Amy’s Gripping Commentary

Inspired by our observations and frustrations, a few being exaggerations. May have multiple installments. Co-authored with David.

1. Mountain Dew
2. salted food
3. snakes
4. lightning bugs
5. Kosher salt
6. swimming pools
7. thunder/lightning (very rare), tornadoes
8. canned pumpkin
9. monkey shoes Five Fingers
10. garbage disposals
11. thermostats
12. enough room to drive down the damn road
13. Half & Half
14. electric coffee mills
15. Ivory bath soap
16. any actually useful OTC medicine in the pharmacy or grocery, including Benadryl, melatonin, and Dramamine
17. boxed macaroni and cheese
18. lemonade
19. hot sunny days (a “scorcher” is anything above 70 F)
20. fast food
21. drive thrus
22. cities (I guess there are two)
23. Starbucks infestations
24. poison ivy
25. taco sauce
26. Mexican restaurants
27. Walmart, Costco, mega-shopping in general
28. ales
29. weather forecasting
30. washer fluid
31. factory farmed cows
32. skunks
33. pay at the pump
34. light bulbs that make any sense
35. fountain drinks at gas stations
36. fortune cookies
37. big bags of potato chips

Work finished kicking my arse for the week (one in which I had to ask for the hilariously pronounced ARRS form more than once), last week’s visitors returned to the States, and this week’s visitors arrived today. Yesterday was the company’s Day of Service; we get some time off to volunteer around town. Back in Indy they closed I-70 downtown and 8500 of my coworkers planted trees and flowers along the interstate. Somehow I ended up on my knees painting a dingy bathroom baseboard at a nursing home, which would have been fine but I was all by myself breathing high-VOC paint for hours and now I’m sore from crawling on the floor. Being by myself was ok since I was in a hell of a mood anyway, and I did feel more positive about life afterward, but I’m not sure how much of that was due to paint fumes. I did find it strange that back home, most employees participate, but here the site attitude was different and people thought it was kind of amazing I volunteered to help out in a country that wasn’t my own. Plus we stopped for a tea break!

An action shot from Connemara last weekend:

I know it’s not nice to say people are old, or even to divulge exactly how old, but today is my mom’s 60th birthday and 1. I don’t think she’s old and 2. everyone should know it and tell her Happy Birthday!

My mom and I have scarily similar personalities (and hair, for that matter). We enjoy things the same way, worry about things the same way, shy away from spotlights the same way, and focus on our introverted passions in the same way. I think anyone who can spend a lifetime doing what they love has it all figured out–I need her to teach me that one a little better.

Mom was always the soft touch when we were in trouble, always let us spend the night with our friends or bring people over to the house, always got up early to fix us breakfast and get us off to school (even though we are equally not morning people–I truly understand this accomplishment), and took me to school when I then missed the bus anyway. I even liked being sick because she’d fix grilled cheese, tomato soup, and 7Up. I liked when I had dentist appointments because instead of rushing me back to school, we’d go have lunch at Wendy’s and read the antique ads on the tabletops. She organized great family vacations and made the awesomest Halloween costumes–usually when we only made up our minds about a day before! She even sewed us a fort made out of fabric for the trees in the backyard.

I’m sure the more important, lasting skills she and Dad taught us were reading at early ages and how to treat everyone fairly, not to mention the importance of a healthy family dinner eaten together. They were also so supportive of everything we did which built our confidence automatically. It’s strange to reflect on these things now because they sure didn’t seem like big deals to me as a kid.

Anyway, thanks, Mom, for being a great mom and have a happy birthday! We love you. Now I’m going to embarrass you with pictures from your trip in June (and thanks to Margel for taking some funny ones!).

1. Looking lovely at Cahir castle
2. Uh oh, there’s about to be a rough boat ride on the Atlantic…
3. Not looking so lovely after the boat.
4. A town called Quilty!
5. At Slea Head
6. Aww, poor 18th century American prisoner
7. At Dunbeg stone fort
8. Climbing Ballycarberry castle
9. Inishmore, Aran Islands: gray day at Dún Aonghasa
10. Not the porticullis!
11. Hanging out in Kilmalkedar Church
12. Riding the dolpin in Dingle
13. Ice cream! Killarney, amongst the hen parties

Earlier this month, David and I and our friend Kathleen trekked out to Kerry for a Skellig Michael experience. That part will be in a later post, but while we were out there along the Ring of Kerry (my third time on at least part of it!), we stayed and saw a few things in the Caherciveen area, a town on the northern part of the Iveragh Peninsula.

