The Hard Times of the Working Man

Jobs, important things? Employment, necessary? If you want to get anywhere in life, of course. Unless you're Paris Hilton or some fucker like that. If you didn't realise that having a job was even mildly compulsory for the average Joe, you've just failed life, and you should exit through the door with the "can't cope" sign stuck with on blue-tac.

I've a little job in Swords & District Credit Union. For now, I'm in the Swords Manor office. It's so desperately handy. All I have to do is walk for about eight minute through the Jacko and I'm at work. Usually I don't like crossing the bridge just behind the playground but, it's just so easy. I can get up at nine and can be in for half-nine no bother. If I'm ever put in the North Street office, it won't be quite as simple. The walk is longer but I'd go down Jacko also. It would remind me too much of going to school!

So, I'm now in employment. Unfortunately I don't know whether I call it full or part time. I'll be working nine to five for the next two weeks. in basic terms this means that I'll have a nice amount of dosh. After the next two weeks, I won't be in everyday. I'll have to look at the roster of who's in and seee when I get a day off.

I've only been in three days so far. I know very little about the workings of the place. I also know very little about the operating system on the computers. I have been doing the same task for the three days, and I will be doing the same thing for the next two weeks too. Woop-di-doo! I'll probably be dreaming of account numbers or addresses in Swords by Wednesday.

That's one thing that I have to do when I'm looking at the accounts to be reviewed; check if the addresses are right. It just showed me how big Swords actually is, and how much of it I don't know. There's housing estates I've never been in, and there are housing estates that I didn't know existed let alone knowing the name. But, now I know some of the names. Don't ask me where they are, I'll look at you funny.

At some stage, and I'll a little weary of it, I'll be put on the counter. Yes, dealing with people, and people's accounts and their saving etc. - gulp.

Me
"Hi, good morning."

Member (placing book and money on the counter)
"Howaya, I'd like €40 taken from my saving account and put into my son's account. Then can you put €25 off the loan and the rest there from the interest too there please."

Me (sweating now)
"Eh, sure, no problem. Em, what date is it?"

Members I would imagine can and will be a bit impatient with the new trainee. I suppose I wouldn't blame them if they do. "What's this little stupid fucker doin' on the cash for if he doesn't know wha' he's doin'?" Oh well, I'll give it a go. It's all about the money in the end. I'll have money to buy stuff and go places. I bought Pearl Jam's newest album, named Pearl Jam, there on Thursday. Ooops, I still owe Finn the €13.99. Ah, he'll get it. I'll probably buy few cds with wages. Maybe something mad someday, like a ant farm. Or some high-tech gizmo gadget that'd make me look cool. Ooooh, idea! Laptop? Hmmm, keep that in mind.

Anyway, if you want to my Credit Union, fair play to you. Look for me, I'll have one of those slightly bad (naff) purple shirts. I'll have my name tag on if you don't recognise me behind the computer! Talk to yez.

Lord, it's July!

I don't have much to say, good thing too, coz nobody's gonna bother reading this apart from me. Actually, just typing that ("gonna") reminds me of something. I think that it's acceptable to use that word, if I can call it that, here on a blog thing. But is it decent to use it in a daily publication? Take the Irish Independent for example. Occasionally it has tabloid-style headlines, with puns as shit as you might find in The Sun. But that's neither here nor there. Mr. Ian O'Doherty had it in one of his articles there last week. I've nothing better to do, and I've tracked it down.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/ispy-wee-willie-and-the-boys-ready-to-rock-again-742881.html

I just didn't think it very suitable to have such "words" in a daily newspaper, that's all, I'm not giving out or anything.

July in Ireland usually brings sunshine with it. Oh no, not this time. All we've seen these last two weeks are clouds and rain showers. There was thunder & lightning one night too. I think it was the night before my economics test, the 20th. Most days, if not everyday, have seen rain. There is a permanent cloud shield sitting over all of Dublin, letting in little direct sunshine, keeping the morning and evenings darker than they should be, but at the same time, maintaining a bleedin' hot, clammy atmosphere. Well, that's how it goes.

The day after my exams finished, I made a great purchase. 11CDs and 1DVD for €49.99. Can you believe that? You better. Blue Guitars, Chris Rea's momentus collection of 137 songs is surely something else. So far I've only listened to four of the CDs, so seven left. Great value I have to say. Obviously it's not just because of the price, Chris' slide guitar, the use of so many different insruments, and Gerry O'Connor's banjo playing all aid to make the music deadly. You'd think you were buying an LP at first because of the presentation book that the CDs are held in. I'm terribly impressed with the colour and art in the book. All the paintings were done by Chris, and I think they're lovely. I like the one on the front cover and the one that goes with "Louisiana & New Orleans." The Wikipedia article has some of the paintings, so have a gawk.

Having been listening to Chris Rea and the bleedin' legend slide that he does be playing, I thought what the heck, I'll give it a shot. I never got how they do it, y'kno, use a bottleneck, (not cut themselves,) or bronze/nickel slide and make a sound that's so raw, so filthy and yet so damn powerful. Chris is a master of it. Rory Gallagher is another. Duane Allman had it too, Derek Trunks, Bonnie Raitt, they're all there too. But anyway, I gave it a go with a open-G tuning and it's great craic altogether. It even encouraged me to clean up the acoustic with a bit of a polish up and a new stringing. Sounds a dream now again. I tried slide banjo too. 'Twas fun, maybe I'll have it over-dubbed somewhere in a song that I don't have.




So, that's all the news at this time. Join us again for the nine o'clock news on RTÉ1 at nine o'clock obviously, to hear how we won the libel case and we take money someone doesn't have. Cheers. Enjoy the shit weather while we have it now folks! God bless.