Aaron Donohoe

I haven’t the time, nor motivation lately to make daily blog posts - quite simply I’m out the door with work, school and trying to maintain sanity around the yard! I know I like to give a concise update bi-weekly, but lately I haven’t even been able to do that!

With the good weather we’re having at present, I’m lapping it all up in my stride, as knowing the Irish weather’s traits I know it won’t last for long! Over these past few days I’ve been found anywhere there’s sun, but unfortunately, my Irish skin isn’t used to the sun…so I just burn and then give out about how I’m “Burnt to Fuck” for the next week or so!

And with the improvement in weather, I acquired myself yet another bus - why? Because I wanted to! Plain and simple, I used to travel to school on it when I was a younger youngster, and always liked it. I seen it most mornings until recently, so I went in search and came across it - looking sorry for itself.

So after some carefully practised blagging, it was mine. Even got loads of spares, glass and a tank of diesel for my efforts! So last week, it made its maiden run to our yard in Wicklow where I set to cleaning and fixing it - it had a timing problem from the injector pump, and a ropey steering wheel, all since have been fixed.

As you all know, I’ve owned other in the past (still own half of them), but this one will be something for me to mess around with. My others have been ’show vehicles’ meaning they have to be finished to the highest of standards in minimal time, whereas this although it will be finished to a high standard, I will be taking my time to learn as I go along - something I couldn’t do to my other vehicles.

The above photo was taken whilst out and about in Wicklow on Sunday. The weather was superb, so the opportunity was seized to remove the Dublin Bus logos and take it for a 50 mile road run into Arklow and back as well as around a few other seaside spots around.

While we’re on the subject of photos, I have to admit my stupidity on Saturday, of myself drowning my camera with Club Lemon. I wasn’t looking while I was opening my ‘refreshment’, and with Steve’s driving it caused an eruption of Lemon all over my camera - which soon became rather sticky!

Although I managed to clean it all off when I go home, I feel that it was the final blow for my long suffering Olympus, it’s been dropped several times, soaked with diesel, been in unbearable cold and hot weather, had the lens shot with steel shavings from an angle grinder, it’s been nearly crushed multiple times and thrown at something when I’ve been pissed off. It’s had a hard life, so maybe it will be time to retire the old girl to a reserve camera. I’ve been thinking of a Fujifilm SLR, maybe S9600, or perhaps a secondhand Canon 30D? It will indefinitely be a pity, as it takes great photos! See below.

A bridge over the former Dublin reservoir, near Vartry, Co. Wicklow

Unintentional closeup of greenery with VW ‘Type 2′ in the background.

I’m way to bust lately to be blogging, I just had a spare half hour to throw up a post - not even on the computer neither. I’m blogging on the laptop whilst doing a history essay and renewing a few domains at the same time - who says men can’t multi-task?

Between school, and other online work I haven’t the time to blog, I’ve three websites to get up in the next few weeks - I’ve a habit of starting (designing) and not finishing them, the arduous task of making the content! I also want to get a portfolio online to showcase my work (what little there is!).

In the time since I’ve last blogged I’ve gotten on the road to nowhere, I’ve ‘acquired’ my first car - and two days later acquired my second car . Both Fiat Punto’s, I know you’ll be gritting your teeth at the unreliability and cheap feel of them, but I got both for free - one a 1999 1.2 60S from ‘Payne in the Arse‘, which needs a new camshaft and some other minor work, and the other a 1997 55SX from my uncle - he bought it for my cousin to start driving and she had other ideas. It was a wreck when he got it, but as he’s a mechanic he put a new engine into it, 5 new tyres and a fresh NCT.

So now I’ve motivation to get my Full License, which I hope to get come June. I would have done more driving lessons - if Irish School of Motoring hadn’t ‘lost’ my file after I paid for 5 hours of lessons and only partook of one! For shame ISM!

And on another note - we’ve painted the bus! My uncle (same one who gave me the Punto), gave his time to paint and buff the bus, a big job. We’ve only got it white so far, and we’re awaiting a sign writer to apply blue and navy striping and logos. The pic below is of it in Greystones on Saturday 5th of April 2008, still requiring completion - needed corner trim, wheel trims, a good waxing and striping.

For those who are interested, we’re organising a run upto Belfast in the above bus for a show held up there annually. It’s not an anorak event, but a gathering of vintage cars, buses, trucks and anything else with Irish heritage. Click here for more info.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m no longer going to say “I’ll be back shortly” and so on, as frankly, these days I don’t know what I’ll be doing and when. I’ve been offline the past few days, as I’ve been doing proper work - more info here. Myself and ‘Payne in the Arse‘ have been tackling the arduous task of replacing the head gasket in a 1979 Leyland Leopard - hardest work I’ve done in a long time!

Don’t get me wrong, I love doing work like that, it’s challenging, but it’s a trade that I’m learning. I don’t know many people who would give up their weekends to strip down a huge lump of an engine, to replace basically a piece of re-enforced cardboard, and then rebuild the engine - would you do it?

I could have easily stayed in bed on that cold Saturday morning, gotten up at 2pm, and lazed around for the day, maybe going out or maybe working online. But, instead I was up and ready at 8am, in Wicklow for 9:30, and had no feeling in my fingers by 10:00!

Before retiring for the day at 11pm, and going home to get the metal shavings from my hair, and trying to get the smell of semi-synthetic oil and diesel from my hands.

Up the following morning and out the door at 9am (a lie on ), to do the same thing again! What those people have been saying is true… I am mad! . But I love it, for some sick twisted reason. You have fun, gain a skill, get free lunch, and get whacked out with the fumes - and in my case set myself on fire…twice .

So, I’ve decided to focus on career prospects - instead of the blogs, websites, and other dealings I’m involved with. I’ll keep the websites open, just I doubt they’ll have many updates over the next few months. School is major reason to why I’m cutting down severely on the making money side of the web - I made good money while I was focused, but once I didn’t get as good results as I had wished, a decision was made on my part to sever my online activities. It won’t benefit me in the long term aspect of things.

Don’t get me wrong, this blog will be fairly active. But from a personal aspect only. Very few business and blogging articles will be written in the foreseeable future. I’d like to thank everyone for their support in the past few months, but I’m retiring from the exciting world of blog entrepreneurship for now.

Aaron Donohoe