Remembering basic things

 Hi!

Another Sunday, another internal pressure to post something! Even though currently I am not thinking about this because I have been busy becoming more stable on my bike, there is something that I have had on my mind and wanted to write about.

I was born in 1994 in Romania and spent all of my childhood and teenage life there. From what I remember life was pretty simple back then. Most people would get their milk and other dairy products from the market or from the "milk man" that everyone knew and trusted. The market is still real, but I don't know how good it is still is. Most people went to the corner shops across the street for their groceries where one would simply wait in line, tell the clerk through a small window what they wanted and then pay in cash and leave. In most shops, however, you would be able to walk in and look at what you want before waiting in line and telling the employee to get you what you want. I still remember this corner building by my apartment.

There were three shops: two shops that could probably fit 4 customers inside at a time where I would buy bread and milk, soda and candy. For some reason we never bought cold cuts and meat from there, but we did go to other corner stores where that is all we bought. Then there was another shop where there was no inside. Well, the woman working there was inside and you would be outside separated by a table and a big scale. The woman was selling vegetables and fruits. 

She would write down everything I asked for on a piece of paper and calculate it all in her head before telling me the final price. She would double check it with her calculator sometimes, but I think she was trying to keep her mind fit by also doing it in her head. I remember waiting in line, sometimes in the rain, no phone to distract me, getting the groceries, making some small talk, getting asked about my parents and other things. She knew me and my family and we knew her.

This is how people shopped until supermarkets showed up. I can genuinely still remember my mom talking about how much more practical a supermarket was because you could just grab your cart, walk around, take your time and then go to pay when you are ready without inconveniencing anyone who maybe wanted to buy just a thing or two and be out. At the little corner shops you would have to wait until the person in front of you was done with their shopping list. 

Another thing that I remember is bakeries. I have a distinct memory of visiting my grandma who lived in a pretty rough part of the city and how she would ask me to go buy some bread. I would go to the bakery in the neighborhood where people would still bake things from scratch. There was just an open window, a handwritten menu taped to it above the opening and a baker dressed all in white asking you what you wanted. In the back you would see crates of different types of goods that were going to get baked. These people actually started work super early and were probably already open by 5 am. 

I also remember a burger place by the tram station. I was very young and the owner already knew me because I would go there pretty often. You would just wait outside, order through the little opened window and then get your food to go. This one time they raised the prices, but since there was no way I could have known, the owner let me pay the old price.  It was such a wholesome experience even bumping into him years later after the shop closed down. 

I can't think of other examples right now, but I feel like back then we also had way more handmade things, whether it was food or a vase or even complete furniture pieces. Someone always knew someone who could do something for you. I sometimes think about how people used to live and work in the same house for generations, probably before industrialization happened. Working from home now and even being able to employ your entire family just does not happen anymore and when it does, it is a huge privilege for everyone. 

So yeah, what is life like now?

Now you go to stores and restaurants, where all you care about is the products. You put them in your cart, rush to the checkout, maybe make small talk with the cashier that you barely know and is too tired and underpaid to care and you go home. Honestly, sometimes it is nice to not be interrogated about your entire family when all you need is some bread, so I am not too sorry about that.

Now a homemade sweater that grandmas would have made for you and costs 500€ is fancy. It can be worse and cost like 50€ and be made by slaves somewhere in Asia because have you ever tried to make a sweater? That shit takes you months and good materials cost a fortune. 

One organic gmo-free, gluten free and grass fed banana for 10€ is fancy. Buying baked goods or food made by the hands of the owner that you can personally talk to, is fancy, expensive and a privilege.

Now even the internet without ads which includes youtube, news websites etc is a privilege that costs you money. I recently went on an official German dictionary website and thought I had accessed a scammy copy version of it because of the amount of ads. 

