I'm here now, just about alive again. Friday turned into a very good Friday at a house party that was mighty craic.
Saturday turned into up, eat, drugs, bed, sick, bed, up, eat and then here....not so good.
But at least there are two more days of till work. Ah well...probably see all none of ya on Tuesday.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Easter Thoughts
When I was in primary school the teachers were very keen to let you express yourself. Each Friday afternoon after the last break, we were allowed to do whatever we wanted - draw, read, do your homework, whatever.
I loved it as I used to draw maps of countries, draw flags or try and copy pictures from books. The odd time I used to read (mainly because I found a Ghost Story book that shouldn't have been in the school and then hid it each week from other prying eyes). Also at Easter, St. Patrick's Day, Christmas and other such holidays (even after Summer) we would draw pictures of the events or make things and have them hung around the school.
One Christmas after being bored of drawing the same old stable scene that everyone else draws every year, I decided to draw something different. I made a storyboard of the Christmas story from Mary and Joseph heading to Bethlehem right through to them legging it to Egypt. The storyboard was about 20 -25 cells but each picture was a silhouette rather than full content. I just thought it was better looking for what I wanted, but also because I was allowed to use a black pen for the drawings rather than use pencil, markers and crayons like everyone else.
It turned out really well - if I do say so myself - and was hung in a prominent position in the school and looked good. The shadow effect made it look better and there were no words on the pictures which added to it. The teachers loved it and some of the lads in the class thought it was cool.
And so it came to Easter. I thought that I would do the same sort of thing but rather than tell the story of Easter I would take one part of the story and make another shadow-effect drawing. I had to choose a part of the story that on-one else would draw. No one could see it until I was finished and I was left at it. On Holy Thursday I gave the drawing to the teacher very happy with the outcome except she didn't think so.
Most others drew Jesus rising from the dead or the stone removed from the tomb with the chicks chilling outside. Some drew the Last Supper or the lads all having a hooliy on the Mount of Olives.
I drew Judas hanging himself with the pieces of silver on the ground and had only Judas in the picture. I got a rap on the knuckles with a ruler and was given out to by the teacher. The picture was sent home to my parents with a note attached saying they weren't happy bunnies about the picture.
Needless to say the picture wasn't hung up and was never talked about again. I was 10 at the time. And you know something? I'd draw it again if went back in ages. I just think that sometimes you have to let children's minds wander, explore and use their imagination. There is too much conforming today and less individuality.
Or maybe not. Either way, I don't care and it is one of the pictures that I am most proud of even though I won prizes for other pics.
I loved it as I used to draw maps of countries, draw flags or try and copy pictures from books. The odd time I used to read (mainly because I found a Ghost Story book that shouldn't have been in the school and then hid it each week from other prying eyes). Also at Easter, St. Patrick's Day, Christmas and other such holidays (even after Summer) we would draw pictures of the events or make things and have them hung around the school.
One Christmas after being bored of drawing the same old stable scene that everyone else draws every year, I decided to draw something different. I made a storyboard of the Christmas story from Mary and Joseph heading to Bethlehem right through to them legging it to Egypt. The storyboard was about 20 -25 cells but each picture was a silhouette rather than full content. I just thought it was better looking for what I wanted, but also because I was allowed to use a black pen for the drawings rather than use pencil, markers and crayons like everyone else.
It turned out really well - if I do say so myself - and was hung in a prominent position in the school and looked good. The shadow effect made it look better and there were no words on the pictures which added to it. The teachers loved it and some of the lads in the class thought it was cool.
And so it came to Easter. I thought that I would do the same sort of thing but rather than tell the story of Easter I would take one part of the story and make another shadow-effect drawing. I had to choose a part of the story that on-one else would draw. No one could see it until I was finished and I was left at it. On Holy Thursday I gave the drawing to the teacher very happy with the outcome except she didn't think so.
Most others drew Jesus rising from the dead or the stone removed from the tomb with the chicks chilling outside. Some drew the Last Supper or the lads all having a hooliy on the Mount of Olives.
I drew Judas hanging himself with the pieces of silver on the ground and had only Judas in the picture. I got a rap on the knuckles with a ruler and was given out to by the teacher. The picture was sent home to my parents with a note attached saying they weren't happy bunnies about the picture.