1. I made a wrong turn heading to Portmagee and Valentia Island, but we saw a double rainbow out there!
2-4. Ballycarberry Castle is the best ‘ruined’ castle I’ve found. Mom and Margel and I visited it in June (and I haven’t posted those pictures yet!), and it was just as abandoned and crumbly this time but the greenery had been cleared (or trampled) so it was more accessible. This time we climbed way up inside it. Most castles in this condition have been blocked for safety, but this one is explorable. David and Kathleen are in #3 and I’m in #4 testing the 16th century construction.
5-6. Cahergall stone fort is across a couple fields from the castle. Part of this has been reconstructed, and the stairs are built into the interior wall. Some tourists showed up and ripped a HUGE fart. That’s my story about this fort. “It is likely that somebody of importance lived here about 1,000 years ago,” per the sign.
7. We shared the path to the next fort with several cows.
8. Leacanabuile stone fort from the 9th or 10th century is a hill away from the first one, perhaps the mother-in-law fort? I had been to this one in June too. No farting Europeans this time.
9. David and Kathleen evaluate the menu at a pub in Caherciveen.
10. This Off Licence (liquor store or ‘offie’) is also an art gallery.
11. On the way home through Killorglin, I snapped a picture of King Puck the goat.

David shaved his head a few nights ago. I had to help. I think this is going to be higher maintenance than the short cuts with clippers we have been doing for the last year or two. He brought his fancy clippers here but they aren’t behaving quite right, so he decided to dispense with all the hair I guess.

So which famous bald guy is he? He asked if he looked like Bruce Willis but the eyebrows put him more in a Telly Savalas-You Don’t Know Jack-Patrick Stewart-Mr. Clean-Andre Agassi category. At least he doesn’t look like Sloth from Goonies, one of the pictures that came up in a Google images search for famous bald guys!

We finally got a response from the immigration department, and now they want more evidence (back in time) of our relationship to allow him to stay. Time to dig out the old hard drives to see if we can come up with what they want; my purging philosophy means I probably don’t have copies of plane tickets from trips we took together six years ago and even my email has changed. Even harder is that we left anything old and paperwork-y back in the US! It’s frustrating because we’re here spending money and paying taxes (my ability to be here and work is not in question), we’re not trying to get him a work permit, and my employer has supplied a letter in support of his being here with me. We already gave all the evidence that he’s on my insurance and we both have income/bank accounts to support ourselves. Once again, sneaking in would be easier! Harder to do in an island country, I suppose.

By the way, my friend Kathleen has a blog now that she’s here working as well. We’ve been taking some trips together so you might hear about our days in Waterford and Clonakilty faster from her!

Two weekends ago, David and I did an all day sea kayaking course. Our group picnicked on Sandycove island which got smaller and smaller as the tide came in, saw a seal poking its head out in the harbor because boats mean fishermen feeding them, and explored caves in the cliff walls from Kinsale Harbo(u)r down to the Old Head Pier. Neither of us fell in! Can’t say the same for some other guy who was adjusting his shirt one moment and slipping into the sea the next. I was INCREDIBLY exhausted the next day; not sure what was up with that but it made work a challenge.

Wildlife was mostly cormorants, jellyfish, and mussels, plus all the seagulls. Anyway the kayaking was fun but I opted out of course day 2, while David and our friend Kathleen did that this past Monday. They had to practice getting back in after intentionally falling out of the boat, and it doesn’t sound like the water was particularly comfortable even with a wet suit!

Flashback: I found a disposable 35mm camera at a petrol station (€12!) and used it during kayaking, then found a place in town that actually develops fillum. (That’s film but we can’t get over the way it’s pronounced here.) Fortunately the processing was cheaper than the camera itself. The pictures aren’t the quality I’m used to with my digital, but the risk of drowning a good camera was too high to try for snazzy photos. Also, I didn’t think paying a fortune for a special case to take my camera underwater was worth it.

