Just come back from a wonderful visit to Dublin in Ireland. This visit has been booked and planned for since July. We stayed on the other side of the river from the Temple Bar pictured above.
Memorial to Lead singer of Thin Lizzy – Philip P Lynott
Managed to do some sightseeing, and visited the Guinness Brewery. Listened to lots of live music in a few bars or from buskers on the street, tasted some of the local cuisine and drank some world-famous Guinness as well as some local beers too.
My pint from the Gravity Bar at the top of the Guinness brewery building
I travelled over with a friend called Matt and the last time we were both able to go to Ireland at the same time was about 20 years ago so it was a great opportunity for us both to go there again.
View from the Gravity Bar at Guinness Factory
Due to Covid-19 restrictions in bars and restaurants I think it was also just as well that there were not to many of us going at once. Table service was taking places in most bars and restaurants and it was easier for them to find a table for the two of us instead of a big group.
Guinness mascot the Toucan
The above photo is of some of the collection of Guinness marketing memorabilia taken from inside the Guinness factrory tour that we went on.
I really was hoping that the world was getting used to managing the Covid-19 pandemic by now, but with the new variant now blowing up and daily announcements getting worse and worse while we were in Ireland it was a little unsettling at times to be away from home.
It really is a treat to travel and I am so glad we were able to go and make memories and take a few photos, but being back home safe and well is also something to be savoured.
One of Dublins own bands – Thin Lizzy with Whiskey In The Jar
Lots happening and finally picked up a bit of my own advice coming back to me today after I had said it to someone else when looking to support them, I think I find it easier to give advice than I do take it even when it’s my own!
Two weeks ago today I woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and feeling hot in my bed but cold as soon as I took my sheets off and all-round not feeling great. I feared I might have the first signs of covid-19 and so called to get some advice whether I needed to take a test and if so how I got about getting one. With not driving I could not just simply drive to a test centre and you don’t exactly want to jump in a car and get a lift while potentially infected or hop on a bus. By the morning I was already feeling better but still concerned not to take any potential illness into my workplace. So I took a rapid covid-19 test that I picked up at a pharmacy which brought back a negative covid=19 test. My local doctor also advised me then to take a Covid PCR test which meant they posted it to me on Thursday, it arrived with me on Friday and I posted back to the test centre on Friday and got my negative test back Saturday. It really was a superfast free service.
So no need to self isolate and covid-19 scare passed. That weekend I also submitted a job application for a job at my local council in the same team that I work in. I am looking for a chance to develop and grow and also being run down by a lot of negativity and complaints that we are dealing with over the phones. People often phone the council assuming that as they pay taxes the council is responsible for solving any or all problems that they might have.
The new job would have involved working with improving people’s homes and doing disability and environmental adaption’s to help people live in their own homes. It felt more project focused rewarding and plannable rather than the reactive work that I am doing now. I worry that I am still after 20 years of working still trapped as an admin assistant answering phones and spelling things that I type wrong and not able to escape that type of work.
So I found out this morning that after my interview yesterday that I am still an admin ass rather that a project pro. I worked from home today so just dealt with my own demons in my mind and members of the public over the phone. But for those staff that I did speak to in the office where very kind and hugely supportive, which reminds me why I like working there in the first place. Working in an environmental health setting during a pandemic really has been an unforgettable experience. The people I work with are great; we all have days that go well as well as those that don’t do so well. There is a certain type of dark humour that goes with the territory of the work but it’s more for me about finding humour in the moment and in no way laughing at people but laughing with them. If you did not laugh you would cry sometimes.
My advice is or was, don’t take things to personally when someone is venting at you about something that is not your fault. Don’t build up your own problems all into one big bundle of pain, but take them on in bite sized chunks that you are more likely to be able to digest rather than them instead eating you up and spitting you out. Fianlly be greatful and thankful for what you have for many have nothing at all.
I don’t know if you have ever been in a car accident or crash but for a very brief moment in time all your senses are heightened and it feels like everything that is happening in slow motion even though time ticks along at its same old pace. Your eyes are wide open and if like I was, your in the passenger seat then all you can do is sit and watch the driver hopefully move the vehicle to somewhere safe (if your lucky).
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments on the current state of knowledge about climate change. Today they issued a IPCC report is ‘code red for humanity’
Though many will still scoff at the idea of climate change and claim it’s still a matter of what ever they can try and stretch our little brains into believing it is, so long as it is anything other than actual climate change and does not interfere with their capitalist freedoms to make money at the expense of others, such naysayers will always exist on a spectrum of opinions and ideas about ever changing situations on big issues. There are many that still don’t believe that Covid-19 exists but at least they never stopped the development of vaccines and medical advancements for the rest of us.
We could seriously be looking at the car crash of a situation that could very much destroy this planet and all life on it if we are not careful, the idea of the destruction of wildlife, climate change and irreversible decline in climate are ideas that have been around the block since when I was a child and yet still we get headlines like those of today like this warning that this was some how not foreseen, certainly not acted upon as quickly as it could have been and were still in the eye of the storm or the screeching of the breaks of the car crash of a situation.
