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Happy Memorial Day! The glorious weather continues, so I decide to take a day trip down the coast to the seaside town of Dalkey. A popular tourist destination, it’s also known for its famous residents… celebrities including U2 members Bono and The Edge, Enya, Chris de Burgh and Van Morrison own properties in the area. George Bernard Shaw has a close association with the area and lived on Dalkey...

It’s been a few days since my last post. The latter half of the week was mostly uneventful, so there’s not been much to share, but today I have some worthwhile updates. First off, I received my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine today!  A text message confirming my appointment came through on Thursday, about a week after I had registered online. I was assigned to the vaccination...

This morning I email Jigsaw letting them know I’m interested in accepting the job offer, but that I’d like to start part-time until I’m through my 2nd CMA exam. I speak with one of the HR persons mid-day, and she confirms that this shouldn’t be a problem. I still have to go through Garda/police vetting and provide reference checks before things are finalized. I may start...

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...

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...

Now that I’m actually living in Europe, I feel obliged to watch the Eurovision semifinals that are being broadcast tonight. For those of you who don’t know, the Eurovision Song Contest is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union which features participants representing primarily European countries. Each participating country submits...

I sleep in late this morning after having binge watched a new show on Netflix, “Halston,” about an iconic American fashion designer in the 1960s-1980s starring Ewan McGregor. After a slow start to my day, I get out in the afternoon for a walk to enjoy the sunshine. There’s much better weather today, despite a forecast for more rain, with highs in mid 50s F / low 10s C...

Today begins with overcast grey skies. My SuperValu grocery delivery arrives shortly before 11am, and I was surprised not to get the usual call about substitutions for missing items… turns out everything was in stock! Given the weather, I’m feeling lethargic and unmotivated to leave the apartment. Instead I do some actual leisure reading — a welcome break from accounting textbooks and small...

My weekly SuperValu grocery delivery is postponed until tomorrow, and I enjoyed sleeping in this morning. There has been a flurry of activity with regard to job interviews. My interview on Wednesday with Jigsaw (Ireland’s national youth mental health services agency) went well, although it’s a junior position for which I’m obviously overqualified. They have already invited me to...

Well, I survived the first CMA exam! The four hours went by quickly, and thankfully I didn’t need a break. It was even harder than I expected, so I’m not feeling super confident… but I did manage to answer every multiple choice question and made my best effort on the short-answer essay questions. I didn’t really have any time to go back and review my answers, and I...