I just hate it how so many things that were just normal and common have been replaced by chains, ads and subscriptions while the real thing is only available to privileged people who are willing to pay the price for it. I have yet to find a bakery in my town that is not a chain and does not just heat up frozen stuff they get delivered. The last one I knew of here closed down and it was run by Turkish people. Maybe that is where I should look again... 

Anyway, let's hope this post goes viral once other normal shit that we have now becomes fancy and expensive, like owning music, software, movies or even the devices we use. 

See you

Learning how to ride a bike

 Hi there!

Note: I have not proofread any of this and I will probably correct it later, but anyway... here it comes!

I was actually planning on writing about why I don't like the way the internet is nowadays, or rather how we interact with content, but I don't feel like talking about that, so instead I decided to talk about my biking adventures...

Back in Nepal where... ok nevermind. I am not THAT adventurous, however after 30 years of being unable to ride a bike, I finally learned how to do it. I found a nice course that helped me learn and it was such a good course that after 4 hours we were all able to ride the bike pretty confidently. 

The course began by all of us introducing ourselves and saying what we expected from the course. Some people wanted to just be able to go on small bike tours with their kids while other people wanted to use their bikes to commute or just be able to go to more places without relying on their cars. The course took place on the grounds of where their official building was. There were some cobblestones and stuff, but it was alright.

The scooter

We were all given these scooters that were as big as regular bikes. The first thing we learned was to pull on the brakes and try to stand on the scooter with both of our feet until we inevitably fell to one side. That way we learned a bit about our balance and that it is completely normal to eventually stop and lean towards one side. Once we were used to that the next step was trying to push ourselves with one foot and try to keep our balance until the scooter stops and, as previously experienced, we'd lean to one side. We were encouraged to always stop the scooter by pressing the rear brake first. For this we also used a section of the place we were on that had a small incline so we would not need to push ourselves too much. 

At first it is really weird and you brake a lot because you feel like you are going to fall. The trick was to put your foot down and push yourself some more until you get enough speed and you stay "in air". We did not have to put our second foot back on it, we would just keep it next to the scooter in air. 

The bike

Step 1:

At this point we were able to ride these scooters so well that a couple of us considered only getting a scooter if we were not able to learn a bike because they were so much fun! 

The bikes we were given were already adjusted to our weight, which we had been asked about days before the course took place, by email. Everything was ready for us. In order to learn to ride the bike we went to this parking lot of the city's town hall where there only a few cars parked. The advantage of the parking lot was obvious. There was way more space and the parking lot also had a decline which was a big advantage for us later on. 

The bikes had no petals on. The seat was adjusted in such a way that we could fully reach the ground with our feet. We were then asked to just push ourselves with our feet and learn to keep our balance. Just like with the scooter, it was pretty difficult at first, but we got the hang of it at some point. Here too, we were encouraged to use the rear breaks to stop whenever we felt unsure. At this point we had practiced braking so often that it had become second nature. Our instructors told us they did not want to see us scream and jump off the bike, but rather brake and get off the bike gently. 

We practiced this for an hour or so and then once we were all able to pretty much ride the bike between our legs, we were given one pedal. We first started with our dominant foot and yes a lot of us struggled to figure out which one that was. For me it was the left one. So I learned to push the pedal with my foot on position so that it is like 2' o'clock or 10 o'clock, I don't remember exactly. The idea was to be able to push on it and get some speed. 

We practiced starting our bike ride with the pedal and just going down the decline. It was weird at first again, but we eventually got used to it. While practicing it, we also tried to lift our other foot to where the second pedal would be. Not only did this keep with the balance but it prepared us for step 2. 

Step 2:

Step 2 was riding the bike with two pedals. Up until now we were already used to braking, starting off with one pedal and just keeping our balance while our second foot was where the second pedal is... so the second step was the easiest... we just rode off. It was crazy! Not only did it almost feel like second nature already because of all the steps before, but we were just riding our bikes! That was insane!

Ok we can ride the bikes, now what?

