The hockey seasons in all leagues are well underway by now. The Giants are flying in the UK, the Flyers are sinking in the NHL and there has been enough to go around for everyone on the televisions. Still for me there is always something missing during hockey season until I actually get to a game. For me the season isn’t properly underway yet. It doesn’t matter what the game is, be in the Elite Ice Hockey League or the National Hockey League, live hockey at the arena/rink is better than live T.V. hockey. Tonight therefore my hockey season gets underway Ontario Hockey League style.

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I’ve been cycling home from work nearly every day now for about four weeks. Unfortunately that wasn’t able to happen yesterday when a Northerly wind belew in at freezing temperatures that forced me into getting the bus home. Today I packed warmer cycling gear but thankfully the weather has picked up some and so I ended up carrying most of the extra gear home on my back. The route home is just shy of 12 miles and I had to believe that although it isn’t a lot in doing it often I must be racking the miles up . . . MORE »

It’s been a busy week/weekend here. This past weekend was Thanksgiving weekend so we had the Monday off work and so makes it a four day week. Shouldn’t it always be a four day week? We spent the weekend up near Peterborough with Kim’s family having some excellent food. Thanksgiving requires a Turkey dinner much in the mold of Christmas day so you certainly didn’t find me complaining about that. We went up on the Saturday morning and returned late Sunday evening with filled stomachs. MORE »

So I have finally got around to giving up the bus and taking up the bike home from work. I throw it into the back of Kim’s uncles car on the way to work and then ride it home. It’s a 12 mile cycle but because of the waiting and the changes on the bus I managed to get home almost 30 minutes quicker than the bus so it is all win win — I don’t feel so guilty about a cold beer in the evening now!

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Ah, the first week at the new job down and I can finally relax a little bit. It is already early/mid afternoon here in sunny Mississauga and I have only been awake a matter of hours. After riding buses all week and getting up shortly after 6 a.m. it was time for a big lie-in. Boy did I need it. This has been a busy week and made fun thanks to two trips downtown to catch two Blue Jay baseball games. They won one, lost one and were officially eliminated with any chance of making the post-season. MORE »

So the first day of work is down but what a nightmare the travelling part is. It is always too early on the first day to really say what something is going to be like but I can without any hesitation tell you that the travel on them buses will be tough. They are cheap, on time and frequent but anything that takes an hour and fifteen minutes compared to a twenty minute drive is never fun, especially at the end of the day when you just want to get home. MORE »

My Day’s of lying in each morning, applying for job and generally passing time by enjoying the time off of work are OVER. Yes, yesterday I had an interview and yesterday I was hired for a new job. The job is quite similar in work that I did back home which I am pleased about and I start next week.  That gives me enough time to build my bike, which I still haven’t got round to doing, and taking it for a few spins. I’m surprised I got work so quickly after my arrival but I am sure not going to complain about it. So indeed, from next week I will be back in the rat race, fighting traffic to get to the office in time again. Actually I won’t quite be fighting traffic I will be fighting to make it to the three different busses I have to take to get to work each morning.

~ Richard Blayney

It’s not White yet, but give it a few months. The sun is shining it is blue skies and the temperature is hot. Thankfully my flight’s company ‘Globe Span’ didn’t go out of business in the days leading into the flight and I was able to make it in one piece with a bunch of people who were meant to be on zoom flights in the last few days. Since I was flying one-way I decided for the first time in my life to upgrade myself to the Business class and leave in a bit of style. It also doubled my baggage allowance from 20kg to 40kg which I made the most of and then a heck of a lot more!  By the time packing was finished on Friday afternoon I had 3 cases and 1 bike bag. Still I didn’t mind paying the excess and when I got on the flight was also glad I upgraded to Business.

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So last night was my going away party and what an outstanding party it was. I must honestly say it was the best party I have ever been to and not just because it was mine!! I know a lot of invites went out but I really did not expect so many people to show up and when they did it was just great to see them all. If anyone does read this, thanks a lot for coming along, I hope you did enjoy it. As you probably realised a ton of photographs were taken by my Dad and by Clare. I have gotten Clare’s photos on a memory card and will try upload some of the many as soon as I get the chance. Dad said he will mail his photos onto me when he gets them sorted.

