34 Years Old + 56 Days

Oct 30th... and the christmas lights are up on Abbey Gate
Street Lower (or is it Upper?)

Saturday....

Its a new dawn, its a new day... and I'm feeling good!!!!

I went into Galway this morning and it was one of the first mornings in something like 3 and a half to four years that I did not need to get something for cupantae.... I think I went in primarily because I could.

Of course when I was there I bought combats to the value of €35 in the Army Navy Store so I can look like  Locke on Lost... he is going to be my monster for the monster theme at Marielles party tonight. So I got the trouser and headed out to Carraroe again.

There we opened up the cafe for the LAST TIME EVER to the public. Business was very very quiet until I wanted it to be quiet so I could head out the door at 6pm and then things livened up and people started arriving to say good bye and what have you. So when the staff and the family were there together sitting down at the table we acknowledged that the cafe was closing and we opened a bottle of champagne and it was had... and then we went home. And just like that cupantae.ie was closed....

34 Years Old + 55 Days

Friday....

Had a long day in the cafe... it was long and tedious because I was just waiting and waiting for tomorrow. It was throbbing and beating in my head all day... boom boom boom... tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow... Finally work finished at 9ish, later than I would have liked considering and I was home in a flash.

Looked at the second episode of the series The Event... I am liking it....

34 Years Old + 54 Days

Thursday....

Worked in the cafe and then played games for a while... really not much more to say....

34 Years Old + 53 Days

Wednesday....

After a tough day yesterday I just floated through the day. I played some Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 with the girls in the cafe.. it was a welcome break from reality!

34 Years Old + 52 Days

Tuesday.....

"....Suzanne stepped outside of her tent. In her hand she held a bloody knife. The same blood was spattered all over her body. He never knew what had happened to him. Well maybe for a moment. But then in the moment he was awoken all he felt was a rush of adrenaline as his body tried fiercely to compensate for the shock of torn skin, muscle and veins.

Suzanne never blinked.

It was over in a moment and when it was his body was dragged out near a small oasis that they had camped beside. She figured that the spiders and snakes and large birds would devour him with the day. This was the desert after all and all animals are hungry... she walked up to her 4x4. She turned the key. The engine began to turn then nothing. She inspected the plugs, oil, water everything. But nothing worked... Resiliently she began walking.

She walked until the sun set and all through the freezing night and all through the next day trying her best to survive remembering all her survival training like only breathing through her nose and wrapping her shirt she had urinated in around her forehead to preserve as much moisture as possible.

Weak and tired on the third day she spied a tree in the distance. She ran towards it, using up all her reserve of energy. The closer she got to the tree the happier she was getting as she was making out bushes and a small pool of water shaded in the center of the trees. Then her heart leapt, how fortunate was this. She could make out a 4x4. A Jeep, grey.... with.... a tent beside it. She stopped running and walked with a broken hearted march to her dead husband again. She tried to make it to the pool of water but some animal had dragged the now mutilated corpse into its center. There was a buzz of flies so loud it made her skin crawl.

Seeking some normality, she reached for her mirror. She stared at the reflection. She could see a beautiful woman looking back. Behind her reflection in the mirror was a table laden with food. A servant was laying the table with silverware. Her family was ready for the meal and were waving at her to join them....

Two days later native came across the scene. On inspection he found the fault in the engine, a wire in the ignition switch was purposefully removed and beside this wire, under the seat was a small box with an engagement ring inside. The Jeep was now partially covered in sand blown from the tips of the dunes. The stocky well clothed man left with his cattle on his journey..."

34 Years Old + 51 Days

Sometimes, when I find myself feeling extreme stress, I suddenly remember a smell. It is a pleasant, lovely, homely smell of my bed when I was younger when the sheets are freshly changed. I can remember myself jumping in the bed, into brown bed sheets I think they were, and feeling the instant warmth and snugness that came with a newly made bed. It is like the way that you'd remember the smell of homemade bread. A smell that activates a memory. But as I said, it is a level of stress that activates the smell for me, and then the memory, of, corny as it sounds a "more innocent time". A self defence mechanism kicks in and carries me away.

Today was a tough day. All to do with wrapping up the business. Stuff that I expected would be easy is alot harder. Like Wolverine when hes trapped, the claws have come out. I had planned to do some other work too today but I find myself trapped in a moment and thinking about the same things over and over again and the only way I can escape them is by playing a computer game or something like it, that is designed to let you escape from the real world.

