And the winner is...

One upon a time, after 14 years in the forest, Snow White decided that she had had enough of the high life as President of Ireland and she decided to pass on her crown to one of her dedicated followers.  Now, because this is not an easy process, she had to set the Seven Dwarfs, listed below, a challenge.

Grumpy - Martin McGuinness
Dopey -  Sean Gallagher
Sleepy - Dana
Sneezy (or should that be sleazy) - David Norris
Doc -   Mary Davis
Bashful - Michael D Higgins
Happy  - Gay Mitchel (Happy, Gay, get it??)

She decided that they should leave the safety of their forest and go out to the big cities and small towns across the land, and convince the good people that lived there, with their words and their actions, that one of them should be the next President.

So agreeing to this, they packed up their lunch boxes, got into their little mining carts and criss-crossed the country Hi-Ho-ing from one side to the other.

But like all good fairy tales, along the way, they got themselves into some trouble.

Dopey, was caught with his hand in a brown paper bag, he insisted it was just a bag of bulls eyes, but nobody was fooled.  Grumpy in his usual fashion wouldn't give anybody a straight answer to any questions that were put to him and huffed and puffed a lot.  Sleepy was so good at living up to her name that she was caught napping every time she was asked a question and fudged the answer.  Sneezy got himself into so many fixes with his 'nose for trouble' that he was eliminated very early on, he managed to get his hankey out and wipe his nose clean a couple of times but in the end he sneezed once to often.  Doc was so busy curing everybody and everything that she didn't know what was going on most of the time.  And as for Happy, well he spent so much time whining about everybody else that he the lost the right to use the name Happy and nobody was sure in the end who he was.

That left the people of the land very confused.  But being the civic minded people that they are, they went out and did their best with the candidates put to them.

And so, one Dwarf shone through by default, and the people of Ireland elected their next President.

Bashful himself......



Snow White has gone into hiding, and was last seen talking to a Witch and eating an apple....

And the people of Ireland lived happily ever after! (Knowing that they won't have to look at another TV Presidential debate, posters on lampposts or David Norris' teeth, for the next seven years!).

And then he goes and spoils it all....

I know I said that I wouldn't mention the Presidential Election Campaign again unless one of them did something stupid....

Well...

The very funny 'Fr Ted' referenced picture above speaks more truth than Mr Gallagher himself could!

"If I met the man....and if I took the envelope...."

If you heard this line delivered in a comedy sketch, you would roar with laughter, and we all did when Mr Gallagher delivered it in front of the whole country last night.

Another comedy moment was when Mr McGuinness suggested that Mr Gallagher should tell the truth....!  Honestly, my sides were splitting.

And as for Mr Mitchel's little tantrum when nobody would let him speak.  I was in tears (of laughter!)

I think somebody should make a sit-com about this whole campaign.  They would have so much material to use it would run for years!

Rain stops play...

You know how much I love complaining about the rain, well tonight I am not going to complain, no, I am not going to mention the floods, or the traffic chaos, or the fact that it has been raining now for two days, or the fact that the wind has blown the rain through my front door and I now have a puddle in my hall, or the fact that my rain gear and boots are still so wet from my brave attempt to walk the dog yesterday that I can't go out in them tonight, or the fact that I had an interview today and wore my best shoes and they got so wet that they are now my worst shoes, or the fact that my lovely straight 'iterview' hair had turned into that ball of fuzz that appears when it rains, or the fact that my dress got soaking wet and I looked like a drowned rat, or the fact that I dripped all over the shiny floor of the reception area of the office I was being interviewed in, or the fact that my poor car complained all the way home about having to drive through huge amounts of water on the roads, or the fact that it protested loudly by not stopping when it was supposed to (Yikes, scary!), or the fact that the Luas has been cancelled (and all the poor Britney fans have to make their way to the concert by some other form of transport), or the fact that there is no sign of it stopping....

Apparently we have had 90mm of rain and the previous daily record was 48mm.  Hmmm, this calls for drastic measures.

So tonight, instead of complaining, I am going to do something proactive and constructive.  Literally.  I have decided to build an Arc!

Of course having no idea where to start, I started with Google, and it very kindly offered me lots of options.  I chose a site which showed you how to build an Arc in a few easy steps.  Perfect!

