Well, I’m back from Dublin – and I have to admit, Guinness DOES taste much better over there (although I’ll have to sample some over here to make sure…).

The work went well over there too – we got there at 7.30am. The other guys were taken from the plane direct to the hangar (bypassing customs and security), while I had to go get my bag (I’d checked it into the hold because I was carrying large metal pins). By the time I’d got my bag, been picked up by Ryanair, got my security pass and gone through the checkpoint to go airside, it was almost 9am.

By lunchtime, we’d tested all the jacks – all but one had passed ok. The one that failed (main ram seal leak) we put to oneside as they thought they had a spare seal somewhere for that.

And off we went to lunch – and my first taste of Guinness as it should be…and what a treat, so creamy.

Lunch over, we got back to the airport (the other guys then had to get passes etc. so they weren’t ‘illegals’ any longer), got the jack resealed, test rig collapsed and ready to come back to the UK and that was it – 4pm, job done and time for drinking…

After a shower and a bit of a nap (it had been a long day, and we’re all getting older..) we hit a bar for some food, drink, watch the football (Celtic beat Man Utd which went down VERY well over there), then some more drink followed by a few drinks, then it was time for a drink or two, then time to crash out.

Wednesday we had nothing to do all day (and the flight was 10pm), so I got up early and went wandering. When I got back to the hotel, we all checked out and (again) went wandering. We visited the Hard Rock Cafe on Fleet Street – so that’s two I’ve been to now (I’ll get a t shirt from everyone I visit – Beirut is still the coolest though). After a couple of pints there, we went to a traditional Irish pub – the claim was that it sold the best Guinness in Ireland…and to be honest, I agree.

By now, it was about 3pm and we’d walked miles. We jumped on the bus for the airport and spent 5 (extremely boring) hours waiting until we could check in. Once through to the departure lounge we settled in the bar to watch the football.

I love my job…

Spurs play Bayer Leverkusen in Germany tonight. We have a 100% success rate in Europe up until now – hopefully we’ll keep it up tonight.

COYS!