/travel/ireland/Comp Day
Today was a comp day — a day off in exchange for a weekend oncall. I went to the Garda station to get my Garda card, wrapping up my immigration troubles for the next 6 months. I went to the Canadian Embassy, but they're only open 9-12, so I can't get passport documents. I did a bit of shopping.
I saw Stephen (I don't know Stephen, but he shouted loudly into his cell phone that "this is Stephen." Or perhaps it's Steven.) Where was I? Oh yes, I saw Stephen, running with a bunch of flowers, making an urgent phone call. I saw a taxi driver yelling at a lorry driver that he was "just sittin' there and you bloody ran into me!" while the lorry driver pointed out that the taxi drivers was making a bloody left turn across two lanes, and was invisible to the lorry driver. I saw a lot of pedestrians doing carefully timed sprints across the road. I did some of those myself. I rode the wrong way on a lot of one-way streets, and survived.
I saw a lot of immigrants in the Garda National Immigration Bureau, and got friendly treatment from behind the glass that seemed to be relieved that I spoke fluent English. I sat waiting for nearly three hours. I estimated that they served one person every two minutes. They were serving around 140 when I got in, and I was 228.
I went to visit a ("my"?) financial consultant at Allied Irish Banks. I didn't like the meeting very much. I don't like being sold funds. I don't like that they didn't have ethical funds. I'll have to find out who does, 'cause investing in Exxon just doesn't really fit my groove.
Last week I had the culmination of my dispute with my former landlord over the "missing" rent and withheld deposit, in the form of a face-to-face adjudication at a large round wooden table — big enough that the disputees didn't have to sit too close together. I think it went quite well. I don't know which way the decision will come down (or whether they're allowed to slice down the middle) but I'm glad I pursued it. The adjudicator was friendly, extremely neutral and professional, and barely gave away a hint of what he was thinking; the only such indication was that he seemed displeased with the landlord's poor maintenance of my rentbook.
I had a wee dinner party on the weekend, and I think it went quite well.
I'm trying to work less. Or rather, I'm trying to spend less time at work, but work about the same amount. I think it's working a bit. Work is otherwise good. I'm a "Team Lead" now, and got my first n00b yesterday. I'm also down from splitting my time between 4 projects to "only" three, which is nice. I'm also hopefully going to be serving on a lightweight committee to assess and address the office's environmental impact, which is very exciting.
In two weeks, Clare and I are going to Paris. How romantique. I've put my phone into French so I get some practice. There's a cute little bakery just down the street from me that mostly employs francophones, but I haven't got up the hutzpah to start speaking French to them.
My flatmate has moved out, mostly — some of her stuff is still here — the dampness and mould in her room were too much, which is fair enough. The landlord is going to do something to try to improve it — more insulation and a vapour barrier, I think. I've borrowed a humidity sensor and been taking measurements around the flat, but they're fairly inconclusive. I'll start looking for a new flatmate in a week or so, once that work is done.
I'm taking ECON 247 from Athabasca University. It's been pretty basic so far, and I have to force myself to remember that I dispute a few of the fundamental assumptions while still pretending to accept them so I get the answers right. However, I got a good few hours of studying in at the Garda Station, so that was good.
I think that's a pretty good update. What's that you ask? Have I seen any good movies lately? Yes, I have.
Comments
Jim wrote
Nice update, sounds like life is peachy over in them foreign lands. What's the winter like in Dublin?
As for good movies, go see Children of Men with someone you don't mind crying around. It'll shake you.
I spent some time trying to find your office in Google Earth, but it doesn't know where "Barrow Street" is. Then I found myself, at Lat 52° 7'57.05"N, Lon 106°38'7.19"W.
Rob wrote
Our coverage in Ireland sucks. It's great that finding the EU headquarters is so hard; we're very proud of that.
Saw children of men. I was unshookenated, though it was indeed quite good.
Winter in Dublin is like the rest of the year in Dublin, only slightly colder. Seldom below zero: we had snow for about an hour a week ago, and it was very exciting..I pawed at the window wistfully. It's rainy, though not as bad as the reputation holds.
