Image courtesy of Barry O’Donovan taken in a pub toilet somewhere in Dublin. He thought it would make the good basis of a blog post. Not sure I can think of anything to write that would be appropriate, especially considering it is a Sunday and I am in Dublin.
Barry needs to be careful whipping out his camera in mens toilets. People might get the wrong idea. Don’t worry though. I’m sure Barry is ok. Probably…
Perhaps readers can think of something amusing to say about this photo?
I will mention that we have a neighbour who is a condom salesman. Sells to the NHS etc. I was once round his house returning a wheelbarrow (fwiw) and found him rummaging around in his cellar which was accessible from the driveway down the side. I went in and found an Aladdin’s cave of condom samples. Every shape and colour you could imagine. Walked away with a carrier bag full. Fwiw.
Had a great night out last night with Barry O’Donovan, Andy Davidson and Hannah. Barry took us around a few choice establishments: Mulligans, Sweetmans (where we had food), The Dawson Lounge (“is this the smallest pub in the world” I doubt it), Riley’s where there was a guitarist and The Gingerbread Man which is the place you can find the Taoiseach at around 10pm of a weekday night.
Today we are meeting Marijana from LinkedIn who lives in Dublin. Going to do some sightseeing with her and then meet the Peering Forum folk for dinner this evening. I think it might rain but shorts and t shirt will be fine.
V comfortable bedroom. Booked a twin so that Hannah could come along without it costing any extra. The hotel, Trinity City, is in the same building as the main fire station in central Dublin. All good stuff in case of an emergency:) I’m quite looking forward to an easy going breakfast.
Lovely photo of Anne and Shannon at the Pylons gig at the West end Tap last night. Looks like we missed a great night but can’t do it all I guess. Also took loads of pics out abd about last night, Will have to see if any are suitable for publication 🙂
Been packing to go to Dublin. Not much packing involved. A few t shirts and the shorts I am wearing. I’ve taken an executive decision that it is the height of summer and that’s all I’m going to need. Of course I have a jumper and a waterproof as well.
This is partly influenced by the fact that I am flying Stobart Air (by Aer Lingus) whose hand carry allowance is 7kg. Who needs more? There is risk here. No socks or long trousers but hey…
So this morning is a case of milling around the house waiting for the taxi to pick me up at 12.30. Can one person mill around? I have a taxi because the return cost of a taxi to Doncaster Robin hood Airport was roughly the same as parking plus the petrol for me driving both ways. Seemed a no brainer to me. Far more relaxing anyway.
Hannah is meeting me in Dublin. I changed my room to a twin so that she could come along. At least I called the hotel to do so. Initially I rang the website I had used to book the room. Amoma.com. Never ‘eard of them. They wanted £30 to make the change – outrageous. I Won’t be using them again. Instead I called the hotel and was put through to an agent “somewhere”. They informed the hotel of my request – gawd knows if they will have it sorted. Will have to see when I get there. (sorted now fair play – we have a double and a single).
Han seems to have had a good short break in the Isle of Man. The Creek for lunch on day one and the Boatyard on day two. Can’t be bad. Rang dad and he is now settled in for a day of rugby – Wales v All Blacks, Engand v Wallabies and SA v Ireland (I think). Wales losing. New Zealand bench is too strong.
Refilled the bird feeder this morning. Good to know the small birds are getting their seed. It’s squirrel proof, hopefully. They are a real nuisance.
…
Arrived at Robin Hood Airport at 13.30. Checkin didn’t open until 14.00 and even then not. The password had changed on the checkin system and the girl had to go away and find the new one. Then She couldn’t log me in and then allocated me a seat other than the one I’d paid for/had preassigned. Then took 40 mins to get through security and I had to ditch the little bit of toothpaste I had left – wasn’t worth paying £1 for a clear plastic bag!
Off to pick Joe up this morning. First year at Newcastle all done. Taking the bike rack. Seemed a bit of a waste of time taking the bike in the first place as I think he’s only used it once or twice. Ah well.
