It’s been rainy off and on over the past few days, and I’ve been staying at home a lot. The HR manager from Jigsaw calls promptly this morning, and they agree to extend the job offer for an extra day while I wait to hear back from UCD. I also ask about private health insurance — Jigsaw does have a carrier, but employees have to pay the premiums without any employer subsidy; apparently there is a 7% discount from standard rates. Based on what friends have told me, monthly health insurance premiums only run around €100, which is comparable to what I’ve paid under employer-sponsored plans in the U.S. or even less. There are only four (!) private health insurance carriers in Ireland, not counting programs that cover restricted groups such as the police etc. I’ve reviewed some general info on how private health insurance works… there are waiting periods for pre-existing conditions, and premiums are “loaded” by age if you have a break in coverage. There is supposedly an exemption to some of these rules for people who have lived outside of Ireland, if they obtain coverage within nine months of moving here… I need to look into the details more closely.
The weather today is much nicer, and in the afternoon I head out for a walk to St. Stephens Green. Now that all shops have been allowed to reopen, Grafton Street is back to its usual bustle.
Yesterday (Sunday), I spend the afternoon going over the next lessons in my CMA program to keep pace with the compressed timeline for my second exam in mid-July. Despite the iffy weather, I meet up briefly with my friend CJ in the early evening to catch up over a couple of pints of Guinness. We get our pints from the usual go-to spot, the Grand Social, then sit on the long benches on the boardwalk hanging over the Liffey. The rain returns just as we finished our second round, so we wrap up our conversation under a canopy and I head back home.
By the time I was back in the apartment I start to feel ill, with a bad headache and feverish symptoms (although my temperature is normal when I check it). I mention how I was feeling to a couple local friends over texts, and they suspect it’s due to having a bad Guinness. The proper way to serve Guinness is using a “double pour” method that involves using a specially “tulip” shaped Guinness glass, filling the glass 3/4 full (up to the harp on the glass), letting it sit for 2 minutes (the official recommendation is 119.5 seconds), then topping it off slowly so that the foamy head forms — however the head should only measure 18-20 cm (11/16”-3/4”), any more than that is a tell tale sign that the pour has been rushed. If Guinness isn’t allowed to settle, then the consistency and nitrogen carbonation will be off, and apparently a “bad pour” can make you feel sick. The pints from the Grand Social, poured into plastic take-away cups, did seem to be a little rushed. I take it easy in the evening, and the symptoms go away once it has passed through my system… but it’s not a pleasant process. I’ll be paying much closer attention to how my Guinness is poured from now on!
On Saturday, my friend J comes over for one of usual hangouts —we order in some food and catch up on RuPaul’s Drag Race “Down Under” (the latest iteration of the franchise for Australia and New Zealand). Outside on the streets, Temple Bar is hopping with activity, with large crowds gathering outside pubs that are serving to-go pints. As they did last weekend, the gardaí eventually show up to disperse the crowds and apparently end up arresting three men in their 20s for public order offenses. Thankfully, peace and quiet returns to Crow Street relatively early.
The biggest headline in the news today is Belarus forcibly redirecting a Ryanair (Irish) plane en route from Greece to Lithuania to land in Minsk so that they could take a dissident blogger / journalist and his girlfriend into custody. Taoiseach Micheál Martin has described the incident as “piracy in the skies.” This will be a test of EU foreign policy, which has largely been ineffective with regard to Russia and Belarus because Hungary has vetoed past embargoes and sanctions. It will be interesting to see how things shake out in the coming days.
Until next time….
Here's my judgy take: don't drink beer. That stuff's bad for ya! 😉