News

For once, I am not going to start off with “Well, now”……..

For some strange reason, I tend to write emails and blogs as if I am having a conversation with myself.  Funnily (or strangely) enough, these personal one-on-one conversations are becoming more frequent now that I am living on my own.

Often, I find myself having a good old chat on my own – sometime I even start arguing with myself!  This could be considered as worrying behaviour but in the overall scheme of things I think it is quite normal.

I firmly believe that if you chat through a problem or issue that you can identify fixes.  Keeping it all clogged up is no good at all and just exacerbates the problem.  OK, granted that it’s better if there are 2 people involved but as I am on my own most of the time then I’ll just have to make do.


Nang will be back in Ireland in a week.  It has been a long wait and it is a right pain in the ass having to apply for all sorts of visas.  Especially when there are so many non-nationals already in Ireland – how the hell do they all get visas to stay here?!?!??!  It baffles me!

I really wonder is there any control on illegal immigration here?  There are certainly no checks as you leave Dublin Airport – so if you overstay your visit by a few years there are no repercussions!  Its all a bit mad really.

I am also hoping that I can stay in Dalkey for the next few months.  Looks like I will be able to move into the apartment below when Barry comes back to his own place.  Now that really would be handy as I think Dalkey will be a great place to be during the summer.  I’ve braved the winter there so I think I deserve to live it up in the summer.

 

Politics & Biz

So Bertie is finally gone – at last!  He surprised a lot of people when he made the announcement but he was always a very clever and sharp mind.  I think he realised that the Tribunal were going to nail him and that there is only bad news on the economy for the next few years!  He seems to want to claim credit for why the economy did so well but at the same time as things turn bad he says that the global economy is outside his control.  He cant have it both ways.



He certainly deserves the credit for his efforts in relation to the Peace process.  I absolutely acknowledge that and in fairness I would be willing to overlook all his dodgy dealings back in the 90’s.  However, he just couldn’t come out and admit it.  He fudged the issue and made blatant lies – under oath!  Now, that is unacceptable.



If he came out and said that he took some backhanders but that it was small money and he has since given the money back or to charity then I think I would have forgiven him.  But he has continually refuted the allegations and just kept digging a bigger hole for himself!



IN Thailand there has been little to report on.  The new government aren’t shaking things up too much.  I read a review in the Financial Times last week in relation to Bangkok and how the Skytrain has transformed the city.  The new underground is also having a positive increase on property prices along the route.  Luckily for me, my condo is very near to both the Skytrain and the Metro underground so it should be increasing in value all the time.



There has also been a lot of fun and games in relation to my villa in Baan Talay Samran.  It would appear that some of the rentals will need to be scaled back and this will probably have a negative impact on the rental income in the short-term.  On a positive note, the house value has increased a lot as it is a condo on the beachfront and they are no longer granting planning permission for these.  Also, a little further down the beach there is a new resort open called Alila.  By all accounts it is a very impressive place and should only help increase values in Talay Samran.

Sport

Bad result for United at the weekend.  Only 3 points difference now and United still have to visit Arsenal and Chelsea.  It aint over yet.  Vidic is a major loss for United and he was sorely missed on Sunday.

Munster had a great win at the weekend - away from home.  Now they play Saracens in the semis and they are looking very good.  Kidney made some brave decisions before the game dropping Stringer and Payne but it worked out well for him.  Also, he made a change at a crucial time when they were under pressure in the scrum.  A sign of really good management - and decisive actions!

I dont know what I am going to do when the soccer and rugby are over......  

 

Techie

I started playing more of the Wii recently but got bored quickly.  I love playing Wii sports but it gets very repetitive.  At this stage, I was hoping that they would release a better version of Wii sports.  I was trying to play Mario at the Olympics but most of the games are really simple.  Resident evil 4 is quite good – but I would be lost if I hadn’t downloaded a “walkthrough” from the Net.



I am looking for an iphone alternative.  There is no way I will fork out crazy money for an Iphone that doesn’t have 3G or a radio.  I think its ridiculously overpriced and that if people fork out money that they have more money than sense.  The HTC touch looks like a good alternative and I must say that I am still happy with my DOPOD 838 pro.  OK, the Windows Mobile 5 OS is a little sloggy and the phone reception isn’t great but I love all the extra features and applications that I have working on it.



I finally bought a slingbox on Ebay at the weekend.  I went to PC World first to buy one up there but was told by the “technician” that they didn’t stock them.  He was from India or Pakistan and he didn’t have a clue.  I walked around a few more shops – Currys, Harvey Norman and Dixons and one of the assistants confirmed that they DID stock slingboxes in PC World – he worked there the previous week!  So back up to PC World and found a very helpful Irish guy.  In the end, I didn’t buy it there cause I also needed the slinglink which connects the TV with the router – as they are in separate rooms.



SO hopefully I will have it all setup in a few weeks and then I can start reviewing it for real.

Ents

I need to be entertained.  In fact, I need to entertain myself.  There is no doubt that I am in a rutt and I need to drag myself out of it.  I am hoping that when Nang comes back next week that that will be the kickstart that I need to get my arse in gear.



The clocks have gone forward meaning that it is bright up to about 9pm in the evenings.  That means that I should be out and about enjoying myself and not stuffed up at home watching fecking soaps!

 

IMHO

I’ve been pondering about my future over the last few months.  I’m no spring chicken anymore and I’ll have to start putting down roots sometime soon.  I have to decide where I want to grow these roots.



For sure, I have found it difficult to settle back into life in Ireland but I think I am to blame for that.  I really have made little effort in meeting friends and creating new friends.  Perhaps its because I know that I am not going to be staying around in Ireland for all that long.



But where will I go and what will I do?  That is the multi-million dollar question.  I really wish I knew.  Even after months of pondering and looking at all my various options I still haven’t moved any closer to a decision.