It’s been a rainy week, and I’ve largely stayed indoors. After enjoying a few days of respite from my accounting studies, I’ve started back up with lessons for the 2nd CMA exam that’s less than 2 months away. On Wednesday and Thursday, I attended Ireland’s annual nonprofit summit (conducted virtually over Zoom) hosted by The Wheel, an association focused on strengthening the nonprofit sector which I joined earlier this year. I was impressed that Taoiseach / Prime Minister Micheál Martin provided a pre-recorded 5 minute statement to start things off. Other government ministers also participated in some panel sessions. Overall, it was good background and context, but the sessions were very high level and did not offer anything particularly practical to me.
Now that things are opening back up in Ireland, I was finally able to get a haircut for the first time since December (not counting the ones I’ve given myself). I made appointment at Sam’s, an old fashioned style barbershop a block away, with the same guy who had last cut my hair. The nearby Stag’s Head, a Victorian era pub, is finally showing some signs of life by serving take-away pints after being shuttered for months.
It’s been an eventful week on the job search front. I received the written offer from Jigsaw on Wednesday, but it didn’t say anything about private health insurance as part of the benefits they offer, so I responded asking for a clarification about this – I haven’t heard back yet. By my calculations, I think I would still be eligible for a “medical card” that would fully subsidize any public health care services. The threshold is based on weekly income net of rent (which is quite high in my case) and a travel allowance for commuting to/from work. I have until Monday to accept the offer or turn it down.
In the meantime, today I had an interview for a Finance Administrator position at University College Dublin’s National Virology Laboratory. It’s a 6-month contract position to cover an employee on maternity leave, which was the same situation as with the other position at UCD for which I had interviewed a couple of weeks ago. The interview seemed to go well, and I should hear back by Monday or possibly Tuesday… this means I may have to finesse the timing of my response to Jigsaw. Despite being short term, the UCD job would pay better than Jigsaw and could open doors to other opportunities elsewhere on campus.
In other exciting news, today Ireland’s vaccine registration system opened for 47 year olds, and I successfully registered with all my details. It’s the first time my hard-fought Personal Public Service (PPS) number has been put to actual use since I received it in January. The system probably would have allowed me to register earlier in the week, but the actual appointments are still prioritized by age so I would not be vaccinated any earlier. Once an appointment becomes available, which I’m guessing will be sometime in the next 1-3 weeks, I will be contacted by text 3-7 days beforehand. I still don’t know which vaccine I will be offered — Pfizer, Astra Zeneca or Johnson & Johnson (Moderna accounts for only a small percentage of Ireland’s vaccinations). I’ll gladly take whichever one is available first.
Ireland’s public health care system is still recovering from last week’s ransomware attack that took down all their networks. Various services are still being affected, including most outpatient treatments, diagnostic tests, etc. In an unusual move, the perpetrators publicly released a decryption key yesterday that would allow the Health Services Executive to unlock the data that has been held hostage. This would considerably speed up the recovery process. Nevertheless, the criminals are still demanding $20 million be paid by Monday, otherwise they will publish sensitive patient and other confidential data on the dark web. Irish officials are adamant that the ransom won’t be paid, directly or indirectly.
On a related topic, I’ve started to look more closely into getting a Public Service Card (PSC) that would include my photo, signature and PPS number. The PSC is designed to help people easily and safely authenticate their identity when they need to access public services, basically a combination ID, Social Security Card, and health insurance card. As it turns out, there are 3 countries in the EU that don’t have internal ID cards/documents separate from passports — Iceland, Denmark and Ireland. In addition to passports, Ireland began issuing passport cards in 2019, and I obtained one shortly after my arrival (with surprisingly quick turnaround). Similar to the U.S., another common form of ID used here is a driver’s license. I still have my California driver’s license, although technically it’s only valid in Ireland for 12 months from when I arrived, after which I’m supposed to swap it out for an Irish one. But for anyone who doesn’t have a driver’s license or a passport, there really isn’t any other form of ID here… there is such a thing as an “age card” that young people over 18 use to purchase alcohol or be let into bars, but that’s not considered a full ID.
Speaking of alcohol, I decide to make a celebratory cocktail for Friday happy hour given my recent job offers and progress in other areas — a cape gooseberry gin smash. I had never heard of cape gooseberries (also known by the name physalis) until I noticed them in stores here. They are actually a nightshade originating from South America that grow inside a distinctive papery lantern-shaped husk. I tinkered with a recipe I found online to make my own version — a mix of cape gooseberries muddled with sugar, gin, lime juice, and egg white powder shaken with ice then topped off with elderflower tonic. It was very tasty and refreshing!
Until next time….
