Ireland day 0833. Tuesday 09 January 2024- Workshop *

Ireland day 0833. Tuesday 09 January 2024- Workshop

Today’s summary	Spent the whole day in the office and ran a 3 hour workshop. Very hard work and I was glad when it was done. Went on a short walk round Árd na Mara in the evening and watched some TV. Val still in London
Today’s weather	Cold and blowy with some sun. Mostly dry but feeling raw. Moderate to strong easterly wind. Appx 5c

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The orange line shows where I walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Ard na Mara

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

I have to be honest – I’m pretty glad today is finished. I don’t often say that as I usually enjoy almost every day almost all of the time (I except when I’m dealing with tax). So to find out what was so different about today, read on!

As a part of the work I’m currently doing, I proposed that I should run a workshop to test my ideas with a group of senior leaders in the company. It seemed like a good idea when I suggested it several weeks ago but considerably less so this morning when I actually had to do it.

Matters were complicated further when Met Éireann issued an amber weather warning last night (for frost and ice) which deterred quite a few of the critical attendees based in Cork, from coming up to the meeting. So an early start was needed and with some technical wizardry and a spare webcam that we found lying around, we were able to set up a Teams link at the last minute so the absentees could dial in.

Although the workshop only lasted three hours, it felt like a lifetime to me, as I had to manage with whole thing and do a lot of the talking. In the end, though, we covered everything I’d hoped to do, and I got some useful feedback. People seemed to think it was a success – though it’s hard to tell, really – but I definitely won’t be rushing to organise more in the immediate future. Still, I was glad to discover that I could still do it and that my brain hadn’t turned to mush in the years since I last did anything like this.

Anyway by 5pm I’d definitely had enough and felt like I needed a break. So I absented myself from the office, jumped in the Trusty Yaris, and pottered back to Malahide.

I’ve had an altogether relaxing evening so far, cooking the rest of the stir fry from yesterday, then going out for a short walk. I continued my exploration of the western hinterlands of Malahide, tonight taking in the Árd na Mara estate. It means “high above the sea” which is curious as it is neither high nor particularly close to the sea. It’s also unusual in that it appears to be composed entirely of bungalows. Anyway it was an interesting destination and I finished in time to drop into Tesco where I came across – joy of joys – a can of half price beer which I’m just about to sit down and enjoy. It feels well deserved.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


This way, please!	Another new park that I have recently “discovered” in the middle of the estate

B’s affection for M immortalised in concrete. I wonder what happened to them?	Shadowy figure lurking in the back-streets

Some of the bungalows for which Árd na Mara is rightly famed	Tesco – another reliable late night haunt

Half price beer. What more could you want! (And it’s a headache-inducing 7.1% too)