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So yesterday marked my final day at Siemens after 3 years and 9 months with the company. I now find myself back in that place I haven’t been since somewhere in and around my student days — unemployed. But that is ok because clearly there is a method to the madness. Yes, it is now 3 days and counting until I leave these shores for Canada. MORE »

An e-mail sent to Dad and Mum who are out in Canada watching Matty’s Trans-Rockies Mountainbike Race that sums up the week so far and the terrible weather!

What can I say, the weather has been poor but today it too a turn for the worst. It has rained literally every day since you’s left but today the rain is consistent and the wind is gale force. The Ulster Grand Prix is meant to be on today and I was meant to leave at 9 a.m. to go and watch it. I’m not sure if it went ahead but I certainly didn’t bother going, conditions are a joke and it’s a shame, I was looking forward to seeing the racing. The weather has been so poor I haven’t even seen my bike since you’s left and I doubt many others in the country have either. No fun riding in that rain. Is this November here? MORE »

Every summer since 2003 that I have spent time in Canada that little bug called the Mosquito has had a feeding frenzy with my blood. I’m not sure what it is that attracts them to me above most others but I usually end up as the one covered in bites and scratching myself for the next week while everyone else struggles to count more than 5 bites in all. Of course I wear the bug spray but somehow I still manage to get bitten and well, when sitting around a camp fire having a few beers you quickly forget to keep re-applying the spray as you fail to notice them on you until you see the remains of the damage the following morning. Carrying the hangover is bad enough never mind the Mosquito bites. So with a summer having not been in Canada I really thought I had managed to avoid the little blood sucking feigns. Until Yesterday. MORE »

It is funny, you think a bigger deal would have been made of the days that had the same date as the month as the year, after all, until the turn of this millenium the last time it occurred was back on 12th December 1912, but baring last year, I don’t ever remember them passing any differently to a normal day. There was no major events and I don’t think I even woke up and thought, “ohh… It’s the 5th of May 2005. Or at least if I did it was for a passing moment before I got on with the day. Last year on the 7th July 2007 it marked the prologue time-trial of the Tour de France from London - a fine day for any cycling fan. This year though the 8th day of the 8th month of the 8th year represents the opening ceremony of the Olympic games. In China the number 8 is a number of luck and good fortune so I guess they picked the year and the date to open the Olympics carefully. It is funny, I dont actually remember wide spread panic throughout the Western World on the day of June 6, 2006 (6/6/6) — a number set that isn’t looked at favourably at all — but that’s enough about that. Yes, today is 8/8/8 and the start of the Olympics and by the time the Olympics switch to London in just four years time we will only have one more of these number patterns (12/12/12) left for another 989 years. Enjoy!!

 ~ Richard Blayney

Or, in reality, a Solar Eclipse is taking place today (not the one ont the left). According to what I have read it is best viewed somewhere in Russia but with no ability to get there in a day and back I had to make do with the little chunk of the sun covered by the moon here in Belfast. Impressive stuff however.  Still, it is a minor miracle that here in the cloud infested skies that is the Northern Ireland summer of 2008 we were able to see the sun on demand! At one point while standing out front of work trying to squint in the general direction someone walked out thinking we were just amazed that the sun still existed after days of dark clouds and heavy rain. MORE »

Thankfully tonight I remembered to close the sun-roof on my car and that the seat will not be damp when I go to get in it tomorrow morning to drive to work like it was this morning and probably should have been the day before that when it was again left open during a downpour. The weather is a joke this summer except for a few days here and there but pretty soon that will not be of any relevance to me. For sitting beside me right now is my passport and stamped into the passport is my permanent residency visa for Canada which I acquired just a week ago officially. With that all in place the only thing left to do now to rubber stamp it all is to book the flights and that is the plan tonight. That then officially engages the journey west, into the known in my case, or maybe in certain cases the unknown and the start of this blog. Before I get on with it all, maybe I should give a little background as to why I am doing what I am doing though I suspect everyone knows that by now, but what the hell. . . . MORE »