I was just surfing the net for my nearest 'goforwood' forest, when I noticed a tweet from my friend.  But being engrossed in my 'work' I ignored her tweet and carried on with my study.  I understood the concept of the building part, (well I am working with engineers at the moment!!) and was making good progress until I came to the part where it said there would be no Wi-Fi on board and you would need a dove...

I checked my friends tweet (just so I wouldn't seem rude) and she said:

"Extreme weather = Drink!"

Excellent!  Again I don't want to seem rude, so I better not refuse.  But wait, dilemma!  If I don't finish the Arc, then I can't get out.....grrr....there's always a catch....

http://www.boston.com/news/weather/gallery/070209_ark/

Too late...

If only we had had these guys on the pitch, maybe our Rugby World Cup dreams wouldn't have been over so early....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycVVKBLC1sQ

Not again...

Oh no....not another break up....I don't know how much more of this I can take.  I'm still very fragile and wounded after the last one.  There is only so much of this that a girl can suffer!   It will certainly take me a while to get over this shock.  How will I cope.  It was so sudden.  No warning.

It makes me sad that nobody stays together anymore, not even for the sake of the kids!  I know in this case the kids are not young and will bounce back, but still, they should have been considered.

I don't know how I am going to fill my evenings now, they will be long and lonely.  I will have to take all the pictures down off the walls, and put away all the CD's that serve as reminders of all the lovely times that were spent while listening to them.

I'm very upset.

I know it will get easier in time...I know that there are plenty more fish in the sea...I know that better things are around the corner for me...but...but....there will never be another....


Westlife!!

Still nothing much!

Tonight my students, oh by the way the number has gone back up to seven, have finally reached the Holy Grail!!  We are now at the section that tells them all about the World Wide Web.  The bit they have all been waiting anxiously for.

I hope for their sake and mine, that their journey around the big bad world of the Internet is easier than the journey they had finding it!!  It's been hard work getting them this far, but I have enjoyed it, and they did make some progress.  Only one more week left, the e-mail section (yikes!), and then they are on their own, armed only with their course book, their notes and the (very) few pointers that I gave them.

But I had to try not to laugh out loud when we got to the section in tonight's chapter about blogging, if only they knew!

It said:

"A blog is a type of web site or part of a web site that can take the form of an online journal.  It is usually maintained by an individual who updates the blog with entries on some particular subject of interest."

Hmmm....So that's where I have been going wrong!

I do remember discussing subjects with my brother before I began blogging, and he gave me some advice, he said to write a blog, firstly it had to be interesting to read, and secondly somebody had to be interested in reading it (did he read tonight's chapter before I did??).  Actually, I'm not sure if that was advice, or his way of telling me not to bother.  Cheek!!

Well, as you can see, I didn't listen to him, and so, today is my 'blogging birthday'.  My blog is one year old.  Happy Birthday to me!  (I hope there's cake!!)  Well here I am, one year on, and I still haven't found an 'interesting' subject to blog about!  Unless of course, you find listening to me complaining about the weather interesting.  One of my first posts was a request for topics to blog on, and here were some of the suggestions put forward.  The suggesters names have been withheld, to protect the guilty!!

1.  October is a wonderful month!  -  Not a bad suggestion, but what would I blog about for the other eleven months!

2.  An Interesting shower -   Not a bad suggestion either, but what would I blog about for the other 364 days!

3.  The merits of decanting wine!  -  Another great suggestion, but that would only give me one day free from blogging....(maybe I could have the interesting shower that day!)

Eh...after those suggestions maybe I should have listened to my brother.  :-)

But that same brother, after reading my blog over the last year (he had no choice, I held him to ransom) encouraged me to send some of my writing to a magazine to see if they would publish it.  So, always looking for ways to prove one, or all, of my brothers wrong, I did!  OK, I know, the magazine probably gets 100's of well written interesting and imaginative stories everyday, and they are highly unlikely to even read mine, never mind publish it, but at least I gave it a go!  And, if anything comes of it I will let you know!  That's, of course, if there is anybody interested...

PS...the section on blogging also said:

"readers can visit the blog, and then if they wish, they can enter comments about what they have read in the blog" 


So!....I'll do again what I did a year ago and ask for some suggestions of 'interesting' topics to blog about...come on...what are you waiting for...get suggesting/commenting....or I may have to stop...

Oh wait...

Double the laugh!

Too funny not to share.....

