Hi There ! Apologies for not being around for a bit, but life has been busy thank God ! I have sat down on numerous occasions to write this blog, but I usually get too annoyed to write sensibly.
I am usually out and about on Irish roads every day of the week, and the examples of driving that I have witnessed (I'm sure you have too) is little short of shocking.
The first thing I'd like to try and do was something that I tried to start on my radio show some years ago, but I don't think it worked too well - the basic premise is to have a little more consideration for EVERYONE else on the road. We all know what its like to be stuck at a T junction and not being able to get out onto the main road - so here's a novel idea - why doesn't EVERY driver, let ONE car out. We've all been there ! Isn't it nice to let someone out from a side road (or another lane) ? Just as long as you are thanked for it. There is little in my world that annoys me more than when you are considerate and let someone in front of you, or out from a side road etc etc and you are NOT thanked for it. This is the height of bloody ignorance and bad manners.
I tow a lot of horses around the country in a trailer. If the hard shoulder is clear and, more importantly, in good condition, I will generally pull in to let people pass, cos I'll be holding them up, cos I'll be going slow ! It used be that almost all drivers would thank you in the form of a wave, a beep of the horn or more commonly a flash of the hazard lights, but now the amount of drivers who just think that it is your DUTY to pull onto the hard shoulder to let them pass, is incredible and becoming more and more common.
Here is the plain and simple rule - if another driver executes a move that makes your day easier and your journey quicker, then give em a wave, a flash of the hazard lights or a beep (or all three !!!) to say THANK YOU for making it a bit easier for me. Now there are those drivers that will say, "I'm not gonna thank someone for doing what they are supposed to do" - I ask why not ? How bad is it to raise a hand or flash the headlights. Here's an example.
I live on a narrow residential road where there is parking on the east side, but not on the west. If the traffic is parked on the side where I'm driving, I must stop and let the oncoming traffic pass and the road is clear before I can progress (you would not believe the drivers who appear to have no idea of this rule, and think that it is down to the person who is there first and that they enjoy the right of way - WRONG !) - however, what I'm trying to get across is even if it is your right of way, but especially if it is not, give a wave to the driver who stops so as you can proceed - you will actually feel the better of it !
I could go on and on and on about drivers in this country, but I'm boring myself, so by now you are happily snoring away at your keyboard !
Lets start here and now - let someone out and make their day (and in the process put a smile on your own face too)
Here endeth the lesson !
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Do we accept responsibility for our actions ?
I saw Diarmuid Gavin was in the news again recently - this time in a negative light, which I thought unusual as he seems a fairly affable kind of bloke, who doesn't go out of his way to be a complete berk, like others I can think of
Apparently (I didn't see the show) he was on the Late Late Show (an Irish TV institution), telling people that they complain too much. Then there was an article in one of the papers, that the genial ol people Ireland did not exactly like his criticisms. One of those forum boards, Political World, had many people venting their spleen about Gavin (with lots of dissenting terms as to who he is, who he is related to and how much he earns) and how dare he come back to Ireland and give out to the Irish for 'whingeing' too much
Indeed I thought it very funny that one bloke thought it worth pointing out that all these posters were doing was underlining Gavin's argument ! They were whingeing about the fact that Gavin blamed them all for whingeing !
But who is right here ? Are we, as a nation, whingeing too much ? or are we just p*ssed off when someone tells us we are ?
In my previous thread, I said I had been made redundant from my great job. At the time all we could hear on the radio was that as a whole, the country needed to reduce its spending and that overheads needed to be cut, etc etc. Everyone agreed ! Everyone that is, until you identify their industry as one of the targets
Oh yes, they said, we don't need that many civil servants, and we don't need that many of those and we could certainly do less with some of them - but not us Nurses, Teachers, Gardai (Police) or Firemen. 'The downturn is not OUR fault' you'd hear on all the talk shows - 'We are not responsible therefore we should not have pay cuts'
This was AFTER I had been already been told to close the door behind me ! Was I given a choice ? Was I responsible ? Did I cause the downturn ? Was I hell ! Yet I got shown the exit.
