Finally!

A long time ago, WAY back in 2013, we were struggling to figure out the ins and outs of our new Irish apartment. What is this strange washer in the kitchen? Why do all of the power sockets have switches...and why is there just a weird "shavers only" plug on the bathroom light? Are these Irish things or just big city things? Does every Irish home use an immersion water heater? Why does the water from that heater come out of our separate hot and cold water taps at skin-melting temperatures?

This week, Sara showed me a video that quickly explains why many of our apartment oddities (or normalities, depending on who is doing the asking) are the way they are. This video – from the Anglophenia series, which humorously explains British culture to Americans – is a good primer for anyone in the States to see what one might expect in an English home.

Yes, the video series is about England, not Ireland, and the Irish would be after me if I ever compared Ireland to the UK in any way. But there's simply no denying that the English left a pretty strong cultural impression when they finally let (most of) Ireland have independence. Left-side driving on the roads, blood sausage and curry sauce, rugby, and, of course, the English language.

Onward! In the video, our host explains the dual-use washer/dryer in the kitchen – although she leaves out the part about clothing not being dry after a two-hour drying cycle. She goes on to explain why there aren't any power sockets in the bathroom – so that's why we can't listen to the radio while we're in the shower? And hot and cold water taps are still separate...just because? I've been burning my fingers for nothing!

Interestingly, the last thing she shows us is the window – as she demonstrates that there isn't central heating or air conditioning in the mild climate of the British Isles – and she cracks that leaving the window open will lead to a room full of pigeons. Canny Americans will wonder, "How are birds getting in through the screen?"

How indeed? Not being plagued by sky-blocking swarms of mosquitoes, homes in the UK and Ireland usually don't need screens blocking the few precious rays of direct sunlight that filter through the clouds to their homes.

So there you are, American friends. If you've ever wondered what terrible hardships we suffer in our day-to-day lives, this video is a good start. A bathroom with no counter space? A washer and dryer that doesn't do either very well? Electrical outlets (and very few of them, mind) with switches? Believe it or not, it's possible to survive in such circumstances...somehow.

We Don't Need No Screens?

While we've been enjoying the long days and decreased rainfall of our second summer in Dublin, we are noticing something distinctly missing from the summer evening air... and from buildings as a result.

Mosquitoes, wasps, and other nasty North American pests just don't seem to show their faces here in suburban Dublin. Having just returned from an extended visit to my home continent, the entomological difference is even more distinct.

When we first moved here, we noticed that our apartment had beautiful, big new windows that opened on to a shielded patio. We saw that there were no screens on these or any other windows in our apartment. When we asked the real estate agent about screens and bugs, she said that they really weren't a problem in Dublin.

Screenless, Large Windows

We've since just gotten used to going out on a summer evening with no insect repellant for a walk or a picnic- and having no problems. We aren't plagued by endless mosquitoes during wet weather. We don't get bites from nasty chiggers on our ankles when enjoying a sunset picnic.

The only insects that do occasionally pop up here in high summer are largely harmless. When we open the big windows in the apartment, we sometimes get large houseflies that usually come in for a buzz around the room before exiting out the same window through which the entered. Also, wooded trails were busy with hatching gnats through much of June. Gnats, while bothersome, aren't aggressive and painful like the biting black flies and asian beetles of a Midwestern summer.

The issue with insects is an interesting example of different baselines between people. Bugs are comparatively a small issue here, but people here are just as annoyed with the few gnats and midges here as we are with the buzzing, stinging, biting menaces of Iowa.

If you are in the American Midwest (...or the American South, whew!), and need a break from the bugs, make your way to Dublin. If you are reading from Dublin and are bothered by that one itchy midge bite, get yourself to Minnesota and spend some time on a lakeshore in the evening. You'll get to know very well the state bird of that great state, clouds of fist-sized and literally bloodthirsty mosquitoes!

Expat FAQ Page

In case you missed it, I wrote and published a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page in the upper tab list of the blog. See it there? Between About and Contact? We get questions (and love them!) from potential expats and tourists through our contact form, and this FAQ addresses some of the questions we hear regularly.

If you care to, pop up to the Expat FAQ tab above and skim through it.

Don't let the FAQ stop you from dropping us a line in the Contact page with questions, comments, and feedback. We'd love to hear from you.

Traffic Arrows

Look at the photo below.  Go ahead, take a long and healthy look at it.  The text of this post will wait...

Which way?

Clearly some kind of street marking.  Looks like an arrow of some kind.  These markings are on many city streets, usually at road-merging locations like the one in the photo.  "What's the big deal?"  One might ask.  The big deal is in the direction, not the marking.

So we all know that traffic moves on the left side here in Ireland, The U.K., and a few other countries.  Pedestrians here have to get used to looking for oncoming traffic on the correct side, especially if they want to be bold jaywalkers ignoring crosswalk lights.  No problem there, as most corners with crossings are marked with paint on the street with warnings to "LOOK LEFT" and "LOOK RIGHT."  I am only guessing this is for the convenience and safety of visitors from Continental Europe and North America- who are all used to traffic moving up to run them down on the right side.

But what about that marking above?  We were utterly confused our first week here when we saw these "arrows" on the street, because cars always drove from the narrow point to the wide side of the arrow- making this not really an arrow at all... A reverse arrow?  Sort of...?

