Blog of Leonid Mamchenkov

Maxim and I went to the see the show of the famous Medrano Circus on Sunday.  It was supposedely the last day of their tour, but gladly they decided to delay their departure and will be staying until Wednesday, October 29th.

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Yesterday I observed a really weird thing - snow in Limassol.  The temperature dropped down to +2 degrees Celsius, it was very windy, and it was snowing for at least two hours.  Of course, the ground is too warm for the snow to stay, but other surfaces, like, for example, my car, were covered in snow.  That was really wicked!

In my 12 years in Limassol, I’ve seen snow like only two or three times.  Previous experiences weren’t even close to yesterday’s.  They seemed more like accidents.  But yesterday … it was snow for real.

Via Google News I came across this article in Cyprus Mail, which talks about the new regulation from Limassol municipality for removing abandoned vehicles.  Interestingly, I thought about it a few times already.  There are many abandoned cars in the city, and they often add to the parking problem that is getting worse and worse by the day.

The picture above shows the abandoned car near my house.  It stays there, with garbage bins, for a couple of years now.  Previously, it was occupying space on our guest parking for at least three more years.  I know there were a few complaints by my neighbors to get rid of it, but somehow it is still standing there.  People cannot remove it by themselves, since it has valid number plates.  And authorities were a tiny bit too slow on it.  Maybe now it will get some attention.

Also, it’s nice to see that Limassol’s municipality takes action on this one, howeve, I believe that the problem is wider than just our area.  I’ve seen quite a few abandoned cars in Agia Napa, Nicosia, and Pafos.  I’m sure there are a few in Larnaca as well, but my routes there are rather limited and short.

I remember trying to pull the bed sheet from Olga all night today. When I woke up I felt chilly and wasn’t in the mood to get out of bed. When I stepped on the floor, I realized that it was than chilly - very refreshing. I was extra fast putting my clothes on too.

When I stepped outside, I immediately felt the urge to stick my hands into pockets of my jacket. Steam was coming out of my mouth. And I had no will to go to work.

While walking towards the car I was wondering if that’s really so cold or if that’s just me dramatizing on weather. As soon as that thought came to my mind, I heard a loud bang. It was a sparrow. He probably decided that life wasn’t worth living no more with temperatures that low and crashed into the office window at full speed. He dropped dead and made me feel sad.

Morning just wasn’t working out.

I started the car and checked the outside temperature. 9 degrees Celsius! (If you think that’s not cold, try boosting the relative humidity in your area to something above 60%.) No wonder I felt cold…

On the way to the bakery to get some breakfast I saw a couple of Philippino guys. They were even cold to look at. It was like they were wearing all clothes that they had, and then some more, borrowed from a friend. One of them had two hats. Poor guy was freezing his brains out I guess.

I came to the office about 20 minutes before the start of my morning shift (The start of the shift is at 7:00am), so I had enough time to enjoy the hot and sweet cup of coffee with still warm and fresh mushroom pie from the bakery.

Morning turned for the better…

We are experiencing some of the heaviest rains today. One of them caught me on the road from the office to home. I was driving 20 km/h and couldn’t see nothing. The best I could do was to see the lights of another car about ten meters in front of me. It got a little bit easier towards the second half of my journey, but I faced another problem - loads of water on the road. At one time I stopped at the traffic light and saw this small van FLOATING from the street across mine. The guy was trying to steer, but there was no chance. He was lucky that he was floating on the green light.

With all the danger and confusion of this weather, I still like it so much that I wouldn’t change it for hot summer days. Thunders and lighnings are the greatest bonus ever.