About

Welcome, I'm Symuality.

sim-you-al-ity

Behind the Screen

My name is Ryan Dalton. I'm a full-time software engineer, the founder of a small web development agency called Mosaic Ridge, and a husband and dad living in Churchville, Virginia.

Jessica and I got married on October 16, 2016 on the San Antonio Riverwalk. It was a small wedding with only close friends and family. Fun fact: we spent $500 getting married and here we are 9 years later.

Jessica is a stay-at-home mom who enjoys baking, gardening, coffee, Target, Netflix, and Amazon. She claims to be an introvert but I'm secretly convinced she's just an extremely shy, anxiety-filled extrovert. We joke that she's a golden retriever because she enjoys nothing more than a good drive.

Our son Mason is 6 and is all energy. He loves karate, shooting hoops in the driveway, passing football, making dad play Fortnite, and helping me wrench on the project car. He also has a pet ball python named Pikachu.

The Long Way Around

I grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia and drove tractor trailer for ten years because it's what I watched my dad do my whole life. There's still a passion for trucks, but it doesn't pay well enough unless you're an owner/operator, and at that point it's not a job, it's a lifestyle. I hauled casing for drilling rigs, mining shields for coal mines, lumber, and saltwater and drilling fluids.

I remember eating lunch with my high school drumline instructor, Mr. Welker, and his fiancée (we called her “MAW” (Miss Almost Welker). They told us about not wanting to be stuck in the same cycle as the rest of their family, where their parents were from their hometown, and their grandparents, and their grandparents' parents. That always stuck with me. I wanted to see different places.

Jessica and I love Bryan-College Station, Texas. It's my favorite place on Earth and where Mason was born in May 2019. We moved back to the Northeast so he could grow up knowing his family, spent about four years in Toms River, New Jersey, and landed in Churchville, Virginia in March 2025. We intend to stay here at least until Mason graduates high school. This may be the last stop for us forever. It may not. Time will tell. Fun fact: we live right next door to my mom and step-dad. It's a blessing for Mason and we couldn't be happier about it.

I also served in the U.S. Army Reserves as a 12C (Bridge Crewmember) from 2009 to 2017. Basic training was at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (“Fort Lost in the Woods”) in early 2010. I was with the 459th Engineering Unit out of Bridgeport, West Virginia, with summer training at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin or Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. I never had the opportunity to serve overseas, but I always felt a pull to do my duty for my country.

Trucks, Cars, and Code

I started wrenching on big trucks before cars. My dad never wanted the blue-collar lifestyle for me and kept me away from his truck garage when I was young. He claims he wanted me to get a job pushing a pen. Funny story: by 19, I was exactly where he didn't want me to be: in a truck.

We spent a few months restoring an old 2000 Kenworth with a Cat 6NZ motor and 13-speed transmission back to road-worthy together. It made for a fantastic memory and I ran that truck for a little over two years. I've probably spent more time wrenching on trucks than cars, but it all feels a lot like coding. You take a problem, break it down into smaller chunks, and work through those chunks until it's solved. Checking fuses is basically the dropping-print-statements of the automotive world.

How I Got Into Code

Web development interested me as early as middle school. We learned a tiny bit of HTML in 7th grade computer class and I thought it was the coolest thing since sliced bread. Save it as “.html”, double-click it, it opens in the browser. I played with Yahoo GeoCities and Adobe Dreamweaver way back when.

As I got older, I always assumed college was a barrier to entry. I honestly figured web development had reached a point where it was all WYSIWYG until I learned it might be a viable career without a degree and there were bootcamps designed to get you there. I enrolled in App Academy in 2021, a six-month program. A lot of bootcamps drop you straight into React hoping you can write enough JSX to get hired. App Academy spent the first twelve weeks on foundational JavaScript and actually preparing your technical skills. That made a huge difference.

My first professional role was as a federal government contractor, building applications where security and reliability weren't optional. From there I moved into enterprise software development. Coding has become a lifestyle for me, but at least I'm not stuck away from home on major holidays and family birthdays anymore.

The Name

Symuality came from a stint of soul searching and wanting to establish a unique online presence, whether for gaming or otherwise. I've always been interested in this idea of life being a “Simulated Reality.” I drew inspiration from that to combine the words but didn't like the way “Simuality” looked. I played with it a little more, landed on “Symuality,” and haven't looked back since. I was drawn to the name but didn't know fully why.

