Beating The Cinema Queue With MovieTickets.ie

Having spotted an advertisement for MovieTickets.ie (possibly during a trip to see the latest Indiana Jones flick when last in Dublin… love the Savoy) I decided last night would be the right time to give it a spin.

Having taken a trip to see ‘Wanted’ recently, seeing the hoards of people turned away from the Kilkenny Omniplex for the consecutively sold-out screenings of ‘Hancock’, I figure I may get the tickets in early for Thursday night’s opening of Batman.

With booking available via Omniplex.ie and MovieTickets.ie all I needed to do was pick the day for the screening, the time for the screening, select the number of tickets and away I go. A painless service that I’m happy to pay the .50c booking charge on tickets for if it means avoiding the usual horrible queue on opening nights in Kilkenny.

The tickets are set for collection at the cinema within 30 minutes of purchase so I may swing by this afternoon and collect them for Thursday’s screening of The Dark Knight. If it all works out, I don’t think I’ll be queuing in the cinema again any time soon. Though it would certainly help if you could pre-order your food / popcorn / drinks as well.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed to keep up to date with kenmc.com. Maybe some of my earlier posts will interest you too! Thanks for visiting kenmc.com!

Cost Savings On A Full Driving License

Last year, aged 24, I forked out around €1,220 for comprehensive insurance on my 1.9l Peugeot Partner. My license date and insurance renewal date were in days of each other, the license passing into its second year just before paying out the insurance renewal.

The first year I had the van, aged 23, I paid out over €1,700 for comprehensive insurance on a first provisional license.

When the letter from SGS (driving test) came in the door a few months back to tell me I would be sitting my test on June 26th I thought it couldn’t have come at a better time. My license would be up for renewal come August, along with the insurance - failing the test would mean moving onto a second provisional and possibily reducing the cost of the insurance. Passing the test would mean a full license and a definite reduction in insurance.

So, delighted as I am having turned 25 in May, passing the driving test in June and picking up my insurance quote from Quinn Direct in the post today to offer me insurance at €560 give or take a few pennies.

The no-claims bonus was represented a saving of around €190 so when you take charges into account (for direct debit payments), I’m still left with an additional saving of around €430 having turned 25 and earned a full license.

Now to direct that saving into something nice…

I Should Really Get Mobile Broadband

I’ve noticed a change in my blogging trends of late. The free time that I wish to dedicate to blog posts finds me in areas where my connectivity is completely restricted. My work within the theatre has increased dramatically (no pun intended) over the last few weeks (I spent the last two weeks of June in preparation for and producing a run of ‘Trainspotting’ only to take last week off before starting pre-production this week on a new show for August) and the gig count is going up.

I find myself with downtime in venues and restaurants where no laptops go, or where there’s no wifi signal to be found. That said, the Watergate Theatre were kind enough to allow me use of their connection to make the occasional tweet, check email etc.

During the Trainspotting run I pulled out a piece of paper and marked all the dates for July on it noticing more Xs (away) than spaces (home) between evenings and weekends. August, not so bad.

So now I look towards a mobile broadband solution. I’ve been tempted once again by O2 and their reduced offer for the summer months (€19.99p/m and a modem for €19.99). Having spoken with Bernie Goldbach and some O2 support people, the thoughts of running a 3G sim through an iPhone are quite tempting (my desire for an iPhone exists as a secondary phone to my N95 8GB though the 3G model has me very interested).

Pat wonders why there is no interest in the 3G iPhone though I’ll agree that the price and dataplans are a pain in the arse. Is it possible to pick up a 3G iPhone away from O2 (I’m happy on my current contract, thanks) but fire a 3G datasim in there from the broadband dongle? If so, sign me up.

When I find myself in Sligo (such as this weekend and at least 2 of the next 3 weekends), my options are limited around the lake but there are healthy signals 2-3 miles away which I don’t mind the short spin in the van for.

I’ve recently added another musical promotion string to my bow so it would certainly make work life that bit easier.

Perhaps I’m just trying to convince myself to go out and get it sorted. Lifehacker’s guide to sharing your internet connection from your iPhone to your MacBook Pro also has me wondering.