I woke up reasonably early this morning, which is a good sign I’m adjusting to the new time zone. My goal for today was to pick up my replacement U.S. debit card that had been shipped to the Mail Boxes Etc. here in Dublin; my previous card had been frozen due to fraud activity during my visit to Portland the week before I left. The Mail Boxes Etc. Location was on the other side of Trinity College, still south of the River Liffey, about a 10-15 minute walk. The weather today has been partly cloudy in the 50s F (mid-teens C) with perhaps some scattered showers, although there were none that I noticed, so it was a pleasant walk.
At the end of Dame Street is the entrance to Trinity College Dublin:
Along the way was a cafe flying a rainbow flag, indicative of the general acceptance of the LGBT community here.
Not far after I reached Lombard Street, where the tiny Mail Boxes Etc. office was located… no wonder they were anxious for me to take delivery of the 6 boxes I had shipped over!
After returning to the apartment, I sent a follow up message via WhatsApp to my landlord to check on the status of the internet service for the apartment. He rang shortly thereafter and explained that they had TWICE delivered the box/modem to his address in Dalkey (an affluent seaside town south east of Dublin) and that he was infuriated. He escalated the situation to a manager who said he’d personally see to it that it was resolved. Later in the afternoon, my landlord sent a voice message indicating they’d bring the box to the apartment on Wedneday between 1-5 PM. Apparently the lack of good customer service from cable/internet providers is a universal truth! At any rate, I’ve been able to get by with my phone’s data plan and told my landlord no worries. He continues to give me the impression of being a reliable, responsible person — again I feel lucky to have ended up where I have.
For lunch I decided to break in the air fryer to make “grilled” ham and cheese sandwiches, somewhat akin to what you’d call a “toastie” here. It took awhile, since the basket could only fit one sandwich at a time, but the results were very satisfying. The heavy lunch induced me to take a long nap.
I managed to make headway on a few other items today. On the way back from Mail Boxes Etc., I finally was able to obtain the special, elusive trash/rubbish bags at a Centra convenience store around the corner of the apartment. Apparently, the Temple Bar area of Dublin is serviced by a company called KeyWaste. They encourage you to register as a resident on their website, although I don’t think it’s necessary… it seems like as long as you buy and use the KeyWaste bags for putting out your trash and recyclables, they will pick it up. The collection time for my address is Thursdays between 5:30-7:30pm, which explains why I saw so many bags on the street the day of my arrival last week, plus my neighbors taking out bags of bottles from their apartment. However, glass is not collected by KeyWaste — that must be taken to a “bring bank” location in my neighborhood a few blocks away; I believe these are operated by the city? I purchased 5-packs of both the trash/rubbish bags and the recycle bags for €19.95 ($23.50), so about $5 per week for trash assuming only one bag of each is used. There are also “brown bins” for compostable food scraps, although when I inquired KeyWaste about them, they responded quoting an annual price of €260 for fortnightly service (i.e., every 2 weeks) or €130 for 4 week service. Included with the service is a 140 liter bin they provide. As far as I know, there is not a place in the building where the bin could be stored, so I’m foregoing the composting service for now, although I was impressed that it’s offered here.
The transaction to purchase the bags prompted another quest: every time I’ve used my new Euro debit card here, the merchants still print out a receipt for me to sign, which is the standard procedure for U.S.-issued credit cards. I had expected that I would use the chip and PIN method that is the standard throughout Europe (you simply insert your chipped credit card into a reader, enter your pin, and you’re done). I contacted TransferWise through their online support form about this issue, and in a short amount of time I received a response back. The representative explained that since my debit card had been issued when I was still residing at a U.S. address, it had been set up with the standard U.S. print-and-sign protocol. In order to use the chip-and-PIN method, I would need to update my Dublin address in their system and upload a document as proof of my residence there. One of the options for the residency documentation was statement from a utility provider, which I have and actually had used when setting up my Mail Boxes Etc. service. I’ve followed these steps and am just waiting to hear back on how to proceed with ordering a new debit card. I suppose I could also establish an account with a regular bank here, but TransferWise has seemed to be a very easy (and comparatively cheaper) solution for transferring funds between my U.S. Schwab account that’s in dollars and my TransferWise Euro account, so I’m going to continue using them for now.
The key functionality that is essential to living here as a resident is to have an account with an IBAN = International Bank Account Number; think of it as a combination of both a U.S. routing number and account number all in one. You can send and receive funds using IBANs, and that’s how I pay rent to my landlord. You can also establish direct debits using your IBAN, although apparently TransferWise accounts are issued with Belgium IBANs, and some merchants will only accept direct debits from accounts with IBANs issued in their native country (such as Vodafone, my cell phone provider). All very banal and boring stuff, I know! But these are the types of hurtles I’m having to clear in moving here.
The big topic in the news today in Ireland was the National Public Health Emergency Team’s (NPHET’s) recommendation that the entire country be moved to “Level 5” COVID restrictions; prior to this, only two counties, Dublin and Donegal, had been at Level 3, so the recommendation was a big leap-frog. However, the Irish government (specifically, the Cabinet or executive branch) has instead made the decision to extend the Level 3 restrictions to all counties. (See graphic below that explains the levels.) Like everywhere in many other countries, there’s wide debate on the best course action; there is pressure from both the business community and from parents who want their kids to go back to school to not impose tighter restrictions, while others say that not tightening up now is a gamble that could cost lives. The data graph available from a quick google search definitely shows a spike, and Northern Ireland seems to be a particular concern. Compared to other European countries, Ireland seems better off than others… most notably Spain and France.
To end this post on a lighter note, here’s a view of the sky today from my living room window around 6 PM:
The little challenges of daily life, though often frustrating, are also part of the draw of living abroad (“I can do this!”). Nice ending photo.