Visitors and Cigars

Today is a very exciting day. Not only has my Mom come for her 3rd visit but she has brought many great treats! Here is a couple of photos of my new collection. The first is the cream of the crop. They are the Alec Bradley Tempus Centuria, La Aroma de Cuba Edicion Especial No. 5, A. Fuente Hemingway Classic, Oliva Series V Torpedo and the Casa Magna Colorado Robusto. The rest are pretty dang classy as well. The full listing will be in my humidor section on my other blog. Mouth watering!

Self Limiting

We have been working our way through a series of lectures mainly centered on economics by Ron Nash. The one we listened to yesterday was a guest lecturer who is a law professor from Mexico City. His point was simply this: For every right there is a corresponding duty. That is to say, for every right you have (i.e. the right to life) someone else (in this case everyone else) has the duty not to take your life. You can see this work in other examples; property, liberty, etc. In essence, each right, or law, has a negative effect on your freedom. The vast majority of people would gladly limit their own freedom to protect against murder and theft but the relationship gets sticky the deeper you delve into the theory. This country has thousands of laws and hundreds of politicians passing laws almost daily to make a more "equitable society." Laws at the federal, state and local levels, tax laws, civil rights, entitlements galore, each of which limit the freedom of every individual not protected under those rights. In the next day or two a new right and law will be signed enforcing everyone to obtain health insurance or face fines, basically a tax on breathing. The system is fraught with contradiction which is most evident with the issue of abortion.

It is really a simple, intuitive idea that I'm ashamed to say I had not properly comprehended. The Constitution originally only guaranteed the rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Really that should have been enough. Now we've signed away our own liberty in the name of fairness.

Bath and Cardiff

Last weekend we took a short trip over to England and Wales. It ended up being a 3 city tour as we traveled to Bath, Cardiff and then to Bristol for half a day. Bath is considered to be the most beautiful city in England. It was made famous and owes its history to the thermal baths that bubble up underneath it. The Romans first made the city into a resort town and the thermal waters into a temple and baths. The Britains have since excavated the baths and turned them into a tourist attraction with active baths in another part of town. The Roman baths are complete with actors and everything. We visited a few other sites in town including the Jane Austen House where we had tea, scones and Bath Buns. Needless to say, Dana was a little more excited about that part of the trip than I was.

Cardiff is the capital of Wales and a lot of it is relatively new construction. Most of the city center is high end shops and the area around the bay has been rebuilt with loads restaurants. We spent most of our time wandering around the city, taking in the shops and the castle and even took a river boat down to the harbor.

Bristol was the city we spent time in by default as it was where we flew in and out of. It was nothing special really but more shopping and few big cathedrals. I won't complain as it is always nice to go somewhere. I think of all the places we've been over the last 2 1/2 years and it amazes me that we've taken in so much. Who could complain?? Well, this was an anniversary trip of sorts as you may have noticed from Dana's site. It has been 8 years! 8! Seriously!! Well, it won't be long before we're off again. Until then...

Patty's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Mother Land. Today we had breakfast with our friends Dave and Betsy along with Betsy's sister and brother-in-law and then went downtown for the parade. This is my 3rd year going into the city and it amazes me how many people will travel thousands of miles to experience St. Patty's Day in Dublin, but there you have it...tourist central. There are always some interesting floats and about a million people. As you can see, it stresses Dana out! Here are some pics from today. I hope you're all having a Guinness for us.

What's Up?

Things have been interesting this year. We moved again. This apartment is pretty sweet and in one of the nicer parts of Dublin but it is very poorly insulated, and this has been the coldest winter in 60 years! That probably isn't an ideal combination, but we've seen the first signs of Spring. We've been trying to plan some trips, which has been a bit slow going. This is partially because I've been busy running my department as a "lame duck." I have a certain idea as to how things should work and believe it or not, it is rarely the way things have "always been done." Next week we have our interviews for the permanent position which I'll be participating in. I have a keen interest in politics but I'm apparently not a very good politician. I really hate trying to keep up with all that stuff at work. For some reason I think the two should be uninvolved...unless you're actually a politician...call me crazy. It is pretty well assumed that the outcome of the interview is pre-decided but I see it as a chance to take part in a very high profile interview and say what I think needs to be said.

