Columns - Irish Examiner

Aida Austin

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

"I bet you couldn't even do a day of the 5:2 diet"

MONDAY night, and I’ve been summoned down from the cabin. It is dinner time and my husband has cooked.

Sat, 17 Oct, 2015

"I think I might get an early night, cut the fasting day short"

WEDNESDAY evening, home, and it would seem my husband has just discovered the 5:2 diet. 

Sat, 10 Oct, 2015

"He reads with a bunched-up mouth: his bank-statement face"

IT’S 6.30pm, Thursday, and my husband and I are yawning at each other across the kitchen table.

Sat, 03 Oct, 2015

’Customer service is built on insult and short shrift’

TUESDAY, 1pm. 

Sat, 26 Sep, 2015

"Ninety-nine percent of the time you’re not competitive"

Sligo, Saturday, early afternoon. My sister and I are in the polytunnel, preparing our entries for the Boyle Summer Show, which takes place tomorrow at midday.

Sat, 19 Sep, 2015