May Day

Something of a tradition this is



I wish you all a wonderful Summer.

Kids doing exams.
Just do your best, pass or flop

you will make your own results later in life

One Swallow makes it summer

  The only one in Ireland  A Matchless Motorcycle complete with carbide lights 1932 I think ?

 I said the Lion King was coming, something like 50 trucks like this to bring it here, don't miss it.I have my tickets it is nearly sold out.

I was in Northern Ireland on Monday when I saw the first swallow.
But I also saw lorry loads of hay being imported from France and England as the weather is so bad grass and food for cattle is a real problem.


Wow what a commute this is,
Clontarf to Blanchardstown..€25.
I have been thinking all through the trip which would be the fastest way.
She had tried most of them and she thought Collins Avenue through Ballymun and then through Finglas and over the back road to Blanch.
You have to go on a journey a good few times to find the best route.
Best advice?
Get a job in East Point 20 Min's by bicycle saving €125 per week.
Plus an extra hour in bed in the morning every day

Did you ever see something and you understand what is happening.
But you know it is wrong and you cannot help?
In Donnybrook the other day a sporty Merc was pulled in and a motorcycle Garda had a young lady pulled over.
Now she must have been driving in the bus lane.
No doubt in my mind she was also using her phone, talking 19 to the dozen.
Then when the she was pulled in .
The Garda became super abusive.
He was shaking his fist at her when I went up to pick up my customer and going back down she was in floods of tears.
You could see the tears falling on to her dress as we passed by.

Both sides were wrong !
He is not a Nazi ! Though he thinks he is!
She is just a rich lady who is a bit stupid !
Though he sees the likes of her as having caused all the problems he has to face today.
She is rich arrogant and feckless.
A video camera in the right place and he would find himself a civilian pretty damn quick.

But it was  a terrible display of power gone mad.

It happened TWICE in the one day!
The first time in Donnybrook he asked to go to the shopping center in Drumcondra.
I repeated the destination twice and headed off for the North side of the city,
 "Wow mum look at that!" He said to his mother as we passed the sights.
When we arrived at Drumcondra I asked him which shops he was heading for?
"This is not the place!    Dundrum shopping center"
So you turn off the meter and start it again in Donnybrook and get €10 for your trouble.
But he gave me €6 tip.
He was a psychiatric nurse in London for many years, he worked in secure medical units and was a real sound guy, it was a pity I didn't find out more about his work.
The second one was Korean guy on the HailO system.
Where are you going to ?Three times he had to say it.
Fuck it I couldn't say it in his language ,so I don't know why he got so annoyed when I couldn't understand "Old Bawn Road"
I thought I knew exactly where he was going but as if it was a punishment he would not give me one clue to which route to go.
But we got there.
A wonderful sight on the way at the Russian Orthodox church in Horolds Cross,
A bride and groom getting their photos taken outside. The bride looked stunning the dress was very different from our dresses.


Coming down O'Connell St I saw a colored lady at the bus stop.
She caught my eye and jumped in.
"Clarendon St". She had a fantastic bone structure in her face and great teeth and a gentle soft voice.
Very happy and bubbly and talkative.
When we got there she told me to wait for her and she paid me.
She came back out of the shop with a big bag of towels and another bag. I put them into the car and went back in,she returned with a suitcase.
"Turn this way. What is this street called? and this street here? "
I gave her a city map. "Great ! Thank you"
She hadn't told me of  her destination so I was really wondering what was going on.
Her phone rang and once again the questions of exact location came hard and fast.
Then out of the blue on the South Circular Rd. she said "Stop right here, this is the place"
So I unloaded her baggage and wheeled the case over the road.
Then, when I shook her hand to say goodbye.
Then at that exact moment did I confirm that my suspicions were indeed correct.

She was in fact a transgender man !

You feel a bit strange when you come across this. But around once a month or more I would meet them.
Some of them (like her) are really beautiful,happy and pleasant, but I do feel strange when I realize that that beautiful girl who had been sharing jokes for 20 mins is in fact a man.
There was one I used to pick up very often and she was really super, she remembered my name every time.

