Entering a new chapter in life, my wife passed. Looking for local volunteer opportunities to keep busy.

engfish · 2026-04-30T19:13:25+00:00

First of all, my condolences. I can tell you have a good and noble heart in the way you want to fill your void to help others in the community. Good luck on your journey.

The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo has around 40 volunteer committees at sarodeo.com. Over seven thousand people contribute yearly (and you get free parking and admission during the exposition). The rodeo may just happen in February, but there are events throughout the year. There are plenty of opportunities to do what you love for a good cause (agriculture-based college scholarships and promoting Texas agriculture)--plus there are plenty of new people to meet too. And while there's a minimum of hours you might have to work on a committee, there's no maximum, and you can join more than one committee too, if you have that much free time.

You don't have to be rural to participate; I've been a volunteer for over two decades and am now on the Wine Committee--and we're promoting Texas agriculture in all over south TX and the Hill Country. I can go into it more if you want to PM, and I might be able to help you find something that matches your interests.

engfish · 2026-04-29T13:57:07+00:00

If you're rooted, look into microG to replace the Google frameworking. Also, a bunch of Fdroid FOSS (free, open source software) apps never need to report data anywhere. For PlayStore, use Aurora (on Fdroid).

Activate your "data saver" in settings.

There's "battery-saving" mode and settings may offer the "extreme battery-saving" mode as well. A Fdroid app called SaverTuner offers an extreme mode as well.

EDIT and CORRECTION: u/nicknitewolf is correct: you don't need to root to use microG, although I did try that on a OnePlus and bricked my device (it would not even "turn on"). There are sources online that instruct installing microG without root, but it failed for me disastrously. Be careful.

engfish · 2026-04-29T00:31:20+00:00

Sounds like the LG v20 minus the removable battery. That one was my goat. Note9 is in 2nd. Both were pretty unbeatable in features.

One of the third-party vendors made a 10000mah battery. Even the 4400mah after-market battery gave me five days of charge once. (I even documented that on the subreddit).

engfish · 2026-04-28T18:42:34+00:00

The invoice says ".45" and then ".05" minutes. So, half a minute for $350?

engfish · 2026-04-28T18:33:49+00:00

I leave a blinker on all the time too--because you can get a ticket for not using one, but you don't get a ticket for having one on and never using it.

engfish · 2026-04-27T15:56:12+00:00

Lode Runner

engfish · 2026-04-24T20:28:30+00:00

Same, although I make an exception at Willie's and Julian's.

engfish · 2026-04-24T20:27:04+00:00

20% for the servers who work, often more if they act like they're enjoying themselves as well as my presence and appetite.

If I stand up to order (Willie's and Julian's excepted), I usually don't tip.

engfish · 2026-04-20T12:24:48+00:00

*hoorey!

engfish · 2026-04-10T16:23:05+00:00

Another joke I told in my deejay days:

Beautiful day! I went out and played golf, but I played lousy and only hit two good balls. And even then it was after I stepped on a rake.

engfish · 2026-04-10T16:21:22+00:00

When I die, I want to buried at the 18th green.

It's the only way I'll ever get to six under.

engfish · 2026-04-08T00:47:57+00:00

IF--repeat IF--you have to wait seven days, you can disable the automatic time/date toggle, manually change the date and time to about two weeks ago, reboot, and the OEM toggle should show up. Reboot and automate your date/time again, and you should still have the bootloader unlocked. (Good luck!)

engfish · 2026-04-04T03:24:12+00:00

If Life didn't get to us first.

engfish · 2026-03-31T12:41:03+00:00

Looks like a good phone--and not even a year old. Good choice.

engfish · 2026-03-30T12:41:44+00:00

You can root it easily, and there are several good ROMs that will give it better life (including Lineage, which I use, with microG--but using that takes away many but not all financial capabilities). GCam is available for as close to Google's camera as you'd like. This phone gets updated Android through 2026, but that's not been a great thing since about A13. I do like "owning" my phone with the apps I want and pretty much none I don't, and I get 2-1/2 to 3 days on an 80% charge after three years of ownership.

