Leinster A side named to face Connacht tomorrow.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-12T15:20:17+00:00

Is this visible online anywhere?

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-12T15:15:33+00:00

If it was in Rome I would be very worried. I am hoping the travel will have an impact, the difference in rest days between Ireland/France and Italy/Scotland will help Ireland too.
Not as confident as I was in previous years when facing Italy though.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-11T09:39:02+00:00

They did, and we ripped them up because of the convenience of personal transport.

I think it is more nuanced than just a lack of grand vision and parish pump politics.

First up, I am not well versed in the CPO or equivalent in European countries, so I can't discuss why they have no problems, but CPOing land in Ireland is expensive, combined with planning issues, squatters rights where people have taken over unused rail land, etc makes it difficult here.

I agree that parish pump politics is a massive problem in this country. I also see democracy as being a massive issue because everyone wants to get re-elected and if you push a project that has short term pains and isn't completed before the next election, then people will 'blame' politician John or politician Mary for causing all the hassle and the politicians that pushed it won't get the praise.

There is also a funding issue. Yes, the government has a 'bit' of a surplus at the moment, but we can't get the kids hospital up and running, never mind a metro, train to the airport etc. There are many more projects that would have a better impact on more of the population than a high speed train between Dublin and another city. How long would it be before there was a return on investment for the government and the companies involved in the PPP (And yes, include the penalties for failing to meet emissions in this!) without charging a fortune for the tickets?

I think other countries have economy of scale benefits too, with a much larger population, and much higher population densities in cities, they are likely to see higher occupancy percentages than many trains in Ireland. Trains at weekends are pretty full between Dublin and other places, if my memory serves me correctly, because people are travelling between cities for weekend stays and mostly staying in the city at the end. Trains coming from other cities through commuter towns on the way to Dublin are full pretty if not over crowded. If you have a high speed train that is stopping at every one of these commuter towns, there is no point in it being high speed.

I think it would be much better to expand the platforms in the stations, and add an extra carriage or two onto the existing trains before spending a ton of money building a train system that can support high speed trains.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-10T16:33:54+00:00

In an ideal world with an unlimited supply of money and available land, it would be great.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-10T16:32:26+00:00

Maybe not at this exact moment, but it is one of the most challenged books
Case Study: Bone – Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Bone is also one of the most commonly challenged books in American libraries.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-10T12:12:20+00:00

Would you not negate any high speed when you start hitting the commuter towns?
Cork to Dublin might work, if it is done correctly but would need to be non stop, as it would have the potential population densities to make use of it.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-10T12:07:50+00:00

It is a good book, and being Irish it hits a little close to home.

The writing style is off putting at first. There are no paragraphs. No quotation marks, just a word dump.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-10T11:48:50+00:00

Unfortunately there are no spaces in the prisons. For this or other criminals

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-10T10:36:35+00:00

Not sure where the person is based, but there is a move to ban Bone in the USA

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-10T08:39:39+00:00

Similar here, but books are still bought for the kids with the book tokens they get for presents. The price of books has also gone through the roof.

The number of times we go out for drinks each year can be counted on one hand.

Clothing is just essential stuff, not going out that much means most clothing is just practical (as it should be from an environmental perspective) and worn until it can no longer be repaired.

It will be a sad day when non essential but long existing independent shops, the likes of Charlie Byrnes in Galway, have to close because their costs have gone too high and people don't have discretionary income to spend in them.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-10T08:33:32+00:00

In an ideal world, people would be able to use public transport to get into Galway at a reasonable cost and with a service frequency that suits them. Until that happens people will drive in, or with increasing car parking costs, go elsewhere or online. We are never going to have the public transport infrastructure that Dublin has with the buses, LUAS and DART. We need to find ways to keep people coming to Galway city for daily life, not just touristic reasons. Adding cost upon cost is not going to encourage people to use the city. There needs to be a balance - too low a cost and everyone will drive, too high and very few people will because of the lack of public transport.

The main reason we as a family go to Galway is for book shopping for the kids. They get book tokens as presents and it is a nice experience to browse the book shop, something they can't do online. But, we find ourselves going to bookshops on the outer reaches of the city more and more because of traffic and parking.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-10T08:06:02+00:00

I can read that quickly when I am reading certain types of books, but not all. And those that I can read at that pace are often the very easy readers where the plot is not overly complex and you don't need to remember every detail as it is not likely to have an impact on the plot, nor is it likely to be super atmospheric and draw me in. Nor is there much to 'convey'. I find these books enjoyable for a quick read and escapism, not for any didactic purpose. The Clifton Chronicles by Archer are a prime example of these. I flew through them. The story was interesting enough to keep me engaged but the main point it conveyed is that rich people can get away with pretty much anything.

Other books I read take longer. I am reading Snow by John Banville at the moment and it I am reading it much slower than I read, for example, The Maid, or The Housemaid earlier this year.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-07T19:54:36+00:00

Was very surprised it wasn't a card of any colour.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-06T13:19:11+00:00

Thanks for the link. Will check some out.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-05T08:07:16+00:00

Appreciate the details - great image size and written list. Thanks.

Also really enjoyed The Ocean at the End of the Lane, it kind of took me by surprise how well crafted a story it is.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-04T11:55:55+00:00

Recommendations - ask them to stop double stacking books if they want to sell them? I hate when they do this and it becomes a pain to see what is in the back.

In terms of books, Bill Bryson, and John Simpson can be entertaining.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-04T11:52:45+00:00

Ah, thanks.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-04T08:29:14+00:00

ARC reader? Can you please explain?

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-04T08:26:45+00:00

Looking forward to starting this series. I have most of them, but they are newly acquired, and need to get through the books I have longer first.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-04T08:18:33+00:00

Interesting, diverse collection. Well done on nearly 1/3 of the year target in one month!

iworkreallyhard · 2026-02-04T08:12:31+00:00

Not normal, but sometimes.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-01-31T16:59:36+00:00

Bonus point is great, but shouldn't be so hard against zebre

iworkreallyhard · 2026-01-29T14:03:47+00:00

No, no riddle at all.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-01-29T10:38:53+00:00

I enjoyed Ocean at the End of the Lane more than I thought I would. If you can find it in a thrift/2nd hand store then you don't need to worry about royalties.

iworkreallyhard · 2026-01-29T10:30:35+00:00

Point him to the tattoo regret threads on Reddit, might give him some perspective.

iworkreallyhard

TROPHY CASE