(With a bonus passage on "What Liam learned from his Uncle Keith!")
How many times have we heard our Uncle John advise; "If you are going on a trip, take half the luggage and twice the money and you'll have a good vacation!" And then he always adds: "there is the added benefit that as you spend the money you have less of that to carry which will lighten your load even more as you go."
A couple of months ago Maureen and I returned from a whirl-wind tour of Ireland, Edinburgh (Scotland), and an overnight stay in Canada and true to Uncle John's theory, at least the second part, we returned carrying much less (money) than what we left with. However I have to acknowledge Maureen's efforts on economy. Our flights were purchased using the points on our credit card from all the purchases necessary to travel across county and move into a new home. And between a couple of home swap sites and Maureen's family, we had much less lodging expense than we might have otherwise.
This was my fourth trip to Ireland and there is no telling how many times Maureen has been. So we spent a good share of the time visiting family and revisiting a couple of our favorite places. Have you ever gone over to someone's house just after they returned from a vacation and been completely bored to tears having to sit through a couple of hours of slides from their trip? I'll spare you all the minutia of our day-to-day treks but there are a couple tidbits worth mentioning.
This was my fourth trip to Ireland and there is no telling how many times Maureen has been. So we spent a good share of the time visiting family and revisiting a couple of our favorite places. Have you ever gone over to someone's house just after they returned from a vacation and been completely bored to tears having to sit through a couple of hours of slides from their trip? I'll spare you all the minutia of our day-to-day treks but there are a couple tidbits worth mentioning.
First, anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that I love to go to the horse races. I love the process of handicapping the races and just being at the track and watching the horses run. In Ireland I have to settle for the greyhound races but they can be just as much fun. So armed with my little greyhound handicapping book I bought before my trip in 2000 we headed for the Limerick Greyhound Track. We had arranged to meet a couple of Maureen's cousins at the track who are in the greyhound business. Mort, the dad, breeds, trains and races greyhounds. His son Liam works at the Limerick track. Not only is there an advantage to being with locals in the know, I just love hanging out with Mort (the why of which is an entire blog entry in and of itself). So we arrive at the track and we're looking around and there is no Mort and no Liam. As it turns out Liam's wife had gone into labor and they both chose to attend the birth of their granddaughter/daughter over hanging out with Maureen and I at the dog track. Go figure! I would love to tell you that I won a ton of money that night and it paid for our vacation. But alas, the greyhound track was just another one of those places where I unburdened myself of some of my cash along the way. Maureen and I did meet up with Mort later and he couldn't resist showing off his new granddaughter. We also got a tour of his kennel and training operation and went out for our obligatory "one pint"; no seriously, "I just have time for one!"
Of course with Mort, "just one pint" takes a few hours, consists of several rounds and a good number of his siblings, and requires a designated driver. I love hanging out with Mort!
On the way to Abbeyfeale to visit Mort we decided to stay at the local hotel, the Devon Inn, which is a very nice place. I called ahead and reserved a room for one night. We arrived in the early evening to check in and this is the room we were given.
The Devon Inn is not cheap but for the price we were paying this had to be a mistake. Turns out, the new receptionist at the front desk that evening was not as familiar with the Inn as she should have been and we were assigned the Bridal Suite. And we were still only charged the regular room rate which was less even than I was quoted on the phone when I made the reservations. We stayed a second night! Anyway, we had a great trip and I always look forward to having the next opportunity to visit Ireland and Maureen's family.
When Maureen and I decided to move east we wanted to make sure we were close enough to drive to see our families. It's a clear case of "be careful what you wish for." Since we've been back from Ireland, I've been to Virginia three times, twice with Maureen, and we both went to Ohio once. Also, my mom came back with me on one of those trips and stayed for a week and Maureen's parents and sisters descended on us for a long weekend. That's my excuse for not providing an update before now. I just haven't been home much or we've been busy since May.
Liam managed to get a job to fill his summer free time. Well two jobs actually. Liam worked the Brevard Runners Camp for two weeks as a Junior Counselor which also made it easier for him to stay in shape at least while he was at camp. Liam's real job is as a bagger at Ingles grocery store. I was surprised they hired him knowing Liam's limited availability, between his runner's camp and having to return to school early the second week of August. But Liam seems to enjoy the job and they are giving him all the hours they can without making him full time.
