When I was growing up in Rathgar in 1940's cars were not very much in evidence . Public transport was convenient and frequent . The first cars I can remember were large , heavy machines a few generations up from the 'Tin Lizzie .The crossroads of Rathgar Ave. and Garville Ave. were notorious for crashes . These were the days before shatterproof windscreens and the aftermath of collisions were often horrific to see , particularly for youngsters .
Eventually what was eventually to be dubbed ' a winking willie ' was installed at that dangerous crossroads and the situation improved .
Near one of the areas , where we played football , there were lock-up garages , at the rere of large houses on Terenure Road . One of these was a double garage belonging to two elderly brothers who owned a local business . This garage housed two shiney new MG's. A two-seater , open topped , red sports car and a green saloon . Spoked wheels , wooden dash- boards , large headlamps ...etc . We , back-lane- footballers used to stand open-mouthed as the gentlemen , usually wearing soft hats reversed the cars out . Beautiful cars , we had no sense of envy , just awe , besides we has our own Dinky version of these very machines .
One of our neighbours ' daughters once dated an American who sometimes called for her in a huge Chevvy or Buick , I can't remember which , and of course this was a great talking point .
Because of its large , chrome , engine grille one of my schoolfriends referred to it as ''a grinning whale ''.
My father was a tram driver and when the trams were ' discontinued ', he became a bus driver .Although at that time , in Ireland , to get a licence to drive a car all one had to do was fill in a form and, hey presto , you got your driving licence ( one person managed to get a 'valid' licience for his ventriloquist dummy ) , bus drivers had to have a test .
We didn't have a family car but a friend used to loan my father his car for family outings , occasionally , and for summer holidays .
I can still remember travelling to a country cottage , again loaned by a friend to my parents , sitting in deep leather seats , my four or five siblings around me . in what seemed like 'the President's' car , although it probably was a Morris Cowley , one of the medium -to -big cars at the time .......Sheer luxury...
These journeys reminded us of scenes in the lighthearted bio-pic of Frank Gilbreth ( one of my heros ) and his wife , who were pioneers of Time and Motion study and economies of scale in the US . The film was called '' Cheaper by the Dozen'' , and told the story of a large family growing up in the 20's.
When out on a family trip if they stopped for a 'bathroom' break the father would use the euphemism '' does anyone want to see Mrs.Murphy''.
One of my uncles had a Ford Prefect and he and my aunt used take us for Sunday drives on the country roads around Kildare , Straffan , Sallins , Celbridge ....My uncle seemed to always wear a hat and smoke a pipe and if he accidently ran over a rabbit , he seemed to feel guilty about it for miles afterward.....a gentle man . He eventually progressed to the famous Morris Minor , as did , apparently EVERY man who wore a hat and smoked a pipe , while driving .
Later someone in the immediate family got a car . My older brother , or at least he and his friend jointly bought a car . A Ford Prefect , but at this stage the old beetle -backed Prefect was way , way , past its use-by date ....but it was a car and as far as I can remember it brought my brother and his friend around Ireland , before it eventually gave up the ghost .
Another brother of mine had by this time started to work for a care -hire firm and we began to hear stories of some of the famous people he met or drove , I remember Alec Guinness was one memorable passenger . Also as the company was situated near Paddy Kavanagh's roaming patch , the poet would occasionally pop his head round the door of their funeral parlour shouting''any owl stiffs ?''......guess you had to be there.......
We got an opportunity to see many different types of car as my brother had use of a car on a daily basis .
I was introduced to the 'new' Ford Anglia , the one with the back-angled rear window , by my good friend Hensel Maggott , he also provided a first tour of the swinging city of London for my mother and her sister in 1967....
The Volkswagen Beetle came in to my life also in 1967 , it was owned by Charlie Barrett , whose daughter I had met at a (wait for it...) Parish Council meeting . The VW was Charlie's pride and joy , after his wife and three daughters of course It was a creamy white colour , constantly polished ( HE knew how to look after machines ) . He kept it in a lock-up garage and I was told that sometimes he would not take the car out if it was RAINING . Some years later , when he retired to Ireland , he of course brought the Beetle with him , in spite of all the paperwork involved at the time . Charlie was a gentleman but even his best friends would not describe him as a gentle , man. He was a Corkman . And like all Corkmen , HE WAS NEVER WRONG .
So it happened that one Monday morning as he was taking his special daughter from Hatfield to London , as he did EACH Monday morning for years , on the busy Comet Roundabout , he accidently bumped into a posh car . Now anyone not familiar with the VW beetle would not be aware that this car was built like a TANK , heavy metal bumpers and overriders , ...so any other car unluck enough to be 'bumped' by it would come off second best . Of course it wasn't Charlie's fault .....the man in the other car was prepared . swap insurances , names and addresses etc , in the event Charlie gave him 50p and drove off .....again I guess you had to be there .
Having met Charlie's daughter we eventually decided to buy a car between us , all this bussing and training around Hatfield , St. Albans , Wellyn Garden City ,etc , became a chore . So enter ....58 FXN....an off white mini , delux , with REAL chrome , etc , etc , etc , must have been the apple of Sir Alec Issigonis's eye . Unfortunatly I didn't have a full licience , so Charlie's daughter initally did ALL the driving ......I remember some Winter evening WALKING the four miles from Hatfield to St. Albans with 58FXN safely garaged ....incidently the same road that features in Charles Dicken's ''Oliver Twist '', where Bill Sykes , after murdering Nancy , was captured by the authorities , while walking in the snow.....
There is a short cut from the Hatfield Road when approaching St. Albans , called Sandpit Lane .
When walking that road late on a Winter's night , the excavator machinery shows stark against the sky and they looked EXACTLY like dinosaurs....creepy ...now where was I ?
Charlie's daughter and I married , we brought 58 with us , on the MAIL boat not the Ferry , I can still see the mini turning slowly in the wind as they crane loaded it into the hold.
Eventually , getting on in years , 58FXN had to go , I can still see my wife's tears as a stranger dragged the car , with all its memories , away to God only knows where , luckily she did not see MY tears.....
Then came our very own MG saloon , unfortunatly nothing like the green car of my youth , the only time the heater seemed to work was in the SUMMER , as they say nowadays MG should be OMG........
Then came our first almost -new car ....the Vauxhall Viva.....a great car , until an apprentice ran into the side of it in A FORK LIFT TRUCK.....and then said 'don't go too hard on me , I'm not insured and I could lose my job . I cried as well ....
The VIVA eventually became a 'play-car' for my eldest daughter and her friends . Nicknamed ''the MARY car..
My first company car was almost called after my wife , the very first Toyota , Carina , saloon , for some reason , the colour was Primrose . However on my very first business trip , a shattered windscreen , January 1980 , in the wilds of Longford , in the days before laminated windscreens .....
My next company car was also a Carina , a white , hatchback , then an 8 seater , Spacewagen , 3 rows of seats , for the growing family , then the Camry Estate , another 8 seater , one of only two in Ireland at the time , when full of family it once again reminded me of Frank Gilbreth and his family , about this time my wife acquired a tiny Kia and finally on retiring I bought the second Toyota Carina that I still drive , 12 years old and still going , thanks to the patron saint of motors , Tony King .
The next generation are starting to drive , I had whiteknuckle rides with my youngest son , in a VW of course just like Grandad , and my eldest son took me from Jersey City to Fort Worth recently in a Honda Accord , my eldest daughter 's Renault Scenic , when you can see the floor , is quite comfortable and now here comes Rosie in HER little car .
Modern cars can tell you where you are , where you are going and how to get there , but they don't seem to leave any memories , probably because we change them so often ......
I think its time to go , turn off the engine , and lock the garage doors
Goodnight...