Just as with Covid-19 I feel that humanity has within it the capacity to do what is right, when it is asked to and by those that need to. But time really will wait for no man, women or environment to see if we learn our own collective climate changing lessons.
Well it was my birthday on 12th July so had planned to go out with some friends for drinks on Saturday night which was great and ended with me safely home after a great night out. Then on Monday 12th July I had booked some time off work and met up with some friends for a meal which was lovely and the first time we had all been together since last March. I then went on to a bar on my way back to mine which is usually a lot of fun and had a couple of drinks on my own before heading home at 8pm.
All was going well Saturday it was a fab night and met some new people as well as had fun with some old friends. It’s like I am playing catch-up now and meeting with friends that I have not seen since pre-pandemic times.
Things went a bit sour in the last bar I went into on Monday because suddenly it appeared I was fair game to shout threats to and give insults to simply for where I worked. As I work for the council in environmental health and a very drunken stranger was told by the owner of the pub where I worked which results with threats of potential violence and the only compliment coming from this complete stranger nut job was that well at least I’m not a traffic warden because they are worse than environmental health officers. Gee thanks pal!
He was taking about getting the lads around to sort me out, bare in mind this is a drunken complete random stranger, that I had only just seen and not even spoken to at all, who felt it amusing or necessary to hurl this drunken abuse at me.
I always try to be careful when I am out not to act like an idiot, bring to much attention to myself or in anyway put myself into a situation that could lead to violence or for want of a better possibly slightly melodramatic way put myself in a situation that could result in my untimely death due to violence at the hand of another.
There is something about masculine culture that can result in violence occurring for some people especially when alcohol is involved and the last thing I want to hear the next day or when I am unlucky or lucky enough to wake up in hospital or pick myself up from the floor is ‘Oh sorry mate it was not my fault I was drunk’!
I think like most males that have lived and been around the block a few times I have in the past been assaulted and it’s a nightmare situation that no one asks or volunteers for and I am so angry when someone tries to put me in that type of situation. In my younger days I used to make a move to try and stop fights when I saw them happening and that mostly went well and either stopped or prevented violence. But I am older now and feel like I should not be stepping in any more if I can help it.
I am not going to stop going out but I am also not wanting to put myself in harm’s way due to some drunken idiot the suddenly finds a kinship with violence due to how many beers are in his body.
I was the one that had to wake up my father in the middle of the night and tell him my brother’s life had ended. If I can help it I never want anyone else to have to wake either of my parents to tell them that my life has now been lost too.
So I have just gone and booked a little city break to Ireland in Dublin.
Ha’Penny Bridge Dublin
The accomidation we will be staying in is an appartment right by the bridge in the photo above.
I am so excited and it was a little bit of an impulsive holiday booking for me and a good friend to go over for a long weekend in late November.
At present you are not able to travel to Ireland from the UK without getting a Covid-19 test first and then self-isolating on your way there and on your way back. I am hoping these rules with have been relaxed by November and we are able to travel over without these restriction in place.
Dublin can be a very expensive city to get accommodation in and the 3 nights stay in Dublin in our apartment is costing us about £33 each per night to stay which is so cheap and it’s a perfect location for the area of Dublin we have enjoyed staying at in the past.
If we can’t go not to worry, nothing ventured nothing gained as they say. But if we can it will be blast.
So I just need to make sure I can get the time of work now and arrange how we get to Dublin too.
Exciting times ahead, needing some of that luck of the Irish for this trip to come off though.
One time when I went to Dublin I saw the Waterboys sing the song below at a race course it was amazing. I look forward to making more memories there in November
Wateboys – Whole of the moon
Dublin is such a magical place with people from all over the world mixing, chatting, smiling, laughing and drinking.
A great none judgmental place that takes you as you are. Had so much fun there on many an occasion that I have been there and I do really hope I am there again in November.
I had my second Covid-19 jab over the weekend all went well and no ill effects from my second oxford astrazeneca vaccine injection. I am incredibly grateful to the NHS staff and volunteers that have helped deliver millions of vaccinations in the UK and covered over 50% of the adult population with 2 injections now
So I have my little NHS Covid-19 card with my name spelt wrong on it, to say that Hugh has had his 2 jabs done now so I will keep his card safe for him just in case he needs it back.
In the last 24 hours in the UK there have been no Covid-19 related deaths for the first time since March 7, 2020. Which is really good news, it hopefully shows that vaccines are working, the latest lockdown worked and the unlocking of lockdown is not resulting in increased deaths. But you just really have to be mindful of other variants and their future impact on all societies.
I feel a little strange at the moment like the calm after a storm that I am still not 100% sure is over yet. I still remember some of the good and bad times from last year, the light and dark moments and still think did that really just happen. It’s such a weird time to live through.
