David Condon Finds

There was a time when Christmas morning meant pure chaos, tearing through wrapping paper like wild animals, sugar highs by 8 a.m. and that magical feeling that something incredible was about to happen. Fast forward a few decades and… well, the only thing getting torn apart now is your back when you bend down to plug in the tree lights. Somewhere along the line, the magic faded a little. The excitement that used to keep us awake half the night has been replaced by the adult version of Christmas anticipation, waiting for the turkey to defrost properly and praying the power bill won’t double because of those “warm white” fairy lights that you swore were energy efficient. 

People often imagine running a craft business as the dream job — doing what you love, setting your own hours, and selling beautiful handmade pieces at your own pace. In reality, it’s a juggling act of creativity, logistics, paperwork, and the occasional mild panic when a courier goes missing with half your stock. I’ve been at this long enough to know the truth: operating a craft business in Ireland is equal parts stubbornness, passion, and learning to stretch every euro until it squeaks. The Myth of the “Easy Life” From the outside, it looks peaceful — a tidy workshop, a few market stalls, maybe an online shop ticking away in the background. What people don’t see are the twelve-hour days spent sanding, photographing, packing, updating websites, replying to messages, and still finding time to sweep up the mess before you lock up for the night. It’s not just making things. It’s making things work. The Real Costs Nobody Sees Every handmade item carries more hidden costs than mo...

From Organised Intentions to Creative Chaos.  Some people seem to live in spotless, Instagram-ready offices. Mine, on the other hand, often looks like a stockroom suddenly exploded and then decided to settle in. There are packaging materials all over the floor, leftovers from my last shipping order preparation. Shipping supplies all over the desk, and boxes of stock still waiting for labels I promised to print “tomorrow.” My mobile packing table always has anything other than packing materials on it so I can never seem to use it as intended.

We’ve all seen it: “Delivery in 5 business days” on a website’s shipping page. It sounds straightforward, and when you place an order on a Monday, it’s natural to start counting — Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday — and expect the parcel before the weekend. The problem is, most people are counting calendar days , not business days.  Their “wish clock” starts the moment they place an order . In reality, things don’t always work that way and the clock normally only starts the following day after dispatch. I’ve seen this misunderstanding many times in my own business, and I’ll admit, I’ve been guilty of over-expecting a delivery or two myself. This is where expectations and reality start to clash. 👉 If you found this post useful or even mildly humorous, you might like my other business related post:  Why Irish Phone Numbers Confuse So Many People . I wrote this because I see so many mistakes on my website orders that I thought I could help those who are confused...

Are we in trouble as a planet, as a species? Every single decade since the 1970s we’ve been told the same or similar warning: “In 10 years we’ll be in big trouble if nothing changes.” The bogeyman keeps shifting. Back in the 1970s, headlines warned of a looming new ice age. By the 1980s the panic had moved to the ozone hole and skin cancer. In the 1990s and 2000s it became global warming and rising sea levels. And now, in 2025, it has been rebranded once again as the “Climate Crisis” with most of the consequences already listed — rebranded new buzzwords for a new decade, but the same old gremlins rolled out to scare us into action.

Every morning lately, I’ve been going through the same routine while getting dressed for work. I pull on a pair of socks, only to notice the big hole or holes in the heel, mutter something unprintable, and then take them off again. The culprit? My puppy, Bud, who has developed a particular fondness for turning my socks into Swiss cheese when ever my back is turned or he gets unaccompanied access to my bedroom.

Selling online has been part of my life for over a decade. Like many people, I started with eBay but quickly discovered how much the fees eat into your earnings. Listing costs, final value fees, and PayPal charges all stacked up and by the time I shipped an item, I was often left wondering if it was even worth the hassle. That’s when I first came across eBid.net . The difference? I paid once for a lifetime membership right from the start, so I knew exactly where I stood. No recurring costs, no monthly pressure — just the freedom to sell when I wanted and only a small final value fee when you sell a product.  That decision still pays off today. Notes: I’m writing this post now as I reactivate my stores once again, and I thought it might be useful to share my experience for anyone considering giving eBid a try. This post contains an affiliate link  at the end — if you sign up, I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you. 👉 You might also be interested in a related p...

Seventeen years of self-employment has taught me one thing: working for yourself is equal parts madness and freedom. Some days it feels like feast, other days famine. And yet, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I could take a steady job, with the payslip, the pension, the clocking out. So why stick with a life that can be feast or famine? This post is about the daily tug-of-war between freedom and chaos and why, for me, the independence still wins in the end no matter the financial cost.  If you’d like to know more about how I ended up on this road in the first place, I’ve written a post with a little more detail here  about why I’m still self-employed . Maybe it is worth a read too.

Some evenings you just don’t feel like cooking and that’s where a good takeaway saves the day. Whether it’s comfort food after work, a quick family dinner, or something to enjoy in front of a film, Tralee has plenty of options. I’ve picked out a few of my favourites in no particular order of importance, places I’ve tried myself and would happily recommend if you’re looking for a reliable takeaway in town. To save on fees for service and delivery I would advise ordering: over the counter first, via their website second and Just Eat third  If you want recommendations, always ask a local first!

There’s something about LEGO Star Wars that hits differently when you’re an adult. Maybe it’s the precision of the UCS (Ultimate Collector Series) sets, the joy of display-worthy models, or just the excuse to spend a weekend building a Star Destroyer without apology. And yes, there’s also the quiet satisfaction of knowing your mates are more than a little jealous, even if they won’t admit it. In this post, I’m sharing some of the UCS kits I’ve already added to my collection, the ones still on my wishlist, and why each set stands out. Not just as a toy, but as a piece of modern fandom and design. Whether you’re a long-time collector or just getting started, you’ll find plenty of inspiration (and maybe a few “must-haves”) here.

