CO-neutral house

This is a house I have been to in Denmark. It is prototype that is supposed to be CO-neutral. Whatever that means. But is looked really cool, both from outside and inside. Lots of windows, solar panels and solar collectors. Modern interior. And lots of advertising for the potential customers. I almost started to want such a cottage for myself...

Blue Screen

Today, I got blue screen on my computer for the first time.

I did it the following way. I wanted to archive some pictures and divide this archive into files of 180 Mb. Instead, I set the part file size to 180 bytes. As I discovered the mistake, I had already 80000 of these files. The zipper hanged itself. So did the Explorer. Finally, my old computer made his last "peep" and faded away.

After restarting, I found Explorer unable to delete such a great number of files. I used cmd to do the dirty work... Now I feel good about my computer crisis handling ability.

Night Train

The night train from Stockholm to Malmö is very convenient. It starts its journey after 11 p.m. However, boarding begins at 9 p.m. Thus, one may have time to fall asleep before the train starts to roll and shake. Also, the scheduled arrival time is shortly after 6 a.m. However, one may stay in the car until 7 a.m.

Ikea Ukraine

Ikea is coming to Ukraine...

I thought they would not. I thought it was impossible. I thought the Ukrainian way of doing business seemed too dirty to Ingvar Kamprad. I was sure he has got enough headache with Russia...

Hence, I was extremely surprised to find an Ikea store in Dnepropetrovsk. I was even more surprised by the size of the store: I occupied only two stores of a house corner. No huge parking lane. No blue-and-yellow mega-building. No adjacent restaurant with cheap hot dogs and Swedish meat balls. It did not look like Ikea. It did not feel like Ikea. But the sign said it was...

Maybe this is the new way for clean guys to expand into dirty areas. They don't do it directly. Instead, they cooperate with local dealers. Hence, they feel no responsibility for all the corrupted schemes going on under the surface. Every one's happy, every one wins: Ikea makes profit. The dealers enjoy their business. The Ukrainians get their cheap furniture. Smart...

Dnepr

This used to be the view from my window as I stayed in the city of Dnepropetrovsk in Ukraine for a few days.

Odessa

I am back in Odessa now... This time at winter...

New Year

That's the way I spent the morning 01/01 2011

2010 vs. 2011

I have discovered a funny thing: At the time this post is being written, on 11:55 (central European time), Dec 31, 2010, the Wikipedia says:
2010 (MMX) is a common year that started on a Friday and is the current year.
2011 (MMXI) is a common year starting on Saturday and is the current year.
Well, the Wikipedia seems to be one step ahead of its time. I suppose that's good.


Anyway, happy new year to everyone!!!!!!

Зайцы в Гетто 2

Зайцами в нашем гетто становятся не только те, кто отказывается платить при входе в метро. Некоторые местные жители рождаются ими в буквальном смысле этого слова. Как и по всему остальному Стокгольму, в Хюсби живёт много кроликов. Граничащее с нашим районом поле даёт им простор для миграции. Обитают они, как правило, на полянах, под кустами, или на обочинах дорог. Сидят там и ждут, пока их кто-нибудь спугнёт. И только хороший зум позволяет подобраться к ним на близкое расстояние.

Многие русские задаются тут вопросом, почему этих кроликов никто не отлавливает и не кушает. Мне понятно, почему этим не занимаются шведы: Их даже мысль такая, я уверен, никогда не посещала. Но почему этого не делают местные арабы или африканцы, объяснить сложнее. Ведь, насколько мне известно, у мусульман кроличье мясо вовсе не является харам. Наверное, не такие уж жители нашего гетто бедные, как это хотят представить некоторые политики. По крайней мере голодать никому не приходится...  

Laundry

Making laundry this morning. While the dryer is running, I have time to blog...

I am not always happy about the Swedish socialism. But  I consider this one to be one of its most useful achievements: the Laundry room. Several really powerful wash machines and dryers are installed and can be used for free by everyone in the house. Perfect for everyone who can't afford a wash machine by himself.

The laundry room is also the only place where you can actually meet and talk to your neighbors. Today I actually met one elderly Swedish couple. There are not many real swedes living in my ghetto, so the fact I met them is almost surprising in itself. But having swedes starting to talk to you, that was beyond my expectation. Well, I guess that's the social code of this socialist country...