I think my withdrawal symptoms are starting to subside just a little. It does help that I get a fix every once in a while. American TV fix, that is. There are some American shows on, but often they are way behind. So, for example, Brothers & Sisters comes on on Monday nights at 10:00 but the one that it coming on this Monday is the one that aired in the US on April 20. Sniff...
If you'd like to see what options I have daily, here you go:
http://entertainment.ie/tv/tonight.asp
It's sad. Just so sad.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Taste of Dublin 2008
I think it was really more Drink of Dublin 2008. I can't keep up one for one with the Irish. Or if I try, I should at least eat more food - you would think that would've been obvious considering that I was surrounded by it.
Anywho, the Taste of Dublin ("TOD") takes place in Iveagh Gardens (pronounced Ivy - obvious right?), which is very close to my office. During a nice day, people will bring their lunch there and sit in their suits with their friends for an hour. It's actually a really nice break from the day. The organizers of the TOD did a great job transforming the field to accomodate an un-countable number of kiosks for the best restaurants in town.
Picture below of one of the areas in the park. There were many twists and turns.
This is a waterfall that's in the gardens and I have never noticed it before! Great find. Remember - all right next to my office. Crazy how this can exist right next to the corporate world.
Since the event lasted until 4:00, I basically started my hangover at about 6:00 and was pretty much done with it by the next day.
Overall it was such a great event. Next year I think I would go to 2 sessions (4 hours doesn't seem long enough) and maybe take more time in the wine tasting tent instead of trying to get it all in in a half hour before my time runs out. Lessons learned!
Anywho, the Taste of Dublin ("TOD") takes place in Iveagh Gardens (pronounced Ivy - obvious right?), which is very close to my office. During a nice day, people will bring their lunch there and sit in their suits with their friends for an hour. It's actually a really nice break from the day. The organizers of the TOD did a great job transforming the field to accomodate an un-countable number of kiosks for the best restaurants in town.
Picture below of one of the areas in the park. There were many twists and turns.
This is a waterfall that's in the gardens and I have never noticed it before! Great find. Remember - all right next to my office. Crazy how this can exist right next to the corporate world.
This is called black pudding. It is made of blood. Everyone here eats it. I made my attempt (noticeable below). It actually wasn't that bad. Out of principal and grossness of what's in it, I will never be eating that again. It did have a very nice scallop on top and the pea and bacon foam underneath was yummy.
The picture below is of a chocolate tasting. I thought this was pretty cool! The guy doing the tasting is a chocolate "creator" at Green & Black's which is one of the best. It is called Green because they try to be a "green" company and Black's because their first chocolate was a dark chocolate. He showed us the process of how chocolate is made from cocoa bean to bar. Then he let us taste all of the bars there from white through dark chocolate. The coolest part of it all was he told us to put a piece in our mouths and hold our nose as we chewed. Once you're finished chewing, he told us to stop holding our nose. It was the craziest thing!! You really didn't taste anything until you let go of your nose and then the flavor just hit you. Unbelievable - try it!
Here is one of the sponsors. But that was basically the event. Food and wine. And beer, and martinis, and champagne, and more wine (there was a wine tasting tent). Phew.
Since the event lasted until 4:00, I basically started my hangover at about 6:00 and was pretty much done with it by the next day.
Overall it was such a great event. Next year I think I would go to 2 sessions (4 hours doesn't seem long enough) and maybe take more time in the wine tasting tent instead of trying to get it all in in a half hour before my time runs out. Lessons learned!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Guiness Book of World Records
He's got to be in there. I have seen this guy twice and on the second time (yesterday) I decided that I need to take a picture. Now a picture by itself probably wouldn't truly show how tall he really is, so I thought it was important to take a pic while a normal sized person was walking by him. I know that it's a little far away but by the time I got my brilliant idea he was getting a lead on me and considering that I have to take 2 steps to his one to catch up, I just took it from a distance. I would say he's definitely over 7 feet. Either way, he's TALL!!
Friday, June 13, 2008
The battle of the newspapers
Every morning free newspapers are handed out. There is friendly competition in action as one newspaper is the Metro and the other is the Herald am (the pm version is not free). Now, these are in addition to the regular non-free papers that are the Irish Times and the Irish Independent.
