Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Spawning in Springtime!

NO! Not me!

Elke!

She's having Steve's baby!

She's the first of my college mates to get proactive and procreate! It's mad! We're all so old now and there's only one of us making more of us!

I'm soooo pleased for them and you can view the "Peanut" on their blog.
It's in the sidebar "Here is New York".

I can't be arsed doing the html thing as it's late and I'd have to dig around to find it!

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Fear & Loathing in Dublin

It was disgusting and upsetting to listen to and watch the reports from Dublin yesterday concerning the riots which took place on O'Connell Street before the Love Ulster march was due to take place.

Why Ulster Unionists feel the need to march in the North is something I don't understand. I understand even less why they feel the need to march on the streets of the capital of the country that they don't want to be a part of, however if it is supposed to help the healing process well I'll stay away from it and ignore the fact that they are probably trying to taunt us. Lining up in front of them, throwing masonry at undermanned Gardai and burning out cars however is not the way to make these people not want to march on our streets.

Those thugs that took over our streets yesterday in the name of Republicanism have only succeeded in confirming Unionist hatredand disparity of our Nation and that is not going to help this island find a lasting a peace. It was a shameful display of thuggery and criminality and not something that I would want to associate myself with or condone in anyway.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Happiness is...

I was a bit of an old misery bag earlier today due to having an almighty tummy ache last night which left me feeling tired and emotional ( I have since found out that I have an infected stomach. Yuck.) But anyway as a result of the pain and the misery I had one of those mornings in which the slightest thing threatened at worst to shove me over the age into absoloute abject misery or at best make me cry. Not good.

So to cheer myself up I made a list of all the things taht were positive in my life, all the things I have to look forward to and all the reasons why everything wasn't s bad as it seemed just now, and that helped a little. I then went out in the rain to a local book shop and picked up a book which gives tips and advice to travellers which gave me a warmish feeling inside as I flicked through it and dreamed of places I want to go and see.

But the real restoration of my spirits came when I wandered into Butlers Chocolate Café and purchased happiness in a cup. A low fat Mocha. So much yumminess and happiness in one purchase! I need never feel blue again! I've found my salvation! Although I'm not too sure it was the best thing to have with an infected belly it sure did make me smile!

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

The art of the PFO

I sent off a bunch of letters and CV's last week to various high profile solicitors in the Midlands just to test the waters. To be honest I really didn't expect to get any acknowledgement from any of them or any indication at all that the application had been received as it was unsolicited. However I received my first PFO today! And I'm pleased! Well at least it means the application was received and they said they would keep me in mind should they start looking for apprentices which is a little ray of hope that I'm going to hold onto! I'm not ready to take up a position immediately anyway as we have the travelling planned first but at least my name is out there and maybe I'll be remembered in the future. Yah never know!

I'm about to post a review of Good Night and Good Luck on the other site now and am then going to watch the champions league! Better be quick as it's rapidly approaching 7.45!

But ugh speed and me are not good friends at the moment! I think the combination of the extra walking distance to and from work, the longer day, and curves is really draining my energy! Plus I seem to be eating more than I really need which is counteracting the point of exercising.... Feck it! I'm hungry!

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Busy busy busy

I know I've been a little off with the blogging thing lately but believe me I am contributing here whenever I can it just doesn't seem to be happening very regularly at all. So I'm sorry.

Life has become very busy very suddenly for me and the lovely boy! The change of job has also had a huge impact on me not least for the fact that I don't have internet access anymore but also because unlike in my last job I'm busy and I'm learning stuff and it's good for me to experience that again as the last place I worked in was a far cry from the reality of life.

On the home front we are preparing our house for sale and next weekend we are heading out of Dublin to view houses in areas that we think we might like to live in. And I'm very excited about it all! Our current house needs very little work done but even the act of decluttering (I'm a hoarder I'm afraid!), refreshing paint work, weeding and cleaning takes time, effort and energy, which is leaving very little of anything for me to use to express myself here.

