No more kontera content link

I have had Kontera Content link on my site for about 6 months and have earned something like 50c. I decided to can it like tuna. There's no point distracting my wonderful readers with pointless crap.

By pointless crap I don't mean my articles :o)

The tour has ended

It ended well and there was a very exciting time trial. It's bodes well for next year's event. Let's hope it will be an event without the word doping being used in every second sentence.

No more late night cycle highlights for me!

D Day

The tour will be decided today in the final time trial. Alberto Contador Vs Cadel Evans. Cadel has 1:50 to make up in the time trial and he is in with a serious chance. I think on a regular day he could pull out about 1:10 1:15. But it is all down to how both of them react to the pressure.

Someone is going to have a very good day.

A though struck me, if it's really close, are there time bonuses in PARIS???

Bike Test

I have my bike test on the 21st of August and I really want to pass, cheaper insurance and I will be allowed take a pillion passenger.

I am trying to get a pre-test sorted so I will keep you posted on who to ring if they are any good!

Maybe the Tour isn't dead

It's not as dead as disco! It seems to have risen from the ashes. Does the fact more people are getting caught mean more people are doing it or the regulations are getting tighter and the teams and their sponsers and not going to take it anymore. Go Rabobank, what a brave move.

Now there are 3 days left and Cadel Evans could come from the pack and win it, he will have to do a bionic time trial (and not the same way Vino did.)

These last few days should be great!!!

Another Tour ruined

More doping! I've really lost patience this year! Hopefully 2008 will be better, or best just stick to watching amateur racing!

Vino Veritas

Alexandre Vinokourov has failed a drug test. It was on the time trial where he kicked everyones ass! It was a blood doping offence, meaning that he had a blood transfusion from someone before the stage.

If it is true (we await the 'b' sample), how the hell did he think he would get away with it.

What annoys me more is that Kloeden has been higher in the GC all the way but Vino was still getting all the help! Grrrrr.

Oslo Dreaming - Part I

I spent the last weekend in one of my favorite cities in the whole wide world, Oslo, Norway. I was over to visit my great friend Mr. Kearns. It was my 10th visit!!!

So I left work and headed to Dublin Airport (boo hiss) and I went straight to security because I had already checked in with SAS. I queued for about 15 minutes before I got tothe top of the queue and was told that I couldn't go through as there was no barcode on my print out.

I had to trapse back to the desk and check in again! Grr!!! I complained at the check in desk and was told I could complain to SAS directly. So I went over and did that and they only went and upgraded me. They were great about it!

So I now skipped that security queue because I was a business traveller.

The flight was great, a hot meal, free drinks, a cognac afterwards. It is a hard life being a jetsetter.

When I got to Oslo I went to duty free and picked up some champers, if not, why not!

I got on the flytoget (airport express train) to Oslo Sentral and then from there to Montobello a plush suburb of Oslo. Mr Kearns was there to meet me from the train and we went and dropped my bags off.

We grabbed a couple of beers and headed to town and of course to Rock In but that is a tale for tommorrow.

Ha det!

Spamtastic new email!

I was getting way too many spams because of my blog email. 1 piece of spam is just way too much in my opinion so I have gotten rid of my old email address and replace it with living (@) dublin24.com.

So use it wisely and do not fall to the darkside

Shoeless and fancy free

I was so tired this morning that I came into work without my shoes. A grown man shoe-less in work. Let's hope I don't have to leave the building!

A new low

I was flicking through the independent today and I came across and article about the Wii. I'm fond of technology and opinion so I read on.

My ears popped and I felt dizzy. I didn't know what to think until I realised I had descended so low so quickly that my brain couldn't cope.

Have a read and see what journalism is all about.

Badminton

We went for a game of badminton today. It was the first time in about 16 years that I had played. It was great fun and we will definitely do it again.

It reminded me of being in school, we would line up in 2 teams either side of the net, taking a shot and then running off for the next guy. But a guy in are class did a drop shot over the net every time it was his turn ruining the rallies!

Nephew

Would you believe last week my sister gave birth to a ginormous little fella, named Patrick after me (or both his grandpappies, you decide!).

He is a bouncer of a baby and he gets on great with his big sister Claire.

So congrats to all involve!

Go 6th, 7th and 8th!

Back in the game

I went out for a run tonight. It was the first time out with my new orthotics and it went rather well. I only did 1km but I am very out of shape.

My knee felt fine and my gait felt natural. So hopefully there will be no reaction over night and I can get back into some more regular training.

Who cares Twink?

Twink, Ireland's foremost "entertainer" is at it again. She is using some random event to get publicity for herself. It's always good to keep yourself in the paper out of panto season.