Needless to say the picture wasn't hung up and was never talked about again. I was 10 at the time. And you know something? I'd draw it again if went back in ages. I just think that sometimes you have to let children's minds wander, explore and use their imagination. There is too much conforming today and less individuality.
Or maybe not. Either way, I don't care and it is one of the pictures that I am most proud of even though I won prizes for other pics.
What is the right thing to do?
I was watching Sky News over the last few days and they were getting very heated over the arrival of a convicted paedophile from Australia. This fella, Raymond Horne, moved to Oz with his family when he was five. At an early age he was convicted of a minor offense but then 12 years ago he was found guilty of something like 14 offenses against children and sent to prison for 12 years.
He was released earlier and the Queensland government decided to deport him as he had never taken Australian Citizenship and therefore was still a British citizen.
Sky were of course building this all up and using every available person to report on it, showing his arrival in England and making it all dramatic. They were asking, in the tone that only Sky news readers can, if he should be allowed back. In all honestly, the man done his time and was being deported as is their right to do. The Oz authorities had noted that the man is high risk and should be monitored at all times. Really everything they done is within international law.
Fair play though in that Sky read out posts from both sides. One post noted that Britain is trying to send prisoners who are not British citizens back to their countries to serve their time and why can't other countries do the same. Another gave out about that fact that Oz had done this but they couldn't. But then Britain is trying to do it under Human Rights law.
Personally I think Oz was well within its rights. The person is not a citizen of theirs and so why should they live in fear with this fella? They have every reason to send Horne back and they did. Britain should just get on with it but then that is just my opinion. I would like to think that I would have the same opinion if the person was Irish and we try and sort it out but then all the kiddie fiddlers here seem to be men of the cloth !
He was released earlier and the Queensland government decided to deport him as he had never taken Australian Citizenship and therefore was still a British citizen.
Sky were of course building this all up and using every available person to report on it, showing his arrival in England and making it all dramatic. They were asking, in the tone that only Sky news readers can, if he should be allowed back. In all honestly, the man done his time and was being deported as is their right to do. The Oz authorities had noted that the man is high risk and should be monitored at all times. Really everything they done is within international law.
Fair play though in that Sky read out posts from both sides. One post noted that Britain is trying to send prisoners who are not British citizens back to their countries to serve their time and why can't other countries do the same. Another gave out about that fact that Oz had done this but they couldn't. But then Britain is trying to do it under Human Rights law.
Personally I think Oz was well within its rights. The person is not a citizen of theirs and so why should they live in fear with this fella? They have every reason to send Horne back and they did. Britain should just get on with it but then that is just my opinion. I would like to think that I would have the same opinion if the person was Irish and we try and sort it out but then all the kiddie fiddlers here seem to be men of the cloth !
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Easter Egg
With Easter around the corner and plenty of egg's on the go here's one for ya....
What Easter Egg do you think you most closely resemble and why??
What Easter Egg do you think you most closely resemble and why??
Monday, March 17, 2008
Ho, ho...ye found me pot of gold..
Happy Paddy's Day to all ye beer swilling, kebab eating bolloxes.
Ye are only bolloxes cause Im neither eating or drinking at the moment.
Bolloxes.
Ye are only bolloxes cause Im neither eating or drinking at the moment.
Bolloxes.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Mind yer bags...
Was getting off the plane in Dublin on Saturday and watched the dude who unloads the bags take no care whatsoever with them. When I saw him just drop the first few bags from chest level onto the van yoke I thought I would record what he was doing. I know these lads really couldn't care less about our stuff but still...
Puerto Rico - The week in review
So, not long back from a lovely relaxing week in Puerto Rico in the Canaries. Had an absolutely great time with my wife and have to say I would defo go back again.
We stayed in the Marina Suites Hotel in Puerto Rico which is just minutes from the town centre and close to everything.The hotel is very nice and the rooms were fab. Lovely big bedrooms, small kitchenette (although you can only use the oven/hob for max of 10 mins so you can't really cook there). The sitting room area is cool and nice and comfy. Decent size balcony and all rooms look over the pool and ocean or the marina area. I would stay there again.
