Aaron Donohoe

In all my years being an irate customer of PC World, today really took the piss. I was about town today, and decided to treat myself to a Bridge-SLR camera, I’ve been looking at the Fuji S8000fd which retails around the €225 mark. I noticed PC World were selling it for €199, so in I went with a fist pull of €50’s with intentions of buying.

I tried to get the assistants attention twice at the camera stand, then went up to him, he was a complete prick and snapped at me - so I thought maybe he’s dealing with someone and that I’ll wait around a for a minute or two for another assistant, give the guy a break as maybe he’s been run off his feet (I know what it’s like).

10 minutes passed and he was just standing around so I approached again (with caution) and was then greeted with another snotty comment. So I told him I wanted to buy the camera and was he willing to serve me, that I have been waiting around for 20 minutes and because the cameras are kept locked up I can hardly help myself. He told me to find someone else, that he was busy (standing around of course), to which I noted that he was the only one on the floor with the exception of another guy who was dealing with a customer (Finance Deal I think).

So I told him to work it, and left.

Seriously, how do PC World expect to sell anything when they’re understaffed and what staff they do have are ego tripping. I was a genuine customer, wanting to spend money not only on the camera, but I was also buying the accessories as well as a €119 Keyboard & Mouse. So fuck them, I won’t be shopping there again.

I took my business elsewhere, to Dublin Camera Exchange on Suffolk Street instead, where the guy behind the counter gave me a very thorough demo of the camera and let me ‘try before you buy‘ the camera. In total the camera cost €229, but came with much more kit then PC World, for instance he gave me a 1G SD Card, Genuine Fuji Leather Case, Batteries and Charger, and also gave me a 4G SD card for €15 - excellent deal in my opinion.

I’m not an inpatient person, infact I was being very patient today (more patient than usual), just I cannot deal with stuck up pricks. In all fairness, all he had to do was open the cabinet, give me the camera and send me to the cashiers desk - I wasn’t asking for a lot, just some service which they’re paid for, and I wasn’t the only one neither.

Prick!

Well it’s official, as the Trócaire boxes get bigger each Easter, Christmas now springs upon us sooner. I was in town this afternoon with my mate Jim just seeing what’s to be had. I’m seldom in the heart of the fair city as I generally get agitated in crowds and don’t like shopping. But he needed to get some clothes and the gruaige cut so I tagged along as I needed a few bits and pieces and thought I might get some shopping for the festive season out of the way.

But it dawned on me, that Christmas now starts on the 1st of November, directly after Hallowe’en, when shopping centres erect their grottos (Jervis St. has a Santa that climbs rope between floors!), and the music of Bing Crosbie gets bleated over the Dunnes Stores tannoy. Children’s toy advertisements are strewn across all channels day and night, and the large family boxes of King crisps and become a familiar sight.

I’m not a fan of Christmas in all honesty. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Grinch or Scrooge character, I don’t try to take away from the Christmas spirit - I partake, but can’t see the point of it all. I enjoy getting presents and the over goarging of Turkey and Stuffing washed down with a gulp of Sherry, but I think it’s all over commercialised hype. There is too much competition between parents to get their kids the latest and greatest, too much branding and not enough spirit.

There is so much build up to it, but it’s the same every year - kids up at 5 am, parents barely hanging on in there after the big setup the night beforehand, take shifts going back to bed, new clothes are modelled when relatives and visitors come over to make a sizeable dent on the muchie stash, Christmas dinner comes and goes and everyone falls asleep at 6pm over the boring Christmas Day telly. Same year in year out!

I usually go on call for broken toy repair. Usually there’s one from the massive array which the fat man has brought the youngsters, I generally end up breaking out the precision screwdriver set and get to work rewiring a dolls house!

Unfortunately, the Santa buzz has nearly dulled in our house, my Sister being 10 will be over the fairytale and hopefully there’ll be no more getting up at 6am, or having to leave evidence of St. Nick’s presence - the snowy footprints on the fireplace were convincing until she asked why Santa wasn’t wearing boots

This post has been a draft for quite some time, but for the past number of weeks I’ve been trying to sort my priorities. I’ve been racking my brain about what I really want to pursue as a career path, whether I want to enrole into college of go headlong into the working world - in the not so distant future I’ll be out of the cushie nest and let loose into the real world! By no means am I prepared. I’ve yet to decide on a course which would suit me and that I would suit, and I’m teetering about the college I’m wanting to attend - I’m leaning towards DCU though.

I’ve been considering a course in Enterprise Computing, I don’t know exactly why, but that stuck out in the prospectus and I think that I’d be interested in such a course as it covers what I’m interested in - Computers, & Business. Plus it’s a stone’s throw away, and DCU and my school are linked by the Access programme - meaning they work in conjunction with one another to encourage students to go onwards to 3rd Level Education. We used to frequent the campus causing terror during many visits to DCU - they even had to put up with us during the ComputeTY course (which I came runner-up in!)

My main focus presently is catching up for any slacking done last year, I must admit I didn’t slack that much (not as much as others) is mainly recapping on some missed notes and refreshing my myself with anything I forgot over the summer. So far I’m only behind in French - possibly my worst subject until recently when I migrated to Ordinary Level, which is a refreshing relief!

