48 hours Amsterdam

That was some whirlwind of a visit! I had a ball, it was fantastic seeing so many people in such little time! Another few hours and then it's holidays; We're off tomorrow night, can't wait!!

Stereotypes

SOCIALISM:
You have 2 cows
and you give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM:
You have 2 cows
the Government takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM:
You have 2 cows
the Government takes both and sells you some milk.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow dropped dead.

A FRENCH CORPORATION:
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.

A GERMAN CORPORATION:
You have two cows.
You reengineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

A SWISS CORPORATION:
You have 5000 cows
None of which belong to you. You charge others for storing them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION:
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

Munster Rugby!

Third time lucky and job well done!

It's been a great Saturday afternoon with a fantastic atmosphere before, during and after the match. Not that I really care about rugby, but it's always a good excuse to shout and roar at the tele and have a few pints.

Well done Munster!

Harbour Heights

The Harbour Heights development, the houses that we were looking at to purchase went on sale last week. Despite the ridiculous prices, the first phase development sold out the first day!

The Irish Examiner wrote an article on it; have a look at the prices and then do a quick calculation to see what it would cost to actually buy one these nice, but overpriced properties.

Early, early morning

05.04 CET - a stunning early morning, clear blue skies - nice!

Time to go home!

Old town of Gdansk, Poland

After working some hours this morning I had some time to take a stroll around the Old Town of Gdansk; unfortunately not enough time to make a boat trip to Westerplatte where the Second World War started but hopefully I have the time to do that next time.

As the digital camera is broken I only have some snaps on a disposable camera, so I won't be able to post them until sometime next week.

In the meantime, this is how it looks like:



Looks pretty much like Amsterdam, eh? It's a traditional trading port as was Amsterdam during the 17th century, so I'd say they shared some architectural ideas.

Hollandse Haring!!

We have the honour to invite you to a dutch "New Herring Afternoon", this year we organise this event during a lunch. For this event we will be importing "Hollansche Nieuwe" herring. For those who do not like seafood we will have an alternative.

On: Sunday 11th of June 2006
From: 2.00 - 5.00 PM
At: Fusion Restaurant, Waterfront, Crosshaven

www.nvirl.com

And at the same time the first match of the Dutch National soccer team in the World Cup is on the tele, so that should be a lovely day!!

Don't we just all love London's Heathrow Airport

Get a small bit of early morning fog, some thick cloud afterwards and a bit of rain and London's Heathrow Airport turns into an absolute nightmare;

Delays? Mwah... how shall I put it?? I was supposed to have time to watch the Barcelona-Arsenal game in Warsaw Airport before flying onto Gdanks, but nah, I had to get somebody from security to run me through the building to ensure I would make my connection.

But hey, I got here, don't know how it looks like, was asleep all the way over, so it's gonna be a surprise!

Have a good one!

It's all holidays!

And it's about time; we've worked hard and long enough.

After booking our skiing trip yesterday, we finally got the green light today to book our summer holidays.

So on Sunday week we are off to Zakynthos, Greece for a week in the sun!

When was the last time you did something crazy?

Well, just did it a few minutes ago!

We went to Maureen's for a quick cuppa after our walk last night in Rochestown and surely they were all talking about their skiing trip planned for January 2007. If we wanted to come? Sure we do! So, now there's a group of 12 with 8 of them (including Legal Eagle and myself) that have never skied before going to the slopes.

All's arranged, booking deposit paid. Let the fun begin!

Sailing on the fjords

As I said, work hard, play hard; here are some pics from some quiet time on the Norwegian Fjords.

Happy Birthday to me!

At least you're lucky that you'll be able to trace me this year;

Next year when it's my thirtieth birthday I will be gone for three days;

I'll be sitting somewhere in a tent, read a good book, have a long discussion with the mountain sheep and drink a good glass of wine - no laptops, no GSM phones, no traceability, nothing!

For this year? Head for dinner tonight in Luigi Malone's and probably a few drinkies when back from Gdansk, Poland on Saturday.... (and with hopefully Munster winning the rugby it could be a nice Saturday evening!)

Now that's what I call a fair deal!

As per my earlier posting today I am NOT in the mood to spend any money on these lazy, unreliable union train drivers and pay their salaries.

