So What Next?

I do a yearlyish savings thing. I have a money box that can only be opened with a tin opener. In the box I put £1 and £2 coins. What I do is,  £1 coin a day and when I get £2 coins in change they go in the box-no matter how many I get-they go in.Be it one or four-they go in the box. It usually takes just over a year to fill it. So it amuses me to feel the weight of the coins increase. The money is used solely to treat my self to stuff-just I don’t need-just want. New toys I suppose. Bad thing is, as I was getting near the end I got a bit obsessive, I decided to put in any pound coins I had daily, and I was breaking paper money just to get £1 coins to put into the sealed box. The box was opened last week. My total was £630 (that’s about  $1012) Now, not much more than that could get me a good long weekend far away in January-which gives me time to save more. Big question now  is what to treat myself too? I’ve a few ideas:-the new photoshop elements 11,a kindle,a personal radio, a weekend in Galway,Dublin,London; a photography course where I learn camera raw properly , maybe get some sort of language lessons? Any ideas? I keep talking myself out of a trip to America-I almost had one planned this year-but talked myself out of it.

That’s one of the problems of getting older-you keep convincing yourself that you don’t really need anything-or want sometimes. Getting older is a bit of a rip off. I remember as a child I thought it would be great being able to drive-you get in the car at night and drive for miles and miles until it’s daylight. With the cost of petrol now-now a good idea. In fact I hate driving. If I did not need to drive,I would not have a car.  The whole staying up late thing is not as good as the child me thought-I now know the main reason my parents hounded us off to so early was because after a day’s work and looking after us THEY were shattered-and they needed time to relax. And I’m not even a parent.

So the biggish question is what do I do with my vast collection of coins-well I am gradually putting them into a savings account and when it’s all in the building society account I will decide then what to do with it? Any ideas folks? I am tempted to use the £30 bit on £10 scratch cards just to be extravagant-but then I am too sensible to do that.AND Elements 11? Do I REALLY need it-elements 9 is still pretty good, but 11 has got the bit for movies and my new camera can do movies-so it looks like I’ll be getting E 11.

I’ve noticed I have a new follower/reader here-feel free to make comments and/or give me ideas on what to spend on.And it’s GREAT to see you there!

The rambles are more local now-but still great craic. It’s my turn to lead a walk this weekend. I know where the walk starts, but after that I’ll just make it up as I go along.Part of route depends on weather too.Pictures are from Sunday’s walk. Incidentally halfway across the misty moor I broke into song and sang “Memories” Actually the word memories is all I sung as that’s all I know from that tune-no doubt I got strange looks from my group. I made up for it by telling them the story of when Idi Amin was training his army he made them do the goose step. When asked why, he said “What’s good for u geese is good for Uganda .” And with that I’ll go-still want suggestions on what to treat myself to.

a wandering whatever

I’ve been labelled a globe trotter this year. I have not really gone that far but I have been moving about a bit-and I’m hopefully not done yet. If somebody gives me a big enough kick up the proverbially derry aire I could be pushed into going abroad in November or January. But we’ll see.

I’ve kind of threatened a summary of my travels….so far. I’ve already done the Irish Cycling Safari one where I met the lovely Carolyn. What’s happened since?

The Glover Challenge.

This was a particularly tough walk.Took us 12 hours to do something like 14 miles over a few mountains in Donegal.Weather conditions were very chanrable.We met nobody, and in a way this was great-the whole solitude thing. I managed to get separated from group for a while and this was scary, the whole alone in the wilderness thing. Despite it’s toughness and enjoying it emensly this is something I don’t think I’ll do again-as a complete walk.Parts of it most definitely-but all of in one go….no.

Lessons leaned here-have a spare glasses case in rucksack-when it is misty rain-glasses are a hinderance-much better clear out of focus, than can’t see a bloomin’ thing. Oh! And when I got separated, I luckily still had a phone signal-a whistle is much better-got one now.

My next trip was a cycling trip in Scotland. This has been planned for a few years and this year it finally got off the ground-despite a kind of falling out. This was with the friend who got me into the cycling thing, and nurtured my love for the outdoors and my general fitness level. During the trip something’s he said made me realise how much he valued our friendship, kind of surprised me. He actually apologised for something that happened some 7 or 8 years ago. I told him that, that was water under the bridge and I had forgotten about it-that’s what friendship was all about. We had great weather on this trip saw some scenery I can only describe as Nirvana.Racey looking landlady in our B&B and a few really challenging climbs. The day we left this haven countryside we had rain of somewhat Biblical proportions, roads were flooded-there was no way we could have cycled in that weather-so, something was most definitely out to make sure we had a good time.

Ben Nevis had us leaving home for the ferry at the unwelcoming time of 4:30 am. The hotel we stayed in had its own leisure centre –so I went prepared. Despite being very comfortable the hotel’s food portions were miniscule. The climb up The Ben (I can call it that now) was relatively easy.Well after the glover , it had to be. What I didn’t like was the crowds of people coming up AND down.We started our walk at 8:30 am, so I don’t know what time the others started. It was just a track up and down.The summit was very misty with quite a few people doing Usain Bolt poses-not me.

Took me about 3 ½ hours to get to the top-actually did not need the lunch that I brought with me. On the way home we were in no mad rush so we stopped to get a few scenic shots and views before getting to the ferry. 

 

So what next? We asked ourselves –we done the highest in England,Scotland, Ireland and Wales-to be honest I don’t care –as long as the craic is good, the air is fresh and there’s not hordes of people blocking the way.

No idea what I’m up to in November/January.But want to get away somewhere. Need a new passport though-and that’ll mean having to shave and wash properly for the photos.

Things in general for me are pretty crap at the moment, but when I summarise my blessings –after the obvious first 3 –I can ride a bike, I can read a book and I can pee standing up. What I have done so far this year makes me smile-the little things that happened on these trips make me laugh-even though nobody but those on the trips will get the joke, like the waitress in the hotel on the Ben Nevis trip who scolded us for taking extra rolls for our soup-without asking; or the waitress in the restaurant on the Scottish cycling trip who cleared our table by instalments-I fit looked like we had finished she was down lifting the plates, as soon as the utensils had left our hands.

Any way I KNOW what I have to do to get my life in some sort of order again it’s just taking that leap of faith or whatever terminology is used.

Incidentally the mad Donegal woman now in Dublin I met last year emailed me to tell me she is considering moving back to Donegal.AND she has been sending texts the odd time-her humour is as almost as warped as mine –or is it the other way round Having a friend like her around could keep my spirits up. Oh and Carolyn keeps in touch too-her stories of her travels make me smile too. A return rubber band fight in 2013 is possible

 

clare burren and carolyn 2012

Holiday 2012. I am back with Irish Cycling Safaris. I’ve been holidaying with this group since 2000. Some years I have done doubles with them-so obviously I like them.

