Typically Atypical year This September will be 4 years total that I've lived in Ireland, There was 2006 to 2008 when I lived in Cork City and now 2011 to 2013 that I've lived in Dublin. Of course the giant gap in the middle was filled with 3 years of California.
In the 4 years of living here in Ireland I've been to approximately 28 out of the 32 counties on this island and the 4 that I haven't seen yet don't really have much in terms of attractions to offer. I got quite accustomed to spending my time off from work traveling around here and exploring new places, but in the last couple months I haven't gone outside of a 4-5km radius. I go to work during the week and out with friends on the weekends. The last time I left Dublin was either the last weekend in April or the first weekend in May when I went to Belfast. I think for most people that's not a long time but for me it feels like an eternity. 2013 in general has been a very atypical year for me travel-wise. Going back to 2010 the year I took a 3 week 6 country trip around Europe, I've consistently traveled quite a lot. In 2011 I went to San Francisco a couple times, saw the Grand Canyon, and completed a cross country road trip from San Diego to New Hampshire. Then last year I went to England 4 times and traveled a lot around Ireland.
I started to wonder why is it so different this year compared to the last couple years, and the answer became obvious. In California the last year or so before I moved I didn't have much of a social life in the city I lived in so that explained the traveling, weekends in LA to visit Jay Coffman and other friends, driving to Mexico or to Palm Springs with my flatmate Andrey became the normal thing to do. Then I moved over to Dublin and when I first arrived here I only really knew Daragh who lived in this city. As time has passed I've met a lot more friends and some of my good friends from Cork and Galway have always moved up here to Dublin. So now instead of traveling every weekend I'm usually pretty content to stay right here and spent time with my good friends.   ¶ 1:15 PM

  I found this to be hilarious and pretty accurate!

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other and then throws the milk away.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, and then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by the majority shareholder, who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has died.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you do not know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5,000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment and high bovine productivity.

You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
Nobody believes you, so they bomb the crap out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows but at least you are now a Democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.

A GREEK CORPORATION
You have two cows borrowed from French and German banks.
You eat both of them.
The banks call to collect their milk, but you cannot deliver so you call the IMF.
The IMF loans you two cows.
You eat both of them.
The banks and the IMF call to collect their cows/milk.
You are out getting a haircut.

AN IRISH CORPORATION
You have two cows
One of them is a horse

  ¶ 3:07 PM

  I looked at some of my old lists of favorite cities and I feel like my opinion has changed quite a bit since posting those other blogs. In the old lists I did a top 5 favorite city but it was based on country so I had places grouped together by American cities, British cities, and Irish cities. This time I want to do a top 10 of my favorite places from all over the world. I haven't traveled as much as I would like to yet but I've been to a couple different countries and within those countries I've seen quite a few cities. Without further ado here is my updated list for 2013.

10.) Las Vegas, Nevada - I've been there about 6 or 7 times, mostly while I was living in California and it is one of the few American cities in my opinion that truly lives up to its name (Sin City). I'd gladly go back another 6 times.

9.) Grenoble, France - It was 2010 when I went to this French city by TGV (high speed train) and it still holds a very special place in my mind. The fort on the top of the mountain where you can get great views of the city and see as far away as Mont Blanc made the entire three week trip worth it alone. 

8.) Amsterdam, Netherlands - The first time I went to this Dutch city in 2010 I left with a not so positive view of the city. It was a very rushed affair and I saw a lot in a very short time. This last time that I went back in 2012 I left with a much better opinion. It's a very interesting city with a million things to do, I could easily go back and spend a week exploring it in the future.

7.) Belfast, Northern Ireland - When I first got to Ireland in 2006 I wanted to visit Belfast, but I didn't actually go until 2012 for the first time. To explain why it's so high on my list I simply need to say I've been back another 5 times since February 2012. It has a great nightlife, and the city centre is beautiful especially the City Hall building. Every time I go back I find hidden gems there like Queen Mary park the last time which has an aesthetically pleasing waterfall.

