Posts from — October 2008

Originally uploaded by elbisreverri

There’s plenty to be depressed about after yesterday’s budget. For me, the most depressing thing is that I’m old enough, and responsible enough, to have to actually pay attention.

I preferred the days when I could switch off the telly or radio for the long speech/squabble and let someone else deal with it. But now, with a business to run, employees to take care of, and my own taxes to manage, I have to sit up and take note. Or rather, sit up, and watch as the government takes most of my notes and wipes their arse with them.

Having just come back from Australia – where the sun shone, jobs grew on trees, the wine was cheap, public transport worked and the surf was 200 metres from my back door – Ireland’s rain, persistent gloom and growing financial stricture is hard to take. Grab the Sunday Business Post this week to read me talking about the general exodus in that direction. Yes, entire families are cancelling flights home based on Irish headlines. Yes, the Irish are fleeing down under in their droves at the moment. And yes, they may be right to do so.

In a nutshell, here’s my initial Boo/Yay analysis of how the budget directly affects me.

• The 1% income tax levy. Boo.
• The 1% income tax my employees will have to pay, and the adjustment I’ll have to make in payroll. Boo for their loss, and the additional work for me. Boo.
• The €10 airport tax I’ll have to pay getting away from the Christmas I can no longer afford. Boo. Why don’t people with private jets have to pay it? Double Boo.
• No increase on diesel. Yay.
• Increase of 4% on motor tax. Minor Boo (I drive a commercial).
• Increase in the VAT rate. Boo. Means I also have to change my VAT rates on the computer. Boo again.
• 50 cents on a bottle of wine? I notice a pint of Bass hasn’t gone up a penny – Boo. Bertie still writes his notes in the margin, I suppose.
• 50 cents on a pack of cigarettes?  Yay. Cigarettes killed my father and grandfather. Tax ‘em up the whazoo.
• Taking away the elderly’s medical cards? Doesn’t affect me directly, but Boo. It will affect my grandfather, but as he manages his share portfolio online, aged 83, and is canny enough to stay solvent despite his love of horse racing, it’s more an annoyance than a survival thing. But taking away the elderly’s benefits? Boo, Brian. You git. Boo Boo Boo.  Think about things like this next time you choose a doctor for a prostate exam. There’ll be no lube on that prodding finger. Cutbacks, you see.

Originally uploaded by Ale Carlot

The right kind can make living in Ireland incredibly enjoyable.

The wrong kind tend to drink in Dawson St.  I took four wheels’ worth of the right kind (pictured), and my girlfriend, to Ballyhoura at the weekend, and covered 23 kms of the 90-something kilometers of bike trails they have marked out down there.

It’s been a long battle with Coillte to make them realise that mountain bikers are a) nature lovers b) willing to pay for the privilege of having good trails and c) what, willing to pay?

Finally, they’re starting to cash in on the bikers who have been trespassing on their land for years, and actually making a very decent fist of it.

It’s €5 for parking, €2 for a bike wash, €2 for showers, as installed at the trailhead at Ballyhoura, all of which are eminently reasonable. That’s maybe €11 for a day’s entertainment – surely a recession-proof tourism strategy, and with the car park full on Sunday morning and a slew of knobs and knob-jockeys heading off into the forest, there’s a strong argument for more of the same.

We had a great day at Ballyhoura, gave the knobs hell, covered a lot of ground, and our asses are paying for it today.

Knobs, asses, giving it hell. Welcome to another Google cul-de-sac for lost pervs.

For the record, we stayed at Ballinacourty House (lovely) in the beautiful Glen of Aherlow, which I mentioned along with the trails in a Sunday Business Post article at the start of the summer. And we’ll be staying there again when we go back.

Welcome aboard. Tee or coffee?

Sorry, Mr Poor Man. Still no surfboards allowed. They encourage long hair and economy.

Cowabunga.

A little soothsaying gem from Fox News Live Desk at around 18:45 GMT this evening:

“We’ve got a brand new statement from John McCain coming right up.

“In fact, he hasn’t even said it yet – he’ll say it later.”

News don’t git any newer than that.

Fox News. Fair & Balanced. And Prescient.

Possibly the most Chuck Norris bike ad I’ve ever read.

It’s a real ad, from a friend of mine in SF.

“Bike for sale. What kind of bike? I don’t know, I’m not a bike scientist.”

http://tinyurl.com/5uoeve