Columns - Irish Examiner

Aida Austin

We have a deal, but, so you know, I’m never using that toilet’

November, Tuesday, 5pm, and I am racing home from work. I have chipped knuckles and a bursting bladder.

Sat, 05 Dec, 2015

I creep into the bathroom. My secret will be safe in there

Late last night, when my husband was out, my son told me a secret. My son wants to tell my husband this secret himself tonight, at 9pm, so until then I must keep it to myself.

Sat, 28 Nov, 2015

Silly to catastrophise that late-night call from your son

HOME alone, well past midnight.

Sat, 21 Nov, 2015

I failed to get internet access, but I did it single-handed

I’ve set myself the mind-sharpening challenge of establishing internet access in our cabin in the field, single-handed.

Sat, 14 Nov, 2015

Dongles, hotspots and tethering - challenging the technophobe stereotype isn't easy

TUESDAY, 1pm, Cork city. I am here to replace my laptop; I can cope with the foreplay no longer; all the selfish technological petting it has demanded of me ever since the day I got it. 

Sat, 07 Nov, 2015

‘I will be very proud if I achieve inner turmoil and outer calm’

Monday, 11 am, and I am in hospital, about to undergo a “routine” procedure which requires “conscious sedation”, a tiny camera on a long black cable for bodily insertion, and for me to “just relax”.

Sat, 31 Oct, 2015

‘Silence falls, then a strange staccato sound fills the room’

HOME, 7pm, up in the cabin and our architect has just left. My husband and I are sitting at the kitchen table, scrutinising three sets of floor-plans.

Sat, 24 Oct, 2015