The town itself if nice and chilled out but I hate the fact that you can't walk past a restaurant without being harassed. It doesn't really endear you to the place especially the way some grab your arm or essentially say "you, come in here". Some were a bit more pleasant and nice about it but still I always think that if you want to eat somewhere then you will go in. We tried a few places but Oscar's Restaurant was really, really nice. Prices are comparable with Ireland but it's worth it for the quality. We ate in one place (and I would suggest to avoid in the future) called Mama Pinu and ordered chicken burgers and chips. Chips were overdone and the burger was a Tesco Value processed chicken burger and was foul.
Other places were alright but in most places the menus were the same; lasagna & chips, steak & chips, pizza, pasta, and other meats...with chips. Quality on the whole wasn't too bad.
Near Puerto Rico is Puerto de Mogan and Amadores. Amadores has a fab beach, which is man made, and some alright little restaurants around. The beach is better than the one in Puerto Rico. Puerto de Mogan is a cool little place with markets. We went there on the Friday on the ferry (€10 return from Puerto Rico) and spent the guts of 4 hours wandering around which was cool. The markets themselves, while they have the inevitable tat, also have some really good stuff and at good prices. You can get pretty much anything and everything and when finished, head for the restaurants and have waffles, magnificent vanilla ice cream, strawberries and fresh cream.
Overall, I would say that it's a good location to go to. It's it Irish Bar's you want there are loads (Flanagans, Maggies, The Harp, The Shamrock...), loads of English Bar's (The Rovers Return, The Queen Vic,..), Norwegian Bar's and loads of typical holiday shops. Food is good and fresh. Lovely cocktail bar called Bacara, lovely bar called Charlie'z and Friends and lovely restaurants. It's only 35 mins from the airport and close to other cool little towns.
Now, time for sleep...
Friday, March 07, 2008
Only a week late but....
Well, unlike everyone else I'm a week late with my post about the Irish Blog Awards. I had a really long and tough work week and the thought of spending another hour at the old 'puter was just too much. However I had an absolute blast at the awards.
Damien, hats off again for an even bigger and better show than before. It was truly memorable (before the copious amounts of alcohol).
Alexia, lovely to meet ya and well done for saving the oul technologicallyable side of things.
Rick, great presenting again and too see such a pro shite themselves beforehand is great. I love backstage info.
For everyone else I met thanks for making it a great night and for those that are giving out about it and who won and about it being a back slapping happy event - don't come next year. The event is done arranged by Damien and assisted by volunteers. Money is raised for charity, no one gets paid for it and for that back slapping is well deserved.
Ryan, Annie, Johnny, Conor, Twenty, Sinead, Una, David, Marcus, Steven, Jonathan, Grannymar, Grandad, Niall and all the others than I had the priviledge to meet and chat to thanks for the making the night it was.
And next year ye better take the fluffy drink or else *ggrrrr*. I will update with links at some stage but now Im off to bed as holliers in the mornnnn...wooooo hooooo.
Updated with links
Damien, hats off again for an even bigger and better show than before. It was truly memorable (before the copious amounts of alcohol).
Alexia, lovely to meet ya and well done for saving the oul technologicallyable side of things.
Rick, great presenting again and too see such a pro shite themselves beforehand is great. I love backstage info.
For everyone else I met thanks for making it a great night and for those that are giving out about it and who won and about it being a back slapping happy event - don't come next year. The event is done arranged by Damien and assisted by volunteers. Money is raised for charity, no one gets paid for it and for that back slapping is well deserved.
Ryan, Annie, Johnny, Conor, Twenty, Sinead, Una, David, Marcus, Steven, Jonathan, Grannymar, Grandad, Niall and all the others than I had the priviledge to meet and chat to thanks for the making the night it was.
And next year ye better take the fluffy drink or else *ggrrrr*. I will update with links at some stage but now Im off to bed as holliers in the mornnnn...wooooo hooooo.
Updated with links
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Irish Blog Award Week
So this coming Saturday, March 1st, is the 3rd Annual Irish Blog Awards (well I think its the 3rd time). All details can be found on the Official Website but all places are gone. You can still turn up but you might not get a seat.
