ferguzzi

Booked 2 beds in the 4 bed dorm for 3 nights, so I think that room's full now. We'll be coming up through the centre of the country avoiding cities, and probably hugging the shannon as much as we can. Leaving clare about 11, we should make the bar by 7pm! Just realised the heineken cup final is on the saturday, eventhough we're munster fans down here, we'll still have to watch it. No doubt in some den of iniquity!

Hi Jaap, there's a nice old museum in dumfries. A couple of relatively unusual pieces, they even have a saab draken, bizarrely. I spent about an hour there, and it's only 20 minutes from ken bridge. Dumfries is also on various runs the fast jet guys use, so you might spy a few tornados, hawks and,if you're lucky, a typhoon. See you in ulster! ferg.

I'm definetly coming on Fri evening, staying 'til Mon. morning. My mate John and his bandit are coming too. We'll be staying in a dorm , or one of the shared rooms if it suits. I'm abroad for a week, so won't phone to book 'til I get back. Probably leaving Clare, up through Dublin and then the main Belfast road, but I'm open to suggestions if any one wants to meet up. As I write this I'm thinking avoiding Dublin friday traffic might be a priority. If we could just organise the weather now we'd be all set. Fergal.

Right then, listen up at the back. It's a 2 stage pour. The first thing is you fill it three quarters full, at an angle, so its poured on the side of the glass if you know what I mean. then you let it settle for about 2 minutes. then you fill it slowly to the top. The idea is to have a perfectly smooth head, no bubbles. you then let it sit for about aminute, until it's a dark brown black, and a nice cream head. then you drink! The whole process takes about 4 minutes, and it's atime honoured tradition, and tricky to get right. I've been to pubs where people will only ask one particular guy to pour, because he does it better then the other barmen. And the glass is important. It has to be a tulip shape. And it has to be a pint. Anything less is for girls. And if you don't finish it in 20 minutes it'll go flat. And if you're a pussy tourist who wants a half pint, you ask for a "glass". My record is 19, but I know people who've done 30. After a while it starts to go down like water, and weirdly it doesn't fill you like beer/lager. And I rarely ever drink it abroad.

That diesel issue I had during the summer brought this up. In the end ,I now pay an upgraded aa assistance where I can dictate which garage I want to go to. It costs a bit more, but I drive a few old/unreliable cars and bikes, so I'm sure it'll pay off sometime.

well, that is an utter bollocks.

I had a long chat with the cx of guinness north america about 10 years ago. He said every drop of the black stuff in the us came direct from Arthur's gate, Dublin. Which would make it about 4.5%, same as in Ireland. All guinness in continental europe is about 5.3%, not sure why. But the Grandaddy is in Nigeria, where it's almost 8%, and tastes like sour chocolate. This is how the natives like it, and also, the biggest guinness brewery in the world is actually in Nigeria. but the locals love it, and if you drank nigerian lager you'd know why. Personally, I only drink it at home. The flavour seems to vary a lot depending on how clean the pipes are, temperature, and most importantly, how it's poured. Pub,s in Ireland are made or broken on the quality of their pint. Getting thirsty writing this.......

Guys,I may be missing the point here, but a guy it seems is close to dieing, a friend to some of us. So maybe a bit of decorum might be expected, whatever your feelings on hjs opinions. This , it seems to me, is a case where some maturity might be used(a rare quality in this website!), and sleeping dogs left to lie.

Looks like, I'll make it after all as my roster has been changed. I won't know for definite which days until the 15april, and if it's not too late I'll book a dorm bed then. Also ,a neighbour of mine has said he wouldn't mind coming along, he's on a bandit so can't talk guzzi, but he is a motor electrician, so might come in handy!

Just picked up on this. Best wishes from all in this part of sunny Ireland.

St. Patrick? not exist? whaddya mean!!!! The general concensus was he was an amalgam of up to 3 people, and was more than likely welsh, but possibly from northern france. Although, as we're talking about the 4th-5th century, if he was as educated as it seems he was, he would probably have considered himself a roman. God, history really brings out the nerd in me. Anyway here's to the grand slam on saturday! Pleasepleasepleaseplease..............!

