Finally, its here...

Hi all,

I can't believe its finally Christmas! Finished up today for the rest of the year :-) Not back to work till the 2nd January so plenty of time for some Christmas cheer and enjoying the buzz in town...

Tomorrow and Sunday are the final shopping panic days - I always love them. They invariably have to start by me buying myself things so that I can get in the mood.... and then if there's time, I'll get some gifts for others...

Talk to you all soon!

Is anyone still there?

Its been a crazy, crazy few weeks... The site finally went live on the 28th November - bugs and all - and the past few weeks have just been a blur... I get to the office in the morning and make my coffee and then, zoom, before I know it its getting dark outside and its almost time to leave! I've never experienced anything like it. The days appear to be melting one into the other so that they all just become one long continuous stream of tiredness and stress.

But still, I'm having a ball. I would never have thought this time last year, that my life would have changed so much in so short a space of time. The biggest change for me personally is that I can honestly say that despite how much it is taking it out of me, I enjoy every minute that I'm at work, and that's a first for me. I don't get the blues at the idea of going into work on a Monday. I don't spend my week wishing for the weekend to arrive. I don't even think about when I might take a day off next. Its all a big adrenaline rush...

The down side is the waiting for the kettle to boil part. Watching the incoming orders coming - or not - through the system. The doubt about whether I've done everything I can and the frustration when others haven't. My social life is pretty much gone up the in smoke (I'll make up for it over Christmas though ...) and the gym and the pool are just a distant memory.

I got my wish though - I set up my own business! Now the next wish - to make it successful. There's a long way to go there but I'll get there.

To all of you - and you know who you are - who have helped me to get this far, who have given their time, effort and support, I have to say a huge thank you. I know its a cliche but I mean it when I say that I couldn't have got this far without you. Something like this can't be done by one person alone and the fact that it is now on its legs is thanks to you.

I won't wish you the Season's Greetings yet because I plan to post at least once more before then, but this is just to say thank you and sorry for not being around or in touch recently.

Talk to you soon and happy pre-Christmas prepping :-)

I did the deed...

I finally succumbed and got a pair of Doobs... In the words of a friend of mine, the purchase may have been 'age ambitious' but I lurvvvv them....

Watch 10 seconds at least and tell me you don't think its funny!!

Stuff I heard on the radio.....

Thanks to the fact that I now work in the D12 area, I have the luxury of extra radio-listening time in the car on the way in and back from work... Lately I've become addicted to radio in general. I listen to Newstalk all the time and a bit of 2FM (when the knob gets stuck...).

On 2FM the other night though they had this program on with a bunch of people having an 'informal' and light hearted chat about things in general. The main topics of the day were about the new attempted enforcement of penalties etc. for L drivers and the way the minister had stupidly rushed in to make it law within a week without any other warning... Among the huge uproar it caused, there was an outcry of protest, not just from those affected directly (ie: the L Drivers) but the Driving Instructors union. One of the guys pointed out that, only in Ireland, could it happen that the aforementioned union would be called IMPACT...

As they went on to discuss this and other topics, one of the guys said how equally ironic it was that the Minister for the Gaeltacht didn't even speak Irish, the Minister for Finance had no business qualifications at all and the Minister for Health... well, what can I say....?!

Tips when trying to stop smoking!

If you are going the hell that is called quitting, let me give you some minor tips that may help...

Use Nicotine Replacement Patches or Gum or whatever works for you. I think Nicquittine CQ Clear patches are really good.

Join http://www.stopsmokingcenter.net/ - its free and its excellent...

Drink water as if you were about to be abandoned in the middle of the Sahara desert..

DO NOT eat large quantities or sultana raisins, peanuts or other protein-rich foods. Believe me, try it out and you'll know why by that evening...

Good luck!

Gotta Kill Something.....

Day 6 off the smokes.... Nightmare... gonna do it though... :-) Wish me luck!

He's a grown-up now!

Fraggle is celebrating his 36th (sorry.... 26th..)birthday today... It could be touch and go. I have the bottox and valium on hand just in case we have an 'episode' but, fingers crossed, all should go smoothly... If things go pear-shaped, I've recorded enough reality-TV programs to keep him sedated for the rest of the weekend...

