A Long Day and Night in Dublin

I really like Ireland. From my tour around to the people I spent time with in various shops, they are very friendly. It’s a level above what I experience in England, and I need to make it back sooner than the 28 years it’s been since I was last there.

All day I taught our first workshop on CI, and it went well, but we certainly have things to work out. My voice was tired, so wen we finished, I ordered room service and tried to relax for an hour.

I pulled myself up and headed downstairs to the Dublin User Group meeting, where I had a talk scheduled. More casual than US groups, and really based around just the talk, I gave my testing spiel.

With no time limits, I relaxed, moved slow, and enjoyed the interaction with people. About 25 or so people had some out to see me and afterwards, quite a few of them stuck around and bought me a few pints of Guinness.

They convinced me to walk down the block to another pub where I had some fun chats with a couple Italians, an Englishman, and an Australian that were at the presentation. Only one Irishman around, which was strange, but Ireland has spent a lot of effort to woo technology companies and lots of Europeans have emigrated to work there.

I managed to get to sleep by 11:30, with a 5:30 wakeup to start my journey. A cab to the airport and another great conversation with an interesting Irishman. Then an easy flight to London, a plane change and I’m across the Atlantic.