The Butcher

The last three nights Beth and I (and to some extent RJ) have been eating meat that we bought from a butcher shop. Butcher shops are much more common over here and have (what I perceive) better prices than you'd find at a butcher shop back home.

I'm curious if this has to do with the perpetuation of mass distribution in the US, or if it is more of a cultural thing. Here, there are two butcher shops in the local mall. The smaller towns are likely to have one or two butcher shops along their main streets.

Needless to say, the meat is much better than the frozen stuff that we're accustomed to buying at the grocery stores back home. Then again, we rarely buy food from the butcher counter at the local Jewel.

So, we're enjoying good, fresh meat on a daily basis. Maybe this weekend, I'll stop by the fresh fish market where you can actually see the fishermen carry the fresh fish from the boats to the store.

Your Country, Your Call

Here is another reason that I like Ireland: YourCountryYourCall.com. The economy isn't doing so well over here. Yes, some people are crying in their Guinness, however, I love the government's response: Somebody give us an idea.

The competition asks you (the common man) ". . . to share your creativity to give life to new industry, revitalise or revolutionise an existing market, or even change the way we do business entirely." The goal of the program is to "pick two truly transformational proposals so big that, when implemented, could secure prosperity and jobs for Ireland."

The competition is open to anybody from any country. Two winning entries will be chosen to win 100,000 Euro each. So get those pens moving and check out the site. I just gave you a chance to win 100,000 Euro. Don't say that I've never done anything for you. Wait, that's a double negative. Say I've done something for you.

Here's another question for the peanut gallery: Do you think that the US would ever do something like this? Or do we already sponsor programs like this in the form of grants?

Leprechaun Hunt!

This week, I got a recommendation that I should take the family up to Carlingford (map). Last night, I checked out their visitor's bureau online and I saw that they were having a Leprechaun Hunt . . . today! Hell Yeah!

The last time that there was a Leprechaun Hunt in Carlingford was about 20 years ago shortly after P.J. O'Hare (a local pub owner) found leprechaun clothes, some small bones, and some coins - which are the only leprechaun artifacts deemed "authentic." The tickets were 5 Euro each and the proceeds went to a local Children's Hospital and a local Hospice care. We were happy that the money was going to a good cause.

The hunt started out with some good craic (craic is Irish for fun - pronounced "crack") as we followed a bagpipe band out of town. However, the bagpipers weren't paid to make the trek all the way to the hunting grounds. There was a grueling uphill climb to get there and we almost didn't make it. When we started out, we were right behind the bagpipers. By the time we got to the hunting grounds, we had been passed by scores of leprechaun hunters. I think that the leprechauns' plans were to tire us out before we even could start looking for them. They're plan worked.

We only found one leprechaun, but we brought him with us (picture below). We didn't find any of the hidden leprechauns that were worth cash money. However, it was still a fun day (with more than the expected share of exercise) and we did get to keep our souvenir leprechaun hunting licenses.

The Crap You See at the Zoo

Today, we went to the Dublin Zoo in Phoenix Park. It's quite expensive - 15 Euro per adult (about $20) , but kids under three are free. So it's a little more expensive than Chicago's Brookfield Zoo (at $13.50 per adult), yet it's not nearly as big. We did enjoy the day at the zoo and RJ now has a favorite animal - The Red Panda (see photograph).

The one thing that will stick out in my memory, however, was the gorilla exhibit. I'll warn you now that if you have a weak stomach - or are easily grossed out - please don't read any further and definitely don't look at the picture below.

Beth and I were trying to get some pictures of a huge silverback gorilla when another younger gorilla walks up next to him and takes a dump . . . in its own hand. Photo evidence below. At that point I thought it would be funny, because I expected I was about to become witness to the oft mentioned, but rarely seen monkey dung fight. I was wrong.

The gorilla proceeded to wipe the shite on the wall and licked it like an ice cream cone.


You're welcome. Enjoy your dinner.

How I Love Renting!

Not.

