Happy Winter Solstice! This day always brings to mind the ancient Irish site of Newgrange. From Wikipedia: “Newgrange is a prehistoric monument in County Meath, Ireland, located 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) west of Drogheda on the north side of the River Boyne. It is an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic period, around 3200 BC, making it older than Stonehenge and the...
This past week has been even more stressful and hectic at work, due to a culmination of multiple deadlines over the past few months. I’ve been putting in extra hours on some evenings to stay on track. Thankfully by the end of the week I finally felt I had caught my breath somewhat, having ticked off at least a couple large projects from my list. I’ll be working through December 23rd, then the...
It’s been another long and stressful work week. I’ve been cooped up in the apartment more than usual, in part because of Storm Barra that hit Ireland with rain and gale force winds Tuesday-Thursday. Schools were closed, and non-critical medical appointments were canceled. Thankfully no one was seriously injured, although thousands of homes were without power in Co. Cork for awhile. Storm Barra...
After a very long work week, my friend CJ invited me out in Friday evening for a Dublin Pride walking tour around Temple Bar. It was good to get out the apartment. The streets were busy as usual, and our tour group of 20 or so people had to navigate through the crowds on sidewalks and streets. It was interesting to hear more about the history of evolution of the Irish LGBT rights movement in the...
Work continues to be hectic and very stressful. On short notice, our interim director’s last day was announced to be last Friday. Meanwhile, our regular director who has been out on medical leave for the past few months is returning. Each morning I dread logging into inbox to see more and more emails piling up. I’m sure it has contributed to me getting sick. For Thanksgiving this year, I...
It’s been another long week at work, and it’s only Wednesday. The stress is really getting to me. After work this evening I got out for a quick walk. The Christmas lights hung around Grafton Street are in their full glory in preparation for Black Friday later this week. It’s been chilly, with highs in mid 40s F / mid to upper single digits C. Christmas lights above Grafton Street Christmas lights...
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...
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...
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...
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...