Current Stories
Saturday 10th, November 2007
No more blogging 17:56:26Written By : Eileen FitzgeraldCategory : None
Location : Wicklow
I'm going to hang up the hat on Blogging, its fun and I LOVE being part of the Blog gang , but realistically I've not a lot that I can write about. I'm not technical and have been focusing on management for the past few years ( cannot really blog about the challenges of managing people ) and life is pretty busy and its difficult to keep up. So , the poor blog is simply sitting there gathering Spam , being ignored.
So thanks to Bill for getting me set up , and hosting this , but its now time to say adios to Mrs Doyles YA WILL, YA WILL, YA WILL , YA WILL. Thanks and I'll be seeing you all on Skype , ILUG2008 I'll be commenting on your blogs etc etc
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Sunday 7th, October 2007
The Contents of the Terramvndi21:28:20Written By : Eileen FitzgeraldCategory : None
Location : Wicklow
I had a brief chat with Volker this week and he pointed out to me that I never blogged what became of the contents of the Terramvndi that was presented to me at ILUG 2007 . That is terribly rude of me, I was sure that I had .
As I was ordered to do, I went and purchased my Sony BRAVIA TV a 32' flatscreen, and I LOVE IT , even though life has become very busy ( and I seem to be spending more and more time up mountains ) there is no way I could ever go back to my old 27' wide-screen. Thank you for allowing me the luxury to upgrade.
The remainder was spent on a Canon Camera so that I could take semi decent pics of Peru . Now I've promised that before ILUG next year I shall actually start to learn something about photography and get myself a real camera , but this was recommended to me by Volker as being perfect for Peru. Point and Click for landscapes , it will not do great indoors , but it takes batteries ( so I did not have to worry about recharging ) and its sturdy. And it did the trick , and worked much better than my existing digital camera ( looks great but high maintenance and never does what you want , reminds me of some exs ) and the remainder went on misc stuff for Peru , including crayons, pens and misc stuff for the school kids in Peru. Links attached to the pics of the items as promised as apparently TV's and Cameras are sexy.
Thanks again , and yes we have already started planning ILUG 2008
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Tuesday 25th, September 2007
The Peru MS Challange13:16:14Written By : Eileen FitzgeraldCategory : Charity Hike
Location : Wicklow
Well I'm just back from Peru where I've spent the past two weeks hiking on a charity hike with MS Ireland. It was fantastic, absolutely brilliant the people on the trek were wonderful ranging from early 20's to 59, singles, couples , sisters , brothers etc. Everyone had a reason for being there and when I heard the hard work that everyone had put into the fundraising I really considered myself very lucky and privilidged that ILUG and its supporteres supported my fundraising. I did some investigating and because of numbers and the fact that the charities have been running these challanges for so long , Two Thirds of all funds raised go directly to the charity. So do the math and with approximately 40 of us on the trip in total a great deal was raised for a very worthwhile charity.
But the trip , Peru is an amazing place , it really is beautiful and the history is astounding, the stories of the Andeans and the Incas and their achievements is amazing and to actually see the ruins of the fortresses and Machu Picchu itself was a humbling experience. What is really interesting is that they used to walk for miles and would not think twice of building their grain stores , and fortresses high on the mountains to take advantage of the drier air.
The people are lovely , and the kids are dead cute, at one stage we visited the house of a rural dweller, now obviously those that live in the caves are dying out so it is not the norm. I was initially worried that it was patronising ( showing tourists around someone's house ) but she received five sols from each of us ( about 150 sol) which, for them is a lot of money so everyone benefited. As you can see from the photos have the Guinea Pigs (dinner) running around was a bit creepy and having a sheep in the kitchen would not be my idea of hygiene but then I would imagine that these people have constitutions of iron ( which would explain why most of us ended up with Delli Belly for the two weeks ) .
We spend in total eight days hiking and approximately four days travelling. The hiking was amazing and I was pretty lucky not to get blisters ( some of the team did and it was not funny ). The last day was tough as it was mostly ascending , steep narrow paths and steps , steps and more steps. But it was all worth it when we got to the Sun gate.
