“The empires of the future are the empires of the mind!”

Sometimes in life it is best to take it on the chin. Other times it is best to;  “get your first tackle in early, even if it’s late,” (Ray Gravel). Other times it is best to walk away and some times it is best to do nothing.

Over the summer I decided to educate myself on two empires , the Roman and British, and their history. This was probably due to the fact that at school I didn’t enjoy the prescribed method that history was taught to us. Looking back I know I didn’t appreciate Blackadder quite as much at 13 as I did in watching it a few years ago. Studying the Romans doesn’t quite come alive that well from a textbook with pictures of broken crockery. It doesn’t quite get the picture of Cicero and Caeser or what Cleopatra was up too.

After reading two books Rubicon and Empire, I have begun to think that both of these empires really were formed out of taking advantage of other people. Don’t get me wrong they both brought their own advantages long term to the people they colonized, but at what price.

The interesting thing about these two is the similarities, Rome brought administration so did Britain. Both waged long wars  in Afghanistan. Both helped develop an infrastructure within the countries they inhabited.

However aside from the nicities both brought with them a great trail of loot which led back to their homeland. Britain used Africa for its gold and diamonds and upto a coup of conscience slaves. Some of the wars they fought were based on commodities and trade.

It appears from reading the quotation of one of Britains great leaders who was at the helm when the empire finally dissolved that, ” the empires of the future would be empires of the mind”.  So these empires which were based on technological advancement and force were to be replaced. One started to fall with the taxation of the American colonies and over zealous rule in India. The other reached its tipping point with Caesar crossing the Rubicon.

Having an empire of the mind will be a much more interesting empire than what has gone before. What exactly does Churchill mean by this. Many of us have our own causes and internal wars. Many of us at times have crossed the Rubicon. Many of us have attempted to gain the upper hand by being underhand against adverseries. Many of us have been bogged down in meaninless wars with ourselves while we try to work out what we are supposed to be doing. Will the empire of the mind have its own political structure. Will it have a system to clear bad debts and reward inefficiency with extra bonuses.

If many of us could think of our own minds as an empire I would guess a lot of us would turn out to be tyrannical. I know for a fact that loads of us would be building palaces and temples for no reason. We would be using our might to take out our nearest rivals as we climb to the top. We would be doing reconnaisance and flyovers making sure we had the inside scoop. Then when the time was right we would drop some intelligence in the international media just to look better. We would have trade wars and no doubt be experts in propaganda. Next time we/I get near the Rubicon I hope  there will be at  least one step back!!

All fur coat and no knickers!

The title phrase I first heard probably about 10 years ago from the family postman. I remember the conversation vividly, he was telling me about the new housing developement up the street. He had noticed that the people had all the exterior appearance of wealth. The nice house, the nice car, the right postcode and social standing. He did however notice that several years after moving in they still had concrete floors and not much furniture. At the time I felt that this was quite sad and why would someone want that existance.

As time has moved on I have noticed again this scenario re-occurring time and time again in different contexts. I think we all have a touch of it in ourselves. We all like to be seen to have all the latest gear and to be part of the in crowd. More recently I have noticed that this need can have damaging consequences which I have seen first hand. In two organisations which I love very dearly I have noticed this phenomenon. In the first instance it is evident in the neglect that has been going on in the organisation just to have the ‘best’. I ask at what cost will this have. While one part of the ship has money fired at it to look nice, below the surface are the bilge pumps starting to fail.

In the second organisation the expansion of all things new tends to take away from the core service delivery. So we can be all singing and all dancing on one front but the essential maintenance work is it getting done?

In both organisations all I want is the knickers back and a decent anorak!

Heading up for a walk about a dream!

Over the last few weeks I have been quite fortunate to spend sometime with people who are enthusiastic about what they do. In life I have found over my years spent in the office of how easy it is to get trapped in a box. When in this box it is so easy to get annoyed and wound up by the circumstances in which it holds yoou. When in the box if the sides are so high that you can’t see out of, it is easy to just decide not to try and to put up with circumstances that we find ourselves in. In the box time can move past it and before we know it, we are too far removed from our old innovative and enthusiastic selves to attempt to hatch an escape plan.
In life I haven’t come across too many people who are enthusiastic about what they do. With both of my hosts in the US I have found two people who don’t hate Mondays. Two people who I think aren’t on the treadmill of excitement waiting for the Friday safety valve to blow off some steam.  Having spent time with both of them has given me a chance to sit back and just enjoy listening to people with enthusiasm.