You should go anyway's as the following may or may not happen allegedly:
- Damien will receive a lifetime achievement award for services to blogging (sponsored by Young Fine Gael)
- Twenty to receive an award for use of the English language (sponsored by Young Christians of Ireland)
- Una to receive an award for hat wearing (sponsored by John Magnier)
- Tom to get an award for support of Irish rugby (sponsored & presented by Eddie O'Sullivan)
- Bock to get the best Limerick blog award (sponsoredby Dolores McNamara)
- Bernie to get the award for award giving & services to award giving (sponsored by Hollywood writers association)
- Bloggorah will get the award for best blog post July - Dec '07 (sponsored by Union of Irish Models)
And the special presenters award to Rick for presenting awards (sponsored by Ray Foley)
Hope everyone enjoys the night.
You should go anyway's as the following may or may not happen allegedly:
- Damien will receive a lifetime achievement award for services to blogging (sponsored by Young Fine Gael)
- Twenty to receive an award for use of the English language (sponsored by Young Christians of Ireland)
- Una to receive an award for hat wearing (sponsored by John Magnier)
- Tom to get an award for support of Irish rugby (sponsored & presented by Eddie O'Sullivan)
- Bock to get the best Limerick blog award (sponsoredby Dolores McNamara)
- Bernie to get the award for award giving & services to award giving (sponsored by Hollywood writers association)
- Bloggorah will get the award for best blog post July - Dec '07 (sponsored by Union of Irish Models)
And the special presenters award to Rick for presenting awards (sponsored by Ray Foley)
Hope everyone enjoys the night.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Where is Matt?
This is an old one but it's a good one. The music is top and if after watching this you don't want to travel and see the world there is something wrong with you...enjoy.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Scissor Sisters..
Has anyone else noticed that absolute absurdity (is that a word?) of the argument that one of the scissor sisters is putting forward for her appeal against the murder of the Kenyan lad?
Apparently getting a sentence for not only killing someone but cutting them up and throwing their dismembered body into a canal is not right if you will miss out on your children growing up, and, if you reported yourself to the police. It should mean even less of a sentence.
Maybe I'm just old fashioned but I would have thought that killing and cutting up some lad and getting caught should have some damming repercussions? Or maybe not.
Apparently getting a sentence for not only killing someone but cutting them up and throwing their dismembered body into a canal is not right if you will miss out on your children growing up, and, if you reported yourself to the police. It should mean even less of a sentence.
Maybe I'm just old fashioned but I would have thought that killing and cutting up some lad and getting caught should have some damming repercussions? Or maybe not.
One of those chicks is saying that as she gave herself into the Guards that should count for something. Also that with her being locked up inside for 15 years means her 3 children will be all grown up when she gets out. Having a parent, aunt and granny like they have, they could all be reunited quicker than we think or it may be the best thing to happen the children.
Personally, lock em up and throw away the key and good riddance to bad rubbish.
We really don't need people like this on our streets living it up. They chose to do what they did and they should live with it. I'm sure when she was cutting up the fella she was thinking "Oh no, wait. By doing this I will miss out on my children growing up. Let's stop this tomfoolery". Or maybe not.
The mad thing is, it happened after a day on the beer and after taking drugs. They were all at it and then the fella tried it on with one of the sisters (with so much gargle in him I wonder was it the chubby one? Jesus...) and this lead to getting his throat slashed with a stanley knife and then getting his head beaten in.
After the whole thing the mother (seen at the top here) went on the run and is believed to be in London for the last two years. She gave herself up and is in court.
I don't know. Am I being too tough or is that in this PC world of our's people get of to easily for crimes? Lawyers seem hell bent on proving themselves by either sending some to prison and proving it (even if the person aint guilty) or getting them off on a technicality. These two were given 15 years and they should serve them. Whats the old saying? Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. Please let them do the time. And get their kids raised properly. Or send them to those religious freaks in America.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Not long left for Kofi Annan.
An unknown terrorist group have targeted UN dude Kofi Annan and placed a bounty on his head.
See below for further details:
See below for further details:
Can Ireland get out of the Traps?
Today the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) actually, in my mind, made a very good decision. I think the appointment of Giovanni Trapattoni is an excellent decision.
This lad has an excellent CV with 10 league titles in 3 countries and he managed Juventus to their very first European Cup. A very tough feat. He managed some of Juve's top players including Liam Brady, Michel Platini and the Polish lad who was excellent in the 80's. He has led clubs to trophies wherever he has been and the most important thing is he knows how to win.
