CV Stories; Odessa to Zagreb

Having a huge pandemic happen when one is in their own country, home, neighborhood is scary.  I got to go through it while I was in Ukraine.  Here's what happened with me.



19 MAR 20

Was wandering around today. Though most people didn't have masks, some did.

Of those that did, about a third were wearing them, a third were carrying them and a third thought they were some sort of neck fashion accessory.

They are a drag to wear, I get that.

I'm not using a mask but am working on staying away from people even though a certain percentage of the population seems to want to blunder into me. So I try to avoid them.

The only time I leave the apartment is an hour or two per day for walking exercise. The rest of the time is pretty much inside the apartment.

23 MAR 20

Logan's current situation in Ukraine (with a bit of a story):

So I went down to the bureaucratic building. There was a breathtakingly mean/rude lady whose job was to tell people to fuck off - they weren't working. Despite there being people there and yes, working.

After figuring out her job, I just stood inside and said 'hello can you help me' to anyone who looked like they might work there. Found a very nice guy who took quite awhile out of his day on google translate with me.

Turns out that after a bunch of crap he showed me upstairs to 'the good looking people'. You can generally tell how high up in a bureaucratic organization (in most of the world) someone is by how well dressed or pretty they are. Well dressed guy with a pretty assistant? Probably someone of some import. And everyone up there was speaking English. Basically, got to try to convince the guy via text messages for 20-30 minutes I was serious before getting escorted upstairs to have a quick chat to the people who speak English.

This was not unexpected.

They brought in a lady to tell me again that no fines or trouble would be brought down on people who over stayed their visas due to the plague. No, they wouldn't write me a note saying I'd tried to extend my visa or any of that stuff. I was instead invited to jump through their bureaucratic hoops for maybe they would get me something. No, they couldn't take 15 seconds out of their day to hand write something - it is not their process.

Again, not totally unexpected but I'd hoped to get lucky.

My buddy Sergey urged me to contact the US Embassy. Can't go there - it is a few hours north and no buses and such are running. So I gave them a call. After playing with their automated menus (it is business hours but there is nobody to help you) I said fuck it and tried their emergency number. No, I don't want to be put on a list. I'm from the USA and learned to distrust government decades ago.

They reassured me that (in their opinion because nobody truly knows Ukraine) there would be no fines or trouble for crossing the border after the border opens from an overstayed visa - but it would be something they would mention to their superiors in a meeting.

Wait - am I the first one that called about this? WTF - seriously.

So I am pretty much reassured - as much as can be. I rented (at a very reasonable rate - welcome to the plague!) the same flat for an additional month which is great because I don't have to mess with new shit and can stay 'self isolated'.

Every day, I go out for an hour or a bit more to get exercise and walk around, get some supplies then the rest of the time is spent indoors and with food brought by delivery people from a restaurant.

That's where things stand now.

26 MAR 2020

Logan's survive the current apocalypse strategy:

Accumulate water.

I've noticed that the store I normally pick up 6L jugs from was running low on those. Other people have recently started to think about this. I've got a couple days head start there. Note - I currently only have 72L. Sounds like a lot but it can go fast.

Accumulate alcohol.

If things get really hard, I know I'm going under like a beetle against a windshield. Best to enjoy the last wild ride a bit.

Accumulate canned food.

This is the next step. Unfortunately, unlike in the USA where getting canned food (pasta whatever) is bloody easy - most of the world is like 'Wha-?' when it comes to this sort of stuff. They eat fresh food and don't force in as much salt as possible. Which is a good thing. But it does make it more tricky to pick up canned food which will stay viable if the government/military says 'stay the fuck home or we arrest you, infect you, shoot you, bury you'. Which is always possible. Doing the 'let's eat fresh' thing is not going to go well if stores close.

I figure to get stocked up with a couple months of canned food here - maybe $100? If I am wrong and misread the graph with the line at a nearly verticle angle then I blow $100. If I am correct, worse comes to worse I am trapped in my apartment with food, water and booze. So long as electricity and internet keep coming I'm good. If those fail - I'm screwed.


28 MAR 2020

Out on my daily wander around Odessa, I noticed a LOT less people on the streets and the ones that were there actually seemed to be getting the 'social distancing' thing. About half the people who were 'wearing' masks seemed to think it was for their neck.

I'm not wearing a mask - not because I'm macho but because I want the people stuck coming into contact with lots of people to have them. Plus, they're expensive and don't actually last long. Wonder if a tied bandanna around the face, cowboy style would do it?

07 APR 2020

Since I'm not suppose to go out onto the streets, I am now getting my exercise shuffling around the courtyard of the apartment building.

Oh, the "WTF looks" that I am getting.

Honestly, they baffle me. It's like the people have never seen someone walking around.

True, I walked (shuffled) around something the size of a movie prison yard for an hour and a half (timed it - I know I need more but my legs start hurting about then) and people just stared at me. When I waved at them, zero response.