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1tDTFf/www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D0-5QMRgXreY

Snow sorry!

I mentioned 'snow' yesterday in my blog while the sun was shining.  Today (in Donegal) it snowed!!  Do you think if I mentioned 'sunshine' in my blog today...

If you're reading this in Donegal, I'm sorry, I didn't meant it...I promise I won't mention it again...

Snow annoyed!

I woke up this morning to a beautiful bright crisp sunny day and to the sound of somebody mowing their lawn.  A really good day to be outside doing that.

So, if it's lovely and sunny and bright and nice enough to mow your lawn, why oh why are there Christmas decorations in every shop window in town, and why are the stores full of cards and wrapping paper etc.???  It's October for heavens sake!!

I'm so annoyed, and I am going out now in the lovely sunshine to walk the dog.....before it snows.....

Happy Friday!

Stopped for diesel on the way home....in a tiny garage...with only one pump....and a shop the size of my bathroom.  But!  When I went in to pay for my purchase, there in front of me on the counter top, to my surprise and great delight, was a box of Walnut Whips!!  Yummmmy...

I haven't seen one of those for years!  So I bought one (eh..maybe two) and I am going to walk the dog now, come home and then, put my feet up with a cup of coffee and indulge!!  'Cos I need some pampering after a very hectic week.

Happy Friday!  :-)

Why oh why...

I'm working in an Airport, as you should know by now if you have been paying attention!  So, therefore I have to go through security every morning.  And the weather is getting a bit cooler too, so it's back to wearing boots every morning.  And, as you should also know,to go through security at any Airport you have to tell them your mothers maiden name, what you had for breakfast, and promise your first born....oh yeah, and take off your boots.

So, why is it that every time I take off my boots, as if by magic, a well groomed pilot appears just behind me to go through security too?  And why is it that he never has to take his shoes off?  And why is it that I always always have a hole in my sock (Rusty, you are dead when I get home), just as the pilot notices me.  And why did I not notice the hole when I put them on this morning?  And why, even tho' I have taken off everything that could possibly make the machine beep, it still beeps....

So I get to stand there with my toe on view being frisked by a (very brisk) security guard while everybody else is held up.....

And....Why is there never a coffee around when you need one??

The right place at the right time...

My friend invited me over this evening to her house, to see her daughter dressed in all her finery before she left for her Debs ball!  And never being one to refuse a glass of bubbly, I got off work early and thought I would make a quick exit and get there just in time to see her off.

So, down the long corridor, into the Fireman's lift, up four floors, through two sets of security doors, along another corridor, out through the baggage hall, whizzed by customs, ran through the arrivals doors.....and..... straight into this:

Wow, the Irish Rugby Team's home coming!  What a buzz!  It slowed me down a bit but it was very exciting!  I even got to pose for a photo, but not with my camera as I didn't have one with me!  Typical, for once I'm in the right place at the right time, but without the right tools!  I am in this photo, you can just about see me, I the one trying to push my way through under the arrivals sign!  :-)  Anyway it put me in good humor and I skipped all the way to the car park like a 10 year old!  Or maybe an 11 year old...

But, there's always a downside, being slowed down by the crowd and posing for photos made me late!  So I decided to have another little adventure for myself and take the quickest way to my friends house in Sandymount.  The Port Tunnel!  It's been open since 2006 and I have never used it.  I am useless for trying new routes always sticking to the way I know, even if its not the most direct way!  So being tied for time, I gave it a go, and got to my friends house in about 15 minutes!  It did cost me €3, but who cares.  Again, I was in the right place at the right time, again without my camera but never mind, I got there just in time for the bubbly!!

After more excitement, and photographs, it was time to go home.  So, out of the driveway, around the corner, out onto the main road and...believe it or not, once again I found myself surrounded by men in green jerseys!  Lucky me, twice in the one day?  Were the rugby team following me?

Eh, no....no such luck!  Same green but different jerseys!   My friend lives close to the Stadium and this time I was surrounded by Soccer fans on their way to see Ireland play Armenia.  More pushing my way through crowds, but this time it was harder, as I was driving!!

Home safe now and after all that excitement, I think I need to lie down.

Oh Ireland won the match which means we qualify for eh.....more matches!!  And by the way, I think Brian O'Driscoll was wearing make-up, maybe he knew he was going to be in a photograph with me...

Dog gone....