We were already "experts" so we practiced riding down the parking lot, braking. Looking left and right and going left or right around the entire parking lot. Once we were done with that, we practiced going slalom around some cones which was pretty damn difficult, but I kinda managed to go around some of it. After that we tried to go around two cones in an 8 shape which was super difficult. I would just almost fall off the bike and have to brake all the time. Once we were done with that, we rode our bikes around a tree making smaller and smaller circles. We also rode our bikes and tried following each other while keeping distance. That was pretty nice and easy to do 

What we would have also practiced:

Well, our asses were in pain, it was already a second day, so a lot of people dropped out by the end of the course, so we did not get to simulate incoming traffic and stuff. There was an option to actually go on a small bike tour, but I chickened out and just stayed on the parking lot to practice some more. Two women went and had lots of fun but were just EXHAUSTED from it. 

Thoughts about this blog

When I started this blog, I had no plans for it. Actually, I was even considering just writing nonsense sometimes, which I believe I have successfully done here. I had no plans for when to post things, what to post or if I should focus on one specific topic more than on the other. 

Today I decided to search for blogs and see if I was able to find any personal blogs that are still active and I found Ye Olde Blogroll. There are plenty of blogs on this website that are still active and that I will be checking out. I actually did read a few posts on one blog that completely resonated with me and sort of inspired me to think about mine for a little bit. What do I want to do here? I want to gather my thoughts, create my own space and just exist in the void. I want to write things down and be able to refer to them. I want... I don't know what I want.

However, I think a little bit of structure and planning would do me some good, so I've decided that I am going to try to write a post once a week about something from my life... It can be anything. It does not even have to be long. Actually, considering that this is my own space, their our know rools, so I suppose the only rules I will be abiding by are making some sense and posting weekly. 

Hi there void

 Yo!

I am planning on writing more on my computer and I think I may upload some stuff in here too! Now that I have no feed on Youtube and I do not have any other addictive platform on my phone, I am thinking of just looking stuff up and writing down notes or my thoughts about it. 

I have also kinda been consuming French content for beginners so I am also considering doing something for that. Writing conjugations, explaining grammar to myself, dunno. Just doing stuff for the sake of it! I have also been thinking of playing with creating my own language, but in a more structured and linguistically accurate way.

Instead of just consuming media on my phone, I will whip out my laptop, watch stuff, save the video or at least the link to it, write about it, think about it, hate on it, love it and just "create" as I go along.

I feel like creating stuff all the time, but I don't know what. I am not very handy, cooking and baking simply goes away in 5 minutes, either because it goes into the trash or because whatever I cooked was so damn good, everyone ate it in 5 minutes. Coding for fun instead of for money sounds like fun, but after a work of doing just that and making so many decisions, all I wanna do is exist. Sooo I think consuming and writing about it will be my "creating". 

Oh and speaking of cooking and baking... I started writing down some recipes from Youtube Videos I like, including pictures! This way if those videos get taken down, which has happened before, or I dunno, ww3 breaks out because of stupid men (I'm a man too btw), at least I will know how to make some cake with whatever leftover eggs and flour I have left in the first days of this war. 

I am also considering going away from blogger at some point, but I need to find an alternative. I am also kinda considering just getting my own domain and using some markdownToHtml tool and post stuff that way. We'll see, I guess. 

Anyway, that is it. Dunno what or when I am gonna post next, but who cares.

I am still alive

Dear void,

Je ne sais pas pourquoi mais je veux apprendre le français encore, maar morgen rijd ik naar Nederland om een vriend te ontmoeten so right now I am like that maybe I should learn Dutch, but French is also cool aber dieser Freund schreibt mir auch oft auf Spanisch. Ich spreche es nicht, aber kann es schon einigermaßen verstehen uneori 

Oh I also wanted to learn Turkish to be in on the gossip at the barbershop I go to... 

Anyway, I have no idea what I am gonna do... I know I need to do less addictive shit and focus on stuff... like maybe studying a language or something. 

Anyway pupici lol