Smoke Free

Even though it has only been three or four years since the smoking ban in public places came into force in Ireland, it's somewhat difficult to imagine it as not being something that has always been in existence - such is the overwhelming success of the project. The Irish government have tried hard in this area of public health action. They continue to discourage smoking with annual increases in the price of cigarettes - another 50 cents was added just a couple of weeks ago.

The other day I was sitting in the area formerly designated the smoking room of my local coffeehouse. I soon noticed that smoking was in the room again only not in a physical sense, but as a matter of discussion.

A group of four people (who didn't all arrive together) were discussing their trials of giving up the cigarettes as a topic of conversation. It didn't look like they had intended to meet for this reason, but a micro-community seemed to have formed and an ad hoc ex-smokers support group was in the making. They spoke about how difficult it was to give up, what gum they chewed as an alternative or how often they changed the patch.

It caused my mind to think about a couple of elderly people I know, both smokers. I am aware that they are on limited pensions and live in very humble dwellings and most definitely cannot afford to smoke. And yet they do. Such is the grip that tobacco has on people - many of whom started smoking when it was fashionable and health concerns were of no concern at all. Suddenly I viewed the 50 cent increase as unfair. Completely understandable, but for some unfair. It also made me loathe the tobacco companies even more.

My faith background has traditionally held a strong position in relation to harmful substances and it continues to do so. I am proud to say that I have never smoked a cigarette in my life - a testament to at least something in my upbringing holding fast. (I wish I could say the same for every piece of wise advice offered me!) That doesn't put me in a better position, but it does cause me to ask, what could I do to help? Because I don't imagine that the extra revenue created from adding 50 cents to a packet of cigs will be filtered back in some form to help my old smoking friends to quit.


By the way, if you are a smoker who is trying to give up: God's grace and strength to you!

Starbucks in Dalkey

A few months ago I mentioned that there was quite a stir in the coastal village/town of Dalkey, just south of Dublin. Plans were underway for opening a Starbucks and some locals didn't like the idea.

Anyway, Starbucks went ahead and opened a couple of weeks ago and as I was kind of passing Dalkey I had the opportunity to pop in for a latte this week. (My wife would later dispute the 'kind of passing Dalkey' and was a little concerned that it meant our kids who were with me only had cookies and crisps for lunch - plus a bottle of expensive fresh orange juice, I retorted!)

My first impression of this Starbucks was...I couldn't find it! This has to be the most discrete store I've ever seen. I drove past three times before I saw it. Once inside, I have to say, I really liked it. Although there wasn't many places to sit on the ground floor, the upstairs looked like a great place to hang out/do business/study/meet friends, plus anything else that makes Starbucks more than just over-priced coffee.

Now to be fair I didn't get a chance to visit any of the other cafes in that town, but there does seem to be a few choices. Reports from locals suggest particular loyalty to the other coffee shops so there shouldn't be any worry about those ones going out of business. Right?

Going too far for coffee

I woke up this morning and decided to make a 300 mile round trip just to get a cup of coffee.

In my quest to visit every Starbucks in ROI I knew that my biggest challenge was going to be getting a latte from stores outside of Dublin. The Starbucks website has two such stores listed. One in Kildare and the other in Cork.

I have already managed to visit the Kildare store. I'd rate it as one of the nicest Starbucks around. It's in a small outlet mall (with a great kids playground) just outside of the town (or city?) of Kildare, about an hour's drive from home.

As for Cork, that was going to be another matter. But today, I did it! And it was relatively simple.

Fortunately the store in Cork is at Cork International Airport, so when I saw Ryanair doing a special offer for flights I couldn't resist the opportunity for knocking this one off my list. The latte cost more than the plane tickets!

It was all a bit if a surreal experience, walking up to the barista and ordering my drink, a wry smile on my face. I was desperate to tell him what I was doing, but as it's all a bit silly I decided not too.

