How on god’s green earth does Niamh end up being pronounced Neve? Irish name pronounciation is a study in the black-arts I tell you. Another one is Siobhan which is pronounced Chevaun. Keh? Come again?
And just to hammer home the point my Irish mate just told me how I bastardised the two names above. I had Niamph and Siobahn originally. Bloody english eh?
Drama
Originally uploaded by Paul Watson.
While watching Requiem for a Dream, a truly screwed up movie by the way, I decided to see what it would be like cutting as much caffeine from my diet as possible.
An average day sees me downing five cups of tea and four cups of coffee with the odd two or three coca colas a week. This is far down from the 20 cups of tea I was mainlining last year but it is still enough caffeine each and everyday to make a difference.
From past experience of going cold turkey on tea I know I am going to get headaches and feel awful for a few days. In the past though I was still drinking coffee so I wonder how much worse this time around is going to be?
A History of Violence is an excellent film. Very well paced. Simple but effective. Thanks to Jon for recommending it to me.
So for my first multi time-zone trip I have to say either jet-lag is far less than everybody says it is or I managed to skip it with some advanced Vegas party voodoo. I flew Ireland to Las Vegas and then back again within 5 days. They say West to East is worst but I feel great back here in Ireland. I got in a solid 7 hours sleep last night after arriving home. My appetite is fine too. I do feel a bit confused as to what day it is since I effectively lost a day on the way back but the post-it note I have on my desk saying “Today is friday!” is helping with that.
I think what helped is I went a bit AWOL in Vegas. I’d get to bed at the earliest 1am and be up by 7am with a full day conferencing and then the evenings filled with night-life. So I was tired while I was there and there were no regular times for my body to get used to. I also had several late nights and early mornings before I flew (one thanks to St. Patricks day.) So most likely jet-lag was masked by the general tiredness which was masked by the adrenaline and go-go nature of 4 nights in Vegas.
It might just all catch up with me this weekend which is *checks post-it note* tomorrow.
Just a quick one to say I am in Vegas and at the Mix 06 conference. Best bit of the conference so far?
Dancing on a table with Tim O’Reilly.
Seriously, that happened. We had the Mix party last night at the TAO night club and Tim got up on a table running the one side of the dance floor and started dancing like a wild man. Awhile later I joined him up there and we got in a chorus-girl line and showed our legs. Cha cha cha. This was after a good many drinks of course. What a blast.
I also met Anil Dash at the party which was an honour and spotted Tantek Celik at one of the talks. Apparently the chap behind JSON.org is here too. Actually the list of digerati who are here goes on. I wasn’t sure a Microsoft event could pull them but it did.
Time for another talk, see you all on top of the tables.
It turns out that arvie is not internationally recognised. I thought it had permeated Western culture at least enough that I could use it in Ireland (ever watch Crocodile Dundee? He says arvie.)
Arvie means afternoon. The Australians shorten and vowelify everything.
It is snowing in Waterford.
Roll on St. Patricks day. It is going to be a nipper. We are also launching the ACSE boat down at Waterford Castle tomorrow. I sure as hell hope I don’t fall in the water. Freeze my toasties off I would.
First rule of first aid? Call an ambulance.
Second rule of first aid? Call an ambulance.
That is something the paramedic is making very clear to us as we go through a TSSG sponsored first aid course. It is especially true when administering CPR. The medic stressed to us that less thank 1% of people who get CPR alone will survive. It is merely a holding tactic, keeping the patient alive until the ambulance arrives and a defibrillator can be applied. This isn’t Baywatch, you don’t give mouth-to-mouth, save a life and then enjoy a pint with her an hour later. If she is lucky she’ll be out of hospital in a week. After defib, after other advanced paramedic care.
Living in a foreign country has its perks. For instance I can whistle the Oros man theme tune amongst my fellow cubicle workers and nobody gets annoyed. They all think it is a fun sounding South African ditty. Little do they know.
Daily bits...