Setting the enthusiasm aside for a minute or two. My time this side of the pond has made me think about what my dreams are for the future and also getting to begin to fulfill a dream of the past.

One of my dreams since I spent a summer in Maryland attempting to coach rugby, has been to learn how to sail. When walking in Boston down the Charles with one of my hosts we came across, at his suggestion, Community Boating Boston. This is truly a fantastic place you can sail on a boat for a year for $240 dollars, including boats and classes, (even less for a trial month). It was apparently started by a bloke who wanted to keep the local kids out of trouble. He paid for a carpenter during the winter to build boats with the kids and then they stole some bedsheets from home in the summer and they were taught how to  sail.

The trick I have found is to leave your name in at the dock at 5pm and one of the older members takes you out and try’s to teach you how to sail. This evening was just me and an old sea dog on a small boat for an hour. I am sure he was traumatised.

At the start of the week I managed to spend a few days with in DC with a friend from that summer in Maryland. During this time I also was able to think about what my plans are for the next few years. Having spent a day walking round Arlington Cemetery certainly makes you think. It gives you time to wonder about what these people had dreamed of, what had been their goals and did war and circumstance cut them short. On looking at JFK’s grave I thought two things, firstly how did he get such a big plot and secondly how the American people still hold that family in high regard.

On another walk around DC I took the time to take in the sights and also to spend some time thinking. As I headed up the Abe Lincoln steps and looked out it got me thinking. What is my dream and what excuses we all have for not going for them. Sometimes people manage to get there and sometimes people are the driving force to others fulfilling their dream.

Whats yours?

3x as clean!!

Today before i got showered I decided to read the label of the bottle of showergel and low and behold it was going to make me 3x as clean. Now had I been living my life all these years 3x dirtier than others and now at 28 I had just made this discovery. On the same theme I was drinking double white beer the other night. When was white not just white, and how can you get double white?

Welcome to America. The land of the free!!

Since I arrived last friday I have noticed quite a few things that have amused me no end. Even before arriving I had been compared to the chat show host Jay Leno on the plane by the airhostess. This comparison will continue for some time I guess.

One of the things I did notice was the adverts on TV being more frequent, god bless Auntie. The drug adverts with their apparent subversive claims especially disturbed me.They could easily make you feel that your life wasn’t necessarily complete without being medicated.

Another thing I did notice in the house I am staying is the Toaster oven and the pot on the stove. It appears that the stove is for making tea and the toaster oven is because ovens don’t have grills. Good job one of the two in the house is Irish and he has a kettle and a toaster in the kitchen just to make things easy. One thing that did disturb me is the remote controlled fire. This concept I have been mulling over and decided its not for me as I can’t nearly burn the place down in the process of lighting it.

Anyway enough anti-American Sentiment onto some the good observations:

• Baseball caps that are sized for those of us with larger noggins.
• Off-licenses that deliver.
• Sweet potato fries
• Cheap sailing in Boston
• Great coffee
• Being asked how I would like a burger cooked. (Rare, Medium, Well).

Thinking again of the off-license that delivers, if that was in Ireland things would be messy .

Exams!!

Well two weeks of term left and not nearly enough time for my brain to absorb as its mean’t too.

Sitting in one of the university libraries trying to learn something about pharmacology I came across an old friend who originally attended Queens with me some time ago. Now he did back in the day play for the enemy, i.e. the presbyterian halls, but time is a great healer. It was quite funny that 9 years later since both originally starting Queens here two of us where pretending to revise our chosen subjects. It is moments like these that make me smile.

You have to take any small joy you can out of sitting a library learning about Superfamilies around midnight!

Well better get back to pretending to revise as my birthday is going to be a special one this year sitting in a practical exam!

The new library!

As I currently sit in the eighth floor of the main library, with the lift under repair and the plaster coming off the walls in the toilets, I still am beginning to realise that actually I am a nerd for quite liking this old architectural disaster. Apparently it being replaced by a new one and the bloke its named after didn’t even study here. (Secretly I am happy at the fact that a former Lions player gets a library named after him. Seriously it has nothing to do with the fact that he paid a lot towards it!)