Hannah is in the Isle of Man and Tom will be waking up in my prepaid Doubletree executive king sized room in Islington having inherited from me after my meeting was cancelled. It’s a busy old family life.
John has his penultimate exam today. I’m proud of the effort he’s put in. Last exam is on Tuesday and the three of us will be off out to celebrate. Nobody else around. Joe will be out at the Daltons rehearsing for Glasto.
…
Joe seems basically the last to leave Newcastle. Certainly his flat emptied at least a week ago. He had an Underlined gig last night at the Medics’ Ball. Wasn’t onstage until 11pm and got home at 2am so somewhat knackered this morning.
Long day having set off around 9. Got back to Lincoln at around 5.30 and went for a swift un in the West End Tap before heading home. The Pylons have a gig there tomorrow night which unfortunately I will miss due to being in Dublin.
Joe has headed straight out after dinner to a Pylons rehearsal at the Daltons’.
Good kip last night and up and at it ready to go for a swim. The builders are already out front finishing off the edging to the drive and I have a few minutes before I need to set off. Fwiw I’ve moved the large pan of chili con carne into the garage fridge.
I was told at the pool that I had a very poor breastroke technique. I know this. It’s why I’m the slowest swimmer in the pool. I’ll see what I might do to improve on this as it will serve me well.
Picked the lads up from Jazz Vehicle last night and it was notably still light at 9.15pm. We are already at the height of the summer. A depressing thought each year. Weather is typical height of British summer weather. Dull and drizzly. Hopefully the rain will stay off for the Wales England match as we are planning on watching it in the Strugglers beer garden.
Anne is off for a spa day today and is taking the ipad with her to make sure of being able to watch the game. Hopefully they have wifi there.
So I’ll be doing some work this morning but not a sausage after lunch. Lunch is home made pea and ham soup using a knuckle that I bought in Waitrose the other day. I keep my eyes open for these knuckles as they make a great base for a soup. Not often I get the timing right.
The edging for the drive has been finished and they are now leaving the cement to set. Hard core is going down today. Soon be finished.
Hannah is now on her way to the Isle of Man. Tadcu is planning on lunch in the creek with her followed by a bit of a shop on the way home. She messaged us from LCY airport saying it was very busy but she had found a quiet spot with free wifi. Welcome to the glamorous world of international travel.
The bookies btw have England at 6-1 to win and Wales at 12-1. It has to be worth a tenner on Wales.
Had a great day out in London yesterday. A very successful workshop on telecoms fraud followed by a few beers and a curry with Colin Duffy and Dave Dadds. It was raining in town but cleared up in time for us to go out on the rooftop balcony for the drinks.
Not much else to report from yesterday other than perhaps the fact that I brought a smile to the face of the on train chef by complimenting him on his breakfast. Did the same with woman walking towards the tube in St Pancras. I was singing to myself and she turned around and smiled. It’s nice to bring a little bit of sunshine into people’s lives.
Taxi was late picking me up from Newark Northgate. There wasn’t a connecting train for the 20.35 out of King’s Cross. The A46 was closed for refurbishment. Seems like they have to do this more frequently than they might like.
This morning I’ve woken up to a bit of progress on the drive. The engineering bricks have started to down for the edging. It’s a great skill. The drive is a fair expanse and has to be level or at least a smooth progression.
I also woke up to a lack of milk for breakfast so strolled down to Tesco for some supplies. Bought a wodge of reduced priced bacon from the deli counter for John and croissants for Hannah. She leaves us again today for the next lot of travels. London today to see her new employer Colt Telecom. The Isle of Man follows this and then she is joining me in Dublin for the UK & Ireland Peering Forum.
Taking her to the station for a 12.34 train.
Lunch today btw consisted of the remains of a pork pie and a nice bit of brie with brown bread coleslaw and baby beetroot.
Saw a male blackbird sharing a worm with the female in the back garden today. Suspect she was taking it back to the nest to feed the chicks.