However saying that I am really missing my blog. I miss thinking about stuff and then putting those thoughts into words and commiting them to a medium. Today I've been working on the house all day and was feeling a little blue as it's sunday and I hate the thought of having another week of working and not moving to face into, but after spending a little time here I feel better already! So I am going to keep the blog up but it may only be a post once or maybe twice a week. But for me that will be better than nothing!

On Empty Vessels

It is only when you are forced to mix with people and have no choice as to who it is you are sitting next to or walking in front of that you truly realise just how dumb some people really are. My prime examples for this little rant will be taken from my recent experiences at the cinema.

I'm sure we've all had to suffer through the indignity of having our chairs kicked or popcorn crunched loudly in our ears while attending the cinema, and while annoying, these events come with the territory and just have to be endured. However we have recently come across a much more annoying and to me baffling form of aggravation at the cinema. Talking. Out loud and throughout the whole film.

What is the point of that? Surely you pay nearly nine quid in to see a movie because you want to see it not because you want to talk to your mate? Or am I missing something? The prime culprits seem mostly to be young women in groups of two between the ages of 18 and 25. My advice is to avoid at all costs or risk having to become obnoxious and slightly aggressive in a bid to get them to shut the hell up.

On a different note, on my way out of Good Night and Good Luck this weekend I happened to overhear a particulary vacuous but amusing conversation between two such empty vessels.

Girl One: That was shite.
Girl Two: Nah I liked it, but if me ma asks me what it was about I won't be able to tell her.
Girl One: Yeah I liked it too.
Girl Two: But it was confusing right?
Girl One. Oh yeah, definately.

I used to think we were a nation that was able to pride ourselves on our education and intelligence. Yet the more I look around the more depressingly obvious it is to me that most people just reflect exactly it is that Ed Murrow warned us about fifty years ago. And it would appear that it is unlikely to improve.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Isn't it pretty?

olympics06_snowboarding
I really like this! I know I'm sad!

I'm on a roll tonight, with this blogging lark! I've also managed to pull together some letters begging for apprenticeships in 2007 as well and surfed some sites so it's been a good night!

It's just a pity google won't let me get into my gmail account tonight. It could have been a perfect day otherwise!

Have you noticed that spring is springing yet? The 100 million bulbs we planted in the Autumn are beginning to surface already and if the rain that I hear pelting down outside hasn't drowned them I'm going to start photographing their progress as a record of what we made!

Until next time folks au revoir and there are some reviews on the other site if you are interested!

Spit on Couples Day

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20156178@N00/99372241/" title="Photo Sharing">http://static.flickr.com/28/99372241_e66ec9a957_o.jpg" width="99" height="99" alt="cupid" />

When I was in college my friend Beefor used to abhor this day of love and affection, the Hallmark holiday of Valentine's day, and as a result he dubbed it "Spit on Couples" Day, if fact I'm almost sure that he did actually spit on couples on February 14th, but would have to corroborate that with my other bitches, before I could be absoloutley sure!

Anyway I have to say that I agree with the sentiment. I hate Valentine's day. I find it cynical, expensive, in poor taste, and oh yes pathetic. If the highlight of your romance is to squeeze yourself into an over booked over priced restaurant once a year, with some half dead unbelieveably expensive non smelling roses under your oxter then you really need to re-evaluate your relationship. I have done it and can say with some authority that I've never enjoyed the experience.

As a result tomorrow night I will be going to the gym, cooking bangers and mash and watching TV tomorrow night, as normal. And I'll be with the man of my dreams. I definatley don't need a stupid card or anything to make me feel romantic towards him!

Great News!

I passed my Irish Exam!

Tá athas an domhain ar mo chroí!

I can almost taste the relief! Roll on everything else!

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

The things you see

I had to share this picture before I sign off....

fi011.jpg

I passed this on my way home one night and it scared the bejayus out of me! Then I howled with laughter when I figured out that it wasn't a scary person coming to kill me, but maybe you can understand why I was scared????

On being a woman & being me

I'm pretty concientious about my health and well being and like to make sure the MOT is done at least once a year. I also make sure that I'm up to date with all relevant tests and procedures like the smear test. So I took myself off to the doctors this week to submit myself into the care of a medical practitioner in order to make that all is right in my world because I owe myself that much! And seeing it's a topic which has been in the news this week I thought I should give a brief account of why women don't go for smear tests very often.

