Saturday morning in Dublin

Got up early enough this morning considering it's a Saturday, at about about 8.00am. Seems nice out although a bit overcast. I'm still waking up and trying to decide what I'll do today. I got a recipe for a desert from a restaurant chef in Nice that I might try out today. It's called Pain Perdu which I think is the equivalent of Bread & Butter Pudding, but much, much nicer. It'll probably turn out horrendous and sit in the fridge for a ceremonial 5 days until we decide to throw it out, but what the hell.

Apart form that, I have a few bits and pieces that I should get around to doing. I've revamped my blog design - the old one was just plain depressing - and I really want to have a bash at making more than one post a year on it. We'll see...

Right, better start with a shower and follow it on with a to-do list otherwise the day's just going to be gone before I know it.

Ciao all...

Bear Grylls

Bear Grylls
Originally uploaded by Baron Fred

you've got to admit, he is a cutie!

Same thing every year... I feel guilty!

For some reason at around this time each year, I get the creative urge to start writing and blogging again. In fact, not just writing but also the motivation to start taking more photos, cooking and eating better.... generally, taking a bit more care of myself. The urge to do some exercise has also been creeping in but thankfully, this is now fading and should be gone soon.

I think most people go through this phase after the Christmas and New Year excesses. It's probably a normal reaction, but each year, I feel bad about the fact that the motivation seems to dwindle by mid to late March (at the latest). So, as I do every year, I make my guilty contribution to my blog in the hope that it might be more than just a guilt reflex.

It's not that I don't have anything to say, particularly this year. We had flooding in late November, followed by a cold snap that brought us snow eventually in late December. As is often the case in Ireland, the few centimetres of snow brought the country to a virtual standstill. Roads remained untreated, footpaths and bike lanes were unusable except to the very brave and daring. As the snow eased off, the cold temperatures ensured that its remains would be compacted into a solid layer of ice which remained over most of the country until the middle of the second week in January. Almost immediately as the thaw set in, the burst pipe damage to the main water supply kicked in.

We lost our water pressure and supply last Friday afternoon and have had to resort to using an old well in the back garden, dating to the 1800's to feed the loos in the house. I spent all day today helping a guy to replace the booster pump we have in our basement so that we could draw on the little water that was reaching the house so that it could be pumped back up to our tank. Having just finished this task, it is possible that we may even get to shower in our own house tomorrow rather than the local sports centre... Oh, the luxury of it!

One thing that I have learned from this whole experience though is how much we take our water supply for granted. In a country where we don't pay for water and where it tends to rain pretty much every second day, you do tend to be a bit thoughtless about how you use or waste water. Having gone without a water supply for the best part of four days, you learn pretty quickly how big a role water plays in your life.

We couldn't shower at home. We couldn't use the washing machine or dishwasher. Even cooking was a problem if you wanted to boil water or cook vegetables. Everything gradually came to a halt as the house drained itself of every last reserve.

I think it's quite frightening that a cold snap that lasted about 2 weeks, with temperatures dropping to minus 10c on some occasions, would have such a crippling effect on the country. It highlighted for me, the very fragile condition of our infrastructure in this country and for many people, left them wondering about the competence of those people whose responsibility it is to maintain and operate that infrastructure. Have we let our civil servants sleep on the job for the past decades? What exactly have they been doing? What has our so-called government been doing that this has been allowed to happen for so long unchecked?

Having seen the economy and banking system collapse around our ears, we then had to watch as thousands of people lost their jobs, homes and businesses. All brought down by the incompetence and sheer incredible greed and stupidity of those we thought were in charge. Those very people who now not only claim that it was in fact the system that was at fault, but also those same people who now feel fully entitled to pay themselves large bonuses while our government tell us that a public enquiry into what went wrong in our banking sector is not really a priority.

I'm going to stop writing now for a few minutes until my blood pressure goes back to normal and my thoughts resume their normal patterns. I will be back - if only for another rant.

If you ever need a tailor or alterations.....

Then I recommend Bogart Tailors on Capel Street, Dublin 1. The tailors used to be run by an Irish owner but was bought over some time ago by a lovely lady who's name I think is Jolanta.

