had to be running, but maybe it's a special case

[Forcus]

I'm really liking having a smartphone but since my past 3 dumb phones have all had week+ battery life I'm sorely tempted to go back.

Wife always complains about not making it through the day on her Blackberry but my flip phone will go a week, or 5 days if I'm really hitting phone Tetris hard :)

[TygerTung]

Yeah my nokia X100 gets at least 3 weeks.

[mpbaker22]

I dunno, this is such a minor cost; I will hold off on a face punch until you buy a new phone because you left a charger at home, or something.

Sounds like two people in this thread need a face punch, but at least one of them realizes it.

[Kaspian]

It's a (brand new to me) Nexus 4... a phone with a battery that doesn't last 2 days

So it's a used phone?  Did you ever think about trying a new battery?  The one in there could be worn out.  Looks like they go for about $30 on e-Bay/Amazon. 

I had a PS3 controller die on me so before spending $59 for a new one (the way most people would), I decided to try to replace the battery inside with a new one for $10.  It wasn't an easy task to get the controller apart and then back together, but hey--it worked.  New life in an old controller.

Replacing a phone batter is much easier than that.  ..,At worst, you'll end up with a spare battery.

Plus--check out this cool gizmo!!  http://www.amazon.ca/EZOPower-Universal-External-Rechargeable-Battery/dp/B004I0HA3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382643363&sr=8-1&keywords=nexus+4+battery

[MilwaukeeStubble]

It's a (brand new to me) Nexus 4... a phone with a battery that doesn't last 2 days

So it's a used phone?  Did you ever think about trying a new battery?  The one in there could be worn out.  Looks like they go for about $30 on e-Bay/Amazon. 

I had a PS3 controller die on me so before spending $59 for a new one (the way most people would), I decided to try to replace the battery inside with a new one for $10.  It wasn't an easy task to get the controller apart and then back together, but hey--it worked.  New life in an old controller.

Replacing a phone batter is much easier than that.  ..,At worst, you'll end up with a spare battery.

Plus--check out this cool gizmo!!  http://www.amazon.ca/EZOPower-Universal-External-Rechargeable-Battery/dp/B004I0HA3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382643363&sr=8-1&keywords=nexus+4+battery

Thanks for the advice, but I don't think it's worth the effort to take the phone apart and swap the battery for a new one.  Besides, even at $30 it's money I don't have to spend when I can just learn to plug the phone in more often and use it less instead.

On the other hand, what the heck people!? I posted here in part so that others could post other stories of a minor but stupid cost so we can laugh and learn.  I can't be the only one dumb enough to do something like this can I? I'm getting more sad thinking that I might be :)

[rocksinmyhead]

The bigger mistake here is probably spending $200 on a phone with a battery that doesn't last 2 days.  I'm really liking having a smartphone but since my past 3 dumb phones have all had week+ battery life I'm sorely tempted to go back.

THIS is what made me hold off on getting a smartphone for so long! (well, not THAT long I guess, I got it about a year and a half ago) I love being able to get directions to places on my phone, but I really miss the weeklong battery life. Sigh.