I should really invest in some hook-up heels

or as I say in real life- come F*%k me heels.

So last friday I had my final interview for this Job i've been going after. Got up early- Got dressed in my professional Button up striped shirt with the faux-popped ruffle collar (very cute and 7 dollars, win win buy there!) and black slacks and black "i work in a bank" heels. Professional, simple, but not old lady. Did my hair, the make-up etc so forth and so on.

Walked down to the hotel in which the interview was held (the majority of interviews here are held in hotels....i found this strange but each to his own). I went to reception and told the woman there who I was having the interview with. She told me to go through the door behind me, up the stairs, through the door to the right and there is a seating area. Sit there and wait for my interviewer. So I follow directions- I go and sit. I'm sitting there, trying to look cool, casual and professional. After about ten minutes I hear a door open in a hallway down towards the left. I hear a man asking for me. I hear another girl go, "oh- thats not me". He says, oh well she must be running late and says I'll come grab you in a minute. I rush into the hallway and see there is another seating area that was not mentioned to me. (GRRR screw the receptionist for being vague and for me for not being more careful!) I knocked on the door and explain to my interviewer what happened- we both had a little laugh and I'm secretly hoping he still didn't think I was really late and trying to bluff my way through it.

So we sit down- he asks me to tell him all about who I am. Well I give him the brief overview of the abbreviated version of who I am. I was born in the states- I worked a lot, went to college and got two degrees, worked some more. Met an Irish guy, decided we liked each other. moved to Limerick. Now I'm sitting here talking to you. wa-la. Then comes the question answer part of the interview. The meat and two veg. This man has some interesting things to say. Like for instance comparing working at a jewelry store to being a fire fighter. I understand his point, but honestly saving lives versus selling watches? no comparison in my book- but I nod my head and go along with this story.

He then proceeds to tell me what a day would potentially be like at work. on my feet from 9 am until perhaps 9 pm (been there done that, have a t-shirt, post card and several battle wounds). He then says its not all fun and games- see you girls aren't like the lads. The lads sit on their hour long lunch break and read the paper, you girls are tempted being around so many stores and you go and shop on your feet for your lunch hour. On the outside I dumbly nod and smile and decide to keep my trap shut because a job interview is not the time to tell someone they are being sexist. on the inside?? well thats a different story- the feminist section of my brain is going into shock mode....things are going through my mind like- did I just hear that right? wait, lets replay this, maybe i heard him wrong (replay)....nope, he said that. wow. what an ass. I hope i get this job cause if I dont i need to find this guy and tell him his is an sexist pig. seriously is this what he thinks of women? Do i look like someone who sits on my ass eating bon-bons and watching stories all day?? .....there were also some choice words circling in my brain for a bit.

Pushed my reason aside and continued the interview. I remembered to emphasize a lot of the things I had learned about the company in the first interview. even mentioning an employee training program that they are nuts about. possible brownie points? lets hope so. He asks me about my previous pay in the states, we throw around some shaky conversion rates and he tells me that the pay there isn't far off and that people dont complain about pay if you know what he means- ha ha wink wink.

Well interview ends. I think him for his time and he tells me I will hear something either way at the end of the next week. I walk out and see the other people waiting for their interviews. They all looked like this:
Complete sex-kitten secretary types. They all had large breasts, perfect hair, lots of make, skirts with a slit way way up the thigh (in the back- keeping professional ya know) and come F*%k me heels on. After walking through the sex sells gauntlet I trudged back to the apartment and drowned my sorrows in coffee and vain attempts in waking my husband up so I could obsess over the finer points of the interview with him.

Needless to say- I was assured that this attitude is normal for older Irish men (seriously he was like 50- too young for that BS!), and that my chances are good, and just because they look good doesn't mean they will interview well. Heres to hoping these sex-kittens were all as smart as a bag of hammers. And I'm hoping if they do get hired, as do I, they are competent, hard working people who wear the same size shoe as me. Cause sharing is caring.

