So, I was delighted to hear that Ulster Bank are bringing back Henri Hippo! Even more exciting is that the money boxes are supposed to look the same as they did in the 80s, although only blue ones are available. I was hoping that I could finally replace my moneybox by opening an account with them, but it seems you can only get one when you open a bank account for a child under 12. They won’t even sell me one (yes, I did write and ask!) – I suppose the idea of a bank not wanting more money is novel. I’m not sure what today’s high tech kids will make of him, but they may well be fighting with their parents over who gets the money box anyway! I guess I’ll just have to keep my eye out on Ebay for any mini entrepreneurs who want to cash in on Henri.

Reminiscing about Henri also brought back fond memories of my Trustee Rusty the fox money box from Trustee Savings Bank. I can’t find any evidence that he ever existed on Google, but surely I’m not the only one who remembers him? Since the bank merged to become permanent tsb many years ago, I doubt we will ever see poor old Trusty Rusty again, but I might start a campaign one of these days. He would be much less annoying than that guy from The Sopranos!

At least Cyril the Squirrel is still going strong for An Post. I don’t think that Cyril has ever been immortalised as a money box. Perhaps keeping a lower profile is the secret of his longevity? I see from his website that you can even contact him directly, so maybe I’ll write and ask him.

I have had a good read of some chapters already, and I think that it’s a handy book to have. It’s well laid out with sections on buying, what you own, management, day to day life, finance, legal matters and insurance. There is a helpful glossary at the back too. The author has both a legal and property management background, which makes for a good mix – the book is very thorough, but it focuses on the practical issues. So while it explains all about management agencies etc, it also has helpful advice on how to deal with troublesome neighbours. Best of all, it is written in plain English, despite the somewhat complex nature of the legal aspects of apartment living.

I’ve already picked up a few things I was not aware of. I’ll be checking that I have my management company membership certificate for a start. Other points that I had a vague understanding of are much clearer now. While the material is not the most fascinating, the tone is quite down-to-earth throughout and it makes for lighter reading than I thought. The author shares his own view from time to time. Perhaps that’s not a great idea for a factual book like this, but it makes it a bit more entertaining. He informs us that there are “thousands of unreasonable people living all around us” and, therefore, “inevitably” “these individuals” will be in your apartment development. He finds that tenants do not “have as much regard for the considerations of their neighbours”, an opinion based on his own experience of 90% of House Rule breaches involving tenants.

Diversions like these may be better suited to a blog, and I discovered tonight that the book has an entire website to go along with it complete with forum, guestbook (how quaint!) and blog. It seems that you have to register to comment which I don’t like, but I think they are still working on the website, so that may change. While I know that neighbours.ie is great for individual developments, this is the first site I know of devoted to apartment living in Ireland in general, despite it being such a big niche. I’m increasingly out of the loop these days, so there are probably dozens of other websites already! Holler if you know any.

I may well have found the most expensive ham sandwich in Dublin! Granted, it does ordinarily come with olives on the end of each cocktail stick and a stack of green stuff (which I am reliably informed is called salad) in the centre, but at 11 euro it’s rather steep! At least a bowl of chips, while still double the going rate, is relatively good value at only €5.50.

Perhaps Bono is planning to banish third world debt by charging outrageous prices for pub grub in Dublin?

Thankfully, I am not alone in my appreciation of appetising pastries and delightful bakeries and cafes are springing up all over Dublin city centre. Cake eating can be an expensive hobby but sure a lot of what you fancy does you good! Here’s a few of my favourite haunts and feel free to add your own:

• Keogh’s Cafe, Trinity Street
  The smells are so amazing when you pass by Keogh’s small restaurant that it is nearly impossible not to stop and buy something, a fact proven by the frequent queues out the door. Their coffee seems popular, but I stick to the cakes. My absolute favourite is the cherry and almond scone. Heaven! Be warned, they sell out fast.
• The Larder, Parliament Street
  This place has only opened recently, but it is clear that they have put a lot of effort into styling and presentation. The staff are friendly and welcoming too. I’ve picked up some lovely plain and brown scones here lately in cute cellophane bags closed with dainty The Larder stickers.
• Avoca, Wicklow Street
  This place needs no introduction to many and their massive scones are very tasty indeed, as are the gigantic chocolate cookies. Compared to everything else in the shop, the bakery offers surprisingly good value for money too!
• The Bakery, West Essex Street, Temple Bar
  Yummy chocolate muffins, apple sponges, scones, tarts and crumbles – I could go on and on. They also do some savoury stuff like soups and sandwiches if you are into that.
• Queen of Tarts, Dame Street
  Tiny little cafe that is nearly always crowded. I used to have a big soft spot for this place, but lately the cakes have not tasted quite as nice to me. But they are still pretty yummy, if a little pricey.
• La Boulangerie, Camden Street
  This cafe has now expanded so that the bakery shop has moved next door. It has proved very popular, even though it was a bit off the beaten track when it started. There are lots of specialist treats here along with the more common but just as delicious doughnuts, danishes, croissants and gingerbread men.

