Up and out early to the shops, followed by a trip to the local Specsavers. As I'd thought, my sight has deteriorated slightly. Not a huge amount from my last test, but suffiicient to warrant a new prescription for glasses. I had hoped to avoid having to get new ones.
So, there was €200 spent immediately and the day hardly started.
Later on, as I was doing some paperwork, my printer decided to jam badly and then not work. I can't do without one, especially for school work and I could tell that this was not a repair job but a scrapping, so I had to get a new one. Another €100.
Needless to say my bank account has taken a hammering. Roll on payday next week.
I and another member of my family had to get documents signed and witnessed by a solicitor. They were relatively straight forward and required only the solicitors signature, mine, the date and a seal.
Firstly, when I pointed out what forms had to be filled in, he looked at me and said "where are you working". I told him I was a teacher and he stared at me. I realised that he was implying "are you a solicitor...if not, shut the hell up". This got my back up, but I said nothing.
He then a made a mistake filling one of the forms and had to borrow another to copy it from.
Eventually he got it all done, but by God, he didn't inspire confidence.
When I asked what the bill was, he said it was normally €100..................for 15 minutes work, but dropped it down to €60.....a price I still considered ridiculous. I paid it though.
I shouldn't have been surprised I suppose, given what the government has had to pay the various tribunal solicitors and lawyers....but it's definitely a sign that we are nowhere near fixing the economy, if this is still the mindset of the legal profession!!
- Mood:
pissed off
This week has been a serious cinema week for me. After not seeing anything for 2 months, I went three times in the past 5 days
Sunday night was State of Play with Russell Crowe. Solid enough thriller. Enjoyable, but nothing major
Monday night was X-Men Origins -Wolverine. I did enjoy this, much more so than X-Men 3. Some interesting characters and a good backstory for Wolverine.
And tonight....what else could it be but Star Trek
I LOVED this film. It put a seriously new slant on Star Trek. I adored the special effects and the two main ships (Enterprise and Kelvin)
Finally we got a sense of just how huge these ships are....never seemed to get that with any of the other ships.
Chris Pine was good as Kirk. Zacchary Quinto was a very good Spock. Karl Urban was fantastic as McCoy, as was Simon Pegg as Scotty. Zoe Saldana's Uhura was fun, but nothing major. Same with Chekov and Sulu. Eric Bana' s Nero was....welll, kinda "meh". Not a villain in the Kahn sense (the best of all Star Trek film villains)
It was a damn fun film. Didn't take itself too seriously and a fairly decent plot. Thoroughly enjoyable and a great reinvigoration of a film franchise that had gone badly stale (don't get me started on the abomination that was Star Trek Nemesis)
My next outing will probably be next Thursday to Angels and Demons (I'm a sucker for those kind of films and I did enjoy the Da Vinci Code)
- Location:In body - bedroom. In mind - on Enterprise :D
- Mood:
bouncy - Music:Music from Star Trek (from iTunes)
Master Sigmundr's herbalism workshop took place, as did a work day for those wishing to finish off A&S projects from last weekend's tableware workshop.
To explain
Last weekend the Shire held a Tableware Workshop, for members and friends of the shire to make items of feast gear. There were four classes running concurrently - Knife making, Cutlery making, woodturning and trim weaving.
I joined the cutlery making and had drawings for a reproduction of a 16th century Italian salt cellar, currently in the V&A in London.
I didn't attempt the really intricate figurework along the sides, but went for my own design.
I spend the making the wax model of it and in the evening turned it over to Master Etienne to be cast,
The cast was successful, thank God, and I started cleaning the piece on Tuesday night at A&S.
