After years of waiting, the April 8th Total Solar Eclipse has finally happened. I’m super happy that I got to experience this once in a lifetime event. Especially after missing the 2017 Eclipse due to the US government deciding that I needed to go to jury duty on that day. While jury duty was certainly an interesting experience, I just wish it could have literally been on any other day. Let’s get back on topic though.

I have decided this year to do my first yearly theme. Yearly Themes are a bit different than New Year’s Resolutions (something which I have never really done). For a good explanation of what a yearly theme is I highly suggest you check out https://www.themesystem.com/ or this fantastic youtube video by CGPGrey. My 2024 yearly theme is the “Year of Streaming”. I’ve streamed myself playing video games on Twitch a few times in the past, and I’ve enjoyed it.

1. My Best FriendThere is no doubt in my mind that one of the things I couldn’t live without is my best friend. She is my rock. She is the kindest, loveliest person and I have never felt as close to another person as I do to her. I know that I can always count on her and she can always count on me. We will always be there for each other.

What was supposed to be a yearly review of the apps that I use clearly is anything but yearly. The last “State of the Apps” post that I made was way back in 2018 – ah yes, the before pandemic times. In this year’s post, I’m splitting the “Productivity” category in two – “productivity” and “security” because most of the apps listed in that section in last post are actually security related apps.

I’ve been listening to podcasts for a couple years. Most of the time when listening to a podcast I will be driving a virtual truck making virtual deliveries either in Euro Truck Simulator 2 or, more recently, in American Truck Simulator. Over the course of roughly about the past year I started listening to my podcasts at 1.5x speed so that it takes less time to listen to the episodes. It sounds a little funny at first, but you get use to it surprisingly quick.

I have some exciting news to share. Unfortunately, because of procrastination, this news is two months old. I have a job. Sort of. I’ll explain that part later. As an autistic person, I have always enjoyed using social media (specifically twitter) as a way to advocate for causes that I am passionate about, due to social media making it easier to be social. Three years ago, in 2019, I added the prevention of child sexual abuse to the long list of causes that I champion and advocate for.