Some people have been dishing his international record with Italy. It really wasn't that bad. He was done in the 2002 World Cup by some shocking referring. He was unlucky not to qualify from the group in the 2004 Euro's. They were the only team never to qualify with 5 points.
Some say he plays very negative football but so what if we are winning. You have to ask yourself what you would prefer - a 1-0 win away to Cyprus or the 5-2 loss we had? You mightn't get goals in games but he can get results.
We also have to look at the overall picture and the players we have. Personally, I think we have a very weak squad and may struggle to qualify for the World Cup. I think we need to aim for the tournament after that. The first 11 is decent but still weak.
Stephen Kelly is good for the Premiership but he is not good enough for the Irish team. Only Given, Dunne, McGeady, Duff, Ireland and Keane show enough for me to think they are international quality. We have others who are good enough to fill positions like Carsley and Hunt. Kevin Doyle has potential but needs to get a bigger club to prove it. Other than that there are few I can think of that are good enough to drive us through.
More than likely we will get a surprise result like we usually do. Maybe beat Italy at home but I can't see us qualifying to be honest. But in this age of instant results or nothing it won't be enough for the "fans" who will probably boo at any bad performance and we will lose this man. We need more foresight and plan for the future. We have some very good youngsters coming through and we need to prepare for that. We also need to start showing more organisation and be better tactically and the results will follow. But we need time.
We are not the force and nowhere near the force we were under Jack Charlton. Then we had Bonner, McCarthy and Morris from Celtic. Whelan, Houghton and Aldridge from Liverpool. McGrath, Moran and Stapleton from Manure. Brady from Juventus. Now we have a few lads from Reading, a Manure 'utility' player and players from the old 2nd Division in England. Not the same and I wish people would stop comparing.
So I back this decision. Yes it took time but they got it right. They got a good man. And to prepare for the Italy match enjoy this....
NTL
Really, need I say more than the title? So many people for so long have been giving out crap loads about NTL and their customer service and so I will add my little tuppence worth me thinks.
It all started last Friday when I arrived home from work at 7.40pm to find that their was nothing happening on the telly. The box at the bottom of the screen which tells you what is on now and what will be on next were frozen at 4pm. This type of crap has happened before and usually switching of the decoder and putting it back on again usually works. This time it asked for an activation Pin which the engineer didn't leave.
Being late and knowing that NTL close at 8pm I called straight away.
At 7.56pm the call gets answered. I gave my name, address and telephone number, as we haven't received out customer number yet, and they verified me. The rest of the conversation went something like this:
"Yes, there is a problem in the Raheny area at the moment. We expect the engineer to be out in the next hour to fix this."
"OK. But can I have the activation pin please so I can check it?"
"I'm sorry, the department that deals in those pins is closed at the moment so we cannot help."
"OK, but when the TV comes back will that message be removed?"
"It might be."
"It might or it will?"
"It may be removed but if not then the other department are open at 9am and they can help. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"No thanks. Bye"
The TV did not come back that night.
The next morning at about 12pm I decided to check the TV again. The message was still displayed and no sign of it moving. Flucker. So I called NTL again and I must stress that I went through the exact same options as the night before.
"Hi. There was a problem in the Raheny area last night and our picture is still not back. Is the fault still happening?"
"Hang on till I check for you. Nope, it should be resolved."
"Ok, can I get the activation code please for the TV?"
"Yes, one second please. The codes for Dublin are XXX, XXX and XXX. Can you try those please?"
Now none of the codes worked and I went through the reboot process with her (amazing how she had the codes and a collegaue last night couldn't get them?? Another department me hole). None of the codes worked. She advised she would send a signal down the line that might take 15 minutes and to try then. However, she would book and engineer visit just in case to ensure a speedy recovery. This was Saturday morning at 12.20pm. The first available engineer was Wedneday morning. Yup, Wednesday.
What she stated next really startled me to be honest. She told me that 9 times out of 10 when an engineer goes to fix a fault like the previous evening's it usually results in some people losing their reception and NTL need to revisit the location and fix the fault again. Yup, that's what she told me. Can you believe that? Its unreal. Their first time fix rate is shite. Really, really shite.