It drove me insane (and yes I know each and every one of us has their own cross to bear) to hear people IN employment, saying that I AM NOT going to take a reduction. This, all coming from the Civil Service (and yes I DO know what it is like, as I worked there before) where you are never checked as to the quality of work, you get promoted due to length of service, rather than ability, you (until recently) got an index linked pension, that you didn't even have to bloody contribute to and it was the doddle it was always supposed to be.
When leaving school, people have the choice, to try and get work in either the Public Sector or the Private one. We were told the Public Sector was far worse paid, but that the job was easier (and the Unions would protect you to the hilt) and you had safety of tenure (ie you could not be fired, unless you actually set fire to your boss ! or shot the Taoiseach !), but in the Private Sector, you would get paid more - much more in some cases, but you had to cope with something called 'responsibility', and that you could sometimes live or die, with that reponsibility !
Whats my point ? Good question ! I suppose that I agree with Gavin and that we do whinge too much, and that some of us do not know they are born, with the cushy situation they have.
I recall one caller into my late night radio show telling me that he had just come back from Spain on hols with his family. He had, on the last night, gone to a nice restaurant and had picked up the tab for the lot of them, and it had cost him only 20 quid a head, or so, for a slap-up meal. He said in Dublin it would have been about 50 a head and that everything here was a rip off. He added that his son worked in a bar, and that the son had said, that where he worked, all those drinks etc would be twice the price, if not more !
However neither he, nor his son, could get their head around the fact that in Spain, your average waiter/barman works for about 2.50 per hour, and yet here in Ireland, the pay was millimetres short of 9 euro per hour ! I had to ask the father if he would be happy if his son's earnings would be reduced to that amount, so as we could all go out and eat for a lot less - you can imagine what his answer was - suffice as to say, I am not prepared to print it here, but it went something like this
"^*&$!@?(&*%)$£!>:+) %^ !!!!!
Apparently (I didn't see the show) he was on the Late Late Show (an Irish TV institution), telling people that they complain too much. Then there was an article in one of the papers, that the genial ol people Ireland did not exactly like his criticisms. One of those forum boards, Political World, had many people venting their spleen about Gavin (with lots of dissenting terms as to who he is, who he is related to and how much he earns) and how dare he come back to Ireland and give out to the Irish for 'whingeing' too much
Indeed I thought it very funny that one bloke thought it worth pointing out that all these posters were doing was underlining Gavin's argument ! They were whingeing about the fact that Gavin blamed them all for whingeing !
But who is right here ? Are we, as a nation, whingeing too much ? or are we just p*ssed off when someone tells us we are ?
In my previous thread, I said I had been made redundant from my great job. At the time all we could hear on the radio was that as a whole, the country needed to reduce its spending and that overheads needed to be cut, etc etc. Everyone agreed ! Everyone that is, until you identify their industry as one of the targets
Oh yes, they said, we don't need that many civil servants, and we don't need that many of those and we could certainly do less with some of them - but not us Nurses, Teachers, Gardai (Police) or Firemen. 'The downturn is not OUR fault' you'd hear on all the talk shows - 'We are not responsible therefore we should not have pay cuts'
This was AFTER I had been already been told to close the door behind me ! Was I given a choice ? Was I responsible ? Did I cause the downturn ? Was I hell ! Yet I got shown the exit.
It drove me insane (and yes I know each and every one of us has their own cross to bear) to hear people IN employment, saying that I AM NOT going to take a reduction. This, all coming from the Civil Service (and yes I DO know what it is like, as I worked there before) where you are never checked as to the quality of work, you get promoted due to length of service, rather than ability, you (until recently) got an index linked pension, that you didn't even have to bloody contribute to and it was the doddle it was always supposed to be.