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Jersey City to Fort Worth ....Part FIVE
Sunday morning , heading out of Memphis , singing a duet ...no no not Elvis songs , but Kris Kristoffersons ''Sunday Morning''( comin' down ) , we started the final part of our trip to Texas .Our in-car entertainment of the Oddessy was now finished , Oddessyeus a.k.a Ulysses , having slaughtered the Cyclops and all his enemies abroad , now returned to find his household slaughtered , so he set about slaughtering his enemies on home ground...great stuff, so for some light relief we listened to another 'spoken book'...Crime and Punishment , this story about a student who murders two old women with an axe and claims it was their own fault...
This was actually an improvement on my son's other choice ....EARLY Michael Jackson tapes , as the singer had died in the previous few days . I felt sorry for Jackson but not sorry enough to suffer his early music....I recon this was retaliation on my son's part for all those Dean Martin hobo songs he was forced to listen to , when he was young , on family car-trips....
We crossed the Mississippi during the morning , another missed photo opportunity , into Arkansas , passing near Little Rock , Pine Bluff , El Dorado , and crossed the border into Texas at Texarkana , passing near towns like Marshall , Longview , then past Dallas and so on to Fort Worth .....a remarkable futuristic city and holding on to a tiny corner of the Old West in Cowtown . We were welcomed by my son's wife and daughter ...our mission completed .HOOray for Robert HOOray for the Honda Accord ( since voted the most reliable car in the WORLD...I agree )..HOoray for U-Haul .....I'll spend another ten blogs telling you about my journey home through Heathrow. YEEEHAAAAAW....
This was actually an improvement on my son's other choice ....EARLY Michael Jackson tapes , as the singer had died in the previous few days . I felt sorry for Jackson but not sorry enough to suffer his early music....I recon this was retaliation on my son's part for all those Dean Martin hobo songs he was forced to listen to , when he was young , on family car-trips....
We crossed the Mississippi during the morning , another missed photo opportunity , into Arkansas , passing near Little Rock , Pine Bluff , El Dorado , and crossed the border into Texas at Texarkana , passing near towns like Marshall , Longview , then past Dallas and so on to Fort Worth .....a remarkable futuristic city and holding on to a tiny corner of the Old West in Cowtown . We were welcomed by my son's wife and daughter ...our mission completed .HOOray for Robert HOOray for the Honda Accord ( since voted the most reliable car in the WORLD...I agree )..HOoray for U-Haul .....I'll spend another ten blogs telling you about my journey home through Heathrow. YEEEHAAAAAW....
Jersey City to Fort Worth ...Part FOUR
Leaving the area of the Shanandoah Valley , Hugh having performed very well , we then made our way from Ashville towards Knoxville , following directions such as ''ask for 81 South , National Pike , West , merge to......etc my driver had to watch all these directions and signs , while at the same time avoiding ,huge trucks and cars coming from either side .....
We followed signs for West Virginia , Tennessee , ...finally exit 1 B for Knoxville, on to Turkey Drive , down Snowgoose Lane ....and there it was Holmwood Suites Motel.
Tired , we went in search of food , having missed an opportunity of visiting the eating establishment that served the BIGGEST BURGERS IN THE WORLD...we settled for the closest we could get to the famous HATFIELD HOTDOG....
On Friday 3 rd of July ,yes , yes ,'as dawn's rose fingers touched the sky'' , we set off for Memphis, , passing out of Virginia into Tennessee, signs for Clarksville , Chatanooga , and stopping in Nashville ( the home of country music ) , to savour the 'action' in that legendary place . We parked Hugh , taking up TWO parking places , on Buddy Holly Boulevard , and went looking for the 'action' , but were unable to find it , eventually we had to ask directions from two cops in a squad car , who looked at us very strangely....we DID see Sun Studios where Elvis made his first recordings and WE were asked by a passerby ''did we know the way to Chet Akins'' , to my surprise my son had never HEARD of the famous guitarist and did not realise that the person was looking for a street not an actual person.
The only action we eventually found in Nashville was afternoon tea , served on a veranda , by a Greek orthodox lady , who apologised for not having any freshly-baked scones , and whose black-bean soup consisted of ..just that ,,black beans ...no liquid...she pressed some religious promotional pamplets as we rushed off to save our car and trailer from being clamped , or whatever they do to illegally parked cars in Nashville...
We arrived in Memphis in the late afternoon , an amazingly spread-out city ....found our motel . The Scots Inn , almost directly across the road from Graceville , Elvis's former home .We planned to stay two nights , to give the driver and Hugh a rest and enjoy the eve-of-Independence -day and Independence Day itself in the city .
We parked Hugh , booked in and made our way to the room .We went for a meal and on the way back my son said ''Did you SEE him ?'' , I said ''Who?''...He said ''The ELVIS impersonater on the stairs'' ...nooooo, this happened THREE TIMES, ''did you see him on the BALCONY''...''DID YOU SEE HIM IN THE CAR PARK ???..no...no...and again no ...I was beginning to believe that my son was seeing Elvis's ghost when I did see him on the stairs ....or did I???
Memphis by night on the eve of Independence Day is something to behold ....or maybe its like that EVERY night ....music pouring out of all the cafes and night clubs , dancing and acrobating on the streets , everyone merry , laughing , young , old , black white , drunk and sober ....and surprisingly for an Irishman visiting .....NO signs of violence or disorderly conduct....of course that MAY have had to do with the fact that the Memphis Police and Squad cars were very much in evidence , just think Rod Steiger ...''IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT'' , but they were laughing and joking too.
We went to BB.Kings night club for ribs , a Bud , and some jazz to round off the night..
On Independence Day we visited Graceland , a bit disappointing , the house almost as he lived in it , the jungle room very interesting ( details of Graceland can be found on the Internet ).
As we were leaving on the Graceland Tour Bus the african-american lady who was driving the bus started singing ''Blue Suede Shoes'', my son joined in and soon the whole bus crew and passengers were singing all the Elvis songs they could remember the words of ...and a few minutes before they had been strangers to one another......oh yes Elvis LIVES. We didn't see the fireworks as we had yet another early start the following morning....goodnight Memphis...tomorrow is our final leg of the journey....
We followed signs for West Virginia , Tennessee , ...finally exit 1 B for Knoxville, on to Turkey Drive , down Snowgoose Lane ....and there it was Holmwood Suites Motel.
Tired , we went in search of food , having missed an opportunity of visiting the eating establishment that served the BIGGEST BURGERS IN THE WORLD...we settled for the closest we could get to the famous HATFIELD HOTDOG....
On Friday 3 rd of July ,yes , yes ,'as dawn's rose fingers touched the sky'' , we set off for Memphis, , passing out of Virginia into Tennessee, signs for Clarksville , Chatanooga , and stopping in Nashville ( the home of country music ) , to savour the 'action' in that legendary place . We parked Hugh , taking up TWO parking places , on Buddy Holly Boulevard , and went looking for the 'action' , but were unable to find it , eventually we had to ask directions from two cops in a squad car , who looked at us very strangely....we DID see Sun Studios where Elvis made his first recordings and WE were asked by a passerby ''did we know the way to Chet Akins'' , to my surprise my son had never HEARD of the famous guitarist and did not realise that the person was looking for a street not an actual person.
The only action we eventually found in Nashville was afternoon tea , served on a veranda , by a Greek orthodox lady , who apologised for not having any freshly-baked scones , and whose black-bean soup consisted of ..just that ,,black beans ...no liquid...she pressed some religious promotional pamplets as we rushed off to save our car and trailer from being clamped , or whatever they do to illegally parked cars in Nashville...
We arrived in Memphis in the late afternoon , an amazingly spread-out city ....found our motel . The Scots Inn , almost directly across the road from Graceville , Elvis's former home .We planned to stay two nights , to give the driver and Hugh a rest and enjoy the eve-of-Independence -day and Independence Day itself in the city .
We parked Hugh , booked in and made our way to the room .We went for a meal and on the way back my son said ''Did you SEE him ?'' , I said ''Who?''...He said ''The ELVIS impersonater on the stairs'' ...nooooo, this happened THREE TIMES, ''did you see him on the BALCONY''...''DID YOU SEE HIM IN THE CAR PARK ???..no...no...and again no ...I was beginning to believe that my son was seeing Elvis's ghost when I did see him on the stairs ....or did I???
