April 28, 2003
Back in the city
Well, back from my trip around Clare. I'll try and put something up on where I was staying, and where I went with pictures and everything. We stayed in Ballyvaughan in this very nice B&B called Ballyvaughan Lodge. And it was very nice, and was not at all too dear, €65 for an enuite room, for two people. The room was huge, with a double and a single bed. The ensuite was very nice (apart from the elctric shower which took its time to heat up). And it's 2-5 minutes walk to the nearest pub (to be honest, I did not go to any pub in the evening to enjoy the trad music... ;P) and restaurant. Clare is so beautiful, the scenary was absolutely breathtaking. It was well worth getting out of the city for a few days, even though it means that I was driving. :) I love driving, I am getting the hang of this driving in the country lark! :D Next time, I'll take a longer break and drive to the west and also a trip to the north...
April 26, 2003
Motion sickness
Ugh! Not on the road yet! Been back for over 1hr 1/2 now to recover from some motion sickness. Walked to town this morning, and it started to lash (typical), so we dropped by a nice Italian café by the Civic offices, and had a latte. Proceeded onto Grafton street to acquire a Clare map (yup, that is where we'll be heading), and a hat for myself as it was raining... Got the aircoach, but realised that milk plus any kind of transport equals "oh-oh I am not feeling well". So, got to the airport in one shaking piece, got the car and drove back. It's a brand spanking new Opel Vectra, but I hate the indicators.. oh well, at least it's a car I am familiar with, most the main controls (except for the reverse) is on the side I am use to using (unlike that crappy Hyundai Accent, turn right, windscreen wipers come on!) So, after many cups of Chinese tea and a shower, I am feeling less on the green side... Prob leave in 30 mins. Till Monday night, I'm off to vroom-vroom ;P
Goodnight!
Heh! Just shared a bottle of white wine (very nice and fruity) with my friends while watching Southpark, Family Guy and Futurama on Channel 4... Boy was that wine strong. I'm off to bed now after this blog...Good night! ;)
April 25, 2003
Brain Freeze!
From my earlier blog, I mentioned I had a smoothie... it was a Strawberry Energiser smoothie and ws bought at Zubar (I think) at the Jervis Shopping Centre...
But then this happened...
Got my hiking pants
A bit late getting out of the appartment today. Anyway, got myself 2 pairs of hiking pants at The Outdoor Adventure Store on Upper Liffey Street. Each around €45 which was not bad at all.
Since this is the end of the week, it was time to replenish our food supplies at home. So off to Tesco. But we did not have €1 coin for the trolley, so I got smoothies to break a note. My BF nearly got €2 coin back (after all the trouble to breaking the note!), but tragedy averted, and we got the €1 coins instead. Anyhoo, it turns out that the trolley was not locked..teehee! After all that, and me drinking the smoothie really quickly and getting a brain freeze... All in all, today was relaxing. Can't wait till tomorrow. Picking up the car at the airport... gonna have a whale of a time! w00t!
April 24, 2003
Where to go on my break?
Well, it's my first day of my break from work, and I am still in Dublin. Not going abroad. Apart from the money issue (expensive city breaks), it's the SARS thing as well... I don't want to be one of the unfortunate one quarantined in the airport for days on end, just because someone on the same plane might have the virus! Call it paranoia, but it's too rampant not to worry about this, even if the flu is more of a killer than this new virus...
Anyhoo... this morning, I did sleep it in, then head into town later supposedly to get hiking pants. Did not get a pair, not a great selection for women, might end up getting a pair of small men's trousers, but hey, Mick says it makes no diffs as they get muddy anyway. Anyhoo, after an evening vegging in front of tv watching Buffy, Angel and Scrubs (all while Neil was in the background commenting on something or another), I am here at the pc (surprise, surprise), and just apart from blogging that is, I just booked a car via www.carhireireland.com which was cheaper than Argus and Budget Rentals I must say! Anyhoo, picking up the car at Dub airport on Sat at 12pm and returning it on Mon at 9pm. So where am I going (well, with Mick as well ;P)? It's a bit hazy, but we will be travelling towards Wicklow first and south towards Cork then. It will hopefully a hiking/road trip. This is going to be fun. I can't wait!
Nothing's cheap anymore!
Just back from town. One thing about this week... after saving a few bob from not buying 7 day bus rambler tickets (walking instead), we bought a 7 day DART train ticket! And thing is I have taken today and Friday off! And I only use the DART ticket for 5 days anyway! Such a rip-off..wish there was a 5 day ticket. Talk about things being expensive... a cd album now costs nearly as much as a dvd. What's the story?!? Just saw an Aphex Twin new mix album, and that was around €28... eep!