Spin to Waitrose to buy ingredients for chili con carne. Bumped into Rod Whiting and Matts Nilsson. Then to school to pick up John and Matty after their science exam. Now that I’m home there is thunder and heavy rain sending a shudder through my shoulders. V relaxing sat in the conservatory listening to the rain on the roof and the sound of a practising saxophone.
Cooked the chilli – made a double sized batch so that we can stick some in the freezer. This was largely because I didn’t read the instructions and bought too much stuff but hey…
Up early to catch the 07.30. Not a bad kip. Usually when I set the alarm I’m awake every hour or so during the night. Probs only a couple of times this time. Snapchat from Joe at 00.25 still in the pub suggesting that he should be in bed as he has a big NUJO gig tonight.
Sat on the train waiting to depart (and thence breakfast). Wifi 0.93Mbps down, 0.98Mbps up, ping 101ms. I should get my 4G dongle out. It’s very quiet here in first class. Probably very quiet up the back too. This is not one of the new liveried trains. Looks like it’s on hire from East Midlands Trains. I guess they have to do that whilst switching the Virgin Trains in and out for refurb.
The trains recently changed their breakfast menu. Not much difference really – swapped egg flan out for a fried egg, added black pud instead of potato fritter (or whatever it was called) and a single flat field mushroom instead of multiple smaller ones. Designed by “award winning chef James Martin” and inspired by traditional flavours:)
Lincoln station is about to undergo a refurbishment as well as the trains. Scaffolding all over the place. Roof must have been on the verge of collapse. Someone committed suicide up there recently. Lots of cops and management types milling around the platform. It’s a somewhat dismal day. Not wet in Lincoln although the forecast for London is rain.
The trolley has just been to take my order for brekkie. The lady was from Dublin – I mentioned I was off there on Saturday. Could hardly understand a word she say so just nodded and asked if I could have another piece of bacon instead of the black pudding. She said she would ask though the chef is a miserable one today! 🙂 I’ll let you know…
Now racing through the back alleys of Lincoln. Industrial estates and unused land waiting to be built on. Hartsholme Park & Whisby Nature Reserve. Time for another walk there perhaps the next weekend I’m in Lincoln.
The Euro 2016 sweepstake is going well. I’m joint first with about 4 others having guessed the outcome of 7 out of 10 games. Mostly random guesses not knowing who was favourite. A combination of established names and personal bias.
This is the greenest time of year. Just passed a field of poppies where the dots of red provide a lovely contrast.
Breakfast came with an extra slice of bacon. Result:) Only problem was a tiny drip of mushroom juice or simlar onto my shirt. Wiped this with my red paper napkin and the shirt now has a red stain on it! Have to wait until we leave Newark Northgate to nip to the loo and see if I can clean it up a bit. I’m terrible with this sort of thing. V messy eater, no matter how hard I try.
I can now hear someone else on the phone. I mean someone at the other end. Bloke got on at Newark. Just stood up to look. He is holding the earpiece away from his ear slightly so that we can all hear. Can’t be bothered to let you know what’s being discussed. Sales numbers. “Need to get some definitives as to where we are.” “You know he can be a bit of a martyr. Do you think they will renew our contract?”. There you go I’ve told you. “Buy us some time. Let’s have another look at it. I’ve been in this situation too many times. Get the contract signed and we can work it through with IT.” It’s Mike we are talking about. Just need to find out who the companies are now. I’ll hold off going to clean up my shirt until the conversation is over. “Get me the heads up on it. I can’t afford a half a million pound hole in SCA. Not with 8 days left. Let’s help him with it”.
Back at my seat having successfully cleaned up the splodge. He is now talking to Steve, the owner of the company. Discussing Mike. Everyone has a back to protect.
It’s going to be a tedious train journey if he is going to go on like this all the way to London. I’ll have to put my earphones on which is my normal recourse in this situation. Not sure I want music at this time of the morning though. Today programme maybe except every other word will be “referendum”.
This is not the smoothest of trains. He’s stopped thank gawd.
