Living in RO Colors

Azi ma gandeam ca va e greu la servici. Sunteti in febra pregatirilor de sarbatori si nu aveti chef deloc de munca. Si daca stateati cu capul proptit in maini si va gandeati cum ar arata vitrinele magazinelor din centrul Vienei, va lamuresc eu.

In timpul unei mini excursii, m-am gandit la voi si am facut poze la vitrinele unor magazine ale marilor designeri. Las pozele sa vorbeasca de la sine, iar pe voi sa visati la ce va inspira ochii mintii. »

Se anunta cu surle si trambite deschiderea primului magazin de tip outlet din Romania. In Bucuresti, evident. Desi termenul de deschidere a fost prelungit cu 1 saptamana (pe motive ca nu toate magazinele si-au terminat amenajarile), centrul de magazine va prinde valul cumparaturilor de Craciun.

Personal, nu sunt foarte curioasa cum e complexul asta de tip outlet. Sigur va fi inghesuiala mare, vanzatorii nepregatiti de asaltul cumparatorilor si lucrurile neterminate. Exemplu clasic de “pom laudat”. »

Reciclez cam tot ce se poate recicla. Nu e usor dar nici greu. Cam la 2-3 zile duc punga plina cu reciclabile la containere si acolo incep sa le impart pe caprarii. Probabil lumea rade de mine cand ma vede ca ies cu gunoiul din casa in punga, dar inseamna ca ei nu recicleaza.

Am inceput sa reciclez de cand au aparut containerele de reciclare selectiva, desi nu e niciunul prea aproape de blocul meu. Dar nu ma deranjeaza sa duc eu plasa cu hartie, sticle goale de bere, dozele de aluminiu, PET-uri pliate, cutiile de carton de la lapte si altele.

Intruna din zile mi-a venit ideea de a intreba un reprezentant al firmei Eco Rom Ambalaje, ce se ocupa de acest program de colectare selectiva a deseurilor de ambalaje, sa-mi raspunda la 4 intrebari care mi s-au parut interesante pentru cei preocupati si educati intr-ale reciclarii.
Redau intrebarile puse de mine si raspunsurile exact asa cum le-am primit. »

Am citit cu drag acest text si vi-l impartasesc si voua.

Dl. Mircea Cărtărescu  raspunde la provocarea ziarului Cotidianul: Cum trebuie să fie partenerul ideal?

“Ştiţi poezioara cu care ne distram în copilărie:
“Băutura ideală
Este apa minerală.
Nu-ţi provoacă nici o boală,
Dar nici aia nu ţi-o scoală”. »

Afland din media ca in acest weekend Bucurestiul este binecuvantat cu 2 targuri interesante, m-am dus sa vad despre ce este vorba. Primul a fost Targul de Produse Ecologice, desfasurat la Muzeul Satului Roman sambata si duminica, iar al doilea eveniment a fost Targul de Miere de la Baneasa.

La Muzeul Satului am fost foarte dezamagita, deoarece chiar de la intrare m-a intampinat o coada mare ce astepta sa cumpere bilete. Odata intrati la targ, nu am gasit nicaieri o harta cu expozantii si unde sunt ei asezati. Si uite asa am inceput plimbarea printre casele din sat, cautand locurile unde sunt se vand produsele ecologice. Cautam grupurile mari de oameni stransi in jurul unei mese, semn ca acolo este ceva interesant. »

Aflat la a 4- editie, World Challenge 2008 si-a desemnat cei 12 finalisti; finalisti ce vor concura pentru premiul cel mare de 20.000 USD pentru finantarea proiectului lor.

BBC World News si Newsweek, in asociere cu Shell, organizeaza in fiecare an acest concurs cu scopul de a promova si sponsoriza proiecte locale care aduc o diferenta remarcabila in comunitatea lor.

Finalistii acestui an sunt din urmatoarele tari: »

In ultima vreme s-a inmultit numarul retelelor de telefonie care ofera abonamente pentru ambelete tipuri de telefon: fix si mobil. Fiecare cu strategia, clientii, bonusurile si … prefixele lor.

