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Fairview Story II, UK Shopping after Brexit, Vaccines and LOTS and LOTS of free events. WOW!

Taking another break from Covid-related intros to the weekly “Dublin Event Guide (for Free Events)”, I will tell you part two of my Fairview story this week. (But because we can’t put our head in the sand either, I have some Covid- and even Brexit-related updates at the bottom of this newsletter.)I told you that last week my car broke down in Fairview and I had to wait for more than 2 hours for the AA to come. It wasn’t their fault alone, by the way! Traffic was mental and they decided to send someone to me who was 40 minutes away, but it also seems that it took them quite some time before they actually notified the AA helper.

During my long waiting time I had the opportunity to watch and observe a lot that was happening around me and at some point I saw a mother with two children and a dog standing outside a Hair & Nail Salon. The dog wasn’t overly happy. He wanted to do his business away from the salon window but the son kind of dragged him along the width of the footpath to go to the window. Along the way, the dog distributed his “business” on the footpath. I didn’t see the distribution, but it must have been very obvious to the family. They looked friendly and nice and laughed when they walked on. And while they were not in any way dressed out of the ordinary, they were well dressed. Good middle-class, if that makes sense. But the key is, the DID walk on WITHOUT cleaning after the dog. :-(

But the story doesn’t end yet: Two doors down from the salon is a Spar shop and next to the bin outside the door, a beggar was sitting on the floor on a cold and wet evening. The family-dog story happened between me and the beggar and the beggar also saw what happened. And when the family had walked on, guess what, the beggar gets up, goes to the bin to fish some paper or wrapping out of the bin. Then he walks to the salon and picks up the three “dog deposits”. He brings them back to the Spar shop, throws them in the bin and sits down next to the bin again.

It all happened in less than a minute, but it left me speechless and with one main thought: “Wow! And we look down on beggars!?”

At the end of last week’s story I wrote “Human psychology is such a fascinating subject!!” And this story just confirms that again. The family and the beggar saw the same and thought and reacted TOTALLY different.

Let’s all be more like the beggar in situations when we need to step up! And also: Let’s appreciate the people at the lower end of the societal ladder more because as my story shows, your “rank” on the ladder doesn’t equal your value.

Last week I also asked you to help spreading the good word about the Dublin Event Guide and 69 of you clicked on L, 10 left an opinion (C) and 8 told others about the post (S). And that engagement through Ls, Cs and Ss meant that together we were able to DOUBLE (!) the reach in comparison to the week before, so every action, every click makes a difference! Thanks! And PLEASE go mad again this week with L, C and S! ;-)

And if you like reading this Dublin Event Guide week after week, please help keeping it going. This is the deal that has worked best over the last few years and I hope it will continue to work: I do the work and find lots of free events for you and you help me pay the bills through donations. As long as this works, I will continue!!

Last week was a bad week and in general December is not a good months for donations, but I hope we can still turn it around this week and next week!? Only with YOUR help! ;-)

I am not asking for a lot, but I think one or two Euro per MONTH is a very fair suggestion. So for the year, this would be 12 Euro or – for people you can afford a bit more – just 24 Euro per year! That is ONLY 23 (or 46) cent per weekly Dublin Event Guide edition! An amazingly low cost for the great value that you get every week! :-)

Please donate via www.paypal.me/DublinEventGuide
or for Revolut users among you just via 0872931571.

And if 12 Euro is too much for you, then it would be great if you bought one or two or even three virtual coffees for the Dublin Event Guide and you can do that on the “Buy Me a Coffee” page here www.buymeacoffee.com/DublinEventG

And come over to www.DublinEventGuide.com to check out some of the ads and click on the ones that you find interesting. It really helps if you do that! ;-)

Thank you!!

The EPIC Zone

“EPIC – The Irish Emigration Museum” (www.epicchq.com) are currently sponsoring the Dublin Event Guide and this section of the weekly newsletter will contain relevant information about events in general or about EPIC-related news and happenings.