Went for my usual stroll in the park this evening.  But as the nights are getting shorter, by the time I got home had dinner cleaned up etc., there wasn't much light left in the evening.  But I went anyway and thought I would get around the park at least once with the dog.

A short time down the path I noticed a guy acting strangely down near the river, he was going in and out of the shrubbery and sort of looking a bit shifty.  I kept walking and tried to avoid him.  But because I do a 'figure eight' around the paths I would eventually have passed him again.  So I just kept going and kept my eye on Rusty as he was running wild as usual, smelling every blade of grass like it was the first time he had ever been in the park.  It wasn't too bad out there, the rain had stopped and it was relatively warm.

Anyway came back around the path and Mr Shifty was still there.  He saw me coming and I began to get a bit nervous when he approached me.  I clipped Rusty back on his lead and started to walk a bit faster.  He called out to me, and I for some reason stopped and watched him come towards me.  Yikes!  Do I start to run now or do I stay and practice my self defense moves...

"Hi, sorry to trouble you, but you haven't seen my dog have you?"  (Either that's the best chat up line ever, or he really is looking for his dog). "He's a black and white Collie and his name is Rio"


I know Rio, I often see him in the park, but not usually with this young man.

Apparently Rio has been missing since last night and this guy has been out all evening looking for him.  He was very upset.  How awful.  And shame on me for thinking this poor concerned young guy was up to no good!  He was actually checking underneath the shrubs and bushes to see was his dog trapped in there as he sometimes likes to get into the water for a swim.  I felt duly remorseful for thinking the worst of this guy.  That will teach me to make rash judgments in future!  I offered to help but it was getting too dark to see anything much and he said he was going to go home anyway and maybe Rio would have turned up!

I felt really bad as I watched him walk off still checking the pathway alongside the river.  I hope they do find Rio and he doesn't have to spend another night lost outside.  Maybe somebody will have found him and have taken him in.  I don't know what I would do if I lost Rusty.

Although, sometimes, when I come home and realize that somebody (usually me) has left the kitchen door open and Rusty has run up the stairs and curled up on the end of my bed and slept there all day, or, when I find him standing up on the back of the couch looking out the window, or, when I find a sock under a chair with dog size bites out of it, or, when I see clumps of dog hair floating through my kitchen like tumbleweed, I might be very glad if he was lost....

It's all gone horribly wrong...

Oh no, I can't believe this has happened to me.  I came home early from a shopping trip today and found Kevin in a very compromising position.  How could he do this to me?  I'm in shock!  After all the years of monitoring, mentoring, encouragement and guidance, he has let me down. Our street cred has gone right through the floor.  How could he have let me down so badly, how did I get it so wrong...

I returned home and found him, not only listening, but singing along, to a....I can't believe that I am going to tell you this...to a....oh the shame....to a....(come on Siobhan, telling will help the healing process)....to a....to a Simon Cowell produced track!!

This one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJO3ROT-A4E&ob=av2e

When challenged, his explanation was that it was OK to listen to them because they didn't actually write it!!  I'm sure there is logic in there somewhere but I just don't get it.  The only thing for it now is to help him through this terrible time with love and patience.  Does anybody know the name of a good therapist?

Later that day, in a evil and sinister twist....

Then this evening, while making the dinner, listening to the radio, this track came on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeWBS0JBNzQ&ob=av2e

And to MY shame, I found myself not only singing along, but I knew all the words and there may have been some dancing around the kitchen too (but I will only admit to that under extreme torture!!).

Maybe I am on the edge after my shock earlier.....Do you think the therapist would do 'two for the price of one'.....

Glad and sad!

Congratulations to the 'Boys in Green' (Soccer) and commiserations to the 'Boys in Green' (Rugby).  What a shame.

Even my newest little nephew got dressed up for the occasion!  He had to stay up very late, I hope he wasn't too disappointed.

Oh well, never mind, at least France beat England.  I'm not gloating, no really, I'm not....

Oops!

Oh dear, it must be the tiredness!  I forgot to wish our other boys in Green, good luck.

Our soccer team are playing Andora tonight in Andora!  So, Go (Soccer) Ireland!!

All this excitement is making me even more tired!  And I still have to walk Rusty.  Effort!!  Do you think if I gave him his lead he could walk himself....

Too tired to watch?