There are people who's job it is to stand all over the city and force the paper for you. TAKE IT! Well, that's what it feels like sometimes. Most of the time I just say "I'm good" or "No thanks" where most people just ignore them completely. They often stand next to each other - then there's the having to decide and feeling guilty for not taking the other person's option. Stupid Catholic guilt.
Now, there is a guy handing out a Metro at the entrance to my train station. I feel sorry for this guy and he seems nice so I always take one. It is good to get a dose of news on my train ride anyway. But then when I'm walking from the train station to the office there is a guy handing out the Herald and he makes me laugh so I take one of those. At one point, there was a guy running down the street - obviously in a hurry - and the Herald guy with the constant smile on his face started running after him with a paper. Too funny. Of course the stories are pretty much the same, with a few differences. The pictures are always the same.
Today the Metro people were also handing out free bread. It was 2 small loaves individually wrapped and then wrapped together. But here's the weird part - there really wasn't anyone taking it! Now, I didn't take it because I didn't want to carry that thing to work with me, so maybe that was the rational of others, but I thought it very strange that people weren't taking the free stuff. If it were on my way home I would be all over the free bread. Bring it.
There are people who's job it is to stand all over the city and force the paper for you. TAKE IT! Well, that's what it feels like sometimes. Most of the time I just say "I'm good" or "No thanks" where most people just ignore them completely. They often stand next to each other - then there's the having to decide and feeling guilty for not taking the other person's option. Stupid Catholic guilt.
Now, there is a guy handing out a Metro at the entrance to my train station. I feel sorry for this guy and he seems nice so I always take one. It is good to get a dose of news on my train ride anyway. But then when I'm walking from the train station to the office there is a guy handing out the Herald and he makes me laugh so I take one of those. At one point, there was a guy running down the street - obviously in a hurry - and the Herald guy with the constant smile on his face started running after him with a paper. Too funny. Of course the stories are pretty much the same, with a few differences. The pictures are always the same.
Today the Metro people were also handing out free bread. It was 2 small loaves individually wrapped and then wrapped together. But here's the weird part - there really wasn't anyone taking it! Now, I didn't take it because I didn't want to carry that thing to work with me, so maybe that was the rational of others, but I thought it very strange that people weren't taking the free stuff. If it were on my way home I would be all over the free bread. Bring it.
Photo Finish
The big day is here and it seems that the vote is too close to call. Something else they're predicting is that the voter turnout is somewhere between 40-50%. Not looking good for a "yes" vote. Apparently the voting is still done manually here - I wonder if they call them "chads".
The final tally will be announced this afternoon. The waiting is killing me!! :)
The final tally will be announced this afternoon. The waiting is killing me!! :)
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Today's the day
Today's the day of the vote. Here's an article from CNN on the matter:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/06/12/ireland.europe/index.html
Basically, Ireland's constitution states that citizens get to vote on matters affecting that constitution and they are the only country in the European Union that is this way. Therefore, the other 26 countries had legislation vote on the Lisbon Treaty for them.
I thought this was a powerful statement: "It means Ireland's 3 million voters will decide on a document representing the 490 million people in the European Union." Pretty powerful stuff when you look at it that way.
CNN believes that a "no" vote would bring chaos to the European Union. The consensus around here is that if the vote is "no", they will simply have the vote again until it is "yes". Seems that is what happened with the Nice Treaty in 2001. The vote was no so they went through it again in 2002.
We shall see what happens!
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/06/12/ireland.europe/index.html
Basically, Ireland's constitution states that citizens get to vote on matters affecting that constitution and they are the only country in the European Union that is this way. Therefore, the other 26 countries had legislation vote on the Lisbon Treaty for them.
I thought this was a powerful statement: "It means Ireland's 3 million voters will decide on a document representing the 490 million people in the European Union." Pretty powerful stuff when you look at it that way.
CNN believes that a "no" vote would bring chaos to the European Union. The consensus around here is that if the vote is "no", they will simply have the vote again until it is "yes". Seems that is what happened with the Nice Treaty in 2001. The vote was no so they went through it again in 2002.
