Sunday

Life in The Big Smoke


as Belfast is sometimes referred to. Well, I officially feel a bit settled here. My goal to familiarize myself with the whole city was more or less met when I finally hiked up the Cavehill yesterday and took in the panoramic views of the city and surrounding area. It was also clear enough that I could see all the way across the Irish Sea to Scotland.

Actually, I guess in my getting acquainted with the city I failed to notice until today the name of the Asian restaurant just down the road from my house. Those asians sure are funny.

Things have been going well on the employment side of things. Besides bringing in the bacon, work has been doubling as a continuing education. My daily work sidekick Malachy has been is a weath of good advice ("Never look a gift horse in the mouth; A blind man on a galloping horse couldn't see that mistake we just made")in addition to having been proven to be quite a source of information in regards to what life was growing up during "The Troubles" here in Belfast. Riots, bombings, knee-capping IRA men, and a divided city was all apart of normal life. The city is not that big, so more or less he can tell second to third-hand stories of just about every major event that occured here.

Beside the work Malachy and I are doing restoring an old Victorian room for use for private dining, I also occassionally fill in on the floor at the restaurant. The convenience of the restaurant's location beneath my flat keeps me fed well and occasionally entertained--either by the nightly Billy Joe-esque piano man or the chef and some regulars staying late night to sing and guitar Irish songs.

Tonight, I am heading with my boss over to England to do and quick lap around the country to pick up antiques he has purchased in online auctions. Will return friday only to immediately head for the Aran Islands for festival of sorts. I'll take take notes on the experience for you.

Unrelated, but equally important is the formation of a new website sure to revolutionize and de-stigmatize online gambling that cripples so many of our degenerate friends. Working within U.S. gaming laws, my friend Tim Reardon and his brother and some of his friends have created at sports gambling site, where ad revenue funds your gambling. You lose nothing but are mailed a check once your starting balance of a quarter reaches $20. On the top of my head, I can think of 30 people who could and will spend the majority of their work time on this site. You know who you are.
Check it out. QUARTERBETS.COM

Keep the milk money,
BQ

Monday

County Kerry


Last weekend I was able to accept an invitation by my friend Niamh's family to spend a days with them on their vacation in Killarney, County Kerry. So effectively, I had to travel from the northeast part of the island to the southwest corner. It was quick weekend trip for me but I still was able to cram some amazing hikes around the countryside. Normally during peak tourism season, the Ring of Kerry area is log-jammed with people and coach tours but the place was pretty tame when we were there. It was also a big treat to be in the place with an Irish family who had been holidaying there for the last 30 years and knew the history of just about everything. The Grogan's are good craic (fun), and it was one of the best expeditions of the Ireland trip so far.

Without stealing to many Ireland travel description cliches, I just want to say the area is quite amazing. Rock roads lines with moss encased walls seperating vast stretches of green bog land. If there ever was such a thing as a majestic view (did I really just use majestic?), that was it.

On the train ride from Mallow to Dublin on Sunday night, I found myself riding in one of the more state of the art trains I have been on during this trip. Gleaned from my online reservation, my full name was displayed on a screen above my seat. At first I was a bit shocked at the public display of private information but then was delighted by the endless possibilities of mischievousness. Instantly I wished I entered something way more hilarious into my reservation name. You know, like Brad Quarnstrom!



On a good note, the weather has become a bit warmer laterly. Down to 2 duvets at night. Was in my favorite shop yesterday and that monster tin of nacho cheese is still eyeball'n me. Have resolved to buy the sucker if its still there next time I go in.

Yours,
Brian

Wednesday

Hooray For No FDA!


Although this kid is enjoying his temporary settlement in Northern Ireland, cost cutting measures must be taken in daily life to save enough cheese to produce myself in unchartered ground in a couple months. We have already spoken of frigid sleeping conditions to cut down on the energy bills, now lets talk about food. Expired ones.
Some people religiously adhere to expiration dates. I have a certain brother in law that I am pretty sure wakes up at midnight to go downstairs to rid the fridge of any “danger” that is now 2 minutes over the recommended consumption date. Well actually to be honest I think he throws it out 2 days before expiration, but you get my drift. I mean really, is the "Best By" date just a friendly suggestion or does stuff really turn into inedible matter at the stroke of midnight?
For those who throw culinary caution into the wind, a wealth of savings can be had by developing an inability to read or care about mostly arbitrary expiration dates. Born a picky eater, it has only come to me recently to consume just about anything. This combined with having apprencticed under notorious deal finder Matt Kopp (I am pretty sure he used to bring his own price sticker gun to the store in addition to purposely denting cans one day to return to buy them in the damaged goods section the next day) has made pragmatic eating the trend as of recent. Ever see something at the grocery store that expires the next day and wonder what is to come of the food the next day? Well here in Belfast the good Arabic family that runs Bestsellers Grocery either nabs the stuff out of the dumpster at the regular stores or buys these goods for next to nothing and puts them on display in their own store. Either way, I don't really care as long as I can continue to be able to buy canned good for 15 cents and pounds of bacon for a Pound.