Anywho TV came back last night at 8.30pm some 4 days after it went down. I was assured that if we noted how long we were without the service we would be refunded in the bill but lets wait and see.
To be honest if there was any other way of getting TV without using NTL or Chorus I would but fucking management companies wont allow dishes to be installed unless it's one of those shared ones. I do wonder what they would do if you installed one on your balcony??
It all started last Friday when I arrived home from work at 7.40pm to find that their was nothing happening on the telly. The box at the bottom of the screen which tells you what is on now and what will be on next were frozen at 4pm. This type of crap has happened before and usually switching of the decoder and putting it back on again usually works. This time it asked for an activation Pin which the engineer didn't leave.
Being late and knowing that NTL close at 8pm I called straight away.
At 7.56pm the call gets answered. I gave my name, address and telephone number, as we haven't received out customer number yet, and they verified me. The rest of the conversation went something like this:
"Yes, there is a problem in the Raheny area at the moment. We expect the engineer to be out in the next hour to fix this."
"OK. But can I have the activation pin please so I can check it?"
"I'm sorry, the department that deals in those pins is closed at the moment so we cannot help."
"OK, but when the TV comes back will that message be removed?"
"It might be."
"It might or it will?"
"It may be removed but if not then the other department are open at 9am and they can help. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"No thanks. Bye"
The TV did not come back that night.
The next morning at about 12pm I decided to check the TV again. The message was still displayed and no sign of it moving. Flucker. So I called NTL again and I must stress that I went through the exact same options as the night before.
"Hi. There was a problem in the Raheny area last night and our picture is still not back. Is the fault still happening?"
"Hang on till I check for you. Nope, it should be resolved."
"Ok, can I get the activation code please for the TV?"
"Yes, one second please. The codes for Dublin are XXX, XXX and XXX. Can you try those please?"
Now none of the codes worked and I went through the reboot process with her (amazing how she had the codes and a collegaue last night couldn't get them?? Another department me hole). None of the codes worked. She advised she would send a signal down the line that might take 15 minutes and to try then. However, she would book and engineer visit just in case to ensure a speedy recovery. This was Saturday morning at 12.20pm. The first available engineer was Wedneday morning. Yup, Wednesday.
What she stated next really startled me to be honest. She told me that 9 times out of 10 when an engineer goes to fix a fault like the previous evening's it usually results in some people losing their reception and NTL need to revisit the location and fix the fault again. Yup, that's what she told me. Can you believe that? Its unreal. Their first time fix rate is shite. Really, really shite.
Anywho TV came back last night at 8.30pm some 4 days after it went down. I was assured that if we noted how long we were without the service we would be refunded in the bill but lets wait and see.
To be honest if there was any other way of getting TV without using NTL or Chorus I would but fucking management companies wont allow dishes to be installed unless it's one of those shared ones. I do wonder what they would do if you installed one on your balcony??
You don't love me, you really don't love me..
So, unlike Twenty, Una and Rick I didn't make the shortlist in any category for this years Irish Blog Awards.
However, I will still be there with bells and whistles on. Therefore you should be able to both hear and see me and know who your buying pints for.
If you fancy going you need to register on the website and places are going fast.....
However, I will still be there with bells and whistles on. Therefore you should be able to both hear and see me and know who your buying pints for.
If you fancy going you need to register on the website and places are going fast.....
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Lost souls at Pearse Street dart station
I love this.
In Pearse St. station there is one of those revolving advertising boards. You know the ones where it has three ad's running on the same board that revolve around in strips. The thing about this one is two of the ad's that are after each other. These is a religious one and an ad for James Blunt's latest album.
What's the connection you say? Well here it is.
The first ad has a religious conontation on it saying:
"The Lord Jesus said:
Unless you repent you too will perish"
The second ad had James Blunt's album 'All the lost souls'. Was this before or after they listened to it?
Reckon this was lost of those who put up the ad's ?
In Pearse St. station there is one of those revolving advertising boards. You know the ones where it has three ad's running on the same board that revolve around in strips. The thing about this one is two of the ad's that are after each other. These is a religious one and an ad for James Blunt's latest album.
What's the connection you say? Well here it is.
The first ad has a religious conontation on it saying:
"The Lord Jesus said:
Unless you repent you too will perish"
The second ad had James Blunt's album 'All the lost souls'. Was this before or after they listened to it?
