Friday the 13th rant.......hehe

So thankfully I got the day off for Friday the 13th. I am not superstitious but sure I felt better knowing that if any shit hit the fan work wise I was well out of the picture. So I woke up nice and early and feeling pretty good. No cataclysmic events had happened during my sleep so the world was still there and was not full of nuclear fallout or the walking dead.

In fact it was a smashing day! The sun shining, birds talking their normal crap and I hadn't slept till four in the afternoon. My mum was up minding my little god daughter down in the brothers house in Bray so I had arranged to go over and see the two of them as I don't get to see my mum as much as I would like. So I had a cup of wake up juice and headed over. It was a lovely drive with none of the normal bullshit involved. No traffic jams or diversions just a nice easy drive.

I arrived to Bray and the sun was still splitting the sky, so with a hop in my step I went in to say hello to mum.

"Your fathers just been in an accident."

EDIT: Mum just read the post.....She actually said "Hi" first. Sorry mum :).

Lovely. So I quickly lost the hop and smile and felt my chest constrict with fear. Sweat immediately beaded on my forehead and I felt a bit shaky on my feet. All in the space of about a second.

"He's ok. He just rang and said he was out of the car"

Hmmm. Ok, well he can talk and obviously move so he is not dead. That made me feel better. So I asked mum what had happened.

This is where the fear left and the anger hit in with such force that I was nearly compelled to drive to Carlow.

So it happened like this. My dad is a driving instructor, and a very good one at that. He has a very high pass rate and both myself, my little sister and even my little brother passed our tests first time ;) (hehe, sorry Al). Dad was parked on the hard shoulder, on a straight with a pupil. It is part of instructing where the pupil learns to drive on faster roads etc. Next of all some feckin gobsheen hits him from behind at about 100kph, on the hard shoulder, and spins my dads car 360 degrees. So the ambulance is called, the police arrive etc etc. Now thankfully my dad and his pupil were not hurt and for that I am obviously truly thankful. I believe the gobsheen is fine too, whatever.

So it is a pretty clear cut case. My dad was parked with hazards on and handbrake on, on the hard shoulder and a twat hits his car from behind. This is recorded by the police etc. The guy should be put off the road end of story.

Next thing I know its Monday and mum rings me.

"The guy is saying that your father was pulling out from the hard shoulder and that it is not his fault"

FUCK SAKE!!! The evidence is all there, from the garda report to where the damage is on the car, to the fact that the handbrake was on, to the pupil as a witness. The guy is chancing his fucking arm. What a dick, he fucked up and should just stand up and take his fucking medicine. So now of course assessors are needed etc etc. Thankfully dad is not going to let this lie and will go all the way to the courts if necessary. Good on you dad!!

Whats wrong with the world that people do not or will not take responsibility for their actions. Is there no such thing as common decency, honesty or integrity anymore?? It makes me feel ashamed to exist in this era of law suits, claims etc. Fraudulent fuckers everywhere. TV advertising is a major cause with all these stupid ads about "No win, No fee!!" Seriously the world is a hard enough place to live in. If people do not take responsibility for their actions we will end up in a world of chaos.

The picture is one I took while dangerous driving.........I was on the motorway and had the camera in my hand and hit the button. I reckoned the shaky effect was kind of apt for this post. I changed the levels quite a lot to make it look a bit more severe and cropped it to just show the dials. Other than that I did feck all. Dolly will probably comment on the fact that it is not in focus.......hmmmmmmm. So I promise I will not post another rant for a while. I just felt that this story deserved one.

Ahhhh Spring.....and other stuff

Well I finally managed to find my camera again. It was stuck in the bottom of a large box of crap that I hadn't been arsed unpacking. So anyway this means its time to let the brilliance start again. For everyone who has missed my utterly, amazingly, inane pictures....I'm back.

I have obscurely named the above picture "Some red berry things in a bush". Well I have a garden now so there are all sorts of new and wonderful things to take pictures of. The taking of this photo was amazingly difficult. Its been a couple of weeks since I have taken any pictures and I had forgotten what most of the little buttons did (there are only three). So it took a few tries before I remembered the little flower button. So I just clicked and this is what I got. Then I had to go through the bullshit of hooking the camera up to the PC. Then I had a nap for about 30mins. It was a nice nap and I had a weird dream that I was sitting in a deckchair in a tree.