The place is freaking amazing. Name brands galore, all with varying lengths of dates past that I try not to look at. Obviously the meats, cheeses, and milk have to be consumed in a timely basis, but other than that whats 2 weeks on stuff that is expired by 20 months? See that yogurt? Well it wasn't pro-biotic before, but it certainly is now.

The biggest delimma of today was when I stumbled upon a commercial size tin of stadium-grade Nacho Cheese. Although it would have taken me a month of daily nacho eating to finish it, I sat and comtemplated how for £1.50, it may just be worth trying out.

Having a dinner party tomorrow with expired taco shells, enchilada sauce, and salsa. Will let you know if anyone dies.

Good for a long while,
Brian

Sunday

County Fermanagh



Feeling the need to get somewhere unfamiliar Saturday morning I managed to line up a ride on Gumtree (UK's version of Craigslist.com)from Belfast to County Fermanagh (A region known for its lakes about 2 hours away from Bfast). I had corresponded with the driver only with a few emails so when he picked me up and I said hello, he responded with a resounding "you're a f**ken Yank! I was hoping that it was a celebratory statement. It turned out that it was more of an exclamation of coincidence as the man's wife, who was riding in the back with their two kids was American as well. Richard and Megan were a younger couple that had just moved back to Ireland after spending 4 years living in the "ghettos of Boston." They were an entertaining ride out with their stories of Richard's time in the States, which admitted he spent mostly drunk and Megan's adjustment to life in Northern Ireland. They seemed to be struggling a bit as she could not work yet due to her residency status in limbo and he indicated that he hasn't been able to work since they returned months ago, which made me feel a bit guilty with my situation of employment.

They dropped me off in the center of the town of Enniskillen. I spent part of the day walking around the Enniskillen castle, Lough Erne, and a brief tour around the Clinton Center for Peace, which is located on the site of the 1987 Remembrance Day bomb by the IRA. Love him or hate him back home, Slick Willie is thought of highly by most on the Emerald Island due to his extensive involvement in the peace process here. Evidence of his notoriety was strengthened when the family where I was Couchsurfing, told me their 2 hens and 1 rooster they had were named Hillary, Monica, and Bill. In a twist of fate, Bill and Monica were mauled by a neighborhood dog, leaving only Hillary, which I am sure some could see some symbolism in.


Through Couchsurfing, I had lined up a stay with the Whaley's. An extremely charming and fun family. Karen and David had spent much of their youth travelling and wanted to help out other travelers as well as introduce their children to the cultures of others that may be passing through. After pre-dinner pints and soccer watching with David and oldest kid Joe at the nearby pub, we had a delicious feast of middle eastern food shared with some of their friends. The morning brought a few layers of snow and we took the two youngest on a trek to the nearby castle grounds for a sledding expedition. Although only a brief visit, I hope to see them again by bringing over visiting friends to experience life with such a interesting family. The youngest Grace even colored the sign that I used to hitch-hike from Enniskillen back to Belfast.
Something about polka dot lettering on a sign made me a bit nervous, but it must've worked as I was picked up on the edge of town within minutes by a older couple, Mary and Brendan, who graciously produced me back home. It was about as much fun in 24 hours that one could have.

Not sure what this week will bring, but you will hear about it.
BQ

Tuesday

Ode to Living in a Freezer

Shite, it is freezing here! Well, actually it is just around freezing outside but this old flat I am residing in is about as far from heat efficient as possible. Gas to heat the boiler is not the cheapest so I have been trying to see exactly how much cold I can tolerate in the apartment. At what point does your core body temperature recede? A wise person once told me the ills that can occur if your body temperature drops, although I have forgotten all...
Living life in a cold state is not fun but it has definitely routinized my life. After hitting the snooze alarm 8 times, I emerge from the cocoon I have built out of 3 duvets to stay warm.
Then I make a bee-line to the radiator in the TV room and turn it on so I can sit on it while I manage to push Frosted Flakes through chattering teeth. After pouring half of my coffee on my feet to defrost them, I shut down the radiator and head to work. After work when back at the apartment, I perform the "see your breath test" and if it is positive, then I treat myself to a de-winterized TV room. Later I remake the cocoon and enter it for the nights hibernation. Unfortunately, I cannot take a shower as a source of warming up beacause for some goofy reason the water comes out of the shower head just at room temperature but out of the bottom spicket hot. So it's a regression to thrice weekly baths for me, which actually is not a bad plight. This all would not have happened if I received a heating bill like you do in the States. Otherwise right now I would running that sucker on High until I received my first bill 2 or 3 weeks from now, at which time it would have too late to freeze myself. But here, you use a credit card slotted gas meter that allows you to easily pay and track your spending and usage.

I tried my best to insulate the windows but I am ready to revert to Franklin County meth-head tactics and just throw some blankets over my windows. Funny how just about this time last year I was b*tching in a blogpost about the trying to sleep in 95 degree weather in Buenos Aires. I miss the heat.

Burrrrrian.