In The States, traffic arrows dictate the traveler go from the wide end to the narrow point, like an arrow from an archer's bow.  The point is the direction.  These markings look a bit like a pointing arrow, but traffic moves the other way.

Totally unresearched guess:  Going from the point to the wide side the symbol, if one really makes a stretch, looks like it is spilling or pushing out onto the street.  Can anyone else see that?  It takes some time.  Going from point to wide has an almost inviting visual connotation, as if the symbol is opening up in the merging lane to welcome and admit visiting cars to the new road- which may or may not be marked with a sign.

Does that mean that all direction sign arrows are reversed like this?  Well... no.

Again one will ask, "What's the big deal?  Why does this little minor difference that clearly works for these people warrant a (getting longer and longer) blog post?"

...I guess it doesn't, but it's fun to think now, after six months in Dublin, about all the little confusions, unanswered questions, and subtle-but-tangible differences we were experiencing.  I would point to this as a warning to foreign visitors driving in Dublin, but chances a foreign (American) driver in Dublin City will have much larger worries than simple little hollow arrows pointing the wrong way. 

Gedding some Bedding

When packing our meager selection of possessions, we had to rule out most of our larger pieces.  We know about most of the chunky hobby equipment like my 5 gallon fermenting vessels and most of our kitchen tools, but what about some often unseen but vital housewares like bedding?

Certainly we couldn't bring along our large comforter on this trip, nor was it nice enough to put into our parent's basements storage space, so along it went on our month-long road trip, never to be heard from again.  Same story with sheets.  Who knew what size bed we would find in the furnished apartment scene here in Dublin?  "Probably not queen size." was our thought, and we were correct.  Most of the apartments we looked at (and the one we chose) have double size beds.  We got some cheap double size sheets our first week here, along with pillows.  Blankets, or what we may have called a comforter back in Iowa, were another story.

We did bring along one homemade fleece blanket, one Iowa Hawkeyes fleece blanket, and Sara's Thesis Blanket that are all personal cherished treasures for us.  Treasures, yes.  Warm enough for the approaching Autumn?  No.  We had to find something warmer and fitting the double size bed.  Luckily, Sara was sharp enough to check the discount department store before buying anything too expensive.  She found something called a duvet.  That word sounded unfamiliar and suspiciously Frenchy to me when I first heard it.  Apparently they do their sleeping warmers just a bit different than we (I) were familiar with.

Duvet and Sheets

...So, the duvet is just the warm part of the equation.  The liner of the duvet cover.  We I didn't know much about the changeable duvet/duvet cover system, so we started using the duvet without the cover.  I remember saying things like, "Boy!  This sure was a cheap duvet.  It keeps very warm, but the material feels really rough and the seams don't seem very strong."  If only there were something with which to cover this cheap duvet-thing...

We later learned about the changeable duvet cover/duvet liner situation.  The duvets are rated on a scale of insulation, called TOG.  Higher TOG numbers are warmer duvets.  Duvet covers are softer and more durable, protecting the warm liner within.  Many duvet covers are more expensive than the duvets themselves.  The duvet cover is open on one end and closed with a series of buttons.  The duvet is stuffed into the duvet cover on the open side then the buttons are sealed up.  Once we bought a specific, dedicated duvet cover, the system all made sense.  We now have a washable, comfortable, durable comforter (as we would call it in Iowa) to keep warm at night.  After we purchased the duvet cover, I realized that we did have a duvet cover in our first bedsheet set, but we had been using it as a flat sheet.  "...So that's what those buttons are used for on the flat sheet!  I wondered why that sheet was so big for the bed!"  

Totally unresearched conclusions:  A lighter duvet is in the duvet cover during warm summer months while a heavier, warmer duvet is in the cover during the cold winter?  Duvet covers can be swapped out to match the current color palette of the bedroom set?

Whatever the trend, it was one more little change that was only recently solved permanently, mostly due to laziness and penny-pinching on my part.  It finally feels like, we have a real home or something... weird.

Cooking with Crap, Cooking with the Good Stuff

[Editor's note] This post is not some desperate ploy to get nice things sent to us.  I feel obligated to mention that because the fantastic friends and family we have might get some crazy ideas if I didn't...

When we got married (all those years ago!) we were blessed with so many generous gifts from our friends and family, many of which were high quality kitchen tools.  We had all sizes of stainless steel pans, non-stick cookware, sharp knives, and- most importantly- a place to keep it all!  We had any tool we could have possibly needed for new dishes and new techniques we wanted to try.  Our equipment made cooking so easy and pleasurable, until...

Moving time.  Space and weight were major considerations for us when packing for the move.  It would have been incredibly difficult to justify bringing even one piece of cookware, especially with most apartments here being 'furnished' with varying bits and bobs.  We decided to pack away (not sell or dump!) our nice equipment and cobble together what we could in Dublin.  "How bad can cheap cookware be...?"

Yeah...

How bad could it be?  Pretty bad, turns out.  We had seen the cheap cookware at stores back home, of course, but never had reason to use it.  We understood (at some level) that the high end stuff must be "better" somehow, but we never got to see just how steep the drop was.