Anyway, Happy Birthday Fraggle!! Have a brilliant day and stop checking the mirror for wrinkles :-)

For those of you who know George Hook from Newstalk FM!!

George Hook

Its Saturday.....

And I'm at work.... Been here since about 10.00 this morning to let some guys in to do the last bits and pieces to the office and warehouse in one big blitz this weekend. Of course, Murphy's Law kicked in and the sun's been shining all day, its been warm and basically one of the best Saturdays we've had this summer.... Spending it in an industrial estate in Walkinstown wasn't my idea of the perfect Saturday (or Sunday for that matter, because I'm here tomorrow too...) but its exciting, oddly enough...

Seeing your business coming together like that, is actually a real kick.

The guys told me they'd be here at 10ish... Oh yes! The all important unit of time measurement for the trades here.... the big 'ish'! Now this unit of time varies in definition depending on who you're dealing with. These guys for instance consider the 'ish' as being anything in the region of 1 to 1and a half hours, which by my experience of getting people in to do work, is actually considered to be punctual. I've had ish's that went from 4 hours to infinity (ie: they didn't show up at all...).

For instance, consider the worst of the Irish industry definitions of this term. Its currently held by NTL. If they tell you that they'll be there between 9.00am and 13.00, you need to take the period of time involved (ie: 4 hours), multiply it by 2 or 3 and then add a couple of extra hours in for good measure... Then add a week...That's for a scheduled appointment. Now, if you need a service or a call out and you want to get a date from them, forget it.....

Anyways, that was just a minor rant, which I'm allowed given that I'm in at the weekend and that I'm not getting overtime for it :-) Talk soon...

Burrrrminham!!

I'm in Birminghan at the moment for the Autumn Fair expo.... Really well organised, very professional, generally really good... But ( and I'm going to rant again, but hey!, are you surprised?!) I'm staying in the Holiday Inn near the airport... They've a smoke ( cig ) machine here in the lobby. Now where I come from, we think smokes are a rip-off at 7 Euro.. Here they charge GBP7.40 a pack (which is what?.. 10 or 11 Euro a pack?!..) and the worst thing is A: the exchange rate means I'm paying the best part of 10 squids for a pack..but then B: the bastards have the audacity to have just 16 smokes in a box!!! Unreal... I always thought the Irish were a bit extreme on the smoking thing but now I have to say, the Brits have beatin' us!!

So, apart from that, all is going well.. F went home this avo which kinda felt (no, actually felt..) weird and depressing...I was left all on my own, but more to the point, I felt like I'd lost the functional part of my brain... F is a really good sense-check to have around.. He knows the stuff we're meant to see and also keeps tags on how long we spend in each place. If it was up to me, we'd be flying the demo helicopters all day :-) I do love them though...... (and apart from that, I wish he was here anyway...)

So, I have one more day here and then home (TG!). I really think Christmas and the start of the New Year are going to be a bitch... but, you know what, I am having a ball... I'd prefer to be up to my goolies in stress and exhaustion doing what I'm doing now, rather than doing what I was doing before..

Right - up early in the morning.. So off to bed.

Talk to you soon -

Fred

I know just how he feels!!

Muriel Robin on stage...

This is a clip of French comediene Muriel Robin that I thought was cool.... But if you don't speak any French, you won't get the full effect....

Muriel Robin (fou rire)
Uploaded by dj_jean_jean_01

Morning Radio!

I normally avoid RTE like the plague, both their radio and their TV programs... Not because they're particularly crap or anything, but mostly out of a sense of resentment for the way they get away with running their business. They have the comfort of, not only their TV Licence revenues, which seems to be enough for the BBC in the UK, but also their advertising revenues. Now, I don't have a huge issue with that extra revenue in itself. Fair play to them that they've managed to get that one over on the public for so long without being held to judgement for the crap that they put out on the air.

But you've got to wonder if we're really getting value for our Euro when you see them just taking an idea from the Beeb or any of the other stations, and changing the name, the set and the people on it, making a 2nd rate job of re-hashing an imitation and then broadcasting it... I mean, who watches that crap? It can only be those poor bog warriors who have no choice but to watch these programs because they've fallen out of the reach of satelite and cable coverage...

