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Slow Ride...Takin' it easy in west Kerry
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Hello Everybody!
So we are coming up on that warm fuzzy time of year when everyone goes broke showing their appreciation for friends and loved ones...A time of year when the radio is infested with music straight off any collector's most dusty albums and the wildly creative 'need a great gift idea?' advertisements...(and if your *really* lucky like me, you live across the street from one of those military style megaphones (the ones from M*A*S*H) blaring these lovely tunes) So right, I love Christmas! Well there is one good thing about it, It makes us think about others...which got me to thinking about how long it's been since I clicked off one of these emails to the ol' list.
Life has radically changed since my last report...No 900 bottles of beer on the wall, howling at the moon, swimming at midnight, or watching a late night sunrise 7 days in a row. No escaping people trying to kill me, no falling asleep on trams in eastern europe. Nope, none of this. In fact in since the end of my travels in September, I can count on one hand the number of times I've been out to a pub (Well...I would have to start over a few times...but really not that much...)
After a month and a half of house hunting while living at the Rainbow hostel...I finally found the flat (apartment for us yankees) I'm in now...right on main street in Dingle town. I share it with 3 others all about my age: Grace: a local basketball and football player, Cliona: From Cork, used to live in Israel, and Jason: English surfer dude. For the most part our schedules don't really coincide so we don't often see each other.
So not having the most exciting life recently, I haven't got all that much to report...so here are some of the highlights:
Professional Receptionist: I spent 2 weeks as the evening receptionist at the Rainbow Hostel...That's me in charge of making sure the visitors have a nice stay. I agreed to help out knowing that this was the quiet season and there would be very few guests this time of year. Most nights I just hung around the kitchen talking to visitors until they offered me some of their dinner. But on one night the hostel completely filled up and I had some funny incidents as I ran around like a mad man trying to please everyone. The first was me trying to put on a duvet cover in front of a guest. Ha! The French woman saw my pathetic-ness in the task and asked if she could do it. And then there was me signing a group of three into room 11 (listed in the sign in book), asking them to follow me so I could show them their room...looking all over, upstairs and downstairs, for room 11. The woman says 'Are you sure there is a room 11?' I say 'Hey look, I just started working here' (man I LOVE that excuse) So anyway after I put them in another room, I discovered later from Birgitta, who works there, that there is indeed no room 11.
They Call Me Flipper: I was out by the Harbor when I saw Suzanne (who works at IRASC, a client here in Dingle) and her husband heading out with boogie boards and wetsuits. They had told me in the past that they go in the harbor almost everyday to swim with Fungi, the local people-loving dolphin. Not having a wetsuit myself I was not about to go in the water...but after seeing them swim out and the dolphin swimming around them and playing with them...I could not help myself...I stripped down and charged...holy shit that was cold water...I didn’t last long in my bravery (aka stupidity) I got a good close up glimpse of Fungi, then headed back to the shore. My actions awarded me the new nickname flipper at the office
Project Shred Room: Not having a place to practice...I got desperate and decided to clean out the shed behind my flat, which was no small task as you see from the photos...so now I have my very own shredding zone which I use as often as I can in preparation for 'I Love Footbag: 2004 edition'
Still waiting to see Matrix 3 and Lord of the Rings 3: OK...all of you that keep telling me that you saw Matrix 3 and Lord of the Rings 3 (the only two movies in my life I was looking forward to a year before they were released) : Shut the fuck up! Here in Dingle...we have to wait until the reels get over the connor pass before we can see them...and I am still patiently waiting.
Limited 2 for 1 Offer: The sender of the *next five* postcards I receive, will have 2 post cards returned to them.
My Address is:
Joe Crain
c\o An Gailearaí beag
Main Street
Dingle
Kerry
Ireland
En route to Dingle: My very own mother is coming for a visit!! She arrives on the 30th of December and will welcome 2004 to us here in Dingle. Just confirmed: My best friend and shredder extraordinaire Lon Smith is coming into town just before his Birthday...March 11th! And after wards we will be headed to Prague and Todexon 2004! Lets turn this motha out! Possibly coming at the same time as Lon is the one and only Ena Starr (who originally brought me to Ireland in 1998), which would make for a most funkadelic reuninion of old friends. Then later in the Summer a possible visit from another from the Yuba River Clan...the wonderful Shawna Hein...who spent a month here last year...(and is the only one of you that sends me postcards).
So plans for me right now are keep working my ass off (well, to be continued after a break for the holidays...OK...maybe there are more things I like about this time of year...I can't deny that the best parties of my life have been on New Years...(ooohhhh shit....I just had a wicked idea you footbaggers out there....new years footbag jam next year anybody?....) So yeah, work, pay off debts, save up for another summer of footbag and traveling about.
Well that wraps me up for the holidays...eeiiiiwww (...that wasn't intentional I promise)
Hope your all having fun and taking time out of each day to act 'silly'.
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242662 vistors since the 1st of May, 2003
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Tuesday, January 06, 2009
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