NorthDownMuse

There goes another 19 hours of my life

At 11:30 a.m. Friday, I left for the Columbus airport, boarding a 1:40 pm flight to Chicago. After a five hour layover, I boarded a 7pm flight to Dublin, arriving 8:35 a.m. Dublin time. Then I caught the 9 a.m. bus to Belfast. David

Pound of flesh

Traveling in the winter has its risks. Like 652 flights cancelled at Newark NJ today, which was on my route from Columbus to Dublin. So I booked a room at the Day’s Inn--same place I stayed on Jan. 23. This time my room was more down market. I got

WoW part 2

More from Elizabeth Pisani: "Procurement is an enduring nightmare for people working with US funds. That’s because the great, free-trading, open market economy of the US has laws that channel its overseas development dollars back to companies at home. If you want to give out wheat to starving

WoW, part 1

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow are all about shopping and doing chores for mom (getting a new hard drive and keyboard for her computer, setting up electronic bill pay for her electricity, cutting kindling and stacking firewood, hanging a heavy framed print my sister bought for her). In lieu of anything

Your mind on drugs

Mom tends to watch TV at night. The main thing she watches is FixerUpper about a husband and wife who do makeovers of outdated houses. The wife is very telegenic and very talented--I would love to have her visualisation skills. The husband is funny and dotes on his wife, which

On the road again...

This morning I drove back across the state to Fort Myers airport. I stopped and took a picture of Lake Okeechobee. My photo was crap so here’s one from the internet: It’s 40 miles across at its widest. During the drive, mom was very amused by the egrets

Hidden Figures

We began today by power shopping at a craft market. I got gifts for my friends back in Ireland. Then lunch with cousin Susan and Uncle George. Then we headed for the beach north of the inlet. It was HOT. I think I heard that it was in the mid

Moonshine

Uncle George took us to his son the chiropractor’s office and his son the welder’s massive workshop, where we also visited his man cave (a four-car garage with expensive vintage cars that he’s restored, a massive TV, big leather chairs, neon signs from bars, and girlie posters)

Linnie & Bill

I managed to forget we had dinner last night with my cousins Linnie and Bill. The most memorable story (there are lots of stories when Caseys gather): Linnie’s mom Eleanor was the oldest of the ten Casey children, who were raised in Atlantic City. When she went shopping, she

Naples Nosh

We’ve moved from Bonita Springs to Naples, where Anne, my neighbour from Crawfordsburn, took us on a tour. We started at Clamshell Beach: We took a tram to get to this beach, which rode on a raised boardwalk through a mangrove forest. Pretty cool. Then to Loudermilk Park. I

Paradise

This morning I wrote an article about how the Trump administration could spell trouble for shareholder-submitted proposals at annual general meetings. Bit of a change of speed. Then we said goodbye to Janis and her home in Shadow Wood. We had lunch with my cousin Linnie at a country club

Sand in her shoes

My mom was born and raised in Atlantic City and loves nothing more than getting on a beach. So today I recreated yesterday’s drive, without Janis, who was playing bridge. We had better weather and I was in charge. So lunch at a place on the beach: And then

La La Land

In the morning, Janis took us for a ride along the beach, Bonita Beach and Fort Myers Beach, specifically. In the afternoon, we went to the mall and saw La La Land. Just more photos from yesterday: I love to sing, I love to dance, I love Emma Stone, so

Naples Botanical Garden

...is where we went today. Origami creatures made from metal: I like seeing architectural elements interspersed in gardens. Water lilies: And orchids: Mom and Janis, our hostess: 1-28

Patriotism and taxes

On the airplane to Ft. Myers, I met a few people who were going to a building contractors’ supply conference at Marco Island. I heard my mom say my brother-in-law is going to a doctors’ conference at The Homestead. These are expensive places--conferences are always held at expensive places. But,

Me & Bobbi

I drove 2 hours today to Cheat Lake, just past Morgantown, to have lunch with my old friend Bobbi. I wasn’t smart enough to bring my camera. I really admire Bobbi for her talent as a poet, her intellectual curiosity (still taking university courses in her 80s), her generosity,

Predator Extreme

Today I went to the Y to swim while my mom did water aerobics. I was done first and, while I waited for her near the front desk, I looked at the magazines. These included: “Predator Extreme--The Number One Source of News for Year Round Hunting and Shooting.” It is

Go Bus

I had a breakfast buffet in my Days Inn where there were three other men and one woman dining. No one talked to each other. That wouldn’t happen in Ireland. I took the 6:30 Go Bus east through Ohio to Marietta, where my mom was waiting. I had

Tripping

Half hour drive into Belfast. Onto the 8:30 a.m. bus to Dublin for two hours. Two hours of pre-flight waiting. Onto the Aer Lingus 8-hour flight to Washington Dulles. I had dinner in a Cosi restaurant where I chatted with a woman from Michigan who attended the women’

Pretty in Pink

In the U.S., yesterday’s marchers wore a lot of pink. This woman in Belfast got with the program: I, however, am not great at accessorising, and pink has never been a big colour for me. Unfortunately, this was taken on my phone and I have never been able

Rally and Rabbie

I spent all morning printing confirmations for planes, buses, rental cars, hotels, parking spaces. Then to St. George’s Market to buy gifts for people in the U.S. Then off to the women’s march in Belfast being held in support of the women marching in the U.S.

Market call

Yesterday I took all of my money out of the stock market. Not like me to try to time the market. But I am properly spooked by the Troll in Chief. And by the risk that climate change poses to markets--risks that asset managers are doing their damnedest to ignore.

End of an era

I can’t believe today is the last day of the Obama presidency. I could handle it if he weren’t being replaced by a narcissistic, immoral orange troll with a rent-a-wife. I don’t usually get this snarky but I think American politics (via gerrymandering and decades of GOP

Podcast

I downloaded my first podcast today--onto my phone. It was really easy. I thought you had to download podcasts to your computer, then find the right cable to connect your computer to your iPod, then upload to your iPod. Which has kept me from trying to do this for, you

Google

I spent part of the day reading a white paper published by Google about its efforts to source 100% renewable power to run its server farms. Or data centres. Or whatever they’re called. Google has operations around the world and this year it will reach its goal of purchasing