So, when we're off to Dublin next month for a 30th birthday party of a friend I am more than happy to give my money to an efficient company with hard working employees.

Then, 0.01 EUR or 4.99 EUR for a single to Dublin isn't that bad at all? Compare that with EUR 62.50 for a return on the train that may not go after all!

Thank you Ryanair for giving us an alternative!

Union workers! Bastards!

Train services hit by unofficial Cork strike action
From:ireland.com
Monday, 15th May, 2006

Train services operating out of Cork have been cancelled this morning after drivers took unofficial strike action.

A number of drivers took the action this morning in protest at the introduction of a new fleet of intercity trains.

Drivers submitted a claim last September 2005 for increased pay and reduced working hours in return for driving the new trains, because of a new safety regime and new training processes for new drivers.

The claim was rejected by the Labour Court in January who said the new working arrangements were allowed for in previous agreements.

Iarnród Éireann was due to begin trials today on €117 million worth of new trains aimed at improving the service on the Cork to Dublin route.

So, they try to work less for more pay and even though the Labour Court rejects their claim, they still go on strike. Ever thought about other people who have to get to work?

Who is going to pay for my taxi fare?

I'm getting closer to the BA silver card!

Digicam broken

My Ixus 50 stopped working while on the fjords in Oslo; I should have the receipt in the admin folder somewhere. As far as I know warranty should be 24 months on consumer products in the EU; better check that and send the camera back to Canon.

If else, it's an excuse to purchase an EOS 300D.

Work hard, play hard!

Another 6 hours and I'm up again for my flight back to Heathrow - so yeah, I'll probably totally be knocked out for the 2 hrs, but that will suit me fine!

Work hard, play hard, that's been the motto for the last two days;

So yeah, we went out on this 50ft yaught yesterday afternoon; 24 degrees, gorgeous sunshine, a can of local lager and beautiful scenery;

Reunion

I just found out that there will be a reunion of former EuroNet Internet staff on May 24th next.

Needless to say I booked my flight instantly.

Flight schedule:
DEP CORK WED 24MAY06 - 6.30AM
ARR AMSTERDAM WED 24MAY06 - 9.10AM

DEP AMSTERDAM FRI 26MAY06 - 10.00AM
ARR CORK FRI 26MAY06 - 10.40AM

Brilliant!

Fire Alarm!

After my emergency evac last Autumn from a BMIBaby flight, now I got evacuated from the Skyline at Heathrow; somebody set off the fire alarm and surely I got out as quickly as possible; after standing around for about 30 minutes on bare feet we got the 'all clear' and I could go back to the room and sleep on for another few hours.

At least the systems worked!

Apartment for Sale!

As the house that we were thinking of upgrading to seems to be out of our financial reach, I may have found another property;

It's above Legal Eagle's office! That would be handy alright, wouldn't it? Wake up at 08.50 and still be at your desk before 9!



Nah, a bit too close for comfort

Aim: 100,000 miles

Getting another 140 points before February 2007 should not be a big problem, let's see if I can get to 100,000 miles which will get me a free return to Sydney.

Christmas on Bondi Beach paid for by BA? Not a bad idea!

Oranje boven! Leve de Koningin!

Totally forgot about that; the Koninginnedag celebrations last Saturday; The Dutch Ireland Society had organised a get-together to celebrate Koninginnedag. Well, what's that you may ask? Well, first of all, it's a big piss-up. But second of all, we celebrate the birthday of the Queen. Well, actually not really. We used the celebrate the birthday of the Queen Mother. And now that she's passed away, we don't celebrate anything anymore really, we just have an excuse to drink ourselves silly.

Anyway, we had a brilliant time with a big group of Dutchies down in the Heineken brewery in Cork - there's always a home away from home!

And even our beloved 'Queen Beatrix' dropped by for a meet and greet.



And yes, there was plenty of this liquid available

1054 calories!

Yep, I've got out of my freakin' mind!

35 mins Level 13 on the stepper; 650 calories
40 mins Level 17 on the bicycle; 404 calories.

Needless to say I slept like a baby last night, and nah, taking a break from it tonight.. legs are sore but good!

Cenus 2006 - Part 2

Well, when we got home late last night this Census lady finally showed up requesting our paperwork... sorry.... you're about 8 days too late; sent via Freepost.

Better luck next time!