eddie scmedie

Posted by Ronan on Mar 26, 2007 in Uncategorized | 1 comment

This weekend I bought the Eddie Hobbs magazine because it promised to reduce your mortgage, save 10K per annum, an insight into the Irish property world and how to invest your SSIA… all things which I am interested in.

I have to say I was really disappointed with the magazine. The whole thing is just common sense on printed glossy paper (which costs 2.95) – for example – to save 10K per annum the tips given by E.H is to: not use convenience shops (use super markets instead), shop around for cheaper {home, car, life & mortgage} insurance, move your mortgage to a lender with lower rates (beware this can be very dangerous – you can only switch every 5 years and you may get tied into a scheme that is nice to begin with .. but in the end sting you hard!), bring lunches to work and find a cheaper mobile tariff..

I mean.. come on! this is common knowledge/sense I won’t go into the other great ‘tips’ for the rest of the stuff because it isn’t worth my time.. a copy can be found in the coffee room.

I want my 2.95 back Eddie!

Round up..

Posted by Ronan on Mar 26, 2007 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

St Patricks weekend was busy .. much the same as Fluffy really.. Loughrea did their best and lost, which is a pity because things like Club finals don’t happen to a team very often. For Loughrea it was their first time in Croke Park.. hard luck to the lads.

On the other front Galway hurling are looking pretty good.. they have a team that seems to score from anywhere on the pitch. They scored 26 points yesterday against Tipperary – although Galway did conceded 3 goals which is causes worry. The league tables can be found here.

After St. Patrick’s weekend I headed to the European Parliament for a couple of days – we were attending the Eureka Results and Perspectives seminar. It was good to get inside the place and have a look around.. I have some photos of the EP in session which I’ll post later. The hotel I was staying was funny.. when you turned off the lights the room got brighter! Outside the hotel was loads of lights shining on the room – to add to the problem the room had no black out curtains! The room itself was quite old and the hotel needs a fair bit of renovation. I was only there for a few hours so I didn’t really mind too much.

Linux on Dell Machines..

Posted by Ronan on Mar 14, 2007 in Uncategorized | 2 comments

There has been a lot of talk recently about Dell shipping with Linux. Okay it’s not for everyone but a lot of people would buy a Dell if it had Linux because it would be cheaper (you’re not paying for Microsoft to crash your machine!). Dell have been listening and they have opened a survey to find out what you want..

other related cool stuff.. Google calendar. I have to admit Google calendar is pretty nifty – the quick add feature is tres cool, and now with added free SMS notification to your mobile phone, is even cooler.. check it out if you haven’t already done so..

St Patrick's Day is postponed

Posted by Ronan on Mar 11, 2007 in Uncategorized | 1 comment

Next Saturday will be the 17th of March. For most this means Saint Patrick’s day. Not for the people of Loughrea. Everything has been postponed until Sunday the 18th. The reason for this: Loughrea are in the Club Hurling Final in Croke Park next Saturday. Loughrea last won the county final in 1941 and it’s the first time to be at the club final. According to the bookies Ballyhale Shamrocks are the favourites (2/11) and Loughrea are 7/2. Win, Lose or Draw it will be a fantastic day and I’m looking forward to it! O is back for that weekend so it will be great to she her also – if she can spare sometime to see us!

Idiot!

Posted by Ronan on Mar 10, 2007 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

I was driving back home this morning and I got stuck behind a very cautious L-plater* (not being sexist) she was crawling ~70 km/h and wasn’t really sure how to drive steadily between the two white lines. On the way back home there aren’t many chances to overtake but that didn’t stop the guy behind me (a non L-plater) who was for a couple of miles inspecting my rear tyres. He was completely unsighted and pulled out with an oncoming car speeding towards him. I hit the breaks to make more space between the L-driver and me. The L-driver panicked and also hit the breaks, wobbled and nearly lost control. The idiot (oblivious to what was going on) felt he could pass both of us and this caused the oncoming car to career off the road to allow him pass. It was a close call. A few km later the L-driver pulled in – I presume to calm down. The rule of not tailgating someone is simple. Only a fool breaks the two second rule. If you tailgate you don’t get a clear view of the road and sooner or later you will be unlucky and attempt to overtake someone for the last time.

An indication of the carnage on the road in 2007 can be found here

* IMHO there are two types of L-platers 1/ cautious ones and 2/ absolute crazy insane L(oon) drivers. The first type are generally fine – they are learning to drive and are wary of things – however over cautious ones can be dangerous. It’s the second type that are really dangerous. They believe they are _good_ drivers and believe they own the roads. They speed, drive aggressively, ignore indicators … wait a minute this reminds me of someone senior in the group!!

The Moon!

Posted by Ronan on Mar 4, 2007 in Uncategorized | 2 comments

Last night there was a Lunar Eclipse – I decided to try out the camera and get some shots. Unfortunately there was a kinda haze as the eclipse began (around 10.30) so some of the photos are not as clear as they could be..

Here is the first photo taken at 8ish

and around 10.30

and again at 11.30

I didn’t get to see the moon turn red like it should have done instead a bottle of red wine was opened and we stayed up until all hours watching Shaun of the Dead and chatting about random stuff! All in all a good night!