march madness in dublin

This is my first year of March Madness abroad.  As many of you know, college basketball is my favorite sport to watch (with tennis a close second).  So it's been a bit tough this year not watching any games.  I saw a few games (and attended one) while in the U.S. over New Year's.  But I haven't seen any games here in Ireland.  I can't watch any games on TV - they aren't shown here (on the channels we get).

I tried using the "free" websites with peer-to-peer connections.  But I only got a bunch of pop-ups, such as for married women in Galway, and some sound.  But no pictures / video.  Oh, and I got my homepage changed.

So, I gave up and bought a one-month pass to ESPN College Pass.  They show March Madness in Europe (and many other places in the world).  So I've been watching the games on my computer.  The time change make it a bit challenge, but I can watch past games as well as current ones.  It's a suboptimal solution, especially with my slow computer (even with a fast internet connection).  But it is certainly better than nothing.

I've tried to get the kids interested in the basketball.  FABJ enjoyed watching the Kentucky women's team.  I've enjoyed watching Iowa's run in the NIT.  I'm hoping to convince LBJ of the necessity to go to the NCAA tournament in 2015 (in Omaha - drivable from my family).
 

Driving test

As I think I posted earlier, my U.S. license accounted for absolutely nothing in Ireland.  I was treated a clueless 18 year old with no driving experience.  I had to start with the theory test, a multiple choice test taken on a computer.  After a month or so, I was able to check out the driving manual from the library, as well as the CD with practice tests.

I studied for another month, with FABJ's help.  She quickly learned that anytime I asked her a driving question, the answer was no.  For example:

Me: "FABJ, can you park on a double-yellow line?"
FABJ: "No!" (with enthusiasm and a smile)

I passed the test, missing one question (still don't know which one).  At which point, I then had to get my eyes tested to show that I could see well enough to drive.  That took another two weeks to get an appointment, but fortunately I passed that test as well.

Next step is to take 12 EDTs (Essential Driving Training) i.e. driving lessons, with a certified instructor.  Fortunately, in June, I saw that one of the other parents at FABJ's school was a driving instructor.  So I wrote down his number and called him up.

He was an excellent instructor.  Jay is South African (of Indian descent) but has lived in Ireland for the past 12 or so years.  He was very calm (as you'd expect from a driving instructor), and I think he enjoyed the ability to chat during the lessons.  However, I must say that I learned a lot in these lessons, as I didn't have a lot of experience with a manual transmisson before.  And I wasn't used to driving on the left.  So, although I was very annoyed at spending so much money and time on the lessons, I learned a bunch.

I finished my 12th and final lesson at the beginning of March.  I applied on-line for the test.  Then, I called the number Jay gave me to ask (he suggested all sorts of potential excuses) if there had been a cancellation.  Indeed, there was one for the following week.  I later figured out why - it was at the time that school let out for the Easter break.  Fortunately, FABJ's school had after care that day, so I didn't need to beg her grandparents to pick her up.

Test day arrived, and it was miserable.  "Bucketing" rain, as they say here.  And very cold - mid to high 30s (5 degrees celsius).  I had hoped to take the car to a gas station to vacuum and clean it (Jay said it helps).  Instead, I spent 20 minutes in the car trying to wipe it down and clean it.  It does look better.

I was quite nervous for the test - the pass rate is under 50 percent.  But my instructor was very nice and low key.  My wife told me that the odds were in my favor as a native English-speaker with clearly lots of driving experience.  Indeed, I made one mistake on the test, one that Jay said in one of my lessons was an automatic fail.  So I was nervous after the lesson when he said that we'd go back to his office and discuss the test.  I passed - in fact, that one mistake was the only thing he marked against me.  You can have up to 7 such marks and still pass.

I spent the rainy afternoon getting to and from the motor vehicle office to apply for my license.  I am very excited.  I don't have to keep driving the girls to school to practice my driving technique.  For example, I was quite excited that I did not drive today (Monday).

I'll get my license in the mail in about 4 weeks (I have a temporary one for now).  Ireland just now started using credit-card (or U.S.-like) licenses rather than bulky and annoying "books" that are more like passports (but made of flimsy paper).
 

