V. Busy Day

Today is a hive of activity at the homestead. Luke was trimming trees as I left for work this morning. Bob is starting on the tub replacement project. Our new laptop will be delivered. Tob is preparing for her road trip to Indiana. Kevin is maybe finding a moment or two to chill (probably not). Bill is monitoring all these goings-on while doing some repairs himself. Whew. I'm relaxing at the office.

Car Insurance

Getting car insurance in Ireland looked to be painful if not impossible. Most Irish insurers require the insured to have at least a provisional license, something I wouldn't have for awhile. Also, it is really, really expensive. I found some hints on how to reduce the cost, and one said it could reduce the yearly cost by 900 euros! What would the cost still be?

However, after some more research I found Geico. They will insure international drivers, and at very reasonable rates. I had to guess on a car to get a ballpark figure, but for a "reasonable" vehicle the third-party insurance will be only ~ $450. Not bad at all. One more thing off the research list.

So now it begins...

We have so much to do in the next couple months: fixing things around the house, packing up stuff for storage, packing other stuff for shipping, having a huge garage sale, selling the house and cars, preparing the paperwork... Gawww!

We should rename our dog Toblerone "Papillon" (or perhaps Morris) as she's developed a taste and talent for escaping our backyard. We were gone a lot in July, so I guess she was looking for us. We bought some 12" square pavers last night and put them behind the fence. We'll see if it thwarts her attempts, but she's very crafty.

Tomorrow Back Home

We just returned from a walk in the Park across from the hotel. At 9PM it is not even dusk. The days are very long in summer. We came out of a movie at 10:30 the other night (The Simpsons--eh) and the sky was still purple with twilight.

Today was beautiful and sunny. We returned to the church we visited last Sunday. Quite enjoyed it. Then we drove to Howth. They were having the farmer's market we enjoyed last visit, but this time we were hungry! We dined on crepes, seafood chowder, bratwurst, a scone and middle eastern cookies. And we have a chocolate muffin to enjoy in a moment.

I'm looking forward to heading home, but feel the extent of all work ahead looming a bit. With the Bockelmans leaving so soon, life as we know it is changing quickly.

We're still excited about moving, but I'll be happy to be on the other side of that transition.

A week in Ireland

Sharon and I have been in Dublin for a week on business. I'm covering for Ronan and Sharon's been commuting down to Dell Cherrywood. We're also scouting locations and seeing what it's like to actually live here. The DART is 50 min from the Raheny station, bus-LUAS more like 1.5 hours. Maybe something better will materialize with a shorter commute.

The Raheny-Clontarf-Killester area definitely looks nice. Had some great Thai food in Raheny last night at Ruen Thai. They have a €22/person early bird special that includes a glass of wine, appetizers and choice of chicken and duck entrees. Duck! You'd never see that offered on a cheap prix fixe menu in the States. We loved the chicken entree, larb gai, and our waiter says only Thai normally order it. The duck was quite good, too.

I've sent off some emails to property owners to schedule viewings this weekend. No responses yet. Probably have to call.