My mom is coming for a visit at the end of the month and we're going on a mystery trip. That should be fun. We're also heading to Bath, U.K. and Cardiff, Wales in 2 weeks. It'll be a nice weekend getaway. Well, back to preparing for the interview...maybe after I watch a little more TV.

New Blog

I have finally committed to blogging about cigars. I have a new blog entitled MY Blue Heaven which is all about cigar reviews, accessories, parings, etc. If you are interested in that sort of thing head on over!

Malta

This has been a pretty crazy week. We went away for our first trip of the year last weekend to Malta. Most people don't know where Malta is (or even that it is a country) - for that you'll have to see the travel map.

Malta was a pretty cool place. The weather wasn't great but it was better than Dublin fo shizzle. The coolest part is the architecture and the way it has been preserved and restored. The harbors and many of the cities look like they are still in the 16th century. There have been a number of movies filmed there, most notably The Count of Monte Cristo and Gladiator. We rented a car and were able to cross the island in about 20min. On the West coast we saw the Dingli Cliffs which stand some 800ft above the sea, and the Blue Grotto which is an area of sea caves. We couldn't do the boat trip into the caves because the sea was too rough. It was very windy while we where there causing what would have been fairly mild temperatures to feel pretty chilly. We also saw the city of Mdina and Rabat as well as a small fishing village called Marsaxlokk in the South. We also went North to St. Paul's Bay where Paul was purported to have been shipwrecked. The main areas are Valletta, Sliema and Birgu on the West coast which is where the Grand Harbor is located and where we spent most of our time.

The real madness came with the fact that we have moved again making this our 4th apartment in 2 1/2 years. I hate moving!

Enjoy the pictures.

Bankruptcy of our Nation

I just finished Jerry Robinson's Bankruptcy of our Nation. It is really an introductory book into the history and current state of the American economy. It was perfect for me and probably would be a good read for even more experienced economists (Ryan!) as it plainly and simply lays out the myth of American wealth as well as impending catastrophes. He also give key (albeit vague) financial advice that can be applied to any budget.

UPDATE: The dreaded diet

In fairness, the diet is not nearly as dreadful as it was the first few days of last week. I guess when you go from pizza, brownies and ice cream one night to absolutely no sugar the next day, there is bound to be a small revolution in your body. The revolution has subsided and I'm not shaking anymore. I weighed in yesterday at 205 lbs, meaning that I dropped 6 lbs last week.

We only have one more week of this phase and then we can start introducing some wheat carbs again which is good because I'm a little short on energy and struggling with another or my resolutions which is to add 20 lbs to my bench press.

Unrelated good news: we've had normal water service for the past 36 hours. Hopefully the stoppages are over.

Great moments in socialism

We awoke this morning to find that we had no running water. It turns out that the Dublin City Council is currently rationing water! That's right...water rationing in Ireland.

There is a reason behind it (supposedly). With the "extreme" cold over the past few weeks (in the teens and 20's) the water lines below ground froze and burst and are now leaking water into the ground depleting the city's water supply. In order to conserve those reserves until the unknown number of pipes is fixed they have begun a "rolling blackout," if you will, of water service. The council has no time table for fixing the pipes but suggests that it could be 6 months before service is back to normal.

I'm no expert on water pipes but I would think that if the pipes were even 1' in the ground it would have protected them from that level of cold. Apparently they aren't even that deep. Just another example of the Irish ethic and ingenuity.

We gotta get out of here!

Maybe not so funny

I'm pretty sure this was written by the same people that write Obama's speeches.


Treasury Department Issues Emergency Recall Of All U.S. Dollars

Resolution #1

As many of you have already heard we are embarking on the South Beach diet...again. Our success the first time around is encouraging but I really struggle with dieting will power. This is one of those no carb, low fat diets which really takes everything I love off my plate...(sad lip extended!) However, I've decided that to increase the likelihood of success I'll be weighing myself every Monday and reporting the losses (I hope) on my blog.

Now for the most embarrassing part...my starting weight - 211 lbs.

IT'S GO TIME!!!

New Year's Day

The New Year has arrived and although I really don't partake in the tradition of resolutions I do like to start out on a good foot. In this case that foot looked like a snake that swallowed a large rat...mmm appetizing. I smoked my Drew Estate The Egg that Ryan sent me for Christmas as my first cigar of 2010 and it was actually quite good. I was expecting it to be average at best and nothing more than a gimmick but in reality the Drew Estate did what they are known for and combined quality with their cigar revolution. It took just under 2 hours to finish. I think I'll have to take a week off now.

