Blog

The thoughts, opinions, happenings, and just plain ramblings of a seemingly boring person.

2022: Year in Review

5 blog posts this year; a 25% improvement on the 4 I did last year! ๐Ÿ˜†๐Ÿ˜ญ

For me, 2022 carried on from where 2021 left off: COVID still dominating my non-work life, but despite my best efforts, the virus did eventually catch up with me in the middle of the year (shakes fist at children bringing things home).

Although I thankfully did not have serious complications immediately from the exposure, I did have gastro issues soon after, which saw me hospitalised twice. The Drs eventually found out why I've probably had ongoing stomach pain for the 18 months previous: ulcers … Read more โ†’

Tweets for 2022

Tweets for 2022

These are my tweets for 2022 (sans replies and retweets).

With all of the Elon Musk Twitter craziness over the past few months, who know if this might be the last time I do this! (FYI: you can also find me on Mastodon here: https://hachyderm.io/@lucascosti)

All the URLs are still Twitter's 't.co' ones, as the Twitter API doesn't spit out the original URL text.

  • PC vs console gaming ๐Ÿงต https://t.co/G0KDWHbHFa "When I manage to salvage an hour to relax and play video games, *that* is what I want to do. And it's really opened my eyes to why so
Read more โ†’

Getting COVID

A positive COVID antibody RAT test
My positive test

After almost all the restrictions for COVID were relaxed earlier this year, we tried our best to remain COVID-free. We wore masks everywhere, stayed away from large social gatherings, and disinfected and sanitised everything coming in to our house.

Toward the end of last month, I received my 5th dose of the COVID vaccine. Because I'm a transplant recipient on a lot of immune suppressants, as per the government medical advice, I had 3 vaccine doses for my primary course as well as two booster shots (one at 4 months, and another for winter).

Despite our best … Read more โ†’

2021: Year In Review

๐Ÿ˜ฌ Only 4 blog posts for this year. A clear all-time low.

2021 was a bit nuts. The COVID-19 pandemic continued, and life rolled on. The first third of the year wasn't too bad: there were barely any cases in Queensland, and not many in Australia in general. Life seemed sorta normal in Brisbane.

That didn'tโ€”and was probably never going toโ€”last.

In the past couple of weeks, after the great vaccination numbers in Queensland, the handbrakes have been taken off in terms of trying to keep the virus at bay. This is probably fine for regular vaccinated people, but for … Read more โ†’

Tweets for 2021

These are my tweets for 2021 (sans replies and retweets). All the URLs are still Twitter's 't.co' ones, as the Twitter API doesn't spit out the original URL text.

Read more โ†’

Using a Cheap(ish) Android Tablet as a Digital Photo Frame

Like any regular family, we've taken a fair bit (probably too many) of digital photos over the years, especially since the kids came along.

I've dutifully put them all in organised folders on our home NAS, and of course, made sure that it is all backed up.

However, when do we actually look at our photos? Hardly ever, unless some special occasion prompts us to have a look back in time.

So, I thought I'd look into getting a digital photo frame that we could put in our living room and would randomly display photos directly from our … Read more โ†’

2 Years Post-Transplant

This past Thursday marked 2 years since I had my liver transplant. It's been interesting living out this past year in our new-COVID-era world, but to be honest, I think it's made it easier.

I've never been the most social person, so an iron clad excuse to keep my heavily-immune-suppressed-self indoors and away from strangers is definitely welcome! It's now more than ever that I appreciate being able to work in a fully remote job.

Des and I also had the second dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine yesterday. Despite not expecting much of an immune reaction because recent studies Read more โ†’

But He’s Got a New Hat!

Smithers exclaiming "But she's got a new hat!"

People have gotten into some strange stuff during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, and I was no exception. My newish thing is baseball hats, which is a bit weird considering that going outside is not really a thing you can do in a lockdown.

Nevertheless, sun safety is a big thing for me, especially because I am at increased risk of skin cancer as a result of the immune-suppressants I am on following my liver transplant. I need a hat whenever I go outside to protect my significantโ€”and I believe this is a medical termโ€”chrome dome.

I started off just wanting to … Read more โ†’

2020: Year in Review

This quote is from the end of my 'Year in Review' post for 2019:

Needless to say, 2020 and the entire 2020s are looking a whole lot more brighter for us after the events of 2019.

Although that was still accurate for me personally; for the wider world... not so much. ๐Ÿ˜…

2020 was a strange year for the whole world. I can't think of something (at least in my lifetime) that has affected nearly every person on the planet like the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has. ๐Ÿฆ 

The year started off ok. I attended linux.conf.au 2020 at the Gold … Read more โ†’

Tweets for 2020

These are my tweets for 2020 (sans replies and retweets). All the URLs are still Twitter's 't.co' ones, as the Twitter API doesn't spit out the original URL text.

Read more โ†’