After the coffee I bought a sandwich and sat outside of the airport on a sunny embankment. Then I got on a plane and came home again.

Now I need to quickly finish off visiting the last couple of stores in Dublin so I can say I did it because if they open up a store in, say, Leitrim I'm not sure that I'll ever get around to completing the task.

Tim Tam Slam

I first had a Tim Tam biscuit when I was visiting my folks when they lived in Australia about 6 or 7 years ago. The Tim Tam is an Aussie institution. It's kind of like a Penguin biscuit - only not as dense. So it was on that visit that I first discovered the 'Tim Tam slam'.

About a year or so ago I noticed that you can now get Tim Tams in Ireland. (You can get them in the UK too, and in USA I think they are called 'Arnotts Originals'). Every now and then a packet finds its way home from the grocery store.

Anyway, today I favoured a cup of coffee for my afternoon break as opposed to my usual tea and I opened the biscuit tin for something suitable to dunk. Tim Tams! And I just had to do a Tim Tam slam. It was so good I felt I had to blog about it!

By now some readers may be wondering what a Tim Tam slam is. Check out this video that gives clear, step by step instructions as to what to do.

I should say that slamming with a cup of tea would work, but if you can drink coffee then the flavours work better.

Let me know if you give it a go.

What were you doing when…?

I've been drawn into another meme by Ali! This time it's about significant events in recent history from my perspective. Here goes…

Princess Diana's death – 31^st August 1997

I was assistant director of a Salvation Army summer camp for children in north-east Ohio, USA (Camp Neosa). The main season had ended and the kids returned to school, but for the last couple of weeks in August we ran sessions for others – older people or church groups. As I recall it was Labor Day weekend and people from Salvation Army churches across north-east Ohio had gathered for the annual 'Camp Meetings' – worship services, bible studies, BBQs, hanging out. It was always an easier pace than the rest of the summer so I quite enjoyed it.

It was over breakfast on the Sunday morning (5 hours behind UK time) that someone came and told me what the news was. I think at first I thought they were joking. Obviously they weren't.

A few days later on the day of the funeral my girlfriend (now wife) came over to my apartment at about five in the morning so we could watch the funeral. Two things about the funeral struck me. One was a marvellous piece of choral music that I don't actually remember what it was called, but all the way through it was a sustained pedal-point drone sung by the basses. The other thing was the images of flowers being thrown on to the hearse as it drove along its route.

I can remember thinking at the time that there seemed to be an awful lot of fuss about this woman and it wasn't as if Mother Teresa had died. That happened six days later on 5^th September 1997.

Margaret Thatcher's resignation – 22^nd November 1990

I wasn't particularly interested in politics in 1990 and so couldn't say for sure what I was doing when this event took place. I do remember the striking photo of her in the car leaving Downing Street – the Iron Lady, crying.

Attack on the Twin Towers – 11^th September 2001

I'm sure for many in my generation this will be our JFK-assassination-where-were-you moment.

My wife and I were just a couple of days into our training for ministry in The Salvation Army at their theological college in London having moved to the UK from the States earlier that summer. We had had some kind of introductory class in the morning followed by lunch with our "session mates" and staff. The afternoon was set aside for official photos. It was after we had been photographed and were walking down a corridor that a member of staff stopped us to say that there had been a plane crash in America – the full extent of what had happened was not yet clear to reporting media. (I could tell a similar story of travel news reports on the radio regarding a malfunction or "power surge" on the London Underground on 7^th July 2005).

My wife and I returned to our little flat to continuing unpacking and arranging furniture. I decided to turn the TV on to see if there was anything on the news about this plane crash. What we saw shocked and stunned us and will forever be imprinted in our minds. One of the towers had been hit by a plane in what seemed to be a horrific accident. A few minutes later we watched as the second plane struck instantly changing the perspective of the scene.

As the afternoon progressed lots of people came around to see us and ask about my wife's family – a thousand miles from New York. We assumed they were ok, but it was impossible for quite some time to get a phone connection to the USA so great was the demand for communication.