I tend to forget or block out of my mind how horrible the procedure actually is, but add to that the bill of €70 the fact that I'll probably have to get it done again because it was messed up and the fact the nice people in the pharmaceutical companies (all of them) have taken the version of my prescription which works for me, off the market -(all of the versions), at the same time, it means that I will face another ordeal and another €70 bill in 3 months time. Sometimes having woman's bits really sucks. Saying that I will go back and do it again because having cancer cells would suck a lot more. But seriously the price is extortionate and the sooner they bring the cervical cancer screening programme on line the better.

On the other hand in order to get myself ready for our big adventure I have decided to get myself fit and healthy over the next few months. I know in my heart of hearts that gyms and me don't go together and that if I'm really serious about getting stronger and fitter a group situation is the way I should go, so I joined Curves!

Yep. Me. In an all woman, tesosterone free environment with bad dance music, a cd on repeat telling us when to change machine and, the piece de resistence, an hour and a half workout all squashed into 30 mins of sweating! All I say is that it can't do much harm!

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Ok so it's more like gone fishin'

Ahem.

I had a bit of a blow out this week. Apologies. I'm grand honestly but the blog isn't and I had to change my url! I know! I KNOW! Just don't ask me how I did it 'cause I really have no idea!

Anyway this is my new home and this where I'm staying for a while I will also be leaving the template and everything else the very same way forever 'cause it wrecks my head when I get it wrong!

So there you go posts will be fewer and more select due to time constraints which I feel is a pity but it just has to be that way for the moment as there is just soooooo much to do!


gone fishin

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

On Sabbatical

The time has come to assess what is important and what is not. I need some space.

Friday, January 27, 2006

Last Day!!!!

last day last day last day last day last day last day last daaaaaaaaay. Add your own music and sing along!

New job monday folks! Will let you know if I surive the exit interview without venting my spleen and the leaving drinks without making a fool of myself and speaking my mind! Oh the temptation's there alright, believe me!

drunkfairy
Will she make a reappearance???

Euro 2008

Thankfully we've avoided England in the draw I know some people were salivating at the prospect of playing them but personally I found the thought of God save the Queen being belted out at Croke Park really distasteful.

However it's not the worst draw out there though I don't fancy our chances much with both Germany and Czech Republic in our group. When did Germany and Italybecome a second bucket team and Sweden and Greece a first? 'Tis a crazy world!

The link should bring you to the full list!

Thursday, January 26, 2006

The Heebie Jeebies

I was a bit bored last night as the boy was fixing the 'puter and we couldn't do stuff on it so I ended up watching crap TV with a blanket over me and a cup of tea. It was nice.

It was nice until Big Brother time and George Galloway's best bits and him being a cat. Jaysus.

george

Red Mum has the video on her site which I hadn't watched cause I don't have sound here and video stuff doesn't tend to work on my system, but you should check it out if you really want to know what this is about.

Jaysus. I'm still in shock. I thought I was going to cry last night watching it. No really. It was that disturbing. What the hell was he thinking? I don't think I'll ever be the same again.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Justice for Justice sake?

It's hard to escape the news from yesterday that Wayne O'Donoghue was sentenced to just 4 years in prison for the manslaughter of Robert Holohan. My own initial reaction was one of surprise and then horror and distress when I heard the reports of Mrs Holohan's victim impact statement in the court prior to sentencing. The questions raised by her on first impressions are shocking. But on further consideration and analysis as was provided last night the reasons why these questions weren't posed in court seems a little clearer.

robert
Robert Holohan

The DPP have an obligation to argue the strongest case they can in any given case. That often means that while evidence is present it may not be arguably strong enough to lead to a conviction. It would appear that this is the case with at least some of the physical and forensic evidence referred to by Majella Holohan.