The boys are meeting in the Strugglers on Thursday to watch Wales v England. I’m sure they will put it England v Wales. I’ll be the only Welshman there. Problem is the game is at 1.30. Lunchtime. It’s going to be messy. I have Wales down for a win. Obvs.
He’s on again. “I’ve made a commitment to my boss to get the information. I’ve had this bollocks from Steve this morning.” Now there’s a Stuart involved. “I want an absolute confirmation of what finance are saying”.
The corporate world eh? I can imagine that the buyer is stringing them along. Applying the pressure. He’s asked a second time for a bottle of still water. “I’ll be coming through in a minute love with the trolley”. That’s telling him. She’s busy collecting plates.
I note they are continuing to let you access YouTube videos on the train satellite link. Whilst this is good in another sense it isn’t because it will chew up the meagre available bandwidth.
Morning after the street party and the lads are busy digging up our drive. We are having it block paved and they are going down an impressive distance. Cars are parked on the roadside verges in both directions.
Joe working away in the office here with me. John has gone to the library to revise and Hannah has Sarah Ward in the kitchen planning their month in Italy in August. Anne is out at Monday group and she also hears kids read at Eastgate school.
I’m in London tomorrow. I have organised a trefor.net Telecoms Fraud Workshop at Gamma’s offices next to the Gherkin. We have 27 people signed up for it. Should be a good afternoon.
A somewhat eclectic running order for the Los Trios Davies gig at the Curle Ave street party
basin st blues
sunny side of the street
california dreaming
country roads
killing me softly
lazy river
as time goes by
chatanooga choo choo
bare necessities
underneath the arches
king of the road
Georgia
don’t get around much anymore
kansas city
It’s basically stuff that I can play. Doesn’t necessarily help Joe and John as they need Bb sheet music and mine is all in C but we will get by somehow and they can play some additional stuff that is more up their street.
Last night Wales won and England drew their matches in Group B of the European football tournament. Obviously I’m pleased as Wales are now top of the group. This is tinged with an element of disappointment as I had England down for a win in the sweepstake. Ah well:) Funny to hear the pundits after the match. “Lots of positives to take away from this match”. Basically England never seem to cut it on the international stage. They have lots of good players but never seem to be able to put it together as a team.
Stubbed my left little toe this morning when I got up to make the tea and it started to bleed. Had to put a sock on to avoid getting blood on the carpet. Doh.
Anne told me this morning about yesterday’s flash floods in Welton when she was dropping Hannah off at Rachel Ram’s house for a party. The rain was so heavy that it broke their gazebo!
Initial load packed into car now – gazebo, camping chairs and table etc. Now just waiting for Waitrose to open for me to source fresh bread and a few other bits and bobs to finish off the food shop.
Terrific evening at the Elton John gig last night. He was surprisingly good which I suppose shouldn’t come as a surprise. We had fantastic seats in the 4th row. Had a brilliant view.
There had been stories of terrible traffic on the main road past the Showground. We met in the Prince and taxi picked us up at 3.45. Other than a little traffic on Burton Road we got there in no time. Our entrance was the back way via Gate 9 which got us straight to the Epic Centre without bother or delay. Well worth paying the extra for the VIP tickets. The vids below will give you a flavour.
Slow start this morning. Having an easy day of it getting ready for the street party tomorrow. Han arrives just before 4 this afternoon. I need to get the picnic in, stuff of bbq tonight, sort out play list and get some practise in and sort out the PA. I normally never have to do the PA myself as Joe is always around but he doesn’t arrive until lunchtime tomorrow.
A leisurely trip to Waitrose beckons methinks. I quite like a stroll around Waitrose. Very civilised. 🙂
Typical British summer day out there. not particularly nice but not bad. There is a lot of sport on today but life’s too short to spend sitting in front of the TV. We can’t get any of it anyway as it is all on Sky. I might get Sky sports one of these days.
Elton John Elton John Elton John. Just practising as we are off to see Elton John tonight. I say tonight. The meet up is 3pm in the Prince of Wales. Taxi picking us up from there at 3.45. Bar opens at Showground 4pm. Food at 5pm. Concert starts at 7pm.
