8 flights, 7 days, 6 crashes, 1 busy week

This past week was a bit nuts, with 8 flights (legs) in 7 days.  The main impetus was to get my Helicopter Underwater Evacuation Training certification, for which we had to escape 6 "crashes" in a pool.  While it was neat to play Houdini, not crashing in the first place is still the preferred option.  I will say that it was good "team bonding" time.  Perhaps the most entertaining part came as our "helicopter" was rapidly capsizing and sinking; I was looking at one of my teammates and as we were going under his face had a resigned expression that said, "oh boy" (or some less-PC equivalent).

You're supposed to stay tight for 7 seconds or until it stops rotating.  Someone asked why in the theory portion and the answer was "so that you don't get sucked into the still-rotating blades or tail rotor."  Sounds like good advice to me.

It's like a giant dunking booth.

It was then on to Dublin.  On Sunday I knew I needed some time away from it all, so I rented a car with someone and we drove around the country.  I didn't realize how much I needed a mini road trip and to get out of the city.  I think my colleague was initially a bit skeptical, but it turned out well.  (Thanks, Shenin.)

One of the places we hit was the hill where St. Patrick is supposed to have lit a paschal (pre-Easter) fire in defiance of a local king and pagan traditions, but it was the start of the spread of Christianity.  This was Heritage Week, so a couple of locals were there giving tours.

The church ruins, and an incongruous 300 year old Chilean monkey pine next to it.  The pine was likely planted on someone's grave, but no one definitively knows the origins.  Unfortunately my camera had issues and some of the pictures I really wanted were corrupted.

We got a tour from a guy who lived his whole life a stone's throw from the site and owned several adjacent acres.  We were the only non-Slane residents on the tour.  Consequently, about half of the tour was minutiae about town history, with exclamations like, "...you mean under James Fitzpatrick's house?"  While I may not have been that interested, it was a lot of fun to be a part of that conversation.

I really liked Ireland, and it is on my list of places to return to.  I heard some very thick brogues.  I also asked a guy for the inside scoop: does he, as a true Irishman, really drink a lot of Guinness?  "Too much" was the definite answer.