Freaking water pump for the water heater keeps going off every 10 seconds - it's loud and annoying. The front panel falls off the dishwasher that the landlord just installed every time you open it. The freaking handles on just about every door are at risk of falling off when you open them. One toilet doesn't work.

Last Saturday he said he'd have somebody come over Monday or Tuesday. Nobody has come. I don't have time for this crap.

I've talked to a couple of the other expatriates that are over here. They're having similar issues. One guy has a toilet seat that's not even attached to his toilet. For the walk through the landlord just had it setting on top of the toilet. Another guy had the hot water break the second day he was in the apartment.

I'm a little upset with the support that I got from my company when trying to find an apartment. I haven't rented an apartment this millennium - I'm a little out of practice. A little help would have been nice.

Looks like I'll be calling the landlord again.

The Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie

A couple weeks ago I finished up the Joe Abercrombie First Law trilogy by completing The Last Argument of Kings.

I had to ponder whether or not I really liked this one or not. I thought on it for a long time and in the end I think it's near brilliant. Just as in the first two books, the characterization was fantastic. The difference with the concluding novel was that all was revealed about the characters and it wasn't always pretty. In fact, it was most often not pretty.

The novel left a bitter taste in my mouth. There were characters that I loved that I ended up hating. Other characters I loved ended up dying. I didn't have a good feeling about the book when I finished. However, after reflecting on it and allowing it to sink in, I did realize that it was well crafted and made one very strong statement.

Sometimes evil needs to be done for the benefit of the greater good.

There aren't many that have the stomach to do it. This book is about those who have the stomach to do unpopular things for what they believe is right. However, what they believe is right is only right in their own frame of reference. How many innocents have to suffer for what one man believes is right?

With the paralysis of modern bureaucracies, I have often wondered if a benign dictator might actually be a better option. This book made me realize that there is no such thing as benign dictatorships, only dictatorships. Benign/good, malicious/evil - it's all dependent upon whether you're on the the oppressor or the oppressed.

Who will history cast as hero and who will it cast as villain in our own, non-fantasy world? I don't know, but I'm sure that neither heroes nor villains will fully deserve the mantle that will be cast upon them.

With that said - another book down on my quest for 10,000 pages. 1900 pages as of mid-February.

Jerpoint Abbey

Continuing on the freakish theme one more day, I've been wanting to visit Jerpoint Abbey for a few months now - ever since my last visit to Kilkenny in November. Why? To see the grave of St. Nicholas. Who wouldn't want to see that?

So Beth, RJ and I stop at Jerpoint Abbey, just outside of Thomastown, on our way from Kilkenny to New Ross on Sunday. We have a little lunch, pay our 3 Euro for admission and begin walking around. What I found were some absolutely beautiful ruins of an abbey that served as an Irish-Norman launch point for the crusades. What I didn't find, was St. Nicholas' grave. I soon learned that the supposed grave is located on private property just west of the abbey.

Legend has it that a band of Irish-Norman knights returned from the Crusades having seized St. Nicholas' remains and buried them in the Church of St. Nicholas in the town of Newton Jerpoint. The church and the town are now in ruins, but apparently the grave still remains. You can find a better account of it here.

I was not in the mood to knock on a stranger's door and ask him if I could see St. Nicholas' grave, so we packed up and headed on down to the land of the Kennedy's in New Ross. However, Jerpoint Abbey was quite a site to see. And at 3 Euro, it is a bargain for what you get. If you find yourself in Kilkenny, take the scenic drive down the R700 towards Thomastown and see the abbey. Here are a couple more pictures.

So You Want Freakish?

Wally made a comment that I was "like our very own history channel...but slightly more freakish." So I thought I would present you with freakish. A few weeks ago when I was touring around County Meath, I stopped at St. Peter's Cathedral in Drogheda. Why did I do this? Please see the accompanying picture.

That is the 300 year-old decapitated head of St. Oliver Plunkett. Where else are you going to see a shrine to a saint that includes his/her actual head? So I took a knee, said a prayer for Kiowa (who we put down the day before), bought the all-inclusive book on St. Oliver Plunkett, made the sign of the cross, then left. There weren't any signs keeping me from taking pictures, but I didn't feel comfortable doing it, so this picture is from the Archdiocese of Armagh website.

