29 November, 2006
CHiPs (Again)
22 November, 2006
Wedding
On Wednesday I met Marco in town for some shopping. We needed shoes, belts and tie pins. It was actually pretty painless. I drove home and mark followed me, then brought me up to thrifty where I rented a car and put mark on the insurance. We went back to marks place and tried on the suits to make sure everything was ok. It was. We then headed to
Ratoath where we met Michael Nally for something to eat and a few drinks, followed up by a few more in Ryans. Getting home took a while and then we got raped by the taxi driver.
On Thursday the first thing was to visit the hotel to drop off chocolates and cameras, then head back through Ratoath to pick up the jeep, back to Marks, to Blackrock and somewhere else i can’t remember now. Then we had a wedding reharsal at 1900 which was actually really weird. We all then went back to the Nally’s to try the wine we were going to be having at the wedding. I dropped Julie’s Mum and Lisa home and got to bed for about 0130.
The next moring I had an osteopath appointment because I had managed to lock to of my vertebrae together on Monday (which is pretty painful) and although I was fine, it was still a good idea. The plan was to then go back, work on the speech, then meet Marion for lunch to go over it and buy some clothes to wear on Sunday morning for breakfast.
I decided to get a smoothie on the way, but ended up doing my clothes shopping in Santry in Jack n Jones. I basically bought what one of the dummies was wearing. Now I decided to do my speech in an internet cafe in town, Marion acutally happened to be there already. I worked on the speech and she read it and gave it the ok. But in reality I had only
the introductions kinda done, and the opening and closing paragraphs of my speech.
I then headed out to Marks to meet him at his house. I picked up a voucher for Father Paul as a thank you present on behalf of Mark and Julie on the way. Mark had the flowers so next thing to do was lock up the house and hit the church. We then went back to the Nally’s and on to Ryans for a few drinks which was good fun. Marco and I finished the night with a drop of Midleton Very Rare which was fitting.
The next moring we had breakfast at 9. Everything was pretty calm although I was worrying about the half assed pile of notes that was my speech. I got a chance to put it all down on index cards which sorted out the order and really helped me. Showers and getting dressed and we headed to the church for 1200. The weather was great with a bit of wind.
Damo was to be an usher so we met him there and basically helped him through it. My duties were pretty easy to be honest. I’m looking forward to seeing the pictures from the church with us all talking and getting organised. Aisling had brought Marion to the church.
Afterwards I drove Marion, the bridesmaid (Lisa) and her boyfriend Dillon to the castle. Turns out Marion has worked with the two of them in a pub in Edinburgh which was strange. The reception all went down fine and soon enough, and after a lot of pictures, we were in the main room. My first stint with the mic was coming up fast… It was my job to introduce Mark and Julie to the room. I fucked up Ladies and Gentlemen… and I was getting worried that I would keep fucking up words. I was also getting worried because I wasn’t worried and I was going to be winging it.
I introduced all the other speakers and that went down fine and even got a laugh at one of my jokes. Then my speech was to start, and i was really worried about my first line… Good Ladies, evening and Gentlemen. I really wanted a laugh there and I would be set up for the speech. It got a really big laugh, as did the next two lines. Then I went with, for those who don’t know me, my name is Ronan and I’m single which cracked everybody up so I was flying. Every joke got a
massive response and I think I can honestly say I had people laughing for most of the speech.
Afterwards I sat down at the lads table… and they were like, where did that come from? There were all delighted, but also really worried beforehand because they had never heard me speeking publicaly before. I sat there for about 5 mins chuffed with myself and the reaction I got… and then it was time to mingle…. The rest will have to stay in the memory banks…
31 October, 2006
CHiPs
16 October, 2006
I had a fro… ???
Some belated pictures from Fergal’s 21st… with some strange hair styles… there is a reason tho… my mum thought I looked like a drug dealer with a really tight hair cut… so I decided to go the other extreme…
Me and the Dude
11 October, 2006
Marco’s Stag
This is just going to be a brief overview of what went on… More stories will follow which will give more detail into individual events which combined to make this weekend.
Friday
I took a half day and went to pick up Chris in a 7 seater Santa Fe. The plan was that we would both drive one to Galway and back. We got to Myos for before 1900 to pack the jeeps and fill them up with beer. It was hard to believe after all the planning and talking about it, that it was actually happening…
We hit the road… The check into the hotel was painless enough and within a short period of time we were in Eyre Square and heading into Cuba, which is a strange place and not one I would ever go back to. Everybody had a laugh, a few drinks and a good time before we headed back to the hotel for some late drinks.
I was driving to Limerick the next day and so I was conscious of my alcohol intake and took it easy. Getting into the hotel wasn’t easy because I got my room number wrong. I was staying with Chris as it turned out because Mark pulled rank and got a room on his own.
Saturday
Breakfast was fine. Nothing special and not disastrous. In general I liked the hotel, but being a veggie, breakfast was limited to toast and cereal. Myself and Chris then made a dash into Galway to pick up some clothes for the paint balling. A couple of scarves, runners etc etc. Before we knew it we were on the road to Limerick, and lets just say the length of time it took to get there was underestimated by the paint balling crowd. Another bit of crazy driving ensued and we arrived about an hour late. SK was meeting us there.
