The Irish Throne

On the way back from the plant on Saturday, I took the short cut - it's about a 1km shorter, but you have to hoof it up this relatively long hill.

On the way I passed a replica (supposedly) of the Irish throne - not sure why they picked this place in the middle of the countryside for it - might have to research that a little more.

A walk to the plant

One of the benefits of working in Ireland is that I probably have the most picturesque drive to the plant - there are a couple of castle ruins, estuaries, etc. along the way.

Kind of distracting on the narrow winding roads, so I decided to walk to the plant on Saturday. Turns out to be a pretty short walk - 7 km one way.

Also keep in mind that this is kind of a dreary day for Ireland - it's still winter over here - don't you love the Gulf Stream?

Shipment Arrives

Shipment of household stuff arrived today - all unbroken, and I think all accounted for.

Again let me make this observation - I really have too much crap back home - I feel a purge coming along when I get back.

The big question is how much of this stuff is going to expand six months from now.

"Is the fish fresh?"

One person missing from the Model Office picture, Marla Lewis - oops, sorry.

But I have to throw this one in . . . if you were a server at a Kinsale (a fishing village) restaurant, and someone (like Marla) asked you, "Is the fish fresh?" - what would be your response? Here are my top three . . .

3. Yes, unfortunately, fish freezers are banned in all quaint Irish fishing communities
2. No, I caught it myself more than three hours ago.
1. I'm sorry I couldn't hear that question over the rushing water and foghorns coming from the harbor 10 feet away.

Model Office in Kinsale

OK, I broke a couple of rules by forgetting no cameras on site, but here's a pic of the Model Office gang - from left to right - Angie Moder, Steve Rainey, Claire Glaccum, and Jamie Dunn.

Model Office was good - no major issues and pretty smooth - just glad it's over and I can start working exploring Ireland.

Advanced Design in Spain

So OK, I'm in Spain.

Although Spain does not officially starts its part of the project until two years, they are really complicated - so we're here for a week to talk through some major design considerations. All is going well - much better than I expected. But I must say I'm thankful John, Steve, and Jim are here - would have been pretty tough without them.

Kazoo

In case you've never seen the commercial of the traveling father who takes pictures of a teddy bear for his child back home, this post will make no sense to you - so move on.

OK, still with me? Turns out John Greene received from his son a kazoo right before John left for Spain - so John has been taking pictures of the kazoo throughout his travels. Kind of reminded me of Flat Stanley.

Madrid Airport

OK, first impressions of Madrid - the airport is WAY better than London. I mean I could write pages making fun of Heathrow airport - OK, I throw in just one . . . imagine if Hogwarts was built in the 1950's (minus the medieval stonework and schtick) and there had been absolutely no major maintenance to it in 50 years - alakazamy you have Heathrow. But I'm into positives . . .

Madrid architecture is awesome - great airport design (this is the ceiling by the way). They still do that European thing of "we're going to wait until the very last second before we tell you which gate you need to go to", but that can be forgiven under these great ceilings.

Eating in Spain

Ah to be in a country that has a food culture again.

Not to be a food snob, but there is definitely a way to eating in Spain. Granted it usually involves the back leg of Wilbur, but there's still a life that revolves around food.

The goal this week was to see if I was capable of doing the normal Spain dinner hours - which essentially dictates a 10 o'clock start time - that's 10:00 PM. Keeping in mind, that my bedtime on a school night is 10:00 PM. They do have an opt-out clause - otherwise known as Tapas - which are bar snacks served anytime after 6PM at a local bar.

So if you just want a simple meal - have some Tapas; if you're doing the big night out - wait until 10:00PM. The final report was that I could handle it - although it did take several days to get used to it. The trick is realizing that you don't need to go out to eat every night - usually just the weekends - and plan on having a big lunch.

Madrid

So I'm in Spain for a week to do a small Advanced Design session. Officially the project I'm on will not start the Spain project for at least another two years, but it's so complicated - we thought we'd better get started early.

Whole bunch of people over here now - too many to mention. The most important thing of the week will be whether or not I can adapt to the eating dinner at 10:00PM thing.