Getting a phone line in the new house

We asked the phone company, Eircom, to move the phone line from the rented house to the new house when we moved in.

They came to view the situation and discovered that there was no "connection box" visible on the road adjoining the property. The fact that the box existed was never questioned. It seemed to be common knowledge that the box was there but was covered by the tarmacadam on the road. This was probably done when the local authority covered the local roadway.

Anyways, the connection box had to be risen up to the level of the road. After being informed that this process might take up to June 20, 2010 we contacted some of the local authorities and got the issue resolved.

Now we have the connection box at the road level, the phone is connected, and the road itself is not finished.

But we have our phone line in. Now we must wait for ten days before we can apply for broadband connection. Why? I don't know. And nobody else seems to know why either.

We are happily looking forward to getting our broadband service in to our new home. Using a dongle  for internet connection is a great second option but it is not up to the task when viewing or downloading video footage.

A visit to Clare Island

This past weekend I took it upon myself to visit Clare Island. As it happened this was the weekend that The Clare Island women and men's Gaelic Football teams were celebrating their wins of 2009. They won the All Ireland All Island finals for both.

As you can see above the weather was exemplary. I forgot as I walked the island that it was February and not August. The sun shone. It was a beautiful visit.

The island is a short 20 minute journey on one of he boat services from Roonagh Point, which is about two miles form my home.

Granuaile's castle at the shore beside the pier. One needs to be very close before it is visible to the sefarer - a fact probably exploited by the O'malley's "back in the day."

This Abbey on the island is home to the finest examples of medieval paintings in Ireland. It is also said to be the burial site of Granuaile.

Walking along I noticed someone's ridges in a field. This may just be the catalyst to get myself in the garden and planting some vegetables and, of course, potatoes.

This was the view from the front door of the house I stayed in. The pier is just to the right of what we can see here.

One man and his dog were spreading manure on this plot of land. I asked if It would be o.k. to take a photograph and he said "Yeah, fire ahead and I won't charge you.

I'm all right here ...Continued.

Look at the previous post for explanation and enjoy.

 

 

"I'm all right here"

The old topic of life and death, etc... came into clear view for me again today...

I am in the process of researching and writing a piece for The Western People about Granuaile because they are covering the production in Ballinrobe of The Pirate Queen. This exercise landed me at Murrisk Abbey this morning. It is believed that Granuaile was both baptised and married in the abbey.

While there, I met an old acquaintance and he gave me a tour of the adjoining graveyard with a running commentary. The grave inside the gate, which was one of the last I saw because we crossed the wall to gain entry, had the caption written "in stone" at the bottom of the headstone, "I'm all right here." I just think it is worth recounting.

In this beautiful picturesque location where many find their final rest looking out to the Clew Bay drumlins and backed by Croagh Patrick, both infinite and mortal, one such mortal had the good humour (I presume) to tell his kin to put his words on his stone; "I'm all right here." Well, I believe he is.

And just to prove that I saw the beauty of which I speak, here's a shot...
[My internet connection is not giving me the power to upload many]

2010: Does the internet foster equality?

Welcome to my blog in 2010. Sorry about the delay in getting back online but I have not had internet connection readily available in my home.

Eircom, the largest phone network company in Ireland and supplier of internet connection is being very slow about hooking up my new home with the internet.
Since the beginning of December we are waiting and cannot get any real info. about the schedule for our connection.
Perhaps this is a unique experience for us or perhaps it is a reality of living in the "sticks?"

Is there equality in the realm of access to the internet? Am I being a victim of bias towards connecting the urban areas and ignoring the rural areas? If this is so it questions the argument that internet access can level the playing field for users in remote locations.

Moving into Our New Home

Well, it seems that after approximately 6 years the construction of the new house which is our new home is completed. Now, that means that we can live in the house and eat etc. in the house but it will probably not be finished-finished 100% for some more time. But we move in tomorrow if plans go accordingly...

Why are we moving in tomorrow, you might ask, when the house was ready since Wednesday? A curious question - but a good and fair one!

I met a neighbour and told him we were moving in on Wednesday. He asked would I not wait till Friday. Then all hell broke loose. I don't know why but the tradition is that Friday is the only day to move if you want to be blessed with good luck. Look HERE for a discussion of the topic. Far be it from me to challenge the traditions/superstitions of the learned heads of west Mayo.

Rather than draw attention of a negative sort to the move we decided to move on the Friday which is tomorrow. As a result we will have compromised internet access for some time so...

While I will try to post blogs I am not committing to it for some time - say a month - into the new year. But I might get to it (before that) too.

There you go. When in Rome..., When in the West of Ireland....

Wrote off the Car!

I was in Galway last week (first mistake). Visited a pub in Galway on Thursday night. Great trad. music session was going strong and then Sharon Shannon joined them impromptu. That was good.

Left Galway on Friday to go to Armagh (second mistake) via Athlone. The guard at the Dublin Road advised me to detour to Gort, Loughrea and on to Athlone. I took his advice (third mistake).

Gort was flooded and I was detoured around it. Got to Loughrea after driving through a small flood. Headed on for Athlone through Portumna. The guards signaled the drivers to go through a deeper flood. I as in a long line of traffic so I kept going (fourth mistake).

Car cut out in the middle of the flood. It started again. I got through and then - BANG! Car wrote off.

Stranded in Portumna for the night. Settled down in Hotel room and relaxed. Got back to Galway on Saturday and stayed with friends another night. Got back to Louisburgh on Sunday after being a passenger in a car that went through 4 or 5 small floods.

It is amazing what water can and will do.

One mistake I did NOT make was to settle for 3rd party insurance. Fully comprehensive will cover value of car. Will always have fully comp. insurance on my car in future. And will not drive through floods again - just because "they" are.

T.