And on a side note- This woman wins my vigilante of the year award. I found this gem on a great blog by a woman who calls her self Snooker and lives in Berlin. I love reading her blog- she makes me love Berlin more than I already do. Please go check her blog out- its good reading!

Snooker in Berlin

Random Tuesday Thoughts- Like how many people in the car park can see in my living room. Maybe I dont want to know that.

It's Tuesday again and this week has flown by. These weeks keep going faster and faster and thats good, and bad.

School has started here in Limerick again- I got here a few weeks before it got out for summer. That means I've been here for an entire season- I should really stop biding my time like I'm going home or something.

I had my second interview on friday. (with thankfully no hangover from thursday!) Now I'm sitting here waiting all week to find out whether or not I have the job. Its just a think of patience now and I'm really not thinking about it at all cause if I do I'll freak out and convince myself I have no chance of getting the job. They really do make it way more stressful here than in the states. No wonder all the unemployed are driven to drink (har har)

We baby sat James's little sister all weekend- planned on scaring her to death with the shining but settled for the Addams family instead. I decided I enjoyed sleep more. Good weekend though- tons of sunshine!


The lock on the bottom door in our apartment is broken. It had been turning the wrong way and sometimes all the way around and our key getting stuck in it. This is no good especially since its directly on the street and with our luck someone will decide to kick our door in and rob us blind. So friday I call the landlord (keep in mind he has only ever given us one contact number) and he happened to be on holidays in spain. So he starts giving out to me for calling him on his holiday asking if he could have one day off and ect. He then tells me to find a carpenter and have them replace the lock and then get keys cut for ourselves and our snooty neighbor. I don't think so. I gave the landlord a peice of my mind. It's not my fault that he does everything lackadasical and that he is too cheap to replace anything in this apartment and that there is no way that I'm paying for any repairs on this apartment (he charges us way too much to begin with) Needless to say He was calling me back within the hour letting me know that it was being fixed. Damn right it was.

Speaking of our snooty neighbor- she seems to have disappered. We never really saw much of her anyways, but shes been gone, really gone for about a month. She has an ever growing pile of mail on the stairs waiting for her and worst of all she has left something in her house that smells awful and its getting worse every day. I wonder if maybe she was kidnapped and no one knew or maybe she hit her head and she has amnesia or maybe she is just on a long vacation. (probably the latter) but who knows- she didn't ever have company or talked to anyone that we saw. It's one of those things that you wonder about in bed when you've been lying there for an hour unable to sleep.

So my friend posted this on facebook yesterday. He is the kind of person who likes to stir the pot and the more controversial the better. For instance:

This rather disturbing article

I found the entire thing funny actually and the rest of us are still debating whether this website is for real or just a satarical site taking the piss out of fundamental christians. Some things on it are so ridiculous I think it has to be a joke, but you never know.

Its 2 pm and I'm sitting on the sofa blogging and drinking coffee when i should be getting dressed since the handy man will be at our house two days in a row and try and attempt to fix our broken fridge door. Its only one thing on the long list of stuff that is half broken in this house. sigh.

This makes me laugh. I'm not a bad person I swear it.

Sunny Summer Days

Today was a rare, beautiful sunny day here in Limerick. It was one of those kind of days that make you appreciate all the dull gloomy weather we get here in Ireland. It was warm, little to no breeze and constant beautiful sunshine! A real pleasure!

All day I wanted to get out and be in the sun. I had my manicure (which was nothing like the manicures I had in the states. sigh. something I have to search for over here as well), then I dragged James out for a coffee at one of my favorite pubs. They have a great outdoor area which is closed off, but still lets in sunshine- perfect for a nice coffee.

