Good news & bad news We met with the builder today. He said we can't move in on Jan. 31 because the house won't be livable. This isn't a surprise because there is still so much to do. We've made several decisions that have added to the
...Your tired, your hungry, your poor... My friend, Carlos, posted an article on Facebook about four low-income students [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/opinion/the-cruel-waste-of-americas-tech-talent.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0] who made an underwater robot and won a NASA-sponsored contest. The film "Spare Parts" tells their Cinderella tale. But the movie
The house that Ian built (This post was supposed to run before the post titled "Window on my marriage." I didn't hit publish when I was done writing, so this post is running out of sequence). We went by the house this morning. Around mid-November I posted a series called "
A window on my marriage When we did our walk-through of the house yesterday, Barry the plumber arrived. He is the most upbeat, sunny person I've met since I've been here--and I've met a lot of sunny people. Anyway, we are replacing all the radiators, not something originally planned
Rory in all his glory I spent the morning on fund commentaries and then met two friends from high school for lunch. On the way, I finally snapped a mural I've been meaning to upload. Another angle: I think that's my favorite building in the background. This mural is on the
Charlie & Milo I spent from 6 a.m.-noon uploading my fourth paper to Queen's website then working on quarterly fund commentaries--my freelance gig that keeps my checking account from disappearing. Then I went to Ross Auctions to spend said money. I got a Kashmir rug and two Waterford-like decanters.
Whamogram I went for a mammogram yesterday at a mobile unit in Newtonards. Every interaction with health care here is eye opening. Three examples. 1. I didn't fill out a single piece of paper. The receptionist asked to see my appointment letter and asked for my phone number. The
Housing update On the way to the wedding on Friday, we stopped by the house. It is a big hot mess. Trenches dug through the dining room floor for the gas line and for water/sewage pipes. Half the kitchen floor torn up. Holes being knocked out of the brick wall dividing
David's duties If it isn't clear by now, all I do is read, write, eat, and sleep (the wedding was a fun exception). David makes this possible by cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and walking the dog. I couldn't be doing what I'm doing if he weren&
Blasphemy Our minister, Rev. Chris Hudson, gave a fascinating sermon today about the history of blasphemy laws in Great Britain and Ireland. The shorthand version is that Britain removed its laws after the nation was outraged by the jailing of an ailing atheist pamphleteer, who died shortly after serving his term.
The Bangor boys After yesterday's drinking and dancing, I needed fresh air, so I walked Maysie today. It was so nice to see Joe, who has Parkinson's disease and seems quite frail, but is out walking in all weather. And the Bangor boys--George and Alan. George is originally from
A couple, a cathedral, a castle David's co-worker Conor got married today to Orlaith (pronounced Orla). The wedding was at St. Macartan's Cathedral in Monaghan. My photography skills weren't up to the challenge, so the photos below are from the internet. From the outside: From the altar looking back; From
In good company A librarian told me today that there are about 1,600 students in Queen's library every hour, on average. The library is open 24 hours a day. Between 8,000 and 9,000 students come in every day (some of them are leaving and coming back, so those
Balmy Belfast I never pay attention to weather forecasts. And I've never learned how to translate celsius into fahrenheit. All I know is I don't need gloves or a hat. The weather here seems to be in the 40s and 50s a lot. After last winter--the most miserable
What Casey giveth, she taketh away While Christmas shopping for David, I found a vintage Guernsey wool sweater made in Guernsey and never worn. While most sweaters in the charity shop are 5 pounds ($8), this was 30 pounds. My mother knits, so I know a good sweater when I see it and I bought it.
Broadchurch--OMG! Any Broadchurch fans out there? Episode One, Season Two aired last night. If you thought you knew what was what at the end of season one, you were WRONG! After last night's show, I think I asked David 20 questions. I'm highly confused about what is
Feel my pain Here is the question I am currently trying to muster 4,500 words to answer: "The enduring failure of States to agree on a common conceptual framework to develop the right to development has greatly affected the normative validity of the right." I have 20 pages of notes
Addendum Yesterday I wrote that I'm getting tired of academia and want to get back into the real world. Even as I was typing, I knew that as I worked in recent years, I wanted to be a student. Grass is always greener... I wanted to go back to
Connecting dots One of the interesting things about writing papers for a degree in business and human rights is the various things from my past that crop up. I spent part of today reading "When Corporations Rule the World," by David Korten. I heard Korten speak in Philadelphia years ago,
Tradition, Crawfordsburn style It's not every village that has a hunt meet up at the old inn for a port before chasing hounds. Olde Inn waiters brought round mulled wine and mince meat pies. Fox hunting was made illegal in 1990, however that's no reason to stop getting out
Nolan's Christmas I met up with Nolan in the park this morning. I brought him back a box of cigars and his face lit up like a Christmas tree. He said the last time he bought cigars in the U.S., he paid $40 for what would have cost $160 here (at
A walk in the park We walk Maysie along Belfast Lough early every morning. We may see six or ten people out with their dogs that early. Yesterday afternoon--crisp and sunny--I walked through the park without Maysie and with my camera. Here's what I saw: I probably saw more than 150 people and
Winter patchwork I wish I had my camera as we flew over Ireland just after sunrise this morning. There'd been a heavy frost the night before and, instead of the usual patchwork in 50 shades of green, Ireland was transformed into a beautiful winter landscape. Every field was somewhere between
At a crossroads Literally. We drove from Parkersburg, W.Va. yesterday back to Catherine and Al Renzis' home. After a lovely breakfast this morning catching up with them, we headed to Piscataway, N.J. to have a late Christmas with David's son and daughter-in-law. Then David took me to the
Good bye 4 now We hit the road today back to Pennsylvania. The hardest part of living in Ireland is being so far from my mom. The reality is I've seen her more in the past year than in any of the past 30 years, due to two surgeries she went through