Three cheers for Twink!

Barbra Streisand

Check this out for a disaster! People with money sitting where they like, it's not a suprise. The organisers blamed a few "opportunistic fans" sitting in the wrong seats, not the staff who were to move them and direct them to their seats.

They also blamed the roadworks and bad weather conditions. Now I was in the traffic jam because I live out that direction and the weather was a bit wet but no worse than it has been and the traffic on the roundabout is not restricted in any way going across that roundabout.

Sounds like the organisers and promotors were a shambles!

The tour.

How hardcore is this?

"X-rays showed that O'Grady broke five ribs in the fall, as well as fracturing three vertebrae and a shoulder blade."

He would have rode on if you'd let him. I think he finised the tour last year with a fractured vertebra!

Kloden and Vinokourov are still there or there abouts....

Yawn... it's a rest day.

It's been a while.

Twas a busy weekend. My Oslo bro, Paul Kearns was over so that explained friday night. Was out for a nice dinner Saturday and watched the Dubs win the Leinster title for the third time in a row. A three-peat as the americans would call it.

And then more boozing last night. I am rightly tired today!

Sananda Maitreya

How weird, I got a request to add Sananda Maitreya as a friend in Facebook. Who is he? He is none other than Terrence Trent D'arby! I actually own a Terrence Trent D'Arby album so I think it is pretty cool, although just a marketing ploy!

It's a cool random marketing ploy

The Press and Privacy

There is a hight profile case going on at the moment in Ireland. It is the case of a man accused of murdering his wife. At the moment his alibi is being questioned and they are using the transmissions of his mobile phone. He says he was one place, his mobile phone says another thing.

It's a bit worrying that they keep this information and who has access to it, but in a murder case you don't really mind.

The problem I have is that the guy giving evidence is from some mobile technology firm, who is just doing his job and he has been shown on the news, on both broadcasters (he could have been on TG4, but Nil Fhios Agam), and pictured in the newspapers including the irish times.

Why? What is the point of showing him walking into court and his face in newspapers? What purpose does it serve?

The press should let people have their privacy and not thrust them into the limelight, especially for a reason like this.

Puncture

I'm cycling to work at the moment because I am still waiting for an air filter for my motorbike (don't get me started). I grabbed my bike this evening and the back tyre was flat. I thought the lads had let the air out but unfortunately the tyre is split at the rim. I think it's just worn out.

So I hat to get the bus like a chump!!!

I'm not so sure.

Bus lanes starting operating on the quays in Dublin today. Dublin bus claim it will cut journey times by up to 20 minutes.

I got the 25X this morning and it got to town 6 minutes quicker than the normal quickest time. That's good I hear you say. But the thing is normal is when there is traffic. There was hardly any traffic before town today and the buses were clogging up the bus lane so I didn't see too much difference. Maybe on the way home it will be better.

If the sorted out the 25X route and made a couple of different routes from Lucan that would help too. And having a perfectly good buslane coned off is typical of the problems on this journey.

Buslanes on the quays are a great start though!

RTE makes sweeping statement

I just saw the news on RTE that unemployment figures for june have risen. Notice the accompanying picture.

Are RTE saying that unemployed people shop in LIDL?

Now maybe because they are in D4 and the shops there stock Ivory Backscratchers, they don't realise that normal people don't all shop in Superquinn!

Traveller beware!

I was looking for flights to London for the Tour de France this weekend and because I left it last minute I was looking around for the cheapest flights.

I found a site LastMinuteTravel.com I did a search for flights between 6am and 12pm for the flight over so i would be nice and early. I got perfect flights at 07:55. €135! Nice price too. So I booked and paid, and got the confirmation email....

That's when the horror happened. The depature time was 19:55!!! I did a search for morning flights got back 07:55 assumed it was in the 24 hour clock as it is written. But oh no!

Morons! There search is crap and their display is crap!

Have to go cancel and pay €30 for the pleasure!

Beware!

Living the dream

I just saw on RTE before the 9 o'clock news that there is going to be a new show called living the dream! How dare they use a commonly used phrase that I like as the name of their show!

I check the .com domain but it's already gone :o(

It's well for some!

The hard working politician's for Ireland are on holidays from the end of this week. 82 Days! To us in the real world that seems extreme, but with having to sit in the Dail for 92 days a year they must be tired.

So tired in fact that my local TD has not had time to respond to my email about commuting. It's been a week. If I don't get a reply soon I will name names.

Farewell Steve!

I'm just back from The Morgue, it's a pub in Dublin. Steve Clifford is off on a year long trip to Australia (lucky luck lucky). First stop China!

Good luck Steve! And remember start a blog!