And legend has it that friends of Ernest Hemingway bet him that he couldn’t write complete story in six words.To cut a long story short-he did, and believed this was his best work . What did he write?..”For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn.” Why am I telling you this? I have no idea. Think Hemingway would love Twitter. F Scott Fitzgerald, on the other hand would love Facebook. Wished I could do this blog in six words-“Cycling Holiday.Met Carolyn.Magic Time”

Right where was I? Oh yeah-are you sitting comfortably?

This year the holiday was the Clare/Burren one-oddly enough I have met some of my favourite people on this one, each time.This is my third time doing this particular one:-great pubs,great music,great pubs,great scenery and great pubs.

It starts in Ennis.There was a big group, 21 I think it was. After dinner the whole bonding thing quickly started.There were 3 others there I met last year and it was a kind of planned reunion. An American woman called Carolyn was singing at the end of the dinner table-with a rather large songbook.

The next day our destination was a place called Spanish Point-which was basically a beach. There was a village near to it called Milltown Malbay-which is famous for being the village in Ireland with the most pubs per head.

Our lunch spot was in a little village called Creegh in a pub, that did not have a license for soup. YEAH! Outside there was a sign saying “sandwiches, tea and coffee” The coffee was instant as I saw the barmaid sending a child out to the shop to get another jar-as the rush was on!

The sandwiches were:- cheese, ham, cheese and ham, and ham, cheese and onion. Oh! The special that day was ham and cheese. The craic in pub that night was great. The American woman Carolyn responded great to two of my one-liners, so I decided to home in on her for my jokes, and our little drinking group got a new member-Christina. One member of the group kept calling her Chrisitne and it was amusing getting him to remember her name .I suggested that we call her Martha,saying at least we would have the last letter right. I then decided that the next day we should all call her Martha to confuse everyone else.

Next day weather was not great and that was much the way it would remain for the rest of the week. The next day the target was Doolin-which is famous for the trad music. We had lunch at a lovely seaside town called Lanhich. My room mate and I decided that we would give the Cliffs of Moher (which are used for the Cliffs of Insanity in the movie “The Princess Bride”) a miss as we saw them before and wanted to do a boat trip round them instead-but the weather got bleaker,we gave the cliffs a quick look and got to Doolin to find out that the ferry was cancelled AND we got to the b&b before the guide-so we could not change.Oh! in lunch place at Lahinch I was explaining to rest of table how bill was sorted and halfway through I realised I was talking too fast for them, so i stopped-apologized and restarted. Night in pub was eventful. The dinner pub was packed and food orders had got a little out of control, and people who came in after us were getting served before us and orders that had no owners were appearing. There was a great group playing and despite the crowd the talented Carolyn was up jigging, must admit I was scared I was going to be kicked by her. Joerg and I decided to go to another pub-think a 3^rd person came too-but this pub was dead compared to the first one and one of the items on their menu was spelled wrongly (I think-must check it out).

Next day the weather was, well worse-and this was the  day that we caught our first glance of the magnificent Burren. But when you see the pictures-when I get them sorted, you’ll see how bleak it was.Lunch was in the famous Lisdonvarna,had a pretty good seafood chowder there. Joerg and I were pretty keen to get to hotel to get showered and have a couple of Irish Coffees.

Craic in pub that night was great. I got singer to do “Teenage Kicks” Carolyn was in her element here and was dancing all night-she even did a costume change and got the singer to do a Spanish type song and she was up there,fan in hand,rose between her teeth giving it all she had.And good it was too.

Next day was rest day and some of us booked a guided tour over the Burren.The guide was a local person, and halfway through the walk one of the members of my group said that it was only because they were getting use to my talking could they understand some of what he was saying. I told them they were lucky we were not in Cork as they can do a full sentence as one syllable. One of the American’s in our group approached a woman in the other group and said to her that she looked like the woman who played the barmaid in cheers and she said that, that was because she WAS the woman who played the barmaid in Cheers-no kidding the very same Rhea Perlman-unfortunately I did not get a photo or a chance to talk with her. Walk was great, but sudden heavy shower we all got soaked, I had to get my trousers dried out in drier in hotel.Carolyn and I had planned to go up to see the Ailwee Caves but we were recovering from walk-and we lost contact- so we/I  decided to give it a miss. Pity as I was hoping the two of us could get lost in the cave. Great night in pub-packed.Carolyn sung and danced.

Next day weather was a bit better. Billy the guide took us to a round fort and gave a most interesting and informative story about it. Then we saw the Poulnabrone Dolmen-thankfully not that many people about, so got some good photos.

THEN on route was the Burren Perfumery-the smell here was overwhelming, but despite that, the grounds outside were most relaxing.It’ll come as no surprise that the men in group could only withstand 5 seconds of the aroma inside the perfumery.We were staying in a very picturesque village called Kinvara-the owner of the place we were having dinner was not the most socialable and was a bit annoyed when I asked for the full menu as opposed to the abridged version on our table. That night due to a little chaos the group got split up –and I managed to withhold Carolyn from singing and dancing –but she did have an elastic band war in pub- and despite what she says-I won.

Last day weather was great.Three of us got a bit diverted-well Christina the Swede said she was good at map reading and knew where she was going-and Richard and I did not want to argue-turned out the route we took was wrong,but when guide came back to find us, told us our new route was better than the official one. We passed the Father Ted house that day. The craic on the last night was great. In pub Carolyn sung and danced and a local girl did a great version of “Me and Brownie Magee” and “Caladonia”.

I had stayed on a extra day in Ennis-and coincidentally so did Carolyn-she asked me if she could spend the day with me as I was going out to Bunratty to see the castle and folk park. We had a great time together and the day just flew in.That night we could not be bothered “dining” so we just got a sandwhich and a bottle of water from Dunnes and sat on a park bench and had a great chat-about life and  things. We looked for a pub with music-found  a fairly quiet one –and Carolyn sung and danced-unfortunately she did not bring her dancing shoes. We met a Thai guy from USA who said that he was in Ireland checking out his Irish roots-and he sung and danced with Carolyn. I couldn’t as I had a sore leg. OH! apparently his Mother is Irish.

I walked her to her Hostel-then she walked me to my hotel and walked back to hosel on her own (ha ha only joking).

Next day we spent a couple of hours walking round town before making our way to bus station-Carolyn had to walk on almost every wall she saw-did not fall in river-drat! At bus station we had an elastic band fight, and deservedly got strange looks from other people in the general area.And I won again.

THEN I was off to Galway –caught the start of the Arts festival-in heavy rain I watched a  spectacular parade-my little compact camera drowned-but survived, I think.Missed Carolyn during Parade as she would have loved it.