True, I was wearing a bandanna for my mandatory mask. Maybe they thought I was a train robber.

Something else fun that happened was the guy from the vape store brought me a new tank and some coils. It was like I was doing some sort of weird drug deal just outside the prison before going back in and got some of the same looks.

The vape store guy still hasn't gotten we are in an epidemic. No mask, wants to shake hands, doesn't get keeping a distance. Nice guy but he might be taking this too lightly. I was glad to get more vape stuff though.

08 APR 2020

A couple of days after being told about the draconian measures thing and shown a news article, I decided to risk a quick trip out to a very close bakery and to attempt to recharge my phone.

More people than before the measure were out wandering around.

Half did not have masks.

I was like "WTF?"




19 MAY 2020

Quick notes for those following this page (instead of my normal facebook page for whatever reason):

Like everyone else on the planet, I'm stuck where I am currently waiting for transportation to start back up.

I'm sitting in a very nice apartment in Odessa Ukraine. Not fucking Odessa Texas. Ukraine.

Honestly, not a lot has been going on here. Like the rest of the globe, after a couple months of lock down, people seemed to get bored with that and - despite the mounting cases and deaths said "Fuck it. I'm sure the curve has been flattened."

Despite little details like not knowing much about the disease, having no cure, bodies in mass graves, etc.

Got to get that fucking haircut.

Unlike those who are protesting to go out and gather in large groups to spread their disease (and collective stupidity) I've been keeping my distance from others, doing a lot online and pretty much staying indoors most of the time.

Not a huge change from my normal lifestyle but with a lot less 'interacting with the locals' of whatever place I'm at. I do miss it but you know - plague.

26 MAY 2020

When going for my walk today, I found that I was one of the few who was still sporting a mask.  Ukraine has not thus far had that many deaths - only a few hundred.  A depressing number but still very small compared to a lot of the countries.  At this time, I am expecting that by the middle of next month I should (hopefully) be able to leave this country.  Because I am expecting a 'second wave' to hit, I'd like to go somewhere like Germany.  It's a bit expensive for me but I'm hoping that 'ruthless German efficiency' extends into the medical field.  Love hanging out in Germany.  We'll see.



29 MAY 2020

I heard an airplane today.



8 JUN 2020

First day Logan ventured out without a mask.  For the last few days many people in buses, bus drivers etc haven't been wearing a mask.  Note that soon we will have a new wave of this but for now everyone 'is totally over it' even though people are still dying from it.




EVERQUEST...AGAIN

The nostalgia bug bit me bad and I needed a break from constant prepping and to put myself into the tedium of grinding XP for awhile in a computer game.

And Steam has free Everquest.

So I said "Fuck it" and went for it.

Some things I've noticed are different:

A couple of the zones (some in frost world, whatever it's called), Freeport and Oasis are different. Very different. I regard this as a huge fail because for the people that haven't stopped playing in the last two decades they're not there any more and for the returning players - they're after nostalgia. Wiping out that nostalgia is just dumb. Given how dated EQ is, I don't think you're going to get new players.

They have a tutorial and there is some learning curve. Not nearly as "WTF brutal" as with that space game (what's the name?) but still there are all kinds of new features.

Some other things - leveling is a lot faster and there is a lot less down time. I'm playing an enchanter (heard they were good at soloing and since it would be stupid to play a party class when there are no people playing at low levels) I decided to try that out. Working well. After a short time, I'm already level 44. Much faster leveling. According to Steam, I've been playing for 72 hours. I remember having a hundred played hours in at one time and my character was only level 20.

They now have mercenaries that can tank, heal or DPS. Neat. I got a tank one and he's a better tank than many players I've grouped with. Cool.

They have a lot of new gear which is keeping me 'kind of geared up' which is fortunate because again - no low level shit is being made for low level characters and sold in the auction house. There is apparently even an option of starting your character at high level. I didn't because that would eliminate the whole nostalgia thing - as well as having something to finger twitch to while listening to my audio books.

So far, it's been OK. Not exceptional but fine.

(19 JUL 2020:  451 hours into it and still going OMG what's happening?)




17 JULY 2020

Logan's heroic tale of arriving in - er - where the fuck am I? Oh - right - Croatia. Zagreb or something.

Anyway, here's what happened.

My buddy Sergey suggested leaving Ukraine before everything opened up - to make sure that the Ukraine government didn't hit me with some huge fine for overstaying my visa by a few months. Which I did. Because of the epidemic.

And Sergey found out that Croatia (probably out of desperation for those tourist dollars) is even accepting in those dirty bastards from the USA. Which I now fit into despite not having lived there for a fucking decade. Cool.

"You're going to want to get tested for CV". After checking out the people all grouped in a clump (attempting to social distance means someone else takes your spot, bitch) I was like "I'm going to go with plan B".

Plan B: Find something written in Cyrillic that looks official and doesn't have an obvious date on it. If they have someone who can read it and they say "This isn't that" I say "Well, shit - I can't read it either. Sorry I gave you the wrong paper." Sorted.

