Canadians. They’re not just for breakfast anymore.
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So, Liz and I didn’t win the Perfect Couple contest. Alas. BUT, on the plus side, it means we can go wherever the hell we want on our honeymoon now! Hooray! Not much else to report, really. Things have been VERY busy the last few weeks with house hunting. I’m very excited to be a property owner, at last! No details at the moment… but once Liz and I decide on a place, I’ll have more to share!
Ok, I know it’s been AGES since I’ve posted anything, but I have lots ot share! Work is going great. Wedding planning is just about all done. I have TONS of photos from our trip up. I got a flat tire coming back from Ottawa on the weekend (changing a tire in -7 temps on the side of the 401 ain’t fun!). Liz and I went to New York and Dublin back in October. Saw Chicago on Broadway, and it was amazing!
And the biggest, most important thing? Liz and I are contestants in the Mississauga’s Perfect Couple competition - it’s run by the Mississauga News, and the winners get a $5000 honeymoon. What with paying for a wedding on our own and buying a house in the next 7 months, that honeymoon sure would come in handy! If you could vote for us, I’d really appreciate it! You just have to go to the perfect couple website, register your email, fill out a stupid questionnaire (I just picked the first answer from every category) and vote for Liz and Ryan. How’s everybody else been holding up over the last 5 months or so?
Yes, this is my big and exciting news… after roughly a month of searching, I’m now employed! It’s very exciting. I’ll refrain from mentioning the company name on here, but suffice it to say that it’s an exciting opportunity at a great company. I’ll be working downtown Toronto… or rather uptown, I guess, which will mean a fairly long commute, but hey - it’s for a great job. And I’m very happy to not have to job hunt for the next week, since I’m not starting till July 16. Phew! I think that’s all I really have to say at the moment… the last month has pretty much been job hunting 24/7, except for the weekend up at the cottage last week for Canada Day. I’ve got a ton of photos to still put up. There’s a LOT that need processing still. But it’ll all come in time 
Right.
So, Liz and I got back to Canada yesterday. She’s now a permanent resident! Holy crap! I’m super excited! It’s a bit strange being home - the whole time I was living in Ireland I had never come back, so it’s been just over 20 months. Things have a strange, familiar-but-different vibe at the moment. We’re settling in, and had a hugely productive day today. Next step, of course, is getting down to the job applications. For that, of course, I have to actually find a soft copy of my resume and update it. NO idea where I’m going to find that. I’m hoping it’s on the external hard drive that I shipped home. Fingers crossed!
The trip was amazing. So many countries in such a short time was an outstanding experience, but I’m definitely glad that I won’t be getting on a plane in the next 2 or 3 days. Being able to unpack my suitcase and leave it unpacked? Man, what a feeling! I’ll have more to report, trying to report on each destination, but it’ll be coming in short bursts. I need to get back into the TO (well, Mississauga) swing of things again!
Rest in peace, you crazy, hilarious man.
Ok, this has been in the works for a little while now, but I couldn’t write about it on here because I wanted to wait until I gave my notice at work, and Liz gave her notice at work. As the title says, I’m on my way back to Canada! Sure, not immediately… We don’t leave Ireland for another month. And we’re going to be doing 6 weeks of travelling through Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand on the way back to Canada (more on that later). But I’ve finally given my notice, so I can finally tell the world!
The primary reason we’ve decided on Canada vs Ireland as a permanent living solution is because it’s just too darn expensive here in Ireland. Real estate is absolutely ridiculous, there’s no way we’d be able to afford a house any time soon, and so we’re going to head back to Canada where the interest rates might be a bit higher, but the houses are about 1/3 the price. Just as a comparison, the apartment we’re living in now - which is a nice apartment, don’t get me wrong, in a nice gated estate - would sell for roughly 650,000 euro. That’s getting up into the neighbourhood of $1 million Canadian, for a 1 bedroom apartment! And our apartment isn’t really very close to town, or shopping, or bus routes. It’s absolutely CRAZY over here. So I’m very excited to be so close to leaving - 4 weeks and we’ll be on our way!!
So that’s two huge announcements in less than half an hour! Not a bad start to the return to the blogging world, huh?