 

And here are as many free events for you as I could find:

I hope everybody knows that all events in the Dublin Event Guide (for Free Events) are actually free. ;-)

 

Saturday

+ The SuperNatural Food Market 09:00-15:00 St Andrew’s Resource Centre, 114-116 Pearse St., Dublin 2
www.facebook.com/thesupernaturalfoodmarket
+ Honest2Goodness Market – Food Market – 09:30-15:00 – 136a Slaney Close, Dublin Industrial Estate, Glasnevin, Dublin 11 www.facebook.com/GlasnevinMarket/
+ The National Symphony Orchestra In Concert 10:00-11:00 Online orchestras.rte.ie/events/3415/the-national-symphony-orchestra-in-concert/
++ Christmas Farmers Market & Craft Fair at RDS (with over 60 stalls) 10:00-15:00 RDS, Anglesea Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 www.facebook.com/events/166005658560009/
+ The Dinosaur Who Pooped Christmas – Hoglets Online Class – Storytelling for children (Age: 0-7) 10:00-11:00 Online www.facebook.com/events/214371490082296/
+ Marlay Park Market 10:00-16:00 Marlay Park, Grange Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 www.dlrcoco.ie/en/markets/marlay-park-coco-market
+ Christmas ballet class for kids (Age: 3-8) 10:00-10:20 Online www.facebook.com/events/1719970721516274/
+ St Anne’s Park Market – Farmer’s Market 10:00-16:00 St. Anne’s Park, Raheny, Dublin 5 www.facebook.com/RedStablesMarket/
+ Quest for the Jingle – Interactive Christmas Show – Draiocht Blanchardstown 10:00-20:00 (Duration: 25 min) Online www.facebook.com/events/384546622990105 (Booking required)
+ The Moving Crib 10:45-17:00 St Martin Apostolate, 42 Parnell Square West, Dublin 1 www.facebook.com/events/478462113112816 (Booking required)
++ Dublin Alternative Xmas Market for ‘alternative / metal / goth / retro / esoteric / medieval’ lifestyles – Virtual Edition 11:00-20:00 Online www.facebook.com/events/2832387393641755/
+ Ukulele Licence – Play Along – Rock Jam School 11:00-11:30 Online rockjam.ie
+ Temple Bar Food Market 11:00-16:00 Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 www.templebarmarkets.com/foodmarket
+ Blackrock Market 11:00-17:30 Main Street, Blackrock, Co. Dublin www.facebook.com/BlackrockMarket/
+ PREP, COOK, RAVE, EAT, REPEAT – Cooking and Music 12:00-13:00 Online www.facebook.com/events/2779736585574359/
+ Dun Laoghaire Pop-up Vinyl Market 12:00-17:00 The Lighthouse, 88 Lower Georges Street, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin www.facebook.com/events/201851981511479/
+ Talking about Trees – Movie – Dublin Arabic Film Festival 12:00 dublinarabicfilmfestivalonline.com/programs/talking-about-trees-trailermp4-1ffbd7+ Christmas Concert: The Night Before Christmas with Royal Scottish National Orchestra 14:00-15:00 Online www.facebook.com/events/372559280738093/ (available for 30 days)
+ Christmas Cake Decorating Workshop – Boozy Bakers 14:00-17:00 Online www.facebook.com/events/187151786338666/
+ The Perfect Candidate – Movie – Dublin Arabic Film Festival 16:00 dublinarabicfilmfestivalonline.com/programs/perfect-canmp4-c43140
+ Yoga for Peace – Live Webinar with Isha Online 16:00-17:00 Online www.ishayoga.eu/index.php/live-webinars/
+ Closing The Loop in 2020 – Reflection on 2020 – WINGS Project 18:00-19:30 Online www.facebook.com/events/408355203873202 (Booking required)
+ illicit LIVE @ The Sound House – DJ Live Stream 18:00 Online www.facebook.com/events/191040262644546/
+ The ‘O’ Antiphons: Sacred music for Advent – St Mary’s Haddington Road 19:00-20:00 www.facebook.com/events/218280056422724/
+ Christmas Party Live Event – Ciao Italy Blog 19:00-21:00 Online www.facebook.com/events/829702377817455/
+ Members of Kíla – Live stream from Cyprus Avenue, Cork 20:00 Online www.facebook.com/events/1063559707390932/
+ Jack Lukeman Lockdown Special – Live Gig – Northern Lights 20:00-21:00 www.facebook.com/events/1742207165949342/
+ Dave O’Neill – Live on Irishgigs 21:00-22:00 Online www.facebook.com/events/419647545739177/