When leaving school, people have the choice, to try and get work in either the Public Sector or the Private one. We were told the Public Sector was far worse paid, but that the job was easier (and the Unions would protect you to the hilt) and you had safety of tenure (ie you could not be fired, unless you actually set fire to your boss ! or shot the Taoiseach !), but in the Private Sector, you would get paid more - much more in some cases, but you had to cope with something called 'responsibility', and that you could sometimes live or die, with that reponsibility !
Whats my point ? Good question ! I suppose that I agree with Gavin and that we do whinge too much, and that some of us do not know they are born, with the cushy situation they have.
I recall one caller into my late night radio show telling me that he had just come back from Spain on hols with his family. He had, on the last night, gone to a nice restaurant and had picked up the tab for the lot of them, and it had cost him only 20 quid a head, or so, for a slap-up meal. He said in Dublin it would have been about 50 a head and that everything here was a rip off. He added that his son worked in a bar, and that the son had said, that where he worked, all those drinks etc would be twice the price, if not more !
However neither he, nor his son, could get their head around the fact that in Spain, your average waiter/barman works for about 2.50 per hour, and yet here in Ireland, the pay was millimetres short of 9 euro per hour ! I had to ask the father if he would be happy if his son's earnings would be reduced to that amount, so as we could all go out and eat for a lot less - you can imagine what his answer was - suffice as to say, I am not prepared to print it here, but it went something like this
"^*&$!@?(&*%)$£!>:+) %^ !!!!!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Welcome
Hi there !
Following the advice of many people, I have begun to start my first blog - and here it is ! I feel like a guy who has just asked this beautiful girl to dance whilst the music was nice and loud and fast, and now the sodding DJ has just put on a slow set - my message to you the reader (or the girl in the dance scene), is to be gentle !!
I am an Irishman who during the day is a professional radio broadcaster and who at night turns into something very different ! I used host a late night radio program, which aimed, through me and a panel of guests, to run a fine comb through the news and current affairs of the day just gone and try and dissect what had happened and, more importantly, why !
It was called, ironically enough, Late Night Live and went out on the Irish talk station NewsTalk106-108fm (www.newstalk.ie) but because of the economic downturn, and worldwide recession, they (the powers that be) decided to axe my show, and make me and my team redundant !
I cannot really describe how that made me feel, but I CAN tell you that I left that room, feeling that I had just had a sparring bout with Mike Tyson. The news came from nowhere and caught me completely by surprise. I still cannot quite figure it out ! The show had just one 2 National Radio Awards and in terms of listener participation, we had the second highest on the station - AND all of that came with pretty much ZERO support from management. There are still people working in the station who are as useful as a chocolate tea pot, and yet they are still there. I could go on, but I would bore you to tears and put myself in a bad mood.
Anyway, since all of that, I have kept myself busy - and here perhaps IS something worth reading. If you find yourself left out in the cold, and you feel very very p*ssed off, then do NOT sit around and sulk and expect the phone to ring with Spielberg on the other end, saying he wants YOU to be his new star - cos that ain't gonna happen ! Likewise, buying lots of lotto tickets is in the parlance of a bookie - 'an outside chance'
Get active ! Do something ! I made a complete annoyance out of myself and rang everyone I knew that was in business and asked 'is there anything I can do to help you out ?' I have baby sat, done deliveries, drove a car to the UK, voiced some ads, coached others in how to use their own voice in their own productions, delivered horses from one part of the country to another, been a contributer on other radio stations, lectured in 2 colleges (and now one of them wants me to do more), taken photos for a book and I have got some great work sitting in for others when they cannot do their radio shows - the bottom point is, do anything that will 1. get you a few bob (no matter how small) and 2. gets you out and about and not moping at home.
I describe my current situation as like having a load of jigsaw pieces, but I just want to make one puzzle ! I have to say that if I was to go into one job tomorrow, I would sort of miss the life of not knowing what you're going to be doing tomorrow or the day after, but I would NOT miss the financial uncertainty that it brings
Here I must mention my girlfriend A, without whom I would be lost ! Quite simply, she has paid for our house, since my money well ran dry. Don't get me wrong, some of the work was well paid and great, but sometimes it is very hard to GET paid and whilst I would chip in as best I could and as often, without her, I (we) would be lost.
