Boom, Bust, Boom, Bust....

The lost decade: prices now back to 2001 level

SO HOW did it all go so wrong in the property market? For a while there, mid-noughties, people in the property business felt they could walk on water. Now, with almost a decade of growth wiped off the value of Irish homes, both buyers and sellers are asking, how low can we go? Are we still in freefall, bumping along the bottom, or seeing the beginnings of recovery? Nobody wants to make the call.

[source: Irish Times - click for full article]

George Michael - December Song (I Dreamed of Christmas)

Although it's a nice song, I'm still not 100% decided if it lives up to the usual high quality of George's material in terms of content; it does feel somewhat short or lacking. Saying that, it does have a lovely melancholy feel about it, a nicely animated video and the softness of his aged voice make it pleasent to the ear.

Car Trouble

Although my ambition to get my driver's license by Dec 2008 fell by the wayside somewhat, I have been doing lots of driving in the meantime. I went for my first "official" lesson in the past 6 months there on Saturday and was happy to hear that the instructor deemed my driving up to test-ready standard, which is fantastic. I've applied for the test (hurrah! I hear you all say in unison), with an extra "asap, cancellations please!" in the comments section so hopefully I'll get a slot in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, my poor little Punto needs some TLC after failing the NCT :( I was pretty pissed off actually, as I had previously bought two spanking new front tyres pre-NCT only to be failed on one of the rear-tyres, some problem with the rear brakes (who needs brakes anyway, I say) and an undetermined engine leak (more than likely a loose cap somewhere). This means I've to fork out more cash, but hopefully I'll be able to get it re-tested in a week or so and be back out terrorizing slow-moving pedestrians and wobbly cyclists.

On the work front, I don't think I've ever been busier. It seems as though every contract job we had lined up have all suddenly come in at the same time, which is great for the company, but not so great for me as it means a few crazy busy weeks ahead especially as all the shared responsibilities that come with being in such a small company often means double-the-workload for me.

Motivation

Motivation does not come first, action does! You have to prime the pump.... Individuals who procrastinate frequently confuse motivation and action. You foolishly wait until you feel in the mood to do something. Since you don't feel like doing it, you automatically put it off.

Another Blow to Equality

The passing of Proposition 8 in California saddens me greatly. Although it does not affect us over here directly, it is sure to have further repercussions throughout the US and does nothing but strengthen the anti-gay and anti-equality sentiments that seem to still prevail throughout the world today. While on our trip to San Francisco we observed a a huge amount of public support for the No on Prop 8 campaign, but obviously it was no match for the conservative majority within the state of California.

"Sadly, fueled by misinformation, distortions and lies, millions of voters went to the polls yesterday and said YES to bigotry, YES to discrimination, YES to second-class status for same-sex couples."

Final Statement from No on Prop 8 Campaign

By Request

Following on from previous request(s) to cater to my audience (of 1)....





PS: I hate this stuff :)

Sia

For those of you that follow this blog (i.e. Mac), you are well aware of my liking for Sia's musical stylings. Myself and the other half went to see her a few months back in Crawdaddy, a venue which is beyond intimate, where she played a great set. Apart from the great songs and surprisingly powerful voice for someone so pixie-like, she has a great rapport on stage and sings as though she's singing to a group of friends. Tonight we're going to see her again, this time at the renovated Button Factory (previously the Temple Bar Music Centre). I'm sure it'll be as good as, if not better, than the last time we saw her. Some nice, mellow, yet quirky music to enjoy on a shitty dark and rainy evening such as this. She's also being supported by Scott Matthew, who did a lot of the songs for the movie 'Shortbus' (a film which even I found pretty shocking in places, especially the opening auto-fellatio scene!) for those of you who have seen this film.

Here's Sia's latest single, Soon We'll Be Found:

4 Days

getting closer...I can almost taste the pineapple

9 Days

I gave my talk today, and it went quite well. I talked a tad too fast, but overall I got some tought, but good questions and people seemed be interested enough as there was 20 mins of questions/discussion after the talk. It's a relief as it means that I basically have the whole presentation wrapped up. I just have to make one or two changes to the slides and to focus the talk a little more, but I am delighted....


...plus there's only 8 days left till I jet off.

11 Days to Go....

....and I cannot wait!