I know I’ve been rambling on for ages about how I wanted to get into Engineering, but to be honest, I think I’d be better suited to an I.T. job for better career prospects and job satisfaction. Although tinkering around with engines and the likes is a hobby, I don’t think it’s a very promising career to be honest - for the initial investment of time, energy and money you get little from it. Where as doing an I.T. course won’t be as strenuous.

On another note, I’ve revived my dead laptop at last. After putting 3 laptops worth of parts into it, it’s become more of a Dr. Frankenstein creation - DELL Latitude D600 case and innerds, with 1GB RAM from simular DELL laptop, Processor from same laptop, and HDD & OS License from my former Inspiron. I’m running XP SP2 without a problem, was going to attempt Vista…but didn’t want to buy a license when I had a spare XP lying around. Still it’s only used for Browsing, Wordprocessing and Emails - will be rarely used by me. I just got it up and running for my sister who needs more internet access for projects and assignments in school…so I don’t have to forfeit my PC anymore

The great thing about being the Senior, is the Juniors in some way idolise you. Now I’m not talking about worship, I’m talking about respect - something which is lacking between peers in Dublin Secondary Schools to be frank. Although this years batch of First years seem to be more tame then last years, whom I had the misfortune of having to take charge of on more than one occasion - lets just say it turned me to drink!

One thing is though, they are lippy little fucks! When I was a first year, I used to be quiet, reserved, and didn’t give any lip. These, as soon as you try to restore some order they give you a mouthful of abuse! Of course it’s usually resolved with lifting one off the ground and putting him into a bin ‘carefully placing him elsewhere’. Not that I condone bullying, or violence!

But it’s good to be back I must admit. It’s nice to restore some order and routine back into my life, which during the summer involved lots of staying up until the wee hours, sleeping late, and just being a waste of space in town, or at a friends house (I tried to get a summer job - to no avail).

Going back felt like nothing changed, there was some surrealism as when we goto class we sit in the same places we always sit, the teachers continue from exactly the point from where we left off, but there has been some changes such as classes starting and finishing 5 minutes early, some new teachers (new English, religion, careers & French teachers for my subjects).

Also, to my surprise, the teachers haven’t been badgering on constantly about the Leaving Cert - Study Study Study - your life ends here and so on. They’ve been acknowledging it, saying what we’ve to expect on the paper but nothing yet about study structure or anything. But I suppose we haven’t yet started anything. The first week is more to orientate and to get yourself sorted out.

I’ve also learned that some teachers read this blog on a regular basis - so I’ll have to be on my best behaviour and keep my tongue in my cheek

As you may have gathered I’m a new driver, although I have experience it’s still near impossible to get on the road with my own set of wheels! I’ve been driving my Dads car as of late - actually haven’t driven it since beginning of August, but still I hate driving it as I’m afraid of damaging it! I’m more so afraid of my Mam as it’s mostly her run about car and if I so much as get a minuet scratch on it I won’t be fed for a month (although of course it’s okay for her to reverse into gates, and walls!).

So there during the week my Dad received the renewal notice from his insurance provider, with a quote for €1600 for the year! soared from €342 last year with just him and my Mam on it (fully comp & open drive) to well over 5 times that! Needless to say he wasn’t happy considering he has been with them for 15 years with a Full No Claims Bonus and has a number of vehicles insured with them also! Allianz really appreciate customer loyalty!

So basically we’ve decided to book a few driving lessons for me to get some practice in - I’ve already established I can drive but all I need is practice to better my road confidence - which is what I was doing with my Dads car! So I’ve to get upto test standard before October 3rd which is when my first driving test takes place (I moved it from 28th August). He’s considering getting a quote from a friend of his in a leading insurance company for me on my own policy building my own NCB from scratch, on my own car. But it doesn’t look like we’ll be paying under the €1000 mark at least for Third Party

Insurance companies have the prejudice and vision of all young drivers as maniacs who take stupid risks and endanger others and themselves. Although it’s not the case! I feel I’m a safe driver, who’s courteous, vigilant, and tries to make good progress. I’m not swift but I’m not slow, I’m not cocky but I’m not afraid neither. And most young drivers like me who own their car will generally look after it and not thrash it - unless your a boy racer! Although I got my car for free (from my uncle who bought it for my cousin who in the end didn’t want to learn to drive) I have spent a great deal of time and money in getting it road worthy and ready for an NCT. I have no plans to modify or rally it, I just want to get from A-B without have to get public transport, walk or ask for a lift!

I know we’re considered a high risk, understandably their has to be some excess premium. But for a car that’s not worth half of the premium, and will do under 10,000 miles per year and is being driven by an accompanied driver is there much of a risk? I may like in Dublin which would be a high risk area also - but Fiat Puntos are renowned for being difficult to steal with the keys and are not top of the list for desirable cars by car thieves!

