Ryan's Ramblin'

Not perfect? Says YOU, Mississauga News!

Ryan — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 06:30:18 +0000

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!

Mmmm, divx-y goodness!

Ryan — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 06:56:52 +0000

Ok, I just have to thank whomever at Microsoft is in charge of Xbox 360 update feature planning - it’s now possible to stream divx video from your PC to your Xbox 360. This feature is SO AWESOME. Liz and I watch a lot of shows in divx format, for a couple reasons - 1: we watch a *lot* of shows, and often they are on at the same time; 2: some shows are on after 10pm, and we are already heading for bed at that time; 3: sometimes we just don’t have time to watch shows after work, due to social engagements/wedding planning/etc; 4: with some shows (Biggest Loser, and ANTM, I’m looking in your direction) it’s just easier to watch without the commercials and be able to fast forward boring bits (Biggest loser is the WORST for having 1-2 minute recaps after the commercial break. Listen NBC, I know you were stuck for Tuesday night shows, but stretching out all of those episodes to two hours? YAWNSVILLE).

So, all of that to say - thank you, oh Microsoft Xboxy Lords of Evil, for finally adding in this feature. It’s hawesome.

Mississauga’s Perfect Couple? We Sure Are!

Ryan — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 06:00:52 +0000

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?

I’m Employed! Woo!

Ryan — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 19:24:04 +0000

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

Totally home, totally exhausted!

Ryan — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 02:59:40 +0000

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!

Still alive, just busy travelling!

Ryan — Sat, 05 May 2007 14:42:44 +0000

Ok - I’ve been a pretty bad blogger here, but I *have* been writing up entries about each place (thus far we’ve been in Shanghai, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Cambodia, and now we’re on our second stop in Thailand, Phi Phi Island, after spending 2 days in Phuket city). We are having an absolutely FANTASTIC time, and I’m taking TONS of pictures. Phi Phi Don island is absolutely stunning, and tomorrow we’re heading off on a snorkelling/sea kayaking trip for the day. We’re kinda sad that we don’t get to stay here longer, but sure, still no regrets as I’m sure our resort in Patong Beach (back on Phuket) will be stunning as well. Some selected pictures are up, but that’s not nearly all of them, and hasn’t been updated at all with any pictures from Thailand or Phnom Penh. Hope everyone is doing well - we still have like 6 more days here in Thailand, then it’s one night in Singapore and off to Australia for the non-asian leg of our trip. I can’t believe we’ve been gone for so long already, but there’s still tons of amazing places left to see!

Greetings from Shanghai!

Ryan — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:29:14 +0000

Liz and I made it safely to Shanghai! Woohoo! We managed to make it through our first day without falling asleep TOO early (got a few hours sleep on the plane). I have to say, it’s a bit of a culture shock being here in China… Even just simple things, like ordering dinner, are done completely differently! And a *few* people speak english, but not very many, which makes for fun adventures in pantomiming. Shanghai seems very much like a tourist destination for Chinese people, as opposed to we white folk, but we’re enjoying ourselves nonetheless. One thing that is absolutely *maddening* is all the honking. My god! I think people honk their horns just to say “I am driving!” Every 2 or three seconds, somebody will honk their horn. It really doesn’t seem to follow any discernable pattern. Which sort of defeats the purpose, in my opinion, but whatever. The subway seems pretty good, if crowded, but “crowded” pretty much seems to define the whole city. There’s just people and cars and bikes and mopeds and motorcycles EVERYWHERE. We’re having a blast though! Can’t wait to get some of the pictures up - once I’m somewhere that I can actually upload them, I’ll definitely have them up! More updates soon!

BSG - I’m finally hooked!

Ryan — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 11:22:43 +0000

Ok, so I had somehow managed to avoid Battlestar Galactica for the first 3 seasons that it has been on the air, despite the ravings of rabid ~~nerds~~fans all across the internets. Then, at some point over the last year I figured “Hey, I might as well download it, to give me something to watch should I ever get bored.” - well, I downloaded the first 3 seasons, and then forgot about them. It wasn’t until Liz went off on a hen weekend (hen == bachelorette, stagette, etc for my North American readers) a few weeks ago, and I found myself without any new Family Guy, Simpsons, American Dad, Numb3rs, or My Name Is Earl episodes that I decided to pop it in. And what a mistake that was! Over the course of that weekend, I blasted through the original (new) mini-series, and the first 8 or 9 episodes of season one. I was officially hooked! My inner geek (who had been a bit deprived since Serenity, frankly) was unleashed, and I was off to the races. I’m now up to episode… 12? 13? of season 2, and it’s still amazing. The ONLY complaint I have about the show, is one that I’m sure has been stated many a time already by geeks across the blogotron already - how the hell does networking your computers together suddenly make them so vulnerable to Cylon virus attacks? That’s the onlything that really bugs me about the show. Everything else is pure, unadulterated awesomeness.

The big trip!

Ryan — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 10:45:34 +0000

Ok. I mentioned that Liz and I were going on a bit of a whirlwind trip on our way back to Canada, promising more details later. Well, it’s now later. It’s true, we’re doing 6 weeks of travelling through Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand rather than going directly back to Canada. Here’s the list of our destinations:

Shanghai
Siem Reap/Angkor Wat
Phnom Penh (ok, technically we arrive from Shanghai in Phnom Penh - but then we hop on a bus to Siem Reap so I’m considering this to be a destination AFTER Siem Reap
Krabi/Ko Phi Phi/Phuket
Singapore
Melbourne (to see Joe and Talie! Yay!)
Sydney
Townsville, driving up to Cairns
Queenstown
Wellington
Los Angeles (for 8 hours)

It’s really going to be the trip of a lifetime! It’s required a hell of a lot of planning, I’m not gonna lie! First off, we got a round the world plane ticket - specifically, a Great Escapade. This covered all of our flights except for Phnom Penh->Siem Reap, internal Australian flights and from LA->Toronto (apparently Canada isn’t included in the Great Escapade). We booked some internal flights for the rest of our stuff… except for half of the route from Phnom Penh->Siem Reap, for which we’ve elected to take the bus (I’ve heard it can be rough, but I’m excited for a bit of rugged Cambodian countryside in an otherwise hotel/plane based trip). We’ve spent a hell of a lot of time on TripAdvisor looking up hotels and such too. I absolutely can’t wait! And don’t worry - I’ll be taking PLENTY of pictures, and hopefully posting some along the way along with trip updates for each place. It depends on what sort of downtime/internet time we have. And we leave a week from today! AAAAAAH!

Kurt Vonnegut - November 11, 1922–April 11, 2007

Ryan — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 08:21:43 +0000

Rest in peace, you crazy, hilarious man.