And now, time to reminisce about working nights at Qualex… are they even still in business? [nope!] On busy summer nights we’d develop, print, cut, and package 40,000 rolls of film. The slowest night still had 15,000, the amount of film used by northern Indiana, southern Michigan, and a few remote MI towns that flew in their orders! The couriers would drive to every pharmacy, grocery, and photo shop within a couple hours and that’s how all your next-day and two-day processing happened. Didn’t matter if you took it to Target or Kroger: same place made it into prints.

At the time I couldn’t predict there wouldn’t be a market for any of it just a few years later. Those nights in factories make me appreciate where I am now! I did enjoy that kind of work, though.

Here you go, scanned fillum photos!

Time to complete the roundup of our Dublin trip in June.

1 Creepy statue of children that’s supposed to be in honor or memory of them…
2-8 Dublin Castle, mostly palace-like, where the Brits ruled locally for centuries and it’s now used as a government facility (rather more Irish now). There were excavated remains of some of the old walls and moats from the older castle.
9 Typical evening: computing in the hotel. That thing on our feet wasn’t very wide and was at the end of the bed. What is it for?
10 Ikea! Our first trip. David has been very anti-Ikea at home (he wanted to build high quality furniture, not buy cheap stuff), but he admitted they have a lot of neat design ideas and when you need a desk and have no tools, you have to branch out a bit. I was disappointed we got there so late that we couldn’t explore the acres of stuff and eat in the restaurant.
11 Merhorse (?) lamp post, near Trinity College I think
12 Mr. Bagpipes, for “anything that requires the unique sound of the bagpipes”
13 Rainy shopping area. There was also a women’s running event in town that day so we were surrounded by freezing wet people in shorts and participation medals
14 I always pick up street rubbish in a top hat
15-19 St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which dates from the 1200s, including Jonathan Swift‘s grave and an amazing tiled floor. Handel’s Messiah was first played here according to what we heard when we were there, but there is some disagreement when I look into it online.

We actually tried to go cliff walking at Howth nearby on our last morning in Dublin before going home, but the fog was so incredibly thick we couldn’t see the road, let alone any cliffs or water. Some other time! ‘Tis a weather dependent country sometimes.

I feel like carp. I mean crap. That is an excellent illustration of one of my ailments, bizarre goings-on in my arms and hands that keep me from typing well. Sometimes it hurts to use the computer and that in combination with other crappy health stuff means not a lot of updating here. I have thousands of pictures to present but I can barely scroll through Facebook.

Vegas bunny is quite ill and is having a ridiculous surgery on Thursday. I’m worried about her.

This month sure sucks so far. Next!

1. The hydrangeas here can’t pick a color. I know they vary based on soil acidity, but the variety here is amazing and often occurs on the same plant.
2. I don’t think these were the intended diners when the pet store put out this dog food.
3. General Tso’s Tofu
4. The thing that trims the hedgerows
5. Stuffed portobellos and campers
6. Walter lounges

I have to admit I’m rather enjoying a year’s vacation from yard work. It’s kind of strange to see the landlords out in the yard garden doing all the pruning and weeding, but I feel like I should close the curtains so I’m not watching them slave away for me. I was cooking dinner a couple nights ago while they were outside working and wondered again how I found myself living in another country, in a house I don’t pay for, driving a car I don’t pay for, while other people clean up my yard. (To be fair, David does the mowing here, and I don’t miss that either.)

The term “American Dream” came to mind; my dad used to say that a lot in the context of all sorts of things people want or do (not just manifest destiny/pulling up by your bootstraps stuff, more as irony or social commentary). It’s funny that working hard and getting lucky in the US led to my American Dream happening on another continent.

On that note, we are still working on David’s immigration stuff. Ireland is skeptical of our living in sin despite my employer’s benefits blessing (in case I dump him and he becomes a burden on the state, I guess), so his passport doesn’t allow him to be here more than a couple more weeks. Conveniently we have booked a trip to Iceland on the day his Irish stay expires and I wonder if we’ll get all the remaining paperwork sorted in time or if he’ll be living in Eyjafjallajökull for awhile.