Unless you have been living in a cave or on the moon (or somewhere other than Wales, Ireland or New Zealand) for the last week, you will be aware that the Clash of the Giants takes place at 0600 tomorrow.  Ireland play Wales in the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup.  Go Ireland!!

I saw Ireland play Wales last year, in a very enjoyable action packed game which Ireland won!  So when I am lying in my bed at ridiculous o'clock in the morning watching through half closed sleepy eyes, I will try to re-create the atmosphere of that match in my bedroom!  It will be hard to fit 80,000 supporters the two teams and officials in, but sure, I'll give it a go!! :-)  Gosh what a thought...

Although, even tho' it is my intention to set my clock early and turn on the TV to watch the game, it may be a challenge for me to stay awake for the duration, as I am very tired!  Self inflicted tiredness I'm afraid, as I was at a wedding yesterday and I am sooooo tired today.  All that effort getting ready, rushing to the venue, smiling for photos, standing around in high heels, eating, chatting, drinking, more smiling, dancing, more standing around in high heels, a pot of jam (don't ask!), more chatting, bad karaoke (eh...No!!  I didn't), more dancing (this time without the heels!) having a very enjoyable day, staying out very late and getting up early the next day for work, can make a girl very tired....

But If the game is half as exciting as predicted, then I don't think I should have any trouble staying awake.  So it's early to bed tonight, to be up bright and early in the morning to cheer Ireland on!!

Is it to early to go now.....zzzzzz

To learn or not to learn.

Well, I've hit the 'magic' number....6....that number where the pressure is on me (as if it isn't already)!!

Yes, that's the number that turned up tonight!  Gosh, was it something I said?

I know this is my first time 'out', and I'm on a learning curve, but I can't be that bad, can I?  I am assured by my mentor that this is relatively normal, and some may return next week, but it's very disillusioning.  And it's not doing much for my confidence either!

But as I said in an earlier post, I have to keep going back, and I will.  I had hoped they wanted to learn, as much as I wanted to teach them.  But obviously not.  Well, if they don't want to, then maybe I will learn something from this....

Math, I will learn math!  That will make me feel better, and less useless!  And then I will be able to write one of those brilliant riddle type questions which involve math, you know the type, (for example - If a man rides into town on a Monday, stays three days and leaves on Friday, how is this possible?)

Ah, that question, the one you could never get the answer to but the girl beside you would get it straight away, and even when she told you the answer, you still didn't get it.  And the girl in front of you would turn round and try to explain, and make you more confused.  And then the teacher would read it out again, slowly, while the rest of the class yawned, and you still didn't get it.  And then she would write the method and the answer on the blackboard in seventeen different stages, with diagrams, and you still didn't get it.  And all the class was held back, indignant, after the bell had gone, until you, the one person in the whole school who didn't understand, gets the answer right (in the end you actually just say you understand to save face!).  And then nobody would talk to you on the way home because it was your fault that everybody had to stay back after class was over, and missed the bus home....

Of course, that never happened to me, I always got the answers right straight away, that's why I am such a brilliant teacher now....

(PS...Friday is a horse!)

Congrats!

Big congratulations to Kevin for passing his Driving Test!! 

Well done! x

I'll have to get a picture of my car now to look at, because apparently, I'll never see it again now that he has the freedom to drive it!

That's one more thing off the list of 'things to worry about', but for some reason, that list never seems to get smaller...but never mind, I'll worry about that tomorrow!!  :-)

Careless and impatient...

I'm a very careless 'facilitator'.  I have lost another two students.  I'm sure I had them last week, but they were nowhere to be seen this week!!

So now I'm down to 9.  That number where they 'start bonding and helping each other', or so I am reliably informed!  I hope it doesn't diminish to the number 6, where they 'start to focus on the teacher for individual attention'!!  I'm told by those in the know, that 'desertion' is common at these sort of courses and I shouldn't take it personally!

Are my pupils deserting the sinking ship or did they just know that they had their first 'module test' this evening and decided not to show up for it?  Well we had to proceed with or without them, and the course books were handed out and the fun began....the questions were studied....there were some anxious looks....the pens started to write....the questions were studied again....the pens came to a halt.....the pens were chewed....the questions were studied again....the pens hovered over the page, trying to decide which box to tick....!!  Oh the pressure and the tension...did I explain it enough times...did I explain it correctly enough times....Come on guys, you can do it, don't let me down.

