My delayed (sorry Darragh, thanks for the tag!) contribution to the irritable cause…

1. List two things that irritate you for a reason, and list the reason, and two things that irritate you for no apparent reason whatsoever
2. Give credit to the person who tagged you
3. Link your answers to the original blog, Skillett.com
4. Tag four new people to participate

Well, the first thing that annoys me are rules… so I guess I’ll break the said above rules here and do more than two things? Rebel Rebel! What can I say, I’m a crank and I adore a good grumble (meaning it’s Monday and Cork won yesterday)!

I’ve decided not to restrict myself just to two things that I know irritate me – if it irritates me, it irritates me, and I’m taking the chance to purge!

So get yore rant protection helmets on, folks, I’m away!

1. Sinusitis
I suffer from what is known as a ‘Brennan nose’. This involves a cold at least 5 times a year which includes, but isn’t limited to, the following symptoms: Pressure and pain over the forehead, constant headaches, continual clearing of the throat, a burning runny snoz that is always blocked with a thick mucus, and earaches bordering on downright deafness. You spend your time blowing a nose that is as blocked as my writing ability in explaining the horrors of these sinus attacks.

Sure, I’ve tried all the homeopathic “cures”, and I’ve nasal sprayed with the best of them, but sure as hell every odd month I end up spluttering like a faulty auto unit willing that damn air cavity in my nose to pop for some serious relief. To boot I tend to be struck down with a lurgy of this kind at the most inappropriate times… piano exams, orals, Leaving Cert, finals… you name it. At these times I am obviously at my attractive best and my primary concern is batting away admirers one snotty minute at a time. [Oi! That should be your priority all the time! - Gav]

For this, and so many other wonderful genes, thanks Pops.

2. Token Environmentalists
Self-righteous and arrogant greens truly grind my gears. You know the muesli eating, Guardian-reading types who only eat free range… but happen to conveniently guzzle gallons of gas and take several long-haul flights a year? Such types can often be seen in Avoca Handweavers, with other middle class ‘conscience’ types – one of the more disgusting phenomena of the Celtic Tiger years. I will declare war on their Cat Kitson aprons and home-made 20yo-a-pot hummus (totally not a real food, incidentally). Ooooone day…

3. Irish Transport in general…
…but mostly a bitter shout out to the cowboys that are behind the Student Travel Card, the atrocious attendants at Irish Rail and the badly trained and cantankerous drivers at Dublin Bus. Note: You can be mugged on a train in Ireland, seek help and be told to “Get over it” when you’ve been hit over the head. Horse’s mouth.

4. Notes from roommates (just an issue from my past thankfully! I heart my new roomies!)
Dearest X,

Please stop communicating with me through notes. You know where I live (unfortunately) and if I know you (and I don’t want to) you have probably stalked me on social networking sites for months and know that I am never at home to be the one creating the mess in the kitchen, eating your cheerios or drinking your beer.

Sincerely,
Ciara

5. People who take everything and give nothing
I prefer to call them verbal spongers. You end up stuck beside them at a wedding or in the next booth in the office, and you’re expected to be a bloody conversation jukebox. They give you nothing to work with.

“See that movie last night?”
“Meh.”

“How do you know Mary?”
“Work.”

Painfully you pull conversation from them. One. Grunt. At. A. Time.

6. Unremoved labels on shoes and clothes

Well done! You got new shoes! Think you could take the label off the bottom and not just hope it’ll disintegrate off the soul of your foot? Those white labels burn my eyes as I’m walking behind you. Hate hate hate it.

7. Women’s attitude to women
A previous post of mine will suffice here. ‘Nuff said

8. Unblended foundation
Just. Look. At. The. Difference. In. Colour. Between. Your. Neck. And. Face.

Wonkaface.

9. Top Gear
I hate things I don’t understand. And they drank behind the wheel. I don’t care if it was in the Antarctic…

10. Structured memes
Obviously.

You’ve no idea how much restraint it took not to put Cork in there. I guess we owe Mulley.

Rant over and out!

Credit the person who tagged you: The first thing that strikes me about Darragh is the understanding that he has for the world. He views issues and events with a complex sensitivity and humanises stories to wonderful effect. I truly love reading his blog; it was one of the first I started to religiously follow when I came across the blogosphere. He champions new bloggers around him and challenges establishing ones. I’m proud to say he takes some time out of his day to read our rants. Thank you Darragh.

I second Gav’s tags: doooooo it!

Work is dead so I’ll be back later…