I never had to experience anticipation. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

In school, I played sport. I enjoyed playing but never really had the drive or determination to have to win. In hindsight, I think I would like to have had that will to win.

It may have brought with it butterflies, nervous energy and greater highs (and lows) – but I suspect that now I will never know.

With exam results, I did not really have nervous waits. The results needed to progress to the next stage or to a preferred course were not very high – so I escaped that worry.

Seven years ago, the date (and close enough the hour) of birth of our child was determined by the calendar of the consultant and theatre availability – so I was spared the anxious weeks of being on standby to drive to the hospital.

Earlier this month, the shortlist for the Blog Awards was announced. I had forgotten about the date and only realised the announcement when I received my daily update from Grandad.

Having made the shortlist and being somewhat elated (somewhat of an understatement), I did check out the Blog Award website and noted that the finalists would be announced on 29th September. I am glad that I did not count the number of times I checked the Blog Awards site yesterday and today – I have definitely contributed to an increased hit count. 

At this stage of my life, some may say that I have been unfortunate not to have met this before now, but, I can now honestly state that I have experienced anticipation.

If only I had read Grandad in full or even checked the Blog Award site fully, I might have avoided the sensation.

Nominations were to be announced on 11th August but were not issued until 12th. The Shortlist was announced on 13th September – a while after the scheduled 11th September set for release.

Anticipation has now passed. To the finalists selected, good luck for the Awards Dinner to be held on 12th October – or some date after that…….

I grew up near enough to Kent Railway station.

 I do remember, before the days of protective barriers when one could walk to the end of the platform and across the tracks or into the tunnel if so inclined. Someone once tried to convince me that a short way into the tunnel was a storage room where chocolate was stored but I never dared to establish whether true or otherwise.

 I never heard about the explosives accident until reading the plaque.

Deep down, I suspect, and probably accept, that this blog is the latest manifestation of my own particular and  personal version of Obsessive Compulsive Tendency.

I prefer to see it more along the lines of ‘if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well’. However, I know that when I get involved in anything, I really get involved.

Munster Rugby; bridge; student politics; at school maths and even writing programme for poker and Noughts-and-Crosses; and even before that,  jigsaws, would all have received the total immersion treatment from yours truly.

I remember being off sick from primary school – my guess would be about fourth class. I started trying to complete
solitaire.

If you have tried, you know it is time consuming to put the pieces back into the grid when you need to begin over after failing yet again.

Descriptions may vary from determined to stubborn – any very many in between. All probably applied to me. It took much time and many attempts but the objective was achieved.

Even four or five years later, I could remember the exact order of moves to finish with one piece in the centre – but not now.

I took the photograph in June in the Ewe Experience outside Glengarriff. Since then, it has come in and out of my  thoughts.

I did wonder whether the stubborn nature or determination would re-appear to find the solution again to solitaire but I have escaped – so far.

My niece provided this to add some balance to the sporting day – taken outside a butcher in Ennis.

Spotted this on a junction onto the Cork – Mallow Road and thought it appropriate for a blog entry on the day that is in it.

I took this photograph at the beginning of September – just three months after the pub re-opened having been closed for many years – the Rory Gallagher sign was not re-erected.

I suspected that this blog entry would be about how a pub under new ownership and having undergone substantial refurbishment internally and to the elevations could so quickly become an authentic Irish pub.

I anticipate that the sign is intended for tourists as locals are likely to know enough about a building’s history to determine authenticity for themselves.

But when I read the sign, it did pose some queries:

 -       Why change the quote?
-         Is the font different in the word ‘Ireland’?
-         If so, was the amendment to the quote ‘homemade’?
-         Am I in a small minority in thinking these signs a money racket to fool the tourist?
-         Who decides what is an authentic pub and who appointed them as arbiters in this regard?

I know my answer to some of these but I am still undecided as to:
-         If the establishment managed to get their hands on one of these signs and made their
own modifications, does it make them better or worse?

I remember, when the telephone numbers in London changed with the introduction of new prefix number, I read that the majority of the cost of the change was borne by businesses. They had to change business cards, headed paper, branding, - anything with the old number.

PAB Travel had a decision to make when ‘4’ was introduced in front of Cork telephone numbers:
-          Replace  the shopfront,
-          Try to modify the shopfront which would be almost impossible to achieve seamlessly,  or
-         Leave as  is on the basis that everyone knows that a ‘4’ needs to be  added
 
The shopfront is of a style and a record of an age. It may not be to everyone’s taste and preference but I am glad that they have retained it.