But the game must finish, so when it does, I head to bed. Again that memory, the smell. Maybe when I close my eyes I will be ten again, in my warm snug bed...

34 Years Old + 50 Days

No pic. Sunday, usually my day of leisure, today was not all that stressfull in any way or anything but I still found myself not all that happy and pretty snappy at those closest to me. I am like that alot of Sundays actually. But today was Marielles birthday... she is X years old. So we sang happy birthday for her, but in hindsight it could have been more of an occasion actually... like, now that I think about it.

But today I began get Blackberry App World working on my Blackberry. It is not really working, I have so far only downloaded to App that gives me (theoritically at least) access to apps. Problem is that the App window itself does not work.... ahhhh.... Blackberry! I have cursed them before and I and many people will curse them again, why does your software not work the way one would think it works!

34 Years Old + 49 Days



Plants Vs Zombies.... *brains!*



Oh yeah, Saturday... We walked into the sitting room to find this picture that Sophie had drawn. Personally we think it is brilliant. If you know the game "Plants Vs Zombies" by Popcap Games then you have to admit that this picture is absolutely brilliant.

What else, we finished work (whos we?) and then played some Tom Claney Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 and it was brilliant. Then home, fed the kids and Linda, I made this lovely omlette. Yum, it was delicious. Then basically the next big thing after that was going to a friends 21st birthday (Decco). Whilst not the most packed I ever saw the function room which held said party it was still good fun.



34 Years Old + 48 Days

Scary Ghost

So Friday.. the school that Sophie goes to did this thing that the kids from her class walked a bit to school. Now while the distance that they had to walk was miniscule(? spelling) the point was made that it is in fact possible to walk to school more often. Also today was their fancy dress day, so the amount that they walked was done so in a costume... it was all very scary!!!!



3 and 9... what does it all mean?

In other cool stuff about today, I parked my car, and just as i was getting out I noticed the mileometer, or whatever its called, like the thing that measures how far I have driven. You can reset the bottom mile but not the top, and look how they randomly alligned! 39193 and the bottom 393... wow.. and they were both palindromes to top of the wonder of it all.

So today was a good day in a way. I told the people that should be told that the cafe is closing down at the end of October. Thats that. The end of a strange, brilliant, and stressfull 3 years.... actually, all the 3's are now beginning to make since to me...

34 Years Old + 47 Days

Thursday....

So I am 47 days into my "blog every day of my 34th year" experiment. 47 is of course a significant number because it is the Star Trek number. In ST:The Next Generation if they needed a number they would usually use the number 47. For example how many people died on Scorpion 8 - 47! How far away from Earth are we... 4.7 light years... etc etc. So what are my musings about the blog at this stage. It is difficult to keep it good and relevant. For example I know I could make it brilliant by telling litterally everything that I am feeling and everything that is happening to my family and all that. But I don't think I want to involve my family too much in the blog because of privacy etc. But then that is an instant barrier to how I think and what I want to write. I'll see, I will be taking the blog a new direction in a few weeks anyway when I finally recieve my new digital camera that I am going to get. When that arrives I will have more beautful pics...

So thats it for now, I'll go, I am still working on my little online browser based game. I have to work in alot more dynamics to make it exciting and to make people want to play it. At the moment the only people that would play it, in as much as it can be played, are people that I would actually ask directly, but then there is nothing in the game that would make you go, wow this is brilliant I am going to ask my friends to play this so i can share the fun.

Not yet that is, I am working on it. Oh yeah, and I was thinking more about really setting up a computer club. I think that I will be going ahead with that. I will have to confirm, I have the PC's, the skill, and soon the time, however, ironically, not (soon anyway) the space!

34 Years Old + 46 Days

Wow, cupantae. She had a tough day today. Her first biggest day was the day she opened. Her second biggest day was today.

I can not and do not want to say anything else... :(

34 Years Old + 45 Days

The whole day was kinda crap in that work was slow, but in the evening after work we had a seven person game of Settlers of Catan! Yeah baby.... seven, 7, SEVEN. I guess that its not that big of a deal really. I used coins and pieces from a monopoly board to make up my pieces and for those in the know about the flip chart, I just wrote in what my advances were on a piece of paper. I was cool.

Wallace won....

34 Years Old + 44 Days

Mmmehhh!

Monday... whats it all about. This monday lark.... "oh look at me I'm the first day of the week!". Monday is annoying like.... I don't know what. This Monday we were going to have an Irish Language Class but it was not happening, so I was thinking that our Monday would be nice and quiet.