We shall see what happens!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Tomorrow's the BIG day
BIG voting day tomorrow. The Lisbon Treaty vote takes place. I am surprised that it will take place during the week - seems like you'd get more voters if it took place on the weekend. But what do I know about Irish politics - nada.
Something interesting is that before every voting day there is a 24 hour ban on TV and radio coverage of the campaigns. The newspapers still have free reign. I'm not sure exactly why this is except that it may be to give the public some time to make their own decision instead of being convinced by others.
The feel that I'm getting is that the main issue with this vote is that not enough detail has been given to make a proper decision. However, on the flip side of that, I think that there is way too much information to provide and if the government tried to provide it all, people would be overwhelmed. They have published a link to the 500 page document that is the Lisbon treaty, but even the smartest of smart would probably get bogged down in the legal language.
A very wise man said to me that you're always taught not to sign a contract that you don't understand. However, none of us truly know the inner-workings of how a plane flies but we all get on them anyway. There's a certain level of trust there. I guess we'll see if the public is more trusting of the government or if people are skeptical.
Another interesting note about voting is that if you have a European Union passport, you can vote in Ireland. Therefore, the Polish people that are living here can put in their 2 cents. I guess the closest comparison to make is if people from Texas could vote in Louisiana. If you ask me, I think that would cause some turbulence.
Something interesting is that before every voting day there is a 24 hour ban on TV and radio coverage of the campaigns. The newspapers still have free reign. I'm not sure exactly why this is except that it may be to give the public some time to make their own decision instead of being convinced by others.
The feel that I'm getting is that the main issue with this vote is that not enough detail has been given to make a proper decision. However, on the flip side of that, I think that there is way too much information to provide and if the government tried to provide it all, people would be overwhelmed. They have published a link to the 500 page document that is the Lisbon treaty, but even the smartest of smart would probably get bogged down in the legal language.
A very wise man said to me that you're always taught not to sign a contract that you don't understand. However, none of us truly know the inner-workings of how a plane flies but we all get on them anyway. There's a certain level of trust there. I guess we'll see if the public is more trusting of the government or if people are skeptical.
Another interesting note about voting is that if you have a European Union passport, you can vote in Ireland. Therefore, the Polish people that are living here can put in their 2 cents. I guess the closest comparison to make is if people from Texas could vote in Louisiana. If you ask me, I think that would cause some turbulence.
First Portion of my Walk Home
A few more pictures of my walk home. This time they are from the office to the train station. A little Dublin city flavor:
The top picture shows one of the bigger parks in Dublin - St. Stephen's Green. It gets pretty crowded during a warm day.
Monday, June 9, 2008
In case you were wondering
I do actually work and this is where:
The building is 8 floors not including the basement (I have to get used to those). I sit on the 3rd floor which is actually the 4th since the first floor is not called the first floor. Have to get used to that as well. The building is situated away from the street between 2 other buildings which makes a sort of corridor. I think it's pretty dang cool, but that's just me. :)
No trick photography here
I am actually cooking. Making biscuits to be exact. From SCRATCH!! My mom sent along this great e-cookbook that has lots of American restaurant recipes. Yesterday I made Bisquick, Popeye's biscuits, Manwich sloppy joes, and Outback Alice Spring Chicken. And it was actually all good!! Now, if I lived in Louisiana, I'd just go buy the Popeye's biscuits, but since I'm in a country that doesn't even sell Bisquick, it's great to have the recipes to make it myself. They don't actually have biscuits here. Here, biscuits = cookies. Their scones look like our biscuits but taste like scones. So there's a clear absence. And as you can see in the picture, the Bisquick recipe makes a TON so I have plenty for the future. Next on the list is Chili's steak fajitas. The cookbook is over 400 pages so I have a lot of cooking to do!
Bewley's Cafe
I ate dinner in a cafe on Friday and this was part of the decoration. In a CAFE! And this isn't unusual. The building are so old and just beautiful. I had pizza while looking at the very expensive art, stained glass windows, and chandeliers. Unbelievable. Even the pubs that would probably be considered a "hole in the wall" are very well maintained and have a lot of history and have framed newspaper headlines from a over a hundred years ago. Amazing!Friday, June 6, 2008
Government giving money away? Can't be.
