I’ve been sketching, swatching and playing around with different ideas all working towards finally getting something I’m happy with up and running.

Now where did I leave that dodgy under construction GIF….?

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“And I got such a long way to go. To make it to the border of Mexico…”

And got his in response from Paddy Dunne. Love. It.

Join me in the Guinness Storehouse for more amazing earworming tunes of the 80s on Paddy’s Day when Spring Break take to the stage. It’s going to rawk!

A thing of beauty

Words almost fail me. Just imagine yourself walking into a room in this beauty.

Bidding on eBay is currently under £100 – proceeds are going to the Aisling Project.

That classic episode on YouTube.

For me it’s front rowing. I’d love to get the hang of the breastroke but I’m sure it’ll come in good time once I’ve got one stroke figured out and manage to get to a point where I won’t drown myself.

This was a challenging and exhausting one, not just because of my fear of how my recent injury would react to chlorine (thankfully ok).  Like another piece of the puzzle emerging from the pile it started to click into place. Breathing was where I failed last time I tried to learn how to swim. I never got the hang of it and it in itself is the most important part of the thing.

I was told to “glide”on my side, arm outstretched, ear in the water and kicking like crazy to keep buoyant. This turning on my side and getting the notion of “gliding” into my head was the key piece of the puzzle. Not the most pleasant of things as it left me with some kind of an airlock/water stuck in my ear which was sore for a few days but definitely not as bad as the scraped arms!

I was then able to swim a couple of lengths in comfort with rhythmic breathing and feeling a lot more confident in the water. I was swimming!

Being away this weekend means no practice has been done which makes me a little worried so I’m throwing myself in for an hour tonight to try and cement what I learned.

Week 4 verdict: things are looking good, more practice needed to get my body position corrected & damn is this guy a good teacher!

Pool noodles - looking all fun and innocent

Lesson #3 and focus turned towards the breaststroke. Once upon a time I tried to learn this but couldn’t for the life of me get the hang of the frog-like leg kick.

And things weren’t hugely different this time around. The arm stroke wasn’t too bad and a far less tiring alternative to front rowing but once I try to combine the two it was a total disaster and I just sank.

So off I popped on Sunday to practice. All was going a bit meh until the pool emptied and I decided to take advantage and stay at it for another half hour. Some progress was made but all with the aid of what I now know is a “pool noodle“.

After an hour of effort I hit the shower with my trusty mint shower gel – one of the few things that kills the stink of chlorine. I almost screamed when I felt my armpits burning up. On inspection I discovered lovely big swollen red patches of skin along the underside of my arms, some of it broken where the noodle had been positioned to stop me sinking.

I had to bandage up before bed as I couldn’t bare it rubbing off bed clothes or PJs. It feels marginally better today but I’m afraid I might be able to take part in this weeks lesson as a result. Rats.

Week 3 verdict: crunch time is fast approaching, still hopeful but BEWARE OF THE NOODLES!

I’m heartbroken as they’re so very comfy and really lovely. However, they’re not much good to anyone sitting in a box in the spare room. So on Saturday I plan to drop then into a local charity shop in Dublin 2 in the hope of raising them some cash and seeing them go to a good home. I think Enable Ireland on Georges St is the nearest.

If anyone wants desperately wants to get their mits on them before then & I’m able to meet up and sort it out and such I’ll sell them on for €150 and donate the cash to a charity.

Service Update: 16.30hours

Service Disruptions due to adverse weather conditions.

Wednesday 1st December 2010

Valid Dublin Bus tickets may be used on Irish Rail services.

Dublin Bus wish to advise that there is currently a limited bus service operating. This is due to extreme weather and icy road conditions. This is being further worsened by traffic ongestion and slow speeds across the city.

Dublin Bus is making every effort to maintain a level of services but this is proving very difficult due to the worsening road conditions.

A very limited service currently operating on Routes 7, 13, 15, 16, 19(northside Only) 20, 27, 31, 40, 41, 45, 46a, 65, 65b, 77, 102, 128, 140, 145, 150,

A very limited level of service operating to Tallaght, Ballyfermot, Howth, Malahide, Ballymun, Finglas,

No services currently on the Lucan Road, Blanchardstown, Ranelagh, Ballycullen.

Further updates to follow from Dublin Bus once information becomes available.

It’s taken DublinBus.ie about half an hour to load this page so in case you’re still hammering the site trying to get a response here’s the update I just pulled:

Updated 13:45

Dublin Bus wishes to advise customers that due to adverse weather conditions the diversions and curtailments listed below are in place.

Dublin Bus will make every effort possible to maintain services today, however this will be subject to road and weather conditions.  Dublin Bus is continuously monitoring road conditions with An Garda Siochana and the Local Authorities.

Customers can also visit www.transport.ie for service updates from all major public transport operators and the National Roads Authority.

Dublin Bus would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused.

I’m hoping that the silver lining to the horrible state Ireland finds itself in is that people will actually get out and exercise their right to vote when that time comes.

You have until this Thursday, November 25th to correct the register by filling out a Form RFA1 and returning it to your local city or county council.

You can check the register online at http://www.checktheregister.ie/ and find the form you’ll need to change it there too in PDF format.

@O2Forum said “Hi, the Silver upgrade price is the same as a New Customer joining with Advance 150, Gold is the same for Advance 350 etc”

So it would appear there’s a gap in pricing for anyone who wants to go from a Silver upgrade to an iPhone 4 on their Advance 350 plan. You’ll save €60 by buying the phone as a new customer rather than upgrading.

*** End edit ***

I’m in the process of deciding what phone to upgrade to and it’s looking increasingly likely I’ll go from an iPhone 3G to an iPhone 4 once I get the cash together.

While checking the pricing with my existing operator – O2 – I noticed that it’s somehow cheaper for me to purchase a 16GB iPhone 4 as a new customer rather than upgrade as an existing customer. €60 cheaper in my case.

Am I missing something here? Please point it out if I am but if I am correct in what I see being a bit strange I find that a bit crappy I’m afraid. I’ve been a customer with O2 for at least 7 years, the last 2 of which I’ve been a bill pay customer. Surely they should be dangling the carrot for me to at least equal the measure to which they’re dangling it for new customers?

I’ve never had any issues with O2 and up until now I’ve been reluctant to change operator.

O2 upgrade offer

O2 new customer offer

Click for bigger. Prize if you can spot where I’m making a mistake.

I’m no food blogger or chef but I love food. Food is quite possibly my greatest weakness.

I’m still not entirely sure what to expect but I’ll be tweeting away on @cloudsteph for the day in case you’re curious. If you’re down in Kilkenny at the same thing today do say hi!

Over on the nerdy part of my existence I’ve posted up how to disable Facebook Places and tagging now that Places is rolling out in Ireland. If you don’t want your over-sharing buddies tagging you when you go for that sneaky pint on a schoolnight I suggest you update your privacy settings