Es posible que vayamos a la playa mañana

Oh yeah. It's possible alright.



The family and I are off to Spain tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it for so many reasons.



I am tired, my wife is tired and the boys are bored. A change of scenery will be great.



It has been raining in Ireland for what seems like a whole month. Granted May was nice and sunny, June has been a wash-out. Some predictable sunshine will be most welcome.



Tonight we're packing and generally trying to remember everything. Young boys expect mum and dad to remember everything and it's a very long night when favourite teddy, action man etc. has been left behind.



2 weeks of sunshine will be just great.



Hasta luego.

Postal mysteries

I bought a CD from amazon.com last week at some stage. Taking currency conversion into account it's actually cheaper to buy stuff from the USA than from the UK and has been for quite some time.



The CD arrived really quickly. In 6 days to be precise.



What's perhaps even more amazing is that the CD was actually shipped from Auckland, New Zealand.



I don't understand the supply-chain logic that has CDs ordered from Europe, processed in the USA and fulfilled from New Zealand and somehow is still profitable but it clearly works.



The world may not be flat but it sure is getting even faster to move goods from one side of the world to another.

Bring sunscreen

That's what I should have done.



I was at the business school over the weekend and in the course of sitting talking to my colleague on a bench on the banks of the river Thames I appear to have roasted the face off myself.



Not smart.



I will go and buy one of those male face creams with SPF built-in. Then I will avoid repeat instances where I end up looking like bobo the clown.



I guess it's something to do with the fact that I'm just not used to any degree of predictable sunshine and my default thinking is probably that it will be a bland grey day.



Sunday was a glorious day and now I have the face to prove it.



I briefly thought about smearing my face with yogurt but changed my mind and ate it.

How cool is Safari?

I'm typing this using the new Apple Safari web browser for Windows.

It is a really nice application and definitely seems faster than Firefox and IE7.

I found out about it on the BBC news website [here]

The BBC page opens so fast that it reminds me of the day I got broadband installed at home and opened the BBC news site. Being used to how long it took to load via dial-up my eyes nearly bled when it screamed onto the page.

This experience is pretty similar.

There is bound to be the odd problem here and there. Apple though appears to be drawing me in... only a matter of time until this is typed on a Mac?

Bring sunscreen

That's what I should have done.



I was at the business school over the weekend and in the course of sitting talking to my colleague on a bench on the banks of the river Thames I appear to have roasted the face off myself.



Not smart.



I will go and buy one of those male face creams with SPF built-in. Then I will avoid repeat instances where I end up looking like bobo the clown.



I guess it's something to do with the fact that I'm just not used to any degree of predictable sunshine and my default thinking is probably that it will be a bland grey day.



Sunday was a glorious day and now I have the face to prove it.



I briefly thought about smearing my face with yogurt but changed my mind and ate it.

My English Tux

Tuxedo is a uniquely American term for what the British call formal dress, or perhaps even more commonly call the Dinner Jacket.



Either way I need to get myself kitted out with same for a trip to the UK at the end of this coming week.



I've just finished booking my flights and renting a car.



On saturday, the day after the wedding, I went to Blackrock to see if I could locate the aforementioned formal wear be it to rent or buy.



I think at this stage that renting formal wear is a waste of money, given that a typical weekend rental will see you part with €100 or thereabouts.



While I was in the shop in Blackrock I noticed a display of books. I wandered over for a closer look. They were all on the subject of after dinner speaking, specifically speaking at a wedding.



I smiled at this idea. Being asked to be someone's best man at their wedding should be a great honour. It always is. But it is also a great source of anxiety to many an otherwise confident man.



The idea of getting up on one's feet after dinner to say a few well-chosen words about a long-time friend on their big day should be relatively straightforward.



But somewhere along the way extra pressure is added from other places. And all of a sudden the idea of the after dinner speech from the best man is a major source of terror and stress.



So it's with enormous regard that I look back to the speeches at the wedding on Friday. They were honest, genuine, brief and most importantly from the heart. I really can't imagine ever picking up a book to get some ideas for a speech at a wedding. What could a complete stranger teach you to say from your heart that you wouldn't intuitively know already.



Anyway, bought the suit and passed on buying the book.



No speeches necessary next weekend so I am looking forward to the trip and the big night on Saturday night.

Off to a wedding

I have taken the day off work today to go to a wedding.



The groom is a colleague from work, a guy I have known for many many years. I remember my wedding day very clearly. I remember the morning so vividly, getting up and the morning passing almost in slow motion.



I remember my brother coming to pick me up in his car and the two of us driving to the church.



I remember greeting the first people to arrive at the church.



It's all extremely vivid. It was a magic day.



So today will be all that and more I'm sure.



I'm reminded of a scene from the past where I was in the US with the groom and we got caught up in some really terrible weather. We were in the carpark outside Wal-mart on Pleasant Valley Promenade, just off highway 70 in North Carolina not far from Raleigh. It had been snowing non-stop for a week and the curfew had just been lifted.



We drove down to Wal-Mart from our hotel to buy food, anything really, because the hotel was running out. Things really were that bad.



I was driving a mini-van, a wine-coloured Ford Windstar, and it was not the best in the driving conditions.



We came out of Wal-Mart and jumped in the car, there were 4 of us. I turned on the motor and stuck it in drive. The wheels spun but the car went nowhere.



There was only one thing for it.



The lads would have to push the mini-van up the hill in the snow and ice while I drove.



They pushed, I steered and tried not to spin the wheels. We got some traction, the tyres gripped and we were off. The minivan had sliding doors and I vividly rememer an image of the groom leaping into the minivan as I was just about to floor it and get us out of there.



We've had some great laughs and great times together. Looking forward to a good day today and to catching up with friends.