It was hard to watch them struggling a bit and not be able to help!  I kept wanting to jump up and explain something, anything, to somebody, anybody!  But I didn't, I kept my head down sat on my hands and didn't make eye contact and pretended to be very busy!  Every so often I would have a look around and catch somebody's pleading eye, or waving pen, desperately trying to catch my attention so they could get some help, get an answer and tick a box!  But I had to look away quickly and resist the urge to jump up and answer the question...

Anyway, it was all over in a few minutes, and I must have done something right too, as they all seemed to be able to answer the questions eventually (the answers were actually in the front of the book that they were writing in, and I might have told them that....oops!!).  Afterwards they did some of that 'bonding and helping' stuff which I was delighted to be able to join in with, and we were then able to move on to the next chapter, and try to get through it so we can do this all over again next week!  

I will have to learn between then and now, to have some patience or acquire some sitting still techniques so that I don't want to rush off my chair and help the first one that looks at me with a questioning glance!

Anybody got any suggestions??

Home-work!

I'm working from home today.  What a treat!

Kev is doing his driving test today and needed my car for the event!  So I am housebound, I don't mind, it's nice to be at home and have something productive to do!!  I know there is always something to do in the house, i.e. housework, but that's boring :-)

So instead of working in the basement today I am looking out at the rare autumnal sunshine pouring into my little garden. 

I haven't much time to write as my friend is coming for coffee..........oh wait.........I mean I can't write because I'm too busy with all this work I have to do.  (I hope nobody from work is reading this!!)

Best of luck to Kevin.  His test is at eleven, so not long to wait for the result now!   Hmm...if he passes does that mean that I will be housebound forever more....Yikes!!

Wat-er price to pay!

I was very tired last night.  My own fault of course, I forgot to go home early on Saturday night.  And I have flashbacks of a Karaoke Kab on the way home from town too....  Of all the taxi's in Dublin on Saturday night how come we got the one with the mad driver and the Karaoke machine.  Yes!  Of course I sang, it would have been rude not to, especially as the mic was handed to me so purposefully!  Try as I might, I can't remember what we sang, it must have been so bad that I have erased it from the hard drive in my brain, but I do remember it was a duet!  :-)  The taxi driver is probably in therapy now, at least his ears must be.  Well it serves him right for giving us the mic's in the first place.  I seem to remember flashing lights too, in the taxi of course, not my head!

Anyway, then I had an early start on Sunday morning, last day with the 'Grid Girls', the end of the competition and the winner to be announced and congratulated and handed the flowers!  Oh yes and some bike races too!  I was a bit hung over and didn't appreciate the roar of the bikes and being soaked to the skin for the second day in a row, but despite all the rain and noise, the winner was announced and there was another shower, of Champagne!  But, that's one shower I am always happy to be caught in.

All that excitement led me to be too tired (lazy) to be my usually well prepared self and make my lunch for today.  So that meant braving the Fireman's lift up from the basement and visiting the outside world.  Made it to the food counter, ordered my sandwich, bagel actually, and waited patiently in line.  Got to the top of the queue and my lovely cream cheese bagel was ready.  Got my staff discount (nice, thanks!) and was just about to pay, when I decided that I would like a bottle of water to go with it.

Suddenly the bill doubled!  Yikes.  I had already handed in some money and I got the change and a receipt, which I checked and to my dismay discovered that the bottle of water was 2.49 euro!  I then had a bit of a Victor Meldrew moment!  :-)  I didn't believe it.  I asked the girl to check it and she got annoyed with me, sort of understandable as there was a big queue!  So then I decided that I didn't want the water and asked for my money back.  I apologised to the girl and the woman beside me in the queue and stood my ground.  She then went, accompanied by a dramatic shoulder shrug, for the manager, because he was the only one who could give me my money back.  Which he did, eventually, in silence, after a lot of till receipt signing, huffing and puffing and long stares.

So that 'Irish' sambo franchise won't be getting my custom again, even tho' there was nothing wrong with the bagel!  I understand economics and I know they have to make a profit and I know it was lunchtime and they were busy etc. etc. but what's with the attitude (and the price of water)......!

So the moral of the story is don't stay out late, sing badly, or get caught in a Champagne shower all in the one weekend, unless you want to pay a fortune for water.

(Hmmm.....I wonder how many bottles of water it would take to buy a Karaoke machine?)