Something will have to be done, as most young drivers like me can’t afford these premiums and yet need a car as a necessity - are safe and competent drivers who do limited millage per year. With the recession looming no young drivers will be able to take out policies as most of us are rapped for cash! Road tax, petrol, and maintenance costs are surging! Pretty soon it will be a choice of fuel the car or eat!

I just had to rant about it, most of you are saying it’s good that young drivers can’t get on the road or some will agree. Either way you have to admit the insurance companies are taking the piss! I think I might invest in a mule…

Yes the rat race has begun - officially! Today was my first day back as a 6th year, the final rum in my publically funded education - following this we’re released into the real world to fend for ourselves - be it in work, college or being on of those free loaders who want to go travelling for a year! Despite the occasion it was a normal day - albeit a half one!

The first official day back was last Tuesday, although it was just to get timetables and the ’speech’ - basically it’s the most predictable talk about how important this year is and so on…like everyone hasn’t been saying that to us already!

Anyway, it’s good to be back - into some routine! The only downside is having to get up early in the morning…

Whilst I have been indoors due to the floodings in Dublin I have been improving the blog slightly:

• Plugins - adding, removing, upgrading, ‘improving’ (breaking)
• Style - I’ve modified the style slightly, fixing some errors and making more personal
• Categories - I’ve laid down base categories and divided all categories into sub-categories. Makes everything more tidy!
• Removals - I’ve removed any unused, or unnecessary plugins, themes, and files.
• Updated About Me & Contact Me Pages

I’ve intentions on the following:

• Re-upload the uploads folder *DONE*
• Install:
  • Gravatars on Comments *DONE*
  • Various plugins to secure my ACP *DONE*
  • Writing various time delayed posts for when I’m away *DONE*
  • Related Posts *DONE*
  • XML Sitemaps *DONE*
  • Whatever else takes my fancy over at the Plugin Directory
• New Background image *DONE*
• Code Random Header Image Script to Variate Header Image

It’s better to be doing something productive whilst I can do feck all at home. Nothing on telly bar Top Gear repeats…that I’ve already seen!

Yes with some luck, I’ll be ditching those wretched L-plates with my pending application for my driving test. I’ve been told the waiting list has been reduced to less than 6 weeks with contractors been brought in to reduce the application congestion - I’m hoping to get either Clonshaugh or Swords as my test centre (both ran by SGS), but I didn’t have the option on the booking form.

My sudden motivation to apply for the test came recently with an announced ‘blitz’ held by the Gardaí - nationwide. They’re pulling cars at random and checking for everything, especially unaccompanied Learner Drivers, following the new legislation in Ireland in the past month which prohibits any Provisional License holder to drive unaccompanied. So those of you reading who have driven unaccompanied and continue to do so I’d recommend you find some fully licensed driver to sit beside you - as I believe the penalties include a heafty fine and the impounding of the car! You have been warned!

And on a final note, congrats to Mr. Roche (dont’ know if he reads this or not) for passing his Bus Driving Test yesterday. You’re not a bread van driver anymore! :thumbsup:

Well as of tomorrow, I will officially be a senior, as the school year draws to a close this evening with the 6th Year graduation, we will officially be the seniors of the school - somewhat daunting, as I now know that this time next year it will be me pulling my hair out cramming, and studying.

This week has been fairly handy, Monday and Tuesday were normal days. With Wednesday being more of a doss day, today being a halfday with no classes (except French!), and tomorrow will be the same, as it will mark the school year to a close.

I’ve only a few days of exams starting Monday with Maths and English, and I finish up on Thursday - they want us to come in on Friday for an LCVP exam, but there’s no teacher at the moment as the previous one until last week had a baby. So there’s no one to set an exam, and they’re damned if they think I’m getting out of my bed for no reason!

The theme for this years graduation is aptly - “Don’t Stop Believing”, which I think was inspired from the rejuvenated Journey hit - Don’t Stop Believing it…hazard a guess to what the graduation song is? No, it’s not Lady in Red by Chris De Burgh!

And best of luck to Mark Walsh, Kevin Holler, and anyone else who will be sitting the Leaving Cert this coming June. If you’re reading this, you should be studying!

I’m finally back to civilisation at last, after over a week of ‘Cork Fest‘ - which is basically a marathon of doing constant mechanical work, and getting old buses shifted for no pay (it’s already been established that I’m clinically insane…). It’s great craic (for the most part), especially when we got our hands on some heavy machinery - you haven’t tried stress relief until you smash carefully park a coach into smitherines!

I got back on Sunday night, in under 3 hours in a 5.3l Vauxhaul Omega! The main reason why I haven’t been posting since, is I’ve been bed ridden, with appendicitis - nothing acute, I’m on antibiotics and should be back to normal in a few days. I’m using it as an excuse to stay in bed on the laptop .

I’ve got so much work to siphon through, I’ve the launch of a number of websites looming, I’ve got bills to pay, oh and I’ve the minor task of painting a coach . Of which is due to attend a show in Belfast on Saturday 26th of April, more info here if you want it . There are also some issues with this blog that need to be addressed, such as the header, Wordpress version update, and the fact my new emoticons aren’t working .

No point getting worked up over it, I’m going to enjoy my time off - everything else can take a backseat *phone switched off*.