Tuesday headed back home-great holiday! And Carolyn got up and sung and danced.

For the record this was a really good group-or I say strange? as they got most of my humour. Questons? Fire them at me. And Caroyln sung and danced.

hooray it's a holly holly day

You’know I know it’s a fact of life that we all get old. But it’s a little disheartening when you realise that the rock idols,even sex symbols of your youth are now pensioners. Paul Mc McCartney and Paul Simon being 70, I can handle that-but Patti Smith 65? I bought the new PIL cd –and great stuff it is too.There was a dvd of the band in concert along with the cd. When John Lydon came on stage he had a pedestal, with the set list and lyrics on it. After he drawled a hello to the crowd he puts on his reading glasses which were hanging round his neck.Now if he had come on stage actually wearing the glasses, I could have coped with that. But the way he put on the glasses reminded me of a grandparent putting on his/her glasses to read a birthday card received from a precocious grandchild. And I think I read today that Harrison Ford is also 70. Don’t think I can watch “The Empire Strikes Back” in the same way again now.Patrick Stewart is 72 I’ve only known him from Star Trek-so THAT I can handle.

Off on holiday tomorrow-cycling in the Burren-hopefully I’ll get a chance to do some hiking there as well-so will have to be careful when I start my packing tonight.And wondering what I can chance leaving behind. I’ll be doing my traditional scratch card buying game as well. Might cheat a bit this year and start the run when I get off bus in Galway. And as always I’ll promise myself something different next year-but I never do. There are 3 people (at least) that I met last year.And I am wondering how many others I may have met before. Any how a good time will be had by all.Everyone is saying to me that they hope the weather is good. To be honest I don’t care, I have noticed that the craic at dinner/pub at night seems to be better after a very wet day.And anyhow booking a holiday in Ireland is easy-but am saving for something special next year DV

The Neurofibromatosis thing that I have seems to be getting a bit of publicity on tv recently.The people that have been on have a much more advanced condition than I have, so I have been counting my blessings and realise I am so lucky. If I were to have children the chances of me passing this on is 2 to 1. So maybe my bad luck in the love/romance thing is actually a good thing.Because if I were to pass this on to a child and it turned out as bad as the 2 people I saw on tv, then I could never forgive myself.

So it’s the holiday this week.Hope the craic is as good as it was last year.Going to visit Galway for 2 days after the holiday is over.

Some of my favourite blogs have been absent from the site for a while-but 2 of them are back. And I’ve discovered a new one, about a 21 year old girl who has had a stroke. I WAS following one called “366 acts of kindness” –but stopped that as it was excruciatingly twee. It was actually funny in a way-but groannnn.

Take care folks-AND too lazy to spell check and all that.

And now the end is near

This may be my swansong-more later.

So there was a course at work-in Belfast. I was all set to take the bus there-but a woman work-colleague asked me if I wanted to travel with her in her car. I said yes.

Big mistake-it was a nightmare trip. She was about 5 minutes late in picking me up.

Nothing wrong there, you and I say. She blamed being stuck behind three big lorries.

Now, her aim now was to make up for lost time- and it was a foot to the floorboards drive. I never knew such a small car could go so fast,shake so much and stay in one piece.

When we got to Belfast,she told me that someone told her a shorter route to the car park and she reaches over to my side of the dashboard for the google map/directions that she printed out the previous day. So she is reading the map,and fervently sucking on some fake cigarette nicotine device. She did 3 emergency stops in about a mile of travelling through the late rush hour traffic. My life flashed in front of me three times-2 of which I did not recognise (in one I was a Roman soldier and in another I was a peasant girl churning milk looking at an army of Vikings running towards the house) which proves there is such a thing as reincarnation. When we got to the building where the course was I apologised for being late as it took me 10 minutes to get my fingers out of her dashboard. When the course was over I asked the tutor if he knew if there was a Holy Shop near by as I wanted to buy a set of titanium rosary beads for the journey home. She was the fastest thing on two wheels-except turning at a junction,when she was the fastest on two wheels.

When we were leaving the car-park she told me she was going back her normal route. Good I thought, she knows where she is going, and she is not in a hurry- so it’ll be less stressful ……no way we were only ½ a mile out of the car park and it was another sudden slam on the brakes. I was wondering why I was the only person travelling with her that morning-now I know why. But the strange thing is-at the course when I was describing my trip over-everybody (icluding her was laughing) And the next day at work she encouraged me to go through the whole sordid tale again to the ones who weren’t there.

After a lot of thought I have decided to get the internet disconnected at home.

I think it may be the reason why I am so flaming miserable lately. For the life of me there is very little I want to look at on it. Order books,stuff via Amazon or someother place,book a holiday,and read the very odd email. Apart from that I can very easily live without it. My current contract ends on end of July. And unless somebody can convince me to stay connected I am definitely pulling the plug-and contacting my provider (? Is that right) and giving them a months notice.To be honest for the value of one months payment I might disconnect a month early and pay for the final month without having it. The Facebook thing too is getting on my nerves. I am fed up reading that somebody is sitting in a restaurant,pub,building somewhere. Maybe I’m jealous that so many people are having more fun than me. The fee I am paying is not that much to be honest-but this is something I really do think I can manage without.

I access to some internet at work-so too can I  send/get emails,order stuff on Amazon and book a holiday. I can also get free access at library too.  I’m not fishing here-but convince me why I need the internet at home. I’m also a bit peeved that almost everything is on facebook now.My favourite independent record shop now has a follow us on facebook thing stuck on its window.My rambling club now has a page on facebook-why pay for a website and flickr account when you can do it for free on facebook? The big thing now is those silver-surfer things encouraging the elderly to use the internet.This is why I think so many small and sometimes big shops are closing-things are so much cheaper shopping on line. Like I said-it’ll take a lot to convince me to stay on this thing.

So this could be my final blog too.

I have a theory-that I won’t go into as somebody might take the wrong way and worry about me doing something stupid. And there is no chance of that.I also think that if it was not for digital photography I would have no need for a laptop/computer either.

On a brighter note I am hoping to do the beaches cycle on Sunday and discuss a touring calendar for this year. And maybe get a pint along the way.

Sorry for the rant-I’m in that sort of a mood at the minute.Maybe this is my midlife crisis…

top albums-i think

The other week in little newsagents a magazine caught my eye. No it wasn’t “Sheep from Eastern countries” or FHMs top 100 sexy women. Incidentally that one is only just out-and checking it on a website I realised I did not know most of them-this magazine’s readership is white-van drivers, so probably explains the list.