I recently had first hand experience of how well run the place was when I was with a friend going over to the studios in Donnybrook to drop off something for the Late Late Show. We got to the security gate - and I use the term extremely loosely here - got to the barrier only to be subjected to the most rigorous of screening...

We opened the window in the car and told their Rottweiler of a guard - fierce, he looked! - that we had a parcel to be dropped off at Studio 1 for the Late Late. 'Grand' he said and promptly lifted the barrier to let us in...!!

Surely in this day and age of terrorism - to which Ireland is not immune - a little more caution should be exercised by the national TV broadcaster?! He had no idea what was in the parcel, he never asked who we were... And, Studio 1 itself, was fully open and accessible. I hardly need to highlight the potential of a situation like that...

But I digress... The main reason I hate RTE at the moment is for taking Marty Wheelan off the air on the 2FM Morning Show. I'd never really been into Marty until I heard the morning show... Then, soon after I got hooked to it, they got rid of him and replaced him, not with another of their homegrown talents, but with the Strawberry Alarm Clock crew from FM104. I can't listen to them.... I've been aimlessly wandering the airwaves now for months and still haven't found anything remotely as good... Every radio show in the morning seems to be obsessed with making skin-crawlingly cringeable crank calls....

There is one thing I like in RTE though... Marian Finnucan :-)

Just not right!!

Seriously people! I know I'm ranting again now, but how much bloody water can clouds hold?! Its been lashing non-stop almost since we got back from holidays 2 weeks ago!

The garden, unlike our expectations, did not die away from thirst while we were away. No sir. Quite the opposite. We came back to not only find the place had turned into a sub-tropical jungle, but the fish pond was almost overflowing! Another week of this and they'll be able to swim across the garden and I'll have to swap the Vespa for a dingy.

I just came back from my customary pilgrimage to the Centra for smokes and milk, only to find that the plastic bag I was carrying the stuff in had also managed to grab the equivalent of about a cup of water at the bottom... And, I was carrying an umbrella so that gives you some idea of what I mean by 'shite weather'!

I'm just not a happy camper!

Have they moved Christmas?

I just need a quick rant...

I went down to the shops just now to get a pack of smokes (yes, I'm still smoking, but definitely giving up soon...). Anyway, I'm in the shop and they had the radio turned on in the background.

"Book your Christmas extravaganza now at the Burlington Hotel to avoid disappointment...!" Christmas Extravaganza.... Its the 9th of July for God's sake! As if it wasn't bad enough that the weather so far has been shit and its rained almost everyday since May, they add insult to injury by starting the Christmas season in mid-Summer!

Maybe its just me... Maybe I am turning into Victor Meldrew....

OK - I'm about to Blog again... but this is just a starter to get me warmed up...

I found this on YouTube a while ago and I think's its sooo funny... Hope you enjoy it too :-)

Making Sense of the Elections!

For those of you, like me, who cannot make head nor tail of the difference between the various political parties here and what they stand for, they have come up with a brilliant tool that works it out for you.

Just answer the few questions that they give you and they'll tell you who the closest party is to your views! That simple! Just follow this link.

What's been happening.....

Its been an eventful few weeks since my last post. I finally escaped Alcatraz at the end of last month following what I can only remember as being a very boozy 2 week run of lunches, dinners and drinks.

The first week out of Alcatraz was a strange feeling. Having spent so long in the structured environment and routine of the workplace, it seemed really unfamiliar to suddenly be in charge of my own time. And it needs a fair bit of discipline, which is not one of my strongest qualities! I knew I wasn't on holidays, so I didn't have that feeling. I knew I wasn't working for someone else, so that feeling started to sink in eventually. I remember on one of the days, I decided to go for a swim mid-morning and I actually felt a sudden kick of guilt from it, as if I was absconding from my responsibilities to go and enjoy myself without permission. I just couldn't quite pin down the way I felt. I was over the moon at having finally left, but not sure of where I had landed.

Last week, though, things started to gel a bit more. I started things moving with the business set-up and started to see some results. All in all, I know I've a shit-load of things to do, I know that some of it won't come easily or naturally, but I have to say that I am, for the first time in years, actually buzzed about what lies ahead. All in all, things are great! I've even started to go to the gym again and get some excersize to burn off those extra kilos that have been sneaking up on me and taking up what seemed like permanent residence.