We've been in there several times at this stage and our clothes (mostly trousers etc..) have always been altered extremely well and for very little. They're located on the top floor of an old building on Capel Street (number 17). You'll find them if you by keeping your eyes up on the lookout for their sign which sticks out on to the street, above their door.

I don't blog about businesses unless I think they deserve it and they do!

Unfortunate marketing....

I saw this in Easons in town recently. I bet the Lonely Planet Marketing department were kicking themselves after publishing this year's guide for Mexico. Not surprisingly, they're going at 20% off!

Things you don't see everyday...

I've decided to start posting pics of things I snap while travelling or around town.

This was something I came across in Nice during a recent trip. It's a VW open backed micro-bus, where the restaurant have put a table and chairs for the patrons to eat out! Isn't that cool?

Cortix web design - scam or cowboy?

I got a call about 2 weeks ago from this woman from Cortix - a leading web development company which was expanding into 'my area'. After a long sales pitch, she said they were going to have a representative in my area on 3rd April and, pretty much, what time would suit me to meet her... A hard sales pitch to say the least... She specifically stated that although they were 'leaders' in their field, they needed my business as a foothold to establish themselves further in my region. As a confirmation of this fact, they would fulfill my web requirements for free...

There's a saying.. if it sounds to good to be true, it normally is!

And this is the case with Cortix. I got suspicious with these guys for 3 reasons..

• 1. the first call was such a hard sales pitch, it made me cautious
• 2. the second call was equally hard pitched, but when I said that I wouldn't agree to a meeting until I had reviewed their site, the rep actually hung up on me!
• 3. I called the number listed on the Irish site for Cortix Ireland and spoke to a guy with a foreign accent.. not sure what nationality. I ask if I could speak with a manager or supervisor. He asked me whyI wanted to speak to a senior person and I told him because I wanted to complain about a call I had just had from one of their reps. He then told me that they had no managers in the Dublin office!! Now that's a new one to me - no managers operating in their offices in Dublin! Must be a great place to work - a bunch of staff with no boss. So I asked for the contact details of a manager in whatever relevant office I could direct my complaint to. His reply was, and I quote verbatim " do you expect me to really give you the name of a manager so that you can complain?" - I replied yes, admitedly a bit shell-shocked by the attitude of the guy I was speaking with.

I know I shouldn't be so shocked - after all I am an NTL-UPC customer, so I know bad customer service first hand, but these guys were Gold Medalllers!

He eventually said, if I didn't want to receive calls from them anymore then I should just give him my details and he'd remove me from their call list. At this stage, I was furious, so I hung up.

I decided to Google them... This is why I'm blogging about them. They have almost no entries in English about the company, service or anything.... But in French, there is a wealth of entries about them.

Here area a few to start - cortix complaint 1 - cortix complaint 2 - cortix complaint 3

These guys have a very dubious reputation - be very careful and in my opinion, don't give them a cent. They will sell you a 'free service' but you'll pay dearly later - a website or design or similar. They get you in the contract's small print and in the poor post-sales service. They'll charge you for every change after the intial template is done, but more to the point, they will charge you for hosting, for traffic and every other thing you can think of.

This stuff is normally free, cheap or at least very reasonable elsewhere.. These guys seem to prey on the less e-commerce savvy and extract their money that way. And, let's be honest, they're doing really well... 28 million Euro turnover in 2008 and listed on the Stock Exchange...

My advice - you work hard enough for your money - don't hand it over to these cowboys.

I'll post again about these guys soon when I've read more material. (It's in French - give me a break... it takes time..)

So this is what they do in Iraq!

Maya Angelou - a video clip from the BBC site

I was having my lunch having returned cold and wet from the local shop with what I can only call an excuse for a sandwich. Like many people, I am still subdued by the combination of January (not my favourite month...), the recession and the weather.

So while surfing the net during lunch, I came across this clip posted by the BBC on their news site. Its from a lady called Maya Angelou - an American poet - on her thoughts about Obama.

I hope it lifts your spirits too.

I enjoyed this - a UFO encounter in the States

Its nearly Christmas...

I've been getting ready for Christmas since June.... Don't ask! Its part of the business I suppose. But even so, I can't believe that its already looming up in 3 weeks.