Memphis by night on the eve of Independence Day is something to behold ....or maybe its like that EVERY night ....music pouring out of all the cafes and night clubs , dancing and acrobating on the streets , everyone merry , laughing , young , old , black white , drunk and sober ....and surprisingly for an Irishman visiting .....NO signs of violence or disorderly conduct....of course that MAY have had to do with the fact that the Memphis Police and Squad cars were very much in evidence , just think Rod Steiger ...''IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT'' , but they were laughing and joking too.
We went to BB.Kings night club for ribs , a Bud , and some jazz to round off the night..
On Independence Day we visited Graceland , a bit disappointing , the house almost as he lived in it , the jungle room very interesting ( details of Graceland can be found on the Internet ).
As we were leaving on the Graceland Tour Bus the african-american lady who was driving the bus started singing ''Blue Suede Shoes'', my son joined in and soon the whole bus crew and passengers were singing all the Elvis songs they could remember the words of ...and a few minutes before they had been strangers to one another......oh yes Elvis LIVES. We didn't see the fireworks as we had yet another early start the following morning....goodnight Memphis...tomorrow is our final leg of the journey....
Jersey City to Fort Worth ....Part THREE
We had decided to have Country Music tapes to accompany us on the long drives , but somehow we ended up listening to 'spoken book '' tapes . The first of these was '' Homers Odyessey '' on six hour long tapes .Oh ..no I thought ....but as it turned out because of the well known stories , the rhytm of the words and the soothing tone of the narrator it was a perfect accompanyment....Sooooo 'as dawns rose fingers touched the sky ' we set out on the Thurs, 2nd of July heading for Knoxville , Virginia .
We crossed from Maryland ( sorry Morryland ) into Virginia , West Virginia , ( Kentucky, Nth. Carolina , ?) , Tennessee, passing close to well known towns , such as Charlstown , Clarksburgh , Winston , Salem...and another surprise ...we took a side trip to The Blue Ridge Mountains , and the Shanandoah Valley. Once again I was wary of the hills which became mountains, sharp bends , looking out for wildlife in the wooded landscape ,(a deer ran right across our path on a bend ).
We travelled high up the mountain , with myself expecting the trailer to separate itself from the car at any moment . We stopped at a viewing point overlooking the Shanandoah Valley , and the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance . We were admiring a picturesque ranch-house nestled down in the valley and saying what a lovely place to live when we became conscious of a man about my own age standing close by , smoking a cigarette , and gazing , like ourselves down into the valley .It turned out that he was the owner of the ranch house we were admiring . His name was Paul Lester and he had lived there most of his life , he had spent some time abroad doing his national service in Europe and the far East ....his abiding memory of Paris was not the Eiffle Tower ( a pile of steel girders !) but the fact that people pi**ed in the street , presumably referring to the on-street urinals which were still in use there in the sixties . He told us about the local wild life , the ( deer )huntimg season ran (I think) from October to March , for the first part of the season , hunters were only allowed to use BOW and ARROWS , then old fashioned MUZZLE LOADERS , and only then were modern weapons , seemed to me a fair deal for the deer .However Paul then told us that HE shot deer with a .22 rifle from his porch , deer meat tasks great . He told us that his son was the local Deputy Sherriff. Although he had never been to Ireland , said he hoped to visit one day...he was very interested inthe European Union and the fact that the Euro was used in most European countries now .
As we said our goodbyes we looked down into the valley again and understood why people like Paul would have no incentive to travel anywhere from this peaceful setting....
We crossed from Maryland ( sorry Morryland ) into Virginia , West Virginia , ( Kentucky, Nth. Carolina , ?) , Tennessee, passing close to well known towns , such as Charlstown , Clarksburgh , Winston , Salem...and another surprise ...we took a side trip to The Blue Ridge Mountains , and the Shanandoah Valley. Once again I was wary of the hills which became mountains, sharp bends , looking out for wildlife in the wooded landscape ,(a deer ran right across our path on a bend ).
We travelled high up the mountain , with myself expecting the trailer to separate itself from the car at any moment . We stopped at a viewing point overlooking the Shanandoah Valley , and the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance . We were admiring a picturesque ranch-house nestled down in the valley and saying what a lovely place to live when we became conscious of a man about my own age standing close by , smoking a cigarette , and gazing , like ourselves down into the valley .It turned out that he was the owner of the ranch house we were admiring . His name was Paul Lester and he had lived there most of his life , he had spent some time abroad doing his national service in Europe and the far East ....his abiding memory of Paris was not the Eiffle Tower ( a pile of steel girders !) but the fact that people pi**ed in the street , presumably referring to the on-street urinals which were still in use there in the sixties . He told us about the local wild life , the ( deer )huntimg season ran (I think) from October to March , for the first part of the season , hunters were only allowed to use BOW and ARROWS , then old fashioned MUZZLE LOADERS , and only then were modern weapons , seemed to me a fair deal for the deer .However Paul then told us that HE shot deer with a .22 rifle from his porch , deer meat tasks great . He told us that his son was the local Deputy Sherriff. Although he had never been to Ireland , said he hoped to visit one day...he was very interested inthe European Union and the fact that the Euro was used in most European countries now .
As we said our goodbyes we looked down into the valley again and understood why people like Paul would have no incentive to travel anywhere from this peaceful setting....
Jersey City to Fort Worth .....Part TWO...
We decided to leave as early as possible , before the ''city that never sleeps'' woke up , so Hugh and me and Bobby slowly moved out of Sussex St. '' as dawn's rose fingers touched the sky'' on the 1st July 2009 . There was barely room for me to move in the passenger seat , even the footwell on my side was full of stuff .
We were both a little thoughtful as we drove out , I was concerned because we had never road-tested the combined load and trailer , my son , no doubt , thinking of the 5 years he and his wife had spent in Jersey City and their apartment (from which , he told me one time , if the light was right , the wind favourable and standing on a table it was just possible to see the'arse' of The Statue of Liberty ).
As we passed the Mail Office we half expected to find a smouldering ruin , following the previous day's battle , but all was quiet.
We headed out of Jersey City toward Pennysylvania , with the massive trucks/trailers roaring past us as we drove in the centre lane of the 3 lane highways. Sitting in the car , with rear visibility , except for the wing mirrors , I soon gave up any vague idea I had had of driving ...I would have been sitting in what for me was the passenger seat , with very limited rear visibility , with a constant stream of very heavy traffic all around , in short I was a coward.
About 100 miles out visibility for the driver was further reduced when a light shower of rain hit .Then a woman , driving a large four by four , passing us pointed animatedly towards the trailer behind....uh ,oh....a problem ...already....We pulled over into the emergency lane as quickly and safely as possible . We discovered that the steel ''fail-safe'' chain on the trailer had become loose and had been dragging for some miles , as it was pitted and scarred . Thank you ma'm, whoever you are .We contacted U-Haul who advised us that by tying up the chain to the towing bar we would NOT be interfering with the turning mechanism. Phew!......
My son got his first experience of manouvering the car and trailer in a tight space when we pulled off the highway for petrol at a small 'gas'station . Reversing to access the gas pump was a tricky job and then trying to exit the forecourt , with limited visibility , called for extreme care and caution.
We had planned our first night's stop for the Days Inn in Hagerstown about 300 miles out , then my son informed me that he had a surprise in store , we were going to go on a side- trip to visit
a famous site of a Civil War battle at Antietam . Whereas I was looking forward to seeing the site , I was worried that travelling over a battlefield , on hills and small roads , might give Hugh Hall problems....suppose we got a flat tyre , a broken connection...etc, all my anxieties were swept aside....we were going.....
A rainstorm broke just as we arrived at the site and although it was only 7pm visibility was bad , there were hills and small roads and very few other visitors there but we were given good advice and directions by the helpful staff at the reception centre. The battle took place on 17 Sept. 1862 , 23000 casualties in 12 hours , some of the earliest battlefield photos were taken there , including Abraham Lincoln and some of his generals poring over maps etc (see the Ultimate Guide to the Battle of Antietam , for more info...)
