Sunday 2nd, 2018
I get an Uber pool from the house cause I’m cheap. Stephanie picks me up after I say good bye to kids who are glued to their iPads. We do manage to rouse them from their glossy eyed game stupor to say bye to their dear old dad. I hop into the Jeep car thing and do not pick up any other riders to the airport! I arrive at 1:52 and proceed to hurry up and wait in line which opens at 2;15. Oh well. I make it thru security without being scanned only a metal detector for me since the machine had to be recalibrated which takes too long. I do not like the dumb scanning thing anywho. I go to 1300 on the Fillmore and have hummus and warm pita bread and an IPA as a light dinner. It only cost 25 dollars so there really is nothing light about it. Oh well.
I make it to gate G94 and the plane leaves 15 minutes early and there is a huge tailwind so it only takes 9 hours to fly to Dublin. I watch a dumb movie, Rampage, about 3 animals that turn big, ugly, and destroy Chicago. A pretty dumb movie. Then watch 15:17 to Paris about 3 guys who stop a terrorist on a train. Not sure they should have used the guys who actually stopped the terrorist, and it was pretty boring in the middle. I guess they couldn’t have made a 30 minute movie? I feel bad that it was not better, but probably would have made a better documentary than a Hollywood one. It is a good story but not a good movie. Then did Jack Ryan series on Amazon which is very good. Managed to get through 6 episodes.
The plane landed and got to baggage claim in 20 minutes which is great. Then had to wait another 20 minutes for my bag to appear. Anywho I made the 747 bus at 12:03 as I stood there for 15 minutes waiting for it. The earliest train I can take is 2pm and it is 12:30now with another 20 minutes until we arrive at Heuston station. But since I’m so early I think I’ll stop at the Mecca and drink a Guinness and have some fries 😉 I get off at Christ Church Cathedral and it is a 20 minutes walk to Guinness brewery 🤪.
So the stupid bus didn’t stop at Christ Church. WTF? So I got off at Heuston and missed the 1pm train so hustled off the the Guinness store. I got there but had to purchase a tour ticket to get in to have a beer or even dine at their bistro on site. Freak me and the 15 minute walk. Oh wait there is a pub 75meters from the brewery so took my business there and had a pint and a ham grilled cheese sandwich. I woofed it down and hustled back to the train station and got on the 2pm train!!! Woot! woot! Anywho will catch up on my Jack Ryan I suppose.
Jack Ryan was a good series. I really did not have a seat on the train since I caught the earlier train. So I jumped to a seat that was not occupied and started watching Sneaky Pete. It was good except I kept drowsing off.
Got to Cork and walked 30 minutes to the hotel. I’m so turned around, but made it to the hotel. I took a picture of 2 couples from Wisconsin – a bunch of cheeseheads. They asked about the fires and i said it was awful. So bad that the kids would not go out to recess some days. That is pretty bad.
Anyway back to my woes. I’m on the 3rd floor with a crappy view of a square apartment building next door. I did not test the beds but the room looks good.
I went out to eat at the liberty grill and had a light beer and the grilled lemon chicken. The chicken was pretty darn good. I’m about to fall asleep at the table so need to get movin again.
Tuesday, 4th of September
Yes I could not sleep. Went to bed at 7pm and woke up at 2, 3, and then 4:30. I finally got up at 4:30 and started working. I caught the 7:15 bus and did not have exact change or a smaller bill. A fist full of coins were returned from my 20 dollar bill since a bus is 2.30. At least I have change now for the next bus ride 😉
Lunch with David Donnelly a quiet spoken looks like me sort of fellow. A very nice guy from support. We closed out 9 issues. I called a cab at 7pm. David recommended the muttton inn. I walked over and they only did drinks at this old old bar. Old like it was built in the 1700s or something.
The bar tender recommended a sister pub that served food that was called the Bodega. It was only a 10 minute walk is that and the chicken ceaser with bacon was very tasty. The rising sons brewery black ipa was awful. Didn’t finish my pint.
Back to the hotel by 9pm for a 30 minute called about user import. Yippie. It is under control. Watched sneaky Pete and chatted with the Niamh and Fiona before horseback lessons. In bed by 11:15.
Wednesday , 5th of September
Up at 6:45 and caught the 7:15 bus and to work at 7:30. Pretty sure the Fiona is not awake at 11:30pm but I slept very well on a very nice bed for the second night. More of the same today 😉
Went to the Italian place Gallo & Galetti with 8 guys from Netgear, David Donnelly, and myself. The some guys had pizza which looked good, but my spaghetti was not too shabby.
