Ok, so I followed the steps and installed another SMS client. My status is now at 27% and the phone is charging quicker. I have now turned all the awesome stuff on my phone back on (WiFi, GPS etc) I thought that was the problem but thanks to the thread I'm all set.
The only thing that bothers me is: How does a company like HTC along with Sprint ETC send out a phone with such a horrible flaw? No one thought to use the thing for a week during R&D and said, "Gee whiz Bob I cant get from the car to the parking lot without this thing using half the battery."
...Just a thought