My driver and Hugh Hall performed excellently, a great experience....
We headed on into Hagerstown and the Days Inn and a well earned rest ..
We were both a little thoughtful as we drove out , I was concerned because we had never road-tested the combined load and trailer , my son , no doubt , thinking of the 5 years he and his wife had spent in Jersey City and their apartment (from which , he told me one time , if the light was right , the wind favourable and standing on a table it was just possible to see the'arse' of The Statue of Liberty ).
As we passed the Mail Office we half expected to find a smouldering ruin , following the previous day's battle , but all was quiet.
We headed out of Jersey City toward Pennysylvania , with the massive trucks/trailers roaring past us as we drove in the centre lane of the 3 lane highways. Sitting in the car , with rear visibility , except for the wing mirrors , I soon gave up any vague idea I had had of driving ...I would have been sitting in what for me was the passenger seat , with very limited rear visibility , with a constant stream of very heavy traffic all around , in short I was a coward.
About 100 miles out visibility for the driver was further reduced when a light shower of rain hit .Then a woman , driving a large four by four , passing us pointed animatedly towards the trailer behind....uh ,oh....a problem ...already....We pulled over into the emergency lane as quickly and safely as possible . We discovered that the steel ''fail-safe'' chain on the trailer had become loose and had been dragging for some miles , as it was pitted and scarred . Thank you ma'm, whoever you are .We contacted U-Haul who advised us that by tying up the chain to the towing bar we would NOT be interfering with the turning mechanism. Phew!......
My son got his first experience of manouvering the car and trailer in a tight space when we pulled off the highway for petrol at a small 'gas'station . Reversing to access the gas pump was a tricky job and then trying to exit the forecourt , with limited visibility , called for extreme care and caution.
We had planned our first night's stop for the Days Inn in Hagerstown about 300 miles out , then my son informed me that he had a surprise in store , we were going to go on a side- trip to visit
a famous site of a Civil War battle at Antietam . Whereas I was looking forward to seeing the site , I was worried that travelling over a battlefield , on hills and small roads , might give Hugh Hall problems....suppose we got a flat tyre , a broken connection...etc, all my anxieties were swept aside....we were going.....
A rainstorm broke just as we arrived at the site and although it was only 7pm visibility was bad , there were hills and small roads and very few other visitors there but we were given good advice and directions by the helpful staff at the reception centre. The battle took place on 17 Sept. 1862 , 23000 casualties in 12 hours , some of the earliest battlefield photos were taken there , including Abraham Lincoln and some of his generals poring over maps etc (see the Ultimate Guide to the Battle of Antietam , for more info...)
My driver and Hugh Hall performed excellently, a great experience....
We headed on into Hagerstown and the Days Inn and a well earned rest ..
Monday, August 10, 2009
Jersey City to Fort Worth Part one
I had decided to travel with my son on a Road Trip from Jersey City to Fort Worth in Texas as he was moving there to start a new life with his family ( wife and baby daughter )
Arrived at Newark Airport on 29 June following an uneventful journey from Dublin via Heathrow ( its much easier to going through HRW on the way out ).
Met by my son and back in his apartment in about half an hour .Having been greeted by daughter-in-law and grand daughter , the two of us set out for a night on the town ( Manhatten ),with some of his friends and collegues from work , a combined bon voyage and birthday celebration .
On the following morning while final tidying up operations were taking place inside , I sat on the steps of the apartment in the beautiful morning sunshine hanging out with my grand daughter . Many neighbours and casual acquaintences dropped by to say goodbye , chat to the little one , and view the furniture and fittings which were laid out on the pavement , there for the taking . The genuine sadness of these friends and neighbours to the imminent departure of this young family , gave lie to the image that people in this part of the city were self absorbed
Mother and baby set off for the airport , to fly to Texas , accompanied by various suitcases , bags , boxes , baby stuff , a huge 'steamer chest' and a stunned cab-driver.
I got my first opportunity to have a close look at what we will call Hugh Hall , this combination of a Honda Accord and a U-Haul trailer. Both had been loaded up to , and in my opinion far beyond their capacity , weight wise .The trailer was taller and wider that the car and every square inch of space inside was full , it had the cables for brakes and lights and the connecting tow bar had an overriding 'fail-safe' steel chair . Advice from friends from the night before was to the effect '' don't let U-Haul see this , they will probably tell you to unload half of the stuff..
The Accord likewise was fully loaded to the roof in the back , both the side windows and the rear window ,all obscured ....I was already having doubts about my offer to do some of the driving...
However , before we left we had the little problem of despatching seven parcels /packages of various shapes and sizes and to convey these parcels to the local US Mail offices meant having to borrow a trolly from the local liqour store ( question , how come my son was on such good terms with the local off-licence?).
We had to make two trips , when we arrived at the Mail offices , the lady in charge first lowered her glasses down her nose and then raised her eyes to heaven , pointed to the nearby parcel desk and ominously handed me a large pair of scissors and two rolls of clear sealing tape .
I think the battle really started when my son approached the lady at the Parcel Desk . Seven large to medium parcels , .first she said they were not properly wrapped , some were too bulky some too heavy and ALL should be wrapped in brown wrapping paper , ( had she any brown wrapping paper ....of course not , anyway the labels should all be printed .....)
As the battle progressed , between bouts the lady paced up and down , like a boxer waiting for the next round....she was too rude even for Ryanair...
The tall parcel was a Christmas Tree , it had a picture of a christmas tree on three sides and the words Christmas Tree printed clearly on the other three sides .....''what's in THAT box she said'' , We said it was a christmas tree , Why were we sending a christmas tree from Jersey City to Fort Worth on the 30 th June , did we not trust the speed and efficiency of the US Postal service ???
Eventually the score was 5...2 , she accepted five parcels , we had to take two away.
Meanwhile a row broke out between some of the people in the queue behind us , people who had been waiting impatiently , four-letter words were thrown around and blows were about to be struck , the lady in charge threathened to call the COPS .As we left I tried to offer our apologies for our part in the kerfuffle , but my son , ever the diplomat , guided me outside by the elbow....inside the voices got louder and I think I heard a police siren in the distance....
As we made our way back to the apartment it started to rain...
We checked over Hugh Hall , made sure everything was in readyness for our early morning start and went to sleep on two seperate duvets , all that remained in the apartment...
Arrived at Newark Airport on 29 June following an uneventful journey from Dublin via Heathrow ( its much easier to going through HRW on the way out ).
Met by my son and back in his apartment in about half an hour .Having been greeted by daughter-in-law and grand daughter , the two of us set out for a night on the town ( Manhatten ),with some of his friends and collegues from work , a combined bon voyage and birthday celebration .
On the following morning while final tidying up operations were taking place inside , I sat on the steps of the apartment in the beautiful morning sunshine hanging out with my grand daughter . Many neighbours and casual acquaintences dropped by to say goodbye , chat to the little one , and view the furniture and fittings which were laid out on the pavement , there for the taking . The genuine sadness of these friends and neighbours to the imminent departure of this young family , gave lie to the image that people in this part of the city were self absorbed
Mother and baby set off for the airport , to fly to Texas , accompanied by various suitcases , bags , boxes , baby stuff , a huge 'steamer chest' and a stunned cab-driver.
I got my first opportunity to have a close look at what we will call Hugh Hall , this combination of a Honda Accord and a U-Haul trailer. Both had been loaded up to , and in my opinion far beyond their capacity , weight wise .The trailer was taller and wider that the car and every square inch of space inside was full , it had the cables for brakes and lights and the connecting tow bar had an overriding 'fail-safe' steel chair . Advice from friends from the night before was to the effect '' don't let U-Haul see this , they will probably tell you to unload half of the stuff..
The Accord likewise was fully loaded to the roof in the back , both the side windows and the rear window ,all obscured ....I was already having doubts about my offer to do some of the driving...
