My New Van

Hey so i finally did it bit the bullet and Bought myself a Van. Well not just any van its a camper van. Not just any camper van thou it a 1976 VW Sage Green Pop top camper van.

Its Awesome! To find it I enquired on eircooled.ie (a forum populated by experts who love to talk about all things air cooled and VW) about the ridiculous price of camper vans for sale in England. The lads there were brilliant and a few of them recommended Road cow an American with a connection to the club who is based in California. He was great he asked me what my experience with VWs was and if i was mechanically minded. He convinced me that I'd be better off with a pop top because at first i wanted a tintop because i liked them better but the practicality of the poptop won me over. At first he told me he knew of a bus for sale which is pictured here and that he could get it for a reasonable price. Its the Blue one pictured below.

I wasn't sure thou and as this one is an early bay it didn't have all the options such as a sink and cooker it may not have been suitable for the trip. Britt (Roadcow) the told me that he had the Sage green bus and that he could sort it out to how i wanted it and have it in Ireland for a very reasonable price. So i agreed on buying it and at the minute he is doing it up for me.

He is going to remove the front wheel carrier of the front (and get me a VW sign), he is going to to do up the engine and replace the injectors with carbs (apparently easier to service in Europe) he is going to replace all the door and window seals, he is going to replace the break lines and get the brakes working well, he is going to respray the entire bus top half white and bottom half sage green, he is going to replace the canvas in the pop top and he is going to get 5 new tires for it. I'm sure there is more but i can't thin now. This will be arriving in Ireland in December around the same time as me hopefully.

Bored at work

Yet again i find my self bored at work. It's not that I have nothing to do it's just that the work I have to do is a hell of a lot more boring than sitting here doing nothing so I've compiled a list of the top 10 ways to pass a boring day at work.

1. Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ (I know its obvious but great if u fancy bit of online stalking, checking out other peoples pictures, or just checking out what old mates are up to, I try to keep away from farmville and Mafia wars as they are very worthless/pointless pursuits
2. Watching never mind the buzzcocks on you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S3eoDBjfOA&feature=related This is was an episode i was just about to watch but dag nabit I've already seen I should really have kept a list of what I've watched. For those of you don't know Never Mind The Buzzcocks is a popular pop Quiz Show hosted by Mark Lemar originally and had been going, I think since 1996 when i was 14 and used to sit up in my room and piss my hole laughing at it and still do but now at work. Which may be why my boss who sits opposite me gives me the occasional funny look. Original captains were Phil Juipitus and Sean Hughes. Sean left and was replaced by Bill Bailey, Mark left and was replaced first by a series of guest hosts (series 18), Simon Amstel then took over, Bill Bailey left in series 22 and was replaced by Noel Fielding in series 23. Simon Amstel left at the end of series 22 and was replaced by guest hosts in series 23. (sorry i know that's more info then you were looking for)


3. Placing Hex on Freeonline games .com http://www.freeonlinegames.com/strategy-games/hex-empire.html Random war game highly addictive.


4. Checking out this site http://www.27bslash6.com/ This guy is a legend I really like his business plan about cats.
5. From the last sight i found this http://www.andkon.com/arcade/missiledefender/warzonetowerdefense/ another highly addictive war game.
6. During the week i listen to today fm Ray d'Arcy from 12 to 3 (that's 9 to 12 at home) and Ray Foley from 12 to 2.30. http://www.todayfm.com/
7. Checking out camper vans on the web for potential Craigs (the name i shall give my camper) This is one of my favourite sites http://www.vwcampercrazy.co.uk/
8. Checking out peoples comments about camper vans here http://www.type2ireland.org/forum/index.php some of the restorations work is crazy.
9. Taking extra long lunch breaks in Abu Dhabi Mall think the longest may have stretched to 2 and a half hours on a particular unmotivated day.
10. Barring all that i go to site and look at some concrete which is what I'm going to do now.

