Location-Check

Wenn du es normal findest, dass es im Büro 15°C hat und du täglich zum Kunden fährst zum Aufwärmen......

Wenn du den Eisschwimmern glaubst, die sagen, dass es sich warm anfühlt, wenn man bei -20°C in den Fluss baden geht, weil das Wasser ja +4°C hat.....

Wenn du dich täglich einmal auf dem Eis langlegst, weil du nicht wie die Mädels mit diesen 10cm hohen ein-spitzigen Steigeisen herumläufst......

Wenn jeder Schnee- und Eishaufen unter 1m Höhe in deinen Augen ein super Parkplatz ist.....

Wenn du bei -8°C denkst, der Frühling ist schon da......

Dann, ja dann bist du in Kiew!

Back on the ice !!!

With temperatures below -15 celsus outside for more than a week, it's time to get back to the frozen waters. (By the way - colder temperatures are forecasted for next week)

We went skating on a pond west of Kyiv, where friends of ours live in a nice house. For those who don't have the experience: Comparing skating in such conditions to indoor-skating is about the same difference as between off-piste skiing and a well prepared "Blaue Autobahn".














Needless to say - we couldn't stay outside very long. But you should see those ice fishers, they drill hole after hole, sitting there for hours drinking vodka!

Ericsson's new program to increase "time with customer"? :
temperatures in Peter's office have gone down to approx. 15 (at least +) , and a cold wind is blowing through the non-existing isolation round the windows. At such circumstances it's a question of survvial to organize a meeting at the customer's premises once per day to warm up.

Between elections

The first round of the presidential elections took place on Sunday. Timoshenko and Yanukovich will face each other again on February 7th for the runoff.
On the day of the elections, the face of Kiev changed radically. All the political posters and banners disappeared, no more Timoshenko embracing a lion, no more Yanukovich stating nothing, no more Yushtshenko saying that Europe is great.
With the real cold setting in now (minus 15°C today, then down to minus 19°C and minus 22°C on Sunday), the new campaign will probably be frozen 'til shortly before the next round of elections.

Water Administration

Drinking water is delivered to us in containers of 19 liters that we order regularly (in Russian!).
It used to be the four containers delivered by two strong men who took the empty containers with them, had us sign a little form and left the signed receipt with us.
Yesterday, another delivery. As a result we were left with 5 (five!) papers:
The usual one, another one stamped and signed, also stating that 4 containers were delivered.
A third one reading "invoice", also with stamp and signature.
A fourth one with stamp and signature and finally a fifth one (also with stamp and signature, of course) detailing the taxes paid for the water and the delivery.