Certainly, there has been evidence of a major cooling off in Dublin within the last few weeks. (NB I am touching anything that looks remotely wooden as I type!) This could just be the traditional summer slowdown where house hunting is abandoned as holidays and warm weather go to our heads, an automatic correction of the mad panic since the start of 2006, or the harsh reality of all those interest rate increases. Whatever the reasons, while you were lucky to get in the door of an open viewing on a Saturday in March, now estate agents are actually ringing people to follow up after viewings!

Whether all hysteric house hunters return in September or not, any perceived cooling off in the Dublin property market must be viewed in context. Sherry Fitzgerald reported today that the price increase for second hand houses in Dublin for the first six months of 2006 was 21.2%. Bear in mind, that the equivalent increase for the entire year in 2005 was only slightly higher at 23.3% and was considered an outstanding year! This seems incredible and such paper based conclusions may not paint an accurate picture. Just one big surprise auction result could have skewed such results dramatically. Even the Dublin property market cannot sustain increases of 20% every 6 months! Yet, even if the real growth is not as impressive and there are some subtle signs that the so-called “soft landing” might be starting, it will be some time before anyone starts getting serious value for money.

I had actually forgotten all about it for a while, but since I have been house hunting, it has come into its own. If the glossy brochure says a Luas station or village is a “short stroll” away, you can find out exactly how many minutes it will actually take. Yes, the mathematician in me loves the precise calculations, although I fear that they have not taken obstacles such as traffic lights and crowds into account!

This service is really handy when you don’t drive. If you are going somewhere you are not familiar with e.g. to go to a doctor or interview, you can see in an instant exactly where you need to go. The journey planner will also tell you the nearest Dart or Luas station to your destination. If Dublin bus routes are ever integrated into it, it really will be worth raving about!

“I can reply to e-mails OK…. I just can’t instigate an e-mail”

Well, it made us chuckle anyway…

Chicken Licken that I am, even I did not anticipate the scale of the random acts of violence committed by these yobs and scumbags. However, unlike Michael McDowell and the Gardaí, neither I nor anyone I spoke with leading up to the march were expecting the parade to be entirely peaceful. Not many seemed overly enamoured with the idea of Union Jacks and marching bands of Unionists passing by the GPO either.

While the parade may have been sensitive and provocative, for once it was not politics or religion that caused the problem. Hooligans looking for any excuse to cause havoc hijacked the day with shocking consequences. It was certainly not a day that I felt proud to be Irish. Sadly, we have had warning signs from this minority in recent years, notably on St Patrick’s Day. Hopefully, this trend will not continue.

Yet every cloud has to have a silver lining, and Irish blogs came into their own in reporting the events as they unfolded. I found Indymedia and The Dossing Times particularly good, and the ever eagle-eyed Red Mum reports that Love Ulster was the top tag on Flickr.

I do not work for Vodafone and I don’t own any shares either, but this one’s a no brainer. For the rest of this year, Ready to Go customers can call any Vodafone number at any time and talk for up to 60 minutes for the price of 3 minutes. Yes, that’s right: you only pay for the first 3 minutes of the call and Vodafone foot the rest of the hour! I’ve read the small print and can’t see the catch yet, so let me know if any of you legal eagles spot anything.

You do not even need to change price plan assuming you are on either of the current tariffs (Social Life or Work and Leisure). You just need to call Vodafone or go online and activate the Stop the Clock option for your current plan. Why anyone would not want to do this is beyond me!

I actually switched from O2 to Vodafone over a year ago to avail of their More to Say price plan, which was attractive for bigmouths like me. They discontinued that tariff a while ago (probably all my fault ), and it has taken this offer to lure me off it. Next year may be painful when the promotion ends, but in the meantime, given that I mainly make long calls to one Vodafone number, I should be able to shrink my hefty credit costs and buy lots more fizzy cola bottles instead.

So far, I have been working on my wishlist:

• Near town (to minimise the trauma of Dublin commuting)
• Not “in need of modernisation” (since I can’t even wire a plug)
• Near some nice sweet shops
• Near McDonalds

It’s not much to ask for really. So that’s the ideal, and my current situation is my bedroom in Blanch, so I hope I will be able to come up with a compromise!

I have also paid my first visit to MyHome.ie. I realise that the Internet has revolutionised the estate agent business and is a godsend to all property buyers, but I’m a bit let down by the undisputed champion of Irish property sites.

I know that everyone uses it and finds it extremely useful (even those who barely know how to check their e-mail). However, from my initial forays, it appears that you cannot even order your search results or do a free keyword search!? The fantastic e-mail alert service available to the special people who register deserves a special mention. I signed up to avail of this and set up a couple of searches. I have been receiving identical e-mails most nights ever since (usually when the new properties have already been on the site most of the previous day) containing the extremely useful information below:

Hello,
You have new listings from MyHome.ie®
Go to http://www.myhome.ie/members and log in to view your new properties.

Well that’s a great help! Maybe they are just afraid you would not be able to take the excitement of actually maybe seeing the addresses of the new houses directly in the e-mail.

Update May 2006: Lo and behold, myhome.ie now include details of the latest 4 properties to match your criteria in their e-mail alerts. Progress at last!

At least daft.ie is a lot more sensible. It’s nice to see a site focusing on the First Time Buyer too.