We had to leave Bundoran before midday and arrive in Inishcrone after 4pm. Since they are only about thirty miles apart, we had time to kill. So we murdered eight random people, as well as journeying to Sligo Town where we watched a woman stealing a bag of potatoes from a stand outside a shop (well, that's what it looked like) and found another book shop. (Actually, we're going to more book shops than graveyards, to Noj's chagrin.) Then we went for a drive on more silly little roads and went for a walk in the woods and remet the suicidal teabag-eating dog. Finally we drove to Inishcrone. After the customary getting lost bit, we found the house where we're to stay for the next week.

When choosing a house in Sligo, we had three choices. They all sounded pretty much the same to me, except price, but Dad said, "Let's go for the most expensive one" which was four star accomodation.

If this is four star accomodation, what's five? A swimming pool in every room?

Ok, so there isn't a swimming pool here at all. But there's just about everything else. While the Bundoran apartment was the definition of the word "poky", this place is heauge! There's a massive sitting room cum dining room, a massive kitchen, a massive bathroom, two massive bedrooms with twin beds, and a massive bedroom with a double bed and an ensuite bathroom! Outside there's a massive garden and a massive driveway, perfect for rollerblading on.

And it's all new. Polished wooden floors, the works. Well, actually, there aren't any works, but I don't mind too much. What would I want with equipment for injecting heroin? w00t!

Monday 3 August 1998

Yesterday we hung the house around all morning and went for a drive in the afternoon. We went to Ballena, another uninspiring little town, then along a stupid road to a ruined church, complete with graveyard!

Tuesday 4 August 1998

Yesterday, we went on what Dad called "a short journey". Ha! We drove all the way to the west coast of County Mayo. We stopped at a beach and a stone circle, briefly, then drove all the way back. The road was terrible, despite the fact that it was a main road. We set off at two o'clock, got back at 7.30. And Dad said, "But it was only 40 miles."

Thursday 6 August 1998

Galway was PANTS! Ok, it was all right, but nothing special. We went to the cathedral (eek!) and it was ultra modern and groll and oppressive. We went to the church which was ok, but you had to pay to get in so we didn't. We went to the shops and found a book shop. "Heech!" said Noj.

The most interesting things about the place were the watches and the silly people on the streets. There was a display in a shop window of watches, whose prices ranged from £1000 to £23000! You could get a decent car or a really dodgy house for that much! As for the people, there was a weird robotics type man with a white face and a man playing a splurdy gurdy (annoying repetitive tune) on a hurdy gurdy! And there were two people balanced on top of posts, standing still and wearing heauge clothes making them look ten feet tall. But over all, it wasn't really worth the long journey on annoying little roads (which are the best ones in Ireland). We also went to the harbour there. Woo!

Saturday 8 August 1998

Yesterday, we went to Killala. It was totally pants so I didn't get out while the parents looked for a tourist information place to get a map. They failed in their mission, and we drove on to a weird place. There were several blow holes in the ground and cliffs. One cliff had split, leaving a small part of it an island in the sea. Then we went to a pyramid-shaped museum about the area. We went for a guided tour outside and froze to death, then watched a long video saying much the same thing.

Today we set off home at 11.30. We're going to Sligo, then onto Castle Coole and the heaugest lake in Ireland.

[Note from the future: I really did like Ireland and would love to return there. Alas for having to experience it as a geenic teenager, made more geenic by my annoying and generally negative family!]

Sunday 16 August 1998

I turned seventeen on 11 August and am consequently allowed to drive on roads, providing an experienced driver is in the passenger seat. Beware!

Today, Dad took me out on the road for the first time. He found me a long, straight, quiet road a few miles away. What Dad neglected to mention was that there was a hill every ten metres (I'd never encountered hills before) and it wasn't wide enough to have white lines down the middle. But I was stuck with it.

As I slowly released my foot from the clutch, I said, "I'm going to kangaroo, I'm going to kangaroo" as is usual. Dad said, "You are NOT going to kangaroo." And I thought, "He's right, I'm not. I can do this."

And what happened? Yup, I kangaroo-ed.

I've only ever been in first and second gear before, and Dad wanted me to go into fourth. We compromised with third. Now you would have thought when the car is perfectly straight on a perfectly straight road, you could momentarily forget about steering while you changed into a new gear.

Not so by no way. I got into third gear, but drove into a ditch, where I lost one of the wheel trims.

Other than that, it wasn't too disastrous. I met two cars coming the other way, and three overtook me, but I lived to tell the tale.

Thursday 20 August 1998

Today was A Level results day! Ack! But - find the sick bucket - I got 'A's for both Maths and Psychics. w00t!

Wednesday 26 August 1998

Today, at 11.38am, I finished my novel "Tailgating" while listening to "Alice In Vain" by Sleeper (as I have done 234234234 times in the last few days). The finished product is twenty two chapters, or 49124 words long.

Not bad, eh? 49124 words in just over two weeks. And about 20000 of them were written within forty eight hours!