The Heart

I am preparing a lecture for some students at the hospital and while I was looking for pictures I stumbled across this site. It is freaking amazing! They have other animated bio-stuff but this is the coolest. As the cardiac muscle becomes transparent you can see the blood filling the ventricles and being ejected through the great arteries. Also, if you look closely you can see the Tricuspid and Mitral valves.

The human heart ladies and gentleman.

Beating heart with blood flow from Hybrid_Medical_Animation

A Christmas Poem

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the flat
I was all on my lonesome, except for the cat;
Earlier that evening, when I came home from work,
My girlfriend was waiting, just to call me a jerk;
She called me insensitive, she called me a lout,
She called her new boyfriend to help her move out;
Then before she left, just to "even the score,"
She flushed every cigar from my humidor.

With the Cigar Emporium closed and an Arctic wind blowing,
My girlfriend gone and my john overflowing,
I settled on the couch with my old cat Frisky,
With lots of self-pity and lots of Irish whiskey;
Because of the stress, or maybe because of the booze,
It wasn't too long before I started to snooze,

Suddenly, a commotion came out from out on the street,
A crash and a bang broke my snoozy retreat;
I went to the window and lifted the blind,
And seriously thought I was losing my mind;
On the street was a fat Gent all dressed in red,
With some funky looking reindeer pulling his sled.

Whether he was real or not, onward he came,
Whistling to his deer, calling each by his name,
"Now, Cohiba! now, Hoyo! now Monte and R.J.!
On, Bolivar! on, Ramon! on, Upmann and El Rey!
To the top of the stoop! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As if sensing my need for a little more proof,
Santa and his reindeer flew up to my roof.

Santa had noted my humidor was bare
and flew from the North Pole to end my despair,
St. Nick then handed me the most wonderful thing;
A 7-inch Grafton with a 54-ring
And as I watched him and the deer fly into the night,
I thought, "what a great Christmas, now who has a light?"

The Big Cheese

My boss retired at the end of November which has left us with out a head for the last 2 weeks and with the way the health service works here it looked like that would be a position that wouldn't be filled for several months. I was told to try and keep things under control but avoid "acting up" in order to keep the pressure on the hospital and government health executive to fill the post. Yesterday I was presented with a letter from the HR department asking me to fill the position of Acting Chief of Perfusion until the post can be filled. I accepted. I have found out that the surgeons asked that I be offered the position in order to, A: maintain a working chain of command and B: strengthen my application for the permanent post when it is advertised.

Needless to say I am quite flattered by their confidence in me considering my relative inexperience (those going for the post will have at least 10yrs more experience). I am quite eager to inflict as much of my "American" mentality on the place as I can (i.e. more efficiency and less bureaucratic oversight). Unfortunately the "upgrade" comes in title only as the government will not allow "upgrades" to include pay increases. Hopefully I can convince the powers that be that I can run the department on a long term basis which will then lead to significant financial incentives. It is definitely an uphill battle as the status quo is difficult to change but at the very least I'll have a nice addition to my CV.

Early Christmas

Dana finally got home today and if it wasn't enough to have her back she brought me the mother-load of cigars. She bought me the Toro Seleccion Internacional which is 10 cigars from H. Upmann, Romeo y Julieta and Montecristo. My mom bought me the Connoisseur Collection which has Hoyo de Monterrey, El Rey del Mundo, Sancho Panza, Flor de A. Allones and Ramon Allones. I bought some Punch Gran Puros, got a Romeo y Julieta #2 Habano from Pete and my personal favorite, The Egg from my best mate Ryan. All I can say is that my Dossier is going to be sick!

- 6%

The Irish government released their semi-annual budget this week where they have tried to halt the continuing debt the country is facing. Currently the country in operating at a debt of 12% of GDP which is one of the highest of the member states in the EU. The big controversy in the budget is the pay cut to public employees, of which I am one. It is a graduated cut which applies higher percentage cuts at different levels of pay. I have calculated the cut to my pay to be just over 6%, which in effect means that I am earning less than when I started 2 1/2 years ago. The calculated decrease in cost of living is around 3% which gives me around a 3% cut in earning potential. This is bad enough, but it comes with the pension and pay levies that the government has applied to public employees over the last 2 years. Overall my net income is down around 20% from 2007 and that hurts.

