Hanging on by a thread

Head Rambles Posted on by

My very existence is under threat.

At any moment I may be disconnected from the Interwebs.

This is day eleven of the ten days they estimated they would take to rebuild my lane, They have finally gotten around to actually removing the old one. So there is a large digger outside my gate removing any access I may have had and reducing the lane to a pit.

It’s noisy. There is the constant drone of a diesel motor and the crashing and banging of a bucket tearing up the lane. The worrying part is that the bloke driving the digger is wildly swinging his machine round and missing my overhead cables by inches. One misjudgement and I am dead as far as the Interwebs is concerned.

I wouldn’t be too bothered. Am I really so dependent in the Interwebs? I suppose I am when it comes to purchasing anything. I ordered a large grocery delivery which is supposed to arrive today. That’ll be fun if there’s no lane. Maybe the delivery van can negotiate the sub-foundations after the diggers have gone? Anyhows I have enough whiskey, baccy and fags for a while so I have no need for any further orders of anything.

The worst part about losing the Interwebs is that Herself would lose her radio. That would be a major catastrophe as she would miss Joe Duffy – a right wanker who has a phone-in programme every afternoon. I hate the sound of him, so I’d be delighted but Herself wouldn’t. I don’t know which is worse: Joe Duffy or Herself missing Joe Duffy.

I don’t know how much longer this little job will take. Presumably they have to lay the foundations of hardcore which will have to be flattened and tamped. Then they have to lay a surface on top of that. Another day? Another two days?

I’m looking forward to not being woken at eight every morning.

 

Dirty little tricks

Head Rambles Posted on by

Our gubmint is on about vaping again.

Public to be consulted about future laws on vaping, as Donnelly ‘deeply concerned’ about child usage.

I guessed this would crop up. Once Nanny gets a toe-hold she can’t resist imposing more restrictions.

What is interesting about this little item is that it is nominally about vaping and trying to demonise it by applying all the old tobacco tricks of plain packaging, health warnings, hiding displays and all the rest. However, if you examine their proposals there is one little item that is nothing to do with vaping – “Smoking in outdoor dining areas“.

Yes, they want to sneak in a nban outdoor smoking which is one of the last freedoms for those of us who enjoy a smoke. Their argument [they admit] is little to do with health and is everything to do with “denormalising” smoking. They want to effectively ban me from enjoying a trip to the coffee shop.

They are open for “public consultation” which means that the anti-smokers will be frantically rounding up all their pals and entering multiple responses, not that the gubmint will take any notice anyway. Its sole function is to enable the gubmint to say that they did ask us even if they ignore the result.

If you like an exercise in futility there is an online survey, which you are welcome to complete. They do ask if you currently reside in Ireland but I’m sure that if you wish to bend the truth and claim you are Irish in spirit the who is to know?

I doubt the Anti-Smokers will be too honest.

 

Oh the irony!

Head Rambles Posted on by

There was a bit of an incident up in Dublin yesterday.

It started when a bloke attacked some kids with a knife injuring several, some seriously. The attack only stopped when a Deliveroo driver hopped of his bike and belted the attacker with his helmet. But for that, things could have been a lot worse.

The reason for the attack remains a mystery.

Now, word spread on Anti-Social media that the attacker was an immigrant. I assume this was because the chap was noticeably different [i.e. black?]. We were immediately informed by the Law that the attacker was Irish and had been living here for some years. In other words, he was an immigrant albeit not a recent one.

Feelings are running high in some quarters about the immigration situation and obviously the anti-immigration mob saw their chance and started to stage a protest. However this took place in Dublin’s inner city northside; and area known for a drop of lawlessness. The local low life saw their chance for a bit of a mill with the Gardaí and came fully armed with bottles, bricks and fireworks. The Gardaí were there in sufficient numbers to handle a protest but not equipped to deal with a full scale riot.

The low life had a grand time, smashing shop windows, looting and setting buses, trams and cars alight. This was rampaging thuggery pure and simple and at this stage was fuck all to do with immigration. That was just an excuse.

There was one salient point that the mob didn’t realise though. I refer to the Delveroo rider who quite possibly saved to kids’ lives. But for him other children could have been attacked or even killed.

He is a Brazilian immigrant.

Irony indeed?

Dublin – City of Culture

 

The trench that isn’t

Head Rambles Posted on by

This is day eleven of The Siege.

Or day nine if you’re only counting work days.

They’ve done a lot of work all right. They woke me at eight the other morning with a fierce racket out on the lane. There was a lot of heavy machinery doing something that actually make the house shake. It’s probably the most shaking it has had in its couple of hundred years but still no cracks have appeared.

I investigated once I had dressed, had my mugs of tea, smoked a couple of pipes, made sure Herself hadn’t wandered off during the night and mopped up several lakes that Penny had kindly donated around the kitchen. It seems that they have dug a deep trench up the middle of the lane. Most of the material they had extracted seemed to have ended up in a small mountain just outside my gate. Truly the siege had started.

Later that afternoon I went out to see what was in the trench. It was gone. There was just a line of gravel up the middle of the lane and a new manhole [personhole?] where there hadn’t been one before. The Gaffer was strolling up the lane while I was leaning on the gate so I asked him if they were finished. Apparently not. They have yet to remove the lane in its entirety and re-lay it. Bugger!

Since then there has been no sign of them. I know they are around as I hear the odd sound of heavy machinery every now and then but they seem to be up to something at the top of the lane. I don’t give enough shite to go and investigate. I went down to the village for a coffee instead.

It’s blowing a gale outside today. It’s one that slipped in anonymously before the Met Office could name it. They missed a trick there. The work is still going on. Today they seem to be practicing their reversing as there are lots of beeps modulating the howling of the wind. I’m still free to come and go should I so wish.

I think I’ll shampoo the carpets instead.

They’re beginning to stink again.