So who exactly is St. Oliver Plunkett? No he didn't play quarterback for the Oakland Raiders (that would be Jim Plunkett) St. Oliver was, in fact, the Archbishop of Armagh who went into hiding in 1673 due to religious persecution of Catholicism.

St. Oliver was eventually captured. Local courts failed to prosecute him of any crimes, so he was sent to London where perjured witnesses could be brought to testify against him. He wasn't given time to sail his witnesses from Ireland over to London and was thus convicted of treason. He maintained his innocence and refused to save his own life by perjuring himself against other priests.

He was hung, drawn and quartered (think of William Wallace's death sentence from Braveheart) on July 1, 1681. He was canonized as a Saint in 1975.

So though this shrine may seem freakish, it puts into perspective the freedoms that most of us enjoy. Thank the good Lord, or whatever deity you choose to believe in that you have the freedom to practice (or not practice) your religion of choice. Things were different in times past, in fact, they're different in times present in some countries.

The RipTide Movement

There was a request for a report on the music scene over here in Dublin. You'll be glad to know that I haven't been slacking in my duties. Ok, I have. However, yesterday when Beth, RJ and I were out walking Grafton Street, we saw a couple of bands playing. One of them in particular caught our attention: The RipTide Movement.

In fact, they caught our attention enough to buy their CD. Today while touring the country, we popped the CD in and listened to it a few times through. I have to say that I really like what I heard. I'd classify it as bluesy rock sound with a hint of The Doors. The hint of The Doors comes from the vocalist, Mal Tuohy, who sounds eerily like Jim Morrison.

On their website they say that they are influenced by CCR, Rory Gallagher, The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones. So I guess I'm not too far off with my impressions.

I'm no music critic, but I know what I like when I hear it. I particularly like their song: "Alive Inside," which I've learned hit #13 on the Irish charts as an independent release. These boys got some chops. Go check them out.

Kilmainham Gaol

Beth and I went down to the City Centre today for a couple of reasons. First off, Beth wanted to see the city. Secondly, I needed to help her get her bearings on how to get around in Dublin. Today's lesson involved riding the bus and the Luas (a light rail that runs through the city). The first destination we aimed for was Kilmainham Gaol.

Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced "jail") is an essential stop on a tour of Dublin - I'd even recommend that it is the first stop on your tour of Dublin. It really gets you familiarized with the history of the city and the country.

I'm not trying to say the country is full of convicts and that the history of the country revolves around the jail. However, the jail maps two important historical events of the country: The Potato Famine and The Easter Rising/Fight for Independence.

The interesting aspect to the Potato Famine is that to keep beggars off the street, they'd often incarcerate them at Kilmainham for some period of time. In the jail's history (over 100 years from the late 1700's through 1924 when it was closed), 800-1000 people were usually jailed per year. During the years of the Potato Famine, that number rose to over 9000 in one year. The meager rations they received in jail was more than they were getting at home. Kilmainham Gaol may well have saved hundreds/thousands of peoples lives.

The other piece of history that I referred to was The Easter Rising - which was the beginning of the country's fight for independence from England. In 1916, a group of Irish Republicans seized the General Post Office and other important landmarks in the City Centre and held off the British army for 1 week before they surrendered, unconditionally, to the army's overwhelming numbers.

This wasn't necessarily what caused the Irish movement for independence, though. There were uprising before, but they never were able to create the tidal wave of support that this movement eventually did. What really caused the support for independence was the execution of all the Irish Republicans at Kilmainham Gaol. In all 90 people were sentenced to death and 15 (mostly the leaders) were executed within a week of their sentence. The jail is a grim reminder of those executions as some of the cells have name placards over their doors commemorating the fallen heroes.

All in all, it was an excellent experience. However, we dropped out of the tour early because RJ was getting a little restless. A fun day for the family, but I think a little more walking than Beth was expecting.