 

 

+ Quest for the Jingle – Interactive Christmas Show – Draiocht Blanchardstown 10:00-20:00 (Duration: 25 min) Online www.facebook.com/events/384546622990105 (Booking required)
+ The Moving Crib 10:45-17:00 St Martin Apostolate, 42 Parnell Square West, Dublin 1 www.facebook.com/events/478462113112816 (Booking required)
++ Dublin Alternative Xmas Market for ‘alternative / metal / goth / retro / esoteric / medieval’ lifestyles – Virtual Edition 11:00-20:00 Online www.facebook.com/events/2832387393641755/
+ Dun Laoghaire People’s Park Market 11:00-16:00 People’s Park, Park Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin www.dlrcoco.ie/en/markets/d%C3%BAn-laoghaire-coco-market
+ Marlay Park Market 11:00-16:00 Marlay Park, Grange Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 www.dlrcoco.ie/en/markets/marlay-park-coco-market
+ Herbert Park Market 11:00-16:00 Herbert Park, Dublin 4 www.facebook.com/Herbert-Park-Market-405930226496273/
+ Blackrock Market 11:00-17:30 Main Street, Blackrock, Co. Dublin www.facebook.com/BlackrockMarket/
+ The Bernard Shaw Vinyl Market 12:00-17:00 Bernard Shaw Pub (former Porterhouse North), Whitworth Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 www.facebook.com/events/1536284493239939/
+ Sundays@Noon Online: Xenia Pestova (piano) and Ed Bennett (electronics) 12:00 Online youtu.be/1AZ8ussBJhI

+ Little Cinema & Galway City of Film: 48 Hour Challenge Live Stream – Films made in just 48 hours 19:00 Online www.facebook.com/events/377952766819971/
+ Piper Sunday Seminar with Preston Howard Wilde – Southern California Uilleann Pipers Club 19:00-20:30 Online www.facebook.com/events/630197550992701/
+ Carol service “Cries in the Dark” – Adelaide Road Presbyterian Church 19:00-20:00 Online www.facebook.com/events/709836882988960/
+ Gardiner Street Gospel Choir – Online Mass 19:30-20:30 Online www.facebook.com/TheGSGC/
+ Robin James Hurt live on Irishgigs 21:00-22:00 Online www.facebook.com/events/3287195851407673/

 

I found a few more things to keep you going or that you might find interesting:

1) TOY SHOW STAR ADAM KING – MORE GOOD NEWS
The good news around six year old RTE Toy Show star and aspiring space shuttle ground control commander Adam King continue to make us smile. You might remember that Adam carried his Virtual Hug Heart with him all the time to give virtual hugs to the people he met!?
An Post has now decided to print a picture of Adams Virtual Hug Heart on all letters as a special postmark from 12 Dec. See the announcement here: twitter.com/Postvox/status/1337520045304508416

2) LIVE ANIMAL CRIB AT MANSION HOUSE
The live animal crib at Mansion House is back. Every day until 24 Dec from 11:00-17:00 (until 14:00 on 24 Dec) a donkey, a goat and 2 sheep will be in the crib. The crib is constructed a little different this year so that you don’t go inside but stay outside and look throughout the windows because of Covid, which makes sense.
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But there is also nonsense: A big aspect of this crib was always that it was used to collect money for the Lord Mayor’s Mansion House Fuel Fund, which is used to help people who can’t afford the heating cost through the winter. This year, we read on dublin.ie that “There is normally a bucket collection for the Mansion House Fuel Fund but unfortunately due to Covid, this is not possible this year.” Yes, experts think that still around 10% of Covid transmissions might be through touch (Not much more!!), but it has also been shown that the virus dies after a few days. So why could they not collect the coins and notes and just leave them untouched for 2-3 weeks in a safe place??