I know I have been told throughout my life by peoples whose views I respect and cherish that I can over think things, so maybe it’s just one of those over thinking times. I do like over thinking, as I do like to over think positively too. To be grateful for what I have more so than I am fearful for what I do not. To be happy for what has happened to me rather than sad about what has not.
I am definitely a glass half full person rather than a glass half empty person and even if a glass is less than half full well the fact that it still has something left in it has to be a bonus right!
I hope your glass is half full from where ever you are reading this and you feeling good today.
So I have just renewed my membership of Moor Trees a fantastic rewilding charity based here in Devon. Their long term vision is for a Wild Heart of Dartmoor, a core zone that is predominantly wooded and largely shaped by natural processes, but combined with low density grazing. The core zone would be surrounded by a mosaic of moorland, blanket bog, mires, pasture and crops with managed native woodlands, including working woodlands.
Dartmoor is the closest area we have near to where I live that can be described as close to a wilderness area as we have. A stand out wild area of beautiful landscapes and legends. Dartmoor National Park is a vast moorland in the county of Devon, in southwest England where Dartmoor ponies roam its craggy landscape, defined by forests, rivers, wetlands and tors (rock formations). Trails wind through valleys with Neolithic tombs, Bronze Age stone circles and abandoned medieval farmhouses.
A Dartmoor Pony grazing next to Plymouth Leat, above Clearbrook in south-west Dartmoor. Photo by Nilfanion
In the UK if you stand still long enough one of the utilities companies that you use will find a way of making more money out of you or just simply taking you for granted. So I decided to shake up some of my utility suppliers last night. Its well worth checking prices online and going to a comparison sight to decide what it is that is important to you and then signing up to who can best deliever what you want
I signed up last night to an Octopus Energy – renewable energy deal where they are also able to carbon offset my home gas usage. My Dad has been signed up with them for a couple of years now and finds them really easy to work with and loves there ecological motivation and credentials. I clicked on a link from my Dad which enables us both to get some cash back by me signing up.
I also eneded my contract with Talk Talk for my Phone and Broadband deal after they deciding early in the year to double the price of my broadband and mobile deal that I had with them as well as destroying the quality of my broadband speed and reducing the customer service number to a we wont answer your calls line. The speed of braodband was so slow that it was affecting my abilty to work at home.
So I also changed broadband supplier in order to get a fastrer supply for a cheaper price and a better customer experiance. So I am going to try POP telecom Broadband and see how that goes.
Exeter (my city), Devon (my county) and the rest of the UK (my country) held elections yesterday and many of the results have been announced today.
I voted for the green party where I live and I am very pleased to say that a green party councillor called Amy Sparling won the local ward on my council so Exeter City council and St Davids ward where I live now has two elected green party councillors.
It would be awesome if one day Exeter could send a green party elected official to our parliament in London to represent the people of Exeter, who knows what might happen in the future!
So I have just put on my green party of the USA T-shirt this evening, which I bought during one of the lockdowns last year while they were campaigning for the USA Presidential election, though it could have got here by plane so not sure how environmentally friendly my purchases method of transport was!
I also joined the green party in the UK last year and had some help from the other Green Party Councillor regarding an investigation into chopping down hedges along the rail track by my house during the bird nesting season in a spring 2020 lockdown. Although it was all said to be legitimate cutting of greenery by network rail by the wildlife crime officer which I could not really argue with in the end I was grateful to my local green party councillor also for checking out the legality of the cuttings being done and that really won over my support to the local green party even more than it already was.
I have already been really interested in politics from an early age and studied politics at university (although not staying there long enough to get a degree). I struggle to understand why so many people say politics is irrelevant to them or that it does not matter who you vote for their all as bad as each other.
I person in work said I quote that I had not heard before which is ‘if you don’t do politics, politics will do you’. I think that is an excellent phrase in which never was a truer word spoken.
So I went on a train trip down to Cornwall, a couple of weeks ago, where I was able to celebrate Christmas, Easter and pubs reopening all in one week with my parents. I also even found time to get my hair cut for the first time in 6 months to ensure that I no longer look like I am in some kind of 70’s TV police show.
Haircutted April 2021!
I have also been trying to lose weight, since my diabetes diagnosis and its happening slowly but surely and I weighted in this morning and find that since I started reducing my intake of unhealthy foods, portion sizes and eating less carbohydrates and more vegetables I have lost about 1 and half stone in weight or 9.5 kg. I was a little worried about my weight this week because I went out on my first lads night on the beers for the first time in over a year and also had a meal out to. But I was still able to loose a little weight due to the healthier eating and drinking in the rest of the week.
I still have a heavy weight to loose and a long way to go but it’s all going in the right direction. My biggest risk to my physical health will be when the pubs open up full time and I want to go out and be social and have a pint and listen to live music. But if I do so once a week and keep on track with my eating for the rest of the week (and my life) I should hopefully be ok.
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