I looked out the window a few minutes ago and saw this image. Seems some local gypsies got inventive and knocked over the paper recycling container to bust into it from the bottom and take the paper. Presumably, they'll hit as many of these as needed to fill that van then take it in to some recycling center and get some money for it.

Well, we'll see if I can get back to blogging a little more regularly now that we're back home in Gajnice.

Took a look at that little map at the bottom of this page and see that I've now had visitors from 79 different countries. Wow. That's kinda cool.

Also received e-mail recently from a site that added me to its links section. The site is called Spotted by Locals and is intended to have people living locally in various locations around the world blog about their own area, thereby providing local knowledge and insight about the area. I added a link to their site in my links section to the left side of my blog here. The Zagreb portion is called Zagreb by Locals, and the link goes there. Go check 'em out, wouldya!?

It's snowing today in Gajnice. The snow started last night and went all night and now there's a blanket of snow covering everything. I'm sure it'll melt in the next day or two, but for now it looks nice outside. And I'm currently reading the book Snow, by Orhan Pamuk, so it's nice to sit there and read with the snow outside. Appropriate.

We're back home from Thailand. Been back for one week. And while it was a great four week vacation, it's good to be home.

When I've been here for a while, in Zagreb, sometimes I get jaded. But often when I leave and return, I notice how much I like it. I was in the center yesterday and was noticing how clean it is. There can be a lot of graffiti in the center (and, well, everywhere). And this sometimes makes it LOOK like it's dirty. But as I was riding the trams and buses around, I was noticing how clean it is. Very little litter. Walking around the center, with the sun shining and looking at the park on Zrinjevac was nice. And taking the train home later, I was just happy to have this fast ride to avoid traffic with.

Sometimes when I travel, other places are MUCH much dirtier. I had the same reaction when we returned from Belgrade. While I really enjoyed my time there, it's a dirty city. And by comparison, Zagreb looks shining, new and clean. Same thing with Bangkok. Bangkok is perhaps the dirtiest city I've ever been in. The infrastructure there is not enough to support the large population they have. Many areas have a bad sewage problem with the horrific smell of raw sewage wafting through the air and mixing with the wonderful spices of the cooking going on in the little stands on the street.

Not all areas are filthy, but many are. It's a city of ten million people, so it's 12 or so times larger than Zagreb. So comparing it isn't really fair. It's a city that is bustling with life and all that entails. It's filled with wonderful chaos, but also immense filth. We enjoyed our time in Thailand. And we will return someday. But man, it's good to be home.

After a hellraising process that took 10 full months, I finally have my second visa.

Long time readers of this blog may remember the process I had to go through for this. To get my first visa, I had to start a company here and have myself as the director, which meant I received a business visa. When I put in my papers to renew the visa in mid January, the amount of paperwork they required from me regarding my company was just ridiculous. I ended up having to go from one ministry to the next and back and forth constantly. Every time we'd think we were done, they would ask us for a new paper. Really. We'd visit them and they'd tell us that we only needed one more paper, then when we delivered that, they'd tell us we actually needed yet another. And that part of the process went on for a few months.

I had that company for a year before that and paid all of my taxes and filed all necessary papers. But sometime before summer they actually denied my visa. The ministry of finance had denied it to my company basically. And they offered NO explanation. The people at MUP, the police station (who deal with visas) said they didn't know why I was denied, but they had a huge stack of applications for people who had the same thing happen to them.

My girl and I got engaged in December, though, of last year. And so we put in a new application for a visa based on this. But it's not as simple as that. That whole part of the process is also ridiculous. And every paper we supplied them with last year had to have new copies given to them. It's just crazy. A paper that is literally exactly the same must be given to them with a new date on it. Even stuff that is not dated requires a new copy. The file for me is something like 3 inches thick with papers. And that's just for this year.

But finally, today, they gave me my visa. And of course, they couldn't just give me the new visa. They also want more paperwork. I now have to give them a new birth certificate. In Croatia, their birth certificates are not actually birth certificates. They're more like life certificates. They record stuff in them over time. For instance, if you are married, your "rodni list" is updated with this information. We don't do that in the States. A birth certificate is just that; a birth certificate. It lists only facts about the birth itself, not about the person later in their life. I already had to go to the American Embassy and have them certify that I am not married which is also stupid because they actually can't possibly know if I am married. Anyway, because I did *that* they basically said okay. But I still have to supply them with a new copy of my birth certificate. The date on mine is 1988. But the certificate itself is from 1968, when I was born. They were already supplied with a fresh translation dated now, but they need that purple ink with the notary public stamp to have a date within the last six months.

And, I have to supply them with a paper that proves that my landlord actually owns the apartment I am living in. This despite the fact that we already went to a notary here to certify this and they already have that.

Ah well. At least I have the damned thing now. Now I have to take the application for the birth certificate to the American Embassy and have their notary certify that I am in fact me and send the application off and hope that it actually arrives in the mail.

And I am closing my company. For anyone who is considering opening a company here I recommend you avoid it at all costs. For me it was a pain in the ass and keeping it going is totally a waste of effort and a cause of stress as well as a good way to pay higher taxes. Fuck that.

And we head to Thailand in January and today I read about bombs going off in the Bangkok airport.

America doesn't look too bad sometimes.

I recently started collecting foreign currency. There's an antique market here on Sundays and I go there once in a while and buy stuff from a guy there who has tons of money from all over. No, I have not visited all of these places. I like the art on them and the view into the culture of where they come from. It's fascinating to me.

Click the image below to view money from Russia, Czechoslovakia, Slovakia, Yugoslavia, Iran, India and Montenegro.

Foreign Currency

I ask all of my fellow Obama supporters today to not gloat. I ask that you not kick the Republicans while they are down. Extend a warm hand in their direction and draw them into the process of governance that will follow. Their party will have a lot of soul searching to do in these next 2 years at least. And by extending our friendship to them we can not only have a more unified country filled with far less vitriol and hatred, but we can help draw some of them to the Democrat party. And we can also help them shape the new foundation of their party that will have to be built. Engage any of your Republican or conservative friends in conversation.

Our long national nightmare is over. But don't use this as a chance for revenge. We're above that. Use this as a chance to reshape the dialog in our country. In doing so maybe we can get rid of all the spite and hatred that has rocked our political world since 1992.

A man can hope. And as we've seen, sometimes that hope is fulfilled.