Found

My life before Christ can best be described as “Casual Christianity” or being a “Comfort-zone Christian.” I'm excluding an angsty teenage phase where I had more questions than answers about the world around me. I told myself things like “God recognizes my effort to be a good person and that will be enough.” I convinced myself that organized churches were full of hypocrites who run wild until Sunday when they go to feel good about themselves. I convinced myself Church wasn't necessary. I was also guilty of using God like a vending machine. Prayers go in, hopefully my desired outcome comes out.

If I started to doubt my own excuses, my next scapegoat was time. I have a family to provide for. I have a social life to maintain. I have hobbies for the sake of my sanity. God understands, right? He sees how much I have to juggle and knows my heart, so that's enough... isn't it?

Beyond all that, the sin I've been most guilty of would be placing money above God. I believed that money was a number you could place on the amount of value you provide to society. No matter the number I saw in our bank account, it was never enough. My thoughts were always consumed with what I needed to do to make more.

Lucky for me, there is a voice in the financial space who has a lot of reach: Dave Ramsey. I wouldn't say Dave is how I found Jesus, but he definitely helped push me in the right direction. I can't tell you how many times I've heard him say, “I met God on the way up, and I got to know him on the way down.”

After years of going through the motions, labeling myself a Christian, listening to Dave Ramsey, obsessing over money, and praying for the wrong reasons, my life just wasn't where I expected it to be. I had a loving wife, a beautiful son, a job that paid well, my health, and a roof over my head. Even with all that, I fell into a depression where I coped by using video games as a distraction from everything around me. Happy face for friends and family by day, doing my best to avoid facing life by night. Believe it or not, this is how I met Jesus.

I met a gentleman named Roger while playing Rocket League. As St. Francis of Assisi is often credited with saying, “Preach the Gospel at all times; use words when necessary.” Roger is the kind of guy where words aren't necessary. He carries himself differently. No arrogance, no superiority, just pure, honest compassion. Even when his patience is wearing thin, his composure holds. I eventually found the courage to ask him about his faith. Since then, I've spent hours asking him hard-hitting questions about everything from forgiveness to how we as Christians should navigate the social and cultural issues of our time.

Jesus had been there all along. Through every excuse, every distraction, every misguided prayer. On March 12, 2025, I made a decision to deeply study the Bible, to know the word of God, and to be a better Christian. That was the day I found Him.

In June of 2025, I was baptized alongside my wife and step-dad. The clarity I've experienced since that day has been incredible. My wife and I can look back and see God's will being done, how He's been protecting and caring for us all along. We're so thankful to be part of a community that shares our values.

Full Circle

Finding Christ brought the name into focus. I had always been drawn to this idea of a “simulated reality,” but I had it backwards. This is a simulated reality. Not the kind built by machines or code, but one authored by God Himself. Every moment of this life has been pre-built and set into motion by Him. It's His design, His will. And the name I thought I chose on a whim? God had been steering me toward it long before I ever understood why.

Other Interests

• Homelabbing. Running TrueNAS on a mini-PC and tinkering with it.
• Home improvement. The never-ending list.
• Bowling. I used to average around 180-200 when I bowled in a league about 15 years ago.
• Bible study (daily)

The Rig

Built around 2018 and gradually upgraded since. Hoping it lasts a bit longer before I have to jump off the retired AM4 chipset.

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X (12 cores / 24 threads)
• RAM: 32 GB DDR4
• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (Navi 21)
• OS: Linux (btw). Ubuntu to Debian back to Ubuntu. Would love to be an Arch bro but I'm not sure I'm cool enough. Dual booting Windows 11 for Rocket League.

Go-To Orders

I have a go-to order at every restaurant. Name anywhere and I could tell you this very moment what I'd be ordering.

• Taco Bell: Chicken Quesadilla combo
• Domino's: Pepperoni, sausage, and jalapeños
• Subway: Italian BMT on Italian Herbs & Cheese, pepperjack, tomatoes, honey mustard
• Burger King: Double Whopper with cheese, no lettuce, no pickle, no onion, cut in half with “halfsies” (half fries, half onion rings)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.