I took the leap, I’m now using a “De-Googled” phone! I had looked at Murena in the past, but it’s locked to just the UK market for now. I’m not sure if they’ll ever open up in the US market, I don’t think they can keep up with that kind of demand. Too bad, their phones seemed really cool and it’s nice to get one that’s already all set up for you!

Nope, I went with using the GrapheneOS on a new, Pixel 8a phone. It was on sale, and the “a” branded phones are their cheaper phone line-up. Just don’t have as many bells and whistles as the rest and tend to be a little smaller. (GrapheneOS only supports Pixel phones.) The big plus is that these phones are slated to be supported through April 2031. 6 years! That’s the sweet spot I went with, new versions keep coming if you want something different. Or you can get a used/renewed Pixel to play with, as long as it’s at least a Pixel 6, it’s supported by GrapheneOS.

Besides being “Carrier Unlocked”, meaning you can use it with any cellphone service, it also needs to be “Factory Unlocked”. Specifically, you need to be able to access a setting called “OEM Unlocking”. (You have to turn on developer mode to see this setting). If you can’t access this setting on your phone, it will not work. I got mine off Amazon and it worked with no issues: Google Pixel 8a.

The GrapheneOS website is PACKED with info, and it’s a lot to take in. If you’re interested in checking it out for yourself, I highly recommend watching the videos from “Side of Burritos” on YouTube. He’s very straightforward and keeps to the point. Bottom line, you can use a phone with GrapheneOS just like you would any other Android phone, including using the Google Play store and all your apps as normal. Just the fact that you are on GrapheneOS means Google does NOT have access to everything on the phone. You can control which apps can access the microphone, location, etc. – and when you turn off permission to something like location, that app and Google CANNOT access your location. Period. The way it SHOULD work.

Oh, and I will mention that installing GrapheneOS is actually SUPER simple if you do the web install method. Especially if you played around with “rooting” your phone years ago – I did, and THAT was a terrifying experience knowing there was a very real chance you were about to “brick” your phone! 😅 Again, I recommend watching the videos. I followed the Pixel 7 install from “Side of Burritos” and it was a really close match to the Pixel 8. Just a couple of items had moved around since he recorded it.

On the hobby front, I finished the ginormous puzzle over Superbowl weekend! I’ve got the stuff to glue it together and am still figuring out how I want to tackle framing/hanging this thing. I’ll post a picture once it’s on the wall!

I think in my last post I mentioned doing some quilting and had a kit all picked out. Well, I cut the fabric for that kit and then got distracted by finishing that huge puzzle instead:

I believe that’s a total of 512 fabric squares for the quilt! Now to sew them together! Later… 😅

I’ve also had an urge to give painting minis a try. I have some really cool ones, but they are solid gray in color. However, I really don’t do any painting and haven’t got a clue so I picked up this kit:

The instruction booklet is fantastic and I managed to get these 2 done:

Gave me the basics and some confidence to tackle these guys:

This first one is for one of the players, he has a feat that allows him to double in size so he can deal more damage in the battle. I think it’s 4-5 inches tall.

This second one is a “pit fiend devil” and also a much larger “mini”. Our campaign is currently in a storyline where they are trying to save a city that is being pulled down to Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells in the D&D universe. It’s probably part of the reason why there was such a big “D&D is Satanism!” scare in the 80’s. They kind of missed that the whole point as a player it was your job to fight these things in a classic good vs evil story.

There are more advanced painting kits to learn more techniques, but I think I’m done. This is good enough for me – itch has been scratched.

Think that’s about it! I’ve already moved my clocks forward so I can start trying to get used to the time change. REALLY hoping this is the last time we have to mess with this garbage!

To end, a couple of fun Nyx pics!

Is she totally relaxed, or totally bored?

Can you spot Nyx in the picture?

Have a great weekend!