So apart from pretending to revise what else has the holiday season brought!

1) A road trip with the boys across Scotland. Highlights would be the the 5 hour train journey back from Skye. It always amazes me how much fun looking out a window can be while pretending to work. Also sitting on a pier and just looking out at a bay.

2) An opportunity to just spend a few days chilling out. It amazes me how refreshing it can be to just not do very much.

Now I better get back to pretending to work and contemplate what to do with the summer as I look out the window.

From Poacher to Gamekeeper!

Over the last few months I have probably been keeping a low profile. That might have something to do with having exams after Christmas for the first time in about five years. Having exams after Christmas must have initially been thought up by some real Dickensian like nerd who had a bad experience as a child.

I often find the exam experince quite weird, sitting down at a desk for a defined period of time and wringing your gray matter out and hoping that you get enough inspirational thought to get above a predefined point. The other thing I hate about exams is the pre-exam confidence chat that some people have to have with you to prove that they know their stuff. I am convinced that these people only do this to either demoralise someone or to make themselves feel good. My hatred for this chat has led me to a tried and tested routine of heading to the loo or discussing sport prior to entering an exam.

After the exams finally passed I managed to get a break for a few days and then it was back to the office. This was particularly weird, being back in my old job for a week and also having students for the week. It really was a bit weird! The concept still makes me smile. Having students one week, being one the next week!

Last weekend I had a similar experience while refereeing rugby with the boys I coach. Having been back at uni I haven’t had the chance to see the troops in action this season.  It was quite funny to watch, especially when one the boys placed the ball infront of the line and then wondered why the opposition picked it up and ran 40 yards. I think he is coming to terms with himself now.

Getting to referree often makes me think what I would be like to referree in rugby if I had time to play. As I referree I tend to think of what I would do in particular situations and am always thinking at a ruck, I wouldn’t have done that!

The single minded man!!

Last night a late night caller arrived at my parents house after midnight. They asked if I was in, left a card and a present, paid complements to my parents about me and vanished into the night.

Today when I arrived at home for the banquet and present opening I discovered the gift that had been left in the night. The card  inside was addressed to, “The single minded man”.

It was probably the highlight of my Christmas and I hope that I end up being half as good at being a doctor as he is at his job.

It started and finished at the Doorstep!

Last monday I received a text from a friend who kindly informed me that we only had four and a half years to go. I initially looked at the text, reread it, sat back and realised that the journey was going at a canter. The phrase, “time waits for no man”, had just rang home.

Looking back over the last term has been a blessing. It has taught me much about myself. It has made me think, it has been one hell of a rollercoster. Being a fresher at 27 initially had its apprehensions. I was 9 years older than the A-level entrant. I was entering a new generations turf and I was the alien in a new land. This worried me initially, I remember on the first day not seeing anyone to at least 4pm who could consume alcohol in the US. Some of them probably couldn’t see the resemblance  between the John Major,  “Spiiting Image”, puppett and one of our statistics lectures. (He doesn’t half go on about p’s).

So twelve weeks later looking back to day one do I still have these fears? I can safely say they have been vanquished by a motley crew of fellow students who are some of the best to walk this land.

Tonight as I sat at tea with one of the legends I realised that on this journey some true legends were on board. As we sat in Doorsteps this evening and also at lunch it dawned on me what a journey this had been so far. I was informed how last year I phoned him asking about the interview questions for Glasgow and forgot to tell him I had applied. He also told me how on the first day both of us had ended up in the aforementioned shop and ordered and eaten the same meal. Infact we both had ordered the same drinks if I remember right. This made me smile and think that both of us had started day one and finished the first semester on the same note.

Looking back over the twelve weeks, there have been some extraordinary highs and lows. The first week as I have talked on before was a real voyage of being emotionally lost. I think over the next few weeks it took me a while longer than I had anticipated to get used to all the changes. I remember waking up the morning before I started and not realising for an instant that I wasn’t at home. I remember visiting the bakery,  “The Oven Door”, on the Springfield Road for the first time. Here is a memorial to how customer service should be. It is the complete opposite to that robotic repetoire Tescos staff are scripted by the till to tell us. This is a good old fashioned, “love” fest. (I have stolen this phrase from Sparks. A “love” fest uses basically  the use of, “love” in every sentence). I love this place for a cup of tea (you want sugar, milk or black black “love”), a scone (“you want that buttered love”) and a bun you get chance from £1.30 . (“sure that ill do “love”). It really make Monday and Friday classes so much easier. The staff all have a great sense of humour.