But not so!!!

Dad a an ashma attack that resulted in him going into hospital, but then coming out a few hours later. So whilst it was very serious, note the hospital and all, it was also not too bad in that he came out the same day. He went in in the morning and was out at around 6pm I think.... a good days work.

So I visited him in the evening, more like night time, and we talked for a bit. He shouldn't smoke.  

34 Years Old + 43 Days

Today was a good full day. It was SUNDAY!!!!!!!

So we had some brekkie in the morning and then went to mass. Lucy was making loads of noise so we had to take her out, but it was nice to be back in the church, we were talking to the priest afterwards and I told him that friends of ours, Ryan and Sarah, made me want to go back to church again... "get closer to Jesus".

We had dinner at mom and dads as usual too but then went up to Mart and Marielles and watched "How to train your dragon". It was good and the kids liked it.

Pretty much after that we came back to my place and wished Ryan a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! It was really cool actually because we had a camera and mic and talked to Sarah and Ryan for a while over skype. Good old skype, it reminds me of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey... when it was said that in 2001 all international calls would cost the same as a local call... again, Clarke was on the button. 

All that was topped of nicely with a game of Settlers won in fine style by the beautiful Linda, and I am not just saying that because she is reading over my shoulder....

34 Years Old + 42 Days



Brownies!



Saturday... lately I have to add the days of the week onto these posts, just so I know what is happening myself. Basically, everyday is a blur, everyday going seemlessly into the next. I can't really tell what is happening because I am waiting for a few big decisions to happening and as much as I want them to happen straight away I cannot make it happen.  So, I will wait....

In the mean time, these are two pictures from the kitchen...



Sun coming through woods....



34 Years Old + 41 Days

Ah Friday... usually my least favorite day but it wasn't too bad... the cafe was really busy.

34 Years Old + 40 Days

hmmm, Thursday.....

34 Years Old + 39 Days

The reason I have this up is to show you the ass kicking internet speed we finally have. Look, a 22.5MB file loaded in 31 seconds. 745KB/Sec.
I know that alot of people have a much much faster connection and would laugh at this but it is not about them, it is about me, and how impressed I am with this speed, which incidentally was at 1.2MB/Sec download when I was downloading from steam the other day.

34 Years Old + 38 Days

Tuesday was work all day until 8:30pm and then after a quick visit to my parents home, where I looked at Desperate Housewives and then fell asleep on the couch and then woke up and went to bed! Three interesting things about today were all the same that I was in bed before 12 midnight! Second thing is that I was up until 5:30 the morning of today figuring out PHP stuff which I did figure out.... now, what was the third thing? Maybe I should have an early night again tonight...

34 Years Old + 37 Days

Spot the real baby

Monday morning was made brighter by the site of Lucy coming in with a big bunch of dolls, her "babys". Not to be seen too early in the morning when bleary eyed and still half away or it could be mistaken for the quadro-headed monster you had just ran from in a nitemare.

Otherwise the day was strange somehow, Sophie has gone to another karate class therefore re-enforcing into her mind the fact that she is actually offically tending the class now rather than just going to it and seeing what it is like.

We did get bad new also. Some relating to the cafe... but again, not here. Or at least not right now...

34 Years Old + 36 Days

The scene of the crime!

Sunday... chill out day :)

That is until disaster struck! :(

We took Sophie out cycling today and she accidentally cycled off the road. Maybe we will read over this some day and laugh but when it happened it was all pretty serious.

This is where it happened, down from mom and dads house in a place called Pointe. She was ok after a while of some nursing and a bandage.

34 Years Old + 35 Days

Zooey Deschanel

I was just at the cinema, we saw "The Other Guys". Will Ferrell and Mark Walaberg I think it is that is in it. Will Ferrell is brilliant. He was in Elf, that is one of the first places that I saw him and thought that he was really funny. That is also the first place that my number 1 laminated list babe Zooey Deschanel came from. But enough about her, apart from the fact that I am going to put her picture up....

34 Years Old + 34 Days

Friday....

For some reason, alot of reasons actually, Friday is not good for me... I am working pretty much the whole day and I am really really tired when I get home. So much so that I am afraid not much good is done on this day bar working....

The only upshot of today was that I had a cool little break through in the game I am making, the online game that is, in that I can upload data to the database from the website... woopie... seriously.