Went to the airport and got dropped off. Fucking ghost town. Cool.

First ass clench moment: Lady at check in "Oh you need a round trip ticket to go to Croatia". No you fucking don't. She called someone as I writhed a bit and was told you don't.

Then she checked my 'it should be 7KG" carry on. It was like 12KG or more. "That's pretty heavy." She says.

I'm thinking "Gosh, I did try to be nice. Wonder why she's angry?"

"Does it have your computer in it?"

"Yes" I gushed. "They just keep making them heavier and heavier!"

She gave me an odd look and tagged it.

I went to the bag scanning. The guy had to scan my webcam twice. Apparently he'd never seen one before. I'm thinking "WTF".

Second ass clenching moment. Ukraine visa stamp out. After looking to see how long I'd been there, I get asked for my residency papers. Told them that I don't have any, tried to leave but the evil virus kept me from doing so. She takes my passport and goes away.

I chat to her friend as everyone else has literally already checked in and probably had a game or two of bowling.

I keep talking to the lady wondering "WTF is going on". Eventually she comes back with other forms and a photocopy of my passport. And they let me through. Well, that's two ass clenchings so far. Let us go for three.

Third ass clenching comes when I get to the gate boarding. I can't fucking believe it. "Can I see your visa for Croatia?"

"I'm from the USA - I don't need a visa for Croatia."

She thinks I do - even though I'd gotten through her very own colleagues at the front desk but apparently they're idiots or something to her so she goes and consults someone else.

That was the third ass clenching. Was my sphincter tired? Yes. Done? No.

Now on the airplane you have to fill out a form for LOT (Polish airlines) because they believe that 'paperwork can fight a plague'. Which is kind of dumb. Personally, I think that when these countries get nervous, they go back to USSR style paperwork. Looking back on it, I'm not even sure who gets this stuff. If anyone. You could do the 123 Sesemie Street address. Yeah mother fucker - go ask for directions. "How do I get to - well, shit."

No problem. I've filled out lots of paperwork. Fill that out. Then, get at last to customs in Croatia.

They aren't wearing masks though they want the people on the planes to wear them covering both mouth and nose (not everyone does because they are either lazy, stupid or in one case just old.

I get a minor amount of hassle at the border. They want my phone number (I give them my soon to be lost forever Ukrainian phone number because never trust a government) address (I read it to them - if they have the right place I'll be impressed but looking back I should have looked up an address elsewhere and given them that). They tell me I should self isolate for a week then go get a test.

Looking around, these guys are doing exactly the same thing as in Ukraine. If you go into a shop, etc - put on your mask. Walking around outside? No. They think air kills the germs or something. Nobody (in either country) wears a mask.

At the airport they had a really super tourist lady. I asked her "How do they know I am social distancing and self isolating and all that?" She admitted that they don't.

Cool.

Now obviously, I am going to work on being safe and stuff but all the stories I heard (from their government) are obviously 'wildly exaggerated'.



WHERE AM I AGAIN?
Zagreb - Croatia. Though honestly, I seem to keep forgetting.

My initial thoughts: My place is small, a bit expensive and close to the center. In year 2020, paying $800 for a tiny - but quiet - apartment. Very comfortable bed. I like it.

The town itself is clean, most people wear masks either indoors or on public transport (most) and seem friendly. If you are new here, assume everyone speaks English or at least some English.

Public transport seems good and regular.

Sunday, almost everything is closed. Fuck you, stay home or go to some of the restaurants. That's about it.

Food delivery still works though unlike Ukraine, cash payment doesn't seem to be an option with Wolt (delivery service) but there are also several different delivery services here. And Uber. Overall, 'modern'.


27 JUL 2020

Holed up in Zagreb for what will be (probably) two months. I did some research on Slovakia (another country I've not yet been to and one not many of my countrymen could find on a map) and right now they are talking about a two week quarantine for those not from their 'clean countries' list. So I'm waiting and watching. Even though Germany will be more expensive even than here, it strikes me as a good country to get stuck in when this resurfaces in Europe during the winter. Though I'd rather be in the south of France. Or Portugal. Whatever.

One of the things I find myself constantly working on is not getting stuck doing things just one way. Stay flexible. I discovered my phone card which I thought would take me through a month was demanding a month's worth of money per week. Spent time looking for the store. Nice guy at a bank (banks are good to go to as are computer stores and such to find people to speak English) looked up the store, wrote down an address.

Spent some time doing the 'talk to twenty people because half will give you the wrong place entirely' game to get a consensus on where the store was. Discovered myself getting directions at another cell phone store. "You sell sim cards here? How much? Hum. Quarter of the price of what I was looking to pay - fuck those other people, I'll take one please'."

Gotta 'stay loose' as they use to say five decades ago.


MEANWHILE

I'm still working on scratching that ole EQ itch that over 500 hours sunk into game play hasn't yet hit. (Everquest, very old assed MMORPG).