Sad Pancakes

On our first trip to the charity shops, we picked up a non-stick skillet for two Euro.  "Sweet!" We thought, "A non stick skillet!"  The surface looked to be in good shape, and there wasn't much wear on the handle or bottom.  Sadly, when we put it on the stove (a flat electric cooktop above the fridge) it wobbled visibly as it heated up.  The metal was so thin and of such low quality that it literally warped into a convex bulge when hot.  Even cooking would be a joke with a surface like this, with less than a third of the skillet touching the heat.  Well...

Off to the store for a new skillet.  We dropped 10 or 12 Euro on a new non stick skillet at the supermarket to meet our cooking needs.  Thinking our problems over, we put the skillet in action and... yeah.  The pan warped, the food stuck, it was a mess.  What a disappointment.

Time to pop for something real.  Sara found on Amazon.co.uk a heavy-duty non stick skillet that has been our kitchen workhorse.  The dense metal holds heat and doesn't warp when heated.  The surface has remained non stick through repeated use.  The all-metal design (including the handle) lets us use it in the oven for casseroles and pizza.

Real pancakes!

...Now That's Breakfast!

Our current kitchen equipment status could probably be rated as 'satisfactory.'  The skillet is a heavy hitter, as is a saucepan that was a nice score from a charity shop.  We are currently using a sub-par grocery store kitchen knife that mashes more than cuts through vegetables.  Our Wusthof 9" chef knife (currently awaiting our return to Iowa) is sorely missed.  The ceramic knife we obtained from Amazon was a nice sharp cutter, but the blade snapped when I was crushing a clove of garlic.

They say you don't know what you got 'till it's gone, and we learned that lesson the hard way... with mushy, doughy, burned, and crushed pancakes.

Skeleton Keys

One of the first things we noticed when we arrived in Ireland was the ubiquitous use of the skeleton key here.  I had not seen one of these keys ever used, and only on very old doors did I see the classic skeleton keyhole- the old kind through which one could surreptitiously spy on the occupants of the next room.

Here, they have been updated to stay with current key technology.  Modern keyholes are no longer open all the way through, so keyhole skulduggery is much more difficult.  The cuts of the keys are also much more refined, with as many ridges and shapes as the smaller, long-toothed keys we know in America.

This is not to say that skeleton keys are the only ones used here, many doors use the smaller keys we know and love, some even have two keyholes- a small key for the knob lock and a skeleton key for a dead-bolt.  Many locks and doors here use decorative knobs, that is, knobs that don't actually turn an opening mechanism.  Some knobs are simply handles with which to push and pull a door that has been unlocked with a key.  Doors like this are handy for automatic locking- just make sure to take the keys to avoid being locked out.

Our door uses a skeleton key dead-bolt with a decorative knob.  The door to get into the apartment building is of the automatic locking variety, so we use two separate keys to get into our own home.

A Skeleton Key

Skeleton Keyhole

Decorative knob- bolt is permanently locked

The skeleton key with the decorative knob does present one issue for which we were not prepared.  When the door is unlocked, there is no mechanical device actually holding the door closed, so it is free to be pushed open at will.  This isn't a security worry while we are home, but we found an annoying issue with air pressure.  When the hallway door was opened and closed, the pressure in the hallway would change ever so slightly.  This wasn't noticeable by the people in the hallway, but the gentle push of air was always enough to cause our door to push in about a quarter of an inch- and close again on its wooden frame.  This frequent door-banging got annoying quickly.

Locking the door wasn't as much help as we had thought- to our dismay.  The dead-bolt of the lock didn't sit tight in its socket, so the air pressure would cause the door to move and rattle the bolt in its socket a few times, almost louder than the door moving and banging on the wood frame!  Something had to be done, and I know just the man for the job!

Stuffing the Socket

First, we had to pad that socket.  To the recycling box!  What do we have?  Newspaper?  A cardboard cereal box?  Great!  Add some clear tape, and we have a pad.  I simply had to find the correct size and shape of my pad through trial-and-error.  Easily done.

Now what about that door banging on the wooden frame.  Shouldn't I go to the hardware store and purchase some indoor stripping to pad that frame?  Haven't you been reading?  No!  Newspaper, cardboard, and tape!

Padding the Frame

Now, things are just as we need them.  Our door still moves when unlocked, but the pad on the frame muffles the loud banging to a very dull "thump."  When locked, the pad in the dead-bolt socket holds it tight.  It's great to have a rental property where I actually have a good reason to practice my work-around home fixes.

The World's Cheapest Suit

When I was offered my new job, one of the requirements was the purchase of an all-black suit.  Until now, my definition of a "suit" has been a black sport coat I purchased in 2002 for $1.50 at a thrift store with black slacks.  Finally, I needed to actually get something with matching pieces.

We don't need to go into my feelings on spending money in this post, but suffice it to say that I had certain financial hopes and expectations about my new suit before our purchase, and I was worried.  A department store in Dublin called Penney's (not J.C. Penney, despite the spelling...) offers department store fare with Wal-Mart-like quality and prices.  We could only hope that Penney's offered men's suits.  If they didn't, we would be stuck getting something nice.  We also hoped for a suit that would be machine washable.  I didn't want to be spending significant money maintaining a suit that I had just spend significant money obtaining, see?  