We went home and I cleaned a little, had lunch and sat around. looking at the thing I could be doing, such as cleaning, putting laundry away, getting ready for tomorrow. Then I would peek out the window. So beautiful- so sunny. I couldn't stand it! Days like this happen so infrequently! So I said to James lets go to the Locke and have one pint (the Locke is a pub on the river which has a huge outdoor area next to the Shannon- its where everyone in Limerick heads for a pint on a lovely day)

As luck would have it we ran into some friends down at the Locke. One pint turned into three (or was it four?) and a few hours later we finally left and headed on that walk we planned a few hours earlier. I was so tipsy I could barely make it back from the walk! Some Irish resident I am haha!

So instead of continuing on our walk any further I went home and make slightly drunk meat loaf, which I have to say for myself is much better than my sober meat loaf. Which makes me wonder if I should always cook half drunk- the food always turns out much better and cooks faster! (maybe this is an illusion. eh who cares. )

I now know that I should be preparing for my big interview in the morning by hopping in the shower and hopping straight into bed. Which I will do shortly- and I'm hoping that tomorrow is another sunny summer day with perhaps some excellent news on the job front! I have a dinner planned with a friend of mine and hopefully we will have some great news to celebrate over some glasses of wine!

On a side note- We are babysitting Jame's little sister this weekend while his parents are in London. I'm thinking some scary movies are in order (the shining anyone?). She didn't need to sleep this weekend right?

Random Thoughts Tuesday- Randomly on Wednesday

I figured I wanted to play RRT again this week and it couldn't get more random by doing it on a wednesday!

Its 2pm- I should really put down the coffee cup and finish unpacking and cleaning. the washing machine is giving me the stink eye over the load I so carelessly left in there. I better be careful before my appliances start turning on me.

I got this new app on my iPhone called mappiness. Its a survey on happiness done in the UK. You get messaged anywhere from 2 times to 5 times a day asking you questions about your levels of happiness, relaxation, how awake you are ect. Then it asks you where you are, who you are with (if with anyone). It also takes a microphone sample of the noise around and if you so choose you can take a picture. Then you get lovely pie charts and bar graphs of your stats. A little intrusive but I find it interesting. Also eye opening since every time the stupid thing dings me i'm doing the exact same thing. hmmmm. motivation for switching my routine up? I think so!

I love the cushelle koala bear

He looks so cuddly- i keep telling james I want one. To which he says I don't want a koala because they aren't as cute as the toilet paper ones. dream crusher.

also on a side note- i know that the cushelle toilet paper is the same as a brand in the states but I can't think of it- I know its not cottonelle because thats andrex here.

Not like any of this matters- I use the 79 cents tesco value TP. One of these days we will have money for luxuries like double ply har har.

I really have a feeling that I will be employed by next month. I have my second interview for the jewlery store on friday morning. I'm not too nervous about the interview, I'm feeling fairly calm actually. I'm going in a little while to get a manicure for the interview- its a necessity you know! What if they don't hire me cause I have bad nails? (he he any excuse to get my nails done....next try a pedicure!)

well my husband has just returned home. I should have been showered and ready to go by now. oops. Oh well more coffee!

I can't believe summer is ending- August flew by! As did July. I can't believe that I've lived in Ireland for nearly 4 months now. It doesn't feel like it especially since I'm learning new things every day still. Also its technically fall here- They go by the Roman calander, unlike the rest of us. So fall is on August 1st, first day of winter is November 1st, first day of spring February 1st, first day of summer May 1st. It works for the weather here- but I'm still going to go by seasons how I know them! and fall doesn't start until September 21st!!

And I never got my hot weather. It was cold in London too. Oh well- maybe next year.

London in a flash

*warning- there are a TON of pictures in this post. some maybe no so interesting*

Well I'm back in Ireland all in one piece! Hurrah! It was actually nice coming home- I was actually looking forward to seeing the familiar streets in Limerick. I am getting old, becoming a homebody? whew i donno. I feel so-so about being somewhat homesick about Limerick in London. ANYWHOOO onto the good stuff!