Ok… I’m aware that it’s been a small amount of time since I last blogged. Hey, a month and a half isn’t THAT bad. But to be fair, I’ve had a lot going on in my head over the last month and a half (and longer, I suppose) so it’s been a bit hectic around these parts!
But here’s the big news: Liz and I are engaged!!! Yay!!! Now, I’ve actually been planning this for a few months now, but it’s all finally fallen into place. Liz and I had actually started looking at rings a fair while back (under the pretext of “having an idea” of what she liked “when the time came, if it came”). Thus, I knew exactly what ring she wanted… Unfortunately, the ring got sold! So I had to talk to the jeweller about getting a ring of the same design made. Luckily, they had a design book so I could pick out the exact ring. And it came out PERFECTLY! Then it was just down to trying to find the perfect proposal… And since we’d already been trying on rings, I *knew* I’d be hard pressed to surprise her! I couldn’t just suggest “Hey, let’s go for a romantic sunset stroll down at the pier!” or “Hey, let’s go out to a romantic dinner… no reason, really!” Thus, when she suggested that we go for a walk yesterday, I knew that it was the perfect opportunity - it was *her* idea, she’d never see it coming! We made a few laps around the park before we were alone in a secluded bit of woods… I pretended to stop to tie my shoe, with the idea of ending up on one knee - but then Liz just kept on walking! I said “Hey, wait, come back!” and she playfully responded “No, you have to catch me!” and started running away… I knew that my sneakiness just wasn’t going to work, so I ran to catch up to her and caught her. Some mushy words were said (Hey, some things are private!) about how much I loved her, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. And she said yes! I mean, I never really had any doubt, obviously, but it’s still never 100% until you’ve got the rock on her finger! She was *totally* surprised, but very excited! And of course so am I! We spent most of last night telling everybody.
Of course, now the scary part - the wedding! Ahhh! But, of course, there’s some other news that means the wedding planning will have to wait just a bit longer…
Bye bye Jackiey! I have to say, I’m a bit sad to see her go. Because she’s a nutter. Ahh well, what can ya do? Leo is particularly crazy though (claiming that the success of Thunder in my Heart was due to the fact that it was a Leo Sayer song? I didn’t even know it was him until he came on the show), so at least we still have him. I really don’t have anything interesting to say about this day though. Sorry.
(As seen on Geek.Ent)
1. What did you do in 2006 that you’d never done before?
Man, there were tons of things. I guess the easiest one is “visit 9 different countries”.
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I can’t remember if I made any… if I did, I almost assuredly didn’t keep them. I’m hoping to keep this year’s resolutions though.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, Liz’s sister Frances gave birth to wee little cutie Ciara!
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Not that I’m aware of.
5. What countries did you visit?
Northern Ireland (technically the UK? I dunno), Germany, Cyprus, The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Italy (twice!), Spain (technically, in the form of the Canary Islands), Belgium, the Czech Republic and France. I think that’s it.
6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
I really don’t know. 2006 was a pretty good year. Check back with me in June.
7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
October 10, for sure. That was the day the my first niece was born!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
All that travel. It was absolutely awesome.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Paying off my debts. I’m really not doing a great job of that right now… But with my car at home being paid off this year, it’ll finally be considered an ASSET (instead of being in negative equity) and I’ll be able to start paying off my debts in a more serious manner.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not really. A cold from hell or two, but that’s about it really.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Definitely my Nikon D50. I love that camera.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Ummm… Nobody is sticking out in my head… so ME! I totally ruled last year.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Again, nobody is particularly standing out as being real evil in 2006. So, I’m going to mark this one down as “Terrorists”. They totally suck.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent, car payments, travel.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My new camera. I really, really, really, really love it!
16. What song will always remind you of 2006?
Panic At The Disco - I Write Sins Not Tragedies
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. Happier or sadder?
Equally happy, I’d say. If you compared to two years ago when Liz and I were apart, then I’d say WAY happier.
ii. Thinner or fatter?
Probably a bit heavier. The gymmin’ weren’t so regular this year
iii. richer or poorer?
Richer in experience. And that’s all that really matters. Probably about equal, money-wise though
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Take more pictures. I got really lazy at points
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Be lazy. I had some serious lethargy moments this year.
20. How many one-night stands?
Zero. Being in a long term commmitted relationship has that affect.