Today Etienne, Merlin, Mary and myself spent time on further cleaning and final assembly. The majority of my salt cellar is finished, with just the bowl to be cast out of silver. I didn't do it in the same material as the rest of the piece as that alloy (Roma gold - a type of bronze) isn't food safe
I also managed to get my head around the software for the Eplaheimr website. I've been webminister for a while now, but am a complete novice when it comes to web design. I made a pseudo-New Year's Resolution to get my act together and learn how to update the site. I've managed to add a lot to the site in just a few days
Next week sees our main event for year. As of this evening we have 47 people booked to come. I'm acting as event steward and am currently praying for good weather!!
A very Happy New Year to each and everyone of you
Here's hoping that 2009 is a great year for everyone.
Take care!!
- Mood:Festive
Eat, drink and be merry...for tomorrow we do it all again!! :D
- Location:Aylwin's Grotto, many km south of the North Pole
- Mood:Festive
It was a lovely relaxing morning.... I only had one of my own classes and spent that correcting a test I gave last week, while the students watched a DVD
Then a supervision class and tutor class and I was finished. After morning break we all went to the local church for a carol service, organised by the music and religion departments. It was lovely.
The kids were free to go home at 12, while the school had laid on a buffet lunch for the staff. The usual thanks and comments were made and the staff lotto was called. I was delighted to win €50...first time I've one anything in this lotto .
We finished at around half 12 and I was back at home by 1. I went to an electical applicance store in town to look at their coffee machines. I had promised myself that I would buy a good one when we got the new kitchen in. I managed to find what seems like a decent one for quite cheap....we'll see how it turns out.
The rest of the day was spent getting various things ready for Christmas.
We decided to go out for a Chinese tonight. It was lovely as I hadn't had one in a while.
Relaxing now, watching Doctor Who!
What an eventful Saturday!!!
This morning I joined 60,000 teachers, parents, students and interested parties in a protest march through the centre of Dublin. The march is part of a campaign attempting to fight the crippling cuts in education funding that our enlightened Minister for Education & Science is imposing from January.
The situation currently is as follows
Class sizes increased from 27 to 28....doesn't seem like much I hear you say....the reality is that most classes will go up by 6 or 7 students as they are amalgamated. Increased class sizes means less teachers
No funding for uncertified sick leave cover or school business cover - means if I was taking a class on a field trip the Department won't pay for a substitute to cover my classes. Substitution work is a big part of my pay cheque....so I'm looking at anything up to 50% pay drop.
Removal of funding for key programmes and schemes
If the cuts go ahead, upwards of 2000 teachers across the country will lose their jobs and I could well be one of them. So, I felt I had to make my voice heard.
Plus the Minister is throwing it all back on the teachers, claiming that we're scaremongering and only looking out for ourselves. He also believes that we should cover all substitution/supervision work voluntarily, for no pay. Having gone on strike for that same issue ten years ago, we're not for going back to the old ways.
I left home at 8 this morning and went to a local town with a much better train service. It was absolutely freezing cold and has frozen heavily. The road is the same one I travel every day to work, a fairly rural road. On the way I hit a patch of black ice, going 30mph....the car skidded about 100 yards before I regained control. My heart was in my mouth. As I skidded, I went past a woman whose car had mounted the ditch due to a similar skid. When I got out to see if she was alright (and if my car was ok) I found that the surface of the road was like a pane of glass...it was frozen solid. Throughout the remainder of the day I kept hearing reports of accidents across the country from similar conditions. Anyway, the woman was fine but one of her tires was in bits. Luckily a friend of hers came along, so I was able to continue on.
Got to the train in time and was in Dublin for 10.30. Had my breakfast in a restaurant that I usually frequent when in the Capital..it was lovely. After that I went to the march assembly point. Great atmosphere, a samba band, groups of chanting school kids and the usual nutcases who turn up at the slightest hint of a protest march. At 1.00 we were off.
Banners and placards waving, chants filling the air, we made our way through Dublin city centre. I got talking with a retired primary school teacher and we marched together for most of the route. The onlookers were generally supportive and curious, for the most part.
