A lot can happen in two days
On Thursday I had the whole office to myself, as all the full-time employees were at a "team building conference". Needless to say, I spent the day watching 24 and Top Gear with short stints of work mixed in. After work we all met up at the Shelbourne Hotel for a few drinks to start my farewell party. Turns out they were hosting the VIP Fashion Awards that night. Security was crazy and I got the evilest eye when I walked in. Looking around I figured I was definitely the youngest one in the bar - it was a packed group of "older" social elite, dressed to the nines. Later I found out that there was at least one other 22 year old in the place - Miss World 2003, Rossanna Davidson. Unfortunately she wasn't hanging around in the crowded bar, so we didn't even get to catch a glimpse. There were also a bunch of famous Irish personalities around that my co-workers all recognized, but I had no idea who they were.
After a few pints we moved on to an Italian restaurant just off Grafton Street for dinner and a few more drinks, before heading to the pub. We went to a couple of really small places that were quite traditional - just a simple rectangular room with a bar down the right side and stools on the left next to a ledge, and tons of plaques/pictures/random junk all over the walls. Everyone stands around, talks and pounds back the pints of plain. By this time we had all had "about" half a dozen pints, and our boss figured it was a god idea to head to a late bar. We wandered around Temple Bar a bit until we got to the Czech Inn - it appeared to be an old converted hotel, but had a definite Eastern European feel to it. There was a lounge upstairs with some dirty hippie playing a stainless steel didgeridoo and bongos. Downstairs was a dance floor 2 bars and a bunch of booths. About 5 minutes of bongos was all we could handle, so we pretty much stuck to the lower level. Another couple of rounds we bought (all Czech lager this time), and before long my boss was tearing it up on the dance floor on his own. I had heard lots of stories at work about "Fitzy" (his name is Neil FitzGerald) going absolutely mad after a few jars - turns out they were no stretch of the imagination. We hung out listening (and dancing) to techno remixes of 90s pop music until just after 3am - we lost a few people along the way, but 5 of us managed to tough it out till the end. Unfortunately, Fitzy had a presentation at 10am and we were scheduled for a teleconference at 11am to get a final sign-off of my project. Nobody was looking all that sharp in the morning, but we survived and got everything done that needed to be wrapped up. I spent most of the day sorting though requests from people asking to view the flat and made up a short list of potential new roommates. At the end of the day I got a last farewell from everyone (although it is looking like I will be back there in a few weeks, but in a different department), and was given a Guinness backpack, loaded to the top with bottles booze (Bells, Baileys, Bushmills, Smirnoff, Morgan's Spiced, Captain Morgans, Guinness, Carlsberg, red/white wine, and some new test project stuff - premixed rum/vodka and cola). I think that selection should tide me over for the few weeks that I am off-site . . .
Got home, cleaned the flat and waited to interview people that evening.
After sorting through a few dozen applications/requests I settled on a mix of Canadians/Aussies/and a Swede - The majority of people applying are all French or Italian with poor English. At the end of the day the last thing I want to do is come home and have to struggle over having a conversation with my roommate, so we have all agreed that good English is a must.
In the end only 2 people showed: a guy from Northern Ontario and a girl from Edmonton. We hung out for a few hours and they were both really interested in the place. In the end I would have said it was a toss-up between the two of them, but the guy is apparently a heavy snorer . . . so our new flatmate is Vanessa. We're still not quite sure when Tyler is moving out (I haven't seen him in a few days), but we figure it's this week some time. Now that he knows he's going home he's been on a bit of a bender - he said when he's back on the farm they are there to work (12 hour days for 2 months straight), so they don't get out much.
Tricia gets in tomorrow and we are going to meet up with Susan and her boyfriend for a few drinks then, but today I'm just going to grab a movie and bask in the freedom of being unemployed again :-)
After a few pints we moved on to an Italian restaurant just off Grafton Street for dinner and a few more drinks, before heading to the pub. We went to a couple of really small places that were quite traditional - just a simple rectangular room with a bar down the right side and stools on the left next to a ledge, and tons of plaques/pictures/random junk all over the walls. Everyone stands around, talks and pounds back the pints of plain. By this time we had all had "about" half a dozen pints, and our boss figured it was a god idea to head to a late bar. We wandered around Temple Bar a bit until we got to the Czech Inn - it appeared to be an old converted hotel, but had a definite Eastern European feel to it. There was a lounge upstairs with some dirty hippie playing a stainless steel didgeridoo and bongos. Downstairs was a dance floor 2 bars and a bunch of booths. About 5 minutes of bongos was all we could handle, so we pretty much stuck to the lower level. Another couple of rounds we bought (all Czech lager this time), and before long my boss was tearing it up on the dance floor on his own. I had heard lots of stories at work about "Fitzy" (his name is Neil FitzGerald) going absolutely mad after a few jars - turns out they were no stretch of the imagination. We hung out listening (and dancing) to techno remixes of 90s pop music until just after 3am - we lost a few people along the way, but 5 of us managed to tough it out till the end. Unfortunately, Fitzy had a presentation at 10am and we were scheduled for a teleconference at 11am to get a final sign-off of my project. Nobody was looking all that sharp in the morning, but we survived and got everything done that needed to be wrapped up. I spent most of the day sorting though requests from people asking to view the flat and made up a short list of potential new roommates. At the end of the day I got a last farewell from everyone (although it is looking like I will be back there in a few weeks, but in a different department), and was given a Guinness backpack, loaded to the top with bottles booze (Bells, Baileys, Bushmills, Smirnoff, Morgan's Spiced, Captain Morgans, Guinness, Carlsberg, red/white wine, and some new test project stuff - premixed rum/vodka and cola). I think that selection should tide me over for the few weeks that I am off-site . . .
Got home, cleaned the flat and waited to interview people that evening.
After sorting through a few dozen applications/requests I settled on a mix of Canadians/Aussies/and a Swede - The majority of people applying are all French or Italian with poor English. At the end of the day the last thing I want to do is come home and have to struggle over having a conversation with my roommate, so we have all agreed that good English is a must.
In the end only 2 people showed: a guy from Northern Ontario and a girl from Edmonton. We hung out for a few hours and they were both really interested in the place. In the end I would have said it was a toss-up between the two of them, but the guy is apparently a heavy snorer . . . so our new flatmate is Vanessa. We're still not quite sure when Tyler is moving out (I haven't seen him in a few days), but we figure it's this week some time. Now that he knows he's going home he's been on a bit of a bender - he said when he's back on the farm they are there to work (12 hour days for 2 months straight), so they don't get out much.
Tricia gets in tomorrow and we are going to meet up with Susan and her boyfriend for a few drinks then, but today I'm just going to grab a movie and bask in the freedom of being unemployed again :-)
posted by Trevor Schofield at 9:35 a.m.
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