Liam has also decided on a major course of study (finally) which brings me to my promised bonus passage on "What Liam learned from his Uncle Keith!" On a couple of occasions I've heard Keith describe his recommended process for deciding on a major. So Liam and I put it to the test. Keith's theory begins; if you've already picked a school, the school has a finite number of majors they offer. So the best process to decide on a major is to go by the numbers.
Liam has also decided on a major course of study (finally) which brings me to my promised bonus passage on "What Liam learned from his Uncle Keith!" On a couple of occasions I've heard Keith describe his recommended process for deciding on a major. So Liam and I put it to the test. Keith's theory begins; if you've already picked a school, the school has a finite number of majors they offer. So the best process to decide on a major is to go by the numbers.
- Print up a list of all of the majors offered by your school.
- Go down the list and strike out any major that you have absolutely no interest in pursuing. That got us from roughly 120 majors down to about 18, which is a much more manageable number and way less intimidating.
- For the surviving majors, print up descriptions of the majors and potential jobs/careers associated with those majors. Then further pare down the selections based on what career you can see yourself in. That got us down to roughly 4 or 5 (two were very similar).
- For the few remaining choices, print up the course requirements (list of classes needed to complete the major). Now decide whether you want to spend the next four (three for Liam) years taking those classes.
Based on this experience with Liam I would further recommend that, especially when working with a young man, don't try to do this all at one sitting. Take some time between each step, even a day or two, to allow some time to dwell on the selections.
Liam's choice.....? Liam will begin pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Management this fall. Some of the potential careers include project manager, project engineer, construction administrator, scheduler, estimator, inspector, contract administrator and facilities or construction manager. Who knows, maybe Liam will follow in his mother's footsteps as a project manager (a job she did for several years for the City of Corona's Parks Department) or even his old man's (and Uncle Keith's for that matter) footsteps and get into Code Administration! Who knows what the future might bring?
Coming up? Liam goes back to school the second week in August and has his first Cross Country meet of the season September 3rd. Maureen will be substitute teaching with the local school district this fall. My gig as assistant varsity soccer coach starts back up this week. I was offered the JV Head Coach position but when I found out what the salary (stipend really) was, I figured for the commitment it was going to cost me money. So I'm staying on with the varsity as a volunteer. I found a Special Interest Group at the local UNCA campus that plays (for fun) a Holdem' poker tournament every Monday evening. I've played twice and already won it once. The time I busted out I went all in with a pair of aces, an open end straight and flush draws. I even had a chance at the best two pair. I figured I had better than 20 outs (cards that would win me the hand). The lady next to me had one out, she needed a queen that wasn't a spade (a spade would have made my flush) to make three-of-a-kind. Guess what came up? If you need a clue, that's the tournament I didn't win! That's OK, I'm still having a blast!
Before I close I want to throw out a teaser for October. I may have another update between now and then but my early October update will have the next, and a special addition of, "What I learned from my Uncle John!" So stay tuned.
We hope everyone is having a great summer!
Liam's choice.....? Liam will begin pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Management this fall. Some of the potential careers include project manager, project engineer, construction administrator, scheduler, estimator, inspector, contract administrator and facilities or construction manager. Who knows, maybe Liam will follow in his mother's footsteps as a project manager (a job she did for several years for the City of Corona's Parks Department) or even his old man's (and Uncle Keith's for that matter) footsteps and get into Code Administration! Who knows what the future might bring?
Coming up? Liam goes back to school the second week in August and has his first Cross Country meet of the season September 3rd. Maureen will be substitute teaching with the local school district this fall. My gig as assistant varsity soccer coach starts back up this week. I was offered the JV Head Coach position but when I found out what the salary (stipend really) was, I figured for the commitment it was going to cost me money. So I'm staying on with the varsity as a volunteer. I found a Special Interest Group at the local UNCA campus that plays (for fun) a Holdem' poker tournament every Monday evening. I've played twice and already won it once. The time I busted out I went all in with a pair of aces, an open end straight and flush draws. I even had a chance at the best two pair. I figured I had better than 20 outs (cards that would win me the hand). The lady next to me had one out, she needed a queen that wasn't a spade (a spade would have made my flush) to make three-of-a-kind. Guess what came up? If you need a clue, that's the tournament I didn't win! That's OK, I'm still having a blast!
Before I close I want to throw out a teaser for October. I may have another update between now and then but my early October update will have the next, and a special addition of, "What I learned from my Uncle John!" So stay tuned.
We hope everyone is having a great summer!