However at one point a man wheeling a bicycle walked past me and said "Why don't you all take a pay cut to pay for this funding" and kept walking. Now, those who know me will know that I'm not a confrontational type. I don't go round shouting the odds and arguing with people, but I just saw red and roared after him "How dare you! Would you do that?" He didn't answer. I was absolutely fuming. It showed the utter contempt that some people have towards my profession.
Rant over, we finished the march and waited for the speakers. I needed to be home earlyish, so I didn't stay there for too long before making my way back to the train.
Roads coming home were ice free but the fog was just wicked
I'm in for the night now....I hope
Viva la Revolution!!! :D
- Mood:Militant!
In explanation
One year ago we decided to refurbish the kitchen completely. It had become very decrepit and had precious little storage space.
We went to a company run by the husband of a cousin of mine. He said can we fix it, yes we can (bob the builder he is not, but he's fairly reliable)
Nothing happened for 6 months as he missed 4 meetings with us. About 2 months ago then, he finally made it to a meeting and we had plans within a week of this. The construction work started yesterday. The house is like a bombsite. The entire kitchen contents are now spread across every room in the house....including,most bizarrely, the bathroom where I found the kettle somehow.
Along with the kitchen fitters, we have an electrician and a plumber working. I have this sinking feeling that the kitchen will turn out lovely but cost us an arm and a leg.
3 days was the estimate for getting it done Day 1 is finished - most of the old fixtures and fittings have been ripped out and the frames for the new floor level cupboards have been installed
The chaos continues!
Friday
I was heading for the airport immediately after school. I had decided not to drive to Dublin, as it would have just been too much hassle, especially negotiating the motorway. So, I traveled from school to Thurles, 20 mins away and got the train to Dublin.
From there, I got the Airlink bus to the airport, where I had a three hour wait for my flight. It was utterly relaxing!
At Southampton airport I managed to walk straight past Lord Douwe Johannes, who was picking me up. I felt that this was quite a feat on my past, given the fact he was wearing a high vis jacket and a very large SCA sign. My powers of poor observation continue to astound me!
A short car trip later and I was at the site and comfortably in garb. It was lovely to see so many friends again.
On Saturday morning, I went to various classes, including a presentation on Philippine Welser, the 16th century wife of the Archduke of Austria, famous, in part, for a cookbook. This was followed by a fascinating class on medieval recipe redaction. A lovely lunch of sausages and beans followed. In the afternoon session I went to a fantastic class on Preparing your Medieval Encampment, given by Lord Matthew Baker. This class had been my overriding reason for going to University, as I had missed it at Coronation. The sheer depth of information and resources provided by Lord Matthew was staggering. And his enthusiasm is utterly infectious.
This was followed by a class on Painting on Gold leaf which surprised me by being nothing like i thought it would be, but brilliant nonetheless. I then caught part of a class on Medieval games.
Court followed, a lengthy but highly entertaining affair. Her Majesty is nothing if not fun and this really is reflected in her court. Several highly deserved awards were given out.
A beautiful feast, prepared by Lord Thomas and his feast crew was presented after. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was very well spaced out, allowing for lots of talk and fun.
After the feast I was given a task by Her Majesty that I can't elaborate on. The gambling started not too long after. Master Etienne was more than generous with his coin, giving some to all who wished to play. Of course, I forgot mine, so I viewed his loan as just that...he will be repayed with interest : )
It was a relatively early night.
Over the weekend I got two lovely presents, in the form of a pack on scroll work from Lady Melisende and a pewter acorn from Lord Robert, which matches my Order of Ffraid token that I received this year. I also purchased a drinking horn from Lord Thomas.
Baron Caomhin and Baroness Mary were extremely generous in giving me a lift back to the airport. It made the return trip much simpler.
A lovely weekend! Thanks to all involved!!
Vivant!
- Mood:
tired
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
sharikkamur - Grab the nearest book.
- Open the book to page 56.
- Find the fifth sentence.
- Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
- Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST
The sentence
"Apply slurry sparingly, as it will burn out grass and allow weeds to grow in on the bare patches"
Rapid Revision Agricultural Science, Elaine Buckley Murphy
After the Louvre, we returned to the Pompidou centre and walked up to Notre Dame. For me this was a real treat and made up for the disappointment of not actually going into the Louvre. Notre Dame is a spectacular building. We spent about an hour in here, then let the kids off to get their lunch and we ours before taking the bus to Montmartre.
Once there we walked up the narrow streets and the many, many steps up to the Sacre Coeur. Another spectacular church in a beautiful area. The view from the top is stunning. We went around the church, then explored the artist’s quarter behind the Basilica. I bought some beautiful watercolour prints of Paris and many of the kids had their portraits drawn.
From there, we took the kids down to a restaurant called Gigis. The food was nice and plentiful and the kids certainly seemed to enjoy it.
Once done, we returned to the bus and made our way to the Arc de Triomphe. We spent about half an hour looking at this then walked down one side of the Champs Elysees. It was a thrill just to see these areas, as I had heard so much about them.
At about 10.00 we boarded the bus once more and headed for the hotel and bed
I’ve only now really regained the energy and concentration to write this account
To start.
This Paris trip had been planned for the best part of a year. I had been asked to go, because I was really the only male member of staff with no family obligations and with the interest to go. That said, I was never as I haven't a word of French beyond the obvious Bonjour, Merci, etc.
On Thursday at 6.30am, I, four other teachers and 33 students departed from Templemore, Co. Tipperary to travel to Shannon Airport. At 11.30 our flight took off to Beauvais Airport near Paris. We arrived at around 2.00 and spent the next 1 and a half hours getting baggage and travelling to the city centre. We met our tour guide at 4 and were taken on a two hour tour of the city by bus. The tour was a mix of history, architecture and general info on Paris and its customs. It was entertaining, but the kids soon lost interest.
We travelled then to the car park under the George Pompidou Centre (an utter monstrosity of a building) and had our dinner in a Flunch restaurant. Cheap and cheerful fare, it hit the spot quite nicely.
After dinner we travelled to the mooring point of the Bateau Mouche, a tour boat operation on the Seine. It was 8 by the time we left and was dark. However, the tour itself was fascinating. We passed many of the local landmarks, including Notre Dame, the Ile de la Cite, the Pont Neuf and the Conciergerie. It was beautiful to see these landmarks at night. The tour ended with a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower, all bathed in blue light with gold stars, in recognition of France’s presidency of the E.U.
Tour done, we went to our hotel which is about 25 minutes from the city centre. All of the teachers made sure that the kids didn’t wander the corridors and to be fair to them, they were very well behaved. I was in bed by 12, utterly exhausted.
More to follow
The Shire was graced by the presence of Viscount Sir Brendan the Tired of Nordmark. He gave two fascinating and hilarous classes on Combat Archery and authorised three combat archers, myself included.
It was so much fun to practise shooting at a moving target. Sir Brendan graciously armoured up to act as our target. It was fantastic. On the downside, I'm having to learn how to shoot right handed, as the combat arrows are only available as a right handed version. Having shot left handed for 2 years...it's quite a difference.
I spent more time on archery over the last two days than I have over the past 2 months.
On another note, the Eplaheimr Fianna were formally announced at the feast last night. Fianna is the Irish for warrior. It's a company of the 3 martial disciplines practised within the Shire, Archery, Fencing and Heavy. Those shire members with 100 hours practice in any of the martial arts will be made members.
The idea came from Master Sigmundr. I love the thought of it, because it promotes skill and rewards effort. With the archery practices we've had this year, I'm at about 30-35 hours.
The event was great fun, but I'm wrecked after it. Plus I still have school work to do. Such is life I suppose!!
I had arranged this event weeks ago, when i realised I would be unable to attend Raglan due to it's timing.
