Robbie Williams hits town

 The Aviva stadium is packed and Robbie is singing in the rain.
Just in case you never saw this before.



I just had a really good day, one that makes the bad days seem like they never happened.
Its all luck at the end of the day.

On my third attempt to get home tonight I was stopped by a passenger at the Yacht pub.
He was full of drink and not going too far.
"I just went in for my lunch there and got carried away" he said.
"I'm in trouble with the bank, my construction company has gone belly up and they are ringing me up every day to get paid."
I owe €100,000 myself I said.
"Well I owe €175 million, My father owes €300 million and my brother has fucked off to Australia and he won't come back to face the music."
What can you say?
Risks were taken by everyone.
We bailed out the banks and yet they want all the money back and they also want to keep their glorious golden handshakes and pensions.
Yet they knew that they were involved in reckless illegal trading.

Its always worth spending a few minutes working these guys around.

Years ago I picked up a guy on the Coolmine rd. He had been walking and had got lost.
He had been sacked from his job and was in a bit of a state.
I talked him around a bit but the mistake I made was that I let him out at the junction of the village to go home.
He walked down to the river behind where the new Garda station now stands and drowned himself.

No I don't beat myself up over this, I am now more aware now of what might happen, you cannot undue the past.

But folks you can improve the future.
I spoke to the Samaritans back then and they had business cards printed out that taxi drivers could give out to people that they feel might need a bit of help.
So they are at the Liffey end of Marlborough St opposite the Abbey theater drop in and ask for a handful of them.

They might make a difference to someone tomorrow.

When I came back from my holidays the battery in my car was completely dead.
A Hybrid car uses 2 battery's one controls the electric motor the other one controls the computers. I have replaced the smaller one twice and I now found out that the replacement one was the wrong type. So I will get the right one soon.
So the other day I got a run out to Blanchardstown Corporate business park and he asked me to call back and bring him to the airport. He came out and we headed off, 2 miles down the road the engine cut off and a big red triangle appeared on the dash display.
Driving on the electric motor only I had to admit.
"Heuston we have a problem!"
I told him that I had to stop and start the car again for a second.
The engine sprang to life after a 1/2 mile but the triangle warning was still there.
One of the other Prius drivers had a similar problem and drove on a few years ago.
His problem was a broken oil pump and he had to buy a new engine.
But I drove on saying my prayers and arrived at the airport, I pulled into the cafe at the Kesh (taxi holding area) and bought tea.
The staff there are really friendly and a Polish girl who works there asked me why I was not in for so long. So I told her of my journey to Rome and Sisely.
"I really want to get married in Rome" she said.
Within 5 minutes she had asked me to come to Poland and stay with her parents for a visit.
"My parents would love to meet you and you will really love Poland"
Stranger things have happened and I might go one day.

Wow that took my mind off my engine for a few minutes.
I went back to the car and checked the fluids, all OK then I hit the button. Everything A OK !

Older simpler cars had pressure gauges and temprature dials which told you what was going wrong.
Now they expect you to stop and close up the shop for no logical reason.
I think it was a voltage drop from the old battery that triggered the panic.

I bought a tool from America a few years ago I think it was called "Sharp shooter 2" and It could read faults, clear them and when it was mounted on the dash would give you oil pressure and engine temperatures and many other readings.
You know that you can buy advanced tools for doing diagnostics for around €400 and if 4 people chip in it and each person used it only once it would have paid you back for your entire investment.
A lot of guys who work in garages are really bad mechanics, take an interest in your car yourself, save money and know its well done.

One guy who came to me before my holidays via the HailO system he told me that he bought an Aston Martin DB9 with a 007 in the number plate He made the garage take it back because it wouldn't start and they had it back in so many times. Finally after 10 months and only 2,000 miles on the clock he got his money back and he bought a Ferrari, I thought he was messing for a few minutes but no he is one of these wealthy guys that move amongst us other folk.
I remember he used to have a silver Morgan, "Yes that was a fun car"
He is building a new house in Cannes, he has always had a house there, then I suppose he will sell the old one.
Another guy I picked up recently had a really nice XK Jaguar, he said he always liked the cars but in olden days they were so unreliable with the Lucas electrics that it was said that if you bought one you had better buy a second one as one would be in the garage all the time.

Perhaps some day my friends our ship will come in and we will give up Guinness and drink only Champagne