34 Years Old + 33 Days

Toilet... the unspoken hero in the home.

Were you ever really sick and felt you had to throw up and so you made your way to the bathroom. I have... and I was feeling bad, really bad. All my body was weak and I felt as if I have no energy at all. Then I felt the vomit coming... so I collapsed onto my knees and leaned over the toilet bowl.

And there it was. More comforting that the embrace of a loved one. The cold and strangely reassuring feeling of the porcaline bowl in all its unhygenicness pressing agains't my face....

I woke up with my head dangling into the bowl a while later. Looked at the toilet... patted it and said thanks. How many special moments have we had together?

34 Years Old + 32 Days

I have realise that it is actually very easy to update this blog every single day when there is no picture to be put up. Now the thing is that when a picture is there it makes the whole blog of the day alot more interesting. Otherwise this entry is just words, words, words....

Anyway, today I finally, 100% with help from a person off YouTube with a channel called phpacademy, got closer to having a working version of a browser based game I am doing. phpacademy is brillliant. The person in it speaks clear english and his accent is easy listening. He is clear and slow enough in what he does, he explains everything in detail. I know that theoritically I should read up how to do everything, but this is so much easier.

So, I have gotten a registration screen, login screen, members screen, and logout screen working!!!! All this will be incorporated into my browser based game, Alpha07 that I already did a bit of work on but then I got stuck with all these problems. Every single one being addressed and fixed by the guy in phpacademy!

I will try to get more pictures up btw...

34 Years Old + 31 Days

Tuesday 5th October 2010...

Sometimes it is so clear to me how one thing ending is the beginning of another thing. I read once that the higher the mountain the lower the valley for height and depth are the same. In this way I see that, as simple as the concept is... that I have a van, and if I get rid of it, it is the beginning of me not having the van. Now the example with the van means nothing, but with personal loss I find myself thinking that in the same way, if I loose something valuable to me, I do not miss the actual object or thing I have lost, but I miss the concept... it is my relationship with the concept that I value... but that relationship is the most important thing in your life, for your relationship with these concepts are what make up your reality... your life.

34 Years Old + 30 Days

Sophie was at Karate today. I really want her to like it, but I do not know if she is diggin it too much. Lucy was observing too and she even started coping the push up and a few of the moves. I'll see if Sophie likes it and see if we can force her to do the next seven weeks....

34 Years Old + 29 Days

Today, 3rd October. Well at around midday Linda and Mal went into Galway to be models in a fashion show that Galway charity Cope was putting on. Whilst they were gone, bearing in mind that Lindas parents were down for a few days myself and Sophie went down to another birthday party.

We did not have a present for the kid so sophie suggested that we give €6 because he was six years old, worked for me! Then after the party Sophie wanted to blow up a kids inflatable paddling pool, in the house, worked for me!

Paddling pool, ideal for living in!



Girls at the kids party.

 We blew it up and she then choose to live in it. Then I headed off to Galway to see Linda and Mal in the fashion show. Linda and Mali were brilliant, they seemed to make the whole thing look effortless even though i know that they were a little nervous before hand. I do not have pics of them on my blackberry, which is by the way how I update nearly all of my pics. But I will have one of the fashion show tomorrow and insert it into the day.

34 Years Old + 28 Days

Wow, today we had an absolutely fantastic dinner at Marielles place.

34 Years Old + 27 Days

Well, I am not actually writing this on the actual day of the 27 Day of my 34th year... I am writing this on the 28th day.. in other words the 2nd of October. Today was kinda boring from a doing stuff kinda day. Working in cupantae all day. I got bad news about a job that I was hoping in all honesty to get. So that was a bummer. But at least I played some Minecraft.

34 Years Old + 26 Days

On the very top of my house, notice the turrets, classy!

Ever heard of the game Minecraft... no? Well your lucky, it is now 3am and I have been playing the free java version of Minecraft for the last 2 hours!!!! AAAAHHHHHHHH! It is brilliant. But my muscles ache, I am tired... but I built a house! Look at the 3 screen shots of house that I took.

The way the game works is right click on the mouse builds the object you have selected, right click destroys. With the full game you can build various things, like hammers, axes etc. Look at some Minecraft vids on Youtube. Play the game... it is worth it.

Strange 3D perspective of what is really the most
beautiful house ever. Eat your heart out F.L. Wright.

Inside on the first floor, see the elegant staircase.
I wish I was asleep now :( but also :)