Another highlight this term is the chance to get to do rowing. Since my initial enthusiasm the training has gone through the roof. A dose of tonsillitis killed that idea in the head.

Sport at Queens always has been a passion of mine and the chance now to get the Medics back playing rugby makes me realise that even though I am back five years on I may actually get a chance to get a new project up and running.  The thought of taking these boys on tour!! Willie John McBride would be needed to keep these gents in order.

During the term I have been travelling up from near home and the traveling is the only downside. It takes its toll on you. I feel that traveling takes away from having a chance to fit into and give back to the local community, it is in someways quite selfish. You only take from the experience and don’t give much back. When I get back to  the city I will have to take up the opportunity of giving back to Belfast. Otherwise I will turn into more of a selfish prick.

So if the last twelve weeks have been a rollercoster, its time to get off, re-adjust the balance and sit down and work out what I have learnt over the last three months. About me I suppose that I need to be more disciplined. It is better to do a few things well. To take time and put others first, this was highlighted by a classmate telling me about his term yesterday. Here is a true gentleman miles away from home who is too polite to put anyone out of their way heading home and not having really experienced much of Ireland. Next term it is my plan to get him to see and experience some of the local hidden gems.

So as I drift off to sleep on the last day of term. looking back over the last twenty four hours and the craic in one of the halls, the night out and the fry to finish before we all parted this afternoon.  I can safely say that I will miss the motly crew over the holidays and it has been a  blessing  in having met some absolutely fantastic individuals over the last twelve weeks.

Now to work off or add to that “your look like a boy with a bit of padding”, over the festive season. (We couldn’t have that lecturer short for things to talk about on the first day back could we!!).

On the Road!

So what has the last three months on the road taught me?

Well last Saturday I set off for Dublin at 06.45. I was hoping the fact that I was up so early that I would be rewarded with a spectacular view of the toll bridge. (See below for a view i got elsewhere at this time). As I drove to Newry my chances were getting slimmer and the fog lights were on. The fog lifted for a while and then near the bridge it struck again, my chances of a view were dashed.

It was that cold on Saturday that as I got out of the car in Dublin I noticed beads of ice had formed on my wing mirrors. I suppose the main thing this all means is, the next morning I have to drive to Dublin at this time I will be nearly guaranteed a better view. (During the last three months I have been sitting diligently through statistics lectures. Now it has only just reaffirmed my theory on certainty and two other things).

So why the preamble about last Saturday and fog. Well I think it helps me nicely picture my situation before three months ago, “in the rut”. You can’t see where you are going so you just drive on and hope you will get there. In really bad fog you slow down and take it even easier just to avoid any danger. You get annoyed when you don’t get the view you expected. You become comfortable driving in it as long as you have heat and music.

Once you get out of bad fog, you certainly don’t want to go back as you now can see where you are “mean’t to be going”. It is only when you get out of the fog and re-orientate yourself, that you realise you were lost and that you need to get back on track. By getting out of fog/ a rut doesn’t mean that I won’t enter another fog. I now just won’t choose to go back into it or I will now hopefully avoid it.

All of you nice and filled with metaphoric cliches. Being back on the road does have one disadvantage. I can’t go “home” for five years. Of course I can go to my parents house, but that is not the place where I could at anytime crash on the sofa, put the vibes up full, look at the ceiling and put the world in my head to rights.

Being anyone’s lodger is not “home” either. The bath is not metal, the toilet doesn’t have a bookshelf (Radiator), and there isn’t a pile of bricks arranged out the back. Its weird to say but I miss my pile of bricks. Yes the concept of this is weird but being able to go out set up a BBQ at whatever time you choose and have a beer and look at the stars. (I don’t even have a picture of the fine construction).

So where is my new home? Well I suppose its the road with all its twists and turns. Secretly I have enjoyed all of the good, bad and ugly bits. None of the journey I would change so far. Some of it I have to work on quite hard.

Would I go back to where I was at tomorrow just to have my pile of bricks etc? Not one bit of me would want to be back in that rut. Parts of it I miss of course but being on the road is a minuscule sacrifice to pay and every piece of it is worth it.