21. What was your favourite TV program?
How I Met Your Mother. Definitely my best discovery of 2006. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is a close second though
22. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope.
23. What was the best book you read?
This is a toughy. I read so many books in 2006. But my first instinct is Tenderwire, by Claire Kilroy. An absolutely brilliant book. Closely followed by The Time Travellers Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger.
24. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Panic! At The Disco is definitely my most listened to album of the year, for bands that I’d never heard of before.
25. What did you want and not get?
I can’t think of anything… ok, a Nikon 18-200 f3.5-5.6 VR lens, but I didn’t really expect to get one.
26. What was your favourite film of this year?
Too many to choose from. Lucky Number Slevin is the first film that comes to mind though, so I’m going with that one.
27. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I honestly can’t remember what I did on the actual day. All I know is that Liz and I STUFFED ourselves at Luigi Malone’s, but I can’t remember if that was on my actual birthday or not. I was 28.
28. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
Jeans and a t-shirt. The same it’s been for years. If I’m going out, dressier shoes and a collared shirt.
29. What kept you sane?
Liz. I wouldn’t be able to survive here without her!
30. Who did you miss?
Pepper-dog, for sure.
31. Who was the best new person you met?
That would have to be little Ciara Malone. She has definitely been the coolest new person I’ve met, and the only person who I think is cute if they throw up all over me.
32. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:
Enjoy life. It goes by too fast to spend it being miserable or worrying about things. That’s why I’m not AS concerned that the debts aren’t getting paid off as fast as I’d like. I know it’ll happen eventually, but right now I have zero regrets about going on all those trips with Liz last year. I’ve seen tons of countries that I certainly didn’t expect to see any time soon, so I’m super happy about that.
Wow… 2007! Hard to believe. Hope everybody had a great 2006! It was my first full year in Ireland. I have some serious resolutions to stick by this year, too, and here they are:
That’s about it! What’s everybody else planning for their resolutions?
I know I haven’t written in ages. I do know this. I just haven’t gotten up the motivation to do so. But when Rannie related his experiences with Bell (I’ve had similar shitty experience with them) and asked if anybody had any experience with Rogers, I started relating my Rogers cancellation experience in a comment. Then I realized that it was turning out quite long. So, I decided it was a perfect time to get back on the ol’ blog horse. And here we go!
I’ve never really been *all* that bothered with Rogers, except for one of the times I tried to cancel my internet and cable with them. About 2 years ago (actually, I’d say it was almost exactly 2 years ago), I was moving back home to live with my mom for a month or two until Liz got back from Ireland (which, incidentally, didn’t happen, which is why I am over here now), and thus didn’t need internet OR cable. So first I called the cable company service line to get the cable cancelled. I explained the whole thing to them, told them I was moving, told them no, I didn’t need it at the new place because it was already installed there, etc etc. After 10 minutes explaining the situation to them, they finally actually looked at their screen and found out that no, I couldn’t cancel my service with them because I had the Rogers combined service thing, with mobile phone and internet and cable all in one. So they transferred me to THOSE people. I had to explain the whole situation again. 10 minutes. Then they told me that no, *they* couldn’t cancel me EITHER, they had to transfer me to the “cancellation department” (otherwise known as the “customer retention department” - btw, if you ever want to get good deals from pretty much *any* service provider, and a competitor has a plan that you like better, call and tell your service provider you want to cancel so you can switch to that competitor. They will fight very hard to keep your business, usually matching or bettering the competition’s offer). Another 10 minutes to explain the situation. No, I really don’t need internet at the new place. They really already have rogers cable and internet. No, really. No, I don’t know the people that are moving into my old place, and even if I did, after being on the phone with you jackasses for an hour and a half (oh, did I mention I was on hold for AGES every time I got transferred?) there’s no way in hell I plan on recommending them to you. Seriously. No. I just want to close my accounts. Are you even listening to me? Stop talking! I know about Rogers’ wonderful plans, I’ve used them for 3 years! Gah! DISCONNECT ME!!!!
Eventually, I got them to agree that I didn’t, in fact, need a second internet or cable line at my mom’s house. But it was hard going. They’re a tenacious bunch, all right, those customer retainers. Oh, and did I mention that I was at work trying to cancel my service? Yeah, so my work friends were laughing their asses off when I was explaining the exact same thing the third time around. They thought I was just fucking with them, that after the second time they really did cancel my service. Nope. Three times lucky, baby!