Don't Kiss Me, I'm not Irish, I'm Sleeping

Well, unfortunately, I don't have a very interesting story to tell about St. Patrick's Day in Dublin. Beth and RJ were still pretty jet-lagged from the flight over and didn't wake up until about 11am. I wasn't much better myself, waking up at 10am. Either way, organizing a 1-year old and getting him onto a bus to get to City Center was out of the question, so . . .

We spent the day shopping out by our apartment. We heard Irish music at IKEA, spent some green at Homebase (similar to a Sears - tools, furniture, home items), and bought some Corned Beef at Tesco.

All-in-all it was a lazy St. Patty's day, but it was still a wonderful day because I got to spend it with Beth and RJ.

And all you get is a picture of a cat with a green hat on. Sorry.

Touchdown In Dublin

We touched down in Dublin today - Beth, RJ and I - with little incident. RJ was himself, squeaking like a canary throughout the airport and kept it up until the flight crew finally dimmed the lights 3 hours into the flight. At that point he fell right asleep.

The hard part will be getting him onto the new time schedule. We are currently 5 hours ahead of home (Ireland doesn't go onto daylight savings time until the end of March - usually it's 6 hours ahead). RJ took a couple short naps today and only got three hours of sleep on the plane (which is better than Beth or I did). He's sleeping now, but I'm hoping he doesn't wake up in the middle of the night.

Beth is adjusting similarly - she is sleeping now, trying to catch up herself. After all tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day in Ireland. We haven't made any real plans tomorrow. We're thinking that we'll be heading downtown for the parade - but we'll see what time everybody wakes up.

The First Family Airplane Trip

I took a few days off of blogging because, well, I was home with my family whom I hadn't seen in three weeks. It's quite amazing to see how much RJ has changed in those three weeks. He loves walking now! If he's awake, he's walking.

The weekend was just a little stressful, though. That's because today all three of us get on the airplane back to Ireland. The stress was due to the fact that we had to pack for Beth and RJ for a 6-week stay in Ireland.

I'm not sure how we're going to get through security yet. We have a full compliment of checked bags, carry-on luggage, carry-on hand bags, a car seat and a stroller. We'll see how we do. I have the limo picking us up forty five minute early just to make sure we have enough time to get through security.

We'll see how RJ does on the plane (and how we all do at the airport). Wish us luck!

Any Jacobites in the House?

On my tour of the Boyne River Valley, I stopped at another famous site: The Battle of the Boyne site along the Boyne River. This was where William the Orange defeated James the II in 1690. So what, you say? Yeah, that's what I said, too. So I did a little research.

This was one of the roots of the Protestant and Catholic conflict in Ireland. William the Orange (a.k.a William III) was the reigning protestant King of England, Scotland and Ireland. He deposed his father-in-law, James II - a Catholic under the guise of freeing the English Protestants from James II's Catholic tyranny.

James II fled to France where he had support from King Louis XIV of France. In 1689, James II, gathered an army of Jacobites and French and landed in Kinsale in Ireland (southwest of Cork) and marched all the way up to meet King William III's troupes along the Boyne River in July of 1690.

William III's 36,000 men went on to defeat the 23,500 men of James II's army in three days. This remains the largest battle to have occurred on the island of Ireland. This is sometimes recognized as a key point to the complete colonization of Ireland by the British. In fact, in the 1920's Irish Republican Army (Catholics) blew up a monument at the battle site as well as a statue of William III (Protestant) at Trinity College in Dublin.

So the question remains: What the hell is a Jacobite?

A Jacobite is a supporter of the Catholic King James II. It's taken from the latin for James - which is Jacob. The Jacobite movement is the movement to restore the House of Stuart to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland. The current rulers are of the House of Windsor.

One final question: If I'm in Ireland, should I visit the Battle of the Boyne site?

No. For four Euro, you can see a limited museum and walk the grounds. Actually, you can walk the grounds for free - you get what you pay for there. Drive past the site and move on to the burial mound a Newgrainge. If you want information on the battle, go to a library and find a book on it.

One last piece of trivia - William III and his wife Queen Mary II (daughter of James II) are the namesakes for William & Mary College in Virginia.