Apart from that, got myself a DryFlow shirt, a 1st aid kit... paid with my credit card, and guess what, the card swipey thing was not authorising my card transfer, and the shop assistant had to ring the bank up. So what was wrong? Someone nicked my card, or someone cancelled it, or something I bought recently caused some problems with my card... but as it turns out, the banks were doing random checks on cards, and mine was one of those. So after the phone call, it went through fine...phew! My plastic is fine! :)
April 23, 2003
Cut down on coffee
This just reminds me of what happened this morning - Cutback on coffee from dilbert.com. My flatmate Oish made coffee. He wanted to cutdown on the stuff so he made really weak coffee. Well, I was barely awake when all I hear was my BF slagging Oish off for the weak coffee. I was still in slumberland, just brushed my teeth, so all I could taste was toothpaste anyway! :)
April 22, 2003
Wowsers...build your own BattleMech
..in your own backyard! Well, this guy did - The Making of a BattleMech By Com Star Guard (CSG)
Thermal Depolymerization
Finally, something that we have plenty of that can be recycled to crude oil. Anything into Oil shows that "turkey offal, tires, plastic bottles, harbor-dredged muck, old computers, municipal garbage, cornstalks, paper-pulp effluent, infectious medical waste, oil-refinery residues, even biological weapons such as anthrax spores" can be used to create "high-quality oil, clean-burning gas, and purified minerals that can be used as fuels, fertilizers, or specialty chemicals for manufacturing". It's great! Can't wait till it gets a bit more affordable, which they are aiming in 3 to 5 years.
Monty Python Char quiiz
Which Monty Python character am I? (Prepare to "Runaway...runaway")
Mean lil fellow, arn't you?
What Monty Python Character are you?
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Earth Day today
I'm no hippy, but it helps to look after our environment.
Some earth day tips - http://www.knowledgehound.com/topics/earthday.htm
Some earth day ecards - http://www.care2.com/send/catearthday1.html
April 17, 2003
Blog conference
BlogTalk - "A European Conference On Weblogs: Web-based publishing, communication and collaboration tools for professional and private use." There is a Conference all about blogging? The next one is in Vienna, would love to go... Ooh, and it is cheap to register as well.
This is how I feel...
...today! Recovering from a cold (and NO it is NOT sars!!!) But I phoned home saying that I will be back down but not till tomorrow until I feel a bit better. (I am 80% recovered from a head cold) But was told to go see a doctor... it's a Thurs... I'm at work. How the heck can I see a doctor? They'll be closed by the time I see them. Argh... Ooh..! It's a nice day today.. I feel so happy! :D
April 16, 2003
Sonic on the Palm Tungsten T
Oh yeah!!! Sega on a Palm! I would have loved to see Neil's expression when he read The Reg's article on Sega games for Palm. Wonder if it would be awkward playing these types of games on the Palm... Anyhoo, can't wait to download one and try out!
The official Palm Software - Sega Classics site.
April 13, 2003
Where did my soul originate quiz
Yeah, another quiz.. have not done one in ages, and I feel crap cos I got the cold.
You come from the Future. Your soul came from a
different time, far in the future. You're just
a little bit a head of everyone else and you're
constantly wondering what lies ahead.
Where Did Your Soul Originate?
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April 11, 2003
Funny stuff
Can't wait for Matrix Reloaded to come out, and XMen 2. Here is a funny strip from PvPonline - Overload.
And came across this one from Angst Technology - Flak Monkey. :P
April 10, 2003
Broadband wars
Wahey! Go Esat, go Esat! Esat BT undercuts Eircom in DSL prices (from electricnews.net)
April 02, 2003
Computer events (here and abroad)
Irish Computer Society list of events
Event(s) I want to go to :-
* 2003 Events from Human-Computer Interaction Resource Network
Would have loved to go to this one in HK at the time - Made on Mac seminar in HK
Bus Eireann new on-line ticketing system
"The Irish Examiner reports that Bus Eireann has launched an on-line ticketing system. Passengers can purchase bus tickets for over 600 journeys throughout the country at the company's Web site, www.buseireann.ie, using a credit card. The user then receives confirmation by e-mail, which must be printed and shown to the driver when boarding the bus." - Bus Eireann new on-line ticketing system
Um, waving a piece of printed paper to a bus driver while there are alot of people trying to get on at the same time! I somehow don't think this will work out well. Come on, Bus Eireann, please include bus tickets with the rail vending machines.