David Condon Finds

I decided to write this after being contacted by two different ladies in a fairly short space of time who were both in much the same situation. I had only launched my Buy & Sell page a few weeks beforehand so this was new to me. They had been left with workshops full of tools and machinery and were trying to work out what to do with them. I was able to help to a point, but I didn't particularly like feeling unprepared when replying to them. I know tools. I worked with them during my carpentry days and I use woodworking and woodturning machinery every day in my current workshop. What I hadn't really thought about was how different the situation looks from the other side. A woodworker can walk into a workshop and immediately recognise a bandsaw, lathe, planer, chuck, sharpening system or set of turning tools. The daughter or son trying to clear their father's workshop may have absolutely no idea what any of it is. The machine name doesn't mean anything to you if you h...

There are few things funnier than watching the face of an American visitor the first time an Irish person casually asks: “What’s the craic?” You can nearly see the panic arrive in stages. First, confusion. Then concern. Then the silent question behind the eyes: What kind of country have I landed in? Relax. Nobody is offering you anything illegal. Nobody is asking where to buy anything suspicious. And no, your friendly Irish host has not just turned into a character from a crime drama. This post actually came about while I was working on my local guide to Tralee . That is the funny thing about writing local Irish posts: one idea often leads to another.  You start thinking about visitors, pubs, conversations and the little things people notice when they come to Ireland, and suddenly you remember that we casually use a word that can make an American visitor look genuinely alarmed. What Does “Craic” Mean in Ireland? No, It Does Not Mean That In Ireland, craic means fun, chat, news,...

Cutting the grass shouldn’t feel like a half-day job, but for years, that’s exactly what it was. Our old lawnmower came with a collection bag that needed emptying every few passes. Stop, empty, restart. Repeat. By the time the lawn was finished, I’d lost all interest in the job and still had a pile of clippings to deal with. When it finally gave up, I started looking at alternatives. Mulching mowers kept coming up, but I wasn’t convinced. Leaving grass behind sounded like a recipe for a mess. We even considered robotic mowers, until I realised I’d be digging up the garden to lay boundary wires. In the end, we went with a mulching model from O’Neills Power Equipment in Tralee… and it completely changed how I look at cutting grass. The out-of-place lines you see are just where I pushed the mower off the grass from the centre, they’re not part of the actual cutting pattern. You can see the clean finish otherwise. The lawn also looks greener later in the season, this was an early cut ...

We've all been there at one time or another.  A leisurely trip to the local Farmer's Market suddenly turns sour and brings you to the point of panic. Unexpectedly, a Market Trader and your good self  have made brief eye contact.  He/she has smiled pleasantly with a hopeful look that you will come over and look at their goods on display and possibly make a purchase.   Your heart beat increases exponentially and in your 'fight or flight' state your eyes dart around left and right looking for that distraction that will get you off the hook. You only came down for a loaf of bread and some small cake goodies, you never expected to be caught in the gaze of some small craft maker who wants you to buy from them. 

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. 

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.

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...