The Hill of Slane

Just west of Newgrainge, is the town of Slane. Slane sits on the River Boyne and is overlooked by the Hill of Slane. The significance of the Hill of Slane is that it is said that in 433 A.D., St. Patrick lit the paschal fire on this hill in defiance of the pagan kings that ruled at the time. As you can see here, St. Patrick is still up to his charitable ways, holding on to a hat for a young lassie who lost it.

There are some wonderful views from the Hill of Slane. You can see East all the way to Drogheda and the Irish Sea. Best of all its free! This is a highly recommended stop if you're in the area.

Newgrainge - Bru na Boinne

After my Dun Laoghaire post, I decided to take things one topic at a time. I had a hard time getting all the pictures together into one post. So here is some information about one of the more popular attractions people go to see when they're in or around Dublin. That attraction is the burial mound at Newgrainge.

Newgrainge is about an hour drive north of Dublin (just west of Drogheda). When you get to to Newgrainge, you enter the Bru na Boinne Visitor Center. You buy your tickets to the burial mound and commence waiting. When I went there was a wait of over an hour to get on the bus. However, the Visitor Center is well put together, so you have plenty to do while you're waiting. It has a short film about the site, a recreation of the inside of the site, information about the people who built the mound, information about the archaeologist who reconstructed the sit, and information on the iconic art that decorates the kerbstones and tomb.

Here's the short of it. The tomb was built over 5000 years ago. It dates back to about 3000 B.C. It wasreconstructed (circa 1962-1975) to what an archaeologist believed was its ancient splendor. They called it a tomb because the found charred human remains inside though no actual charring of the stones. Thus it is believed that the cremation occurred outside of the mound before they were laid to rest inside.

The real glory of the tomb is that it is perfectly aligned to the winter solstice. On the morning of the winter solstice, the sunlight shines in for a whopping seventeen minutes - if the sun happens to be shining in Ireland that day. While your there you get a recreation of that effect, but it's hard to see the beam of light on the floor because the tomb is packed with 24 tourists. It's kind of anticlimactic. If you plan on going during the winter solstice, think again. There's a lottery to get into the tomb on those days.

However, the price is good at 6 Euros for the whole experience. I recommend it if you're in the area. Here are a couple more pictures:

The Garda

Today I drove out to Athlone to pick up a crib for when RJ and Beth come back to the Emerald Isle with me (a co-worker had one that I could use so we don't have to buy one). Athlone is on the Shannon River about two thirds of the way from Dublin to Galway. On the way out, I christened my Illinois Driver's license with an Irish blessing . . . of a sort.

On the M4, there is a place near Lucan (just outside of Dublin) where the speed limit drops from 100 km/hr to 80 km/hr. I was clocked doing 108 in an 80 zone. A very nice gentleman from the Garda (the Irish police force) on a motorcycle pulled me over. He took my address but gave me back my license in short order, then sent me on my way. I'm not sure if I'll be receiving a ticket or a fine via mail, but I certainly paid more attention to the speed limit after that.

Done Laoghaire

For over a month now, I’ve had a sunny day contingency plan to go to Dun Laoghaire. When I woke up last Saturday, the sun was shining brightly through the windows of my apartment, warming the idea of heading south and invoking my sunny day contingency plan.

I got to Dun Laoghaire via the bus and train – costing me around 4 Euro total to get there. As soon as I stepped off the train, the clouds came. To the right is a picture of Dun Laoghaire from the ferry station.

Between the ferry station and the pier, there was an interesting looking memorial that stood tall and proud, looking over the harbor. What I found was that it really wasn’t very impressive - it commemorated the first stone being laid for the pier.

Right next to it (and much smaller) was a much more interesting memorial. See the plaque below.

Before getting out to the pier, I saw a sculpture and decided to get a closer look. What I saw is below: the Christ the King statue by Irish American sculptor Andrew O’Connor. The 3 sided sculpture is 18 feet high and shows three phases of Christ’s life: Desolation, Consolation and Triumph. The side you see here would be Triumph.