Reckon this was lost of those who put up the ad's ?
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Are stats always accurate? What do they really mean?
I get the dart to work each day. Today while departing the train I noticed a sign beside the door stating as follows (not word for work obviously):
During the 3rd quarter of 2007 99% of darts arrived on time and 96% of darts went to schedule. Now, is that 99% of the 96% or is there something amiss?
Also, went they say arrived on time is that arrived at the FINAL station on time or at all stations? The reason I ask this, is that each morning the dart is a different time. I've caught darts scheduled at 11:14 at 11:14, 11:15, 11:17 and 11:19. But it got to Bray on time which is the main thing. The 18:16 train left today at 18:18. See the thing is I get trains at middle stations in Raheny and Sydney Parade. Maybe people want the dart to arrive into Bray, Greystones, Malahide and Howth on time but couldn't care less about the middle stations. In my experience they are rarely bang on time so I really would love Irish Rail to explain their stats.
I know the German's wouldn't put up with this. It acutally reminds me of a story my sister told me about when she lived in Germany. She was at the bus stop outside Karlsruhe and was used to Irish traffic and buses (this is mid 90's as well). On the bus stop it states the time the bus will arrive at each bus stop (unlike Dublin where it tells you what time the bus leaves but nothing else). This is amazing. Anyhow, the bus was 3 minutes later than advertised. A women in her 50's boarded the bus and gave out to the driver for being late and he apologised (can't imagine Dublin bus drivers doing that).
He tried to explain that the road works held up the bus and still admitted he should have been on time. Amazing. Yet look at the crap we put up with in Ireland.
Anyone else notice this??
Oh, and I still blame unions ;)
During the 3rd quarter of 2007 99% of darts arrived on time and 96% of darts went to schedule. Now, is that 99% of the 96% or is there something amiss?
Also, went they say arrived on time is that arrived at the FINAL station on time or at all stations? The reason I ask this, is that each morning the dart is a different time. I've caught darts scheduled at 11:14 at 11:14, 11:15, 11:17 and 11:19. But it got to Bray on time which is the main thing. The 18:16 train left today at 18:18. See the thing is I get trains at middle stations in Raheny and Sydney Parade. Maybe people want the dart to arrive into Bray, Greystones, Malahide and Howth on time but couldn't care less about the middle stations. In my experience they are rarely bang on time so I really would love Irish Rail to explain their stats.
I know the German's wouldn't put up with this. It acutally reminds me of a story my sister told me about when she lived in Germany. She was at the bus stop outside Karlsruhe and was used to Irish traffic and buses (this is mid 90's as well). On the bus stop it states the time the bus will arrive at each bus stop (unlike Dublin where it tells you what time the bus leaves but nothing else). This is amazing. Anyhow, the bus was 3 minutes later than advertised. A women in her 50's boarded the bus and gave out to the driver for being late and he apologised (can't imagine Dublin bus drivers doing that).
He tried to explain that the road works held up the bus and still admitted he should have been on time. Amazing. Yet look at the crap we put up with in Ireland.
Anyone else notice this??
Oh, and I still blame unions ;)
Friday, February 01, 2008
Are smokers the quickest people on the planet?
You may have watched the Men's 100m final in the Olympics. These lads are fast.
You may have seen Fernando Torres, Michael Owen or Ronaldo in action and thought "my, these lads could deliver my domino pizza in under the promised 30 mins given the chance".
But is there anyone in the world faster than a smoker? It never ceases to amaze me how quick these people spark up once they are off a train or bus, outside of work, or outta their car. It is stunning.
Within seconds of getting of the dart in the morning and before we have left the platform there is a sudden haze. It truly is stunning how quick it happens. Don't believe me? Just have a look next time.
You may have seen Fernando Torres, Michael Owen or Ronaldo in action and thought "my, these lads could deliver my domino pizza in under the promised 30 mins given the chance".
But is there anyone in the world faster than a smoker? It never ceases to amaze me how quick these people spark up once they are off a train or bus, outside of work, or outta their car. It is stunning.
Within seconds of getting of the dart in the morning and before we have left the platform there is a sudden haze. It truly is stunning how quick it happens. Don't believe me? Just have a look next time.
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