Left work at 7:30 and got a taxi with a guy that swore every other word. Went to a sports bar called Woolshed Baa and Grill. Get it. Anywho I walked in and there was no one around. Empty. I asked it they were open and had food. Yeah they where open yes they had food. A bunch of burgers on the menu but was not that hungry so ended up getting a bean burrito with fries and a Guinness.
It was really depressingly eat in a sports bar with no sports on with no one around. Apparently the kitchen cooked for the entire building with was a entertainment complex with bowling on the right and an arcade on the left. Was back in the room around 9 and got on another hour long phone call. Watched some sneaky Pete and chatted with the Fiona and the kids who managed to look up from their digital distractions to say hello.
Thursday, 6th of September
Another beautiful day in Ireland but today is is sort of raining, but not really. It is not even a sprinkle so would call it cloudy with less then a sprinkle but not a mist or fog. What is less than a sprinkle but not a mist? Well that is what it is cloudy and some perception of water leaking from them slightly. The ground is damp if the counts? Wonder if I’m going to regret not bringing a raincoat on the 7:15 bus again?
I set off the alarm. Geez. I called a bloke who gave me a code and I managed to turn it off. He had to ring the police so they would not turn up. I guess the door should be locked with a key? Hum?
I ate at a place called Ramen, but they had more then just noodles and it was not a noodle house or pho. I had Pad Thai which is nothing like Pad Thai from the states. The only things nag that was probably the same was it had noodles, ginger, chicken and cooked in a wok. I went with Dave who has Tiki Malasia. It was good and hot which was nice.
The guys tested chat during the UAT call, but the environment still has all the freakin queues still built out and there is concern about the same RMA number once we split. Oh well.
Left at 6:45pm by taxi in a newer car that still had that new car smell from a dear old chap who didn’t own a computer. I told him all about Arlo but he probably will not get a camera. Went over to the Spitjack for dinner. Had a burger and fries. It was very tasty with the apple cider. I even managed to have desert
Back in the hotel and read the news and watched more Sneaky Pete. Rung the Fiona who was off to see a college bound swimmer who babysat for us a few times, Andrea. Lawson is still not listening and the wrath of Fiona seems to not be working. Well I guess I can use his favorite emoji, 💩.
Friday, 7th of September
Last full day. Same time same thing. On the 7:15 bus but hopefully will not set off the alarm this morning. I’m the first one here again but am not going to try to get in. Just going to wait and work from the lobby. It is a damp day. More of a mist than whatever it was yesterday. Rain should be he Saturday but the weather has been great!
So there was breakfast. A hot breakfast with bacon, sausage, eggs, pastries, bread rolls, fruit cut up in a bowl, and other items I can’t name. It was quite the spread and very good.
Arlo feed us pizza for lunch and I introduced myself to the Cork team, all 12 of them. They moved into the office two weeks ago and sorted out the chairs, printer location, strategically placed front door buzzers, and if they should have a join holiday party with Netgear or not. There was also a pizza box full of cookies. I only had one honest. But it was good. I think cookies should always be cooked in a pizza oven 🤪.
I was the last one to leave with the VP of HR, Antoinette, at 6:30pm. The hotel recommended an Italian place for dinner, Rossini, which had lasagna. It was bloody good. It came out scorching hot and burned my throat, not my mouth but my throat since I was so hungry since it was 8pm by the time my food arrived. I did not get to the restaurant until 7:30 since I’ve lost WiFi on my phone and to poach internet to get walking directions so had to keep stopping to find a connection. Ended up using the point at spitjack which was very close to where I wanted to eat as it turns out.
Anywho I had a cocktail which was not that super but the ice cream, a scoop of strawberry, chocolate chip, vanilla, was very good. I will definitely go back. Found my way back to the hotel and called the Fiona pre-kid duty. She was not nearly as grumpy which was good. She was off to stuff white envelopes for the teachers. I finished up my boring week watching the end of the first season of Sneaky Pete.
Saturday , 8th of September
UGgg. Up at 5:20 to meet the taxi at 5:40. It is raining. I make the station at 6am and wind my down to platform 5 to get the train back to Dublin. We arrive at 9:05 and then it will be a bus ride and multiple checks to get to the plane. I’m listening to the king of pop, Michael Jackson, but should be back in San Jose today by 3:30pm. People are working/testing today and offered to swing by 4:30. Pretty sure testing will be wrapped up by this time but might have to duck in on Sunday to say hello I suppose. I like wreaked weekends – not.
Made it to the airport. The fist automated kiosk ran out of paper to print my boarding pass, so scooted over to another and checked in. Have to remember to go thru local security to get to all the good shops. Then wait for the call to go to precheck. Man global entry is great. Go to the gate in record time. We are going to board at 11:45 so in about 5 minutes hopefully I’ll be called 🤪.