However I have to admit that I am still surprised that on the strength of the case presented to him as we heard reported via the media that the sentence is for only 4 years. I understand that as there was only minimal physical trauma inflicted on the body that this was a mitigating factor in the judges decision. But the fact, as alluded to by him before sentencing, that Wayne O'Donoghue actively misled the authorities in the search for Robert's body, that he did not admit to what happened until the body was found and generally behaved in a manner which succeeded in creating more pain and hardship for the families involved than was necessry, surely should have attracted a harsher sentence? If it was an unfortunate and tragic accident he would surely have been in a better condition if he had behaved rationally and looked for help at the time of the event.

Wayne
Wayne O'Donoghue

That's the part that really puzzles me. The other puzzling factor for me is why the DPP initially sought to bring a Murder conviction but downgraded it to Manslaughter. Murder convictions are not sought lightly as they are incredibly difficult to prove beyond reasonable doubt and often a manslaughter conviction is easier to prove and therefore the preferred option. At no stage have I come across the reasons why the charge was changed. Has anyone else?

What we are left with now in this case, is the confusion and questions concerning Majella Holohan's statement, the fact that O'Donoghue will probably be out next year with good behaviour, and the media circus which is bound to pursue this one for the next few days. The question of whether justice has been done is a mute point. How can there really be justice when the sad fact is that 2 families have been destroyed by these events and while I hope that the Holohan and O'Donoghue family will one day find peace, life will never be as simple as it once was for them, or the community they come from.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Crazy crazy people

On the news this morning on the way to work I heard a story about how in England a reality TV story was pitched on the basis that strangers would be put in a house together with the purpose that the remaining 2 strangers would conceive a baby on the show.... I think the Observer explains it a bit better:

I think the scientists call this process desensitisation,
and it works alarmingly quickly. For example,
in a matter of days BBC3 will broadcast Mischief:
Let's Make a Baby, a programme which is clearly
meant to be a response to Greg Dyke' question:
'How low can reality TV go?' which he posed at
last summer's Edinburgh TV Festival. The
show's premise is to set up an independent
TV production company and hire a
comedian-turned-MD to pitch a format entitled
'Let's Make A Baby! (The Race To Conceive
Britain's First Reality TV Baby)' to a bunch of
executives at Europe's biggest TV sales fair.
Presumably this idea felt fresh, funny
and suitably envelope-pushing way back in,
say, September; but if I read this week
that it is to run on Saturday nights throughout
February, hosted by Davina, I'd not only be unsurprised,
I'd probably not even bother tuning in. Though
obviously, 'Let's Make A Superbaby! (The Race To
Conceive Britain's First Celebrity Reality TV Baby)'
would be a different matter entirely and you'd have
to peel me from the screen. And surely it's time
Vernon Kay and Tess Daly had another one?
But according to the news this morning it was all a big joke and the people involved just wanted to see how many suckers would turn up for the auditions. 200 hundred people turned up. 200 people thought it would be a great idea to get on a Reality TV show by offering to make a baby with a complete stranger on live television, their choice of partner being controlled by the whims of teenagers with too much time and money on their hands. I think there is an argument for sterilisation in this story. Does that make me a conservative, eugeniscist? I know that's strong but stories like this make me feel very cross and worried about the society that we have created. What would happen to the child? Would the £15,000 prize money go towards its upkeep or would the TV company take it away to make a Truman World type show for real? The mind boggles.
Or is anyone else gob smacked by just how low people will go to get their faces and other bits on the telly?
P.S. rambles on stuff I've seen lately have been put up on my other site if you have an interest.

Monday, January 23, 2006

Mounting the insurmountable!

Yes I did! I climbed my first hill type mountain in about 10 years this weekend.

fi009.jpg

It's true I thought I was going to die from some sort of altitude sickness that robs your breath and hits you with the worst dizziness I've ever experience, but that just turned out to be exertion on my part according to my more experienced companions! I felt a bit pathetic at that stage but soon rallied when I reached the top lay on my back panting loudly and moaning for a while and then realised that I'd made it!

fi015.jpg
View from the top!

Going down was much easier and my tip to anyone who wants to try this mad sort of exercise activity is that on the way down utilise your bottom as much as possible! I did and it was very effective!

fi001.jpg
This is the path we took, it's steeper and more difficult than it looks and this was very near the top so don't scorn!

Friday, January 20, 2006

I got gmail!

Finally! I feel special now!