Unable to publish last week, here goes a 2-in-1 edition.

  • 🇺🇦 The situation in Ukraine took over most of the weeks. Twitter is where I spend most of the free time, for as long as my brain is able to cope. We dropped a few bags with warm clothes and baby stuff at the Ukrainian Church in town when all this started, and a lot of people were doing the same. A LOT. There’s not much else we can do for now, except worry and hope that, somehow, a quick solution is found. Improbable, I know, as each day brings horrible and depressing news.
  • 🍿 No time for anything besides news about Ukraine. No shows, no movies. This will have to change soon.
  • 🍺 We managed to go out and have a beer. Sounds simple, but it’s actually a lot harder than it should. Getting three couples (complete with babies) together involves a lot of planning, and a sprinkle of luck. We made it happen, but one of the parents couldn’t make it. As close to 100% success rate as we could get. We were still happy. The beer was delicious and cold, and we talked… Mostly, of course, about the babies, but the war talk was also on the agenda. It’s unavoidable at this point.
  • 😔 Micro.camp is happening, and I couldn’t find a way to take part. I’m feeling both sad and embarrassed. I was supposed to have a presentation, then couldn’t get things ready on time, it was a mess. A huge one. These past couple of weeks have been hell, and I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to keep my promise and get the presentation ready.
  • 📷 Work weeks! Damn, I did not miss having so much work. Went all over the place, both for the newspaper and the wine shop. That means a lot of time away from home, and a lot of time at home editing photos.
  • 📱 Tech wise, not a lot going on (see previous list items). I did swap my physical SIM for an eSIM, and got a new number as well. Since I’ve been on the road often these days, I wanted to make sure I always have a working connection in case something happens to tinyMovieStar, so I got a new number from another provider. Also road-related, I gave TomTom another chance. Waze is basically unavoidable here, so many people use it, and that gives it an edge on current road conditions, presence of police on the roads, radars and whatnot, as well as the super Google search for locations. But I’m finding TomTom to be a great contender in looks (Waze looks really basic) and the routing is incredible. Traffic information is awesome as well. No police warning, but I drive so slow I guess I don’t really need them. Also has a nice web view for route planning and saving. Handy. Subscribed for a year.
  • ⛽️A couple of weeks ago there was talk on M.b about gas stations, and attendants that help you filling up, and I was surprised to see one in the city one of these days. They are a regular thing outside the city, but here we can’t find them anymore. I was again surprised when I needed to fill up again, and found my tank cover was gone! The gentleman had forgotten to put the cap back on, and I drove off without it! Went back to the station, but it was gone forever. A new one is on the way. Gas prices are crazy now, way crazier than before (and they were already mental), so we’re driving only when we really need. Diesel went up by 14 cents per litre last Monday, and will go up again next Monday. This time: an extra 25 cents.
  • 👶🏻 A dear friend, one of the three I call close friends, had a baby a couple of months ago, and it’s been hard for them ever since. Thyroid issues from day one, now also blood issues. Getting a blood transfusion this young can’t be easy, for the baby and for them. We look at tinyMovieStar and feel blessed, our hearts tighten whenever we hear the hardship they’re going through.
  • 🙏🏼 A dear friend, one of the three I call close friends, has left for Ukraine. He’s a photojournalist, the one who took over my place as photo editor at the paper, and he will try to get to Odessa and report from there. We started worrying already, as the city seems like hours/days away from being invaded. It’s his first time in a war zone as well, that also adds a layer of worry. I don’t miss that part of the job, at all, and wish him all the best in such a stressful situation. Hope he makes it back safe.
  • 🙋🏻‍♂️ The last of the three I call best friends had no big issues, and he’s the one who ALWAYS has something happening to him! He’s the unluckiest person I know, but these weeks have been good to him.
  • 🍰 I managed to turn 51. We had lunch. It was great.