Live and let live. It is all part of life's rich tapestry.

There is a magician in London called Fay Presto who is trans gender, A nicer person you will never meet and a really great magician. I have met her a few times and once you know where you are it is fine, its when you thing you are getting a different gender that it is strange.



A French gent "Airport terminal 2 through the Port Tunnel please"
We were off
Then as we entered the tunnel

Merd ! and Shit another 20 times.

He had lost his scarf!

Ringing the place where the meeting was. No !
The hotel? No
One of his colleagues ?  No again.

The scarf by Hermes was gone !

The last lady in the car last night told me that the scarf would cost anything between €300 to €500.
Mon Dieu !

Still you would have to be some kind of insecure person to wear such a piece of cloth around your neck.
A robber that night recognize the value of the ensemble and he  might go to work on you with his stiletto knife in order to rob you real good.
But that is not the reason I dress down.

Two interesting things in the Car Mechanics magazine.
One guy connected the car battery the wrong way round, the list of damage could cost more than the car was worth !
So much for high tec, high spec.

New light bulbs that cost £100 a pop !
The car a VW Golf 4Motion
The bulb Xenon HID lamps.
There is no filament in the bulbs and the power unit develops 25,000 volts
So it would be best to be careful when changing the bulb.

One other thing is that the magazine has now been published on the web.
www.apple.com/uk/itunes and look for car mechanics magazine.

Yes folks it is official the Swallows have arrived in Dublin.
Summer is here !

The tree is in bloom !

                        That tree is in bloom again, so Summer cannot be far away.

                Clamped while charging.

                    Flats in Balllymun, the wreckers ball has smasehd them up now

                             An African lady carries a pack of water bottles on her head.

The Boston bombing has come to a bloody end, as it turned out it was solved almost by an accident.
You have to empathise with all the people involved.
Thank God in these modern times of the internet footprints will be followed up from computer through mobile phones and all people involved in the toxic web will be traced.

Perhaps then we will find out

WHY?

The Stars and Stripes flag is at 1/2 mast at the embassy.

Really bad things do happen all the time.
5 years ago in China an earthquake killed 70,000 people and another quake struck today.
The important thing is to try and learn how things can be prevented or avoided in future.

Today we had a beautiful sunny morning, as I drove in the coast road from Clontarf the sea was a perfect mirror, with the mountains and the docklands reflected in the sea.

The Romans named Ireland Hibernia  the land of Winter.
When the sun shines through the city is a different place.

So if you want to make a few handy bob and you can change the rules this is what you do.
Change the rules and tell no one.
My son was caught doing 45 Kph in a 30 Kph zone.
The inner city speed limit has been expanded and now begins at Redmonds Hill at the top of Auinger St. 
All of the taxi drivers I asked at the rank thought it was a 50 Kph speed limit.
They have moved the signs and forgot to tell us.
€80 fine and 2 penalty points !
The only way out of this is that the regulations may not have been written into law which will make the fine illegal.
Look at this...

is to allow for a reduction in the speed limit that normally applies where those special circumstances apply.  The Act makes it clear that the circumstances where such an approach is to be introduced must be set out in the speed limit bye-laws.  Accordingly it is envisaged that this provision would be used on very rare occasions where very particular circumstances that would give rise to a clear road safety issue can be foreseen.  One example of this would be in a tunnel where it might be necessary to close a lane and traffic must consequentially be slowed.

The deployment of this provision is limited to national roads and motorways and it is recommended that the National Roads Authority, who must consent to the use of this provision, should be consulted at an early stage in the development of the proposal.

Under no circumstances should the use of this provision be pursued in the absence of the necessary bye-laws.

 So now we are look for Statuary instruments.

 

Worth a shot.
In the UK they do  this kind of thing a lot.

The electric car belonging to William Despard (Huguenot name) of the Bretzel bakery was being charged up.
When you are charging you car the parking was free until the beginning of this month that is.
Then they changed the rules and told nobody.
He was clamped and had a 2 day stand off with the clampers, refusing to pay.
But he needed the car and had to pay in the end.

Perhaps the small man will take on City Hall some day.