St. Patrick's Day

For those of you looking for an in-depth analysis of what St. Patrick's Day in Dublin is like from the local point of view, look elsewhere.  Our household has been hit with a nasty cold, so we didn't leave the house for most of the day.

The kids were the first to be sick, but, being kids, they were unaffected aside from more coughing and runny noses than usual.

Then, a week ago Friday, I came down with a cough.  And it only got worse.  Finally, on Thursday, I went to the doctor to discover that I had a chest infection.  That same day, LBJ started coming down with the cough, too.  Fortunately, she feels a lot better today, and I started feeling better soon after starting a course of antibiotics.

I was pleased with my only interaction with the Irish health care system.  There is a clinic near FABJ's school with extensive hours.  I called on Wednesday 6pm and made an appointment for Thursday 11am.  By 11:30am Thursday, I had my prescription filled at the dispensary on site and was on my way back home.  The cost was reasonable (especially since I have no insurance aside from the catastrophic care provided by the state), and everyone was very nice us.  Thumbs up to the local clinic.

So, on St. Patrick's Day, we stayed home except for an afternoon and dinner visit to Grandma and Granddad's.  FABJ was very disappointed that she was not wearing green, but she survived.

We were disappointed to miss all the festivities.  There were events all weekend - the 14th to 18th (today, the 18th, is a holiday since Paddy's Day was on a Sunday) - including a craft beer festival.  Oh well, maybe next year!
 

spelling

During the week, our usual routine involves FABJ doing her homework after dinner.  Since Christmas, that homework has included spelling homework. ORBJ gets a bit jealous of the lack of attention being given to her, so we try to include her by having her use the spelling word in a sentence.  For example:

LBJ: nut
ORBJ: I ate a nut
FABJ: N-U-T
me: *cough* *cough* (I've got a nasty cold at the moment, sadly)

LBJ: pop
ORBJ: I popped a balloon.
FABJ: P-O-P
me: cough ... wheeze ... etc.

LBJ: bin
ORBJ: I've "bin" to Africa
LBJ, me: keeling over with laughter
FABJ: what's so funny?

FABJ is doing well with the spelling tests, held every Friday.  Except for the week when she had a meltdown because we didn't read the spelling words in order.  Never mind the fact that she couldn't remember the order, only that she knew that we weren't reading them in order.  That week, she only got 4 out of 10 words correct, with a note home from her teacher that she really struggled with the test.  Now she understands that we give her the words in random order (with ORBJ using the words in a sentence, usually correctly).
 

scooter 1, fabj 0

On Friday, the weather was finally nice enough for us not to drive to school.  As usual, FABJ walks and I walk my bike with her scooter and backpack on the back.  After school, FABJ rode her scooter as I went alongside on my bike.  We picked up ORBJ en route.  We crossed the street a few houses up from home.  FABJ wasn't paying attention and bumped into the lightpost and fell down. She popped up immediately and said "I'm ok daddy!"  Fortunately, she was going about 1 mile per hour, if not slower.  So we talked about paying attention, and she assured me that she would be careful.

So she scoots off ahead of us.  She rounds the corner to head up the sidewalk ahead of ORBJ and me.  The next thing I hear is FABJ wailing.  I mean bawling - the type when you know that she is really hurt.  She rounded the corner too fast on the scooter, fell off, and split her lip on the ground.

I try go get ORBJ off the back of the bike to get everybody inside, at which point FABJ says: "Dada, there's blood everywhere!"  It was an exaggeration, but not that much.  So, I did what any smart father does - see when her mama will get home from work.  And apply an icepack and let her watch "Milly and Molly."

It swelled up quite a bit overnight, so LBJ took her to the doctor on Saturday morning.  There were no stiches required.  She still looked pretty bad on Sunday and Monday, but she was in good spirits.  And she looks a lot better this morning.

In an odd coincidence, FABJ told me earlier last week that her scooter was at school.  And, sure enough, her old scooter was on the other side of the school fence.  It disappeared back in November, so we bought a new one.  Oh well, so we have three scooters now - 2 for FABJ and one for ORBJ.

On the bright side, FABJ seemed willing to scoot today (although she didn't), so hopefully she won't be afraid to use it.