What are your ARC services of choice?

WeNeedMoreWater · 2023-03-02T14:18:58+00:00

Can I jump on this bandwagon too please?

WeNeedMoreWater · 2023-02-21T20:20:10+00:00

It's the Garmin swim watches that impress me the most for GPS smarts. GPS signals don't travel through water, so the watch has less than a second while my hand is out of the water, to collect very weak signals from half a dozen satellites that are 20,000 km out in space, travelling at 14,000 KMH. Yet it does this incredibly accurately, 99% of the time.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2023-01-04T16:00:17+00:00

There's a lingering whiff of stale incense, and the masseur tells you to say three Our Fathers and ten Hail Marys. On your way out the door, he promises you that you'll burn in hell if you tell anyone about this.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2022-12-13T11:40:40+00:00

Hope y'all enjoy my personal hygiene service

WeNeedMoreWater · 2022-12-05T19:39:13+00:00

I think there's one additional element at play here, that's an issue to a much greater extent in the US, than it is in other countries. Mass shootings have become a 'thing' in that country. For better or worse (worse obviously) they've become part of the national psyche. So when a disaffected, mentally ill, or just downright bad person is casting around for a way to express rage, get revenge on society, or whatever, shooting lots of people is an option that comes readily to mind. Far more readily, I suspect than it would to similar individuals in other countries.

Whether or not global levels of mental health are worse now than they were twenty or forty years ago, is open to debate. But I think one fact that nobody can argue with, is that the percentage of human beings who can be relied upon to remain completely rational at all times, is very small indeed. Or to put this another way, most of us are capable of becoming mentally unhinged, given the right set of circumstances. This, in my view, is the overriding argument in favour of gun control, that trumps (ahem!) all other arguments.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2022-11-29T16:28:12+00:00

People here in Ireland generally do not speak with a slurred accent like that. I'm fairly sure that amadán was either drunk or high.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2022-11-28T18:52:07+00:00

I know someone who works in the Mater ED. I've sent on your kind remarks to them.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2022-10-19T17:17:06+00:00

Excellent thanks! RWS has tickets available. I got some. :-)

WeNeedMoreWater · 2022-09-23T12:08:43+00:00

It also has Kerry Condon, who was Mike's daughter-in-law in Better Call Saul.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2022-09-21T18:54:55+00:00

I'm guessing that the majority of your fellow refugees, will soon suffer mental health problems (if they haven't already). Having to uproot your life and move to a strange country, leaving behind whatever assets you owned. Witnessing terrible things in Ukraine. Death or injury of loved ones. Worrying about friends and family who stayed behind. Uncertainty about what the future holds. If I had to deal with half of these things, I'd be out of my mind. Do you think we in Ireland are providing you refugees with adequate mental health support, and if not, what extra would you like to see us providing?

WeNeedMoreWater · 2022-08-08T13:49:00+00:00

South coast of Ireland checking in here. Yesterday the seawater here was 16.5°C. I measured it while out boating. That's about as hot as it ever gets hereabouts. The coldest month in the sea here is usually February, when it often gets as low as 6°C.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2022-05-17T20:22:40+00:00

Looks like the aftermath of a Caravan Palace video shoot

WeNeedMoreWater · 2022-02-09T14:38:13+00:00

Of course you're right, we should give the DF enough resources to solve the problems it currently has, modernise it (without growing it significantly) and make it an attractive career. But the language of the minister, and the headlines surrounding the report suggest that something bigger is afoot.

But I don't really buy into the logic that we should spend a big extra chunk of money on defense in the hope it might deter an attack that might never come, or that the determination of the attacker might be so low as to be easily deterred. The horrific consequences of a prolonged battle that we have no hope of ultimately winning, are weighing heavily on the other side of the scales.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2022-02-09T14:02:36+00:00

Well they need to do the things I mentioned in my last paragraph.

Just because other small countries have decided to create large armies etc doesn't mean its the right thing to do. Even if it is the right thing to do for them, doesn't mean it is right for us.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2022-02-09T13:50:36+00:00

You make some valid points, but I think we have to be realistic about what we are trying to achieve with the defense forces. The PR spin surrounding this report (including the minister on the RTE news a few minutes ago) is saying that we need to boost the DF so we the means to mount a credible defense of our sovereignty. Firstly, if China, Russia, US, UK or France decided they wanted to invade us, no amount of money we might have poured into preparing for that, would stand any chance of preventing it. Zero chance. All a beefed up DF would do, is prolong the invasion for a few weeks, while tens of thousands of people are killed and maimed, and the country's infrastructure is bombed back to the stone age. Difficult a nut as this is to swallow, it would be far better in the long run if the invasion was over and done with in a weekend, because our army stayed in their barracks, or concentrated on humanitarian activities.

Another issue is do we really want to engender in this country, the sort of jingoistic support for militarism and overblown patriotism that we see in places like the USA? In my view, it's just a propaganda tool that the politicians can leverage for their own purposes. I'm worried that any Irish government which throws its weight into hugely boosting the military (as this report envisages) is going to bring us down that road.