P.S. Thanks, Grandma, for your letters!

A few pictures from day three in Dublin (I’ll catch up someday):

These are all from Kilmainham Gaol. The jail was built in 1796 and used until the 1920s. Men, women, and kids stayed in it, and many famous political prisoners passed through (or were executed on site). I found the jail very interesting. You may recognize it from several movies and a U2 video.

From the pictures: 1. monument to the 1916 Easter Rising leaders, blindfolded and with their charges listed at their feet
2-3. Front entrance, with closeup of the snakes and chains above the door
4. Intake ledger from the Great Famine years, with trespasses including “about to commit a felony,” “stealing three loaves of bread,” and “common prostitute annoying the public.”
5-7. Cell doors and halls. Prisoners would get work to do through holes in the walls, like pieces of rope to tear apart into strands. Other work at the jail included breaking rocks. #7 shows the three levels of prisoner areas.
8. A main hall and cell area, built in an oval and letting in a lot of light, which was supposed to improve criminals’ dispositions.

When we visited this jail/museum, I finally bought David and myself cards that get us in free to lots of state-operated heritage sites around the country. You have to sign your name and record the location of purchase on the back and then record the same information each time you use the cards at new places. I loaned our cards (tsk tsk) to my mom and her friend when they visited so they could save on admission fees. I was humored that someone actually looked at the card and asked my mom how she liked Kilmainham Gaol and how long she was in Dublin, which caused her to lie about it, and then her friend wasn’t in on it and said they’d never gone to Dublin… ah, the jig was up!

It’s been a weird week, a combo of sad and reflective and sick of work and then doing ok until someone asks How are your dogs? I had been managing Casper’s terminal illness for months, but the last few weeks became more urgent and sad. She went from playing with Walter to having to be syringe fed in a matter of days. There was actually some relief when I made the appointment and spent the day with her last Monday, but counting down the hours and then being unable to explain to Walter where she went was gutting. Then when I finally got myself under control a few days later, I felt guilty for not being a wreck 24/7 and wondered how her life had been shortened by moving her to Ireland and changing her diet and even stuff I did five years ago. Despite knowing it was coming for months, it all seemed to happen so fast. Even cuddling with Walter just doesn’t measure up. Casper was my heart dog and he is not and as much as I love him, we don’t have that connection.

In the end David and I were with her, and I tried to make that decision when her days were more bad than good, and I know it was the right thing. Still sucks though. We are already remembering her quirks in a happy way, though. I wonder when I will see another doggy love nibble or nosing of the radiator or the fun police again.

I do want to thank everyone who sent kind words here, on Facebook, and through email… I appreciate them very much. Even if I’m a little more animal-focused than most people, I’m comforted that others recognize how important the bond can be (and so many of you are dog people that I know the feeling is understood).

Tried to keep ourselves busy the last few days… we went to a surprisingly well-attended concert in the pouring rain last week, Chicago brothers Hypnotic Brass Ensemble who were opened by a Nigerian group. They played at Charles Fort just up from our house. I think most of the people there had bought their expensive tickets ahead of time or they wouldn’t have braved the ridiculous weather. We were given free tickets so it was more of an adventure to us! David gave up before I did; we had all our fancy technical rain gear on, but mine’s all new and his seems to have lost some of its waterproofness over the years. Rain pants FTW! I love them.

Kinsale in better weather this week

Yesterday the weather was better than at the concert (though not exactly good), and we reattempted a hike in Co. Tipperary in the Galtees to Lake Muskry. We took Walter there a few weeks back and discovered it was mostly through sheep country and dogs aren’t allowed. Would have been nice for my fancy Hiking in Ireland book to have mentioned this fact… at least now I know to expect dogs not being allowed just about anywhere we want to trek. He’s a good dog but I can see why farmers wouldn’t want a dog among their livestock, plus they might shoot him or leave out poison, and that’s just not fair to chance.