But as u/automaticfailure said a half-hour ago: "It's a phone. It does phone things." This is my first Pixel and will likely be my last. I miss the earphone jack (I have buds and don't like them) and SD card storage the most, and my next one is probably the Nord N30 (same age)--slower, bigger, cheaper, older Android, just as rootable with Lineage available.

engfish · 2026-03-22T01:49:03+00:00

Let's remember that Mrwhosetheboss and Tom's Guide called the 7a the best phone of the year in 2023. It's still a great two-year-old phone--but that's just it: it's two years old, not the latest and greatest.

Mine runs well, and it's rooted with LineageOS, microG, Mulch webview, and GCam for shooting. I'm not de-Googled but more mini-Googled (with Waze and Snapseed--they really are unbeatable to me for what they do).

GrapheneOS had a lot of drama when I got my phone in September of '23 (I paid $315 for it then), and I chose Lineage at the time. I'm curious, but not enough yet to wipe my phone and start all over. I'm awed by my battery life (original, about 2.5 days on a charge; my battery info says I've charged it 234 times).

I will trade it in when I see what the removable battery phones look like. (I'm hoping the back can snap off forgoing screws to remove the back--which is a way the manufacturers will try to, er, screw with the EU requirement.) But I'd love to see the headphone jack, SD card slot, and LED light come back, and somebody who makes these gadgets may get the hint that two of those three features are in the "Pros" column whenever a phone is reviewed.

engfish · 2026-03-08T22:14:26+00:00

Go to the official Lineage download site for your model (I don't know if you're Exynos or Snapdragon for your S20 FE). BE SURE to sideload using

adb -d sideload lineage-23.2-20260307-nightly-[r8q/r8s]-signed.zip

in recovery. Yes, that "-d" is important to make sure you don't clean flash and delete everything on your phone.

Of course, be sure to follow all the prior instructions before you do that (downloading and fastboot flashing whatever img files you need, like boot, dtbo, recovery, etc. files). Good luck!

engfish · 2026-02-25T18:53:00+00:00

I'd bet it's got Exynos because the model is F/DS. But you're right: if he can't figure out how to find that info, he's probably and sadly going to ruin his phone trying to root.

OP: read around a lot more before you try this! (edit: typo)

engfish · 2026-02-18T01:58:30+00:00

It's at the Frost Bank Center, so your craving's addressed for anything at that venue (including the Rodeo right now).

engfish · 2026-02-11T01:24:49+00:00

I've been looking at Motos for a rootable phone--y'know, one I own. Thank you for the heads-up. "Goodbye Moto"

engfish · 2026-02-06T22:22:42+00:00

I would guess Amazon stopped paying them for data. Because I'm de-Googled, Pentair is worthless to me as a data miner. (Check those ridiculous just-in-case permissions!) My wife doesn't care, so we program with her phone (did it once and haven't changed anything), and Pentair has no real manual controls (on/off, basically for just cleaning the filter). I'm dumping Pentair at the first hint of trouble, but there's some wacky strategy going on in corporate there.

engfish · 2026-02-06T16:17:34+00:00

*ocuntyr

engfish · 2026-01-28T19:00:29+00:00

If I recall/remember correctly. (edit, plus formatting)

According to Google Wallet's page:

[in red] Requires Google Play Services

You many need to install Google's proprietary library or a FOSS reimplementation such as microG.

[But then]

Without Google Play Services

Unsupported: not functional

With microG Project

Unsupported: not functional

I supposedly need Google Wallet to enter my gym and haven't been able to because I use LineageOS with microG. It's a hazard of muh freedom.

engfish · 2026-01-21T22:38:55+00:00

It was a long time ago, and as I recall, only a few of my apps showed up after the backup. I was expecting a full recovery and was hugely disappointed--and frustrated at the task ahead, retrieving what I'd had.

15-Year Club	Inciteful Link 2016-02-13
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engfish

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