Did ya miss me?

Hello, my lovely readers!

It has come to my attention that I have been.. neglecting you. All of you. I’m awfully sorry for this- especially since the last post I wrote was pretty personal and unhappy, and then I went and disappeared for almost a month without so much as a by-your leave. Awfully inconsiderate of me, I have to admit. 

There've been a LOT of these.
There’ve been a LOT of these.

So, where have I been? If you’re worried that I went off the deep end or decided to throw in the blogging towel, it’s okay. I just got a new dayjob (hurray!). As I’ve been out of paid work for months, this is both something I’m really happy about, and a bit of an adjustment. As it turned out, it didn’t leave me with any time (or spoons!) for writing while I dragged myself up the new-job learning curve.

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Dana likes it when I take pictures of rocks. Hi Dana! Rocks! And mountains!

The new job is great fun, and I’m loving it so far. I’m acting as a tour co-ordinator and leader for groups of Americans (and the odd Canadian) travelling around Ireland. The visitors are lovely– this particular programme is geared towards older visitors with a real interest in learning about the country. The kind of people whose idea of a holiday involves multiple lectures- so we tend to get along famously. I’ve met some fabulously interesting people and gotten to spend loads of time expounding on all things Irish. In case you all haven’t noticed, I do rather like having a soapbox. Or, in this case, a microphone and a coach-load of people with a ton of questions to ask. It’s also marvellous to get paid to travel to all corners of the country, revisit some of my favourite places and discover places I’d never spent time in. It’s not every job that sends you driving around wild, rocky Donegal landscapes one day and pays you to explore a 5,000 year old passage tomb the next.

This hotel wasn't actually creepy in the slightest.
This hotel wasn’t actually creepy in the slightest.

And yeah, staying in 4-star hotels every night and getting free passes to all the sights when I’ve my paperwork done? Is a pretty sweet deal.

While I am loving my job (seriously, it is ALL the fun), it’s not exactly a nine-to-five. More like a 7am till after dinner most days in between having specific things to do and being on call in case someone needs me, and instead of a regular schedule? When I’m on, I’m on every day for a few weeks. And then I get a week (or a few) off. Since my favourite way to write is to hide in a room for days at a time, this suits me perfectly.

Picture of a mountain by the roadside, with trees in the foreground. The mountain has steep grey sides.
Speaking of rocks: There is no snow in this picture. NO SNOW.

Of course, this time? After three weeks working every day, the very day before I was done I came down with a cold. The fact that for my last day I had to get up at an hour of the morning that I normally call “bedtime” unless I’m flying out? Which made sense cause I was sending off my early morning visitors? Didn’t exactly help that one, and as soon as I got home I packed myself right off to bed and barely left the bed (or sofa) for days.

Dear recruiters: This is my professional face on about two hours of sleep. IMAGINE how professional I can be after eight!
Dear recruiters: This is my professional face on about two hours of sleep. IMAGINE how professional I can be after eight!

I’d complain about that one, but if I’m honest there’s a lot worse than spending three days in bed catching up with Daredevil and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. (Can someone tell S2 Matt to get his head out of his ass?  Wait, EVERYONE ALREADY DID and he didn’t listen. Also, Karen is the best and I wanna be her when if I grow up. Brooklyn Nine-Nine needs no comment because it is fabulous and hilarious and pretty much my fave.)

Of course, now I’ve gotten through my first three weeks in a row, I know how things are going to be. I’ve loads of time in between groups to work on getting some posts scheduled for when I’m too busy, so even though some times will be busier (and some posts more timely!) than others, I shouldn’t end up with another month-long gap between posts any time soon.

In the meantime- have a few more pics of where I’ve been. It’s been a tough, tough station.

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Some rando called Charlie used to spend his summers in Kerry. I guess he was alright, like.

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Speaking of Kerry- who’d want to live in a place like this? You’d be stuck gazing at the glorious vistas all days long. And I’ll bet the wifi access is TERRIBLE. Nope. I’m definitely not even a tiny bit envious of the people who live here.

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Yet ANOTHER perfect sunrise.


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Did ya miss me?
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2 thoughts on “Did ya miss me?

  1. 1

    It’s great to hear that things are going so well for you and that you have a fun job gallivanting about all those amazing sights (I’m a tad jealous that I’m stuck in an office all day). You deserve all the awesomeness! (even if it results in sporadic posts for us readers to enjoy 😛 )

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