I'm amazed I'm the only Irish speaker on the website,(john o sullivan where are you?). Erin go brath, get the spelling right, means Ireland forever, or until judgement day. There's a few fadas included in that(little squigles over the e and a), but my heathen computer doesn't have them. Yes Ireland has had a big influence on the US, about 20% lineage can be traced, and I'm related to about half of them. Despite belfastguzzi's weird obsession for the obscure ulster scots(admit it Dave -you're Irish!), most of emigrants were from the million or so who left during or just after the famine 1845-49. Nasty time. A lot ended up in the army. For instance the vast majority of us soldiers killed at little big horn were Irish born. go figure. We"ve always been very good at dieing for other countries though. A third of the soldiers under wellington in the peninsular war were Irish. There has always been a large contingent of Irish in the French foreign legion. There's still a well respected Irish regiment in the uk forces call the royal Irish Regiment, and It's made up of people from north and south of the border, regardless of religion or political background. Several people I served with when I wore an Irish uniform went on to these units, most feeling there wasn't enough chance of real action serving in a small neutral country's army. Nearly everyone in the republic, about 4 fifths of the island, learn Irish(gaelic) as their first language in school, and most like me forget most of it when they leave due to lack of practice. The only use I've found for it is discussing women's breasts when abroad without being caught. I still do it to my canadian wife. So to speak, ahem. The only Irish word I can think of that has crossed in to english is smithereen. But I have a pet theory that the american expression "so Long", when saying goodbye, is derived from the Irish "slan" pronounced slawn, meaning the same. I mean, "so long" doesn't really mean anything, does it? Lastly, if you're downing a few tomorrow, why not use a proper Irish way to say cheers. ie "Slainte 's saol!" which is pronounced Slawncha iss sale. Literally "health and good life!". There are ruder versions, but I won't bore you. Too late, I hear you say. Oh well. And St. patricks day is "La feile padraig", pronounced "Law fayla podrig". Now go off and amaze your friends. Time for this leprechaun to go to bed. Slan abhaoile!

I'm not a definite, I'm afraid. I'm on call for all of May, just like last year for some f*cking reason, so It's in the lap of the Gods, and I won't know until about a week beforehand. I've no problem with a dorm(nobody snores,do they?), but would have even brought a tent, but I gather that's not an option. IF I can go ,I'll be all weekend.

8000 miles in 4 weeks, Ireland to croatia and back,when the bike was new. Guzzi were quite interested in the trip to see how I did! The shift spring broke in slovenia, and by a miracle I found someone to replace and fix it. For some reason the engine would lose revs once in a while, but it never got worse, and went away after a decent service in the uk. No one ever figured out for sure what it was. all good other then that.

Sorry, as a career pilot, I'd take the eurofighter. And the db5 is ugly. and drives like a pig. and I can't afford one. and if the v12 db7 just drops alittle more in price, I'll tell you first hand why it's a better car! Anyway, the 82 v8 vantage is the one to have. Unless you're Nick Mason.

I think we all know there are political conversations we could really get our teeth into here, and God knows, over a beer there's nothing I'd enjoy more, but as has been pointed out before, the majority of this particular website would like to keep it relatively politically neutral, so fair enough. I actually agree with that, because I can't figure point, or shout loud enough, on a keyboard and it leaves me feeling a bit impotent. And not in a good way. But you know, it's funny. I've been passing through US airport customs about twice a month for about 15 years now. And there is always, somewhere, a photo of the old commander and chief smiling down at me. And for the first time, I think I'm going to have a slightly less cynical impression, when I see it next. The only positive thing to come out of pandora's box was hope. And I think that's what the new man represents to me. He's not God, or a magician, but he is (in my eyes) an improvement on anyone in my living memory.(I'm 38). It's a cliche, but the truth nonetheless, that no 60's to 70's house in Ireland was complete without 2 pictures on the wall. One was of the pope. The other was JFK. I think it's generally acknowledged that he represented a lot more then he actually accomplished. But I still think the world would have been a better place had he served 8 years. I feel the same about this guy.

What, a point, a real point, for meeee???? And some ***** is saying I don't deserve one? I can be as silly as anyone. And I want it. I worked for it. I deserve it. I'm a bit pathetic too.... Depressed in Dubai. Muslim new year. No beer.

Awww... he's not a small minded prat, he's just a bit misunderstood. Bit like my Dad. Anyway, he's involved in about the most entertaining thing on tely at the mo., so I cut him a lot of slack. I'd say he's a great man to on the piss with. As regards the show being misleading, yeah some of it was,, but the basic point was well made. 3 days to get to Scotland and back, from London. The technology just isn't there yet. Baby steps, maybe, but i'm not about to fork out 100K for one of them.

For some God awful reason I'm on call for all of this May as well. so I won't know for sure until about a week before. But I'll do everything humanly possible....

Yeah, that didn't work too well either!

Ummm, I don't entirely agree with that. He liked the car but it did run out of oomph during the road test. Then they brought out the spare ,and it died too. I think the general concensus was that while it's a worthwhile attempt, They wouldn't spend 3 times more for it then the lotus ,which is basically identical, even if it is more eco friendly(something I'm not convinced about either, as the power to recharge the batteries has to come from somewhere, and certainly where I come from it's not that clean. or cheap). Which I thought of as fair. Did you see the rest of the show? They reviewed the new honda which is powered by hydrogen and only at the moment available in California. But it's a real car, can be refueled easily, produces no bad emissions and has 140 hp. I'm sure it has it's faults too, but they, and I think I agree, seemed to think this was a huge step forward. I mean the prius has it's obvious faults too, but at least it's a step in the right direction. Baby steps, I suppose.

