On Saturday, November 20th, Dublin marked the Trans Day of Remembrance by flying trans flags along the River Liffey. The day honors the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. Trans Flags fly along the Liffey for the Trans Day of Remembrance on Saturday, November 20 Trans Flags fly along the Liffey for the Trans Day of Remembrance on Saturday...
Errands on Grafton Street, defrosting the freezer
This week has probably been the most stressful yet at work. My one staff person was out on leave again, so it was just me holding down the fort. I’ve been borrowing staff from a couple of other teams to help get some of the day-to-day transactional work done, but it feel like the mountainous backlog of overdue tasks that has built up over months (much of it before I even started) is resting fully...
Birthday dinner, Ireland’s 4th COVID wave, and reimposition of some restrictions
Today is my 48th birthday. I had to work, so it wasn’t the most exciting birthday, but I enjoyed receiving texts from friends and family throughout the day. For dinner, my friend CJ and I went out to a tapas restaurant in Temple Bar a couple of streets away from Spranger’s Yard. It was an enjoyable, relaxing meal over wine and some tasty dishes — charcuterie, spanish cheeses...
A low-key Saturday, day trip to Co. Leitrim on Sunday
On Saturday, my SuperValu delivery arrived as usual. Later in the day, my friend CJ and I had made plans to go to a floatation therapy spa as a birthday treat to ourselves (his birthday was ladt month and mine is this next week). However, CJ woke up with a cough, and out of an abundance of caution, we decided to cancel the booking (thankfully without being charged). I offered to pick up some...
Another first date, busy work week, and second visit to UCD campus
It’s hard to believe that I haven’t written a blog post in almost a week. On Saturday, I had a first date with someone new, another “J.” We met at Bewley’s on Grafton Street, ordered some take-away coffee, then walked around St. Stephens Green. The conversation was easy going, and both of us seemed interested in extending our time together, so we headed to a bar...
The wake-work-walk-sleep routine, US Embassy appointment, autumn foliage
Another long, stressful work week is behind me. Nothing much interesting has happened over the past few days. I wake up, sign into work, take a break for lunch, work all afternoon and sometimes into the early evening, then I try to motivate myself to get out for a walk, after which spend the rest of the evening relaxing at home. On Wednesday, the monotony of the week was interrupted by an outing...
Bright Saturday, cold and wet Halloween
Saturday was bright and only slightly chilly. My SuperValu grocery delivery wasn’t scheduled until the afternoon, because the morning slots had been booked up. My friend CJ invited me out to breakfast at Murphy’s Bistro, a cafe along Bachelors Walk, the stretch of street along the north bank of the Liffey. It’s know for Turkish menemen (eggs with tomato, pepper and spices cooked in a...
Tax Day in Ireland; COVID cases on the rise
It’s been a short work week due to the Monday bank holiday, but it has seemed much longer. My team had a number of grant financial reports to file with the European Commission before the end of October, and we’re still working on a few reports that have been granted extensions from previous months. Two temporary employees from staffing agencies ended their assignments today, leaving...
The shower is fixed! End of my friend’s visit, now back to work
It doesn’t look like my post from Saturday, Playing Tourist, Broken Shower, was emailed out to the blog’s subscribers, so click on the link if you missed it. Yesterday (Monday), my friend Julius and I didn’t have any set plans for the last full day of his visit. We hadn’t managed to fix my electric power shower the previous day, so our first priority was to give it another...
Playing tourist, broken shower
The last few days, I’ve enjoyed playing tourist with my friend Julius who has been visiting me in Dublin. On Saturday, we had breakfast with my friend CJ then in the afternoon we toured the Guinness Storehouse for several hours. Today (Sunday), the start of our day was thrown off due to broken shower… the electric shower pump unit suddenly lost pressure when I was just finishing up my...