My wife planted a small American flag outside as a symbol of solidarity. I was touched when, later that evening, I noticed that some of the teenagers whose parents we were training with had placed a few candles by the flag, and a hand written prayer.

England's World Cup semi-final v Germany – 4^th July 1990

I was a teenager living in Felixstowe, Suffolk. A few friends had come around to my house to watch the game and we were all bitterly disappointed with the result. I have a feeling one of my friends kicked a bird table in our back garden and broke the top off. Later on, as we wondered through our small town centre that evening, I saw a Germany football shirt in the window of a sports shop. I spat at it. (Not a very proud memory that. Sorry.)

President Kennedy's Assassination – 22^nd November 1963

Umm, if I was a teenager in 1990 I'm sure you can appreciate that this event has very little emotional attachment for me. Like Ali though I have enjoyed the conspiracy theories.

Right, now I've got to think of a couple of people who could have a go at answering these…

I'm going to nominate my wife even though the only two that will really apply to her are items 1 and 3 – both of which I was with her at the time. It might be interesting to hear her side of the same event.

I'll also nominate jsi and miz melly.

Finally, I am going to randomly choose a complete stranger by clicking the "Next blog" button above. So…

mints it's over to you! (Poor girl has lost her snail).

Begining of the End for Starbucks?

Ali was kind enough to think about me today as she read a news report on the BBC's business pages. (I'm not sure what I'm more impressed about - the fact that Ali thought of me or that she reads the business news!)

It looks like Starbucks are planning to close 61 of its stores in Australia - more than 70% of its business! This reminded me of news last week that for the first time since Starbucks went public 16 years ago they have encountered a loss in their quarterly finances. Is this a sign of changing times for Starbucks?

However, I have more conclusive proof! I decided to take my game of visiting every Starbucks in ROI a little more seriously and have knocked off a few more from my target. (Look out for a future blog about this on 17th September).

Currently, the Starbucks website for the Republic of Ireland shows that there are 25 stores waiting to be visited. My current figure is 15. (Although it could be 16 as I can't remember if have been to the one at Liffey Valley shopping centre. I should have taken photos!)

BUT, I have my suspicions that Starbucks are not as big as they say they are! I recently noticed that there were two listed in Blackrock. I'd already visited the one in the old Post Office, so I purposefully went back to the town last weekend. There was no trace of the second store and one of the baristas at the Post Office told me they were the only ones. On closer inspection of the website listing the "second" store is given the same street address that the Post Office is on. This double listing also causes me to doubt that the details of the store at the IFSC in Dublin and a store on Custom House Quay are not two separate stores, but one. The IFSC is located on Custom House Quay!

But wait, there's more!

The clincher for me that Starbucks are in trouble is the fact I have noticed in a couple of their stores (and I presume nationwide) that they are offering FREE REFILLS on their filter coffee. Now, I whole heartedly welcome the introduction of free refills (most places on this side of the Atlantic are too tight to make that offer), but I have never come across this at Starbucks. Bring on the loyalty cards too!

What does this mean for Starbucks in Ireland? Interestingly, what could this mean for Starbucks in Dalkey? (Check out some of the comments since I posted a while back).

I don't know! What do you think?

What I do think is that I better finish my game quickly before I wind up with a sense of failure if a store closes before I get to it.

Cup Holders - Breaking News!

In order to combat the mind numbing task of grocery shopping (I'm not sure now how it wound up as my responsibility) I decided to go to a different store than usual. I went to a local store of the chain referred to below - and low and behold they had trolleys with "cup holders". Plus a separate holder for the scanner gun!!! (And one for a bunch of flowers).

Could it really be a cup holder?!?

Yes!

A regular latte was swiftly bought from the store cafe and I went about my task in a much better mood.