Soooo..way back in june we had the uk get together in scotland so off I went. I knew I had only one night, as I had to be in london for saturday afternoon,so up at sparrows fart in friday morning,I strapped on the bike and left southwest Ireland, hitting the meet about 4pm, plenty of time for a few spins, followed by much mirth and frivolity in the bar. This part involved many of the motley crew who contribute here( people from belfast, spies from denmark, artist from wales, madmen from the orkneys, weird dutch guys claiming it was their birthday-you know, the usual) and didn't we have a laugh, and even some haggis. yum. Only I was up early the next day, so up at dawn on the bike and off to glasgow airport, leave the bike, and catch a flight to heathrow. I fly for a living, so off to new york, quick turnaround, few beers, decent sleep, back to london, catch a flight up to Glasgow, and I'm leaving the airport Monday afternoon intending to spend another night in the tent where we had stayed for the meet, and then catch the ferry for ireland on tuesday morning, next day. As luck would have it, The weather in gorgeous, and I'm not feeling too wrecked at this stage, so I head for the hills to find some great scottish roads, except all the roads seem to be great and a fabulous day is had. I even went to the highest village in Scotland. Come around 7pm and I'm nearly back at the campsite and it's time to refuel, so I fill up at the local station, feeling flushed and looking forward to another haggis,yum, and a few soapy scottish ales. Only the bike doesn't start first time, then coughs, then splutters, then starts after a backfire. I manage to roll out of the station, and get off the bike to have a look. It's idling fine, but if I rev above 4000rpm, it coughs.hmmmm. was that petrol or diesel? The thing is, I distinctly remember grabbing the green pump, which should have been unleaded(I own a diesel truck as well as a couple of petrol cars so I'm always checking). dirty petrol? maybe it'll sort it self out. So I remount and head back to the campsite, about a 10 mile ride, And the bike is fine, unless I hit 4-5000rpm, and then hic-cups. Back at the campsite I set up the tent and think, maybe it'll be better in the morning. Who hasn't thought that? Next morning I try to start the bike quietly(?), so as not to wake the other campers, I think if I can make the ferry ,someone had mention a guzzi dealer somewhere near belfast.....If I can get there....but no. The bastard won't even start now. At this stage I've woken everyone within a 5 mile radius. Time to call the AA. What I couldn't figure was there seemed to be a heathyy oil leak too. The AA man comes, and can't figure it either. Someone at the meet also mentioned a good guzzi dealership in Scotland called moto ecosse, so I figure what the hell, I give them a shout. thank god for mobile phones. They couldn't be nicer.. The guy on the phone says definitely dirty fuel, but the oil leak makes no sense, am I sure it's oil? It's dripping on tarmac, so it looks black,but.... the AA man has a goooood look and now reckons it's fuel. mot ecosse guy says now it must be diesel, something about the fuel injectors not accepting it and pissing it out. So, off to a local greasy garage, drain the tank(suprisingly easy), and vrooom! up she starts, not a problem. I made it home at midnght, tired but happy to have made it. In Ireland the diesel pump is always black, unleaded green, but it seem in britain(or dumfries at least) there's a type of diesel SHELL sell called optima, WITH A GREEN PUMP. To be fair Iwas jetlagged and running on adrenaline at that stage, still, I should have known better. I'm amazed the bike ran at all, but I love the fact that the bike didn't let me down, just my foolishness. Hooray for guzzis!

So, I'm visiting the in-laws on vancouver island,Only there's 4 feet of snow outside, and suddenly the thought of my first ever white Christmas doesn't seem so romantic after all, I mean I can't even get to th pub, because of the flippin'stuff, and if I drink any more eggnog I'm gonna vomit, and I just spent an hour in a cold garage sitting in my corvair which can't come out to play anyway because of the salt, nevermind the fact that apparrently duncan BC is now in the arctic, I'm suppose to be flying home after the big day but judging by the news from the airport I'll be lucky to see home at all in 2009, and.... THE BEER IS RUNNING OUT!!!!! ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY all work and no play makes jack a dull bo all work and no play makes jack a dull b all work and no play makes jack a dull All work and no play makes jack a dul...you get the picture.

I'm happy with a shared dorm, for fri and sat. night. Looks like I'll be solo on this trip too, Mrs. busy. As I'm up that way, I'd love a spin over to ballymoney, for a pint in joey Dunlop's pub. Don't know if that would be an enjoyable trek or not.... I was suppose to have gone on the way home from the scottish trip, but for reasons that I haven't had the energy to explain,...yet....I didn't make it. It involved diesel...

Hmmm.... I have no idea what you people are talking about....