But it's true! I just learned about this today. Apparently back in May 2001 the Irish government started something called the Special Savings Incentives Scheme. Under this scheme (term commonly used similar to program - not necessarily meaning something sneaky), when you would deposit money into a special account applied for, the government would match 25% of the amount! No, REALLY! So basically for every 4 Euro deposited, the government would put in 1 Euro. One of the catches was that you had to leave your money in that specific account for 5 years. Also, you had to be at least 18 and you could only have one per person. So a parent couldn't open up an account for each child. There was a 23% tax at the end, but I think that there was also an interest that would offset that a little.
Without the tax, if you put in the maximum (which wasn't that high) and left it in for the 5 years, you would have accumulated 16,000 Euro and then the government would have matched that by 25% giving you a total of 20,000 Euro. Not too shabby!!!
For a better explanation: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/money-and-tax/personal-finance/savings-and-investments/government_savings_scheme
Without the tax, if you put in the maximum (which wasn't that high) and left it in for the 5 years, you would have accumulated 16,000 Euro and then the government would have matched that by 25% giving you a total of 20,000 Euro. Not too shabby!!!
For a better explanation: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/money-and-tax/personal-finance/savings-and-investments/government_savings_scheme
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Healthcare System
UPDATE: I forgot to add that she even gave me a number for after hours and weekends so that I wouldn't have to go to the hospital and wait for days if I were sick. These people are great!
At some point, even though I can't remember when or by whom, I was told that in order to see a specialist, I'd have to first go to a general practitioner. This is how it used to be under my health insurance at home years ago, so it wasn't anything new. I got a recommendation from a colleague here for a doctor that works for a practice that is within walking distance from the office. I have to plan almost everything that I do around the office since nothing is open on the weekends it seems.
When I made the appointment, they only asked for my name and the date and time. No health insurance questions. I was able to make an appointment for 5:00 and headed over there a little early in order to try to sign in early since I figured I'd be sitting there for an hour. And then of course I also expected to be sitting in a room in the back for another hour. But that's not how it went at all.
Once I got there, I checked in and filled out the basic "first timer" form. As I sat there, people were called into the back and I swear most of them came out in no more than 5 minutes. Bing, bang, boom, done. Must be easily diagnosable. At about 5:10, I was called into the back by the actual doctor. No nurse came to greet me. She directed me to her office - yep, her office - and we sat in there and she answered all of my questions. Then she let me know that she can write any prescription that I would need. Therefore there's no need to see a GP then make an appointment with a specialist and have them write the prescription. Such a time saver!! She also can write prescriptions for a 6 month supply. You gotta be kidding me with this stuff.
As any American would, I hurried up to get health insurance thinking that if I got hit by the tram, I'd be in deep financial trouble. But they didn't even ask for it - ever. You pay a certain fee as a private patient and then submit all of your receipts at the end of the year for a refund. This is sort of a pain at the end of the year, but it's nice to be able to make an appointment without having to track down your health care information. And you don't have to choose specific doctors.
As far as the girly stuff goes, since boys read this blog I won't discuss it here. But if you girls are interested, just let me know and I'll send an email.
So, the result is that they have a much better handle on efficiency at the doctor's office here. Quite a pleasant experience!
At some point, even though I can't remember when or by whom, I was told that in order to see a specialist, I'd have to first go to a general practitioner. This is how it used to be under my health insurance at home years ago, so it wasn't anything new. I got a recommendation from a colleague here for a doctor that works for a practice that is within walking distance from the office. I have to plan almost everything that I do around the office since nothing is open on the weekends it seems.
When I made the appointment, they only asked for my name and the date and time. No health insurance questions. I was able to make an appointment for 5:00 and headed over there a little early in order to try to sign in early since I figured I'd be sitting there for an hour. And then of course I also expected to be sitting in a room in the back for another hour. But that's not how it went at all.