Holy communion is taking place all over the city, young girls dressed in white dresses and boys in very fancy suits, some even dressed as Admirals.
It all costs a lot of money at a time when people are being crippled by debt and loosing their homes.
It is time someone said that the boys and girls wear their school uniforms or some kind of surplice supplied by the church.
When I worked nights it was not uncommon to see young mothers on the game to get money for Christmas and Holy communion.  It really defeats the purpose and meaning of the whole thing.

Boston

For the people of Boston at this time I wish to add my deep felt sympathy to the bereaved and injured.

I stayed in the Back Bay area when I visited Boston a few years ago. 
A very peaceful place.
You would never think that someone would have so much hate in their hearts as to kill and injure so many innocent men,women and children.

I hope that the guilty are caught soon.

No punishment would ever compensate mankind for such an act of total un feeling act of hatred. 

What is Dublin to you?

God bless Luke Kelly, who lived hard and fast with passion and sadly died too young




Truly madly deeply Dublin




And this mix as well.

Bono does the Beatles thing from the roof of the Clarence Hotel.


A bit of nostalgia here, remember the Irish House at the bottom of Fishamble St and Nelsons Pillar?
Well then if you can you are getting on in years.

 No sound on this.1965


So what do YOU think of Dublin

Three Cheers

 www.frontlinedefenders.org 
Freedom is a word I seldom use without thinkin'  As the bard once said

        Its like the free bikes, but you pay by the hour. Join the club ! www.gocar.ie

                Now this is my new big baby! The whole world and the flags as well.

As you know Dublin is a very international city now. People from all over drop in to visit and work.
My passenger was from Venezuela, of course I knew where it was, right there between Colombia and Guyana (not to be confused with Ghana)

So I painted a wall in the study and hung up a new map of the world.
Country's keep changing you know.
When it was in place I looked at it for nearly an hour !
Better than TV it was.
Necker Island where that nice Mr.Bransons holiday home is.
Tristan De Khuna one of the most remote places in the world and yes St.Helena where Napoleon died, that would also take some finding.
You know it is a fact that have met someone from every country on Earth.
When I see someone with unusual features or accent I ask where they are from.
Once I met 2 girls where they were from and they said Canada.
"Your features intrigue me. Which ethnic group are you "?
We are Inuit, but you say Eskimo. That means snow eater!
I nearly stopped the car with delight.
They were ending their holiday and I struck a deal.
This trip was on the house!
Then the coffee they were going to have was on me.
Then I would take them to the airport, but that trip would be charged.
So I learned that they do not live in a house made of snow. But they suffer badly from the looong winters with no sunlight.Radio and TV signals are also a problem as there mad magnetic impulses in that part of the world.  Inbreeding and drugs are a big problem too.
They were great girls, so happy to feed my interest.No we didn't rub noses together to say goobye.
Though I cannot imagine anyone not wanting to talk to them.
You can learn a lot from the people in your care, you might as well, after all you are finished school.
I did also have a native American  Injun in the car once, but he was a very modern gent in many ways. He looked as he should have been......If you know what I mean.

I remember a story from years ago when an American Injun was arrested for going down a one way street the wrong way. His name was "Early morning raincloud"
The Judge took a good look at him."God you are a very tall man, what height are you?"
He replied that he was 6ft 8.
After a logical explanation that he was confused and lost the judge thanked him for coming and sent him on his way without charge. 

So today I went to the SGS and renewed my taxi license for another year.
So many hoops to jump through !

At this juncture I wonder if it will be worth renewing next year.

The Marker Hotel

                The Marker hotel Dublin's newest. Opposite the Board Gas energy theater

                                Irish lights ship Buoys oh buoys !

                       The HailO app becomes the Easter Bunny

                        A pub window advertises "Creamy pints"

Well what a lovely sunny Spring day.

Today is the day to be in Liverpool for the Grand National at Aintree.
They say that a woman might win it this year. Ted Walsh's daughter.
I think a woman called Elizabeth Taylor won it once on a horse called National Velvet.
But I could be wrong.

