Friday was vote Yes or No day for the Lisbon Treaty.
This morning Frank Keenan telephoned. Frank worked with Electricity
Power Board for over forty years mainly on the construction of new
power plants. He is now retired and living at Retreat Heights in
Athlone. Frank told that Retreat Heights got its name from the 1690's
when Ginkel and his army were approaching Athlone to fight Sarsfield
and the Irish. When Ginkel saw what was arrayed before him he
withdrew his army to a nearby hill now known as Retreat Heights.
Frank has a great knowledge of how some words came about.
I liked the posh word. Steamships sailing to America years ago
from Cobh offered First Class at £53 return and Posh Class at £153
return. The northern seas meant that it was nearly impossible to open
the cabin windows facing north.So they offered cabins Port Outbound -
Starboard Homebound.
Frank has started bridge lessons and promised to visit Shannonbridge
real soon.

The brother in America has great praise for the book 'The Minstrel Boy'
by Hubert Dunne that tells the story of Frances Ledwith the poet and
about the happenings in Ireland around the Rising in 1916.

A puzzle.Place nine dots in 3 rows each directly above one another.
Space the dots one inch apart and each row one inch apart.
You should have a square with nine dots spaced one inch from each
other.
Now draw four straight lines without taking the pen off the page
and connect all the dots.

Another puzzle.
Three people are on Death Row. They are given one chance to escape.
Five stickers - 3 White stickers and 2 Black stickers are produced.
One sticker is put on each prisoner's forehead and the othet two
stickers are burned.
The three prisoners are gagged and placed in one room.
If any one prisoner can say what colour sticker he /she is wearing
they will be released by The Govener.