I am trying to be upbeat but I aint doing that well!

Well after plenty of investigations, phonecalls, meetings, web surfing and whatever else you can think of, it has been confirmed that we cannot extend Nangs visa more than 90 days. That means that she will have to return to Thailand on 2nd February.

It’s a real pain in the ass and Nang was really settling in well in Ireland. I think she will be very disappointed to head home. So now we have to work on how to get her back here (or work on how I get back there!?!?).

The best option is for her to get a job offer from a company in Ireland. Once she has this then she can apply for a work permit and then eventually apply for the visa. It looks like her best chance is to get a job in a crèche and I am working on this now. The alternative is another tourist visa but again the max is 3 months.

My own situation is a bit up in the air too. I wont go into too much details online but expect a few changes in the near future.

Its all doom and gloom in Ireland. The weather doesn’t help either but it seems like every day there is another bad news story. The credit crunch, sub-prime mortgages, stock market dowturns and property deadlock are all adding to the pessimism around Ireland.

Unemployment is higher, inflation is running out of control and even the justice system is being queried on a regular basis.

Amongst all this turmoil, Bertie is still trying to convince everyone that his “stories” to the tribunal are all above board and that he is as clean as a whistle!

Everytime I hear or see Bertie I get angry. He is an embarrassment to the country and his dodgy dealings are, at last, catching up on him.

Munster have a big game at the weekend and I thnk they will win at home. THey have only lost at home once before so the odds are in their favour.

United should beat Reading and with Keegan back at Newcaslte anything could happen.

Keegan has gone back to Newcastle – and I will LOVE IT when we beat them, just LOVE IT!

Still all sorts of rumours about the Irish Managers job and its getting a little long in the tooth now. I wish they would just move on and pick someone and that we would get away from all the speculation.

Nada to report this week

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Dave will be visiting me from Manchester this weekend. He has his eyes on a few of my elephant statues and is coming all the way over here to collect them! As this is his first trip to Ireland then I reckon we will be doing the “tourist thing” at the weekend. This will probably involve an open top bus tour, Guinness brewery tour and a few pints in Temple Bar.

During the week Nang and Natalie put together a Thai dinner and there was a gang around to enjoy it. Ended up playing Buzz on the PS2 – it’s a bit of crack!

Definitely different being back in IReland. I dont have the same drive to go out and about. I am not sure if its the weather or if its just cause I am “home” but I am pretty boring in Ireland. I dont think you can just blame Ireland either – i think something in me changes when I am home. Weird but true. It could also have something to do with “greener grass” but I doubt it. Money has a lot to do with it too.

Things are much more expensive here and I am much more aware of what I am spending. I always seem to be worried about over spending in Ireland whereas in Thailand that was never an issue!

Wow – probably best that i dont elaborate any further on my thoughts this week as its all pretty negative.