The State of the Funion

Hello. My name is Ryan Bateman. I am, as of quite recently, 30 years old. I write software for a living.

I currently live in Toronto, Canada. Prior to that, I was travelling, and prior to that I live in England. Prior to that I lived in South Africa, where I grew up. There is a chance my visa will expire in October and that I will be forced to leave Canada. I am not sure where I will go if that happens.

I fixed up my bike this weekend - mended a flat tire, screwed on a pump, scraped away some rust, and tightened the seat. It was a pleasant way to pass the time. It was something my dad would approve of. I have named my bike Bam-bam, mostly because he is very an odd, misshapen thing built out of various second-hands parts (including two odd tires.) He was a gift from my girlfriend.
I am not sure whether you are supposed to name bicycles.

I tided my house. I found 4 lighters in our couch. I discovered that there is something deeply sad, in some way I can’t really explain, about picking long-dead cigarette butts out of the dry remains of a pot-plant. I bleached our couch cushions and vacuumed the hallway. I swept our little deck, tidied the chairs, and said hello to the neighbour when they wandered out onto their adjacent deck. They smiled.

I’m now going to cook some chicken in a wonderful stainless-steel pan and add it to a nice salad. I’ll sit down and enjoy it with a glass of cranberry juice, or maybe a beer, and eat the meal quietly. I’ll read while I do.

Life is good. Life’s pretty good.

Notes

  1. kerdea said: You’re supposed to name bicycles. That’s what I’ve always thought, anyhow.
  2. girl-detective said: The famous suffragist Frances Willard purportedly named her bicycle “Gladys”. I named mine Gwendolyn.