Phones are getting bigger

I have a theory or merely an observations that phones are getting bigger. The bleedin buttons on them may be getting smaller like on the blackberry but the blackberry itself is still a big phone so much so that you see them twats with the pouch on the side of there belts cos the phone is two big for their pockets. The i-phone too is feckin huge ok it can do loads of cool stuff but its feckin massive.

My new Phone

I'm only making this observation because i bought a new phone the other day a Sony eiricsson something or other all i know is that it has a 5 mp camera on it and you can use to communicate with other people that own mobile phones or even just phoners in their houses. That's really, well nearly more then I require from a phone. My first mobile phone in 1999 was some sort of nokia thing 3200 maybe and it was big and useless and didn't have many gadgets but it did have snake, so it kept me entertained. My new phone has pedometer which tells me that so far today I've done 1973 steps but apparently to be healthy i have to do 10000 that means i have to walk home so I may start now.

Time

So here I am sitting at work with another 2 hours and 40 minutes left to kill and to be honest I think it’s killing me as I am so un motivated at the moment I hate this stupid un appreciating un caring company I work for. But that another story, why in the name of hell aren’t I at home playing x box already. Because time when you’re doing something fun as they say flies and “they” are in fact correct. Be it sitting in a pub with your mates having the craic, or watching an awesome film or TV show, or being on a date with a lovely lassie.

Bought this yesterday:

Started playing it at like 6.30 when I got home from work and stopped playing at about 11. Only stopping to make me self a bacon sandwich. It’s a pretty cool game set in western America were you are this bounty hunter dude and you get to shoot bandits, herd cattle and tame wild horses. Basically its mission based but free roaming a bit like Grand Theft Auto Tombstone.
Haha writing crap in Blog can also waste time what am I going do for the next 2 and a half hours.

The Plan

I have a plan

Its not a great plan buts its all i have. I've been living and working in the hot hot heat of Abu Dhabi for nearly two years and I'm sick of it. Since about January last year we have been working 6 day weeks before that we got every second Saturday off. Wouldn't be too bad if we had been paid for the extra work but we weren't but were promised that it would be reflected in our bonus.

The bonus was promised for over a year with rumours circulating about it every month so much so that the bonus was nicknamed the unicorn. But this month things changed and the mythical creature finally landed and finally we got extra funds in the bank account. So that means i can finnally afford to have a plan.

Now to the plan in November of this year I'm going to quit this job and finally head home not that i haven't been home but this will see me leave for good after working for 2 years and celebrate my first Christmas at home for 2 years. :D Hopefully having saved enough to buy one of these babies.

Then after I've purchased my VW camper i hope to head off on a trip round Europe in her. Hope to start in February and bum around for 6 to 8 months doing as little physical work as possible and seeing as much cool stuff as possible hopefully wrapping up the trip at Oktober fest in Munich. If i last that long.

Driving in Abu Dhabi

Driving in Abu Dhabi can be an interesting and frustrating experience. More frustratingly interesting i suppose. I have a feeling the UAE rules of the road read something like this:

• Use indicators only when there is a car in the the lane you wish to be in and you don't want to wait till there is space for your vehicle.


• Use your horn at every available opportunity


• Drive at ridiculous speeds without paying attention to the road ahead


• Maneuver (forget about the mirror single part)


• If driving a bus crash into another bus at least once a week on the eastern ring road


• Park anywhere you want bonus points are awarded when you block someone in or block an entire lane of traffic.


• If you wish to turn left at a junction remain in the right hand lane till the latest possible time and then try to turn right blocking as much traffic as possible

• Be an idiot


• Tailgate


• Flash your lights at the car in front of you to get them to move out of the way when there is no where for them to go


• Flash repeatedly


• Don't kiss a girl in your car at traffic lights the police don't like this :P


• Oh and speed while driving in suburban areas

If sure there are more unique rules of the road in the UAE I will add more when i think of them or you can add your own.

Random thought

I was having a ponder the other night and random thoughts popped into my head as they often do.

• Are flies Arachnophobic
• Are vampires Heliophobic (had to look that one up)
• Do dwarfs suffer from vertigo or Acrophobia

actually i'm sure there are lots more but this site could keep me entertained for hours http://phobialist.com/