Romantic notions? Me? Har har har.
No, you see, I was in Casualty on Saturday night at 2am when the pubs closed. I had notions, but they weren’t romantic.
The thing about the rain is, it’s often not strong enough to require an umbrella (misty) but it’s wet enough to ruin hair, clothing and make the whole place muddy and wet.
Still, though, you can’t beat sheep and cow crossings just a few miles away in Connemara.
Ahhh Galway’s misty rain. How I hated that the last time I was down there. Great part of the world though.
Any plans on coming up the big smoke any time soon?
Actually more to the point
I hope it wasn’t too serious whatever brought you there and that you weren’t there for a horrible amount of time.
Oh Lord - hope you’re OK.
I’m pitching this to Sky Sports next week.
(hijack—apologies)
Actually, here’s a funny story for you. John and I had just watched a chick flick (for his own safety and reputation, I won’t tell you which one) video and he’d gone up to bed (one presumes to get in touch with his inner child or have a pee). He’d turned out the light on the landing as I was on my way up the stairs. I was on the third step when he realized he’d forgotten something downstairs (possibly his copy of the latest romance novel?) and called to me to turn on the landing light. He’s absolutely blind in the dark and couldn’t find the landing light on the second floor (first if you live in Ireland).
Anyway, I turned around, and must’ve thought I had longer arms than I do, leaned forward to switch on the light and went tumbling down the stairs and my ankle twisted in front of me. I (in hindsight, stupid move) yanked myself backwards from the fall and bonked my head on the banister. He rushed downstairs. I went into shock (as I often do in these situations) from the pain and had him in a tizzy.
After some stressful moments, we located a doc that could come to our house (we do not have a car yet). Doc turns up and says it’s almost definately badly broken and we should go into Casualty. So, doc rings ahead to tell them I’m coming, hub calls a cab and off I go, alone, on a Saturday night.
We decided to leaving sleeping toddlers lie, because at this point, it was about 12:30 or 1:00 and waking her just to take her to Casualty was not an option.
Anyway, I arrived, along with all the lightweights who’d fallen, gotten punched, whatever. I didn’t wait long, saw a male nurse and the lady doctor (yay!). I waited for 2 hours for an xray and then found it wasn’t broken after all, just very badly twisted. I got a soft bandage and it’s still various shades of indigo and violet.
Here are some of the cool things I saw:
A youngish guy (15 or so) got into a motorbike accident without a helmet. Now, I know you’re probably thinking, “Gawd, what a mean bitch she is. The poor kid gets hurt and she describes it as a ‘cool thing?’” But really, it was one of those things where you just know this will teach him a lesson. His face was very badly scratched, his nose needed some reconstructive surgery, and his face was really mangled. Nothing that a few days in hospital didn’t fix. Oh, and did I mention, he’d run away from home, was drunk, and stole the motorbike? Well, I did feel sorry for him, for about 2 seconds.
There was an actual brawl in the Casualty (that’s why the security guards are there, not just to give directions). Apparently, it was carried over from a pub just nearby. Funny thing, that, though, the brawl in the waiting room was between the girls not the boys. The boys were all being stitched up in the back while the girls were pocketbooks at 50 paces.
Very interesting.
For those Americans out there:
The whole ordeal (minus the cab, which was 14 r/t) cost us 60Euros (about 57). That includes the doc coming to the house, the xrays and all the entertainment someone could ask for! Wee!
Oh, and I’ll be in Dublin one of these days. I have to go and try to sort out getting citizenship which should prove to be interesting. Anyone know a good immigration lawyer?
Just a point about doctors in Ireland - in my experience, they rarely fix anything. Too scared of litigation or something. Instead they charge a large amount of money (€40 last time) to refer you to a hospital. In a casualty situation, I would save the money and go straight to the ER.
ruadh might.
Glad to hear the leg is only twisted and that you enjoyed the Irish ER experience. The girls having a scrap after the boys have boxed themselves out is par for the course. Hey, who doesn’t enjoy a good catfight 
twisty and myself will be sure to keep out hears open for any work trips down to Galway. I was down there about 5 times last year for a couple of days each time so ya never know.
Bolding that to emphasise that in Dublin especially this is important. The ER’s are packed to the rafters at present. There was a case last week of a old woman having to be treated in an ambulance in the car-park as there was no room in the ER. This is a country that for the last 10 years had one of the fastest growing economies in the world :mad:
Yeah, the thing is, 60Euros isn’t a lot to me. Remember that a 10 minute procedure cost me $6500 in the US. Including $421/half hour for the recovery room. A yeah. That’s two zeros at the end there.
Please do come to Galway. I promise you can stay here (we have a guest room) as long as you don’t mind toddlers who are learning to wee in the little green potty. (Thank god for hardwood floors)!
Until we find a babysitter, John and I can only go out separately, so I’d love to have a weekend visitor (or two). We have space for four. Get Twisty to organize a weekend trip one of these weekends. Oh, forgot to mention two of the sleeping spots are in the same bed. 
HOLY SHIT.
Oh BTW Anahita you weren’t in Ardee getting a bus back to Dublin around the xmas were you?
No, but my MIL is from Ardee. I’d guess, speaking for her, she found it quite boring.
So, when are you arriving? (claps excitedly)
Sorry to hear about the accident Ana. Glad it wasn’t too serious. Congratulations on surviving Saturday night at the Regional.