Finally, Some Cable and Internets!

Although I have gotten many things completed the past couple of days, I found it hard to just listen to the radio for hours upon hours. Finally, I was able to get high speed internet and cable installed earlier today and now, I am able to blog about the events that have occurred since I have left home.

I finished moving into the place on Saturday, got everything (for the most part) unpacked and organized. I can't say enough how much I love my place and this was B.C. (Before Cable). Much is still needed to be done, but it is minimal compared to where I was days ago.

My first day as a post-doc was exciting yet painful. After talking to my post-doc mentor, it was time for both 10,ooo signatures, pictures for identification......the list goes on and on. Sadly, I am still not done going through these necessary processes. Following cleaning and organization of my house, I now have to do nearly the same thing where I work. At least this is minimal though. I'm nearly complete cleaning stuff up in the lab, and once I get lab certified, I will start in my new field which pertains to neuroplasticity in the auditory circuit of the zebra finch brain (in english, how hearing things makes your brain wire itself properly). It has been nearly a month or two since I last did real work in the lab. It's about freaking time!

I will soon have pictures to post here from Small City, NY. Especially since tonight was the first official measurable snowfall since I have gotten here (my guess is about 4inches and still more to come). The best part, I DON'T HAVE TO SHOVEL ANY OF IT!!!!!!

The Next Chapter

As of 3pm yesterday afternoon, I officially became Dr. Ryguy. It was one of the greatest moments in my life that I will never forget. Following acceptance of the written documentation in the graduate student office, I had to walk uphill to the Registar's office to get the final officially stamped paperwork that stated that I completed everything for my Ph.D. As I was walking up, the snow was falling at quite a rapid pace and I just stopped walking for a second, looked around at the historic old school campus at Small Town University, and finally realized that I was done. That picture is just one that will always be engraved in my mind. One of the greatest days ever!

Now it is time for the next chapter of my life. I am taking a break from packing right this moment to let everyone know that this again may be the last blog for a little while. That is, until I get cable and Internet in my apartment. My family and I driving up to Small City, NY tomorrow morning to finish unpacking and settling in my place in NY. A very crazy but exciting time!

I can not help but say how much I will miss everyone including my best friend from high school and his family, my good college day friends from PA, PA (not a typo), and all of my friends and family from Small Town University. It has been a combination of sadness and happiness the past couple of days, but I can safely say that I am ready to start new. Besides, this is one step closer to being with my girl Sneks for the rest of my life!!!!

My name is RyGuy, but you can call me doctor!!!

After 5 1/2 years of hard work, constant anxiety, and a couple (or many) gray hairs later, I successfully defended and revised my Ph.D. dissertation in a matter of 24 hours!!! My talk went well, I honestly do not remember the first 5 minutes of it at all, and towards the end I just let the filter drop completely and made the comment "I'll miss most of you, but I'll remember all of you." Classic RyGuy just throwing what I was thinking right out there to my audience and let them have a field day with it. I really didn't think I stated that, but when people started to snicker towards the end of my talk, I knew I truly said it. Quite frankly, it was the truth. When I made this comment, I was looking at RamMan (the no neck bitch that works down the hall from me) and company talking during my entire talk. Try to at least act like your in high school at the very least. Nonetheless, everything went well, I partied hard following the talk, and am now getting ready to move out of hick town, PA to small city in NY! Pure excitement! Time for the real world and a real job!!


Next on my list, get my beautiful girlfriend back to the USA and visit me in Rochester right around her B-day. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

Minutes Away from the Finale!

In about 1 hour, I will be standing in front of all of my colleagues here at Small Town University in Pennsylvania to defend my PhD dissertation. Needless to say, the butterflies are starting to flutter in the old stomach as I type this blog entry. Don't get me wrong, I have done this before for much more important things (like my job interview at the University of Small City NY). Nonetheless, I just want to go up there and kick some major ass! I want to try to show people that I have worked hard the past 5 years in my advisor's lab and just go out with a little bit of respect. It has certainly been a long, tiring ride. But I can now say that it has all been worth it and I am now ready to move on to the next exciting chapter in my life. Here's hoping I do well defending my research!

Just Days Away

Just 5 more days until I defend my dissertation and begin a new chapter of my life. I have been doing pretty good handling the stress and anxiety that comes with wrapping up your Ph.D. But the past couple of nights I have found it difficult to sleep. In fact, I at random times during the night will wake up and start going through my defense talk in my head for no good reason. Weird. I believe that this all started once the department sent out a reminder to everyone to attend my defense and now I actually see the flyer advertising when and where I defend. Maybe I would feel better if I did the same thing this grad student did in the comic below.......

Today I Wish I Was.....

back in Monterey, California. Last summer Sneks and I met in Monterey after she completed 3 long weeks of research in Jamaica. You can tell, look how tan she was when we first met up!! I hope she is doing well right now down in Costa Rica (damn cell phones and their inability to work in Costa Rica). I love you honey! Check out Monterey below. One week until I defend my thesis. Yey!

The lone tree off the coast of Pebble Beach in California.

Sneks and I at a conference in California. Look how tan my cutie is!!!

The rocky shores off the coast of California.

Relaxing Before the Defense Talk

I only have one solid week before I finally defend my thesis in front of my research committee, my friends and colleagues at Small Town University, PA. Naturally, this generates a good deal of stress even though much of the work is already done. I find that in preparing for this talk, I need to take frequent breaks to relax and collect my thoughts. For me, since my Sneks is currently in Costa Rica doing field research for the next 5 weeks and 5 days, I try to relax by playing my Xbox 360. One of the coolest and more entertaining games I have played both online and offline is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It is a fun game that makes me respect the men and women that serve our country even more than I did before. I can't even imagine the horrors they face on a day to day basis. Here are some screenshots from the game. I will soon be on Xbox live so if anyone has this game and wants to play, let me know!!!!

My Place

Here are the bigger, better images of my new place in NY. I can't wait to move in and enjoy NY. So far, NY has treated me quite well. Enjoy!

My dining room with the very small "mini-bar" in the backdrop.

The bedroom and the weight set.
The living room with my sister and brother-in-law's couch and my office directly behind in the corner.
The living room with the soon to be used TV stand.
The kitchen where many new recipes will be attempted.

Happy New Year!

To everyone that reads this blog and who I did not already talk to in 2008, I would like to say HAPPY NEW YEAR! It is hard for me to believe that it is already January 2nd since the last time that I looked at my calendar, and for that matter my blog, it was early December. Crazy good times!


In that time, I have finished up grading for classes here at Small Town University in PA, successfully presented my research at my final committee meeting, wrapped up all experiments that are part of my thesis, submitted a manuscript that pertains to my last specific aim, submitted a copy of my thesis to all faculty members on my PhD committee and have paritally moved into my first apartment in Small City NY where I hope to start working sooner rather than later at the University of Small City, NY (I need money.....BAD!!!).

Although I am sad that I will never be able to drive in to Small Town University in PA with Sneks again, and that she will be off in Costa Rica for the next 6 weeks, I am happy to be moving on in my life and that I will always have Sneks apart of my life no matter where I go in the world. Here is a hoping that Sneks can finish here PhD in the next two years! Or sooner!!!

Check out my new pad. I hope to have everyone up at somepoint to visit. There is room for 6 people!! More pictures to come once Blogger decides to upload my awesome pictures.

My dining room next to the window.

My new bed and weight equipment in the bedroom.