Anyway the magazine was “Rollin Stone- The Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” I had the proverbial money to burn so I got it. Now Rolling Stone does this sort of thing quite often. And I am sure I have seen this one no more than 5 years ago at least-and I’m sure I remember seeing this for the first time some 20 or 30 years ago. I think this particular list comprised of 2 separate polls- one from 2003-the greatest albums of all time and one from 2009 –the greatest albums of the 2000s. It was a panel of 271 artists,journalists,producers and industry executives-and this shows on the list. And most of them were there because they felt obliged to vote for them.

I am almost sure the top 10 is almost the same as the 1^st one I saw way back when-I think I bought it back then,and despite a frantic search I discovered I no longer have it.Also being Rolling Stone magazine I felt it was very American orientated-wonder what it would be like if Q or NME or The Word did something similar.

Of the 500 I currently have 55 –there is one that I have all the tracks bar one as the band only made 2 albums (I think) and the greatest hits covers most of the 2 albums. So I’ll say 54. I used to have another 35 and they disappeared for various reasons down the years. Now here is the top 10

1 Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”   The Beatles

2 “Pet Sounds”- The Beach Boys

3  “Revolver”- The Beatles

4 “Highway 61 Revisited”-Bob Dylan

5 “Rubber Soul”-The Beatles

6  “What’s Going On”-Marvin Gaye

7 “Exile on Main Street”-Roliing Stones

8 “London Calling” The Clash

9 “Blonde on Blonde” –Bob Dylan

10 “The White Album”-The Beatles

See what I mean? -well the top 5 any way.

Now here’s  MY all time top 10-well for this week any way. Simply because I like them. After I put year released and where it is on the top 500-not in any strict order.

1 “Live and Dangerous”-Thin Lizzy (1978)-nowhere. Despite not being as live as we were lead to believe this is still a super album

2 “Steve McQueen”-Prefab Sprout (1981)-nowhere. This was a great band. With their albums it took 2 or 3 listenings to get into it-and after that you discovered that you could not live without it.

3 “London Calling” –The Clash (1980) –number 8 . Too good to be classed as punk-this is  a great double album.I would like this album to be buried with me.

4 “The Undertones”-The Undertones (1978) –nowhere.Derry’s finest.Whist the Belfast band Stiff Little Fingers were singing about the troubles, this band was singing about things we really cared about girls,cousins and mars bars. But what in the name of all that is holy and Cody Jarret’s mother-what is wrong with this crowd?

5 “Hank William’s 40 Greatest Hits”- Hank Williams (1978) number  94 Hank was always ready with a song to match my mood-he could do the sound track to my life story.

6 “Stupidity”-Dr Feelgood (1976)-nowhere-a great R&B band from Canvy Island-now this one IS live and still sounds great.The bass and intro to Roxette is amazing.

7 “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon”-Paul Simon (1972)-nowhere-great song writing

8 “Moondance”-Van Morrison (1970)- number 66-everyone says Astral Weeks is his best –but I think this is much better.

9 “The Photos”-The Photos (1980) nowhere-very sexy voice of Wendy Wu. The band only made 2 albums.The second one was “lost” for a number of years and was only released last year.Good but nowhere near as good as this one.Bit of a Blondie sound.

Loved the bit were the strings kicked in on the single “Now that you tell me that we’re through.”

10”Blue Lights On The Runway”-Bell X 1 (2009) nowhere. Great Irish band from Dublin/Kildare. Great song writing here.

And that’s it-no doubt if I do this in other 5 years it could be different-bar one or two.

Thanks for reading-now –what is YOUR top 3? Could you have guessed mine?

roevalleyramblers go to lenanne

On Friday April 27^th a motley crew of five headed down to Lenanne,near Galway. Well to be honest between Westport and Clifden. Rather than hire a car James Agnew kindly offered to use his car-so a BIG thank you to James. On the way down Anthony pointed out that his stick was in his own car,and his wife was on the way back from Derry so we had to watch out for his car to flag her down-it worked.

We were staying in the same hotel as last year-so we knew to expect good service and a good deal. We had glorious weather all the way down-we had our lunch break just outside Sligo (I think)  off the road. There was a local man working on a vegetable plot-well at least we thought it was a vegetable plot-he could have been burying things/stuff for all we knew. He came over to chat to us and our Polish member Klaudius  said that he could not understand a word that he was saying.

My horoscope that morning said that a decision to travel would prove fortuitous and that I should buy a lottery ticket in the country I was going to. So when I got down there I got 2 scratch cards and a 2 lucky dips in that nights lottery.

Due to the glorious weather on the way down we got glorious views of the stunningly beautiful Delphi Valley and Ashleigh Falls. I envy people who see this for the first time.I know what is coming but the first time you see it your mouth drops open in amazement. We got to the hotel in time for a round of drinks and the last ordering time for dinner.

The next morning the weather was just as great as the previous day. Our goal was the Glencoughen Horseshoe –or the 12 pins. I have seen these in the distance as I cycled from Lenanne to Clifden a few times-and now I was for climbing them. The drive  there also had stunning scenery and was a great appetizer for what was to come.

We started the walk around 10:00 am and as we got out of the car I jokingly told Anthony not to forget his stick-and yes 3 minutes after starting he realized he did.

It was an hour later I realized that I left MY stick in the car-too late for me to go back.

The favourable weather enhanced the stunning views. We hit the first peak-Derry-Clare (677 m) at about 12:45,then Benn Corr (711) at 2:00pm. We met another walker and Klaudius went over to talk to him. He remarked on having an international meeting as he was German-to which I told Klaudius that him talking  to US was international.

Then things started to get tough, the descents were pretty steep and were nothing but shale/screens and we were just sliding down trying not to fall over-it was pretty scary.

I actually fell a couple of times and staved a finger. I managed to hit the wall as the saying goes and almost devoured a packet of jelly babies in one mouthful for a much needed sugar boost.

We met a group of other walkers coming towards us-one of them-who looked as shattered as I was said "Why do we do this?" and I said "You're asking the wrong person here mucker."

Two other members were as shattered as I was and were fed up with the precarious descents. They looked at the map and discovered and easier route-the 3 of us went for this one.And the next climb was almost like a wall. The  ground was pretty dry but Anthony managed to find the only wet patch in Connemara and tripped in it.

The walk ended around 8:30 pm and we got back just in time for last orders in restaurant-in fact the chef stayed on a bit longer for us. And we were ready for it.

To be honest if I had known what was a head of me I would have been better prepared-taking a bigger breakfast to start with and would have brought my energy gels. Despite the scary bits-it was an enjoyable trip. The experience/craic was great-wish I could say the same about the company (ok Brendan?).

Incidentally-I did not win the lottery or anything on the scratch cards. For those of you on Face Book some photos are on the club’s page there.They’re also on the club's flickr page-none of mine in there yet though.

