Sayings and doings.

Sayings that occurred to me recently for no good reason. Apologies for the colourfulness of some of the language. some of the expression are more exclamations, others are commentaries.

If she were on fire, I wouldn't piss on her.

So mean (pronounced - maine) he wouldn't pay attention.

So mean (pronounced - maine) he wouldn't give you the steam of his piss.

Oh for the love and the honour of God.

Oh dear Jesus Christ.

He's one quare hawk away.

I'll gladly pay you Tuesday.

I suspect someone is looking to borrow money, or a lift or generally mooch something as I was party to a "Hi lads" at lunch time. Of course, I might just have received it as some sort of collateral damage and it might not have included me at all. Now, I will have to come clean at this point and admit to the fact that I'm currently availing of the kindness of others. The difference is I'm pleasant to the same people outside of times when I need stuff from them. You see that's how a real long con works.

In other news, I'm doing a table quiz for the Limerick Animal Welfare folks in the stables this evening and have been boning up on my useless knowledge base, that and being refreshed by other group members as to my awareness of the doings of the Famous 5. I was always sure that George and Anne were up to something, or it could have been wishful thinking on the part of my teenage self. I'm sure there some fanfic on it somewhere.

Hate fever

My nose is quite stuffing and runny this morning, the volume control on my hearing appears to be on the blink, and my eyes are sorish so it's either something related to particulant in the air or the plague. All in all, very annoying. I wonder what the weekend forecast is like.

I really need to write something of the recent legal problems the government have landed themselves in, but it is hard to know where to start or once started where to stop.

Also, my hands are more like badly painted stigmata.

I appear to be sun burnt!

On my travels this afternoon, I appear to have gotten burnt by the big yella thing in the sky! However, it is just parts of my face and the upper part of my fist which makes for a weird rash look to the whole thing. I was cycling on the Dock rd., so perhaps it is a weird rash after all!

And check out these guys, it's a documentary about how life could be lived if we all took it a bit slower. By using a Segway for example...

Who do you think you are?

This guy could almost be me.

and there is not alone a dansullivan.com there is even a dan-sullivan.com!

So dansullivan.ie it may have to be.

The silent treatment

So now some people are blanking me. Not to worry, all be over soon. Or so I'm lead to believe.

Should have mentioned the blanking occurred a few minutes after another more an accidental ignoring at the bus stop which was quite understandable.

In other news, I snore apparently. Inconsistently. Have to work on that to get a consistent tone. It should be noted on the airbed you can't turn so you are stuck on your back and I'm more of a side sleeper and my nose is a little blocked due to stuff in the air. Dusty couches being disturbed and so on.

Hope to get another part of the house process dealt with today. Should probably hold off on any celebrations for a bit.

House Wear

I thought I might leverage a wee bit from the experience of others in this area.

When putting stuff in a house it is very easy to overlook some items like that table thingy under the telly.

So, I'm going to use this as a place to list stuff that I need for each room and people can comment on things I'm missing.


Generic

I'm going to need curtains up the yingyang.


Living room

Telly! VCR, DVD


Study/Library


Kitchen

microwave

toaster

kettle

crockery and cutlery

a knife set.

this one could be quite long, perhaps the longest of the lot.


Dining Area

Table + chairs


Utility

washing machine, and a dryer


Hall way

an umbrella stand! and a coat and hat rack?

Bath room

hmm... some toilet duck, a little basket and not much else initially I suppose.

Box Room

A single 3 footer bed,
bedside cabinet
rubbish bin


Front Bedroom

Double bed, or just a 4 and 1/5 footer.
Bedside cabinet
rubbish bin
Mirrored ceiling?

Back Bedroom


Double bed, or just a 4 and 1/5 footer.
Bedside cabinet
rubbish bin


Landing.

Stira! and then make the attic a library will need to get the weight limit on the ceiling assessed.


Garden

Shed, well at some point
Barbie!