Not only did we raise money for MS but we also visited two schools when we were there and we all brought over crayons , toothbrushes etc etc for the Kids ( what was very interesting was that the school teacher said that they were still using the stuff that the MS hike had brought last year. Also we all left behind our fleeces and medical supplies that we had brought with us for the earth quake victims.
The Photos are on Flickr and I also would recommend Tambo Treks who were the local guides, they were excellent. Thank you again to everyone who contributed , especially to Volker and the ILUG organising team who really pushed this. I'm just sorry that I'm missing UKLug as I'm just back to work so cannot take off again so soon. It promises to be an exceptional event.
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Sunday 2nd, September 2007
Charity Hike about to go ....22:19:48Written By : Eileen FitzgeraldCategory : Charity Hike
Location : Wicklow
I've been pretty quiet this summer , recovering after ILUG and also spending a lot of time on the new house, I moved into a new house just before ILUG and as you can imagine it did not get a lot of focus in the run up to ILUG. And I've also been prepping for the hike, yes as per pic this is me, in the pouring rain, in layers hiking the Wicklow mountains today, I hope the weather is better next week.
On Friday morning at 6:00 AM we are shipping out. Here is the timetable for of the hike for MS Ireland that you have all so generously contributed to.
Saturday September 8th
Arrive in Lima , depart for Cusco – walk in Cusco
Sunday September 8th – Hike to Cusco Ruins to Tambo Machay
September 10th – From the village of Chinchero to Huyallabamba and back to Yucay
September 11th – Drive to Moray walk to Maras Salinas Salt Pans, Walk to The Sacred Valley , very very steep hills
September 12th – Drive to Pisac , walk to Maray and then to village of Coya
September 13th – Walk the Urubamba River to Ollantaytambo
September 14th – starting at the village of Huillog, walk to Patacancha, end up in Ollantaytambo
September 15th – From Ollantaytambo to Chilica
September 16th – The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu , the famous lost city ( not so very lost if I can find it )
Setpember 17th Machu Picchu
September 18th – FREE DAY
September 19th – Flight from Cusco to Lima – Amsterdam
September 20th – Arrive in Dublin at 17:30 – CRASH
As it's a Charity Hike , we shall be visiting a local school and I've stocked up on crayons , Pens and as requested by the charity Toothbrushes and toothpaste ( apparently dental health care is something that is poor in Peru and they request tourists to help promote it .
I will be doing a post after the event
on the trip and how the money ( well over the target ) will be used to
aid the very worthy MS Charity in Ireland. I cannot thank you all for your
generosity and support. I still cannot believe myself that we reached it
so quickly and that we are actually heading off on Friday morning
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Saturday 18th, August 2007
Its confirmed , I'm not a geek I only know them11:35:08Written By : Eileen FitzgeraldCategory : None
Location : Wicklow
I did not stay up all night last night installing V8, I went out on a Friday night , nor will I be installing it today , I'm going to see the Stones at Slane : -) But I'm really enjoying reading the reviews of those who stayed up all night to install it and am enjoying the reviews
Really looking forward to installing it at some stage
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Monday 30th, July 2007
UK Lotus User Group23:22:15Written By : Eileen FitzgeraldCategory : UKLug
Location : Wicklow
Saturday 30th, June 2007
Goal Reached 12:25:17Written By : Eileen FitzgeraldCategory : Charity
Location : Wicklow
The target for my Charity has been reached
Thank you soo much to everyone who contributed , I'm starting to get nervous now , as its only eight weeks away, I've been trying to get in as much hiking as I can but the weather has been very very bad as post ILUG life has been hectic ( guess I have a life again ). Its s a worthy cause , a great location and I intend to do you all proud ( or at least blog and rant about the blisters , heat , height etc if I do not ). Now what is really funny is that I was trying to give up smoking in preparation of this hike but I was told that in fact sometimes smokers fare better as they adapt to the altitude better. Guess it remains to be seen.
Thank you all again , and no Volker I shall not contradict you , all those who contributed get preferential treatment at ILUG 2008, yes I shall organise personal time for each one with Fluffy
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Tuesday 26th, June 2007
Disclaimer
These opinions are my own, in no way do they reflect the opinions of my employers or anyone else I know
