dbannon Damian Bannon
Jaikus from dbannon
Monday, 23 February 2009
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Invite arrived - I'm damianb in twitterland. Thanks for invite.
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Tuesday, 2 September 2008
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My kids walk frequently if the weather's reasonable (is that an oxymoron?), but do have to cross three roads. The last crossing has a lollipop lady but the other two are on traffic lights. My experience is that illegal parking is far more likely to attract the attention of the local Gardai than jumping a red light - I would dearly love to see them reverse that bias.
Thursday, 31 July 2008
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On my work WLAN I was able to get to the internet by manually entering the DHCP server IP. Or at least that seems to be what got it connected finally.
At home, that failed to work - I could connect to the WLAN but not out to the web so I need to check firewalls and such stuff. Also, as you mention, there seems to be a good network of supporting blogs & forums.
It works well with my O2 3g dongle though which means I've had 2 americanos in the coffee shop across the road already today.
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
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Got it through dabs4work.ie. Cost about 250 before VAT. Ordered with some other stuff so shipping didn't figure. Want a light mobile device to let me out of the office a little more (Hiding from pesky network users).
Having a little trouble hooking up to my home wlan right now. Time to give up and get some sleep.
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I have the same bike that they used in Long Way Down. Great in Dublin traffic ;)
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Exactly how I felt about it. I've never had a sportsbike, just the big traillie type so you can go pretty much anywhere you want without stopping at every petrol station on the way.
If you ever want some pointers on instructors, etc.. let me know.
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@johnnypez Driving a car will have given you plenty of roadcraft experience but I was amazed that after 16-17 years of car-driving that I learnt so much from the bike training which, of course, is transferrable back to your car driving.
It requires a whole level of extra concentration to ride a bike safely, observing potential hazards as well handling the bike correctly.
I started on a 125cc scooter and moved up to 650cc and now have a 1200cc.
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That all sounds quite negative, but I've been riding a motorbike now for 8 years and find it very rewarding - predictable low-stress commuting, touring over the summer, very friendly community. Sold the car last year and upgraded the bike.
Can't stress the training bit enough though.
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It has gotten harder in recent times. I think you can ride a moped on a car license, but to get an A license you must start form scratch - go through the hi-viz jacket, theory test etc.. The test used to be a joke - ride around the block 3 times do a u-turn and ride back while the tester tried to follow in a car, but I believe they now use radio to tell you where to go and what to do and it has become far more detailed. For good reasons too - Good training is a must these days with the volumes of traffic around.
Also there was some talk of a requirement for a certain number of hours training before doing the test but I'm not sure if that is in place yet. Restricted power for two years after you get the license also.
As a direct answer to the question, being a full licensed car driver makes no difference to the procedures that you must go through to get a bike license.
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
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BTW, coverage for O2 within the Glen of Aherlow is next to useless.
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Spotted Moroney's alright. The owner is a bit of a character, but responsible for the local forest tracks so a man to treat with respect when you want to take 24 large motorbikes over the local trails. The Glen of Aherlow was spectacular from the top and the bottom.
Friday, 18 July 2008
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
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My twins share the screen so it has to have a reasonable size to avoid rows, or at least further rows after the 'what movie to watch' argument. Had meant to get a second player but never got around to it.
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I got a Philips one at the airport duty free last year. About €100. It's a DVD player rather than a 'media' player but works well for long drives to Kerry. Now, I know the soundtrack to a whole lot of movies but don't know if it's people or puppies talking.
On flights, the Nintendo DS is what my kids use for games - multiplay wifi hasn't crashed the plane yet, but got us to Canada last year w/o tantrums. Probably a little advanced for 4-years though.
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
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Glad to see it went well, Denis. Good luck on the next round.
Comments from dbannon