So I played about with this shot in photoshop and made it look really crap so just started again and did some levels and said "fuck it, it will do as no-one really wants to see red berry things in a bush anyway".

EDIT: A special word of congratulations to Dolly, who noted the fact that the berries in the pic are not in focus. This is a very hard thing to do when they are in the centre of your picture. It took a lot of hard work to manage this. Anyone looking for lessons in how to do this should contact me on 1900 outoffocus...............

Well as I mentioned in my previous post I have moved home and this is a picture of it.


It was built in the 1930's and is worth a feckin fortune as it is in a very prosperous area. Thankfully the rent is pretty good. It could do with some insulating and crap like that but all in all is the perfect home. Its quite amazing how much different I am feeling since moving!!! Life is so much more relaxed and I am pissed off with myself for not moving sooner. I took a few pictures of my empty apartment and it is amazing how fast it became just an apartment and not home anymore.

Well I think this was a nice happy post so expect a rant tomorrow or the next day about Friday the 13th.........

Move is done...Thanks be to Christ

So its done.........

I really hate moving. It's a pain in the arse. If I never have to move again I will die a happy man. Moving has gone up on my list of things I hate to do....

Well I have given up life in the fast lane (Thomas Street). Haha, and am now back in suburbia! What a difference. Today I heard an actual bird singing. Not a scaggy bird yelling "Get back in your feckin buggy before I kill ya". The air is fresher and I have a garden. You have no idea how weird that feels after living in a 1 bed apartment in the City Centre for 4 years.

Now I have been down on my luck for the past while so I reckoned there must be something on the way to balance things out for me a bit. Well on Friday I started lugging all my crap over to Dundrum and got a phone call from my regional manager. Now at the time I was working out in Blanchardstown so it was a fair distance but worth it for some easier living. Anyway she tells me she is making some personnel changes and asked me if I would look after the department in Dundrum.......

I nearly fell over. Sometimes things just work out perfectly. So now not only do I have a nicer living environment but my work environment is better due to the fact that I can walk to work in 15mins.

Sometimes life throws you a straight ball instead of a curve (whoa baseball talk....I don't even know how to play).

Sorry for not posting one of my brilliant, masterful photos *cough*. But I still have to sort out my computer and stop using my mates.

Christ what a trip!!! (Not the drugs kind)

Whoa...where to start!! Well first of a big thanks to Ste for his usual organisational genius. Everything went of without a hitch, no fuck ups whatsoever.

So On Monday 19th I set of for Zurich for a nice relaxing break for the week. How wrong was I! On arrival it was straight to the imagine bar which serves ice cold Heineken. Its very tasty. Also being able to smoke in the bars there is like a dream come true so I should have seen this as a sign of what was to come. I had arranged to meet a friend that evening in Lucerne and arrived already pretty drunk which was not a good thing as I wanted to make a good impression, not your usual drunken Irish impression. Ah well we learn from our mistakes. Next evening found us having a beautiful meal and chilling with some drinks so I guess was really the quietest night of the week.

Next it was of to Austria by train from Zurich. This is by far and away the best way to travel. No cramped leg space, nice food, drink and beautiful scenery passing you by. We arrived at our hotel the Gridlon hotel. Family run and absolutely fantastic. We were on half board so got an excellent meal every morning and night and if you ever go that way I would highly recommend a stay there.

So Thursday morning saw us hitting the slopes.......literally. Well in fairness Ste and Baz can ski so it was really only Elaine and myself who struggled. Damn skiing is a bitch. Your natural tendencies are fecked out the window and with massive boots on it was not long before the hurt set in. Well I was eager so went of with Ste and Baz to show off my skills on the kiddy slopes. Ski gear and skiing makes me look weird hence no pics of me. So exhausted by 2:00 I headed back for a steam and sauna to clear some of the aches and pains.

On Friday the two boys took me up higher on the mountain and this was grand until I had to get back down. It was a blue run which is an easy one but by christ the fear hit me hard. Once I saw an edge I froze and could only ski in the opposite direction. which is not a good thing as you move forward at about 2cm a minute. I fell about 25 times and got really pissed off and just wanted to be down and drinking a hot chocolate smoking a fag. So I realised I needed a bit more training before attempting that again.

