Back at work again today after an extended holiday break.
Tuesday 21st: Christmas Lunch for the Desktop Group at Sun
Ireland. Normally this would have developed into an all-nighter,
but this time I had to scoot off early to get to a gig– The Thrills were playing at The Point.
Christmas Eve: We consumed the mulled wine that I’d bought in Lidl because
it was easier to buy something than find a security guard to let me out
through the alarmed “I haven’t shoplifted anything honest” gate.
Christmas Day: Breakfast in bed, opened some pressies, coffee,
opened some more pressies, dinner, opened the rest of our
pressies. Remarkably (given that I’ve never really seen it snow
properly in Dublin in the four years I’ve lived here), we had what
would have qualified as a white Christmas in the UK, by dint of three
fairly heavy snow showers. Apparently though, there has to be
half an inch lying at Dublin Airport or something before you can
collect your winnings from the bookies over here– good job I’m not a betting
man.
Boxing Day: Still trying to get used to it being called St.Stephen’s Day here.
Monday: Scooted off to the shops to buy a network adapter for our PS2,
for which I’d specifically been given some dosh by Julie’s parents. Got one for the requisite amount in Game, with a copy of TM:B Online right there in the box– no namby-pamby coupon-sending for me!
Hogmanay: We saw in the New Year at the Portmarnock Hotel,
who were doing a dinner (or masked ball, but that sounded too scary)
and accommodation package. While I’m not sure the price tag was
entirely justified, it wasn’t any more over the odds than any other
(mostly mankier) hotels were charging, the food was
excellent, and it’s always nice to get a night off the washing-up.
New Year’s Day: Drove back home down the coast road, at exactly the same time as a mini-tornado hit land. We had to pull off the road momentarily, but almost as soon as we did it had passed again.
Last night: My first real blast at online gaming, with a few sessions of SSX 3, TOCA 2 and Burnout 3. Have a stunning 100% online win record (2/2) at SSX, but am going to need rather more practice at the others…