Of course, there is a down side to being around the house during the day. No, its not Day Time TV - hate that stuff anyway... Don't see the point of it. No, the big downside is that you're at home for all the feckin' politicians when they come canvassing. Its like being under seige. You can't walk out of the door without being accosted by them. Not to mention the amount of election leaflets and promos that they're dumping in my mailbox everyday of the week...

I'm really looking forward to the next few months though, even if I know some of it will scare the crap out of me. So, for the next 4 weeks, I'm going to concentrate on getting all the bits of the plan moving forward. Even if I don't get things tied up, I want to have started some progress on each area. Then comes the break before the hard slog....

Last week we were given tickets to go see the George Michael concert (at the Point I think), which takes place the day before we head off on holidays to Mykonos. It should be a great gig - as long as George himself can make it after his last court appearance. I can't wait to get there... Even when we get back, we have the Pride March in Dublin on the day after our return. You just couldn't get a better way to start and finish the holidays...

Today is Sunday. Its a bit grey out there and not particularly warm, but we have to go for the ritual dinner with the inlaws anyway, so its probably just as well. I've been listening to Newstalk all morning and all they been talking about is the Election, how Bertie managed to get his house done up and paid for by someone else and Mary Harney's ongoing bitch-fight with the nurses' unions (there's a bit of Thatcher coming out in that woman... I wouldn't be surprised if she becomes the first lady Taoiseach one day!) Bbrr....

Escape from Alcatraz!

Just over a week left before the Big Day! Finally starting to see the light at the end of the escape tunnel... A trip to London, 2 dinners and 3 lunches left and a fair bit of last minute panicking and be I'll free!

Going to dinner in La Mere Zou this evening with everyone from work, which should be fun. The question of where to go for drinks after has yet to be decided, but I was thinking of shaking things up a bit and suggesting the George... For those of you who know it, you'll understand that its not a conventional watering hole, particularly for a corporate evening :-)

But I will miss the place though. Yesterday, this guy who used to work on one of my teams, came up to my office and gave me a present of a traditional 3-piece Sudanese traditional men's garb. Oh, and a pair of matching slippers. I was really moved and surprised at someone going to that trouble... I also got a very nice gift of a Zippo lighter from a friend in China with the symbol of the god of Fortune on it to wish me good luck. And here's me trying to get myself to stop smoking!...

Talk to you all later wherever you are!

Global warming at last!!

Finally, its hitting the Green Isle... Global warming is here at last and its great! For two weekends in a row, we've had nothing but sun and temperatures we barely even get in summer.

I was walking down Grafton St. today and could barely keep up with all the totty that's walking around. Have you ever noticed that, like the way salt brings the flavour out in food, the sun seems to brings the talent out in Dublin. But its hard work, I'll tell ya, trying to scan 200 stunners a minute.. The best thing is to position yourself outside the Clarendon or the Bailey, outside obviously, 'cause its thristy work!

Anyways, that was it.... Just wanted to let you know that I'm totally enjoying a chillin' weekend :-) Off to Gruel later for a bite and then on to some watering hole.

A Weekend in The Kingdom!

What an amazing Easter Weekend!!

I haven’t been away in Ireland for a weekend in too long a time, so we decided that for the Easter weekend, we’d head down south to Kerry and take a bit of a break. We were so lucky – for once the weather was exactly what you’d wish for – sunny and warm. We spent the first night with some friends in Cork and then made our way towards Bantry and that area of Cork.

We stayed that night in a fantastic little hotel called the Seaview Hotel in the village of Ballylickey. Straight away we knew that we’d fallen upon one of Ireland’s hidden secrets. It’s a beautiful old manor house on the seafront that has been extended and restored. Well furnished – although a tad dubiously in some places, but clean, warm and friendly. Next door to the hotel, just set off the main road was a place called Mannings Food Emporium. A lovely little deli type place with tables and chairs outside in the sun – just begging for a bottle of red wine and cheese board to be enjoyed outside. And although it was Good Friday, we did manage to get just that! The couple of hours that we spent outside in the sun, were a taste of the weekend to come… Wine, cheese, music and sun!