Link to the club page   http://www.flickr.com/photos/roe_valley_ramblers/

hope that works Marni!

and wait till i tell you this

Well I put one of my unofficial new year’s dodahs into practice today.

Not many people can say they got a ticking off at work for being too nice. Well that happened to me-seriously it did. You see I go out of my way to be helpful to people who I get on the phone at work. I give them my direct line to make sure that they get me as I do favours I am not supposed to. People are very grateful-yes, but the fact that they have my number means my phone rings non stop at this time of year and I can’t do the work that is actually piling up. Today I was much more firm in setting up payment plans and told that I have to be stricter and told them no more chances-if they should fall behind they will not get a second chance AND I made them make bigger payments as this was the only way that they could clear a debt.  I have actually ordered a little Darth Vader bobble-head for my desk at work to encourage me to feel the dark side at the start of a working day. To be honest I actually liked this new dark side of me.

There’s a blog that I am following about this guy who is doing 366 random acts of kindness this year and it is truly cringey reading.One was that during a trip to New York he was taken aback by the down and outs,the homeless begging in the streets-so he said he was going to go out and buy a big bag of apples and hand them out to the beggars. Now what do you think a homeless wino in the streets would prefer-a few bits of loose change to buy his/her next bottle of wine or an apple? I know the guy means well-but I think he is very naive and is in danger of getting beaten up some time. I think today he was helping people hail cabs in new york-be it people in the street or doormen at hotels. Maybe some people will think this guy is doing great things-but me? I find the whole thing a joke,asking for trouble and self gratification big time. But maybe this opinion is the dark side really taking over me?

And another thing-is anyone as peed off as I am about all the stuff about the 100^th anniversary about the Titanic? I cannot see why Belfast is bragging so much about this great ship. For crying out loud the thing was a failure-badly made with loads of money saving short cuts that resulted in a great many lives lost. There is a myth here in Northern Ireland that the ship was cursed because the protestant work force in that supposedly great ship yard painted the reg number 3606 0N on its side because when this was reflected upside down in the water it would have looked like No pope. Now whether there is any truth in that I doubt it-but it’d still a good story. And how long before there is a movie about the flow of the iceberg if the ship had not struck it?

As I type it is almost easter and tv will have loads of special family movies on. We’re bound to see that one about the guy who was dead for three days and then came back to life –what was it…….oh yes E.T.   Ah there’s still a few miles in that one. I am hoping to get out on my beloved gerdymobile over the long weekend-but apparently we could have snow.

Any that's it y'all take care now y'hear?

and here's the set up

Was in a pretty low ebb an decided comfort eating was the only answer.

So I had two or three squares of chocolate and a biscuity thing, tomorrow I may indulge in some jelly-babies.So lent has finished a week early for me this year-first time in donkeys this has happened.

Nothing seems to be going right at the moment and I just want to lock myself away somewhere, where nobody could find me.

So what’s been going on? The ear wax problem is finally sorted.When she was about to give a blast of the stuff the nurse said to me that it might hurt-to which I replied-“bring it on,I deserve the pain” then she said I might feel dizzy as well-it took me 5 seconds to realize the whole hearing/balance thing-and when I stepped outside I did feel a bit giddy. Any way I have learned my lesson and I feel like someone who is trying to give up the cigarettes or whatever-I am so tempted to shove a piece of rolled up kitchen roll or the arm of my glasses into my ear-just for the sake of a habitual poke-but I’m doing well here-and am fighting the urge well.

The new cycling glasses I ordered (which were quite expensive) have had to be returned twice by the optician as he did not like the work done-got a phone call today telling me that they are off to Paris now to get sorted-its been over a month now since I ordered them. By the time I get them I’ll probably need a new prescription and they’ll be useless.

Came across another blog by chance 366 random acts of kindness.Started off ok –bit like the danny Wallace mini book. But it suddenly got really twee and cringeworthy-in fact some of the acts were so excruciating it was funny. Somebody told me that psychologists have said that people just do these random acts of thingy just to make themselves feel good and the telling about them adds to the whole self gratification thing.

The American trip idea that  I was playing about with is most definitely off now-well for this year any way. I was talking to a sister about it and she said that going by the way I was talking about it, I would be better doing the Irish holidays. And when I told her about the reading and thinking about the burren, getting an email from someone saying that he was doing the burren this year, and THEN the book I reading about the burren mentioning the van from the company I do the cycling holiday with –was a pretty good omen to do the burren trip. Somebody else(who does not read this) said that she was glad I was not going to America as well.

The rambling club was over by Glenariff last week. We had near perfect weather.We saw some great views. The walk took us over some private land, and somebody warned us that the owner did not like people walking over his land.Thankfully it was a Sunday and the owner was more than likely in his home reading his King James listening to William McCrea.  On his land there was a plethora of stone circles and ancient burial sites. Plus a stunning waterfall-pity due to very dry weather we did not see it in it’s full glory. In a way I could understand why the owner did not like people tramping over his land –as there would be multitudes of people there all year round.Some not as careful as others-probably destroying and defacing the stoneage monuments. We were careful-and thoroughly enjoyed what we saw.

Those dreadful talent shows are on tv again-I don’t like them and the ones on a Saturday evening are enough to get me going out to mass.

Had my annual work review today-boss told me I was too customer orientated and that I need to stop giving out my direct line as too many people will be phoning me back-and I’ll get no work done-he also told me I might do something I’m not suppose to and get into trouble. Apart from that he said I put in an excellent year. So now I have decided to order a little Darth Vader Bobble Head and every morning at work I will tap its head and say “dark side gerdy feel the dark side.”

Like I said nothing seems to be going right-within time I’ll get one or two things sorted –but at minute I just want to go away somewhere and be on my own for a while,think some things over and work out a way of getting on my feet.

That’s it for now-oh this weekend is the final mtb ride and then the gerdymobile will be officially back on the road. Mind you saiorse might be brought out for a trip over to rathlin, in the summer with a bit of luck-they do a really really good pint of Guinness over there.

previously in my life

So what has been going on in my humdrum life? Not a terrible lot to be honest. Twice in the past three or four weeks I have dreamt that my car disappeared from a car park.Don’t know what would be in my subconscious to trigger this off.I always seem to be wandering around a half full car park  wondering it I am actually in the right car park then when I am reaching heights of exasperation I wake up.

I was having problems making out what people at work to saying to me-and after about a week of this and about 2 days of using olive oil I decided to see a doctor. She got out her little telescope thing looks in my ears and told me the right one was bunged up the wax and the left one was not as bad, and got me to book in with the treatment room to get them syringed.  I was expecting the nurse to give me a telling off when I told her that although I did not use the cotton buds to clean my ears, but I did use a screwed up piece of kitchen roll-but decided not to mention using the end of a knitting needle (I lied about one there).Any way she gave me a blast of the syringe thing and said the right one was pretty hard –so I need to come back for a second blast next week.So hopely things will be back to normal then.