I fully realise I am lucky to have such a girl by my side, and I also realise that not everyone has such luck, but then I was unlucky to lose the feckin job in the first place !
If such a fate has befallen you (and it seems to be happening to a lot more people these days) try and be as positive as possible and although the future may not look bright, view it as maybe time to try something else. I know of one accountant who now works in a bar and loves it - he told me that biggest problem he had was telling himself that he was a qualified accountant and that they don't work behind bars !
I told him - 'they do now'
Following the advice of many people, I have begun to start my first blog - and here it is ! I feel like a guy who has just asked this beautiful girl to dance whilst the music was nice and loud and fast, and now the sodding DJ has just put on a slow set - my message to you the reader (or the girl in the dance scene), is to be gentle !!
I am an Irishman who during the day is a professional radio broadcaster and who at night turns into something very different ! I used host a late night radio program, which aimed, through me and a panel of guests, to run a fine comb through the news and current affairs of the day just gone and try and dissect what had happened and, more importantly, why !
It was called, ironically enough, Late Night Live and went out on the Irish talk station NewsTalk106-108fm (www.newstalk.ie) but because of the economic downturn, and worldwide recession, they (the powers that be) decided to axe my show, and make me and my team redundant !
I cannot really describe how that made me feel, but I CAN tell you that I left that room, feeling that I had just had a sparring bout with Mike Tyson. The news came from nowhere and caught me completely by surprise. I still cannot quite figure it out ! The show had just one 2 National Radio Awards and in terms of listener participation, we had the second highest on the station - AND all of that came with pretty much ZERO support from management. There are still people working in the station who are as useful as a chocolate tea pot, and yet they are still there. I could go on, but I would bore you to tears and put myself in a bad mood.
Anyway, since all of that, I have kept myself busy - and here perhaps IS something worth reading. If you find yourself left out in the cold, and you feel very very p*ssed off, then do NOT sit around and sulk and expect the phone to ring with Spielberg on the other end, saying he wants YOU to be his new star - cos that ain't gonna happen ! Likewise, buying lots of lotto tickets is in the parlance of a bookie - 'an outside chance'
Get active ! Do something ! I made a complete annoyance out of myself and rang everyone I knew that was in business and asked 'is there anything I can do to help you out ?' I have baby sat, done deliveries, drove a car to the UK, voiced some ads, coached others in how to use their own voice in their own productions, delivered horses from one part of the country to another, been a contributer on other radio stations, lectured in 2 colleges (and now one of them wants me to do more), taken photos for a book and I have got some great work sitting in for others when they cannot do their radio shows - the bottom point is, do anything that will 1. get you a few bob (no matter how small) and 2. gets you out and about and not moping at home.
I describe my current situation as like having a load of jigsaw pieces, but I just want to make one puzzle ! I have to say that if I was to go into one job tomorrow, I would sort of miss the life of not knowing what you're going to be doing tomorrow or the day after, but I would NOT miss the financial uncertainty that it brings
Here I must mention my girlfriend A, without whom I would be lost ! Quite simply, she has paid for our house, since my money well ran dry. Don't get me wrong, some of the work was well paid and great, but sometimes it is very hard to GET paid and whilst I would chip in as best I could and as often, without her, I (we) would be lost.
I fully realise I am lucky to have such a girl by my side, and I also realise that not everyone has such luck, but then I was unlucky to lose the feckin job in the first place !
If such a fate has befallen you (and it seems to be happening to a lot more people these days) try and be as positive as possible and although the future may not look bright, view it as maybe time to try something else. I know of one accountant who now works in a bar and loves it - he told me that biggest problem he had was telling himself that he was a qualified accountant and that they don't work behind bars !
I told him - 'they do now'
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