No matter how much I watch the calendar, it always seems to sneak up on me and before you know it, BAMM.. its already too late to post your cards to the US. Next thing you know, that social snowball starts to get out of control with people calling and saying, 'we really must meet for a drink before Christmas'.

The guilty realisation that you may not in fact have seen them since last Christmas suddenly has you accepting every possible invitation that comes your way and,before you now it, you're already relishing the thought of going into post-Christmas detox. Well, actually, its just a thought - I've never tried the real thing. I don't think detox is my cuppa tea to be honest. I think my body might go into seizure or shock if I suddenly withdrew one of its staples.

Anyway, what was I ranting about....? Damn it... its gone - probably the first symptom of it then...

Loss of a Legend - Miriam Makeba 1932-2008

And they're off.....

Finally, the U.S. goes to the polls and although we don't know who the winner will be (it'll be Obama) at least we know one thing..........

BUSH IS GONE!!!! Woohoo....

Got this from the BBC website - worth looking at for a laugh. Its an 'Obama / McCain Dance Off'

Enjoy!

Its Official... Not that you'd know it by looking around....

Its Official! Ireland is now in a recession as of yesterday. And this was very evident as we left the house to go and have a bite to eat at the Milano's on Baggot Street Bridge. The atmosphere was noticeably heavier and darker than of late. Now this could be due to the oncoming winter - hard to know.

As we entered the restaurant, we could clearly see the recession in action. The place was full of people, noise, bottles of wine flowing to every table - all the signs of the local population trying to console themselves over the shock news.

Thankfully though, we have what is probably the best government in place to handle this national crisis. Known for their wisdom, frugality and strict moral standards, its only a matter of a month or two before everything is back to normal.

This is too funny....

Mykonos is just the bees knees...

Go there if you get a chance someday. Great nightlife, great scenery and beaches and loads of talent! Its like being on a Versace catwalk (watching that is.... not actually modelling...)

Although it can be very frustrating I have to add... Thankfully I don't have a complex in that area. No, I have come to accept myself as one of the future drooling 'oul ones that leer at the beautiful people.

Well, I'm not actually that bad yet, but I am heading there :-)

iPhones are the best thing since sliced bread!

I recently got an iPhone and was almost - I say 'almost' - got to the point where I was going to think, well, that's just another gadget in a nice design!

But then, one day, my iTunes asked me to update my software and what did I see when I switched my newly updated phone back on? A little icon with the words 'App Store' discreetly noted below a little blue 'A' icon. What's this I wondered?

Well to cut a long, and not particularly well-narrated, story short, I have now downloaded and installed the coolest gadgets for my iPhone.

One app, called Remote, allows you to use your iPhone as a remote to control anything you have at home with iTunes on it or Apple speakers (like Apple TV or AirPort). Its cool - I can now switch music on in almost any room using this widget.... And best of all, its free.

If you have an iPhone or iTouch, you've got to check it out. There's even an app which allows you to 'listen' to a clip of music and it will then name the artist, the song, the album, give you the artwork and the option to buy it in iTunes.... Just fantastic stuff!

Family Guy

I'm a late but dedicated convert to the Family Guy. I was watching an episode recently where the dad was trying to give his son advice about how to handle women and relationships. The son took the advice and promptly paid the price for it.

So his dad decided to get him a present to make up for his bad avice and to cheer him up.... This is what happened... I could watch this over and over and over again.... But that could be because I have the memory-span of a goldfsh :-)

New-ish site I heard about...

I was speaking to a friend of mine who mentioned this site as being quite good

http://www.ifoods.tv/

Its run by 2 Irish guys and it really seems very interesting - they use a lot of video to show you how to cook and stuff..... Perfect for the helpless nerd like me :-)

I'll have a good poke around the site later when I get home.

So, how's your day going?

Its just not funny anymore.....

I know I keep going on about this but, in past week, we've had:-

showery rain
occasional rain
heavy rain
persistent rain
localised flooding
downpours
blustery rain
and cats and dogs....

We've decided to stock up on tinned foods and learn a bit of carpentry... The need for an ark is looking decidedly more real....

We will be needing some giraffes and other pets... anybody? anybody??...