So, I’ve picked up a cold somewhere. Dammit. Over the last few years, I’ve found that I have the most predictable colds EVER:
That’s about the average run. Often when the cough ends up running long, it ends up lasting FOREVER because I get so used to coughing, that it becomes habit. It’s really irritating. So, that’s what I get to look forward to for the next bunch of days. And we’re supposed to go see the baby this weekend! GRRRR! Well, I’ll just have to be careful about not getting snot all over the cute little thing.
(Baby Ciara having a bit of a lay down)
Tuesday afternoon, Liz’s sister Frances finally had her baby. It feels like she’s been pregnant forever! At 7 pounds, 13 ounces, little Ciara is definitely a healthy weight - but what gets us most is how LONG she is! She’s an absolutely gorgeous baby, and incredibly good thus far… so quiet! I can’t wait till we get to take care of her this weekend! And rest assured, there will be PLENTY more pictures. The baby was less than 12 hours old and I had already taken a big whack of pictures of her!
Any way… congrats to Frances and Mick. The baby is gorgeous, and healthy, and from the looks of things, she’s going to provide a hell of a lot of joy in the coming years.
Ahhh October. It’s really getting much cooler these days, after one of the hottest Irish summers on record (apparently… and by hottest ever, we’re not talking anywhere close to Toronto’s 35-40 temps… more like high 20’s). I shouldn’t really complain, as I’m still able to wear a t-shirt to work (almost) every day without a jacket. We’re still hitting highs in the mid-teens (celsius) every day, and it’s still been mostly sunny every day (except for the torrential rain on Sunday afternoon… but I was sitting at home catching up on Season 2 of Numb3rs… I love that show! Up to episode 10 or so now!). I’ll be looking back on these days with envy come January, when it’s 2-3 degree highs and rainy all day. At least the leaves are still (mostly) around and (mostly) green. The thing is, with the return of autumn, I really expect to be watching me some NFL football, and since I haven’t gotten any, it’s driving me CRAZY! I think I might have to order the Sky Sports package on NTL… yeah, it’s like 23 extra euro a month, but I saw a commercial yesterday for some NFLUK.com production, and I was salivating over the football clips. So, Sky Sports, here I come! And maybe I’ll tack on the Sky Movies pack while I’m at it. Liz and I are always looking for more movies to watch at home, and this makes it a bit easier than downloading them off the net buying dvds.
It’s true. I’ve realized over the last couple weeks that I just like writing code (for those of you who don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, I’m not talking Da Vinci Code style codes here… I’m talking computer programming code). Any time there’s been a task that I needed to do on my computer that required any kind of repetition, I’ve found myself zipping into Visual Studio to write up a little application that does what I need. In the past, I would have hunted for hours trying to find a freeware application that would do what I wanted… but suddenly I seem to be a do-it-yourselfer. I guess it’s because every time I go looking for a freeware program (whether it be a file renamer, or an image cropper, or whatever) they always tend to be missing just that one crucial feature that I need! So I finally just started breaking down and writing whatever it was I wanted from scratch. It might not be as time efficient, but at least it does exactly what I want it to, and on top of that it also gives me a sense of accomplishment, albeit a nerdy one.
Liz is off having dinner with her friends tonight, so here’s what I did with a night on my own:
- Drop Liz at the bus
- Go to the gym. Ouch.
- Come home, have giant plate of pasta with cheese. Yum!
- Shave off the 3 week beard that I had let grow up. Yes, I am that lazy. I was supposed to cut my hair tonight too, but couldn’t be arsed.
- Watch 2 episodes from season 2 of Numb3rs. Very good show, wish I had kept up with season 2 so I could watch season 3. Oh well, soon enough.
- Eat 2 peanut butter and honey sandwiches with a glass of milk. I was starving!
- Call my mom to wish her a happy birthday. Happy Birthday, mom!
- Write my daily blog entry. So far so good! I remember back in the day when I would write 5-10 of these posts a day. I’m slackin! I still have to get around to finishing writing up about my trip to Prague and Venice back in August! Ugh!
- Watch another episode of Numb3rs while I wait for Liz to get home. Exciting!