On to the East Pier! (I decided that one pier would be plenty and I didn’t need to see the West Pier) The pier is a nice long walk out to the tip of the harbor. Even though the clouds had rolled in and a little drizzle began to fall, it was still a pleasant walk. I wasn’t the only person there, the pier was pretty busy. The first picture (left) is a four-legged friend out enjoying a walk. The second picture (bottom left) is at the end of the pier, looking out toward Howth Head. The third picture (bottom right) is some photogenic driftwood.

Next I walked down to a place called the 40 foot

hole at Sandycove. This is a place just off the coast where the sea drops down 40 feet. But due to the rock formations, it’s more of an underwater cliff. Apparently it’s a famous swimming hole. Believe it or not, even in late February, people were swimming. The Martello Tower to the top left was constructed years ago to help ward off Napoleon should he come to Dublin. There are quite a few up and down the east coast. This one has been converted into the James Joyce Museum. Forty foot hole is to the right and the smoke stacks in the background mark Dublin City.

Next stop was Dalkey, which was a neat little city with some old architecture. To the left is Bulloch Castle, which is now a nursing home (no kidding) and to the right is part of Dalkey Castle in downtown Dalkey. By this time the sun had come out and it warmed up.

With some time to still burn before I was due back in Dublin, I decided to walk down the coast to Kiliney Beach. I was a beautiful walk past some garish homes. Notice the second occurrence of a Martello Tower in the distance in the first picture. That is a different one.

Finally at Kiliney Beach. The views were absolutely stunning. You can easily get to Kiliney Beach from Dublin via the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) train. For just over two Euros, the train drops you off right at the beach.

It was a grand day out. Only thing left to do was to polish it off with a Guinness in Dublin while watching Ireland beat England 20-16 in rugby and go see a foreign film at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.

R.I.P. Kiowa

All dogs go to heaven and today, Kiowa joined their ranks. It was his last day on earth. Beth took him to the vet to put him to rest earlier today. He was a good dog.

In the end, arthritis in his back kept him in constant pain and hardly able to stand. We made the decision to put him to sleep, hoping that his suffering in this world would end.

We knew that it was getting close to the end for Kiowa. With my constant traveling, I was hoping that he'd make it through to my next trip home. We couldn't put it off any longer though.

I wish I could have said my last goodbyes. I wish I could have been there to see him through it.

Instead I'm raising a glass from half a world away to remember the dog who loved snow so much that you'd find it piled an inch thick on top of him; the dog who knew that my father always had one more treat in his pocket, the dog who loved attention and was a gentle giant; the dog who was my companion and friend.

Goodbye, Kiowa Snowbear Secora.

Rest In Peace.

Cable TV, Internet, Phones, and Banks

A broad subject for today. I'll start with the easiest: banking. As you may recall, I've been having some banking issues. I received good news today, but I had to find the news myself instead of the news coming to me.

My bank account was finally set up, but the lady that was setting up my account didn't give me a call to let me know that it had been processed. Unfortunately, I now need to wait five days for the banking information to be mailed out. That's not the mail service being slow, that is the bank being slow. Hopefully, now it's just a matter of time and I can actually start banking in this country.

In the world of cable TV, Internet and phone service . . .

On Monday, I was waiting for the cable company to call me so I could walk the 2 minutes back to my apartment to meet them and let them in. They apparently stopped by at 2:30 pm (within their 4 hour window), but didn't give me a call. When I called them up, they stated that they couldn't call international numbers. I let the Customer Service Rep know that the sales person that I talked to when ordering said that they could. Perhaps I'm not the only one who thinks its odd that a telecommunications company can't call an international number properly.

I asked if they could still send somebody out that night, she said that it wasn't an option. My only option was to reschedule. I let her know that I had other options, like cancelling the order. She asked me if I'd like to do that - I said "Let me think on it." I hung up.

I call back two minutes later and get a decent Customer Service Representative who actually sounded like she gave a damn. That sold me and I rescheduled for Friday. So, if my blogs seem to be at less regular intervals until then it's because I have to sneak them out over my lunch break when at work.