However , before we left we had the little problem of despatching seven parcels /packages of various shapes and sizes and to convey these parcels to the local US Mail offices meant having to borrow a trolly from the local liqour store ( question , how come my son was on such good terms with the local off-licence?).
We had to make two trips , when we arrived at the Mail offices , the lady in charge first lowered her glasses down her nose and then raised her eyes to heaven , pointed to the nearby parcel desk and ominously handed me a large pair of scissors and two rolls of clear sealing tape .
I think the battle really started when my son approached the lady at the Parcel Desk . Seven large to medium parcels , .first she said they were not properly wrapped , some were too bulky some too heavy and ALL should be wrapped in brown wrapping paper , ( had she any brown wrapping paper ....of course not , anyway the labels should all be printed .....)
As the battle progressed , between bouts the lady paced up and down , like a boxer waiting for the next round....she was too rude even for Ryanair...
The tall parcel was a Christmas Tree , it had a picture of a christmas tree on three sides and the words Christmas Tree printed clearly on the other three sides .....''what's in THAT box she said'' , We said it was a christmas tree , Why were we sending a christmas tree from Jersey City to Fort Worth on the 30 th June , did we not trust the speed and efficiency of the US Postal service ???
Eventually the score was 5...2 , she accepted five parcels , we had to take two away.
Meanwhile a row broke out between some of the people in the queue behind us , people who had been waiting impatiently , four-letter words were thrown around and blows were about to be struck , the lady in charge threathened to call the COPS .As we left I tried to offer our apologies for our part in the kerfuffle , but my son , ever the diplomat , guided me outside by the elbow....inside the voices got louder and I think I heard a police siren in the distance....
As we made our way back to the apartment it started to rain...
We checked over Hugh Hall , made sure everything was in readyness for our early morning start and went to sleep on two seperate duvets , all that remained in the apartment...
Untitled
He first remembered seeing her when he was about twelve or thirteen . She lived with her family in a medium sized house , with castleated surrounding walls , on the corner of their street .Her father was an important person locally and nationally . The family seemed to travel at all times in a large black car and her father was very protective . Still the young man with the curly hair lived in hope of meeting HER 'casually' .
He was an altar-boy and he knew that her family attended Mass each Sunday and this might bring about a chance encounter .
Altar-boys , despite their angelic appearence at church ceremonies , seemed to be constantly at war with one another , punching and pinching and tripping-up each other , even sometimes on the altar , when the priest wasn't looking .
So it happened , one day , that the boy with the curly hair got involved in a particularly vicious fight in , what then served as a car-park , outside the church one Sunday morning , as mass-goers were trooping out .Neither of the participants were quite sure what the scuffle was about , but HE ended up on the losing end . As the ''Raggers'' , thats what the gang were called, carried off the victor shoulder-high and HE sat on the ground nursing his split lip and his bruised ego , SHE suddenly appeared , holding out his almost-new , school blazer . He could still see in his minds eye , the torn patch -pocket ( was that the cause of the fight ?)., letters ''WR'' in red and black ) and her gentle hand and grey eyes . If he had been a cartoon character his head would be circled by a combination of stars and throbbing love-hearts , whirling around . He didn't even feel the pain from his bleeding lip or sore ear
Then the moment was gone , as her father appeared , took her by the arm and whisked her off to the family car and away .
He still often saw her in the distance . Sometimes he and his friends on their 'speed-way' bikes went past her house , turning the corner at speed , feet dragging the ground , scuffelling the loose stones , bicycle-bells ringing , and singing over , and over and over again...'' Do not forsake me oh my darlin'......'' the first line of Tex Ritters new song , following the film ''High Noon'' .
He , of course , never told his friends of his secret , oh no !! oh no , no , no . They would just LOVE to have ammunition like that , which they would use at will . He did'nt even tell his brothers...this was his secret alone . He often still walked past her house but just missed seeing her , ....a squeeking gate , a closing door .He sometimes wore his '' James Dean'' jacket , with collar turned up , and tee shirt , all the rage among teenagers at the time , his hair slicked back with Brylcreem , not water ( or'' Corporation hair oil '', as it dubbed by Dubliners at the time ).
He never DID meet her again , and time went on . Sometime in the sixties he left the area , met and married a beautiful woman , with an animated spirit , they had a wonderful family, all now grown -up and gone. God had gifted him all the really important things in life .
l One evening late last Autumn , on an errand in town , he happened to walk through the area of his childhood . He had not been around there for many years .Because the locality had been considered ''upmarket' and prices of properties ( we no longer live in 'homes' or even ''houses' , we all now have ' properties ') , had increased manyfold over the years , the outside appearences had hardly changed at all . The current occupants and all the intervening owners had no doubt refurbished the insides beyond recognition .
The house on the corner was almost as it had been over 50 years before . He wondered what had happened to HER and when she and her family had left. Enough of memories he thought . The evening was getting darker , the few remaining leaves floated down from the tree in her garden , a light suddenly came on in the room upstairs . Time to go , he thought ...He turned up the collar , of his belted raincoat , checked his watch , and hurried off to the bus-stop round the corner , fumbling , as always , for his bus-pass .
SHE , having turned on the light , moved to close the curtains . Her companion/nurse/friend Mary had just left . They had , had a nice evening chatting about the OLD times. Old . Was she really getting old .Ever since her parents had died and her siblings had moved out and , of course , the accident , she had not marked time in the same way . She supposed she was GETTING old , but she felt happy in her situation . The Estate Agent , with the gelled hair , . had not been able to convince her to sell the house , even at the astranomical price he quoted . Where would she go ,? and why ,? she was happy here . She never regretted not marrying , her father never approved of any of her friend , anyway ,but she still sometimes wondered ...what if ??
She remembered the boy with the curly hair , often watching him and his boisterous friends as they went by on their shiny bicycles ...'.riding down to Kenilworth ', no doubt , she smiled at her tiny joke.... her hero of the torn coat and upturned collar...
As she clutched the curtains she saw the man in the belted raincoat (, who wears belted raincoats these days ...??? she thought ....) turn and walk toward the corner bus -stop ...something about him ....no no no silly old woman,...upturned collar , no hair oil , ( no hair !)
She closed the curtains , moved her wheel-chair , away from the window . And as she opened her book , she heard the engine of the bus as is moved away from the stop around the corner.....
He was an altar-boy and he knew that her family attended Mass each Sunday and this might bring about a chance encounter .
Altar-boys , despite their angelic appearence at church ceremonies , seemed to be constantly at war with one another , punching and pinching and tripping-up each other , even sometimes on the altar , when the priest wasn't looking .
So it happened , one day , that the boy with the curly hair got involved in a particularly vicious fight in , what then served as a car-park , outside the church one Sunday morning , as mass-goers were trooping out .Neither of the participants were quite sure what the scuffle was about , but HE ended up on the losing end . As the ''Raggers'' , thats what the gang were called, carried off the victor shoulder-high and HE sat on the ground nursing his split lip and his bruised ego , SHE suddenly appeared , holding out his almost-new , school blazer . He could still see in his minds eye , the torn patch -pocket ( was that the cause of the fight ?)., letters ''WR'' in red and black ) and her gentle hand and grey eyes . If he had been a cartoon character his head would be circled by a combination of stars and throbbing love-hearts , whirling around . He didn't even feel the pain from his bleeding lip or sore ear
Then the moment was gone , as her father appeared , took her by the arm and whisked her off to the family car and away .
He still often saw her in the distance . Sometimes he and his friends on their 'speed-way' bikes went past her house , turning the corner at speed , feet dragging the ground , scuffelling the loose stones , bicycle-bells ringing , and singing over , and over and over again...'' Do not forsake me oh my darlin'......'' the first line of Tex Ritters new song , following the film ''High Noon'' .
He , of course , never told his friends of his secret , oh no !! oh no , no , no . They would just LOVE to have ammunition like that , which they would use at will . He did'nt even tell his brothers...this was his secret alone . He often still walked past her house but just missed seeing her , ....a squeeking gate , a closing door .He sometimes wore his '' James Dean'' jacket , with collar turned up , and tee shirt , all the rage among teenagers at the time , his hair slicked back with Brylcreem , not water ( or'' Corporation hair oil '', as it dubbed by Dubliners at the time ).
