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The State Of Irish Laundromats
There are no laundromats in Ireland open past 5pm (so I’m told). They aren’t any open on Sundays at all. My fancy hotel is too good to do something as menial as laundry, they have it all outsourced. So I’m out of luck there. I’m on my last pair of clean everything important, so here are my options:
- Wash my clothes in the room
- Send my clothes out for dry cleaning (roughly 50 Euro) and hope they don’t starch my unmentionables
- Spend an hour driving to and from Dublin, 15 Euro for parking, and find a hostel (where they value cleanliness, unlike this hoity toity hotel) and do my laundry there – maybe cook some dinner while I’m at it.
- Buy new clothes and wait until I get to Poland (where they value cleanliness, unlike this hoity toity country)
- Wear dirty clothes (yes, including my unmentionables)
- Go naked
I chose 4 and 5. I got a couple of new pairs of underwear and five new sets of socks. That should last me a while. I’ll just have to wear dirty pants and shirts when I go for dinner.
From Ireland’s Galway Coast
I turned hard and the car bounded down the rutted lane of an old country road. I was following a sign I’d spotted but couldn’t read. This was the part of Ireland where the people speak little English and their signs speak none. The ruts ended in sand at a seaside cemetary. You could see what used to be the church, it’s stone skeleton draped in ivy having been long deprived of it’s wooden roof. Or maybe it had been thatch. Both were common here. The waves splashed the stones below, a silent movie, made so by the wind rolling down the hillside. The Celtic crosses stood defiant like lighthouses in the turbulent sea of emerald grass around them. Warning the living? The dead? I can’t say because these voices, too, spoke in the native tongue from which English has borrowed few words.
Rock Star 3: Obama’s World Tour
The news is all aflutter with Obama news. The reporters get downright giddy when talking about him like they’re teenage girls and Obama is John, Paul, George and Ringo rolled into one. I half expect them to start weeping and rending their hair. OK, maybe that’s slightly exaggerated but you can’t help but feel like at least Ireland and England have a crush on the new President.
I’ve seen two different news programs call him a “rock star“. Didn’t McCain take a lot of crap for calling him a rock star in the campaign? Well he’s certainly a popular guy over here. It’s a nice feeling to have the world approve of my President (and by proxy, me) rather than hurl epithets at him (and by proxy, me). I notice a difference in peoples’ attitudes – mostly that they don’t take every opportunity to bash America and our politics. I just hope that the treatment doesn’t go to his head.
Oh look, more coverage of Obama. This one shows his car leaving Buckingham Palace 3 days ago. Wow, it’s shiny and black and the windows are dark and it’s got two flags. Here’s another one about Obama appealing to NATO to support the war on Afghanistan. The anchorwoman has a sympathetic voice, clearly she feels that NATO should help out. What a difference a year makes.
His picture is off the TV so I’ll get back to my point. So as I was saying, I hope all this praise and fawning doesn’t go to his head. Many rock stars lose their way after getting such treatment when on tour.
Obama is back on TV. No, I’m not kidding. The story about disagreements in NATO over the new head focus on Obama and his “road show” in town-hall meetings. Oh, there’s a mention of the point of the story – disagreements within NATO. Picture of Obama as they talk about Germany and Turkey arguing. Talking about one of Obama’s speaches now. The only time other world leaders have been mentioned are “so and so talked with Obama,” “this guy said hello to Obama and smiled,” “Obama knows this guy’s name,” etc.
Obama won a book award in London. Short story, but apparently the book was wonderful.
TV is off now. Obama warned North Korea not to launch their missile. No mention of what the missile is for, surrounding countries’ stance on it or North Korea’s stance. Just a short couple of lines.
OK they’re on to another topic. It’s too easy to get distracted. So I hope our President doesn’t lose sight of his primary objective: taking care of America. A lot of rock stars have gone that way. They forgot about the music and became the celebrity like Sammy Haggar or everyone from Metallica. Or they just went a bit nuts after their meteoric rise. Ozzy Osbourne, Michael Jackson, Keith Moon, Mick Jagger, etc. Or they felt like they couldn’t fail and put out a country album. I’m looking at you, Neil Young.
Mr. Obama, don’t let this happen to you. Remember, you have been tasked with helping us on this side of the Atlantic. Help get our economy back on solid ground, “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” Do us proud.
Failte Ireland
Welcome to Ireland. I landed on Sunday, last week. I got bumped out of coach and into business class so I had a great seat for sleeping. So I did just the opposite, of course, reading, eating and watching movies. I did manage to catch an hour or so but that wasn’t really enough and I slogged through the day tired.
First order of business when I landed was getting my rental car – no good public transit where I was headed. So I spent about 10 minutes trying to find the doorlock before I realized it, and the driver’s door, was on the wrong side. Oh yeah now I remember. They drive on the wrong side here, too. Right, now I’ve got that sorted.
Next stop was a shopping center to pick up a suit. My dry cleaner apparently went out of business and took my clean suit with him. Note to self, keep an extra suit clean for cases like these. The exchange rate is much better than my last trip here but it’s still not great. I found a good suit that looks great on me (if I do say so myself) but I paid a lot more than I wanted to. Ouch. Damn dry cleaner better not steal this one.
Next stop, the Amber Springs Hotel and Spa, in Gorey. Don’t be fooled by the name, it’s a hole. The Internets didn’t work in the first room I had but it does in the one from which I’m writing you. None of the rooms’ doors seem to close fully unless you pull them shut. I thought it was odd that the hallway smelled like mildew until I saw the large dark patch on the carpet indicating a leak from behind a wall. It’s been there all week so I assume it’s been there longer than that. It’s probably the hot water from my shower, as that seems to be missing. But being a spa, they at least help you get in shape. The elevators don’t work. I give it a half-star – the lone highlight being the sausage in the breakfast buffet.
It’s been beautiful and sunny here all week, but it started raining just in time for the weekend. Ah, lovely Irish weather. I’m heading to the west this weekend, out to Galway or Limerick or something. I’ve got a car I figure I might as well use it. Alright, off to dinner and a Guinness.
meanderingwoods 