Beerfest

I hope everyone had a good Easter, even if it didn't mean a three-day weekend (which is what it always means here). Our visit to the Franciscan Well's Easter Beerfest was excellent. Their beer garden was lined with stalls representing different Irish microbreweries––my favorite was Molly's Chocolate Truffle Stout. I have seen Molly's beers in the States, you come across them once in a while. Keep an eye out for this particular brew!

I got my pay stub for the week of our trip to Edinburgh. I only worked two days that week, so the pay should have been a small one. But I was surprised to see that they gave me a full week's wage. My conscience (and Katherine) dictated that I talk to my boss about this overpayment. As it turns out, they didn't make a mistake: I was given vacation days. Talk about something that would never happen in the US! Work a temporary position––even a part-time one––in Ireland and you accumulate paid vacation based on the number of hours you put in. One vacation day for every hundred hours in my case.

Tomorrow I get to go on my first and probably last business trip for warehouse work. The company shipped a thousand or so embroidered shirts to Old Head Golf Club in Kinsale, only for the Old Head folks to complain that they weren't correctly tagged. Therefore I get to hire a car and drive to the club and fix the tags. Mindless work, maybe. But at least I'll get to see one of the most beautiful courses in the world. Check it out:

(Sorry, couldn't find a better picture that would fit. Just check out the link I posted above). The Old Head peninsula used to be open to the public until the Celtic Tiger days of the '90s. As the Irish describe it, that's when "rich people" bought up the land and made it one of the most exclusive private clubs in the country.

Stuff like the Old Head controversy doesn't help the average Irish person's view of golf as a solidly elitist activity. I'll put such scandal aside in my mind as I walk around to enjoy the view.