Irish coffee

I have finally found coffee I like. Irish Coffee! A good Irish coffee looks like a well poured Guiness. It is made from coffee (of course), brown sugar, whiskey and topped with thick cream. Delicioso! We're going to practice the fine art of creating these so we can provide our visitors with a traditional Irish beverage.

Run Dublin

The Dublin Marathon was run today. I was told that it attracts some 11,000 entrants, 2000 of which are from the U.S. It has been a beautiful day for it and our house is right about at the mid point. Here are some pictures from right our our front door. One of my friends said the American runners typically bring a lot of friends and family with them and they are responsible for most of the loud cheering that you hear along the streets. He thinks it makes for a great atmosphere.

I have cable!!

Today is a great day. My lovely wife agreed, nay, encouraged me to subscribe to cable TV and it was just installed. The normal channels are not horribly exciting, though there are channels like Discover, National Geographic, etc. plus a number of European channels that play American sitcoms all day. The real excitement comes from the fact that we added a sports package that airs football on Sunday nights...American football! Not only do I get to watch 2-3 of the Sunday games live, but I get a bunch of premier league soccer games as well (I'm probably the only one excited about that).
I hear it calling my name...gotta go!

The social system

I have to vent. Let me know if I'm off completely.

I read in the paper this morning that senior government officials have received around a 15% pay increase. This is amidst a huge budget crisis in which many hospitals are having to cut back service and all hiring has been suspended. It will cost over 19 million euro per year to cover the pay increases, which by the way were revealed the day before a holiday weekend. The chief of finance is now making over 370,000 euro per year. I suppose the saying "Socialism works great if you have the right people running it" can again be shown a farce. The government is reporting that it will have to raise taxes next year to accommodate its spending. I am still not being payed over-time (I worked 12 hours today) and people that can't do their job correctly are giving themselves enormous raises. The physicians I work with have been offered a 37 hour work week and will not be paid for any time over that (which means they probably won't be paid for working on Thursdays or Fridays because they'll be over their hours by then). The free market system could accommodate raises because they are in fact based on productivity and share holders won't pay for poor results. Even in the government voters approve such increases or show the government employees the door. These government officers now make more than the President of the United States, who is (throat clear) the leader of the FREE world. It is sad how dependent people become on such an inept group of leaders.

We just go about our business and hope for the best. Hopefully we won't be corrupted by this sour system. Be thankful for what you have, it could always be worse. I could go on but I'll sum up with this: When Hillary is elected urge your congressman to VOTE NO on government run health care, and send your HMO a thank you card!

Reserve your dates

Malahide Castle

This is an 800yr old castle just North of Dublin. It was lived in by the Talbot family from its construction until the mid 1970's when the last family member died leaving it to the Dublin historical society. Now you can play golf and football on the grounds.

Heart of Life (acoustic)

Some of you may or may not be wholly impressed with this song. I suppose, since it hasn't been radio played yet (I think) you may not have even heard it yet. At present I can't seem to keep it out of my head so I will try to get it stuck in your head now too.

Welcome to Howth

We took about a 20min car ride North of Dublin to a small fishing village named Howth. It is built around a hill that has a beautiful walking trail. The photos don't do it justice.

Wanna stay with us????

These are some photos of where we're staying. We were a little scared when we moved in to say the least but we've since gotten over it.


It turns out that this is where U2's recording studio is and the grafitti is all dedicated to the band. It changes daily as people come to add there devotion to U2.

Week Three

Today marks the beginning of the third week we've lived here. We can see normalcy down the road but it still feels like anything but. I survived my first week of work which was mainly days filled with orientation, etc. and I have hope that I'll actually start doing my job by Friday. It is tough being away from everything and everyone we know and can't wait to start having visitors. We really need to find our own apartment soon so we can get out of our suitcases, fill our cupboards and refrigerator. We've seen a good portion of the city of Dublin and hopefully we can get out of town this weekend. If we do expect some more pictures soon!

Still Moving

Sorry it took so long to get more pictures up. We were having computer difficulties. The pictures towards the end were taken at Trinity College in the middle of the city center. Enjoy the show!

On a Monday night.

Tonight we went out to dinner in a little town down the street from our hotel. We were eating in a parking lot next to the take out place were we bought our food and a group of 12ish girls walked by and said hi. We replied and the immediately they turned around and asked if we were from America. It is hard to understand the Irish but when you have 6 of them talking to you at the same time it gets really tricky. They wanted to where we were from and it went something like, "Are you from California? I love California...Yeah, it's my favorite country."