Introduction – A Changing Country I've been more than a little nostalgic of late due to all the current bad press in our country and indeed the rest of the world. I began thinking about my younger years and all the goings on of the past and how different life was ' back in the day '. After a bit of mental gymnastics looking over the last few decades, I keep coming back to the same conclusion: the 1990s was the last time Ireland truly felt alive. 

When my puppy, Bud, first came home, he was the picture of excitement at mealtimes, tail wagging, eyes wide, and food inhaled at record speed. It was cute… until it wasn’t. During his “hoovering” phase, it was as if his stomach and intestines were squeezing inward, trapping his meal higher up in his chest & oesophagus and showing his ribs in minute detail. He’d look uncomfortable and bloated, and strange gurgling noises would come from him for a few minutes after eating. I put up with it at first, thinking it was just “puppy enthusiasm,” until one day he vomited straight after his dinner. That’s when I realised it was more than a quirk — it was a problem.

You can spend years working at something you love but sometimes it takes explaining it to someone else to see it clearly for yourself. That’s something I learned twice: first when I started teaching woodturning, and then all over again when I started blogging about it. Who knew it could be so difficult and  yet so simple at the same time?

A National Language, Barely Spoken. Ireland is one of the few countries in the world where a large part of the population seemingly feels awkward or embarrassed about speaking its own national language. After many years of learning Irish in school, most of us can only string a handful of words together — Dia duit, Go raibh maith agat — maybe a sentence if we’re brave like '' An bhfuil cead agam dul go dtí an leithreas? '' which was drilled into us on day one and probably the only line spoken with confidence by all Irish people.

I’ve been using a basic cookie notice on my website for years and, to be honest, I never really paid much attention to it. But recently, there’s been a big push from Google for website owners like me to upgrade to a proper Cookie Management Platform (CMP) — the more advanced (and paid) kind that meets stricter compliance requirements for things like Google Ads and GDPR. So I did it. I installed Cookiebot, and now I have a full breakdown of how people interact with that little pop-up. And here’s what I found: a lot of people — at least a third — choose to reject all cookies.

Always on the Lookout for Great Products on Amazon in 2025! Discover 50+ Great Amazon Products for 2025 – Personally Tested & Recommended If you're always hunting for clever and useful Amazon finds, you're in the right place. I’ve put together a growing list of top-rated products on Amazon in 2025 that I’ve either personally used, plan to buy, or had “enthusiastically suggested” by family members (yes, really 😅). Unlike many generic roundups, this is a curated guide of standout items that have genuinely improved my day-to-day life—at home, in the workshop, and everywhere in between. From must-have tools and gadgets to fun gift ideas for her (and him), there’s something here for just about everyone. This List Got Too Big! This post originally featured all 50+ products in one long scroll — but it got too big and slow to manage, especially for mobile visitors. It was also living on my main website, which probably wasn’t helping the woodcraft focus I’m aiming for there — so I’...

Why I wrote this Post When the first symptoms of Peripheral Neuropathy hit — those strange pin-pricks in my feet and legs, followed by tingling and numbness in random parts of my body — it completely blindsided me. I was worried, confused, and desperate for answers. If you’re feeling the same way right now, you’re not alone. That’s exactly why I wrote this post: to share what I’ve learned, what I wish I’d known sooner, and hopefully offer a bit of calm in what can feel like a very chaotic time. Because those first weird sensations? They were just the beginning. Over the past few years, I’ve tested multiple treatments, tracked my own progress in detail, and compared results in a way that’s hard to find elsewhere. What began as a personal journey has grown into what’s probably the most detailed real-world case study on using Revitive Circulation Boosters for Peripheral Neuropathy in Ireland (and possibly the UK) . Everything here comes from first-hand experience — not theory, not guess...

There was a time when courier services were a lifesaver for small businesses. Fast, trackable, offering one rate regardless of box size or weight and a welcome alternative to the long queues at the post office. But in recent years, many of us have started to ask the same question: what happened? If you're a small business owner in Ireland, you’ve probably had your fair share of headaches with couriers and you know exactly what I'm talking about. Missed collections, phantom “attempted deliveries,” and the endless loop of automated or non-existent customer service... it's frustrating, time-consuming, and damaging to customer trust. So why is this happening? And is it time we re-evaluate how we send and receive goods in 2025?

There’s an old saying in retail and hospitality that “the customer is always right.” It’s become something of an expected golden rule in business but I don’t believe it’s always fair. Especially not for small businesses or frontline employees who are often left to deal with entitled or unreasonable demands. As someone who runs a hands-on, customer-facing business, I’ve dealt with all kinds of people over the years. The vast majority of them are kind, reasonable, and a genuine pleasure to deal with. They ask questions, respect the time and effort that goes into the work, and treat me the way they’d like to be treated themselves. I value those people immensely — they’re the reason I keep doing what I do.  Before you read on: If you’re interested, I’ve written another post that goes deeper into what self-employment is really like — feel free to check it out after this.

What TV and Film Get Right (and Horribly Right) About Human Nature I was watching  The Last Ship  again recently — not for the first time — and something struck me all over again. It’s not the virus or the bombs or the zombies that make these post-apocalyptic worlds so terrifying. It’s the people. But is that really how people would be — or is Hollywood just colouring us all with the same brush? A brush that generates a lot of money.