Let this be a lesson to anyone arguing for government run anything...socialism sucks, big time!

Portugal

My blog has become a travel journal of sorts but hey...what else is there??? We returned from Portugal on Thanksgiving which was a day of serious feasting. Portugal was great. We only had one day of bad weather and got to see 3 different cities while we were there. We started in Evora (pronounced Evra) which is about 100km East and South of Lisbon. It is a small town that is a UNESCO heritage site. The main site we went to see was Capela los Ossos, Chapel of bones. It is filled with the bones of 5000 people and was made by 17th century monks that thought the people needed reminded that life was fleeting. Creepy and cool! Most of the buildings are painted with yellow trim which is supposed to keep out bad spirits.

Next we went to Sintra which is just North of Lisbon on the coast. This was the most beautiful area and was densely forested and had a number of castles and palaces, one of which was Pena Palace which is probably one of the coolest palaces/castles we've seen on our travels. Our hotel was right on the ocean and we listened to the crashing waves all night.

Finally we went back to Lisbon and did some exploring. The country is very hilly and that was very evident in Lisbon. The city is situated on and between several hills. I really liked the fact that although the city was quite large and populated, it had remained "Portuguese" architecturally. The architecture and decorum were very unique to anywhere we've been. They use tile on both the inside and outer walls.

We really enjoyed being in Portugal and thought it was a very beautiful country. It is good to be home now and have a little down time. Maybe I'll blog about something not travel related soon.

Wittenberg and Berlin

We are just back from another great trip to Germany. We visited the birth place of Protestantism and one of Europe's most troubled cities. Berlin is very fascinating simply because it has so much recent history. Wittenberg also has quite recent history relative to some of the places we've been.

We started our trip with an overnight in Wittenberg where we visited the Lutherhaus where Luther lived with his family as well as having room for a number of his students. It had been turned into a museum which featured a number of his writings as well as the history of his life. We also visited the Castle Church which is where the reformation was formally sparked with the nailing of the 95 theses. Inside is were Luther is now buried. The town itself was a really quiet little town but we really enjoyed our time there and even smoked a little hookah!

We went from there to Berlin where the highlight was definitely the walking tour. We walked through the former East Berlin which is its historical center, visiting the major sites and receiving detailed history from a man who was living in Berlin in 1989. I'll avoid regurgitating the entire walk and just mention some of the sites (although it really was fascinating). We saw museum island which is a nature split in the River Spree that now houses most of the city's museums. Much of it has been restored due to bombing during WWII but they have left some of the lesser damaged structures (mostly riddled with bullet holes) as a reminder of its history. We also saw where the Nazis burned all the books they didn't like from the National Library which is now marked by a plaque with a quote from a 17th century Jewish play write that says approximately, "Once they start burning books, it isn't long until they begin burning people." A bit prophetic. It also has an underground empty book shelf as a memorial. We stood in front of the Brandenberg Gate which was originally commissioned by King Frederick of Prussia but has become the gathering point for every major event in Berlin's history. We saw the Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe, a maze of rectangular blocks of varying heights that you can walk through and even become a little disorientated. We stood over the spot of Hitler's bunker where he and his mistress committed suicide on April 30, 1945. We walked to the former Nazi Air Force building which was remarkably untouched by the war and became the headquarters for the Communist Soviet government in East Berlin. It even features a big mural showing the "joys" of communism. It is located right next to the remnants of the Wall. For the vast majority of the area where the wall was and is no longer, there is a brick line tracing where the wall once stood. We ended the tour at Checkpoint Charlie which was the checkpoint between the American Soviet sectors and the point at which the Americans and Soviets had a 3 day tank stand off that nearly started WWIII! It was all over an ambassador that wanted to attend the opera in the East and wasn't allowed in. Crazy huh?

The one story that I will relay is of how the wall eventually came down. The Southern Communist states, Hungary in particular started to allow free travel to the Western countries. The East Germans began taking holidays in Hungary and then slipping across into the West. The Soviets copt on to this and locked in all the East Germans. The people became agitated so the Soviets held a news conference with an ill prepared spokesman who said that the Soviet government would "soon" be allowing people to freely cross into the West. This was done to placate the people. However when asked when??? his reply was..."effective immediately." The people began to gather at the checkpoints and the confused boarder guards began allowing a few people through. Eventually the guards were over-run and within 48 hours 2 million people had crossed into the West and that was the beginning of the end of the Cold War.