Took this picture of a man reading the propaganda filled press, his expression says it all. Then I got to thinking of Grandad from Headrambles blog
Grandad Reading Granma
So the answer to all of the town’s woes: Build a huge fucking shopping centre , multiplex cinema, apartments and some office space. I would be interested to know in what darkened cave these people have been living in for the last twelve months, but there are some stark realities that have to be faced, number one being we are in recession and building another pile of concrete to lie empty may provide short term construction jobs, but what happens after? It may have escaped his attention but 20 miles down the road the new shopping centre has empty units. The current occupants are complaining there is not enough throughput to pay thier rent and waiving the parking charges has not really improved the situation. The flagship store of the original plans was a UK chain who are currently closing stores to save money., and to set up in direct competition is not going to generate business but split potential revenues.Add to this the impact on the town centre which is already losing tenants hand over fist.
I have no idea what goes through the minds of politicans both local and national, but this is such an obvious dumb arse policy, you have to wonder if there are some closer ties to developers than are healthy.
Its election time and we have canvassers coming round with piles of leaflets and spouting nonsense. Our local Fianna Fail candidate must have been working for a courier company or was just taking the piss.
As I stood behind the door last night in came a leaflet at about 90mph. After waiting for the edges to cool down I noticed a handwritten note on the corner “Sorry I missed you”. If you had taken the time to ring the bloody doorbell , I would have happily engaged you in a pleasant conversation regarding “Economics for Dummies” and the collusion of state and church.
That’s made that decision even easier.
I have to stop smoking. Actually I should never have started but here I am twenty five years later and two near fatal asthmatic episodes in before finally deciding that I should stop. I have tried before but obviously failed and after reading a bit decided that pharmacolology offered the solution where willpower had failed. I reckon that pharmacology worked well when I was frequenting the dance scene all those years ago so I went to the doctor to ask about the magic of chemistry. I was prescribed Champix by the doctor and off I set, my trust in the product unwaverable and my hopes high.
Three weeks in I stopped smoking, there was no doubt the drugs were working, however I did seem to change my personality. I became more introverted, didn’t speak to work colleagues for three days and was moping around the house. I stopped taking the pills last week to see if they were the cause and right enough I have reverted back to my normal self. I have relapsed, I went to a wedding and smoked and have had a couple since then.
I am going to revert to Nicotine Replacement, will see how I get on.
I have been away for a while, travelling with work , then for pleasure and when I came back I had another bad asthma attack. Usual script applied , in an ambulance into Louglinstown casualty where I was looked after by a good bunch of health professionals. No need for ICU this time, just 36 hours on a trolley, but let’s make no bones about , these people saved my life. Despite working in overcrowded and run down conditions the nurses, porters, doctors, radiologists every one of these people treated me with courtesy and ensured I was well throughout the thirty-six hour period. last year it was worse, I ended up in ICU for a week, and again the level of care was incredible.
The plan is to close the A&E at St Columcilles or downgrade it. That means another ten-fifteen minutes in an ambulance for me. Longer if you live further down the N11. Are the HSE trying to kill people? It would suit the agenda of privatising health care fully. Whilst the current government spunks money up the wall on pointless shit the Health Service and people are dying.
The 17th March 2009 heralded our two year anniversary living in Ireland, it’s certainly gone quickly and despite the current wave of misery and depression passing through the country I am still glad we made the decision to come here. I still say this country has a lot to offer, and I will continue to enjoy living here as long as is humanly possible.
Ireland marked our anniversary by having a national holiday on the 17th, so we took full advantage and walked into our town to have a couple of pints. Imagine our surprise when we saw the townspeople were holding a parade in our honor. They had broken out their newest tractors and dragged all the schoolkids and clubmembers out to wave flags in our honour. The highlight of the parade was the skip lorry, it’s skip filled to the brim with dressed up children waving at the crowd, it nearly brought a tear to my eye (primarily because it was a blatant disregard of Health and safety regulations) Anyway, thank you Ireland, I raise a glass in your honour.