I am not sure that I have placed the photographs and the words in the correct order.

I do like the concept of a sculpture combined with poetry combined with a useful seat.

Well done Annascaul.

When I first spotted this mural on Horgan’s Quay a few weeks ago, I was rather puzzled as to the link between Belfast and Cork with regard to the
Titanic. My first thought was that should be Cobh rather than Cork.

 A quick internet search revealed that it was part of a Cross-Border initiative, similar to the mural at Blackrock.

A definite improvement on a plain block wall.

Car salesmen and auctioneers do not have the greatest credibility rating among the general public.

Personally, I would have marketing and P.R./spin personnel so much lower on any credibility listing – after all, one chooses to engage with a salesman or an auctioneer.

Marketing and P.R. practitioners have a licence to publish their output as fact, They can then display their spin so that you must see it at some point.

TSB closed braches at Mayfield and Lapp’s Quay.  ‘Move’ has a connotation of relocation to an entirely new premises/facility. TSB  Patrick St was trading long before these closures. 

If you have seen or have had occasion to stand in a queue in TSB Patrick’s St., where on a Friday there might be two tellers only, you might correctly think that this is less than the number of tellers in previous years.

Even if TSB wished to spin their sign that they have relocated their business to the existing branch at Patrick St., this is not consistent with what is encountered.

Would it not be refreshing if a company and their P.R. actually had the bravery to tell the truth in plain language? My own suggestion would be:

'To save costs, we have closed this branch. We discourage our customers from teller transactions as they are more costly to us. Tellers are available at our Patrick’s St. branch but do expect queues’

I spotted this recently at the junction of Kyle St and Cornmarket St – close to the Bridewell Garda Station. It is a huge improvement on the blank and worn hoarding and that had been there for a long time.

 I think it is Aloys Fleischmann with Sonia O’Sullivan but am open  to correction.

 The image below is from Google Maps and was taken in 2009. The  hoarding was well worn even at that time.

Is it not disappointing that as a city we can accept dereliction and horrible aged plywood hoarding for such a length of time?

I spotted the above sign on South Main Street earlier this week and was contemplating a blog about placing an apostrophe where it is not needed similar to Tadhg Óg’s bar.

But later this week, I was travelling down Lower John St and spotted signs on the top floor windows of what was Jerry Vaughan’s Lawnmower Shop.

 The Crop Shop only added one apostrophe so pales into insignificance compared to the signs below.

In May, Munster announced a sponsorship agreement with Bank of Ireland with regard to jerseys from the start of the 2013-14  season.

Tonight’s match is the first match that Peter O’Mahony will play for Munster in the Bank of Ireland jersey. Conor Murray has yet to make an appearance for Munster in a match this season in the new jersey.

The last time Munster played Leinster was on 13th April – when Munster wore Toyota  jerseys. 

If the event in the photograph actually took place at that match or even if the impression to be conveyed is that it was, it does raise some concern as to the truthfulness of the Irish Independent. 
 
I understand that the middle Munster player is C J Stander who has not played against Leinster in a Munster jersey for the first team. He did play for Munster A in a Toyota jersey against Leinster A on 12 March, 2013 but the others in the photograph did not play in that match.

Ian Madigan, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray, the other three in the photograph,did play in the match on 13th
April.

So it is very possible that the event portrayed did not happen and is an act of fiction created by Photoshop.

To replace the rugby ball with a bunch of papers is one act of distorting the truth. To change the jerseys, to me, is an insult to Toyota who paid Munster for the privilege of branding the jerseys at the time.

More concerning though, it is a distortion of the truth. I would have thought that a newspaper such as the Irish Independent would like to be known for disseminating fact and not  fiction.

There I was at a meeting on a construction site held in one of the metal container offices.

When I looked at the messages fixed to the inside of the door, I did wonder if we were expected to exit the room through the window. I have not yet perfected the skill of walking through closed doors.

How does one open a door with caution and keep it closed?

 The signs are one of the most obvious representations of mixed messages that I have found yet.

I spotted this stone feature in the wall of the former Irish Distillers complex on the North Mall. It is just before the bend as one swings left up along Sunday’s Well Road.

As a cut limestone piece in an ornate style, it appears a bit of a Shawshank Redemption stone being totally different to the random sandstone that adjoins it.

My best guess on the lettering is S B H 6 but as to what it means and why it is there, I do not know.

Any and all suggestions will be welcome.