Our hopes were realized when we found the far back corner of Penney's, a small rack of polyester two-piece suits on offer for low-double-digit prices.  The polyester is shiny, but it fits reasonably well and is comfortable enough.  Where the suit does show its quality is in durability and care.

After the first few wearings, it was time to wash the suit.  I was certainly glad I could use the machine instead of the cleaners down the street, but I was nervous about what the machine would do to my new threads.  I had to go for it, so in it went.  

When the suit came out of the washer, it was clean BUT was thoroughly wrinkled AND the creases in the pants were gone, just gone.  "Now I have to figure out how to iron this thing?"  Turns out, it can be ironed, but very carefully.

Ironing Polyester?

Using the internet, I saw some tips about ironing polyester.  A wet piece of cloth (a clean T-shirt did for me) laid over the garment protects it from the direct heat of the iron.  Using the wet cloth, I found out, requires much higher heat on the iron, but it achieves a nice, smooth result.  I was even able to get the firm creases back on my pants.  I daresay it looked better than when I bought it!

Well, now we are clean and pressed, but our suit time isn't over.  On the second wearing of the suit, both the front button and the back pocket button had popped off.  I couldn't hardly go to work with no buttons, but I wanted to make sure this wouldn't become a weekly activity.  I wanted to do it right.  Thanks again to the internet and its magical ability to teach someone anything without a teacher, I was able to get it done.

Getting materials ready

I went to the sewing kit for my materials.  We had everything we needed right at hand.  I learned quickly that the large curtain needles were not the correct tools for the job.  Luckily, I did find a smaller, sharper needle to penetrate the hard plastic fibers of these pants.

Needlenose sewing pliers?

Penetrating the plastic fibers proved to be more difficult than I had thought, especially in the dense fabric of the waist.  I had to go to my fishing kit to collect my needlenose pliers to pull the needle through the fabric.

I was able to find a use for those chunky curtain needles in the form of a handy spacer.  The website I found recommended that I use a spacer to give my button a bit of wiggle room so as not to be too tight when buttoning fabric.  These large, blunt needles were perfect for this purpose.

Needle as a spacer

After a good number of stitches using doubled-up thread, I had a satisfying and durable button to securely hold up my pants.

Finished front button

Now for the back button.  This one proved to be a bit more challenging because the button sits inside of the back pocket.  The fabric was easier to penetrate with the needle, but I had to be careful with my positioning.

Working on the pocket button

It was tricky, but I managed it- a firm and pleasing repair.

There! All finished!

Experienced sewers reading this will probably laugh at my improvised methods and my excitement and pride at completing such a minor sewing task.  I am still glad that I was able to make this repair myself.  It even feels a bit "manly" and empowering to be able to properly maintain my clothing, where so many men before me passed this job on to their wives and daughters.  Men of the world!  Learn to sew!  It feels great!  And learn how to tie your own necktie while you are at it.  Don't know how?  Hit the internet, brothers!

A Quest to Find "Our" Neighborhood Pub

Pubs are important here.  I talked to one of my local friends who hinted that Dubliners navigate to new areas based on their proximity to pubs.  "Don't ever give directions by road signs, but go by the nearest pub!"  We are lucky (?) enough to have several quality pubs within walking distance of our place.  We set out to find the one that would be "our" neighborhood pub.  We had several criteria in mind as we began:  Proximity, Atmosphere, Price.

 

One of our first nights in the new place, we walked up to Donnybrook and checked out the pub/restaurant with the biggest storefront and signs.  Keily's of Donnybrook, with Rock Lobster seafood restaurant on the second floor (second floor American, that is.  In Europe, the ground floor is 0 and what Americans would call the second floor is called the first floor.)  The atmosphere was a bit large, it was close to our home, and the prices were ok.  We'll come back to this one.

Frog Enjoying Bulmer's and Smithwick's

A little bit farther North, but still in Donnybrook is McCloskey's.  The pub has a great atmosphere with retro red carpet and cushy seats and chairs.  It's nice and quiet, but not too cramped.  Prices are a bit higher for drinks here, but a bit lower for pub food.  The pub also has an off license (liquor store) attached, so the bartender sometimes has to walk to the walk-up window to sell a bottle to a customer coming off the street.  Frog enjoyed a Bulmer's Irish Hard Apple Cider and a Smithwick's Irish Ale here.

Once on our way back from Donnybrook, we saw at the back of the building housing Kiely's the following sign:

Ciss Madden's

Another pub at the back of Kiely's?  With whiskey barrels for tables on the patio?  We had to check it out.  Inside, it was just what we wanted:  Just enough space to not be cramped, but not enough to be cavernous, televisions tuned to sports channels, a lively group of regular visitors, and good prices for drinks.  On this day, we decided to try the less internationally famous Irish stout, Beamish.  Made in Cork, Beamish is a bit sweeter than Guinness, but we still prefer Guinness because the foam is a bit smoother and we both prefer our stouts just a bit more dry than sweet.  Ciss Madden's takes the cup... or the glass!

Beamish on Barrel

Breaking Bad Party

The world is getting smaller, no doubt about it.  Technology allows us to be more connected than ever.  This isn't news to anyone, of course, but expats are more aware than most of these changes.  Years ago, and not that many years ago, moving to Ireland would have meant expensive and infrequent contact with family and friends in the States and an almost total abandonment of our favorite American entertainment.

