Prototype of a Person

Age Discrimination?

Recently I noticed that a number of Spar newsagents in Dublin City Centre have introduced a policy of only selling alcohol to persons over the age of 21. Despite the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003 stating that the legal age for the purchase of alcohol is 18.

The argument here is always: management of licensed premises have the right to refuse admission to a person under the age of 21 (or in some places 23). However, the law is different with regards to the actual sale of alcohol in off licences; the law clearly states that 18 is the legal age for the purchase of alcohol.

In my opinion their “store policy” is similar to some retail stores that state that their refund policy covers only 14 days or that they only issue credit notes (or vouchers) as refunds - in other words, their “store policy” is completely invalidated by the law.

This reminds me of the policy that Tesco supermarkets have; to only accept an Age Card as a valid form of photo ID. Despite the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003, SECTION 15 clearly stating that an “age document” (a document containing a photograph of the person and information that enables the age of the person to be determined) can be any of the following: an age card (aka Garda ID), a passport, an identity card issued by a member state of the European Communities or a driver licence.

The question is, by not selling alcohol to a person that is over the age of 18 and has a legal document to prove so, are they breaking the law?

Personally Spar isn’t a problem for me, as I am over the age of 21. However, with regards to Tesco no longer accepting my Passport… I had a nasty incident in a Tesco supermarket locally, where I argued with the staff that their notices read “If you are under 21 you must show a valid Garda age Card” and being as I am over 21 I did not have to produce a Garda Age Card - and yet they still refused to accept my Passport as proof that I was over 21. Very annoying. I’ll be bringing my business elsewhere from now on.

There is an article on Checkout.ie if you want more information.

Ireland: according to the CIA

I was fortunate enough to get Sufjan Stevens tickets this week, right before it sold out (he’s playing in the Olympia in November). I’m lucky I remembered that the tickets were going on sale, as the heat this week has really melted my brain.

Thankfully though the “heat wave” has finally begun to subside. Waking up on Tuesday at 8am to find it’s already 22′c is not pleasant, apparently it was the hottest day of the century (so far), with temperatures reaching 30′c here in Dublin. The horror. This kind of freakish weather always make me ponder global warming, I was so worried in fact that I actually rejoiced when it started to rain yesterday.

Since I’m having a rant about Ireland I might as well mention the CIA World Factbook. Which contains various facts about every country in the world, the most interesting fact on Ireland that I found was: as of 2003 the annual electricity generated in Ireland was 23.41 billion kWh. That figure is the lowest when compared to other European countries.

It’s no wonder that we import so much gas, and why the state agency Forfas is promoting Nuclear Power - which is actually insane considering how radioactive the Irish Sea already is because of 1 Nuclear Power plant, that isn’t even IN Ireland.

Nuclear Power is like a “get rich quick scheme”, it seems like an obvious and easy solution to a country’s energy crisis, but all get rich quick schemes involve some kind of illicit activities. If only someone could wake up and realise that we are sitting on a gold mine of electrical power, and it comes from the 4 elements that nature provides for us: wind, water, earth and sun. We’ve plenty of those, so why not use them? Yes, the initial setup costs would be expensive, but the after-care costs of Nuclear Power are far greater.

Another interesting fact that I read in the CIA World Factbook: the ethic groups residing in Ireland are; Celtic and English. I think this needs a dramatic overhaul, from personal experience working in Dublin, almost 80% of my customers are neither Celtic OR English.

The “fun” of camping in Ireland.

