Busy weekend
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Tag Archives: irish
I hate this job
So I get home from Irish Class at 9:20 PM and check my e-mail. I am being reamed out for restoring a database from the wrong time….Well the right time did not exist. The database at that time was gone. That is why we have backups. If they want more up to date backups, they need to pay for more up to date backups. TANSTAAFL.
With that in mind, I went ahead with tonight’s tasks. These went as planned (in fact, faster) and my employer’s web site was back up quickly. I am feeling a little bit better after the e-mail conversation with the colleague who was doing her part in the night’s work: She was cordial and appreciative.
I had my Blackberry at Irish Class and could have checked it there. I am glad I did not. I was not properly prepared and felt like a compleat idiot several times (my mind totally blanked on irregular verbs), but I still came out of it in a good mood. It would have been a shame to let work spoil it.
A long day, and it is far from over
My supervisor was waiting for me when I got in at 8 AM, to discuss a follow-up from last week’s troubles. I was working on those all morning. At 11:26 AM one of the database servers (the same one we had been discussing) crashed, immediately becoming my priority task. I will have to do some database restores from backup to complete the recovery. Unfortunately, the systems are in use all day and into the evening. I cannot start work until 11 PM. I think I can do everything from home.
Well, if I cannot start until 11 PM, I might as well go to Irish class.
Some Cleanup
I cleaned out (somewhat) my briefcase last night. I had been carrying around way too much stuff, so much that I dared not open it on the bus. Long, long ago, in a metro far away, I counted on public transit as an opportunity for reading and study. I had lost that. So I took out most of the accumulated notes from a year of Irish classes, and pared those down to what I actually had been using–there is something of an 80/20 rule here. One pocket Irish dictionary and the smallest of my Irish grammar books should suffice for study while commuting. One other book, if I want to read something else.
After that I cleared some space on my desk downstairs. It can hardly be called “clean”, but I have plenty of space on it now. It was my father’s desk, and it is certainly cleaner than I ever remember it being in his life.
“Putting the Gay in Gaeilge! ;-) “
Blag Shomhairle. If Irish is truly a living language, you have to be able discuss contemporary issues using it.
With a subtitle like that I was surprised to see picture of a clergyman in the Saint Patrick’s Day post. On closer examination the discussion appears to be about the Church of Ireland (Anglican), rather than the Roman Catholic Church. If I can find the time this weekend (hah!) I will try to figure out what it is saying. There a picture of a book with the title Leabhar na hUrnaí Coitinne. A quick look at my Irish Dictionary confirmed my guess that this was the Book of Common Prayer. Quite a change from when what was then the Church of England in Ireland was trying to eradicate the Irish language.
Brewing notes–Dry Stout
I am brewing a batch of beer now, a dry stout in honor of the day. It is based on Northern Brewer’s dry stout kit. The kit uses 1 lb. roasted barley, a 6 lb jug of malt extract, and 2 oz Kent Goldings for bittering hops and 5 gallons of water. I am looking for about a 6 gallon brew, so I added another 1.4 lbs of malt extract. I also used a cup of chocolate malt that was just sitting around.
Here is where things get interesting: I replaced 1 oz. of the Kent Goldings by 2 oz. of homegrown Nugget hops from our 2005 batch (stored in the freezer). We harvested these a little too late in the season, so they were past their prime. Hence going up to 2 oz. This is the purest guesswork.
Just finished the boil. I filled the bathtub with cold water and put the pot in it to cool. This will take a while, during which time I will clean the primary fermenter.
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig!
(Happy Saint Patrick’s Day)
Cosc ar bheoir uaine!
(Avoid the green beer)
We went down to the Landmark Center for the St. Patrick’s Day celebration, staying inside and avoiding most of the drunken crowds. We listened to a short concert of songs in both Irish and English by the Giggin’ Siles, an a cappella group of women from Gaeltacht Minnesota (they badly need a web site of their own). Afterwards we wandered around for a bit, saw some singing and dancing, and got a bit of lunch from an Italian place across the plaza–faster and better than the cliché corned beef inside. At 2 PM my shift at GM’s information table began. We were on the main floor, so we got a lot of traffic and some serious inquiries. We went home when my shift finished at 3, avoiding the worst of the drunken crowds.
The class geek
From the web site of my Irish class
We played a game with Will’s students [the advanced class] as the quizmasters and the rest of the students worked in teams to answer the questions. Wes and Terri had an interesting way of working as a team that was very successful and fun to watch and Glenn was able to answer the question regarding what num pad combination on a PC was needed to make ‘é’ [Alt-0233]. It was a pleasant way to do some review and something we might do “anois ‘is aríst” [now and again].
A Small Connection
In Irish you don’t count people in the same way you count things. In particular, “two” as in “two people” is beirt rather than dó or dhá. This came up in class last night, and for some reason it stuck in my mind.
On my way home from work I remembered that long (35+ years) ago at Carleton I had learned an Irish dance called Siamsa Beirte, which we were told translates roughly as “play for two”. A quick check in an Irish dictionary this evening showed that siamsa means “amusement”. Close enough.
So now I understand the name of the dance and the tune better than I did way back then. It has taken a while :-)> Still, I am pleased that I could make the association.
I have forgotten the dance–I don’t think I ever did it after graduation in 1972. However, I clearly remember that it was fun. I would like to learn it again.
Diet, Ethnicity, and Heart Disease
Found at Scéala na Wombait in Irish and English. Here is the English:
The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or the Americans.
On the other hand, the French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or the Americans.
The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or the Americans.
The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or the Americans.
Conclusion: Eat and drink whatever you like. It’s speaking English that kills you.
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 