He never DID meet her again , and time went on . Sometime in the sixties he left the area , met and married a beautiful woman , with an animated spirit , they had a wonderful family, all now grown -up and gone. God had gifted him all the really important things in life .
l One evening late last Autumn , on an errand in town , he happened to walk through the area of his childhood . He had not been around there for many years .Because the locality had been considered ''upmarket' and prices of properties ( we no longer live in 'homes' or even ''houses' , we all now have ' properties ') , had increased manyfold over the years , the outside appearences had hardly changed at all . The current occupants and all the intervening owners had no doubt refurbished the insides beyond recognition .
The house on the corner was almost as it had been over 50 years before . He wondered what had happened to HER and when she and her family had left. Enough of memories he thought . The evening was getting darker , the few remaining leaves floated down from the tree in her garden , a light suddenly came on in the room upstairs . Time to go , he thought ...He turned up the collar , of his belted raincoat , checked his watch , and hurried off to the bus-stop round the corner , fumbling , as always , for his bus-pass .
SHE , having turned on the light , moved to close the curtains . Her companion/nurse/friend Mary had just left . They had , had a nice evening chatting about the OLD times. Old . Was she really getting old .Ever since her parents had died and her siblings had moved out and , of course , the accident , she had not marked time in the same way . She supposed she was GETTING old , but she felt happy in her situation . The Estate Agent , with the gelled hair , . had not been able to convince her to sell the house , even at the astranomical price he quoted . Where would she go ,? and why ,? she was happy here . She never regretted not marrying , her father never approved of any of her friend , anyway ,but she still sometimes wondered ...what if ??
She remembered the boy with the curly hair , often watching him and his boisterous friends as they went by on their shiny bicycles ...'.riding down to Kenilworth ', no doubt , she smiled at her tiny joke.... her hero of the torn coat and upturned collar...
As she clutched the curtains she saw the man in the belted raincoat (, who wears belted raincoats these days ...??? she thought ....) turn and walk toward the corner bus -stop ...something about him ....no no no silly old woman,...upturned collar , no hair oil , ( no hair !)
She closed the curtains , moved her wheel-chair , away from the window . And as she opened her book , she heard the engine of the bus as is moved away from the stop around the corner.....
Monday, April 13, 2009
The Bicycle Rides Again .
A brief news item appeared in some newspapers on Easter Saturday ( 11/04/09 )concerning an elderly woman whose bicycle had been stolen . The woman was 83 years old and had owned the bicycle for 66 years , having been given it as a present in 1943 . I thought what a shame ,,,and was about to move on when I remembered Flann O'Brien's theory in '' The Third Policeman'' where he suggested that an interchange of atoms took place between a cyclist and his/her bicycle over a period of time . That with constant usage , the bicycle gradually becomes human and vice versa . So maybe this elderly woman's bicycle wasn't stolen at all , maybe the bicycle had BECOME HER . Then I thought , thats not fair , couldn't be ......
Where did this happen anyway ?
In the state of Maine USA...MAINE !! Anyone who reads Stephen King's books knows about all the strange happening in that state . And didn't Stephen King write a story about a car , a 1956 Chevvy called ''Christine '' which took on human traits ???
Maybe one of the more positive outcomes of our recession will be a welcome return of more bicycles to our streets . But we should be careful ...that bicycle lying in the ditch or that old lady standing on the corner may not be as innocent as they seem...
We will probably be OK if we remember Flann O'Brien's five '' rules of wisdom '' ;
Ask questions , but never answer any ;
Turn everything you hear to your own advantage ;
Always carry a repair outfit ;
Take left turns as much as possible ;
Never apply your front brake first .
Where did this happen anyway ?
In the state of Maine USA...MAINE !! Anyone who reads Stephen King's books knows about all the strange happening in that state . And didn't Stephen King write a story about a car , a 1956 Chevvy called ''Christine '' which took on human traits ???
Maybe one of the more positive outcomes of our recession will be a welcome return of more bicycles to our streets . But we should be careful ...that bicycle lying in the ditch or that old lady standing on the corner may not be as innocent as they seem...
We will probably be OK if we remember Flann O'Brien's five '' rules of wisdom '' ;
Ask questions , but never answer any ;
Turn everything you hear to your own advantage ;
Always carry a repair outfit ;
Take left turns as much as possible ;
Never apply your front brake first .
Monday, March 23, 2009
Animal Farm.
So it it all started with the Bulls and the Bears on Wall St.They were responsible for the Crash . For a while it seemed that the Markets were rising again but no ...it was only a 'dead cat bounce 'and the index continued to fall.
In Ireland we had our own cat , we called it The Celtic Tiger . This creature was easily recognised as it rampaged through its jungle of shoddily-built , over-priced , housing estates , with its mobile clamped to its ear , brushing aside all in its path .
First-time buyers were led like sheep to the latest over hyped new developments .
When some , responsible commentators , suggested that we might have a property crash and negative equity situation , as had happened in other countries , they were told by the vested interests that our boom was a horse of a different colour and they were 'neigh' (sorry ) sayers . Not only did they continue to ignore the elephant in the corner but they continued to build more white elephants ...Bertie Bowl,,,decentralising.....voting machines......
But the property crash did come and we had the weasel words and crocodile tears of the people who drove the market (they are very good at crocodile tears ).
When what was really going on eventually started to leak out and we began to realise that St. Patrick had not actually rid our country of all its snakes , the anger started .
We had the porcine similes , swine , greedy pigs , snouts in the trough....etc and although the dogs- in- the- streets had been barking warnings those responsible told us that no-one foresaw our crisis .
So now we are being alerted by our politicians to gird our loins (oops) and prepare for some brass-monkey weather ahead .
Ah ..welcome to Animal Farm..!
In Ireland we had our own cat , we called it The Celtic Tiger . This creature was easily recognised as it rampaged through its jungle of shoddily-built , over-priced , housing estates , with its mobile clamped to its ear , brushing aside all in its path .
First-time buyers were led like sheep to the latest over hyped new developments .
When some , responsible commentators , suggested that we might have a property crash and negative equity situation , as had happened in other countries , they were told by the vested interests that our boom was a horse of a different colour and they were 'neigh' (sorry ) sayers . Not only did they continue to ignore the elephant in the corner but they continued to build more white elephants ...Bertie Bowl,,,decentralising.....voting machines......
But the property crash did come and we had the weasel words and crocodile tears of the people who drove the market (they are very good at crocodile tears ).
When what was really going on eventually started to leak out and we began to realise that St. Patrick had not actually rid our country of all its snakes , the anger started .
We had the porcine similes , swine , greedy pigs , snouts in the trough....etc and although the dogs- in- the- streets had been barking warnings those responsible told us that no-one foresaw our crisis .
So now we are being alerted by our politicians to gird our loins (oops) and prepare for some brass-monkey weather ahead .
Ah ..welcome to Animal Farm..!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Slippery when wet
We arrived in Barcelona on Friday 13th Feb . , spent two days sightseeing there and on Sunday 15th made our way to the port and saw our cruise ship Norwegian Jade for the first time .This magnificent ship , fourteen decks high , with a passenger capacity of 2000 and a crew of 1500 overwhelmed us .
The logistics of boarding 2000 people and their luggage for a 12 day cruise was handled as smoothly as boarding a train for Galway . We exchanged our passports for our stateroom key-card and by the time we reached our cabin our luggage was in place .
As we passed through the main lounge my wife immediatly pointed to the glass ceiling and remarked , ominously , how much it reminded her of the ship in the film ''The Poseidon Adventure ''.
We settled in , explored the ship , among other things , 8 or 9 restaurant , 3 swimming pools , 4 jacuzzies , a theatre seating 1500 , cabaret rooms , bars , reading rooms , games rooms , etc.....