It is certainly a plus to be able to contact our American connections with free emails, facebook messages, blog posts(!), and Skype calls.  This also means, for better or for worse, that we have access to all the American sports and entertainment we can handle.  We are probably less well assimilated to the culture here for it, but at least we get out of paying TV tax by simply not owning a television set.

Our TV fixes are satisfied by Netflix, our inexpensive American entertainment artery.  With the magic of...some additional software... we are able to trick convince Netflix and Hulu that we are accessing their services from the States and not have our content blocked.  This gives us access to the full Netflix library instead of the much more limited Irish Netflix library.

We did find an upside to logging in as the European residents we are this year.  Breaking Bad, one of the biggest shows in the Western World right now, aired its final season this fall.  In America, one could only (legally) watch it with a cable subscription.  The Netflix release had to wait for the US DVD release.  Other countries, however, can't get the American cable channels, so Netflix worked out a deal to play the Breaking Bad episodes for international customers the day after they aired on American cable TV.  "Turn off that...additional software... and let's see some BB action!"

Meth Cookies?  Crank-Covered-Crackers?

For the season premiere, Sara made up a batch of sugar cookies with blue sugar topping.  It was nerdy, internet-y, and amazingly cute.  The blue food coloring was difficult to find and expensive, but it added a fun touch to our Monday night entertainment.  In daily life, the lack of cheap, generic, stuff at big box stores takes some adjustment.  For many products (like food coloring, light bulbs, contact solution...), it is not as easy here to "just grab the cheapest one of the 17 choices on the shelf!" as it was in Iowa.  We are able to find all of our essentials, but we have to get used to a more limited selection and higher prices.

At least we can enjoy the sweet cookies... and all the American TV we can stomach.  Our Irish friends have convinced us to get into one of the big drama shows here called Love/Hate on RTE, so we can dip our toes into truly Irish-produced television entertainment.  We're already sold on sports television here, so we will have something new to watch until Hurling and Gaelic Football seasons start up again next year.

Nope, just blue sugar.  Glad we found that food coloring!

Press it Good- Ooh Baby Baby!

Coffee.  The fuel of America.  More than oil, Americans need this black gold every morning in oversized mugs and plastic travel cups featuring popular gas station logos.  Our habit in all of our years of marriage has been to have coffee ready first thing in the morning.  Our first coffee maker didn't have a timer, but we quickly upgraded thanks to our family to a timer-operated model.

We were accustomed to filling the machine with water and coffee grounds and setting the start timer for just before we were to wake up.  Nothing helps get someone out of bed more than the smell of freshly-brewed coffee waiting in the kitchen.  These timer-driven coffee machines needed to be plugged in and drawing power all the time, just another one of those appliances we never noticed drawing power all day-every day.  A machine like this wouldn't work in our new power plan paradigm, not after our reflection on power socket switches.

No worries, as machines like that aren't widely (and cheaply) available here anyway.  What can we use to make coffee in the morning?  Do we have to switch to tea?  Nope- enter the French Press.

Here, it's called a cafetiere.  That, ironically, must be the French word for what Americans call the French Press.  Confused?  Good.  These devices are certainly not unheard of in the States, but they are new to us, so they warrant the blog space here.  How do we use the press every morning?  Easy.

Street Signs

An open letter to our new Dublin friends and neighbours-

I am an American recently relocated your great city, and what a great city it is. My wife and I have sincerely enjoyed our time here so far. The people have all been welcoming, friendly, and eager to strike up a conversation with any smiling stranger within earshot, the historic buildings and landmarks are inspiring, and the bustling city is a welcome and refreshing change of scenery. In fact, in Dublin, I am strongly reminded of my own American hometown.

Dubuque, Iowa has an interesting history. After being established on Fox Native American Tribal lands by French lead miners, a booming manufacturing community sprang up. This boom town was quickly populated by a large influx of German and Irish immigrants. This volatile combination led to some interesting community development. The two disagreeing clans built and maintained two separate communities with their own schools, banks, and churches. In fact, St. Mary’s (German) and St. Patrick’s (Irish) Roman Catholic churches were built within sight of one another and attended along strict national lines. The industrious and penny-pinching Germans settled and developed the North side of Dubuque with square single family homes with square gardens built on grid-patterned, numbered streets. The Irish immigrants, just as frugal and hard-working, built their neighbourhoods of multi-family row houses along cobbled streets built upon winding cattle trails established by farmers and ranchers decades earlier. The Irish families built lively social communities in the bird’s nest of streets winding through what Dubuquers now call “Little Dublin.” Happily, these nationalistic disagreements faded as-maybe sadly, certainly inevitably- the immigrants were assimilated into the modern American industrial culture. I, like many modern-day Dubuque natives, am proudly descended from robust Irish and German stock. The South End of Dubuque is a civil engineering nightmare, but it has something Dublin does not- consistently well-marked streets.

How many times a week is the average Dubliner stopped for directions by a wide-eyed, confused-looking individual? I myself have been stopped more than a dozen times in two months. Even when wearing my Iowa tee shirt and white Auburn University baseball cap- might as well be a full-size American flag- I am waved down on the street by these lost souls. The fact is, no one from out of town (or even from a different part of town) can hope to find their way around this wonderful city. The reason, of course, is the street sign plan.

