Two moans…
1. Took a short cut through the Bucuresti Mall’s car park today. Had to take a ticket on entry as the bastards are now charging for the car park after the first hour (which is free). Ever heard of a shopping centre charging customers for the car park? It’s an outrage. Rents must be down.
A crane. Currently in use, but for how long?
2. Couldn’t help noticing how slow work progresses these days on the various construction projects in the area. On a couple it looks suspiciously like work has come to a halt. Given that many of the huge the cranes that went up before 1989 have only just come down, are we now about to see another batch of semi-permanent rusting yellow hulks appear on our horizon?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
About parking on parking lots that belong to certain institutions: I prefer to park my car in the parking that belongs to Directia de Taxe si Impozite Sector 4 because it’s guarded all night and thus I can avoid nasty people scratching my car with a doorkey (national sport in Bucharest).
If I ever catch someone scratching a car I think I’m gonna beat his head agasinst the nearest wall until it breaks. Stupid peasants, no wonder the boyars controlled them with a whip like you control animals…
@Bucharestian: fortune-telling is a nice business
You know, I had this idea since long ago because when people think about gypsies they think about fortune-telling (first) and if I made a website with some pictures of gypsies from Romania and learned some fortune telling there’s a good chance that people would buy the scenario : ) )
I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna place some pictures of gypsies, say that I’m “the true and only daughther of Mama Omida” and tell people that I can perform incantations to break bad spells.
I’m gonna tell them that I have to sacrifice a hen at midnight so that I can charge them for the price of the hen too =))
The mall (or supermarket) parking issue happens because many people not going to the mall / supermarket park their cars there because of the general lack of sufficient parking lots. I go to the Billa on a weekly basis and half of the parking lot there is taken by people living nearby (while customers park near the building, residents park near the gate); there are even trucks and buses parked there every now and then (no, not trucks with supplies for the shop, those go to the back of the building). Then, just like at Dristor’s Mc Donald’s, some people use the parking lot to avoid the traffic light (well, now they installed some speed reducing bumps). In the chaos this country is about, survival is often a matter of self-imposed rules which are not a common sight and, yes, which would sound overdone elsewhere. A while ago, even a hotel located in a relatively non-residential area like Phoenicia had problems because non-customers used to park their cars there for days, so the hotel management decided to let the parking away, to another company, which put in barriers and charged any stay that goes over 15 minutes (the time one needs to go there and pick / drop off a hotel client). Up to a point, of course, one cannot blame private entrepreneurs for the lack of basic infrastructure this city and country are about.
Andrei: why not a hybrid? Psychological assistance for crisis victims, construction developers, Bucharest hotel managers (yeah, occupancy is down and still dropping) + fortune-telling. Call it Ohmydeedee, sora lu’ Omida.
close to my home *
Of course I noticed it, today I went to see a commercial space to my home and I’m gonna rent it probably tomorrow.
The poor owner was in such a financial pain that he decided to throw in a 500 Euro / month contract for 4 years, for his 30 sqm commercial space on Soseaua Oltenitei (close to Piata Sudului).
Obviously my eyes were shining because I wanted such a commercial space for a long time but until now the rent was more than 1000 Euro / month due to the strategic location with a lot of traffic.
Don’t know what I’m gonna do yet, probably I’m gonna try to find a sports betting franchise, otherwise I’ll have to resort to clothes.