"It's Quite Lovely...Really"

Really...of all the things that are quite lovely about Ireland, the Blood Sausage was not one of them. But that's how the little Lass tried to sell it to us this morning for breakfast. You would think that is a quite lovely phrase lilting off the tongue of a sweet Irish lady...but it was actually said with a heavy Polish/Irish accent (there is a whole pocket of Poles working here in Ireland).

Well, speaking of  breakfast, let me catch you up on actually being in Ireland (the only thing those two have in common is that we ate it in Ireland). But hey, we're troopers...and so we tried it (not lovely at all). 

So we arrive after a 7 hour flight in Dublin. After factoring in the time difference, we got in at 8:30 AM...that is 6 hours ahead of Oregon. Our first job was to grab the luggage and head for the cars...yes we were renting a car. Now Mimi had asked me if I was so afraid of driving here. Pshaw!!!! No Way. I love to drive and I love challenges while doing so. As you may know, the whole fricken world drives on the right hand side of the road...except Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales...what's wrong with these people?

But I was up for the challenge anyway. the actual driving on the left isn't all that bad...it is the other aspects that you don't think of until you are face to face with a total bass ackwards vehicle. I told Mimi I couldn't find the door locks for the door...apparently they don't put them on the passenger side door. It's a safety prevention device so drunk americans don't get into their cars. But once I realized I was on the wrong side (and trust me I wasn't drunk) I did indeed find the door lock on the driver door...you just need to go around to the other side.

So once I actually got in the car I noticed that the stick shift did not move...well I mean it moved...but somehow I had to make it move with this thing called a left hand. The only thing that hand is good for is to carry my wedding ring. 

But eventually I got the hang of it after going round and round in the rental car yard and was ready to hit the open road.

Now once you come face to face with oncoming traffic it makes you pucker up just a bit (if you know what I mean) and try to dodge the cars, trucks, and busses coming at you. It is just bizarre at best to see them on that side of the road.

then there are the mirrors. After nearly merging into a truck I realized I needed to look in a mirror on the right side of the car and not the left. It was about 30 minutes into the drive that I realized the rear view mirror was also attached on the left side. I would have never expected to find it there. 

The only thing that is similar to driving in America is the simple hand gestures they seem to use. The one finger sticking out of the middle of a clenched fist means the same here as it does at home. It is usually accompanied by a frenzied horn blast here though. I couldn't quite make out the words they were saying, but it sounded like I was making their truck go off...or something like that.

 

Now don't get me wrong, after you learn to negotiate the wrong side of the road, the weird shifter, the crazy mirrors, and the pushy rude drivers, it looks...well...quite lovely...really.

 

What is going on around here?

Okay, so life is tough. I get it. I understand that everyone is hacked off because of gas shortages, food prices going through the roof, the escalating price of airplane peanuts, and of course the painful itch of psoriasis. But does everybody have to act like I just spit in their Ben and Jerry’s?  I mean really. Where has people’s sense of humor gone?

 So we’re at O’Hare airport in Chicago and go up to the desk to ask the woman employee standing there in an American Airlines uniform, if our plane was still on time and still at this gate (it had already been changed once on us). So right after I said excuse me, but could you…. she totally cuts me off and says to me with a nasty sneer… "I don’t have any answers.” I said I just wanted to know if our…”I don’t have any answers for you.” So I’m like, “well excuse me but I thought you were a… "you’ll have to wait for a desk helper.” Oh I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that you were wearing a different uniform that says don’t ask me any questions.

 

So I goes over to another counter where someone who has a different uniform on and ask her the same question. Apparently she could only answer questions pertaining to gate K18…our flight was out of K16. Reluctantly, she tells me that it was at the same gate…but don’t blame her if it changes. Oh…okay.

 Is this what has happened to the American worker? Don’t inconvenience me, don’t ask something that makes me have to work, don’t take me off of my course because all of you dopes who try to fly on our airline are a burden to me. What’s up with that? Don’t people know they are in the CUSTOMER SERVICE BUSINESS!!!!!!

I am so thankful for two of the flight attendants on our plane to Ireland. The one CZ (or Carolyn I think)...(but her husband calls her Squeezy) was so awesome. She had a great sense of humor, was helpful and kind, she loaned me her special Irish pen, and she was aware of the same things we are.

The other was also kind and helpful...(and she was in no way "chopped liver") but I regret I did not catch her name...so sorry...what's wrong with people today. 

These people helped to restore my confidence that there may still be a glimmer of decency in the customer service industry.

Now I’m not saying that I wish things were the way they used to be, when people cared about the reputation of their company. Nor am I saying I wish we could go back to a time when people were concerned about their own personal reputation. Oh wait…maybe I am. I want to go back…. please take me back to those good old days.

Now that's a smile to take you back to some good old days.

What the whoohaw are we doing?

Well the adventures of Mimi and Pa go international. That’s right we are heading to Dublin Ireland…the home of the Blarney Stone, lots of castles, Guinness beer, and of course the greatest rock band in the world…you know their name…come on…that’s right…Van Morrison and his Big Band. There is also that other little group with the singer named Bozo or something like that (actually Mimi and Pa love that group too).