Saturday much the same with me sticking to the kiddy slopes again and the guys off skiing for miles on end. By this time Christina and Morgan had joined us so we arranged to meet in the mooservirt bar at 3:00 for apres ski. Well you know the movies, people chilling to a nice drink after a ski........It was mental. I got stociously drunk and had to get Baz to carry my skis down the mountain while I slid down on my arse.

I took a break from skiing on Sunday as I was bolloxed tired and had a drive around the mountains with Morgan and Elaine. I am usually pretty bored with this kind of thing but the scenery was amazing. So that about wrapped up the trip. Just a nice train journey home and then we got to meet Ash and Peggy who are friends who used to live here in Dublin and so got a bit pissed again.

All in all a fantastic trip and I would highly recommend a similar trip to anyone up for a good time. Problem is that I need a break to get over this one....

Holiday!!

Well the sun is shining and all is well in the world! Well it was snowing today but in my head its sunny as I am off on a weeks holidays! I am off to Switzerland again and then skiing in Austria.

So I will more than likely be a lazy git and not post for the next week.

Feel free to leave any comments about the site or about anything you would like to see included in the future.

Have fun!

Tagged by Sandy....Damn.

Ok so Sandy has ever so kindly *Cough*, tagged me into this silly bloody tell the world five things about yourself that they would not already know. Now normally I would not bother my arse but 1) I had no post for today prepared and 2) She did such a good and honest job herself that I said I would give it a bash. The picture is one taken of me by the bro a while ago. I am such a robbin bastard :)

1. I have different personalities at home and work. In work I am an organisational freak and get stressed and annoyed when things are not perfect. At home I couldn't give a fuck.
2. I hate tomatoes and peppers. Love tomato sauce, bolognese sauce and the flavour of peppers in food once I cant see the actual pepper. It was the same for mushrooms but I am getting better with them.
3. I have strange sleeping habits. I sleep on my back either with my hands behind my head or straight by my side. Apparently I point at things, sit up, talk and raise parts of my body for no apparent reason for minutes on end while I am asleep.
4. I fantasize about being able to stop time except for me and be able to do all sorts of things, like steal cars, sleep for 4 days straight, move people around so they go insane when I start time again and generally just have a laugh. Also that I can touch people and start them up again so I wont be too bored.
5. I love to love but probably do so too easily. Oh and I love porn.

Damn Sandy was right, this was a pain in the arse. There are so many things to say! At the same time when you start thinking about what to write its suddenly the hardest thing in the world. Its not like you are saying these things to a partner or a mate. Who knows who the fuck could read this. However I would recommend anyone to try it. It is quite enlightening. I am going to tag Caitriona, Fustar and Iced Coffee, see if they have the balls to do it. Hopefully Caitriona can get Aonghus to try as well.

Ok so now I have a question for Sandy. As I have answered this question what do I get. Is it that something good will happen in the next few days? Will I meet a nice girl? Will I come into money? You know the way there is always something when you do these!

Dawn Pappawazzi.........

So I went to see my little God daughter last night and she was in great form. As I am now carrying my trusty crappy camera around with me I decided to get a more up to date picture of her for a post.

Well Diva does not even begin to describe!!!! So there she was just chillin out sitting on her Daddy's knee. I pull out my little camera and she goes mental! By all accounts, as her Dad takes so many pictures she is all about the cameras. So I am snapping away with her playing little Miss Grabby Mc Grabgrab. This is about the best shot I could manage......It really did put me in mind of those celebs who go ape shit about getting their pictures taken. I am also glad to see that I caught my brothers chin in the top right corner of the pic.

I did nothing to this pic as I was feeling too lazy. just a snap and go jobby. This using no flash is getting much softer and more pleasant pictures, albeit a teeny bit blurry. I had to use the hunker down position yet again......My brother slagged me. I reckon that is just jealousy at the fact that I am getting better picture results out of my crap camera in comparison to his Canon EOS 350d.

So at Christmas they dressed her as Santa. I wonder what embarrassing outfit they have in mind for Paddy's day?

Today I was stuck for an age in traffic coming home from work. Guess why? Some idiot blocked a lane on the Bridge over the Liffey from Phibsboro to Christchurch. This road is a nightmare at the best of times so this was just shocking. So to whoever that was I must stand up and applaud you. Tosser.

