Miss Soft Crab Assorted: Irish selection

I wish our posts could have a soundtrack. Sometimes it would be a song that would evoke the kind of mood we're trying to create, like when we're talking about Damon Albarn we could play Marvin Gaye or something. Other times it would be a song we heard that first put the idea of writing a particuar post in our heads. Like right now. The Proclaimers is playing, and I really want to convey how wonderful it is to be listening to The Proclaimers in a cafe in Dublin, and all the great things about Ireland in general, and so I'm writing this post. But I'd love it if you guys were listening to I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) while you read it.

Just humour me, guys.

OK, back to Ireland, and how great it is. 
It's really quite great here. 
Beautiful. Relaxed. Casually friendly. Just how I like my women! Ha. But seriously, those are great qualities in a person and also a place. 
Dublin feels both like a big european city and also a small town. On our first night night here, we got talking to the girl at the bar who was pouring our drinks. She was really nice and invited us to her music recital. A few days after that, I joined a gym so I can eat all the potatoes I want and not worry about it. The girl who signed me up was really nice. A few days later, I saw her walking down the main drag and she said "Hi K" as I walked past. So nice. 

I also met the deputy leader of Sinn Fein and she was very nice and I saw Gerry Adams from across the room and he seemed nice. 

On the weekend, we went to Galway, and got talking to a guy who was fishing for salmon in the river. He told us that the day before, he caught a salmon so big it broke his net and swam off. 
Appleheart said "Let me get this straight. You're telling me about the very big fish you caught, that due to faulty equipment, got away."
Irish Fisherman: "That's it". 
Ha!
These encounters made me affection for Ireland and its people grow, but it really cranked up when I read something in a report for work. 
Here in Ireland, Police Officers have the authority to dismiss a speeding ticket or other kind of fine under a category called 'exceptional circumstances'.  Here are some of the documented exceptional circumstances that have been accepted:
- being late for  swimming lesson
- needing to attend to some urgent domestic issue
- hurrying back to the farm, because bees were attacking livestock.

This is a great country guys.