This weekend has been mostly about home projects. I ordered a shelving system off Amazon UK for storing towels and other items in the bathroom. It wasn’t able to be shipped directly from the UK to Ireland, for whatever reasons, so I had to use my ReShip forwarding service (the same one I use in the U.S., they also operate out of the UK and Canada). I wouldn’t have gone to the extra trouble and expense except for that it seemed the perfect size for the space in the bathroom, and it uses spring-loaded tension rods to secure it in place. This is both space-saving and does not require drilling any holes in the walls.
It was fairly straightforward to assemble the shelves. The support poles were easy to put together without requiring any tools, but attaching the shelves to the poles was a pain because it involved lining them up at the same height on each side and then tightening screws through brackets to secure the shelves in place. Also, the springs on the top poles were very strong, which made it tricky to position the shelves where I wanted them to go. However, I am very happy with the end result.
I didn’t have any social plans heading into the weekend, but yesterday evening I met up with N. on an impromptu date. First we met up at a cinema in the city centre to see the new Suicide Squad movie, which was unnecessary long, gratuitously violent, and largely incoherent. Nevertheless, it was still fun to go out to the movies again after so long… I honestly can’t remember the last film I saw in a theatre. COVID-19 restrictions in Ireland require three seats between separate groups of patrons, with a maximum of 50 people in a single theatre, which seems somewhat arbitrary without any consideration for the theatre’s size.
After the movie, we headed to The George again for some pints. I had booked seats outdoors this time. Although the weather was windy and rainy, we were seated under a well covered table. The booking was originally only for an hour and a half, based on availability, but we managed to stay three hours because apparently no one else wanted to sit outside in the wet and cooler conditions. This was our fourth date, counting the first time we had met way back in February for a walk before we reconnected in June. That said, we were taking things slow and things between us hadn’t gotten too serious. The conversation was engaging and playful over a few rounds of Hop House 13 lager (a Guinness “craft” beer). We left the bar around 11:00, and it was still raining outside. N. was going to catch a bus home, and as we were saying goodbye he told me that he just wanted to be friends. This was both surprising and confusing, given that things seemed to be going well between us. He didn’t provide any explanation, and I didn’t ask him for one. Perhaps he met someone else? Or maybe he just changed his mind? It’s disappointing and discouraging, but I can’t say I’m overly upset by it. At least he was honest and didn’t just disappear, which seems to happen quite often in the dating scene.
This morning (Sunday), my friend M. texted me out of the blue and invited me out to breakfast with him and a friend who was visiting from Belgium. It was good to have a social rebound after the night before, and I hadn’t seen M. in a few months. I met them at M’.s house in The Liberties (Dublin 8), and then M. drove us to a small cafe about 5 minutes away next to M.’s gym (he’s a personal trainer). It was surprising that so many cafes and businesses are closed on Sunday morning, but I suppose Dubliners aren’t ones to get up early after Saturday night. At any rate, the cafe was a family-owned business run by some Chinese immigrants. When we arrived we were the only people in the place, although a few more locals showed up later on. The food was cheap and tasty — I ordered a breakfast sandwich with eggs and sausage, which was quite filling. M. dropped me back near Temple Bar (wanting to avoid traffic snarl-ups). I was back home before noon, glad that I had accepted the invite and gotten out of the house.
This afternoon I decided to make a trip to IKEA to get a desk for a work-from-home station, as well as a few other sundries. However, the GoCar I reserved wasn’t returned by the previous users on time, so that set me back a bit. It took about 30 minutes to drive to Ballymun, a suburb north of Dublin where IKEA is located, not far from the airport. There was a long line of customers waiting to be let in due to COVID-19 restrictions mandating a reduced capacity, and masks are also still required for all indoor retail shopping. Thankfully it only took 20 minutes to get in, much faster than I expected. Even with the reduced capacity it was quite crowded inside. I was pretty efficient weaving through the maze of showrooms and slow moving zombie-like consumers. It helped that I had a list to keep me focused, and I was very happy they had everything I wanted in stock. I drove back to Temple Bar, temporarily parked the car on Crow Street in front of Sprangers Yard while I hauled everything upstairs, then returned the GoCar back to its “base” location on a small street on the other side of the Liffey. The entire trip took less than 3 hours.
The desk/table assembly only required screwing some mounting plates for the legs on the underside, and it ended up fitting in the guest room without me having to move the bed. The room is definitely more cramped, but it’s still functional. The desk was only €25 and the legs can be easily removed for moving / storing. I also got a lamp (from IKEA) and an under-the-table keyboard tray (from Amazon UK, delivered earlier today). The setup turned out as I had imagined. I’ll see how comfortable and ergonomic it is after testing driving it this next week.
The front page news in Ireland today has been all about Kelle Harrington, the Irish boxer who won the gold metal in the Olympics for the women’s lightweight competition this morning. Kelle is from Dublin’s north inner city and was one of the flag bearers for Ireland at the opening ceremony. In addition, she is one of at least 180 openly gay athletes at the 2020 Olympic games, although this is rarely mentioned not because of any controversy but rather because it’s just not that big of deal to anyone in Ireland. Kelle Harrington follows in the footsteps of Katie Taylor, another Irish female boxer who won the gold medal in the 2012 Olympics in London before going on to compete professionally (there’s even a Netflix documentary about Katie, which I’ve been meaning to watch).
Until next time….