The paint balling was well worth the trip down and was excellently run. Driving in there was like driving into an army camp. The guns were heavy and not very accurate and within a short period of time I had been tagged twice in the side.
The various games that followed improved the game play, but getting hit by those paint balls was no fun. If the guns had been accurate I might have had some chance… but why everybody else seemed to be able to pick out me at range is beyond me.
The trip back was uneventful and we had dinner before hitting the town. JM, David and BJ had made the trip up earlier that day and we caught up with them in Busker Browns, before heading to Pi Bar. It was actually a fantastic night and I think everybody had a great time. We then went back to the hotel for some more late drinks and while JM plotted a way of getting into the bar which was shut at this stage, everybody else sat around and had a laugh. I was driving home again the next morning, and I was already fucked, so I didn’t make it past 0400. Mark stayed up all night 
Sunday
After breakfast we hit the road and met up with Team Gihad in Moat for a super macs. There were Irish people working there which was actually really strange… and not something I was used to. The food is cheap crap of the worst kind, but it was what we needed right then.
In general everybody had a great time and some of the stories (such as the guide dog shot) and the antics will live long in my memory.People kept coming up to me to thank me for organizing the weekend and that they had had a great time. I kept telling people it was a team effort between myself and Mark. I was absolutely delighted with the resulting weekend and now I’m looking forward to the wedding… I will add more stories to the blog over the coming weeks about particular events that happened during the stag…
23 September, 2006
Little Britain
I was lucky enough to get a spare ticket to see Little Britain last night with Mark and the O’Conner family. The show is absolutely brilliant. I was wondering how they were going to transfer it from the screen to the stage, but they did it fantastically. The backdrop of the set was beemed from a projecter onto the screen.
The comedy was first rate and they really pushed the boat out. There was no constraints on the show, and they really pushed the boundries. If you get a chance to see it, do. It is well worth it.
20 September, 2006
Meeting Arron
Myself and Niamh drove to Limerick 2 weeks ago to visit Stephen, Elke and Arron. Arron was only a couple of weeks old and I had been looking forward to meeting him. Below are a few of the pictures from the day:
14 August, 2006
Drinking on Wednesday
With Mar spending time over in Malaysia with my family, and me not seeing her in ages we decided to head out, get a few drinks and catch up. We visted 3 or 4 bars and generally drank too much. I don’t think it was the amount we drank that was the problem for me, but what we were drinking (wine / vodka & soda water cocktails). At 0230 I had to go because I had to be in work for 0930 and I needed to get some sleep.
Needless to say work the next day wasn’t much fun and I spent a lot of time looking blankly at the computer screen wishing the clock would move faster. You got todo it every now and again to remind yourself why you shouldn’t go into work with a hangover. I don’t know if I learned my lesson….
What happened Part II
I am trying to catch up on the blog… so this goes back to last weekend when Marco and I went camping but didn’t get beyond Elke and Steve’s place for the weekend.
The next morning, we got up and went into Limerick to get a breakfast and walk around for a bit. The town was pretty much closed and our choices were limited to the only place that offered samdwiches and was open. We also went to PC World and check out 3 strip malls on the outskirts of Limerick because Stephen wanted a Black & Decker screwdriver and a new printer. Neither job was completed successfully.
When we got back to the house we went for a walk. It was a nice day and it was great to spend an hour walking around this town and generally chilling out. Yet again Stephen and Elke provided diner (a delicious Chick Pea Curry) and headed for the pub. I was drinking Vodka (my new drink) and was generally buzzing.
The next morning myself and Mark headed back early to beat the rush. A great weekend and thanks guys for putting us up…
8 August, 2006
The plan… and What Actually Happened…
I don’t even know what time I got home at… I remember in hope sending Mark a text message at about 0300 in case he was out drinking… but deep down I knew I was in for a very early start and four hours sleep would be the most I would get. I woke at 0700 and lifted the head. Things were not good… I managed to sleep for another hour before Mark called to say he was on the way at 0800 and luckily by then my head wasn’t bad and all I had to deal with was a lack of sleep. Damo and Chris had stayed over… and they had to get up early because there was no other way to lock up the apartment…
We got though Dublin and we were nearing Port Laoise when we nearly decided to change our plan to go to Tralee and head north to Donegal instead, but at this stage we would have had to go cross country to Carrick on Shannon and that wouldn’t be worth it.
On our approach to Limerick I tried to rink Stelke to see if they were around for a cup of coffee… but we didn’t get an answer, so we called in anyway. Stephen opened the door and just started laughing…. We decided to stay there for the night and head onwards in the morning. Stelke cooked some amazing veggie food for us and we ate outside in the nice weather while fielding off a swarm of wasps. I did manage to get about 10 minutes sleep during the afternoon which really helped
We spend the evening surfing the web, drinking beers and watching tv… a kind of look what I’ve found type thing that kept us all amused. I slept like a log and not even some French people a couple of doors down playing bad music and having a party could keep me up….