When this massive vessel started eventually set sail out of the port of Barcelona we hardly detected any sensation of motion .
Our first port of call was Rome , all the various options of guided tours were laid out and we chose 'Rome on your own' , which we did , from St.Peters Square , we visited the Vatican , saw thw Sistine Chapel...( if you are finding this chronicle boring , you have my permission to click out at any stage ).Then we wandered off to try and find , on foot , the Coliseum , the Trevi Fountain etc , and eventually rushed back thinking that we were about to miss the boat.
Following another day or so at sea we arrived in the port of Pereus (?) and toured Athens by coach ( photos to follow....)
Another day at sea and we arrived in Turkey , a tour which took us to the ancient town of Ephesus , a fascinating place with links to St.Paul , an amphitheatre , where St.Paul -preaching , Barbra Stiesand-singing and Elton John-?..all performed ), white marble roads , remains of buildings from library to brothel ,( we were told by the guide that there was a tunnel underground between the library and the brothel , husbands would say ''I'm just off to the library dear.....''), public toilets (in marble ) where Paul , Barbra , and Elton , may also have'' performed''. On our journey back to the ship we were given a tour of a Turkish carpet showrooms , where we were shown how the most beautiful carpets in the world , from spinning the silk , to weaving , to the finished article , dazzling colours, prices ranged from $100 to $100,000 , unfortunatly no free samples...
The downside was that it rained ALL day , so much so that the guide , who was from Ephesus said that he had never experienced anything like the rain and the cold before .( When St. Paul wrote all those letters HE NEVER ONCE MENTIONED THE WEATHER . ).
A day and a half later we arrived in the port of Alexandria and chose a trip to Cairo to see the Pyramids. .........
By my reckoning on touching the African continent we had now walked on three continents in three days or thereabouts ....Europe , Asia ..(..yes Turkey was deemed to be in Asia ) , and now Africa .
Alexandria is about 3 hours by road from Cairo and we could see how the desert was gradually being reclaimed in the area between the two cities.....a slow process of course . Cairo was a disappointment in some ways , lots of rubbish on the streets , unfinished buildings making the skyline look untidy , evidence of poverty , but on reaching the edge of the city and seeing the three magnificent Pyramids and the Sphinx so close to it was a big surprise .....we expected to have to journey for hours out in to the desert in order to see them...
Dozens of souvenier sellers , persistent but not agressive , they just didn't take NO for an answer .
We will skip over the incident where my wife tried to escape on the tour bus without me......
a trip along the Nile on a 'barge', dancing with a belly- dancer , information on the making of papyrus and the gold , tourist , and oil industries , some of the social statistics ( 75 million people in Egypt , 22.5 million in Cairo ) , the reasons for the unfinished homes , all gave us an insight to this historical ,biblical country , and went some way to explaining why there was so much apparent poverty in what should be a wealthy country . ... ..
We visited a mosque ....I thought that the ban on wearing shorts only applied to women , not so I had not only to take off my shoes but also to cover my legs with my raincoat....
I did have my cold beer , but the unusually cold weather gave a whole new meaning to the phrase ''Ice Cold in Alex''.
Malta was our last stop before heading back to Barcelona . To see the cruise liner manouvering to tie up in the little ( at least little in comparison to the size of the huge cruise-liner ) , had to be seen to be believed , like trying to park an army tank in a tiny front garden....(.worth the trip in itself...) .....
The guide told us about the history and geography of the island ( and geology ....limestone , ),an incredible story (THE MALTA STORY ?????) not enough room to even scratch the surface , well worth another visit .Romans , Greeks , British , French ...etc all contributed to its history leaving behind a very rich culture and a language that seems to have bits of all of the above ...
So we arrived back in Barcelona , said goodbye to our brief accqaintances , ( including Mike from Montana , and , I think Winnie from Wisconsin , where apparently the weather is always worse that anywhere else...)....and made our way back to the comforting arms of Ryanair and back home to the recession....
A truly wonderful , wonderful experience , for which we heartily thank all of you who helped to bring it about , we loved it , in spite of our initial concerns , we would NEVER have experienced all that without you ....one last comment ....HOW THE HELL DID YOU ALL MANAGE TO KEEP THE SECRET FOR SUCH A LONG TIME ?
The logistics of boarding 2000 people and their luggage for a 12 day cruise was handled as smoothly as boarding a train for Galway . We exchanged our passports for our stateroom key-card and by the time we reached our cabin our luggage was in place .
As we passed through the main lounge my wife immediatly pointed to the glass ceiling and remarked , ominously , how much it reminded her of the ship in the film ''The Poseidon Adventure ''.
We settled in , explored the ship , among other things , 8 or 9 restaurant , 3 swimming pools , 4 jacuzzies , a theatre seating 1500 , cabaret rooms , bars , reading rooms , games rooms , etc.....
When this massive vessel started eventually set sail out of the port of Barcelona we hardly detected any sensation of motion .
Our first port of call was Rome , all the various options of guided tours were laid out and we chose 'Rome on your own' , which we did , from St.Peters Square , we visited the Vatican , saw thw Sistine Chapel...( if you are finding this chronicle boring , you have my permission to click out at any stage ).Then we wandered off to try and find , on foot , the Coliseum , the Trevi Fountain etc , and eventually rushed back thinking that we were about to miss the boat.
Following another day or so at sea we arrived in the port of Pereus (?) and toured Athens by coach ( photos to follow....)
Another day at sea and we arrived in Turkey , a tour which took us to the ancient town of Ephesus , a fascinating place with links to St.Paul , an amphitheatre , where St.Paul -preaching , Barbra Stiesand-singing and Elton John-?..all performed ), white marble roads , remains of buildings from library to brothel ,( we were told by the guide that there was a tunnel underground between the library and the brothel , husbands would say ''I'm just off to the library dear.....''), public toilets (in marble ) where Paul , Barbra , and Elton , may also have'' performed''. On our journey back to the ship we were given a tour of a Turkish carpet showrooms , where we were shown how the most beautiful carpets in the world , from spinning the silk , to weaving , to the finished article , dazzling colours, prices ranged from $100 to $100,000 , unfortunatly no free samples...
The downside was that it rained ALL day , so much so that the guide , who was from Ephesus said that he had never experienced anything like the rain and the cold before .( When St. Paul wrote all those letters HE NEVER ONCE MENTIONED THE WEATHER . ).
A day and a half later we arrived in the port of Alexandria and chose a trip to Cairo to see the Pyramids. .........
By my reckoning on touching the African continent we had now walked on three continents in three days or thereabouts ....Europe , Asia ..(..yes Turkey was deemed to be in Asia ) , and now Africa .
Alexandria is about 3 hours by road from Cairo and we could see how the desert was gradually being reclaimed in the area between the two cities.....a slow process of course . Cairo was a disappointment in some ways , lots of rubbish on the streets , unfinished buildings making the skyline look untidy , evidence of poverty , but on reaching the edge of the city and seeing the three magnificent Pyramids and the Sphinx so close to it was a big surprise .....we expected to have to journey for hours out in to the desert in order to see them...
Dozens of souvenier sellers , persistent but not agressive , they just didn't take NO for an answer .
We will skip over the incident where my wife tried to escape on the tour bus without me......
a trip along the Nile on a 'barge', dancing with a belly- dancer , information on the making of papyrus and the gold , tourist , and oil industries , some of the social statistics ( 75 million people in Egypt , 22.5 million in Cairo ) , the reasons for the unfinished homes , all gave us an insight to this historical ,biblical country , and went some way to explaining why there was so much apparent poverty in what should be a wealthy country . ... ..
We visited a mosque ....I thought that the ban on wearing shorts only applied to women , not so I had not only to take off my shoes but also to cover my legs with my raincoat....
I did have my cold beer , but the unusually cold weather gave a whole new meaning to the phrase ''Ice Cold in Alex''.