3) COVID VACCINATIONS – WHAT WE DON’T KNOW
We have heard that the first vaccinations have taken place in the UK and early in January the EU will most likely also approve the use of the vaccination. The government in Ireland has worked out a schedule for distributing the currently unknown number of vaccine doses that will be available in Ireland (www.newstalk.com/news/government-reveals-priority-plan-for-coronvirus-vaccine-1118806) but nobody has a clue how fast the phases in this list will be worked through.
Healthy people between 18 and 54, which will be the majority of people in Ireland will be in the second last phase and it is expected that it will take a few months until that phase is reached because high priority groups will get the vaccination first.
But there is another really important unknown: At the moment nobody has the slightest idea how long the vaccine will protect you. It will definitely not for life time, like measles vaccines and others. It will also not for many years like for tetanus (10 years), instead it might be for a max of 1 year or – more likely – maybe just 2 months. But that means that after the high-priority groups got their vaccination and before the majority of people got the first dose, the high priority groups already need the second round (each round consists of TWO injections one months apart).
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So if you are in Phase 14 and had hoped to get your vaccination in January and then be protected forever, maybe scale down your hopes a little!
Oh and let’s hope that there won’t be any surprises! Because in the end this vaccination with a much less tested substance than for normal similar processes, is a huge field trial and nobody knows yet if there could be issues. It took years until we found out in the past that other problem solvers like the ideal Insecticide DDT, the perfect insulation material Asbestos and the morning-sickness solution Thalidomide actually are seriously dangerous to human beings.

4) BUYING FROM AMAZON ETC AFTER BREXIT
On 31 December the UK will have left the EU and unless a trade agreement happens before that (and there are just 2 weeks to get something sorted that wasn’t agreed in more than 1 or even 2 years, depending how you count) then all “transition period” arrangements are finished as well. That means the UK is on the same level as China or the USA when we buy things. Some media wrote that then suddenly we will have to pay VAT on products we import from the UK. That is TOTAL nonsense (www.rte.ie/news/brexit/2020/1209/1183380-brexit-charge/). Not because it is not true, but because we ALWAYS have paid VAT on products we buy from another EU country. But what will change is the location where the VAT will be charged and there will be additional charges.
Currently if you buy something from China for up to 22 Euro, you don’t pay VAT and you don’t pay Import Tax. That is a great thing as you can get items that are low priced for a cheaper price than from sellers within the EU and if the UK crashes out of the EU, this also applies to them. So Happy Days for your low priced items!
But as soon as the price of goods goes above 22 Euro, then you will have to pay VAT in Ireland for your imports AND you will pay a handling charge of around EUR 10 to the agent that delivers the item to you. So the three T-Shirts that you bought for a total equivalent of 30 Euro from Amazon.co.uk will then cost 30 Euro plus 6.30 VAT (at 21% until end of Feb and then 23% again from March) and another 10 Euro to An Post for getting the VAT from you. So the total is not attractive 30 Euro, but EUR 46.30 for these T-shirts.
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And it gets worse!! From 01 July 2021 the low value exemption in the whole EU will be abolished, that means even if you buy a USB cable for 2 Euro on Aliexpress, you will pay VAT (just EUR 0.46) but then also the handling charge of EUR 10 to An Post. So your 2 Euro cable suddenly will cost 12.46! :-O
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If the value is higher than 150 Euro then you pay import duty on top of the VAT and the product price and that can get really expensive.
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What should you do? If you know you want to buy things in the UK for a higher price, then make sure they are delivered before 01 Jan, so hurry!
…and if you want to help the Dublin Event Guide (with no higher cost to yourself!) use the links for Amazon.co.uk, Asos, Ebay.co.uk or PrettyLittleThing on shor.by/shopping

5) LEARN A NEW SKILL WITH ONLINE COURSES – Special Offer
I just bought two new Udemy courses last week, how about you? What skills are you adding during these home-working times? Udemy courses are still super popular because as long as we still spend a lot of time at home, it makes sense to use some of that time to learn something new.
Did you learn a new skill in the last few months? The lowest cost for courses this month will be around 12.99. I just bought another 14 hour course for that price. Super value!! Check out the website at shor.by/GqCk And if you buy through that link, you help the Dublin Event Guide! ;-)

6) READ MORE BOOKS
A new free Book summary can be found here every week: readitfor.me/91927 Readitfor.me actually provides a number of weekly free book summaries or you can buy monthly or even Lifetime access to their book summaries.
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For physical books and e-books I recommend Book Depository because they are usually cheaper than others and they always include delivery for free (and by using this link you help the Dublin Event Guide). Please don’t use any other links than the one below!! With this link you do help the Dublin Event Guide when you purchase a book and it doesn’t cost you a cent: shor.by/BookDepository  .