I was originally meant to fly into Stansted at 9.30 on Friday night, then share a hire car with Baron Pol, Baroness Catriona and milady Susannah. During the week plans changed and I was now driving.
After an eventful trip and detour, we made it to the event site around 2ish, to be warmly greeted by all those still awake (Many thanks folks btw- you know who you are)
I was up at 7.45 Saturday morning and drove to Haslemere, on an errand. It is a beautiful area. Got back, just in time for Court and then ran the waterbearing during the tourney. Eplaheimr was very valiantly represented by milord Ian (Yann) and his consort, the lovely Susannah.
After a hard fought and well earned tourney, Baron Clancy emerged victorious. All involved acquitted themselves with the utmost valour and chivalry. It was an utter pleasure to watch and the weather cooperated with most uncharacteristic good humour! (I.e it was lovely and sunny..I'm in a funny mood tonight!)
A somewhat working lunch followed, as I attended the I.D. Officers meeting - my first since stepping up as Eplaheimr seneschal. It was informative and well run. I said hardly anything, but took it lots.
After this, the late night and early morning caught up with me, so I took a nap for an hour and woke just in time for Court. I was possibly one of the shortest courts I've ever been at, but no less special.
Feast prep started then and I spent a lovely feast conversing with Lady Melisende and Lord Giles and enjoying some truly excellent food, prepared by Lord Giano (a very talented individual in a culinary sense). We were entertained by Lord Matthew Baker on several occasions with readings of poetry, including an extremely stirring account of the Battle of Agincourt.
Feast was followed by "Seneschals Happy Hour" hosted by Baron Etienne. This involved lots of chat and banter, well reinforced by some excellent alcohol and an impromptu, yet popular reading from the Eplaheimr Book of Slander
It was during this that I was hit by the revelation that I do in fact snore....and more worryingly the methods used to stop me :D
It was a shock to me I can tell you :D
I went to bed very early.
Sunday - we rose early and packed up. I was delighted to be given a present of the poem recounting the afore mentioned battle by Lord Matthew - a selfless noble who truly was meant for another time.
We left at 10.45 after many goodbyes and took a detour into Guildford to take care of some business and were in Stansted by around 1.
We spent the afternoon talking in a pub there during a meal and then shopped in the duty free. The plane was delayed by three quarters of an hour, but I was home in Nenagh by exactly 10pm.
A thoroughly enjoyable event in a lovely setting.
Now to bed!
- Location:Home
- Mood:
contemplative
Stolen, with thanks from
sharikkamur</div>Sheep in Geek's Clothing
55% Geeky, 63% Cranial and 30% Introverted!
You scored 55% Geeky, 63% Cranial and 30% Introverted. You might not have the largest book smarts, but you sure do have your idiosyncrasies! You love all things obscure and off the beaten path and you'd rather LIVE the oddities rather than read about them.
I wonder if you find some of the quirky things you're into to be forced at times. There is a possibility with the correlation of your scores that you may still be struggling to find your voice and your true passions. You may wish to take a day off to yourself to truly make a list of things that make you happy, and things you do with others that make them more happy than you. Concentrating on things that help you feel fulfilled with make your life richer, whether you are a true geek or not.
I truly hope you enjoyed the test as much as I enjoyed making it! I always welcome email comments/suggestions! Thanks for taking it!
Take How geeky are you? at HelloQuizzy I wonder if you find some of the quirky things you're into to be forced at times. There is a possibility with the correlation of your scores that you may still be struggling to find your voice and your true passions. You may wish to take a day off to yourself to truly make a list of things that make you happy, and things you do with others that make them more happy than you. Concentrating on things that help you feel fulfilled with make your life richer, whether you are a true geek or not.
I truly hope you enjoyed the test as much as I enjoyed making it! I always welcome email comments/suggestions! Thanks for taking it!