Anyway, the wind howling through the valley hurt our ears but we trudged through the sheep paths and made our way up a ridge where there was a corrie (lake) suspended in the hills. It was a neat hike and we’re glad we went, but we didn’t do the whole mountain loop because it was just rather crummy out. The sheep were skittish when we got near and some of them can really run fast! David got to play with his backpacking GPS for the first time. The maps are too expensive but at least it can keep a trail of breadcrumbs running so you know how to get back.

Casper’s not having a very good day, but she ate a little and is resting. I’m spending as much time as I can with her. I went on a mission to Cork today to find some supplements for her but I’m striking out so far. I did find an Asian grocery and I think I finally have something similar to the Szechuan sauce I cooked with at home! They also had hot chilies, which are very hard to find here. Irish cuisine is indeed bland. I was at a home improvement store today that had a package of “hot and spicy” seeds to grow at home: mustard greens, spicy lettuce, and three other plants that aren’t hot or spicy either. The sixth item was a chili pepper which seems to qualify, but wasn’t a hot variety anyway.

Last night was David’s band’s first gig. They alternated with a couple other guys at the Bulman, a pub down on the water in Summercove, a few blocks from home. One of the other performers was an ass but David seemed to enjoy the event and it was a nice evening out with good music. A friend from home recently arrived to work here for awhile so she and I met up with a couple other expats and drank a lot of beer on empty stomachs (kitchen was closed!).

Second full day of wind and rain… everyone at work says “summer is here!” We’re hoping for a little better weather tomorrow. It’s like a constant mist that comes in all directions at the same time, making it difficult to stay dry. Today was somewhat unusual in that it actually rained hard in a general direction for awhile like at home. Never thunder, though! I heard it once a couple months ago. Instead we get the wind howling down the chimneys.

Casper is hanging in there. She has many hours where she’s just tired, some where she won’t eat, some where she’s vomiting, but she is still able to get around on her own and sometimes seems like her old self. The vets don’t seem hopeful at all but are willing to work with me. I am learning what I can online (fortunately I found a helpful group when she was diagnosed) and requesting medications, but a lot of things just aren’t available here. A couple of European members of the online group have given me some tips but it sure would be easier (not to mention cheaper) to get supplements and supplies in the U.S. Customs restrictions prevent shipping a lot of items.

Her blood values continued to decline even on IV at the vet for almost four days. This was the first time her phosphorus went high, and her creatinine is four times the upper limit of normal. I chose to bring her home because she couldn’t stay there indefinitely, she wasn’t getting better, and the scariness of being away from home is of course a significant factor for my old, shy dog. Quality of life can’t really be great when she’s in an e-collar after chewing on her IV line (leaving her with a swollen, painful leg) and she can only see me for an hour a day, not at all on Sunday, and I don’t believe anyone is at the clinic overnight when they don’t have emergency cases. If her numbers can stay where they are, she might limp along for awhile now that we’re cooking for her and giving medicines and subcutaneous fluids. (Pretty much no one does that themselves here but they were willing to sell me the stuff to let me try. I’m glad I’ve done it before! Plus one of the vets here is from Michigan so she’s sympathetic to American-style vet care.) She could still crash in a couple days, but others with dogs this sick take it one day at a time, so I’ll try.

I was also referred to a holistic vet and I’m considering that approach. I’m a little afraid to jump right in and I wish he were more available for the supplements I’m familiar with rather than going through the entire process, partly because I feel I’m desperate for certain items I can’t get on my own, just to see if there’s a chance she will make it for awhile, and I just can’t concentrate enough to answer a bunch of questions about her background when I fear that dog left last week anyway when her condition worsened. Maybe I just can’t get the analytical side of my brain (that might be the only side) to shut off. Focusing at work has been a challenge but I’m thankful David is at home to keep an eye on her and help during the day.

She hasn’t played with Walter since she came home but she did do her wag-and-bark at David and Walter wrestling, so that’s something, and she’s barking at the doorbell and meeting me when I come home. Walter is being gentle with her, mostly.

I’ve nursed a lot of rabbits and guinea pigs through illnesses, but I feel rather novice now. I’m glad I learned to take charge with vet care and make decisions comfortable for my situation and wishes. The vet reviewed quality of life markers as well and those basics are helpful when things look bleak. It still surprises me how much her ups and downs can affect how I feel all day.