Malta was our last stop before heading back to Barcelona . To see the cruise liner manouvering to tie up in the little ( at least little in comparison to the size of the huge cruise-liner ) , had to be seen to be believed , like trying to park an army tank in a tiny front garden....(.worth the trip in itself...) .....
The guide told us about the history and geography of the island ( and geology ....limestone , ),an incredible story (THE MALTA STORY ?????) not enough room to even scratch the surface , well worth another visit .Romans , Greeks , British , French ...etc all contributed to its history leaving behind a very rich culture and a language that seems to have bits of all of the above ...
So we arrived back in Barcelona , said goodbye to our brief accqaintances , ( including Mike from Montana , and , I think Winnie from Wisconsin , where apparently the weather is always worse that anywhere else...)....and made our way back to the comforting arms of Ryanair and back home to the recession....
A truly wonderful , wonderful experience , for which we heartily thank all of you who helped to bring it about , we loved it , in spite of our initial concerns , we would NEVER have experienced all that without you ....one last comment ....HOW THE HELL DID YOU ALL MANAGE TO KEEP THE SECRET FOR SUCH A LONG TIME ?
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Almost....speechless......
So the Governor of the Central Bank ( who he ? , or better still , where WAS he for the past 10 years ? ) , anyway whoever he is or wherever he was during the obscene housing boom , in his WISDOM , he appears to have come to the conclusion that the best way to rescue his greedy banker mates is to make sure that EVERYONE pays for his ineptitude and his pals greed by insisting that each home now stumps up € 1000 per annum irrespective of size of dwelling (apparently NOT including second or HOLIDAY homes , as these have already been levied at the magnificent sum of € 200 per annum in the so-called budget .)
This man , who played Stan Laurel to the Financial REGULATOR'S , Oliver Hardy , for the enjoyment of those who were driving ''a coach and four '' through every piece of financial and moral code imaginable , giving us , the fools ( you don't mind being called a 'fool' now do you ) , the impression that all was in order , the 'fundamentals ' were strong and occasionally , for show , tut .tut. tutting . at some minor infringement of the 'rules' by the greedy ones .
Notice how Nationalism and Moral Codes are suddenly back on the agenda .'' We are all in this together '' is the new mantra , '' we all must feel the pain '' is the cry , I have already paid my 'levy' on my pension , which , incidentally ,decreased in real value over the past 10 years because our society had become 'a high value ' society and people of low worth were not welcomed . I wonder will the pension of our high ranking civil servants , such as the Regulator , or the Chief of the Central Bank ,be eroded by abnormal inflation .......???? So I have already paid twice over and many , many , people are even worse off.......but our high ranking politicians and our permanent Government of over-paid ''Sir Humphries'' will be OK
GOD BLESS IRELAND , SAY the HEROES.....
This man , who played Stan Laurel to the Financial REGULATOR'S , Oliver Hardy , for the enjoyment of those who were driving ''a coach and four '' through every piece of financial and moral code imaginable , giving us , the fools ( you don't mind being called a 'fool' now do you ) , the impression that all was in order , the 'fundamentals ' were strong and occasionally , for show , tut .tut. tutting . at some minor infringement of the 'rules' by the greedy ones .
Notice how Nationalism and Moral Codes are suddenly back on the agenda .'' We are all in this together '' is the new mantra , '' we all must feel the pain '' is the cry , I have already paid my 'levy' on my pension , which , incidentally ,decreased in real value over the past 10 years because our society had become 'a high value ' society and people of low worth were not welcomed . I wonder will the pension of our high ranking civil servants , such as the Regulator , or the Chief of the Central Bank ,be eroded by abnormal inflation .......???? So I have already paid twice over and many , many , people are even worse off.......but our high ranking politicians and our permanent Government of over-paid ''Sir Humphries'' will be OK
GOD BLESS IRELAND , SAY the HEROES.....
Saturday, January 24, 2009
2009 , some heartbreak and a new civil service
Christmas came and went , 2009 crept in with less fanfare than I can remember in 68 years , some wonderful news from most sides and some heartbreak . Not many people talking about plans for a new exciting year , they seem to be thinking ''if only we can survive 2009 , 2010 simply HAS to be better ''....Some of those in power still in denial as far as national and international financial/banking crisis is concerned . Many of those who were responsible for our national housing /borrowing disaster , people who were warned again and again about the almost certain outcome of greedy building boom , escalating house prices and the ballooning credit are wringing their hands and pretending that THEY had no responsibility in what happened .
Having literally sold our country in a desperate effort to bail out their greedy idiot friends and cover up for their own blatant incompetance at all levels ,our so-called 'leaders ' are NOW talking about PATRIOTISM .
We never seem to learn from history . It is said that just before the Wall St. crash of thirties , some of the more shrewd investors who got their money out in time ( among them JFK's father , old Joe Kennedy ) , explained afterwards that ''when newspaper boys and domestic servants start buying shares thats the time for the shrewd ones to start selling...''
In Ireland when almost EVERYONE seemed to be buying houses, not just as a 'roof over their heads ' , but buying as many as they could 'afford' , some people two or three overpriced properties . Interest rates were low , because we were linked to European interest rates , bankers were more than willing to be 'flexible' on their means- testing for potential borrowers and , of course , because of the demand lunacy , encouraged by an irresponsible Government , the paper -value of these properties was increasing by the day .
No , it was not caused by the young people who were caught up in the frenzy of property speculation , who believed and trusted a ' dogy' administration not to lead them over the cliff , like sheep or lemmings , these are the people most exposed now , this housing and banking crises in Ireland is the responsibility of our current and immediatly previous administration , solely .
Unfortunetly we , as tax payers , we , and those who come after us , must carry the burden of sorting out this mess , the politicians and higher civil servants , who created it , are too deeply involved in trying to escape blame that they now suffer from terminal inertia .
But this can also be a challange . There must be a middle rank of intelligent ,well qualified civil servants capable of pushing aside the ossified ''Sir Humphries '' of the 'permanent government'. These middle rank would know how the system should work , be truly dedicated professional public servants , and be simply itching to turn the country around .Salary , the size of their office , personal prestige , having their names in Irish , and confusing incompetant government ministers , would not be their priority , just getting the job done . It is time now for that group , and I am convinced they exist , to come to the fore , they could be the heroes of the future....
Having literally sold our country in a desperate effort to bail out their greedy idiot friends and cover up for their own blatant incompetance at all levels ,our so-called 'leaders ' are NOW talking about PATRIOTISM .
We never seem to learn from history . It is said that just before the Wall St. crash of thirties , some of the more shrewd investors who got their money out in time ( among them JFK's father , old Joe Kennedy ) , explained afterwards that ''when newspaper boys and domestic servants start buying shares thats the time for the shrewd ones to start selling...''
In Ireland when almost EVERYONE seemed to be buying houses, not just as a 'roof over their heads ' , but buying as many as they could 'afford' , some people two or three overpriced properties . Interest rates were low , because we were linked to European interest rates , bankers were more than willing to be 'flexible' on their means- testing for potential borrowers and , of course , because of the demand lunacy , encouraged by an irresponsible Government , the paper -value of these properties was increasing by the day .
No , it was not caused by the young people who were caught up in the frenzy of property speculation , who believed and trusted a ' dogy' administration not to lead them over the cliff , like sheep or lemmings , these are the people most exposed now , this housing and banking crises in Ireland is the responsibility of our current and immediatly previous administration , solely .
Unfortunetly we , as tax payers , we , and those who come after us , must carry the burden of sorting out this mess , the politicians and higher civil servants , who created it , are too deeply involved in trying to escape blame that they now suffer from terminal inertia .
But this can also be a challange . There must be a middle rank of intelligent ,well qualified civil servants capable of pushing aside the ossified ''Sir Humphries '' of the 'permanent government'. These middle rank would know how the system should work , be truly dedicated professional public servants , and be simply itching to turn the country around .Salary , the size of their office , personal prestige , having their names in Irish , and confusing incompetant government ministers , would not be their priority , just getting the job done . It is time now for that group , and I am convinced they exist , to come to the fore , they could be the heroes of the future....
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