Shared experiences help with longer term relationships. I regret I'm not focusing on the finding part but more of identifying how to hold onto it. I think the shared experiences matter more than how you find the people.
I've done this specifically by playing a video game, joining a clan, and joining the discord. I focused on who I clicked with most and spent time with them. I also think making some effort to meet IRL helps after a while. Having a game or a hobby in common isn't really enough because it can be very thin. If you don't care about any IRL things then force other shared experiences that are tangential to what brought you together. That helps me too.
Climb down off of your soapbox. Amazon is what it is because of early strategic decision making and long term shittiness. I'm talking about aggregation and exposure to semi-local partners.
I just wish there was an aggregator that isn't Walmart or Amazon or Temu. I try really hard to spread my shopping around and actually buy local when I can. It just sucks Amazon is so easy.
I am jealous of the small iPhone or pixel 6 owners. I like small phones. Having a Google Pixel has been very good for me and the family. IOS is just too lazy to me.
I used to root phones all of the time. It got cumbersome and I caved. With a pixel I get regular updates and features. It's not the best but it's predictable.
No... Just travel there weekly for a long time for work. Still have work and employees there. All of the below should be reasonably close. Hospital is not far from your rental. ..well not far for a Texan.
English food and beer: Red Lion British Pub
Chinese food: Pepper Twins
Persian Food: Kasra
Vietnamese food: Old Saigon (have not been but good reviews), my old haunt is under new mgmt so I can't recommend it :(
Cajun food: Bobobs or Cajun Town. I'm sure this will be very contentious but good Cajun food isn't dressy. If you need classy then go Pappadeauxs.
Tex Mex food: Guadalajara Mexican Grille. Pricey but reliable. Otherwise Ninfa's or TJ Birria Y Mas
South American food (Peru): Saldivia's South American Grill (have not been but good reviews)
My other fav's..can vouch through many meals and drinks: North Italia, True Food Kitchen, Oporto Tapas, McElroy's Pub, Poison girl, Agora, Brasil, Common Bond Bistro, Anvil, Harry's Greek, Barnaby's.
I've run out of steam. HMU for any specific questions.
Side note: humble brag...I speak and moderate periodically at conferences. My friends give me a list of 5 words to slide into my speech. Moist was one of them. That's the hardest word to just slip into (as it were) a presentation. I was successful.
This may not apply, (as I know I'm simply saying a commercial product got worse as it had revisions) but Jawbone's first earbud/headset used a small rubber conductor to evaluate skull vibration for noise canceling ( and likely there was some ANC using incoming mic audio from external sources). They continued to include a rubber bumper but I think the device leaned more on incoming audio from mics rather than from the rubber bumper. The oldest device presented the best noise canceling even after 3 product changes. I used every version until they stopped making headsets. I miss my Jawbone. I still have my OG.
They look a little ridiculous but Oasis by Focus has some coming soon.