It occurred to me that Elton’s own prep for the gig might be somewhat different to ours. A light salad maybe compared with our full blown eating and drinking fest. Perhaps I’m wrong.
There is news today. Anne was called by BBC Radio 2 and asked if she could come on the Jeremy vine show to talk about Street Parties for the Queen’s 90th birthday. The was lined up by a certain son we know who works at the Beeb. Anne is organising the Curle Ave party.
I switched the radio on after being in Waitrose and hey presto on she came talking to Jezzer. She was very impressive pair play. I have the recording if anyone wants to hear it. Message me 🙂
After Waitrose I swung by the Phone Doctor in the Tesco carpark to enquire as to the cost of replacing the smashed back on my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. It only lasted a couple of weeks before I dropped it in the rain on day 1 of the coast to coast walk. The phone Doctor quote £89. I can get it done on the Lloyds Bank insurance for fifty quid so I’ve just set that in motion.
It’s a shame not to get it done because the phone is a brilliant device which you’d expect for the money (£630 inc payg sim which I didn’t need).
Joe has now finished his exams and will be in Wetherspoons in Newcastle as I write.
The other news is that the guys coming to do our drive (block paving) turned up this lunchtime to break up some of the tarmac. Wasn’t expecting them but they were only there to check on how easy it was going to be. They were gone within 15 mins. See featured image.
A cooler day today although I still have the doors open to the garden. Got to do it while you can. Didn’t go swimming this morning as I have Rich from LONAP coming up for our monthly meeting and wanted to get some stuff done first. Especially need to finish the playlist for Sunday’s street party gig. It’s now down to just me Joe’n John which will be fine. Just a more limited repertoire – limited by what I can play 🙂
John has a maths exam this morning and I’ll be picking him up before fetching Rich from the station. Alistair now picking him up.
Also been getting some more stuff sorted for Joefest. Chiller hire sorted, meat order sorted, marquee sorted. Generator conversation had and will be sorted. Was lucky with the chiller as Jocastas chillers are all hired out and H & H would normally be fully booked at this time of year but had one spare.
H&H cheaper than Jocastas as well.
Going to meet Lewis before lunch to discuss booze requirements. Tesco sell Fosters lager at £11 for a case of 12. You have to ask yourself why would anyone want to drink that stuff but we are talking a long day here so people won’t want to go overboard on the strength.
Thinking about putting on a pair of socks. Just saying:)
Lunch booked at OleOle. Should be a pleasant afternoon although as I mentioned it is slightly cooler today. Supposed to be warming up.
Well not really. 6amish. Dawn is much earlier at this time of year. Up early anyway with the door of the conservatory open to the garden.
Unusually I can hear traffic going to work. It’s not unusual for there to be traffic. I don’t normally notice it. This morning it contrasts with the birdsong in the hedge.
We had big news overnight. The BBC have announced that Joe’s band The Pylons have been chosen to play the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury. We’ve been keeping it quiet for weeks now (ish) desperate to tell people. At last we can talk about it loudly 🙂
It is wonderful news. They have a long way to go before making it big but it’s a step in the right direction. There is a warm up gig at the West End Tap on Saturday 18th June but I’m gutted that I’ll be in Dublin. Wouldn’t have gone until the Sunday had I known.
This is a great time of day to be up. The time flies when you are sat here tapping away. Not that I particularly want it to do so.
The jerk rub was a particular success last night btw. Shannon had warned us about the kick but we didn’t find it too hot at all. We will be making some of that ourselves in future. Must get the recipe. It was very nice having dinner outside on the patio, just John and I. Anne was out sorting stuff out for the Curle Avenue Queen’s 90th birthday street party on Sunday.
I’m not a big royalist but I like a good street party. The girl who was organising it has passed the baton on to Anne and Julie because she is snowed under this week. As a result Anne and Julie are now snowed under but hey…
Last night she was going round the houses checking on numbers coming. Not much of a response from behind the intercoms of the closed doors of Gerards Close. A weird lot. Don’t think we’ll be seeing much of them.