Closure

X-men was poor enough, can't say I felt it was value for money by any means. And doing things with certain characters just for the sake of you wantign the public to turn out for what you claim will be the final installment is just silly.

I'm a week away from completing my move. Currently crashing at chez Catherine street, thanks for that lads! Did some moving on Friday, last assisted by Eoin and John. Thanks again. I should be getting keys on Friday and move in that night or the Saturday. That said, it could take a while to get some of the furnishings I need. Sofas and such appear to take 12-14 weeks, I suspect they have to hunt down the individual trees to be used. I'm inclined towards getting something immmediate and that may mean second hand so long as it would last 2/3 years. Beds on the other hand will need to be decent, sleep is very important.

How terribly true

It would appear some plans not alone do not survive the first encounter with the enemy but some don't make it from the planning stage at all. And some possibly are not even that far along.

There is indeed an isle

and its Cup runneth over. A great old day all the same. The tense was frightening throughout but the second half had us all heaving along with the team to ensure they kept Biarritz out. As someone said, it cost Biarritz €10 million to assemble their team and in some senses they were beaten by a group of lads from down the road. Ah..., but what a road!

Kerry had a win over Waterford to kick off the championship, though it appears to have been harder work than expected.

Dowie is gone from Palace and I reckon Andy Johnson and Gabor Kiraly will soon follow. I wonder how we are going to challenge for a play-off place next year with Sunderland and Birmingham and Leeds. So, my sporting thoughts are somewhat mixed after all that.

Finland brought some glamour back to the Eurovision. That is glamour in its original Lallans meaning of to "be seen as different things by different people", for the preteen rebels the song probably seemed like one in the eye for the old fogies. For the older folks, it was an ironic statement about the music industry. Ireland managed to get in the top ten and we seem to be able to get a few votes here and there.

I got a mention in a political gossip magazine last week. It's hardly publicity but sure it can't hurt to still be in the public eye or could it.

Off-line

Out of sight and out of...

You never know where some things have been.

I got this mail from someone today, and I'm not sure what kind of work they are doing in the Venus Lab, but it sounds exciting! And what kind of ladies are hanging out by the Venus Lab?

"A Sony Ericsson Mobile was lost in the Ladies near the Venus Lab, Block A. If it is found can you please hand into Main Reception.

Thanks a million."

Sufficiently funny - one

Important Notice...

In Pharmacology, all drugs have two names, a trade name and generic name. For example, the trade name of Tylenol also has a generic name of Acetaminophen Aleve is also called Naproxen. Amoxil is also call Amoxicillin and Advil is also called Ibuprofen. The FDA has been looking for a generic name for Viagra. After careful consideration by a team of government experts, it recently announced that it has settled on the generic name of Mycoxafloppin. Also considered were Mycoxafailin, Mydixadrupin, Mydixarizin, Dixafix, and of course, Ibepokin. Pfizer Corp. announced today that Viagra will soon be available in liquid form, and will be marketed by Pepsi Cola as a power beverage suitable for use as mixer. It will now be possible for a man to literally pour himself a stiff one. Obviously we can no longer call this a soft drink, and it gives new meaning to the names of "cocktails", "highballs" and just a good old-fashioned "stiff drink". Pepsi will market the new concoction by the name of: MOUNT & DO.

Thought for the day: There is more money being spent on breast implants and Viagra today than on Alzheimer's research. This means that by 2040, there should be a large elderly population with perky boobs and huge erections and absolutely no recollection of what to do with them. If you don't send this to five old friends right away there will be five fewer people laughing in the world.

Portents of doom, or the sirens' song?

Alternative offers that sound tempting, possible delays in closing, and now people getting ambushed in the area? Are these all warnings or are they distractions from the true path? Should I believe the universe is trying to help or hinder me? Answers on a postcards to ... oh, who needs postcards.

Should I stay or should i go NOW!?

And will the B'stards let me?

