And the blogue:
A year later
A whole year after returning from the US would be a good time to sum up the experience.
Except I don't feel like anything important has happened. It's just a place where I prefer to live. Food tastes better, beer is real beer, and I know more people. The rest is more or less the same - government equally insane (and while being far less dangerous internationally, is still ranks of cronies and ridiculous laws), currency artificially held high despite inflation, TV and radio unusable (good for avoiding only), advertising invasive and designed for morons.
Few minor things where the US are better:
- internet is cheaper and about 3-4 times faster for the same money
- cell phones have your local area code, so Skype calls to a cell phone cost the same
- roads are far better
- groceries are open almost anytime (well, not anymore, but many used to work 24/7 twelve years ago)
- no mud, wherever you go (in the cities, at least)
- the do-not-call list exists and is respected (except by cops brotherhoods(' call centers))
And where Serbia is better:
- mobile operators don't charge the callee, only the caller; you can pay parking via a SMS message (and that, as I hear, works for almost ten years here)
- people are far more open and don't try to stop conversation short
- loitering doesn't exist as an offense - you can stand and talk anywhere for as long as you want
- it's hot in the summer, but it's dry heat and there are dozens of places where you can sit outside and have a drink or coffee
- groceries are smaller and yet we manage to find what we want without so much cart driving
- almost everything is close enough - within walking or at least bicycling distance
- the anti-smoker racism didn't really catch yet
- colors everywhere
Soon I bit my tongue about this last item, as the drab grayness circled around and intruded everywhere. Not just cars, but garments (gray blue jeans!), façades, even of old houses.
Go needs to start paying insurance for the house in vBeach, starts shopping around.
Special instructions for Nick, about scheduled tasks (they don't have LI, but do PDF converter), to create some permanent account under which it'd run, for which the password wouldn't change, because when it does, it stops working. But the accounts are created by SFBC's internal IT cops, and now I have to explain to him how to explain to them. When these guys hear about „permanent account“ and specially „lasting password“, they shoot first then listen. Autumn sorrow.
30-III-2026 - 8-IV-2026