We really haven't found anyone who doesn't like Americans yet. Most of them want to know what it's like. They have a lot of American TV and I imagine they want to know if Americans are like they are on the shows. We must be huge disappointments.

Days 3 and 4

We finally made it to the ocean yesterday. We also found out where Bono lives and it is just a short ride on the Dart down the coast. We have found temporary living arrangements which is huge relief so that we can look and find a place that the cats can come to. If we can't we at least have somewhere that we can rent next month. I start work tomorrow morning which would be a little stressful but I think it will be a day of observing and touring around the hospital. It is becoming quite apparent that my days will be quite long and since there is a current pay freeze on overtime (courtesy of socialized medicine) my hours will be "banked" and hopefully I can use them for vacation which we are really looking forward to.

From my perspective.

We have been very fortunate so far. Every Irishman we've met has been more than helpful (save the customs agent at the airport). One old man actually walked up this long hill with us to give directions. He told us that his hips weren't helping...and neither was the beer! Ireland (or at least Dublin) has really become a city of immigrants. It is especially funny to see (or hear) people of different races -especially Asian- speak with an Irish accent.

Finding somewhere to live has been another story. My supervisor has offered us an apartment she owns to rent which is 2bed 1bath in a very nice area and even has a little porch to sit out on. She said her building does not allow pets so we are very torn to say the least (which I'm sure non-pet owners do not understand). We have found someone who will let us live with them for a couple of months until we find something permanent because even that apartment isn't available until October and 2bed apartments in our price range are very hard to find.

Today is the first day that the sun hasn't been out. Yesterday was quite warm actually and with all the walking we do it makes for some sweaty times. We have yet to see one drop of rain - good Irish weather indeed!

First Days

Our first 2 days are in the books. Yesterday we were so exhausted from not being able to sleep on the plane that we spent a good portion of the day in bed. We did get out last night in to town. We took the LUAS which is a light rail and met our first people. A self admitting alcoholic woman that chatted the entire time and a young college student from the Netherlands who was able to hold a much better conversation. We've had several trips on the bus as well. Today we spent most of the day in line, first at the welfare office to get a tax ID number and next to register with the immigration office. It was pretty much a complete waste of the day but a necessary evil. We may also have a 2 bedroom apartment lined up for a couple of months from now in a really nice part of Dublin. We miss everyone very much (especially those little Teeth!). Enjoy the slide show!

Last Night in the Desert

We're just under 12 hours from flying the coup. I got to spend the afternoon with my parents and grandpa which was nice because we won't have the holidays this year. To my parents I want to say thank you for getting me to a place in my life where I feel I have the opportunity to live life to the fullest. To our friends Ryan & Yunuen, Ben & Lis, Caleb, Liam, Phil and many others, thank you for sharing your time and lives with us. You have made our time here rich. We hope to see you all sooner rather than later. Dublin or Bust!

Team Ireland wins...again!!!

I'm not one to gloat but I feel it is my duty to report (fair and balanced) the score of the latest round of spades between Team Polican and Team Ireland. The Irish emerged victorious with a score of 506 to 446. Team Polican fought until the end but came up short yet again.

On another topic, we bought our tickets and leave at 7am Tuesday morning. We'll see you all in Dublin!

We're Off!

Today in the mail I received my Green Card. Now that we are legal to enter we will be leaving some time next week. I guess that means I have to go back to work and end my extended vacation! Oh well, all good things must end. As a wise woman I know likes to say, "Praise The Lord!"

Mighty Leopard Cat

We are spending our second day with my Mom since we've moved out of our house. The cats have been kept separate for the most part with short introductions. The latest was between Indi and Remington (medium sized boy cat). Indi sat up to give him a sniff and was promptly hissed at. She didn't take it too well and chased him over then under the bed and right out of the room. Her wild streak must have scared him! I think she'll handle herself alright, hopefully the sheepish Sharptooth will handle not being the center of attention.

Oh, and as a side note....my permit was just approved! We're leaving next week!!

Yeah, that'll fix it.

What is going on in Deutschland? Extremism seems to be the way of the land. In a country where marijuana and prostitution are as legal as driving a car and clearly more accessible than a fire-arm, we see the same scope represented in the political and religious views of it's leaders. Anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders has recently called for the Koran to be banned calling it a "fascist book," and the leader for the "committee of former Muslims" has just been attacked fueling already tense relations within the country. How do you solve such ill-relations?? Bishop Tiny Muskens thinks a resolution would be accomplished if people of all faiths called God "Allah." The statement received quick praise from the country's Muslim community, however, 92% of those surveyed disagree with the Bishop. Well, what do you expect from a guy named Tiny?