It’s Sunday when I am writing this. I woke up earlier than expected and said, “screw it, I may as well write something”. So, here we are. I watched The Tommy Tiernan Show last night. Arthur Gourounlian was a guest. He’s the guy from the Irish version of Dancing With The Stars. He’s married to celebrity Brian Dowling. I was kind of sick of seeing their faces on the cover of every celebrity gossip magazine. But it turns out he has an incredible story and I urge you to go out of your way to watch the interview. He’s a very interesting guy. “So, what else did you do on Saturday, Fin?” I hear you ask. I am about to tell you now. Welcome to Monday.

The title of this blog, as usual, would be a good clue as to what I have been up to. Billie was kind enough to invite me up to Dublin. He had recently moved and so it was an opportunity to see his new digs. I am not drinking this month so I thought I would spare the stress (and money) of using public transport and instead opt to choose the stress (and money) of driving to a place I hadn’t been to before.

Billie lives near our alma mater, DCU. Luckily for me, I had already driven to DCU before, so I at least knew the general area I was going to. One of the most remarkable things about my travels to Dublin that I can never get used to is how driving on the motorway is fine and straightforward but as soon as it is time to find where you’re going, it feels like the whole of Dublin is out to get you and everyone has somewhere else to be besides driving near you. People have no patience these days. I’m not upset about it, I’m just disappointed.

When I arrived unscathed, we hung out in Billie’s humble abode for a while. The one thing I never have to worry about with Billie is a plan of action. He had the whole day mapped out and I always appreciate it. Eventually, it was time to see a part of north Dublin I had never seen before. DCU being in Glasnevin, you would think at some point during my college days that I would have ventured over to one of the most famous places of interest in Ireland, let alone Dublin. I had never been to Glasnevin cemetery before. I had never been to the botanic garden either. These are two things I can now tick off the bucket list. I would love to do an official tour of the place. Billie did a great job being my own personal tour guide to be fair. He’s a passionate guy when it comes to local history. It’s one of the many things I love about him.

After a long walk around the cemetery and the botanic gardens, I thought it was a good time to eat something. I hadn’t eaten anything yet that day. I do intermittent fasting. Say what you want about it. I think it’s a good idea. Seeing as I was driving when I was supposed to break my fast and I didn’t want to say “Gimme something to eat!” as soon as I arrived at Billie’s apartment, I fasted for nearly 19 hours. I am not suggesting anyone else do this. Do your research. Anyway, I eventually ate something. So, after that, we went for lunch/dinner anyway. It was in a pub that had two distinct areas, but it was all serviced by the same staff. This led to Billie having to tell the staff three times that we wanted to order. I would have gone up and said something as well, but I didn’t want the staff to be even more confused than they already were. I had a crappy pre-made pizza and Billie had mediocre fish and chips. The food wasn’t the most important thing. It was spending time with my good friend Billie. After dinner, we hung out a bit more and given the time of year, I didn’t want to leave too late in the dark. It was time to go home.

Having used my phone’s navigation on the way up, Billie was surprised to learn the way I came. Before I left, he told me another way to get home. It turned out his way was overwhelmingly simpler than whatever way my phone directed me. See? Technology doesn’t know everything, kids.

Hang out with your friends when you can. That would be my advice to you on this lovely Monday evening. Thank you for reading. Thank you, Billie, for being my friend. Thank you for your time.