Back to Dubuque, and every other old American city. Confusing tangles of streets are, of course, not unheard of, but all roads and intersections are clearly marked on all sides with a brightly coloured sign, well lit at night and high above street level. The more confusing intersections have large signs 50 or 100 metres before them on all sides, warning and preparing drivers of roundabouts, multi-road intersections, and unusual turning lanes. Drivers and pedestrians in America can depend on these high-up, bright signs at every intersection, period. When driving in an unfamiliar city, anyone who doesn't know the name of a road need only proceed to the next intersection and look up. There is never a doubt, and lost navigators never have to go more than one block out of the way to get a reading on their location.

In Dublin, the road signs seem to be placed wherever and whenever convenient. Garden walls, brick buildings, and wrought iron fences at corners are all candidates for signhood. Signs are pretty, to be sure. Always printed in both Irish and English, they have proven invaluable to us learning snippets of the Irish language. Practical usefulness to drivers? Not very often. Too many intersections have inadequate signage for drivers and walkers. Many signs are stuck low on garden walls and overgrown with hedges. Many intersections are marked by signs that are visible from only one side. Cars going north can see a sign, but the southbound travelers have to go with their best guess. Many intersections have no street signs at all. None.  Not one. To Americans (or any visitors), these are maddening. Drivers may have directions such as, “follow This Road, turn right on That Lane.” Simple enough, except when the corner of This and That has no sign for either. Drivers on This Road won't know they've gotten to That Lane and vice versa. Confused yet? So are we. And maps? Forget maps in a car. What good can a map be without the satisfying physical reinforcement of a sign? 

Even out-of-town Irish drivers seem to have a difficult time here in the Big City. During the Dublin Horse Show at the RDS, I nodded solemnly as I saw car after car with Irish license plates driving aimlessly in Donnybrook. I recognized the faces of hopeful show goers in the cars. I saw the hope drain from their eyes while frustrated and scared adults desperately scanned the surrounding buildings, fences, and trees for any trace of a road sign and impatient youngsters cried for mercy and freedom in the back seat. On the main suburban roads heading into town, the routes are wide and well-marked. The lanes are marked by route names and numbers at every interchange. Getting into the city is not a problem, it’s navigating within the city that gets drivers in trouble.

Maybe our new Irish friends and neighbours enjoy being asked for directions. They are certainly always eager to help strangers from what I've seen. Maybe they depend on confusing signage for entertainment! My best guess is that they are going with the old line, “it’s worked for centuries, why stop now?” It’s a fair point, I must admit. The city seems to function just fine with things just as they are. Why make expensive changes to a usable system?

Of course, by pointing out these differences, I am pushing a perfect example of American excess onto our European friends. What else is new? Putting up signs on every street corner in Dublin would cost a fortune. Signs are expensive to produce, maintain, and keep lit. Maybe I'm spoiled. I guess the only thing I can do is get used to it. Get used to making wrong turns and discovering new and interesting places. Get used to asking friendly strangers for directions, usually leading to a great conversation. Get used to always being lost in this big, busy, smiling, breathing, fascinating old city.

…Maybe the street sign plan isn't so bad.

Cory Gets a Job...And Plays Video Games

Happy Saturday everyone!  The big news from me is my new job.  I had been sending out applications to almost every job available in town.  I only excluded jobs for which I was not by any stretch qualified.  I got a callback for an interview and was offered the job.

Now, it isn't in my field particularly, but as someone here pointed out, it's still "in the entertainment industry."  Ok, so it's ushering and checking bracelets in the VIP rooms at the big concert venue here in town.  Not exactly what I was doing before, but it has been fun these first few nights and I am happy and grateful to have the work.

I had to buy a cheap black suit for the job, so I found the absolute cheapest suit I could at the super-cheap department store.  The suit fits and works fine for the kind of work I do, so no problems.  Because I am working mostly concerts, the work is almost always at night, so I needed some night-cycling equipment.  Some concerts and events last until after public transport has finished, and I don't care to walk three miles home in the middle of the night.  I got a flashing headlight, flashing taillight, and a reflective vest to make me more visible to the (very few) cars out in the middle of the night here.

Now, it is Saturday, so we continue playing through Monster Party.  This week, we take on level 3.  The video isn't long enough for me to get much new job information out, so we may have to continue with the game and with new job stories and celebrations next week.

Enjoy!

Power Socket Switches

We continually marvel at the ideas used here (in Ireland or maybe more of Europe?) to save energy and money.  After getting our first power bill, we know why.

Remember the article about the immersion water heater?  In it, we discover how to heat water as needed instead of keeping hot water available at every instant.  The comedian Des Bishop points out the stingy Irish relatives in a panic when the heater was left on too long.  Jokes aside, saving power is taken seriously here.

We discovered that drawing power as needed isn't limited to the water heater.  Our power outlets are all armed with a rocker switch to awaken or kill an outlet.

Kitchen outlets

In America, recently, there has been a push to unplug chargers from the wall.  The hot tip is to plug all chargers for cell phones, music players, and e-readers into a switch-equipped power strip.  "Turn it on when you're charging, turn it off when you're finished!" is the line.  Here, that idea is taken to its ultimate level.