Yeah… so tonight I had my first class of the Photography Course I’m taking (it’s actually pretty basic, perhaps a bit below my skill level but it’ll still be worthwhile I’m sure). It’s down in Dun Laoghaire, which is very pretty at night but apparently kinda rough. I showed up at 6 for my 6:45 course, and popped into McDonald’s for some food. I decided to munch on my food in the car reading my book while I waited for class to start, and sure enough, lost track of time. I grabbed my camera and my phone, jumped out of the car, locked and slammed the door. It wasn’t until I was about 10 steps away that I thought to check that I had my key in my pocket…. d’oh! That’s right. Locked the keys in the car. LUCKILY Liz had her key, and my class is on an accessible bus route… so it meant not too much hassle getting back into the car after class, but god DAMN did I ever feel like an idiot! This is why I like power locks
Oh, and Liz thought it would be SO FUNNY to pretend like she had forgotten the key after coming all the way down to let me into the car. HA HA HA! Grrrr.
Also - last night’s Veronica Mars? SO AWESOME! I love that damn show. Although we were a bit lost for some of it (the Keith/Kendall thing had me a bit confuzzled)
I don’t really have anything to say about 9/11 that hasn’t been said elsewhere, and better. So I’m just going to reflect on the last five years.
I can’t believe it’s been five years already. Five years ago I was only 4 months out of university, feeling the “OMG I can’t believe I don’t have to go back to school ever again, it’s SO WEIRD” vibe for the very first September, working at my very first real full time job. I was still living at home. The Pepper-dog wasn’t even a year old yet. I was still dating Jenn. It’s amazing how much has changed in that time: I’ve changed jobs, twice. I lived with Chris for 3 years. I moved back into my mom’s place again temporarily. I lived with crazy Fern for 6 months. Jenn and I broke up. Jenn got engaged (like 4 years later… congratulations, Jenn!). I met Liz. Moved to Ireland. Saw many of the big capitals of Europe. If you asked me 5 years ago where I thought I would be on this day, I can almost guarantee you my answer would not have been “sitting in an office in south Dublin, with my tan from Venice still nicely brown on my arms.”
But I wouldn’t trade where I am today for anything in the world.
Liz and I are currently in Venice. It is absolutely GORGEOUS here. My god. Expensive as all hell, but that’s to be expected. No comparison, price wise, to Prague, which was SO CHEAP (that’s where we were on the weekend). Prague was surprisingly hilly, I had no idea! Beautiful architecture. I plan on having MANY pictures up when I get back, so look forward to them! Now it’s back to do a bit more wandering!
Sunday: Dave and I slept in till 11 or so, after being kept up late by the loud jerks in our hotel… basically gave ourselves just enough time to shower, pack, and get checked out by noon. We drove off to see the Ross Castle, which was gorgeous, and took a fair few pictures. Then drove back to Killarney, and stopped at a gas station for some provisions. Water was a necessity, and got a yummy chocolate orange muffin for breakfast! Oh, and Dave picked up some juice, which turned out to be concentrated - you see, you can buy various concentrated juice products here, where you just add water (similar to frozen concentrates at home, except more watery). Regardless, he got a bit of a shock when he tried drinking it undiluted! Then it was off to Dingle, and Slea Head. The car got stuck in soft sand at Inch Strand, and there were some seriously narrow roads on the way to Slea, but the scenery was GORGEOUS. We spent a good hour hiking around Slea Head, and then Dave went and played in the ocean while I took pictures of some of the surfers and the crashing waves. We realized a bit late, however, that we still had a good 3+ hours of driving ahead of us, and it was almost 6pm! And we had planned on visiting the Cliffs of Moher that day as well on our way up to Galway. Whoops! No time for that, so we scooted off to Galway directly. After a bit of circling, we finally found our hostel, the Kinlay House, which was a FANTASTIC deal and just perfectly located for our needs (those needs being - party!).
After settling into the room a bit, we zipped off to Eyre Square, and hit three of the (absolutely dead) bars there briefly. Then it was off for a wander down Quay St, where we hit several bars over the course of several hours, drinking several pints and seeing several good live bands. I was shocked at the quality of the bands available in just about every venue we hit. Good fun was had, and we ended up closing out The Quays bar, but then it was off to sleepy land!
More to come, later…