So here I sit in the Big Jet with my Brown Eyed Girl. What a joy it is to be in a position to do something that is so outrageous. Actually, upon further review…it’s pretty stupid (please interject Silly if you are reading this to your kids). I mean really…we finally got summer in Oregon and we are headed to the only place ion earth more damp and cold than Oregon. We have seen countless people headed for warm places….what the whoohaw is wrong with us. And besides all that, the dollar is down to an all time low of just over 50 cents on the dollar in Euros (the official currency of Ireland), and less than 50 cents in Great Britain…stupid (please interject Silly if you are reading this to your kids...cause we don't use that word in front of the kids).

Well I guess since they just closed the doors it’s too late…I guess we’re going to Ireland.

 

Speaking of people who smartly went to someplace warm, today I got a chance to talk to Jacob. He took one of the more sensible vacations to Little Corn Island in Nicaragua. Cheap hotels, cheap food, and apparently cheap rum. I’M SURE IT WAS ONLY USED FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES. 

But I had visions of him and Jack Sparrow running around the island looking for the rum. He made it home in one piece, despite the strike that caused him to have to rent a boat to make it back to the mainland. I’m sure he’ll be bloging about that adventure soon…NOT!

Mimi's convinced were in a "My Name Is Earl" show

Mimi said "Well we're here in Camden County...right over there is Earl and Randy...that's where Joy and Crabshack lives (it's actually Crab Man)...those trailers..thats where they live...right there" (there's a reason her nick name is Grandma WoWoo). 

Actually, we have been working for the last three days in Camden New Jersey, helping a young family with their house. It's a really cool story...

Andy and Melissa are a young family who have been working realy hard to make it in very difficult circumstances. They live in Camden with their four sons and Melissa is expecting in about a month. She has a really good job and will be working right up to the moment of birth. Andy has to get up at 3 each morning for his job. With all of that going on it's tough on their boys.

 

Fortunately they have a great program called 

Kid's Alley to go to in the summer to help them deal

 (http://www.kidsalley.org)

So when Diane Reynolds went to a "Confident Kids" training (www.confidentkids.com), she met the director of Kids Alley. Well the two of them got together and next thing we knew we were heading to Camden to so how we could help them out. Some of our team worked with the kids and some of them were able to serve by helping some of the families involved in the program.

So Mimi and I and some of the others elected to work in the homes of the people (probably because we hate kids...well thats not exactly true...we love ours...and we love our grandkids...well and I guess we love some others too...okay...we can tolerate some kids for a little while). So we got to work on Andy and Melissa's house. They were able to buy their first home for them and their boys. It was a neat little house that they fixed up a bunch so far. But we helped by installing ceiling fans, fixing plaster, painting, you know all the stuff you do to an old house (we had lots of experience with that...ask Sarah and Jacob).

So we got all of our projects done today at 5 or so, and we headed into downtown Philly to look at some of the cool historical stuff there. We saw the

 Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Christ's Church, the Carpenter's Hall, Penn's Landing, well we saw it all. 

The only thing I didn't see...in Camden or Philly...was the statue of Earl...you know...Earl. I have tried to convince Mimi that Earl isn't real and that if they lived anywhere, it is probably somewhere near LA. 

How Ya Gonna Keep Em Down on the Farm....

WOW!!!!!! New York City! (said in the style of the Pace Picante Sauce commercial). Who could ever imagine so many people from so many places. As Mimi and I walked down 7th Ave. we realized there were more people on that street at that time than in the entire town of McMinnville. When a couple of Bumpkins from Hooterville Oregon go walking in NYC it leaves you breathless. 

So we got off the red eye from Portland and land at JFK, rent a car, and start looking for our hotel. After following our awesome instructions...in a language not even thought of in the Book of Acts...we were lost with no idea how to get to where we were going. Which on a normal day we would just roll with it. But after 13.5 minutes of sleep on the plane...it was not amusing. So we finally got some instructions and made it to the hotel. Fortunately they let us check in early and we got a little bit of sleep. 

After a little rest we hit the road to the city. Took the Airtrain at JFK to the NYC Subway. Subway to 42nd St. and set about walking. We walked all over and saw so many things. 

We ended up at Central Park Zoo. Who knew something so beautiful could sit in the middle of something so not. We had a really great dinner back at Rockefeller center and then back on the subway and to the hotel...all pretty great.

Today (Sunday) we went back in to do some things we couldn't do yesterday...like take Mimi to the little blue box store...that's right Tiffany's on 5th Ave. what happened to that crazy hippie chick I married? 

Well after a little something for her and a little blue box for Chloe (we had to get her her first blue box before her dad did :)) we went into my store that gives you a cool little bag...it's called the Apple Store. This picture was a fun shot looking up through the staircase. 

Then we headed to the ESB (Empire St Building). After shuffling through endless lines we made it to the top. What a view...not like a view of Yosemite...but spectacular in it's own way.

 Well it was back home and pack up and head for Philly.