Sometime ago there was a somewhat frequent off in my local book shop-well a glorified news agent to be honest. Three for the price of two-and as always it was a struggle picking a third one-so for the third one I –well now that I’m here the first two were “I Partridge”-Alan Partridge, which if you know the television character is very funny; “Charles Dickens a life” by Claire Tomalin.Which I stuggled with and gave up-but will try again-soon. Now for the third one I chose a book I thought I’ll just throw it in the bag of stuff for thee charity shop,it was “Billy Connolly’s Route 66”.Now I am not a big fan of the big yin any more,but I decided to give a book a go last week and it is surprisingly not bad at all.Think I prefer him doing this sort of thing than comedy,and occasionally he says a few things that made me scratch my chin and mumble “good point” and actually underlined it (can’t do that on a kindle).

But then I do prefer travel literature any way.

Getting pop up ads saying that I am due 250 free business cards-all I pay is the p/p which is pretty cheap. I noticed how freely Americans seem to hand out business card-a guy I met on holiday last year gave me his business card so we could keep in touch. And when I was leaving a hotel in DC some 8 years ago  another person leaving at same time said we could share his taxi-we got off first and were about to pay the driver he said it was ok and he would sort it out (obviously he was on a business trip and could claim I ton his expenses I thought). I said thank you very much and he reached me his business card. So I was wondering what could I put on a card? Occupation? Sound Guy? Crazy Cyclist/Hiker?

Been kind of off Face Book during lent-although I did sneak a look in once or twice. And to be honest I am not missing it.Other than following a few magazines,cycling and photography things I could do without it.

My USA trip-still undecided-planned to talk to someone about the pros and cons last week but meeting fell through-maybe next week.

Learnt a couple of new tricks on photoshop elements –well one trick. Other one involved getting out with tripod and using a filter for camera that I bought a couple of years ago but never used and here is my handy work

  and

Didn’t quite have the effect I wanted.But I’m getting there.

And that’s about it-Oh managed to get out on the gerdymobile for first time this year today and was gooood –soon be time to put the mtb away until October/November.Think I must be one of few people looking forward to losing that hour in a couple of weeks time -as this means i can get out on the gerdymobile after work.

here's what's happening-kind of

For the two people that are interested, I am doing lunch with a buddy next week and, (hopefully) amongst other problems I am going to discuss the pros and cons about my on/off American trip.I actually have made a list. I have other problems that I have been carrying around for a number of years and I feel I really HAVE to get them out of my system. To be honest it might take a couple of pints, or even talking to a professional, but I really do need to talk to someone.

My spoiling myself plan (new year's resolutions) is actually taking shape. Some are trivial little things but-it still counts as treats. So far (and I DO have a list made) I have got the following

1 A denim jacket

2 Two pairs of DMs (well I kind of needed new shoes any way, so does it really count?) but these are great footwear.

3 A graphic novel-got a Batman one-not as good as I was led to believe, but has got me back into the graphic novel mode again.

4 A tripod for my camera

 5 A funky new lens for the camera- a sigma 28mm f1.4

6 New hiking boots and gaiters

7 New cycling glasses

I am thinking about getting a personal radio. And I may do a photography course. I did have one booked but cancelled it as travel times to get to it proved most awkward.So may try another in May.

I'm  sure I could get some other stuff if I make it to America-but the chat next week will decide that. I have sized up the fors and againsts for that. And I’ll let yous 2 know next week.

I’m kind of off Face Book for lent and I may go with tradition (well it is with us Irish) and log in on Saint Patrick’s day to see what’s going on and to see if I'm missing it or not-so far I’m not. I know I can log this on there without having to log in myself.

Marnie-I’ll send you an email next week.

Incidentally Friday is traditionally treat day with me and amongst them is a packet of free state tayto cheese n onion-but I’m off the crips for lent-arrrgh
Incidentally Marnie thank you for your comment on the last blog-glad you liked the humour.

lent

Lent. Ah got to be the 2^nd most important  conversation  period after Xmas (ok Christmas). After the question “What’s Santa bringing you?” the runner up is “What are you giving up for Lent?” Now it’s not “What are you doing for Lent?” It’s “What are you giving up?”

Lent is a very Catholic thing, although I do know one or two Protestants who do the the Lent thing too mind you. Although I rarely go to mass I do do the Lent thing.

I have noticed that it has it’s unofficial rules,obviously invented by the Irish-we’re good at get out clauses.

1 You can be too young/old to give something up

2  As some people give up “the drink” for Lent and St Patrick’s Day falls during the “holy period” You are allowed to break you Lenten fast on this day.This also applies to sweets,cookies, whatever etc I personally think this clause is for wimps-and never adhere to it.

3 If your birthday falls during the period this is also an excuse.I mean how can a child have a birthday party without the goodies and how can you go to a friend’s birthday party and not indulge in the feast of goodies.

4 Bending the rules-some children would give up sweets but not crisps (potato chips, or as we in Derry say crips) And some parents would allow the offspring to eat sweets on a Sunday-as “Sundays were not lent” (I remember my sisters hording the weekly sweet collection and at the stroke of midnight on Saturday evening it was a dive into a multitude of enamel rotting delicacies)

5 –Rather than give up sweets. We would give up swearing,dodging homework-or just something we should not be doing in the first place.

Like I said I do do the lent thing-and I’m good at it. One year I gave up sweets and chocolate and I actually  managed to stay off for three years. What started me again? A very attractive new girl at work who I was flirting outrageously with offered me a square of chocolate and I fell off the wagon. Another time I gave my self a real challenge and added meat to my “off” list-including chicken. Now this was a real struggle for the first week. I was even having nightmares about it.One I remember vividly involved a very sexy woman from a car advert offered me herself or a plate of steak and chips-yep I took the steak

And the whole forty days and forty nights thing. What’s with that? Somebody told me this was a rough translation from a Hebrew word that basically meant “a long time”

So when the great flood was forty days and forty nights this could have been 100s of years.And when Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights it might just have been five or six hours. I mean they had no watches then-had they?

Some people say the Lenten going off stuff is the easy way out and we should be doing something good instead. A woman at work says I should be going to Mass every morning at 7:00 am or at night during Lent-like I said they are trying to bring religion into everything now! Even though I am anything but devout the Lenten habit is just that –a habit. And helps get rid of some excess weight too  For me I think the Lent thing for me is more of  a personal purge that a spiritual thing.And maybe it’s easier to not do something than take on a new challenge.

ruts -can't live without em

“You can be addicted to a certain kind of sadness”

“When something goes right

   Well it’s apt to confuse me

   It’s such an unusual sight

   Oh I can’t get used to something so right”

Couple of song quotes for youns there.From songs by Gotye, well Gotye (featuring Kimbra) if ye must be pedantic about it, and Paul Simon. And pray why am I quoting these? I have these (kind of) and Marni to thank for making me realise something about me. My rut is a comfort zone.