(as Grandma says)

Sorry for the absence… been on vacation for a few days with my mom and her friend who are visiting Ireland. Poor David stayed home with the pups but he’s probably happier there anyway. A couple teaser shots:

near the Black Fort, Inishmore, Aran Islands

Slea Head, Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry

Mom baby-talks the baby sheep

Yet another perfect-weather day (never hot, never humid!), so I took Walter for a walk past Charles Fort about 9 p.m. while Casper napped at home. We saw some kind of navy cruiser in the harbor; I called David to tell him what he was missing (he watches all those boat and plane shows on the military channel), so he took a picture of it from our balcony. Cheater. My picture is closer to the action, anyway.

EDIT: We have been told this is an Irish navy ship named the Orla, a patrol vessel who does drug busts and customs stuff, I guess.

Also, you can vote on how it’s my fault that Arliss had a bad case of blueberry poopy butt at her blog.

On our second day in Dublin, we paid for a hop-on hop-off tour and used it to get around a bit. First stop was Trinity College Dublin to see the Book of Kells, an illustrated gospel from around the year 800. No pictures were allowed inside, but you can see a couple and get more info at Wikipedia.

The anteroom to the book itself gives information about how it was made and what various symbols mean, plus sheds light on historical events connecting to the creation of such a book. By the time you get to the book itself, you’re expecting something larger, but it is beautiful and detailed. We were fortunate that the crowds weren’t excessive and we could spend a couple minutes looking at it. Upstairs, the old library is just as fascinating.

Next up: lunch!

After lunch we headed for Guinness Brewery, which lived up to its touristy presentation, but it would be rather silly to live in Ireland for a year and not go there.

The symbolic harp at Guinness looks very similar to one in the library at Trinity

David checks out the coopers’ tools

From the Gravity Bar on the top floor

I actually drank Coke. (I did taste some Guinness earlier in the tour but I still don’t like it!)

I think we had Thai food near our hotel that night and then camped out on our computers. This trip was rather slow-paced, largely because I can’t get David out of bed in the morning!

Our second day in Dublin (last weekend) included a trip to the Guinness brewery. Here’s how a conversation went after seeing the old flower ad above: How do you define flourish? Then looked up fleur de lis. That’s the symbol of the Three Musketeers. They were in Slumdog Millionaire: what were their names? Athos, Porthos, and had to look up the other one. Aramis, but can only think of someone in Ghostbusters… Harold Ramis!

Ireland is a country in love with its courgettes and aubergines. Now, I thought I loved zucchini and eggplant, but darn it, I’m getting tired of them. At home every token veg dish is pasta and here it’s pasta with aubergines or some other variation of aubergines with courgettes tossed in for good measure. Hasn’t anyone heard of BEANS? I miss beans.

There are no screens in the windows. Cheerios taste like sugar cereal here and are marketed by Nestle, not General Mills.

The letter Z is pronounced zed here. We have a lot of abbreviations and acronyms at work, so I hear zed just about every day. And I always think of General Zod from Superman II.

I found this handy from Wiktionary: (Latin script letter names) letter; a, bee, cee, dee, e, ef, gee, aitch, i, jay, kay, el, em, en, o, pee, cue, ar, ess, tee, u, vee, double U, ex, wye, zee/zed. But I’d also like to note that H is not aitch here, but rather haitch, so it’s p-haitch at work and spelling my name includes haitch in the middle too.

I’m sure it’s not dominating the US TV and water coolers like it does here, but the World Cup is going on in South Africa right now. The Irish folks at work said they would be rooting for the US since they didn’t want to root for England. We get a lot of British TV so I’m seeing a lot of support for England as it is. David and I watched the England/USA match last night and I still think soccer is boring. Somehow the US is considered to have “won” even though it was a tie game. And there was this horrible buzzing noise from the crowds the whole time. Oh well, I’m going to have to live here longer to understand this one.

Some good news from the States:
California bans plastic bags
Pet-friendly license plate will be available next year in Indiana!

Albuquerque bans companion animal sales in pet shops: “Since the ban started, animal adoptions have increased 23 percent and euthanasia at city shelters has decreased by 35 percent.”

And yes, I get almost all my news from Facebook.