Towards the end of last year it was reported that Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead and the Luas Tram operator had been fined a total of €5m by Ireland’s National Transport Authority for late and cancelled journeys. My experience of Go-Ahead is limited to the 17 bus service which has been discontinued recently as the bus routes have been reorganised. I had to visit an old relative twice every week and she was located on Roebuck Road. I travelled there by getting the Tram to Windy Arbour and then the 17 to the Fosters Avenue end of Roebuck Road. However, the 17 service was so unreliable that I often gave up and walked to/from the tram stop. There was supposed to be a bus every twenty minutes but I frequently had to wait for close to sixty minutes (especially on Saturdays).
Towards the end of 2022 the Luas service received a penalty of €2.67m for the number of journeys not operated or which didn’t run to time. However, I have not found the tram service to be unreliable but I have noticed that many trams are too crowded for my liking and it is getting worse especially on the Red Line.
Today I decided to visit the Golden Bridge cemetery I was really surprised to discover that the tram was packed and it was only 2PM. When I got to the Drimnagh stop I was surprised by the frequency of the trams as there was one about every minute. It should be mentioned that if you wish to visit the Goldenbridge Cemetery you should get off the tram at the Drimnagh Stop rather than the Goldenbridge Stop.
Portobello Harbour was opened in 1801, becoming an important terminus for barges travelling along the Grand Canal. The harbour was originally larger in size and also served as a water reservoir until 1863. Portobello House, originally the Grand Canal Hotel, opened in 1807. The building was later used as an asylum for the blind and then as a nursing home where artist Jack B. Yeats, brother of poet W.B. Yeats, spent his final years.
I have experimented with the latest PhotoShop Beta to see if I could remove people from some of my photographs – not that I wish to do so in most cases. In general Generative Fill works very well but it can produce some really weird results and in order to use the feature one needs to be connected the Adobe’s cloud service. In one instance I tried to remove a child who had walked into frame and instead of being remove he was replaced by a wheelie-bin and every attempt produced an item of street furniture.
Today I used a very old Canon 5DIII which I recently purchased still sealed in its original box. Apparently the owner won it as a prize many years ago put it on a shelf and forgot about it. Often if an electronic device is left unused for a long period of time it will will fail. I borrowed the camera for a week and was very pleased with it so I still have it but of course I had to purchase a few batteries and I also purchased a GPS unit which cost more than I paid for the camera.