We're due to visit a place (name isn't important) near Dublin on Thursday at 11am which means getting a train at 6.45am Thursday if there is a train! If there isn't a train then we'd need to get the bus tomorrow evening and overnight in Dublin or perhaps we can rent a car for the Thursday morning. All of which makes this even more of an ordeal that it really needs to be. Effing train drivers.

In addition, there are the the iMedia presentations for most of the day on this Friday and Monday next which means I'll be mostly out of the office and out of sight (and we know what that leads to) for Thursday, Friday, Monday and perhaps even some of tomorrow Wednesday.

The oversight problem

The oversight problem. If you found on a plane that the stewarding staff have not given you lunch after all the other passengers have received their lunches you will usually find no problem in raising this with them. Now if a friend or work colleague doesn't mention something to you. Are you supposed to raise it with them and perhaps place them in a awkward situation or leave it be and let them remember it in their own time or if they don't take the inference that the forgetfulness was intended? Or you're due to get a ticket for an social event in the post, but it never comes would you contact the host?

B'stards

I really hate this sort of stuff. Just as I get the information that the house might not be there in time comes a temptation from elsewhere. It's all part of a plot, I'm sure of it.

I've been getting mails and txts from OMG about houses but nothing of any real use, usually 3 beds in Corbally/Westbury for 230K then today I get this one. Which is close to where I had looked before and been let down. €240K is probably my upper limit what I was prepared to spend even if it was South Fork complete with a pool and that down southern wife JR got himself when he was put in jail. I could probably have rustled up some more if needed but there again it will more likely go for more that €240K, what with two rooms downstairs for receptions and such like and 4 actual bedrooms upstairs. So, perhaps I should hang onto the difference just case I need do other stuff. Hired killers are going for more that €500 in Limerick these days I hear. I might look into it after all.

Who is a bad boy now?

One thing, that I may have mentioned before is that I'm not a natural born nice person. I see self centred devious people about me and think there but for the grace of the Goddress or goodness go I. See thing is I'm quite a fantastic liar and capable of a great deal of charm when the mood suits me. And that tends to lead to some unpleasantness after the fact which isn't fair on the other people involved.

However, due to family circumstances which either you know about or if you don't I'm not going to tell you here I've learned over the course of my childhood that sometimes there isn't really a place in your life for such personal indulgence. So, I've tried to be a better person. And I've done an ok job for the most part. That said, it takes an effort to be this good. And by 'this good', I don't mean as some measure of fantabulous goodness rather to say this is how good I currently am. I retain a devious capablity which I like to keep to a minimum. Something people who don't know me from my younger days tend not to be aware of.

So, it is especially depressing for me with a big 'D' when things occur that cause me to question the point in all the effort. Why not let the bad lad out? It is hardly like I'm a saint or that everyone else is living the good life. Yet being a complete bastard is just too easy and too tempting. And how would I ever walk away from it once I'd started down that path. Morality , decency and having a better nature is all well and good but when you see the cheaters winning you wonder if it might not be time to step outside the rules and take some for yourself. Anyway, that moment has passed for now, and I'm hopefully the karma might work for me for once.

Out in the cold again

Temperature has dropped a few degrees hereabouts, and the hunter gatherer effort for lunch is now more lone wolf than as a member of a pack. Forced to skulk out and back. Sometimes there is no safety in numbers.

Weatherwise it seems our taste of summer is passed too. Got wet yesterday and just managed to miss it today.

And it seems my vendors need another week to move house, which leaves me royally stuck as the place I'm in at the moment has also been sold and they have gone with the same closing date as my original closing date. Seems the Goddess is a tad annoyed at me. See, wishing for people to burn in Hell or be run down by a bus doesn't do any good for one's karma.

You wish

for what might have been.

We're your friends. We're not like the others, man, really.

Yeah, right.

Out in the wild.

