(Un)Holy Thursday Mess

It tragically has become the story of the month.... more redundancies. With more being laid off with each coming month, that means that there are more leaving do's. This time it was saying goodbye to Colin. The Thursday before Easter was the last work day so since this was also our last time working in Milltown before moving to Terenure, we headed to McSorley's for one last blow out. Past and present employees turned out in droves. NOt only to say goodbye to our comrades, but also to get in the last drinks before Good Friday. Good Friday and Christmas are the only illegal times for a pub to be open. So promptly at 11:30 on Holy Thursday the lights flashed for last call and by midnight, no more drinks. You would think that people would not be able to get drink for the next year as they cleared out the shelves at the market or off-license, but it only was for 24 hours. Edell and I took off at last call since it was getting quite messy with people picking each other up, swinging each other around and hugs and crying. None of the above for me thanks. I said my goodbyes and the two of us tottered off to get some greasy yummy chips for the walk back into town. Good end to a sad night, but I will see these people again, either in Oz or North America sooner rather than later!

Strange Anomaly #54

The post man in the city centre does not have a funny little car he drives around, no he cycles all the post to everyone. Super sturdy bike like the old durable WWII looking things, and has a large basket in the front and two huge satchels hanging down on either side by the back wheel. Much more economical but I do feel sorry for them in all the rain and wind with no vehicle to try and get warm in.

The Chapel to Argus House

After a three years in The Chapel at OMP we could not longer fill it and were rattling around in the place. In a strange deal, we are swapping buildings with another company, and moving out. It will still be an hour walk to work, but just not a nice of a walk. The Chapel was meant to hold 130 and by the time of the move we are now only 30 in Dublin. Change will be good, but sitting in front of the rose window for the last few years has been quite nice.


Now I sit in front of a broken, yet thankfully not drafty, fireplace. It is a cosy old house that was converted to offices. Just a bummer that we have no canteen, just an old picnic table sitting in the middle of the carpark. Plus our desks are half the size, so now I have stuff flowing over and piles and trying to eat around the piles is acrobatic work!

Strange Anomaly #53

We have been reading out loud at work the daily trivia, and most of them I was slow on the draw for, or when it came to English History I was a bit fuzzy, but nailed the US ones. But one that stumped me (that I so would have gotten) asked how many stars are in 'The Plow'. Is it a TV show? Movie? Celebrity reality show that I had never heard of? None of the above actually. After the bewildered looks I got from them when I evidently a bit slow for not knowing what they were talking about, some laughter and a fair bit of gesturing, it was revealed that is was none other than the 'Big Dipper'. I so should have gotten that question! Yet another example of same thing, different name. A few others that fall into that category is board games: Sorry = Ludo, Clue = Cluedo and Drafts = Checkers.

M+J in Dublin

Misti and Johnny came to visit! YAY! Even though I just saw them for their wedding, this was a second Honeymoon for them. Within minutes of landing, I had them fed, showered, quick cat nap, and out for a pint of the black stuff in Ireland's smallest pub! Ben had to work the first part of the week, so we got a tour of Ben's new office that had just been completed that I had not even gotten a chance to see. To save on money for us as well as them, we cooked at home and got to enjoy Johnny's AMAZING salsa and other culinary delights that his mother send us recipes to.

I did give them one day on their own, but they slept in until 2 in the afternoon and I think caught up on the last year of sleep with having a little one in the house.

Luckily Irish museums are free, so between the sunny, albeit cold weather, we were having, we brought along our sandwiches, I gave them a free tour of Dublin parks, art museums, Dublin Castle, Chester Beaty Library and past the great churches. We ended the night in Ireland's Oldest Pub (you will see the trend here).

I wanted them to meet my 'Irish Family' so on the Saturday night I invited all of my friends over, made a big pot of my Mexican surprise and had a few beers in the house. A great way for both of my family of friends to meet each other. We also hired a car so Misti could try out driving as well on the opposite side. We took them to our favourite haunts outside of the city centre: Glendalough, Newgrange, Monistaboice and of course Ireland's highest pub, Johnny Foxes. Since we had loads of drink left over from Christmas time from clients, some bottles of wine from Thanksgiving as well as Birthday bottles of Whiskey, we spent most of our evenings playing various different games at the house and drinking all our free stuff. We even invented a new game: Irish Barbarian Pirate Rummy (a take on Norwegian Rummy that they taught us). And of course lots of Farkle.

Of course, what would a trip in the Big Smoke be without going to see the Guinness Brewery, Jameson Store house (Johnny and I are big whiskey drinking fans), and a few pubs within city centre. They took a trip into Temple Bar and with two pints coming to the equivalent of $20, we were not going to be drinking in town. Which this has to be Ireland's most expensive pub.

The time was short but sweet, and I think we crammed in as much as we could without spending a fortune, it is always great going underbudget when you are on holiday. Just nice to see our friends that we have missed so much!