Yes if things are generally not messed up or generally bad- I think something is wrong and it doesn’t feel right.

A couple of three examples. Much that I love cycling I have no great speed. Longevity-yes. I could cycle all day if my life depended on it-but cross the line first in a race? No chance. I was taking part in a quadathlon. Now this was a town council run relay race with 4 clubs in the town :- canoeing,running,cycling and swimming (in that order).The teams were chosen as a draw,so that there would be no superteam. In my team we had a very good canoeist, a good runner, me and a swimmer. Now when it was my turn to start my bit,we had a very good lead-I could not figure out why nobody was passing me.I only realised my lead when I was just over half way on the return leg and I met the first cyclist. My team actually won-no prize just my photo in paper holding a free t-shirt(that all entrants got) The t-shirt just had the 4 events,did not mention it was a relay race-so I had great fun misleading some gullible women into thinking I did all 4 events. Incidentally the next time i did the race things were back to normal and i was only 3rd off and 2 cyclists passed me.The third time doing the race it was a very wet and miserable day and i was so peeved i forgot my number and called out the wrong one when i arrived at the pool. I just grabbed my free t shirt, threw my bike in my car and made my gettaway and showered at home.

I was taking part in a cycling race 6 laps over a pretty hilly route. It was handicapped, and me being the weakest that night I was off first.This was my 3^rd time on this course and I had only just sussed out the knack of handling the route. Normally the other riders would catch me half way round the 3^rd lap and lap me on my 5^th . But this time I was half way round the 4^th lap and they had not passed me and I thought something had gone wrong and the race was cancelled. They caught me just as I went into the 5^th lap. After the race one of the guys in the scratch group came over to me and gave me a big pat on the back. He was confused why they did not get me at the usual spot, and thought I had dropped out, and said that he was really surprised when he saw me up ahead when he did-I told him I thought THEY had dropped out and I was on my own.

Now in that race I was doing pretty good.I was getting stronger (believe you me the hill was a toughie) AND I had learned how to be strategic (or something).But like I said,rather than think that I stood a chance of doing well-even win. It just did not feel right and I breathed a sigh of relief when the main bunch passed me.

At work my boss was giving me a very good annual report-I asked him to tone it down a bit as I did not fell comfortable with so much praise.

Ruts can get too comfortable. So comfortable you can’t live without them.Someone in a tv show said that if you don’t expect anything good to happen you are never disappointed. Home Simpson said  "Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try."

Henry Ford or somebody else –who’s name escapes me said that whether you think that you can or or whether you think you  cannot do something you are right.

SO to cut a long and un-understandable  story short. I have sussed out probable flight times.Someone has suggested a different end to my holiday-I can easily (I think )add on a couple or three days to the itinerary. And anyway I could have a new comedy routine if it does go bad.

So it looks like the usa trip is definitely on. Unless of course that is, if Connie sends me an email to say that I stole her heart too and that she is coming back to Ireland to meet up the same time I am heading out there. But then-how in the name of cody jarrett’s mother could I handle some so good as that?

answers please-usa visit in jeporday

One or two or three  of you know I am in the process of planning a trip the the u s of a in May/June. Now the planned cities are Washington D C  and Philadelphia-not necessarily  in that order .

Now to say that I can be contrary is an understatement. In fact in the dictionary the definition of this word is Gerard Carton.

Much that this will be a big adventure I am going out of my way to find an excuse out of this. The only one that makes any sense is that I don’t like the idea of being airborne for that long a time. In  saying that, on my holiday last year I bussed it from Derry to Cork.Admittedly there was a 2 hour gap in Galway-and someone who flew from America that morning arrived in Cork an hour or two before me.But the bus is different-it is one the ground and I can see the scenery changing. One of the silly excuses is that my brother needs a loan to buy a car-now if I lent him the money that would mean I could not really afford the holiday-well actually I could,but I would convince myself that I couldn’t. Another reason is that a woman at work said that I was brave doing such a journey on my own, and not that is playing on my mind.Another is that if I can’t fly from Shannon instead of Dublin I’m not going.But I AM visiting travel agents to see what i can get and on saturday i will have a serious long chat will local travel agent.

Now to be honest I would much rather be hiking/cycling in Ireland.And I actually can afford the usa trip and do at least one cyling trip in the Burren (where I want to hike as well)

So someone please convince why I should go to amerrykay ? Another woman at work is egging me on to do the trip with the “you’ll be dead a long time” reason. And another woman who does not usually appreciate my warped humour laughed and gave me a “y’know you’re the sort of person who would do that” look when I told my scheme if I get a day in new york.

Remember the famous connie who’s picture I put up on another blog? I googled her shop –so I know the address. I was going to stand outside the shop –wait until she turns to look out the window –I would wait 2 seconds and then I would turn and walk away. Now that would really freak her out-serves her right for stealing my heart.

So like I said I would be much happier cycling/hiking in Ireland drinking ales that I like,munching crips that I love and hearing music that I adore, and   ( well most of the time) cycling on the left side of the road.

So would somebody please convince me why I should go to America? please?

new year's dodas

Well we’re almost through January and it’s time for a first look at my new year’s thingymiboggers. Right let’s see.

1. Stop lending money to family members-well nobody has asked yet so I’m ok there, BUT my brother’s girlfriend had a baby a couple of weeks ago and I have decided to start a trust fund for her. Something she’ll get when she’s 18-and also will give them a little something as a pressie to get some stuff now. My other brother’s daughter will be 21 in June and as I am her god father I’m going to give her a good present and let him off with the rest of money he owes me-as long as he uses it to get her a present.
2.  Stop lending books. That is going to be very easy, BUT I am yet to get 2 books I lent to a cousin last summer-but then I have not seen him in a while to ask for them back.
3. Big holiday other than my usual ICS trip.Welllll to be honest I really like the ICS trips so I might do a special holiday AS WELL as one of these,as there is a chance of a possible reunion with some people this year. I am considering America or a cruise. The cruise would be good craic as the grumpy cynic in me would have field day here complaining.
4.  Learn how to use photo shop properly.Wellll I have discovered a one day course that could help me here-and will be signing up next week when that savings thing matures AND there is also a landscape one in which I can learn some exposure tricks-so looks like I’ve done ok with that one.
5. Relearn the computer stuff I did at the night classes –ummm still a non starter.
6. Find my smile again-I am trying, so here’s hoping
7. Sort out all the free cds and record the good stuff. Wellll  I’ve listened to 3 or 4 of them so far. But to be honest not sure if they are worth recording. Then I will start on those free cds I got with some camera mags.
8. Be good at my job-I AM trying. And I am cutting down on my sneaks at internet at work and try to just use it on breaks.I have warned everyone to expect stupid questions from me too-so I think I’m doing ok here too.