Later in the afternoon, we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner in the restaurant downstairs. Impeccable service and even better food. Coupled with a few after dinner glasses of red wine, we were fit for bed by just nine o’clock.

The next day we headed down to Kenmare and went for a really relaxing walk down by the pier. Again, the weather was just fantastic, the temperature was in and around the late teens and everything was just perfect. We checked in to our guesthouse (Virginia’s Guesthouse), which shares its premises with Mulcahy’s Restaurant on one of the main streets. I won’t bore you with the details, but if you’re ever in Kenmare, you’ve got to try these two places… Especially Mulcahy’s!

The second day in Kenmare was probably the best we’d had… in a long time! We had got a tip to head over to a place called Gleninchiquin Park – about 20 mins south of Kenmare on the R571. A really tight winding road that seems to go on forever, but that eventually leads you to the depths of the Kerry countryside. This is something you just cannot miss. I have never seen a place like this before and its got to be the more breathtaking piece of scenery that you’re ever likely to find on this island. We took a 2 hour walk up and around the upper waterfall, which was not easy going (especially if like me, you’re unfit and a smoker with a hangover!) – but it was definitely worth every effort. The view from the top was just unbelievable and when set to the music of Jessye Norman’s ‘Sanctus’, you could only say that it was magical…

So after a weekend that has to rank somewhere up there in the top three best weekends ever, we headed back to Dublin with a five hour drive and a warm fuzzy feeling. We couldn’t just stop there and let the weekend finish, so we took a 10 bus and got off at Stephen’s Green to have lunch at the Clarendon. Thankfully food service had stopped so we were able to concentrate on the Minervois with Joe and Beth offering their selfless support.

I felt a bit rough this morning as I drove to work, but after a weekend like that, you just can’t complain!

Happy St Paddy's Weekend!..

I cannot believe that its been Christmas since I entered a post to this Blog....

Well, thankfully that's all over and we're now well into Spring with Paddy's weekend marking the start of the thaw. Not that you'd know it from the weather here.. Its manky out there - there's a gale force wind blowing and snow is forecast for tonight and tomorrow. At least the dafos are coming out anyways so the better weather must be around the corner....

I was walking down to Tesco's yesterday at about 3ish and I was surprised to see that there were so many people about for the march. In true Irish style, the pubs seemed to be recovering lost business with hordes of people downing drinks as if it was about to be outlawed...

Once in Tesco's I set about finding myself something that tasted like normal food but could be pinged in the microwave. The place was buzzing with people. Oddly enough though, the one thing that seemed to be selling the most were trays of beer.... and, by the looks of it, mostly being bought by Polish guys... The stuff was just walkin' out of there... (in case you're still wondering, I picked up a chicken and potato chorizo dish - not too bad either.)

Anyways, all in all, a very quiet and civilised day for me on Paddy's. Tried to get The Queen on DVD again from Xtravision, but its still out - they screwed up on that one...

So I ended up watching The Great Global Warming Swindle and, folks, I have to tell you, that I am now thoroughly confused and no I've idea what to believe anymore. Some weeks ago, I took out a DVD by Al Gore called An Inconvenient Truth - (thanks to B for recommending it). Excellent documovie. Once you've watched it, you'll have the urge to recycle everything in sight and sell the car in favour of a bike. Al effectively confirms everything that we've all tried hard to ignore for the past few years and re-awakens urges from years ago from within yourself to make a difference, take action and change the world.... All very noble and right and proper and all that. So just as you're getting accustomed to watching TV in the dark - to save electricity - and showering in cold water (just kidding), along come the other crowd with their even more convincing documovie....

Although I'm still sifting through the ideas put forward by the two sides to try and make head or tail of the issue, I find it difficult to believe that man's behaviour hasn't contributed to the whole problem that we now face. The idea that all these changes in global and atmospheric trends have happened just because of an increase in solar flare activity and atomic particles seems a bit too conveniently coincidental, no matter how good the argument is.... Having been educated and raised in the shadows of Catholic Ireland, I have inherent belief that all things that we enjoy are shortlived, wrong and that, ultimately, one has to pay the price for it before being banished to Belgium or hell. The over-consuming, hoarding world in which we live and have shaped may indeed one day have to pay the price for what it has enjoyed to date... And maybe that time is coming sooner than we think!