Oxegen was good fun. It rained from the moment we got there until late Sunday afternoon, but it didn’t stop us enjoying ourselves. I spent a considerable amount of time inside my tent on Saturday because of the rain, but as usual, Jen kept my spirits high. I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather be stuck in a tent with. We caught the Strokes (who I think were better the first time I saw them play) and the Who (I was surprised by how many of their songs I actually know) on Saturday, and a few bands on Sunday - the highlight being Placebo and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

I didn’t enjoy camping this year, because of the rain and high winds. Next year I’m just going to get a taxi home, seeing as my house is only 20 minutes away. Camping is definitely going on my hate list. Camping in Ireland is just too unpredictable. On Sunday morning I was horrifed to find many tents (and rain covers) had blown away in the wind, I was just thankful that I was paranoid enough to really pin ours down. Most of the pegs broke and the tent was (sadly) unsalvagable, and I left it there. It’s probably a pile of ash somewhere in Punchestown.

So… I learnt something at the weekend - I’m getting old.

I really missed my home comforts - like dry clothes! We bought new jumpers there, surprisingly cheap too. Another thing that made me realise I’m getting old - an argument I had with some “men” selling Meteor Ponchos - which are actually given out free at the beginning of the festival, they were selling them for €5. I pointed it out to one of these “men” and got verbally abused, by a grown “man”. Now that I think of it, I also had a gripe with a stall there that sold me a pint of milk for €4. I always had the understanding that selling milk at a premium is actually illegal.

GOD! I really am getting old.

Story of a pizza man

I ordered a gigantic 20inch pizza last night, as my house was full of drunken people that were in need of nourishment. It was supposed to be delivered in 30 minutes, after 40 minutes the delivery man rang me for directions to my house, he sounded like he was close, so I went outside to have a look out for him.

While outside I noticed this rather expensive looking car, driving backwards around the corner, driving backwards towards me, driving… BANG! right into my neighbour’s car. It was only when the guy driving the car jumped out and said “Pizza! I’ve got your pizza!” that I realised it was the pizza delivery man. He said he would “Leave a note” and I gave him far too much money and just ran away, into my house.

Last night was… well… interesting.

This morning I took a look at the car, not much damage was done, and the guy was true to his word, he left his name and number. But I’m still annoyed at myself for accidentally giving him a HUGE tip… he didn’t just crash his car into my neighbour’s car… the pizza was late!

I am an old woman.

Some friends came over last night for a few drinks, I’ve not had any extra hours in work lately (damm over-staffing!) so we stayed up till 4am. Kudos to me! So yes, that seems like proper healthy behavior for a young woman with some free time on her hands… until I realised today how many times my buddies asked me to take my laptop out last night (for music and internet), and I didn’t. And the excuse I used…

“You don’t drink and drive, and I don’t drink and surf.”

< cringe > Me < / cringe>

I am an embarrassment to myself. I just can’t help it though, ever since I dropped my Zen and it… oh the horror… it stopped working (waiting 2 weeks for it to come back from repair)… so anyway, ever since I dropped my Zen I have been paranoid about my laptop breaking too - I’d be so lost without it, I do have the family PC as a backup, but my laptop is where ALL my personal space is. It’s my little world that’s password protected and all mine. I’m too over-protective of people using it, I hover around them waiting for them to finish whatever inane task someone (without their own computer) could possibly have.

Sad, aren’t I? Or perhaps just a nerd-to-the-max-o.

In other boring news, I had my job interview with O2 Retail on the 19th of June, they’ve called me asking for my references, but so far they’ve yet to get back to me about the position. How very… annoying.

World Cup “Widows”

This term “World Cup Widows” really annoys me. It’s being used as a marketing ploy to advertise an arangment of alternatives to watching football, and is obviously directed towards hetrosexual women who have partners that will be enjoying the World Cup. It reinforces the male-female stereotypes with regards to sports, and encourages partners to spend time apart, rather than attempt to share in eachothers past-times.
How depressing.

My Kettle Idea, stolen?

So the makers of PG Tips and Orange in the UK have JUST come up with a KETTLE that can be turned on if you send it a text message.

See the story here: PUT KTTLE ON, MUVR - www.mirror.co.uk

I’m trying to tell myself that it is just a weird coincidence. (if you have NO idea what the hell I’m talking about, read this post dated Wednesday, September 28, 2005.