Spoil myself a bit more.Well as you know the savings thing matures at end of this week and I have  made a list of things I want

    A new hiking boots

     B new gaiters

     C  Tripod

      D Holiday abroad

     E   money for the 2 nieces

    F    new cycling glasses

     G  a personal radio

     H new headphones (may be)

     I   a cheap suit (or 2)

     J   suggestions welcome

But as I said, knowing me I’ll probably find an excuse not to do this. I think the cruise would be an experience. But to be honest I’m not sure if I would enjoy it. A trip to the states is very tempting I must admit. One or two of those things I would probably be getting anyway-so maybe they don’t count as treats. ANY WAY I AM going to try to enjoy as much of this money as I can-no doubt the sensible side of me will find some serious use for it.When I started it 15 years ago my aim was to go on a splurge.It’s worked out at about £4000-so we’ll see.

As for the other new year’s stuff-stay tuned

another facebook blog

I am intrigued by  the many view points about the mighty Facebook. And reasons people have for NOT going on to it.

Me? I think it is handy, but at the end of the day-I think I could manage without it.

I have often wondered if Mr Zuckerthingy started charging a membership fee how many people would still use , it. I suppose if he just charged $1 or £1 a year he would still make some money..

I must admit it was via FB I got in touch with a couple of people I lost touch with.

And through one of them I “met” someone who is most entertaining, and is actually keeping me on the blasted thing

But if seems to rule people’s lives. People use it to communicate instead of emails.They even announce where there are-“jack is currently in Debenhams” and it shows a map of which branch he is in. I half expect to see “Jack is in the 3^rd cubicle from the left in the toilets in the Foyle Side”

I hear a few stories of people hacking into FB members accounts and doing nasty things –but then this can happen anywhere.

I don’t see the point in putting on people you see everyday in real life as friends as I would far rather have real conversations, be it on the phone or face to face.

On the other hand I like it when someone makes a comment and other people respond to it-be it serious or funny.

Someone in my rambling club requested me as a friend. On his info page he had 2000, yes 2 thousand friends. I was curious about this and he explained that he was playing a game and to get help on it you had to take people on as friends. Not for me.

Like I said it IS a nice way to keep in touch with people far away-I did get in touch with 2 people –well 3 –but one of them has Spanish as a first language-she lives in Miami or somewhere-and despite her being serious eye candy I just could not understand her comments. Another one was always putting up notices to join clubs like “click like to save little doggies called Brian being kept outside the house.”

There are some people I would like to see on FB as I know I would like their humour.

But it’s the way it seems to take over peoples lives that gets me. And Oh! I recently “liked “ a page for a tv show that I like. One of the comments about something I asked was in Spanish-I ticked the box to translate it and it was one of those chain things that said if I did not repost and get more than 25 likes, and if I deleted it I would die painfully that night. Hmmmm.

In saying that and digressing –via facebook I found out about a record fair in Derry in 3 weeks time and some interesting things about a cycling magazine I like. So it’s not all bad.But Jack I don’t really need to know your every movement. And my brother’s girlfriend recently had a baby-I was emailing my other brother her name and he said that he already knew as she had it on her facebook page-not long after the birth.

To conclude when used right Face Book can be good fun. But it can take over your life.

Now Twitter is another thing.When I started that I seemed to see a plethora of comments on what people where eating.But discovered that following famous people is much more fun. Even following road traffic reports is good fun too.

That’s it.

happy new whatever..i suppose

Happy new year and all that sort of stuff. Can’t see what all the fuss is about. The world is suppose end this year too-if you believe/understand what you read, I can safely predict that it will end on 12^th December 2012-well it has too with a date like 12/12/12 and  if doesn’t well then we’re safe for another 10 odd years when it will end on 22^nd February 2022.....maybe

A recent Dilbert cartoon I saw (which is probably 2 or 3 years old by now) summed up the whole new year thing for me in this line “I don’t celebrate the magical thinking that says one point in the space-time continuum is somehow special”

And the whole new year’s resolutions baffles me too-why change/stop habits that have been bringing you pleasure for who knows how many years just because it’s January 1^st?

Any way new years resolutions never seem to last more than a couple of months any way. And besides Des McDonald said “every day is a fresh start. No matter what happened the day before ,approach today with a clean slate”

Now this brings me on to Lent. Lent is a catholic thing( although I do know one non catholic who does it). Lent is good way of giving the failed resolutions another go. Despite being agnostic, I take lent very seriously (kind of) I can go off something and stick to it for the 6 weeks. Once I went off sweets and managed to stay off them for 4 years. One year I gave up meat-but in the 2^nd week I was having nightmares. I remember one in which a very sexy French actress came up to me with a plate that had a juicy steak on it-she told me I had the choice of the steak or her-yep I choose the steak. Never realized how much I liked my meat. A very catholic woman I work suggested that instead of giving something up I should go to mass every morning during the 6 week period-yeah,no fun in that.And i got i very stern glare when i asked her if there was any totty out at mass at that time.

Fifteen and twenty five years ago I took out 2 savings plans the 15 year one matures at end of this month and the 25 year one matures in June. The 25 year one I must be sensible with. But the 15 year one I am going to use most of it to spoil myself-to maybe a big holiday abroad. But knowing me it’ll just be the usual cycling holiday(s) in Ireland-and be sensible with more than I intended. Suggestions most welcome. I have thought of a cruise-but I would spend most of time criticizing the entertainment and rip off excursions-to be honest I would be in my element there

So here’s my new year’s resolutions-most of which I’ll not keep

1 Stop lending money to family members (no chance of keeping this one)

2 Stop lending books that I want back (pretty good chance here)

3 Treat myself to a big holiday-a change from ICS (very slim chance)-ideas welcome

4 Learn how to use photoshop properly (no chance –been saying this since elements 7)

5 relearn the computer stuff I learnt on that course I did 2 years ago (ha ha)

6 find my smile again(no chance tried this last year-did not last long)

7 go through all the free cds and record all the good stuff and dump rest(too much like hard work)

8 try to be good at my job (now THAT I am going to make an effort at)

9 Spoil my self more(will no doubt find reasons not to)

10  Swear blind I never made this list (most definitely)

11 try to inject more humour in these blogs

Incidentally Des McDonald is a chef-just thought what he said made a bit of sense 

suggestions for the big holiday still most welcome