Razor

"The bar of light through the drawn curtains of the pokey apartment glinted gently of the young mans (I am taking license, so feck off) electric razor"

This razor has had a life I tell you! Its blades have never been changed because you pay as much for a new one as you do for the replacement blades. Load of crap in my opinion and as it is not a good value purchase I wont do it (Like buying a house). So instead I just drag this thing across my face for hours on end trying to remove what little stubble I get on my face. There is a story for this razor though. I brought this with me to Brazil the first time I went and somehow managed to leave it behind. I was very pissed off when I got home and discovered I had to subjugate myself to the "BLADE", I hate them, yes they give a better shave but they also take up too much damn time.

About a year and a half later I went back to Brazil and believe it or not was reunited with my precious phillishave!! Well by this time my razor was fluent in Portuguese and had a really good tan but I managed to snap him out of being a Carioca and we are still best friends (He forgave my carelessness eventually)

Well I tell you what, I am starting to get an idea of the difficulty photobloggers have to go through to get a decent picture. I am your average one snap, happy chap kind of photographer but this one annoyed the hell out of me. I took 15......YES 15 pictures of this and could only use one!! With the flash it looked weird as hell and you could damage your eyes looking at it. So I used no flash, and again the little flower button! I think the flower button focuses on one part of the picture only and gets that really sharp and the rest goes blurry. When you use the flower button you cant use the zoom so have to go really close. Also if you are not really steady of hand it looks crap. So I held my breath and tried not to move. Seemed to work out ok. In photoshop I created a duplicate layer and gave the original an overlay to darken it a bit. So I learnt something new! How cool is that! I promise I will sometime venture outdoors to take a picture but so far I just couldn't be arsed.

Scuff Kote.

I have a question about Scuff Kote. When you are using it are you cleaning your shoes or just covering up the dirt? Think about it. You have dirty shoes and you squeeze out some gloopy black stuff and cover you shoes in it. What happens to the dirt?

So this pic was interesting to take! I put the bottle down on a piece of white A4 paper and went click. Plastic comes up nicely though. A nice shine! So I used that flower button again and would appreciate it if someone told me what the hell it means. I really need to start taking pictures where I am standing up. I am getting a sore back from hunkering so much.

Again the picture had to be played with in photoshop but only for cropping and levels. I am going to try to learn what else photoshop can do because there are loads of options that I have never even looked at. I had my aperture set at whatever it is normally set at, I think. I forgot to use zoom hence the hunkering.

On another note I am looking for a new apartment and will be moving at the start of April. I am getting pissed off though. So I am looking online everyday and the problem is that everything is available immediately and not in a couple of weeks time. So what the hell??? Does no one give a months notice anymore?? Everyone just decides to move and legs it?? So I am in a situation where I cant start looking until closer to the time and by the law of the magical Murphy when it is time for me to go there will probably be feck all available. I feckin hate moving.

Eh, a guitar??

Oh my god.........I enjoy going out but man do I hate the day after. Especially when you have to work early in the morning. Those jagerbomber things are an evil that has been unleashed on this world and should be avoided at all costs. It was one of those evenings where I even danced.......Oh god the flashbacks. I was sure I must have looked really cool. What is it about drinking that makes you do things that you wouldn't dream about sober. I even get extra careful when I am drinking because I am aware of the inherent risks involved with drinking and doing stupid stuff. I remember thinking "Ok don't start dancing" and next thing I know I am bopping away like a moron. Met some lovely people from Sweden who stayed with us for the night. I can only imagine the impression my friends and I left with them. Although I did get a thank you for the great night text today which was weird. So the moral is this. Don't go get drunk as fuck if you are working the next day. It is just not worth it........

So with my brain feeling like gloop I have feck all to write about the above picture.

I own this guitar and have had it for ages. I like listening to music and often daydream about being a superstar. Problem is I cant play the thing for love nor money. I suppose I could learn but am a lazy Irishman. So it just sits there in its corner and is a pain in the ass to dust.

I picked up my camera and took the shot in 3 seconds. Greyscaled it and hey presto a picture of a guitar. Whoopede dooda. Its amazing how, as a professional photographer, I still managed to take a perfect picture with my head stuck halfway up my own arse. Some of you photobloggers should take note of this achievement and set yourselves the goal of being just as good. Ha!