Salad, onions, (sip, sip) bread, milk, cheese, (sip, sip) washing powder, orange juice, (Hey, look at me everyone. I'm drinking a cup of coffee while putting frozen peas in my trolley).

It just felt right.

Cup Holders

I once read that in America one of the primary issues for many people when buying a car is how many cup holders it has got. Whether or not this is true I do not know. I like to think that it is as it would be a factor for me given the choice. My latest car has no "real" cup holder in the front - just improvised one that are very likely to cause an accident one day. I actually think that the car manufacturer has purposely left out cup holders in the front (there are plenty in the back) in order to discourage drivers to be drinking coffee/tea/whatever while driving in an unsafe manner. They might have a point. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has put a vehicle worth thousands of Euro in jeopardy just for the sake of trying to balance a hot cup of coffee and a donut worth less than five Euro.

Anyway. I happened to go into a grocery store today (a slightly more up market store than usual) and I noticed an addition to the traditional shopping trolley. It was a cup holder! This is a great idea and one that I have been waiting to see implemented for a while. Truly, I am a man before my own time.


Hmmmm, hang on. On further reflection, I wonder if it was actually a holder for the automatic scanner gun that some stores let you take around the shop?

The Joy of Coffee

This evening, as soon as the kids were in bed, I dashed out to get to a toy store in the city centre before it closed. I needed to pick up a present for our daughter's birthday. It's not until next week, but I have this awful habit of seeing something great and waiting to get it/book it/see it and then wind up missing it all together. So many times! Anyway, I got there just before they closed and managed to buy the item I wanted - last on the shelf.

While I was in the area I thought I'd head around corner to go and see The Dark Knight. Unfortunately all the viewings for the rest of the evening were sold out. (Nicoley has a review).

Fortunately I had a back-up plan prepared: a book under my arm and the knowledge that it was just a couple of minutes walk, over the River Liffey, and into Temple Bar. I love the Temple Bar area and don't get down there nearly enough. It has a great buzz about the place especially in the evening. I knew I would find somewhere good for coffee and I wasn't disappointed.

I stoped in to The Joy of Coffee. Immediately I liked it. It is a small coffeehouse with a distinct continental feel to it - solid wooden tables, a simple vase of flowers and chairs that creak. Ireland has had a smoking ban in public places for a few years now which I am very pleased about, but I must admit that the occasional whiff of smoke blowing in through the open door from passers by did add a little something extra. I wish we all could have got together and sat around one of the big tables.

I headed for the rear of the cafe, a darkened area with a bar and stools across the back wall and only a small lamp to give any light. It gave me a view of behind the counter where I could watch the staff pull the shots and serve slices of cheesecake drizzled with caramel. I sat next to the lamp in order to read my book, Surprised by Hope (which Tea4Two says she is going to review ;-)

In choosing my drink I opted for something different that usual: a cortado. I'd not heard of it before so I thought I'd give it a try. It's a shot of espresso with a dash of steamed milk and a touch of foam - basically a mini latte. I really liked it and could picture myself having one each morning. It's espresso with a bit of the edge taken off. Nice.

I left the cafe thinking it would ages before I would come back again then it dawned on me that it would take less than 10 minutes to cycle there and I wouldn't have to worry about finding somewhere to park in the city. Plus they are open late!

This is just as well because I think the seats by the large window at the front looking out on to the cobbled streets of Temple Bar seem very appealing.

Lost in Translation

I was in a cafe the other day and a group of tourists from France came in, excitedly. I wouldn't have described the cafe as something of Parisian quality (although I'm sure there are some bad cafes in Paris), but the group felt it worthy of taking a photo nonetheless.

One lady took charge, ordered the other half dozen or so women to move chairs, get from behind menus and freeze in a suitable pose.

I don't know an awful lot of French, but I've remembered a few words here and there (un café s'il vous plait). So I smiled when I heard the photographer's request:

"Dites le fromage!"

I think the meaning behind the phrase got somewhat lost along the way.