We stayed with our very good friend Marian- who is a saint and not only let us stay with her and her very kind roommates for 5 days, she gave us her room as well, despite much protesting from both James and I. But I have to say, that bed was damn comfy. Remember that insomnia? I slept like a baby in London. (the street was nice and quiet as well). So Marian saved us probably 150 euro because London is very very expensive.


The Lovely Marian and James having a pint after she got off work!

We had a great time in London- it was 5 days, which I thought was a little long for one city (we tend to pack a lot of things in a day or two. We don't linger. We went through Europe last summer and the most we spent in one city was 4 days and we still thought that was long haha!)

It felt like we were spending about half the time on the tube- back and forth and back and forth. We were in Brentford which is pretty far west of central London so it took about an hour on the Tube to get to where all of the sights were. I have to say some favorites were the Camden Market (a must if you want to get any actual cool gifts in London- its no plastic statues and stupid shirts), a river cruise on the Thames and my personal favorite- the Pasties. If you have never had a pasty in England I strongly encourage it. I could eat them all day. Then I would be the size of a house. worth it? quite possibly.

On the eating note- There was Krispy Kreme- and it was good. Marian took us to Tesco shortly after we got into town (it was an amazing tesco- insanely huge and it had a tesco cafe....it actually reminded me of a nicer version of wal-mart.) As soon as I walked in the doors I actually smelled the doughnuts before I saw them. Marian described it as a dog on the hunt. Fairly accurate haha! The kripsy kreme was good, but not quite as good as in the states. but oh well you take what you can get!

ok enough blabbing, here are some slightly interesting pictures

This is the Camden Lock right next to the market....beautiful and sunny!

My Chai Tea at the market- it was a real Chai- impossible to find here in Limerick...James was rather grossed out by it...especially after I made him try it haha!

One of the many interesting statues in Camden Market- This was the stables area....seriously this market is insanely huge. I bet we only saw a quarter of it in the 3 hours we were walking around. its very mazey and seems to never end!


No explanation needed....but I got into this phone booth to take a picture and it smelled ungodly, as public phone booths do. So instead I found one in a tourist shop and took a much nicer picture in that one...
This is Trafalgar Square- always full of people usually climbing all over the statue. so much for a postcard picture!


The London Eye- I would love to ride this but at 17 pounds per person? I think not!



London Bridge- clearly standing contrary to the song.


Buckingham Palace- sadly I was not invited in for tea with her majesty. oh well, maybe next time.

Royal Albert Hall- its huge and beautiful, we went and saw the BBC Proms. Well worth our 8 pounds!

A decent picture of us? Who woulda thought it?




Westminster looking very beautiful on a sunny Sunday morning.


Parliament- and we actually have a picture that was taken by someone else!



On the Millennium Bridge- also known as the Wibbly Wobbly Bridge.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I've been reading random tuesday thoughts for a while now and thought I would play this week!

I'm going to London tomorrow! woo woo! i'm pretty sure the friend we are going to stay with will have a large stash of cherry coke for me. and im totally eating a kripsy kreme before I even get out of heathrow!

Im so coming home twenty pounds heavier. sigh.

I got an email today for a second interview for that new job! HURRAY!! I havn't had a second interview in ireland yet and i'm really hoping good things come of this! The business won't be open until october so that means there will be plenty of time to train and feel comfortable in the new position! fingers crossed!

I FINALLY changed my name on facebook. i got plenty of messages from people who didn't even know i was married. whoops? i guess thats what happens when you have a tiny wedding and dont blab about it all over the interwebs.

I have not had a good nights sleep in 4 or 5 days now. I'll sleep for 3 or 4 hours tops. maybe take a small hour nap in the day. its so frustrating. I'm pretty sure when I got up today I was the face of evil itself. James has learned to stay away until I've had coffee. I'm hoping tonight that i'll get decent sleep since my chest isnt killing me anymore and im taking a sleeping pill haha.