6.) Montreal, Canada - I went to Montreal a few times as child with my parents but it wasn't until 2004 when I went back with friends that I realised all the city had to offer. It is one of my favorite North American cities and if it was in the United States I probably would have considered moving there. It has the perfect blend of European and American styles in everything down to the languages spoken there.

5.) Boston, Massachusetts - Boston will always be special to me because it's where I went from being a child into the first stages of adulthood. I was 17 when I moved there for University and 22 by the time I left. It's a lot like Montreal in the sense that it too has a very European flavor to it. In 4 and a half years there I think I saw just about every inch of the city, sometimes taking the train to the very end and getting off in Revere just because I could.

4.) Paris, France - I've visited Paris three times and every trip there was slightly different from the others. My favorite was the most recent one in 2010 when I managed to catch the best weather of the year. It was sunny for the entire 4 days there, and seeing Paris in the sunlight made it look amazing. The buildings the monuments, even the river Seine seemed to sparkle magnificently. It's a place I'd highly recommend to anyone.

3.) Toronto, Canada - My love affair with Toronto goes back to when me and my family first drove up there in the late 90's to visit relatives. I've been back many times since then and it's definitely one of my favorite cities. I have said it many times and people usually scoff at this comment but It's Canada's answer to New York and London. It has absolutely everything you could want in a city and friendly locals on top of it. It was voted the most cosmopolitan in the world a few times in the last decade as well and that is one of the most noticeable things when you first arrive there.

2.) Cork city, Ireland - Perhaps the biggest surprise to most people on this list, but if you know me well you know how I feel about Cork. If Boston was the beginning of my transformation into an adult it was in Cork where the process was completed and I became the person I am today. It's a small city of only about 120,000 people but it has the flair of a big city and it will always feel like home to me.

1.) London, England - The centre of the universe, the best city in the world to me. London has it all hands down. I told my mother that I was going to move to London before my 10th birthday and I haven't moved there yet but I have visited it about 8 times so far and there is still so much more left to see and do there. I will be there again at the end of May for a few days and I'm already excited about that.

Apologies to these other cities that were very close to making my list... Leeds, Dublin, Austin, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Lille, New York

Perhaps they will make the next version of the list.   ¶ 1:14 PM

  I realise I don't write on my blog as much anymore, and I somehow don't feel the need to really. The blog for me is a place to get out what you are thinking and say what you feel other people won't listen to in an everyday conversation. Now with Facebook the way it is and instagram, twitter, etc what more can we possibly say that isn't being said.
I look through the news feed on facebook a couple times a day and then I check out the new posts on instagram and I feel like I am all caught up with everything that is going on in everyone's life. It's very impersonal, but what part of life today isn't? Take a look at relationships today even. The traditional relationship seems to be a thing that is dying a slow death. Modern relationships tend to not have titles for the two people involved for a very long time. While the two people involved will do things traditionally reserved for couples they will never use the title girlfriend or boyfriend. Perhaps because it makes it easier to make a clean break from the other person, and in the world we live in now where things are expected to happen instantaneously there is little room for feelings in this type of world. The feelings still exist of course its just that we are expected to do a better job of hiding them today than we were say 20 or 30 years ago.  ¶ 5:20 AM

  It's always sad to see good friend's leave and go off to start there lives somewhere else. When I was finished at Northeastern University in 2006, instantly everyone that I had come to know over the 4 and a half years in Boston started to leave to other cities to pursue there careers. I myself left Boston only 3 months after graduating, which I suppose in the natural progression of things. Yesterday a very good friend of mine left Ireland to start a new career and new life in Australia. I want to wish him the best of luck on his new adventures and I hope that things work out well enough that he likes Australia even half as much as I love Ireland.
I first met Daragh in 2007 when Damien, James, Shay and myself all came up to Dublin for a weekend. Ever since that time we remained good friends. He came down to visit us in Cork, and he even came to visit me in America twice while I was in California. It was during one of my visits from California to Ireland in 2010 that finally convinced me to move back here, while I was staying with Daragh's friend Ryan near Heuston station. My first 4 months being back here I saw him everyday, and then after I moved into town I didn't see him as often but the bonds of the friendship were already made. As life goes on you find out what is really important in your life and Family and Friends are pretty close to the top of that list for me. When Damien was here in Dublin a few months ago he said' to me "We've made our best friends already and isn't it nice knowing no matter where you go you can always count on them." I couldn't agree with what he has said more than today. So once again good luck Daragh come back to visit us sometime on this little green rock :)   ¶ 7:48 AM