Fresh country air is full of stuff, much of it flying about the place under its own steam. Phuft, blah. I saw some birdies which I didn't swallow and the water was quite dank in places. You were kind of expecting bodies to be semi-submerged. Or I've been watching Invasion a bit too much. Tempting but I wouldn't give some people the satisfaction. It had a sort of a bajou feel. I saw a couple of pieces of wildlife. The old camera phone doesn't have the best resolution. It was kind of tranquil but there aren't too many spots to sit and think.

Perhaps a walk by the river will do me good.

Decided to go for a wander. It is somewhat warm and sticky inside, perhaps there will be a summer breeze outside. Or knowing my luck at the moment there will be a miserable shower waiting for me. There again the water might be cooling.

Oh my dear God!

Seems that survey about pay levels in the IT industry I mentioned a few posts ago has brought some strange individuals out into the daylight.

Venom and Bile - Part 1

You'd wonder some times if trashy teen movies and mainstream schlock horror writers have taught us nothing about human behaviour.

When the telekenetically empowered nutter is made a fool of they don't just limit themselves to killing the perpetrators but indiscriminately lay waste to everyone in the room. Why? Because it is not so much the people behind the pig's blood that are the real offenders but those who were in on it and kept schtum. With friends like these who needs enemies. It kind of all boils down to trust. Can you trust those people? If in doubt, leave them out.

In truth, you tend to come to half expect such things from a transparent, androgyous leech who is so in need of validation that they probably have a photoshopped picture of themselves appearing on amihotornot. A person more choirboy than diva. Badly written though those people may be they still exist.

Coming soon, the Venom and Bile post

With character assassination and exposes galore. You won’t want to read it but you know you’ll have to. Bridges burned at no extra cost.

The danger of iTunes

It is strange how the music can mirror your mood. Which is probably not the best of things at times. I wonder if any coroners have thought to ask to see what the people had playing on their iTunes just prior to them being fished out of the drink.

Also, not to be advised to try and do repetitive somewhat dextrous manual tasks, like stuffing envelopes while not being exactly Captain Postivity I can almost relate to those Hollywood types who nick their fingers chopping the carrots. Every little thing becomes a major pain. Still, nearly done now.

Still not feeling any better

Someone offered me a hatchet but there was no one nearby I would bury it in. This of course is why sensible people have suggestted that people with incredible mutant powers would really need to be locked up, you never know when they will get in a stroppy mood and take out half the county. I could probably live with a few thousand deaths on my conscience right now, provided the right people were in there somewhere. Perhaps, the Shrike might get them on the way home.

Over the state line

Another shooting in Clare It would almost seem to some that the city's criminal faternity are taking the American concept of crossing state lines to perform certain activities to an ridiculous extreme in dispatching their executions style killings outside the city boundaries. It's not like the city boundary has customs posts stationed on it and that there is a lack of extradition with Clare or Limerick county. There again for some of the lads involved perhaps Clare is another world entire.

You think you know some people

People can surprise you. I'm not talking about what I did some years back to a housemate. We were living in house that had a mini landing, with a couple of steps up to a landing for the back of house and a turnback which lead back to the rooms in the front of the house. All this about 3/4 of the way up the stairs. The landing was quite dark when the light wasn't on even during the day. I was just at the top steps coming from the back of the house and saw my friend exit his room in the front of the house, so I stepped down the final step onto the landing and then sidestepped into the dark spot on the mini-landing. My friend came down the steps, turned passed me and was just about to descend the main stairs when I said, in my best even toned slight evil voice, 'Martin' Dear God, he leapt! And then once he had his balance turned and started thumping me. Which was fair enough given that I was in hysterics of laughter. There again, he was later that year one of those involved with the 'rattle stick trick' on the road out of Lagoa in Portugal.

No, what I mean is that people you suspect you're passable socialable with and who you've even somewhat against your better judgement helped out in finding a place to live when they were apparently stuck (there again, the signs were there when they don't even take the time to say 'thanks' for that) decide you're persona non grata. Still, it's not like it was any different last year.
We live and learn. Or not as the case may be. Death to the Arch Demoness Allegra Geller

Because you're not worth it.