As soon as I got home, I ripped open the payslip and what greeted my eyes....half pay again. Turns out the secretary in the school did nothing to solve the error. I was utterly pissed off. I went into her immediately on Friday to look for an explanation. I got one and an apology which amazingly managed to blame me for the error. I swore to myself then that if it wasn't sorted by the next paycheck, I was involving the principal.
Well, he came to me today himself and apologised for the situation and said that it everything had been sorted.....I hope so. I can't manage on a third consecutive fortnight on half pay.
Thursday night saw our first meeting in the Institute of Technology in Athlone. We're hoping to set up a group there among the students. We had about 5 interested people, but were unable to use the hall booked, due to a power cut and a double booking. I was kinda surplus to requirements, as most were interested in fencing & heavy, but I wanted to go to offer moral support. I know I won't be able to travel to Athlone every week (it's one and a half hours from me)
On Friday morning, I woke up sniffling, coughing and feeling generally miserable. This had continued since.
This weekend was Eplaheimr's Feast of Grapes. It was my first event as Seneschal and as Event Steward. Thankfully, I had the immensely helpful and knowledgeable Master Etienne as deputy steward....so I didn't make too many mistakes I think.
The weather really cooperated...it was gorgeous. The fencing and heavy tourneys were thoroughly entertaining. I ran the archery with Lord Merlin and finally had a chance to try out my new longbow.....it's a 50 lb draw, so it left my shoulders a little sore. But it was great fun.
The archery and my already depleted energy levels really took it out of me. After a feast that I couldn't do any justice to and a quieter-than-usual bardic circle, I went to bed.
Sunday was spent cleaning and tidying. I did some more archery, but couldn't manage more than a half hour before I felt really rotten. I went home early-ish.
An enjoyable weekend and a relatively good first effort as event steward I think. I could have managed more if it wasn't for this pesky cold.
Such is life I suppose!!
- Location:Home
- Mood:
sick - Music:Wicked, Soundtrack
| You are a Social Liberal (63% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (25% permissive) You are best described as a:
Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test |
- Location:Home
Ah, since last I posted.....not a hell of a lot has happened. Well plenty happened to the world and others, not much to me.
After my run-in with the tree-trimming con artist, I went and bought a shredder in Lidl. Much bigger and heavier job than I imagined, but seemed good. Nearly killed myself getting it into the car in the pouring rain last Tuesday.
With said shredder in rear of car, I went early to the Shire meeting, it being my first one as seneschal. What should happen, but I hit a submerged pothole and half a mile down the road my left front tire blows. Now luckily, I was doing only 30 at the time, with weather and road conditions. The tire itself was wrecked - a five inch gash through it but the wheel was undamaged.
I changed it, in the pouring rain, with help from two other shire members and got to the meeting. To say my head was a little all over the place is an understatement. I had to ring the principal to get my first two classes covered the next morning so I could get it fixed. No problems there, thank God.
Now, I hadn't been looking forward to the meeting, given certain issues that were to be discussed, but it went off smoothly. The others gave me a very easy time and I thank them for it.
The rest of the week was quiet. I didn't make it to Raglan, so, I missed
goncalves</lj> elevation. Vivat, Master Duarte. Well deserved and sorry I missed it. I splashed out on another power tool on Saturday (Master Etienne would be so proud!!! :D). I was finding sawing through 5 inch branches a little difficult (read bloody impossible for that), so I bought an Alligator!
Said tool, not being a reptile, but a small double handed chainsaw, in the shape of a hedge clippers. It's an utter marvel. Cuts through branches with ease and is safe to boot. I have made significant progress due to it.
To quote Fianna Fail (the leading Irish political party), a lot done, more to do!
Weather has been highly uncooperative, but then again, when isn't it. A&S tomorrow and all the Raglan news...plus a cool sounding class on medieval spicings to look forward to!
- Location:Home
- Mood:
content - Music:Cadfael