  Merry Christmas to everyone, I'm writing this post from Leeds, England at my cousin Simon's this year. All of my Christmas days abroad have been so different. My first one in 2006 was spent in Clonmel with Damien and his family, which was a great experience and was a key turning point for me in Ireland. The next was spent in Yorkshire with my Uncle and cousins at their house in Pontefract, after that it was back to America for 3 years, then last year was spent in Dublin with my friend Daragh's family. This year I'm with my own family again in England and its been a great start to the day so far.
I've been on holidays now since December 13th which has been excellent. I got a chance to visit my friend Max in Holland for a few days before coming here to England. This trip to the Netherlands was much better than my first one which felt a bit rushed. I got to experience some home cooked Dutch meals and see some more of Amsterdam, and also a city called Den Bosch. I would definitely go back after this visit, I'm glad I gave it a second chance.     ¶ 8:21 AM

  Sometimes I struggle to grasp the giant gap in the way of thinking between the Europeans and the Americans on certain issues. I'm going to tell you two different stories about people I have encountered.
When I was living in California, I worked with a guy who started out in the same position I did at Ashford University. We both worked in the Enrollment department together for a few months then I moved into Academics as an adviser and he moved up in the enrollment department to Manager and then to Director all within a year of when I started in 2008. Towards the end of 2009 however he lost his job do to poor performance of his managers and complaints. While I don't know what his salary was at the time I know mine was just over $40,000 per year so I'm sure his was double or even triple mine. I stayed in contact with him after he lost his job and one year later he was still searching for something. The way it works in America you can only get unemployment benefits in certain situations and for whatever reason he didn't qualify. He had to move back into his parents home in Northern California, and because he was over 25 years old he didn't fall under his parents health insurance anymore. So within a year he went from an estimated $120,000 salary to zero with no health insurance coverage and no housing other than his parents place.
Story number two: I worked with a guy here in Dublin for 9 months at the retail job that I had when I first arrived. We both made the same salary and stayed at the same level for the entire time we were there so roughly making about 8.75 euros per hour. In June we both left the job me to move to my current job at the college I work for and him to the unemployment line. I still stay in contact with him as well and it's been almost 6 months since we left the job and he collects almost 200 euro per week, unlike America there is no end to him collecting that money he can get it for the rest of his life if he chooses. On top of that he has a girlfriend and they have a child together so they get a housing benefit from the government which I believe is up to 800 euros a month just to pay for the apartment they live in. Oh yea and I didn't mention that they have healthcare provided to them by the government as well. Then on top of that there is a child benefit allowance that they are entitled to. It seems there is no end to the amount that the governments of Europe give there citizens while we get almost nothing in America. How is it that these two places are so far apart on this issue?
The most annoying thing about it all however is that the Europeans complain that they don't get enough while the Americans aren't complaining at all. Why aren't American people protesting for there right to at least have universal health insurance provided by the government? I've heard people take the easy way out and say that America has too many people but in fact that's not a good argument. America's population is around 310 million people while the population of Europe is over 400 million and 90% of the governments here provide universal healthcare for thier people. Argument number two I've heard that the governments in Europe are all socialist that's why they give so much. Well turns out that isn't a good argument either as anyone who does there homework will see that while some of the governments have socialist ideals they are all infact working on capitalist systems just like the United States.
So while I don't have an answer for you as to why the United States and Europe are so far apart when it comes to taking care of citizens basic needs, I can tell you which one I prefer, and I don't think you need to be a scientist to figure it out.   ¶ 10:34 AM