Apparently we have another survey that states the obvious then tells us nothing. Women believe they are paid less than men in the IT industry. This survey is entirely about perception not reality. Those surveyed had no idea what their companies pay rates were so how could they tell if they were being paid more or less than their male colleagues?

The final quote in the article is a good illustration of what is completely wrong with these surveys
"Last October, official government stats found that women IT managers are still paid less that men although the gap was narrowing" Managing what exactly? Are they technical managers, product managers or project managers? Are they managing technical teams or test teams or directly dealing with the client? All those jobs require different qualities and those qualities are in varying degrees of availability and that impacts pay rates. But sure why should we look at the fine detail when the headline is so satisfying.

All part of the process - except when you're not

Inclusion and Exclusion are strange things, today we are reminded that some habits die hard with the murder of a teenager in Ballymena apparently because he belonged to not one group but to another.

While we are aware that excluding people is a delibrate act, it is necessary to recognise that inclusion requires activity too. When we decide to define who is part of the group, we are not just by implication ensuring that everyone else is most certainly outside. Even at the most basic social level including people is a positive act requiring an effort. Needless to say if people don't bother to make such an effort then it would seem to suggest that it wasn't worth doing.

Of course no one likes to be left out, but what is perhaps more annoying is if people 'include' you when you know it is under sufferance. Tolerance is good but being tolerated is not nearly so much as being really include. Also, if you aren't being asked to join in it is also kind of nice not to have it rubbed in your face on other occasions. Alright already, I get it. Speak when you're spoken to and know your place. I won't be inviting myself along to meals time in future.

Sometimes it is better to just stay outside. That why you can't think you weren't welcome.

Green Flags

Green flags are award by An Taisce as part of the internation eco-schools projects.

Some highlights from the speech were my attempts at lame humour such as saying "I'd like to say I had a speech prepared but my dog ate it. Which is interesting in that I don't have a dog."

"Someone, I think it was Kermit T. Frog once said, it's not easy being Green." I went on to compliment them on their hard work and how it's not one day thing, but a life long thing. There were probably some other environmentally right-on sentiments.

Audience participation.

OK, so I've tried to start back blogging and already I've got two commets on annoyingmice or anonymousesssss. Is that a form of stalking I wonder? It's along the lines of wondering aloud if you have an audience and immediately getting heckled. Still, it's better than talking to yourself. Or is it?

I did a thing with some school kids today involving a pole. One of the local secondary got a green flag their 3rd in fact and in my role as An Taisce chair I headed up to briefly speechify and spread the word. It went ok, took longer than it should have, I had forgotten how like herding cats schools can be. Probably end up with picture in the local press. More likely baby Leader than big Leader.

May I have the pleasure?

I paid a visit to the Mansion House over the weekend to see the Lord Mayor. There was some speechifying and some beverages to be enjoyed. As I mentioned to someone while there I liked the place, but I wouldn't be prepared to make an offer until I could find out what the rental situation in the area was like.

I also visited with some friends from the land of way back. Dear God but house prices in Dublin still give me the willies. K&K seemed in pretty good form.

Today, we had what I regarded as belated April showers put in an appearance. Weather has been pretty weird over the last few days. Friday was lovely but then got cold, then Saturday was pretty good but it rained Sunday afternoon.

Blogging appears to have taken a bit of dive recently...well...it has tailed off since the New Year I would think. Why is this I wonder? Perhaps, people became self conscious about what they were posting? Perhaps, the predominantly one-sided habit of a blog has made it harder to sustain an interest. After all when you talk to yourself you're aware that no one is listening with this blogging business you're not entirely sure if there is anyone listening or if the audience has all gone home.

What else have I done? Struggled to write a few bits, had some stuff printed in An Focal, ran a blog/column on the SU elections as an attempt to get into the punditry business Noel Whelan how are ya!

Errr.... there must have been something else.