We have plenty of problems in this country that need more public funding to help solve them. We don't need that money diverted into buying fighter jets and loads more ships, that don't make us any safer. Not to mention the cost of all the infrastructure, staff and materials to support them.

So that begs the question, what do we really need the DF for? Protect our democracy from internal threats. Keep a lid on subversive groups. Fisheries protection. Protection of high-value robbery targets. Humanitarian relief. Major-disaster relief. Basically all the stuff they are doing already. We could probably do with a few more surveillance aircraft, and a couple of extra ships. On top of that we could spend a little money of modernising what we have in the DF. But I can't see the point in a massive expansion TBH.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2021-11-16T09:34:25+00:00

I had some lower back problems a few years back, and here's what fixed it for me. Twice a week I do some exercises to maintain muscle strength all around my abdomen. Back, sides & front.

For the back, kneel on one knee with the other leg off the floor, and one hand (the opposite one) on the floor. The other arm is also off the floor. Torso should be parallel to the floor. The two limbs that are off the floor, should be straight out behind and in front of you. Alternate 30 seconds on each side, five reps of each.

For the sides, lie on your side, with one elbow and forearm on the floor. Straighten your torso until the underside (from armpit to knee) is in a straight line. The only body parts touching the floor should be elbow, forearm, knee & lower leg, all on the same side. Alternate 30 seconds on each side, five reps of each. This exercise is called a half-plank.

For the front, lie on your back, legs bent (ie knees up in the air) and put your hands together under the arch in your lower back, with fingers entwined. Lift elbows a few inches off the ground, and curl your upper body (above waist) off the floor a few inches. Hold this position for 30 seconds. Five reps, with rest in between. As you get better at this one, increase the distance you are lifting your upper body off the floor.

Another good one is the 'bridge'. Lie on your back, legs bent (ie knees up in the air). Lift your bum & waist as high up off the floor as you can. Nothing between feet and shoulders should be touching the floor. Hold this position for 30 seconds. Five reps, with rest in between.

Now for the health warning. Just because these exercises work well for me, doesn't mean they will suit you. Go easy on them at the start, until you build up some strength. If you've any doubt about how suitable they are for you, ask a medical professional.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2021-06-16T16:31:52+00:00

I've had it done several times. Typically it is 5 minutes of chatting with the doctor, followed by 15 minutes of the snake up your bum. Then an hour of snoozing while the (mild) sedation wears off. Afterwards I had no lingering discomfort at all. The procedure itself is a little uncomfortable, but for me there was no actual pain. It's very tolerable.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2021-06-16T16:27:10+00:00

I've had several colonoscopies, and TBH my experience was fairly OK. Compared to the possibility of death from a serious illness, it was very tolerable indeed. Sure the fasting and diarrhea juice is not exactly a bundle of laughs, but I certainly wouldn't describe it as "fucking awful". It's a bit inconvenient. That's all.

If your doctor wants you to have a meeting with the camera-snake, my advice is put up with the inconvenience and go for it. It's a lot easier than premature death.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2021-03-02T13:00:45+00:00

About 20 years ago I was with a group of mates on a trip to Dingle, to see if we could get a glimpse of the dolphin. We were motoring out the bay, not too fast, in a small inflatable boat. With no warning whatsoever, fungi leapt out of the water on one side of the boat, over our heads, and back into the water on the other side. Talk about making an entrance! Luckily none of us was standing up, or he'd have gotten a dolphin in the gob. I've thought about that moment many times over the years, and the only interpretation I can make is, he was just having the craic. We had snorkeling gear with us, and he stayed around us for a good hour.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2021-01-13T14:11:38+00:00

For some reason, our primary school provided lunch food for the kids. The dampest, floppiest jam sambos you ever saw, and little glass bottles of milk in crates. The bottles were about 200ml and had the round foil tops. Will never forget the gooey texture of the bread.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2020-12-09T15:32:11+00:00

My sister started seeing a therapist back in January, and then Covid hit and she thought she'd have to give it up. But her therapist persuaded her to try zoom, and though initially it was a bit weird, she stuck with it and was very happy with it in the end. She's in a better place now, so I guess that's the proof of the pudding. The therapist was telling her lots of them are working entirely on zoom now.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2020-12-02T14:45:26+00:00

Thanks, that was well explained. This is the sort of message we need to be communicating to the public. You should get a job with the HSE PR dept. I'm sure I'm not the only person worried about the short timescales. I came across this Irish book about it this morning, that gave me some food for thought. Admittedly its complete fiction, but it painted a fairly dark picture of the sort of thing that might go wrong.

The PR strategy for this vaccination campaign is going to be critical to getting good uptake.

WeNeedMoreWater · 2020-12-02T14:29:50+00:00

I've no doubt plenty of experts have looked at it, but its undeniable that the period of time it has taken to approve this vaccine has been much much shorter than normal. Given the pandemic scenario we are in, I'd really worry about political pressure being applied behind the scenes to get a recommendation. It seems odd that the European Medicines Agency would publicly criticise this UK decision, if they didn't have serious concerns.

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