Hey Buddy! Snails

Ireland.  A land famous for darkness, clouds, and rain.  This summer, we have noticed a healthy dose of sunshine, but all of our Irish friends and neighbors tell us not to hold our breath for too much.  Generally, Ireland is a land of clouds, mist, fog, and rain.

These atmospheric conditions happen to be the optimum environment for certain kinds of organisms.  Among the least favorite of the residents and visitors alike is, of course, mold.  Our favorites (probably because we are not gardeners) are the resident mollusks: snails and slugs.

Climbing up a brick wall

Our admiration for large, slimy critters should be well-documented in our account of the trip through the redwoods in northern California, another wet, temperate climate.  Here, the specimens are smaller, but the sheer numbers can't lie.

House Hunters International:Budget Edition

When we arrived in Dublin, we had the great fortune and luxury of time.  Sara's new supervisor very generously allowed us to stay in his home while he and his family were away on holiday (vacation.)  The house was comfortable and there was no urgent hurry for us to be out of there, but we were motivated to get settled in to our own place as soon as we could swing it.  We (read: Sara) had been doing some research on housing costs and availability in Dublin for some time before the move, but the research was purely academic (hee hee) because apartments were usually snapped up within a few days of listing.  Because of this high turnaround, we would not have been able to set up apartment showings before making the trip, because many would go off the market during our flight.  Once we had settled in to our host's home, we visited the local apartment finding site, daft.ie.  We searched openings in our neighborhood and price ranges, and made some calls.  Appointments were set for four different places over the next two days.

Our first visit was scheduled the following day just after lunch.  The rent cost was just on the top edge of our price range, but it looked spacious and was located right next to Sara's campus.  The proximity to work alone would have been worth a look.  We arrived early so we could walk around the area and see just how close it was to campus.  Turns out, as close as we could have dreamed.  The complex was located right on the busiest street in Dublin, giving it the advantage of easy bus and road access to most of the town and the disadvantage of traffic noise.

A Trip to IKEA

Our apartment, as do many apartments in this part of the world, comes fully furnished.  Glad we were that we could move without bringing furniture and we got a great apartment with great furniture.  After getting our printer, we realized we needed some kind of desk or table for our computer, printer, and office supplies.  Our first setup wasn't quite working.

What a mess!

The printer, sitting on a footstool with printer paper piled on the floor beneath wasn't a long-term solution, so we needed something bigger.  In Iowa, we would have just gotten in the car and driven to a thrift store like Goodwill for all of our furniture, clothing, and junk needs.

In Dublin, charity stores are great, but we have yet to find one of the cavernous warehouses like a Midwestern Goodwill store.  All of the charity shops we have found here have a great selection of clothing, but not as much room for furniture and junk.  Besides, we don't have a car, so we rely on the Dublin Bus for getting around town.  Thus, we can't gamble that any given charity shop will have what we need on any given day.  Having no choice, we had to go new...

"Where can we get new furniture at low prices?"  Of course the answer, especially in Europe, is IKEA.  I had never set foot in one of the colossal temples to consumerism, even back in America.  I had no idea what I was in for.

The Immersion Water Heater

Water heaters.  Modern homes could not function without them.  All of us in the developed world rely on them for our safety and comfort.  This is the kind of appliance that can be totally ignored until something goes wrong.

In Iowa, we were blessed in our home to have the American standard water heater.  By American standard I mean the heater most Americans have in their homes:  "That big tank thing in the basement about which I know nothing, not even the brand!  It just works and has hot water ready when I shower!"

Ours did what water heaters do- it kept water hot.  All the time.  At at comfortable temperature.  All the time.  I never turned off the water heater in the four years we lived in that house, and never gave it a second thought.

Enter the new system of which I approve very much, the immersion heater.

It's difficult to photograph the workings of the water heater, but the basic principles can be explained.  Instead of a 50-plus gallon tank heated to a comfortable temperature at all times, we use a small tank with an electric element immersed in the water within.  It works much like the electric kettle we use to boil hot water for coffee, tea, and cooking.  The electric heating element blasts the water within, boiling the water touching it almost instantly, taking no time at all to get the full container nice and hot.  When hot water from the water heater is needed, flip the switch to turn on the unit, and the whole thing heats up in about 30 minutes.

"But what about that small capacity!"  One might say.  True, that much water might not be enough for a long shower or full bath.  We get around that with high temperatures.  The water is the American water heater is set to a safe and comfortable temperature that can be used full-strength if you're tough.  This heater gets the water blazing hot.  I mean hot.  It can not be used full strength from the tap without scalding.  Even the taps and pipes get too hot to touch when this water is flowing through them.  The result of this is, of course, a shower or bath that uses a much lighter mix of hot and cold water to create a safe and comfortable water temperature.

Now for the trade-off.  To get this efficiency, we sacrifice some of the convenience of the good ole American Huge Tank.  Hot water requires advance planning.  There are no spontaneous showers here.  For a morning shower, we usually flip the switch just as we wake up.  After coffee and breakfast, we are set to go.  Some households here have automatic timers to get around this problem, but we haven't found a way to hook one up on our setup.  If we ever need a small amount of hot water in a pinch for dishes or shaving, we just use our small electric kettle.