I'm thinking that I've overpacked. I took up pretty much the whole suitcase and james fit everything in his (or rather my) bookbag. you need ten shirts and 4 pairs of shoes for a 5 day trip right??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xi4O1yi6b0


This was my happy dance today. I'm getting out of Limerick. I have a second interview. HAPPY DANCE!

Socialized Healthcare in Ireland

Coming from the States, especially in the past year, you hear a lot about health care, insurance companies and the evils of government controlled health systems.

I myself was pretty skeptical about the socialized healthcare when I moved here. Being unemployed I'm eligible for free healthcare- all GP visits, prescriptions, procedures, everything is free. The process of getting the medical card was pretty frustrating and I had to wait about three months before I actually got the letter stating that I was approved for the medical card. So During these last three months I had no coverage whatsoever, which was a little scary but thankfully besides a few sore throats I've been healthy since I've moved here.

In order to get the medical card you have to go to the community welfare office- This process of the community welfare office is frustrating. Each district has a certain day in which they can go and see their officer and there is only an hour window in which you can see her in. For instance we have to go on Tuesdays and Thursday between 11:30 and 12:30. But here's the thing, there is a huge district that has these same times. There is always a lengthy wait in an over-crowded waiting room with a fairly rough crowd of people. Needless to say I don't enjoy the visits to the Community welfare office. Thankfully now we have most everything sorted and so we shouldn't need to go there anytime soon, but when I first moved here, we were in the office each week!

Anyways I had to go and wait and get an application form from the Welfare Officer. In addition to the form I was given a list of doctors in and around Limerick. In order to get the medical card you have to be on a doctors patient list. This sounds a lot easier than its done! We spent one afternoon going from one doctors office to another trying to find a practice that had a space for me. Thankfully after calling around I found a great doctors office only a few blocks from our apartment! Then at this point I had to fill out the application, the doctors office had to fill out another part of the application and then I had to take it back to the Welfare office. Which of course, this is the way the Irish system seems to work, I was uninformed of some bit that i needed to have before I could turn in the application and was sent away after over an hours wait to see the officer. This happened about 3 times I think. (and every single time we had to fill out an application since I've been here we have been turned down this way at least twice!) so after all this running around I finally was approved for the card and turned in the application. They told me there was a three month processing period so don't get sick!

Well the waiting period was all fine and dandy. I never really minded so much, I was thankful that I was even eligible for healthcare. In the States if James and I were in the same position we would be a lot worse for the wear so I'm happy with whatever I get. I finally got my card number last week and in good timing. I woke up Sunday morning with my chest hurting something fierce! I have this recurring problem where the cartilage between my breast bone and ribs gets inflamed and it is extremely painful breathing, laying down, walking, whatever.

I didn't really feel like going to the doctors, but with us leaving for London in a day and a half I thought it might be smart to get checked out and perhaps get some prescription strength medication. I dreaded going to the doctor, especially with no appointment thinking "great- I'm going to be stuck in here all day."

Well get this.....twenty minutes- twenty. In twenty minutes not only did I arrive at the doctors office, was seen by the doctor, had a prescription written and had it filled at the pharmacy. All completely free of charge. The Staff at the doctors office is friendly and the doctor was competent. All in all it was one of my best medical experiences. I heard that the medical process here was fine and quick easy going, but I was still quite shocked at how efficient and pain-free the entire process was.

I feel a lot more confident now about medical care here in this country and am slightly annoyed thinking back to all of the money I had spent in the States for healthcare that wasn't really comparable to the service I received today, and everything that I have heard from others living in this country. Every month I paid high premiums and high co-pays for each visit. Any prescriptions I had were costly since my insurance only covered the bare minimum. I know that now in the states the cost of healthcare is going up even more- and that premiums are doubling and tripling in cost! I know that there is no easy solution and any overhaul in healthcare in the states will take a long time and a lot of growing pains. But it just makes me pause and think that a country as large and as advanced as the United States, why can't we figure out a system that works as well as the one here?