Once I got there, I checked in and filled out the basic "first timer" form. As I sat there, people were called into the back and I swear most of them came out in no more than 5 minutes. Bing, bang, boom, done. Must be easily diagnosable. At about 5:10, I was called into the back by the actual doctor. No nurse came to greet me. She directed me to her office - yep, her office - and we sat in there and she answered all of my questions. Then she let me know that she can write any prescription that I would need. Therefore there's no need to see a GP then make an appointment with a specialist and have them write the prescription. Such a time saver!! She also can write prescriptions for a 6 month supply. You gotta be kidding me with this stuff.
As any American would, I hurried up to get health insurance thinking that if I got hit by the tram, I'd be in deep financial trouble. But they didn't even ask for it - ever. You pay a certain fee as a private patient and then submit all of your receipts at the end of the year for a refund. This is sort of a pain at the end of the year, but it's nice to be able to make an appointment without having to track down your health care information. And you don't have to choose specific doctors.
As far as the girly stuff goes, since boys read this blog I won't discuss it here. But if you girls are interested, just let me know and I'll send an email.
So, the result is that they have a much better handle on efficiency at the doctor's office here. Quite a pleasant experience!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Poop
First real rain since I've been here is happening at this moment. I know this not because I am looking out of the window but because I have just been out in it for lunch and my cute red shoes are now all wet. I did have a kick ass umbrella though, so at least the top part of me is dry. Can't say the same for the hem of my dry clean only pants.
Preeeettttyyyy
I took a few pictures on my walk home yesterday. The neighborhood that I live in is relatively big in size, but my street is the last one so it's got it's own privacy. There are mountains in the distance and the neighborhood is hilly so you can see a separate neighborhood down the hill. On the first picture you can see to the right the top of a roof on a house that backs up to the hill that I'm walking on and below the next neighborhood over. Pretty neat I think. Just thought I'd share. :)
Guinness
I think these kegs should last the pubs at least through the night. :)
(Taken overlooking the Guinness brewery).
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Woah nelly
During a quiet Saturday ride on the train heading away from town, there was a sound like a gun had been fired and then I felt something hit me - something light. Turns out it was pieces of glass that had broken off of the window across the aisle from me. The picture above was taken from my seat. The thought is that it was kids being stupid. It completely freaked out the girl that was sitting in the seat next to the window, as you would expect. Fortunately the window didn't completely break apart on the rest of the ride home.
That's enough excitement for one day!
The sneeze is connected to the...
Tailbone. Everything seems to be connected to that thing. In order to remain consistent, I had my "fall of the month" (see "Thank God for Tide Sticks") when I got back from NY. I was traveling down the stairs with little sleep to relax on the couch when the following happened:
slip...
ow
ow
ow
(OMG, I'm still falling)
ow.
Immense pain begins. Now, this was one week ago and I still can't sit directly on my tailbone. I know what you're thinking, who does that?? But believe me, we all do. I can be sitting on the floor and move like a normal person to get up, and YEOOOH! Smack on the tailbone. The worst part is when I sneeze because no matter if I'm leaning over (worst way) or standing up, I still feel it pull down there. And there's nothing that I can do about it whatsoever. Just wait it out. I thought for sure it would be all fixed by now.
A co-worker here told me about her awful story when she fractured her tailbone. Apparently that was 4 years ago and she still has a little trouble here and there. If only I could've landed on one of the cheeks. Then at least all of the insulation that I store there for safe keeping could've been used for something good. :)
slip...
ow
ow
ow
(OMG, I'm still falling)
ow.
Immense pain begins. Now, this was one week ago and I still can't sit directly on my tailbone. I know what you're thinking, who does that?? But believe me, we all do. I can be sitting on the floor and move like a normal person to get up, and YEOOOH! Smack on the tailbone. The worst part is when I sneeze because no matter if I'm leaning over (worst way) or standing up, I still feel it pull down there. And there's nothing that I can do about it whatsoever. Just wait it out. I thought for sure it would be all fixed by now.
A co-worker here told me about her awful story when she fractured her tailbone. Apparently that was 4 years ago and she still has a little trouble here and there. If only I could've landed on one of the cheeks. Then at least all of the insulation that I store there for safe keeping could've been used for something good. :)
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