This product seems like it will save a lot on energy use and bills.  I admire many of the small innovations we have seen here to save energy and materials.    Stay tuned for many more of the small changes that will add up to big savings of money and environmental impact.

Update:  An Irish friend recommended a great stand-up routine by Des Bishop, an American comedian living in Ireland.  After watching it, I think he captures the American perspective on the water heater change perfectly.  Thanks, Lord Stilton!

More about Des Bishop here.

I Found This Awesome Glass!

Just as the title says, I found the awesome glass pictured below.  Well... I can't take the credit for actually finding the glass.  That belongs to Sara.

Sweet!

It all happened during the week of the Dublin Horse Show at the nearby RDS-Royal Dublin Society.  This event is a week-long celebration of all things horse.  I imagine, even if it isn't actually accurate, people in red coats and black helmets getting credit for horses doing funny things, ladies (and little girls) with ridiculously large hats, and way-too-drunk "gentlemen" staggering around the neighborhood with their Jameson Whisky.  Just like what I imagine an American horse show to be!

Cool shape, not quite square

Sara got home from work one evening to meet me for dinner.  She said she passed by a present for me on her way home.  She knows my hobby of collecting way cool things and cold hard cash from the gutters of the world, so I was excited to see what this surprise was.  We started walking towards Donnybrook where we had dinner plans.  At the nearby corner, we saw the above glass sitting by the bus stop on someone's garden wall.  It was beautiful, even with the dregs of someones red-colored cocktail.  I would love to have grabbed it right there and taken it to dinner, but something stopped me.  What stopped me was my fear of taking something that isn't fully abandoned.  I have rules about collecting change from the ground which are pretty easy to follow, but abandoned items make me a little more nervous.  It was entirely likely that someone was a little too tipsy when they left the Horse Show, brought along the drink, and left it at the bus stop when the driver wouldn't allow it on the bus.  But, it was also possible that someone was enjoying a refreshing red beverage and had a sudden emergency that necessitated this poor individual to set down the drink on the nearest surface and depart with the intention to return for it.

Wracked with uncertainty, I decided to give the drink some time.  We went to Donnybrook to dinner, with the intention of snagging it if it was still on the corner when we came back.  If it was gone, it meant the owner had returned or someone else needed it more than me.  If it was still there, it was always mine.  If you love something, set it free, right?

After dinner, I felt the magnetic pull of the glass on the corner all the way back.  I began to get ahead of Sara as my stride length and pace increased.  Sweat beads dotted my forehead, my focus was clear:  get that glass.  

I was rewarded for my patience with the gleaming red beauty sitting on the same corner.  All doubt and guilt fled me in an instant.  Clearly no one was coming back for this glass after so many hours, and I felt like I was doing the owners of the garden walls a favor by taking the "trash" away from their pristine wall.  I dumped out the red sludge and almost skipped home to wash the glass and enjoy a tasty glass of cheap white wine from it.  Nice.

Laundry Day!

This might not be exciting, but we find it significant.  Don't expect a series of laundry-related posts-unless, of course, this post becomes a viral sensation leading to a book deal.

Laundry here was something we had to consider when looking for housing.  I don't love laundromats, not because of any prejudices of people who have to use them, and not because of their mostly undeserved reputation of being dark, dirty, and depressing.  I just don't love them because I don't want laundry day to become just that, a day.  We knew Dublin is a big city, and did not know if laundry facilities were common in apartments in our price range.  Lucky for us, they are.  We were very happy to see washing equipment in our kitchen at the showing, and considered it in the decision to live here.

The washing equipment was like nothing we had seen in Iowa.  Namely, it is a washer and dryer in once piece.

That's it.  Gone for us are the days of a super-large capacity washer with a hot blasting air dryer next to it.  Here we have a high efficiency unit that will, if asked, wash a small load in a slow cycle and follow it with an immediate dry cycle.  Great, right?  Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Many appliances here are meant to run efficiently.  Saving resources is much more important to the common consumer here than we would have ever seen in Iowa, even among the suburban Iowa yuppies.  High efficiency (HE) comes with a cost that must be considered and adjusted to.  The HE washers are catching on in America, using less water and lower temperatures.  The tradeoff here is in time.  HE wash cycles are rather lengthy, ours is more than a full hour.  No problem so far.

Different wash and dry cycles.  Temperatures are given in degrees Celsius

Our favorite (the cheapest) brand of laundry soap!

Setting a load, the time in the window is for the wash only.

Drying cycles can be adjusted to different temperatures and times just as the wash cycles, but they don't work quite like the good ole Whirpool back in Iowa.  The dry cycle does not work by blasting the clothes with hot air and pumping the air out the dryer vent.  The cycle here slowly and gently pulls moisture out to the clothes and into the air in the machine.  This means in real terms that clothes will not be dry after one dry cycle, multiple may be required to have clothes "drawer ready."  We did receive a hot tip about stopping the dryer before the cool down cycle to get some slightly warmer and dryer clothes but we haven't tried that yet.

In the meantime, we are back to the days of our first apartment where the dryer was expensive and didn't work well.  Then as now, we went classic:

A drying rack.  Awesome!

Now that's high efficiency, suburban Iowa yuppies!