Anne has been giving me some admin jobs to do. I don’t mind typing in her quiz questions and downloading pictures of crowns (for example) but the sourcing of the National Anthem for singing on the day does go against the grain somewhat for a Welshman:)
More later…
The broken Dyson fan heater is fixed. Dyson support was good. The machine is a fan heater and not an airconditioner. You have to put the temperature to zero in this weather. Otherwise the heater will just think “oh they’ve set it to 2 degrees (say) and thin kit’s already warmer than that and not switch on. Clever I’d say.
Just saw a chaffinch in the garden. may have been a bullfinch but either way it is good
Only 20 mins swim today. Didn’t have my contact lenses in and saw the attendants move the black bins that they put the lane markers in in place. They usually do this right at the end of the session so i got out. It was only after I’d put my specs on that I realised I still had 10 minutes but I had psychologically already checked out by then.
Afterwards, in the car park, I saw a small car with a woman in it smoking as she drove by. For some reason she just drove in and then straight out again. Thought it was very symbolic that her rear windscreen wiper was hanging limp.
Booked a taxi for 6 at 3.45pm on Friday to go to the Elton John gig at the showground. It was a bit of a struggle at first as Handsom Cabs say most taxi firms were fully booked for the event but “try DIscount’. Discount’s initial reaction was that they too were over subscribed. In fact they were rammed between 5.30 and 7pm. Ahah I said. We need to be there for 4pm. The benefits of a corporate hospitality ticket where the drinking starts early.
I wasn’t sure what time to book a return cab as the instructions were unclear re what time the bar closed so I called the Showground this morning. The answer is that there isn’t a closing time for the hospitality bar. It’s going to be dependent on how many hang around to spend cash. I’m going to book it for 11.30. We will have been at it long enough by then.
Quite a busy day sorting out an exec event in soho in July. few dozen invites sent out. It’s another warmun and moved into the living room again. Not complaining. Apparently there the nice weather is set to break just in time for the Elton gig on Friday. Ah well. Nothing that a pair of flipflops shorts and t shirt can’t sort.
Finished for now so got on with marinading the chicken for tonight’s bbq. From left to right it’s Newman’s Own sticky bbq marinade, Shannon’s Caribbean jerk marinade and then Caribbean jerk rub. Be afraid.
It’s another hotun in the conservatory/office. Perfect British summer weather again. I have the door open into the garden which my avian friends are filling with birdsong. There is an ever so gentle breeze that wafts the tops of the trees. There would appear to have been some rain overnight which is the perfect time for it.
Dropped Joe off at the station and picked John up from a history exam. Bloke came round to measure up for a new drive we are having done. Starts Friday all being well. Featured image is part of it.
Now moved in from the conservatory because it is getting a little warm in there.
Falafel burgers for dinner. Ate outside on the patio. Lovely evening. Don’t get many of these. New batch of contact lenses. I have -4.5 if wearing same type in both eyes. If I need to read I have -2.5 in left eye and -5 in right! Dont’ ask me:) Been wearing them today as it’s nice to be able to put my shades on in this weather.
Oakleys. Once cracked lens and the other scratched on the inside by the arm. They are a good few years old now so I might get a new pair. That optician is starting to cost.
Moved the green bins out – v heavy. The lorry comes tomorrow.
Now watching TV. Not particularly productive and pretty bland stuff to be honest. Great British Railway Journeys with Michael Portillo. It’s very coffee table reading stuff really which is a shame as I like railways.
John is practising on his drums in the attic. Noisy. The neighbours will be getting it full whack…
It’s nice to have the prospect of a few quiet nights in this week. I have a meeting with Rich from LONAP on Thursday which will involve a couple of beers afterwards. Then Friday we are off to see Elton John which, due to the timings of the VIP tickets/pre show dinner we will be meeting at 3pm in the Bail. At least I have three quiet nights!