I had to turn off the comments box on the blog, I was getting spammed.
It was so bad that there were over 8,000 "comments" over the last month or so.
So I have blocked it of until it cools down.

We are having a calm period after Easter with the schools closed.
On Monday things will kick off again and the usual panic will start when the students realize that May is getting closer and the exams are coming, lots of work to be done.

I passed my NCT for the car.
I had to drive to Drougheda around 30 miles away to do it as the NCT centers in Dublin could not see me for 8 weeks. The only minor hiccup was that I had a flat Tyre and I put one of the wheels of my wife's car on as I didn't have time to get it repaired. The tyre was a different size.
So I had to change the wheel and go back again.
This is called a "visual" where you go back to any center and the look, no charge.
Then they issue the cert.
My car is a hybrid and they cannot measure the emissions.
When the tester saw there was no emissions test done, he said that the form should have stated "Hybrid car" at  the top.
Therefore the car would have to be re tested !
The receptionist was very good. She pointed out that there was no need to put Hybrid on the form as it was Hybrid on the system, now and for always.
So he then issued the cert.
Next week I have to go to SGS who look to see if I have a sticker on the door?, Is my roof sign correct?.
Have I got a fire extinguisher? warning triangle? torch? note book and pencil? plus a first aid kit which is in date?. You and I and the dogs in the street know that this operation could have been done in the NCT center in the first place, as it used to be done.

DEATH BY A THOUSAND KNIFE CUTS.

I would be happy if they corralled a group of taxis in and checked them out properly.
I cannot compete with guys who don't pay taxes or insurance while claiming benefits.
On Sundays at the Heuston station rank the Taxi Regulator used to appear with high viz jackets !
15 or 20 taxis would leave the rank and drive away while the inspectors would check the remaining cars.
"Happy to report that all the remaining cars were legal"
Now there is a big waste of money for a start.

When this is all done I would like to win the Euromillions (€50 would do) and take a few days off.

I am starting to suffer from taxi driver syndrome! Moaning all the time

How to you know when there is a taxi driver on the airplane?

That awful whining noise carry's right on to the baggage carousel !

Anyhow time marches on. the paper chase  should end next week.

Last night was the Trinity ball_____"Where's me morning after pill?"

I met a guy going to play the saxophone by night, who answers 999 calls, by day.
I told him that there was a movie director who played in a jazz band in New York.
He was being presented with an Oscar for the movie "Anny Hall" It was his Jazz night.
Woody Allen was playing Jazz that night instead of going to Hollywood to receive his award.

An aspiring actress who had to do a run around to find her wallet from the night before.

A financial controller for McDonalds, she told me that they had bought back the franchise form the guy who brought McDonalds to Iteland.
That is a great story in itself.(She knew it well)

A reporter from the Irish Times.

An Author who tells me that agents and publishers are crooks !

A Lawyer, hot talking on his fone all the time.( I would like to meet his client)

Girls to the airport from Spain,Norway and Latvia.

Then there was the girl who stopped me at the Artaine roundabout going to the Coombe hospital.
With a camera in hand she urged me to hurry up.
Her very best friend in the world was haying a baby, she had been there with her for ages and had gone home to get food and a wash Now the baby was really coming fast.
She was ready with camera in hand to photograph the event.
"Hurry or I will be late"
I think in the very unlikely event that I might have a baby the last thing I would want would be the click of cameras and flashing lights.
Anyhow we were doing fine and she told me about her own baby born prematurely at 7 months.
"So small that when you were giving it a bath it was like washing a tiny fish"
So we crossed the Liffey and went straight on to go around the back of Trinity college via Pierce St when her frend who was a taxi driver from India rang her.
"Where are you? What are you doing in Pierce St ? You are going the wrong way"
I wanted her to hand me the phone so that I could speak to this master driver, but she carried on talking to him. After Dame St he told her to meet him at Jurys Hotel at Christchurch.
She got out, he wasn't there and when I went down Patrick's St there was a massive traffic jam heading for Cork St.So he should go down Thomas St and round the back of Guinness's brewery.
A bus lane all the way.

Oh well I bet you won't see many jockeys changing horses in the Grand National.

Have a great day.