Thus far, I've found that the bank - AIB has piss-poor customer service and that the cable company - NTL has pretty good customer service. Even though they may not be as flexible as I like, two out of the three representatives that I've talked to have been an actual joy to talk to.

The Sun Always Shines on Monday

It may be a chance of fate. It may just be my warped perception. It may be a Dublin truism. Truth is, I can’t tell you exactly why, but it seems to me that the sun always shines on Monday.

I am in Murphy’s land, so perhaps this is just the manifestation of some form of his law. Murphy’s Law would state that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong – at the worst possible time. This would state that if something can go right, it will go right when you can’t use it. For lack of knowing better, from now on I’m going to call this the Sunny Monday Law. If somebody has already coined a similar phrase, let me know and I’ll give them due credit.

The Sunny Monday Law is in effect in Dublin. Yes, it rains a lot, but it’s much drier than Ireland’s West Coast. Dublin has its share of dry, sunny days (though don’t let the presence of palm trees fool you into thinking that this is a Caribbean island). So I have to ask myself: Why do the sunny days always fall in the middle of the week while I’m at work?

Here are a couple of my recently developed Karmic hypotheses:

1) Umbrella Karma: I fail to bring my umbrella with me when I go out, ensuring that it will rain (or at least threaten to do so).

2) Raincoat Karma: I bought a nice raincoat just for Ireland. The raincoat gods would be remiss if it was not put to good use.

3) Sunglasses Karma: I’ve cursed the island by bringing a pair of sunglasses through customs. It’s actually quite rare to see any locals wearing sunglasses, which makes it quite easy to identify an American with their black lenses.

4) Cliché Karma: What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger – or in this case wetter.

5) Greek Mythological Karma: I’ve pissed off Apollo by not offering him proper sacrifice and I now suffer his wrath.

6) Theoretical Non-existent Car Karma: I don’t have a car to wash, but if I did I’m sure that it would rain right after I washed it.

7) Ironic Name of the Week Karma: Sunday is named after the sun; Monday is named after the moon. It’s only fitting that the sun should shine on the day of the moon . . .

8) Karma Chameleon Karma: My Karma doesn’t blend in with the Karma of the island, thus resulting in rain (and endless loops of a certain Culture Club song going through my head)

Now the Sunny Monday Law can manifest itself in many other ways. One recent example I can point to is my exploits at one of the best steak houses in Dublin. I had the windfall of a free steak, but couldn’t eat it due to how much alcohol I had consumed.

Have you ever been offered free tickets to a game when you’d already made plans you couldn’t break or you were going to be out of town? Sunny Monday Law. Have you ever received a nice gift that you just couldn’t use? Sunny Monday Law. Have you ever been flirted with, even though you’re already involved? Yeah, you get the picture.

Sunny Monday Law.

Sans Internet

When I walked out of work on Friday night, I was without an internet connection. Last week, I returned my mobile broadband card that I was using because I wasn't getting very good connectivity. Luckily I returned it in time to receive a full refund for the hardware. I was still out 10 Euro from the access charges, but that's better than being out 110 Euro.

I'll be getting my internet connection setup at apartment today. You'll be glad to hear that I'll also be getting telephone and cable TV. The cost of all three together (note that I'm getting a fairly basic TV package with only 120 channels and no extras) is going to be 70 Euro per month. That's not a bad price. However, there are two catches: 1) There is a 40 Euro installation fee and 2) I can't get a 6 month contract. So if I leave after 6 months, I'll have to pay a 100 Euro disconnection fee. If you divide that out by 6, that's still only an extra 17 Euro per month. So all in all, 87 Euro or 120 US Dollars per month. That's a little cheaper than what we're paying back in the States for the same bundle of services.

The installation here isn't much different than that back home. They give you a 4 hour window in which they plan to arrive. Since I'm only 5 minutes away from home, they agreed to call me when they were on their way. Hopefully the message gets through to the installation technician.

I had an event filled Saturday, so I'll give you an update on that after I'm up and running on my new connection.

Here's the rest of the cartoon for your laughing pleasure: