Poker Forum > Member Blogs
Duke attempts the Impossible
duke3016:
If you ever get a chance to visit the wonderful County of Clare please do so. There are a number of beautiful places to visit and one of them is Bunratty folk park.
The folk park began in the early "60s when a farmhouse had to be demolished to make way for a new runway at Shannon International Airport. The house was taken to Bunratty and reconstructed brick by brick. Over time more and more structures were added illustrating the dwelling places of poor labourers, wealthier farmers, trades people and lords and ladies. A schoolhouse (this was Belvoir School which was my mother"s first teaching post), a church, a post office, shops and a pub were added to complete the village.
At Bunratty you hear more American accents than Irish because the folk park is primarily designed for visitors. The preservationists who have created Bunratty Folk Park and other interpretive centers in Ireland are passionate about the story they have to tell, and recreations and reenactments bring history to life and stimulate the imagination in a way that books and pictures cannot.
The same goes for the castle banquet at Bunratty. It"s primarily a show for visitors, but what a show! Who could pass up a chance to dine in a beautifully furnished banquet hall, mellowed by mead and serenaded by exquisitely costumed harpists, fiddlers and singers? The food is excellent and the music is superb.
Also, sample the banquets at Knappogue Castle and Dunguaire Castle and the music night at the Bunratty Corn Barn. A visit to the Lough Gur Stone Age Centre, the Craggaunowen Bronze Age Project, and the Brian Boru Heritage Centre in Killaloe is a must.
A trip along the Atlantic coast through the area known as the Burren is also a must. It is a carboniferous limestone landscape with thousands of varieties of rare flowers, including acres and acres of wild orchids. Botanists come here from all over the world to study the unique combination of Arctic, Alpine and Mediterranean plants.
Back in 17th Century, General Edmund Ludlow wrote to his boss, English dictator Oliver Cromwell, that the geography of the Burren was interfering with his favourite pastimes: He said
"It is a country where there is not enough water to drown a man, wood enough to hang one, nor earth enough to bury him,"
And no I am not sponsored by the Irish Tourist Board I just miss it sometimes more than others and today is one of them.
duke3016:
duke3016:
In my life I have travelled to a fair few places around the world and survived. However airports were never my finest hour. But in reality the airport experience is leaving me increasingly stressed and frustrated with airline collapses, delays, lost luggage, confusion, cancellations, lengthy queues and strict security procedures seriously fecking with my patience. Confusing signage and boards and airport parking also get right up my nose.
But it"s not just the airport experience that causes me problems at a time when I am meant to be heading away from the stresses of everyday life. I fret about getting all documentation together, I worry about arriving where I need to be on time and getting anyone else organised messes with my head.
What is so hard about shortening queues, reducing delays, speeding up the time it takes to go through security, better airline organisation and more seating areas at the airport.
I know that airport frustrations can"t always be avoided, and I should get everything together a few days in advance to ensure that I leave ample time to get where I need to be. However the people that run the airports could meet me halfway with courtesy and politeness and not talk to me as if they are chewing a wasp.
In this day and age of cost cutting and cut throat competition good customer facing manners cost feck all and go a long way.
Rant over..
duke3016:
I was flying from Liverpool to Cork to take part in the Poker game in Killarney and I boarded the plane and as usual make my way straight for the emergency exit seats for the extra legroom. I get comfortable and await the take off. Across the aisle from me was a couple in their twilight years and they looked a little nervous.
The plane taxied onto the runway and powered up and shot up the runway. Approximately halfway up the runway the pilot slams on the anchors and the plane shudders to a halt.
“Sorry Ladies & Gentlemen a warning light has appeared on the console and we will have to taxi back to the terminal to get it checked out”
Fair enough, better safe than sorry.
We pulled up and were told to stay in our seats. After a while a young lad in a Hi-Viz appeared and walked down the aisle and stood in front of the elderly couple.
“Excuse me please would you mind stepping into the aisle” says he
Well the couple did a comical double take to each other and meekly got up and stood in the aisle.
The lad rapped the door a few times and grunted “Looks fine to me” and walked away. Well, the couple sat back down as the doors were closed again and the plane taxied off again.
Well their faces were a picture and the Lady said something to her husband that I could not hear, but half the plane heard his reply.
“Never mind dear at least we will be first out”
Priceless
Note; The pilot aborted the second take off as well and we had to go back disembark and wait 4 hours for a replacement plane.
duke3016:
I never stopped to consider what would happen if I'd chosen a different path. I enjoy my work and a lage part of it is Warehouse Management Systems Support.
There's an uneasy friendship between being a single point of contact fame and anonymity; living on the verge of corporate recognition and total isolation. Do we all think of what we do as such a noble pursuit? Do we go to work thinking that we will save the world?
As I sat at my desk mindlessly plucking at my keyboard when the phone rings. I pick it up and it is the Service Desk.
“There is a call in your queue and the user is chasing” The anonymous female voice was the sort of off-key, grating sound that you could only tolerate in small doses. I wondered what it must be like to be married to that voice. Knowing that every conversation is a form of Chinese water torture. Could there be someone out there who finds that sound bearable? Melodious even?
I fired up the Service application, the text in the call was as usual Jibberish so I called the person who raised the call
“This is Ger Smyth how can I help you?” says I
“Hi, I can't see the box on the screen I usually see, can you tell me what I'm doing wrong?
What you're doing wrong is calling me as if I live to figure out what kind of crap you have done to get to this point. As if without any detailed information, I will be able to diagnose your problem and present a one-button solution that will make everyone happy.
“What application transaction are you in?” says I
As they prattle on I realise that this person could just possibly be the biggest idiot I have ever come across. Instead of answering my question, they go on and on about what they want to do, as if they expect me to have super powers and I can see their screen. They keep talking as if to provide enough information to allow me to do their work for them.
“I just realized what your problem is” says I,
“Page down” says I
“Oh there it is”
Priceless.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version