Cand primesc un telefon de la o persoana care nu e in agenda mea, prefer sa stiu din ce retea ma suna in cazul in care vreau sa o sun inapoi; pot astfel sa-mi aleg eu reteaua din care sun si astfel planul tarifar convenabil.

Asadar, dupa cateva cercetari, am ajuns la urmatoarele concluzii:

1. Telefonie Mobila
   • Vodafone: 072x – xxx - xxx & 073x – xxx - xxx
   • Orange: 074x – xxx - xxx & 075x – xxx - xxx
   • Cosmote: 076x - xxx - xxx
   • Digi Mobil: 077x – xxx - xxx
   • Zapp: 0780 – xxx - xxx

»

7.5 million tourists visited Romania in 2007, 27% more than 2006. Hotels and motels had been built, renovated and marketed. The offer is wide and unique: beaches, the Danube delta, mountains, and spa resorts - all four seasons have something interesting to offer.Almost everyone is making an effort to redefine the Romanian tourism and discover its strengths:
- the hosts are improving the quality of their services
- the authorities are branding the “fabulous spirit” of Romania
- the agencies are marketing their offers

I invite the foreign tourists to share their stories about visiting Romania on a news blog created especially for you: TravelNotes.ro. Create an account in seconds and start sharing pictures and comments about Romania. Here are a few hints:

- What part of the biodiversity caught your attention: the relief, the fauna or the flora?
- Which cultural event brought you to Romania or interested you?
- What do you think of the Romanian people you encountered?
- Did you enjoy hiking and discovering the nature around you?
- Which Romanian tradition caught you attention?
- How does the food you had in Romania differed from the one in your country?
- Which tourist destination from Romania would you recommend to your friends?

Share your travel notes, eve if you have a blog or profile in a travel community - we want to know about it and let others learn from your experiences.
Bottom line: We want to know what the foreign tourists think about Romania. The simple truth, so we can learn from it.

February 2008. It’s time for Bucharest , our capital city, to choose its mascot. It’s a little late for that, but not too late. So many basic things need attention in Bucharest, that choosing a mascot in 2008 it’s never too late.

A mascot is a person, animal, or object believed to bring good luck, especially one kept as the symbol of an organization such as a sports team.

The city hall did some serious brainstorming and came up with these ideas:

1. from the animal kingdom: the lion, the aquila, the ladybug and the white butterfly;
2. from the vegetal kingdom: the plane-tree, the acorn, the daisy, the snowdrop and the four-leaf clover;
3. architecture: the Palace of the Parliament, the Patriarchal Palace, the Romanian Athenaeum, the ,,George Enescu” Museum and the and CEC Palace.

Wikipedia says that the rose and the golden eagles are Romania’s national emblems. But we do not have a national personification.

The city hall’s web site will host a poll destined the find out the opinion of the people. My vote goes to the plane-tree: if this symbol will win, the city hall will have to plant a lot of these trees in Bucharest, so at least we will have more green around us.

Even the snowdrop is a good symbol: it represents a new beginning, a fresh start and the power to break through the freezing snow. And Bucharest needs a fresh start to clean up its reputation of a dirty, insecure, crowded and polluted European capital city.

Still, I agree with the opinion the professionals should decide the mascot of Bucharest, not the citizens. From my point of view, the people of Bucharest are too disappointed and angry on their mayor & co to make a wise decision.

So far, all the news regarding the Bucharest’s mascot is from news portals. I’m still looking for an official post or poll on the city hall’s website. I’ll keep you posted if I’ll find something interesting .

… blogging. For those of you who never heard of a Romanian blog (or even a blog written in a foreign language by a Romanian), take a look on these numbers and think again:

- 4,819 blogs rss-fed by rss.mioritics.ro, 4,384 blogs listed on zelist.ro (link love) and 2,333 blogs monitored by trafic.ro (number of unique visitors);

- 33.47% of Romanian blogs are written in English (too);

- Most Popular Platforms for blogging: WordPress, Blogger and Weblog;

- Most Popular Communities: Netlog, FaceBook, MySpace, hi5;

We are there, on the World Map of Bloggers. The Romanian blogosphere is growing by the day, in quality and quantity. After all, leaving in Romania is far from boring; life takes care of us, throwing all sorts of challenges at us on a daily basis.

Bottom Line: read Romanian blogs for new ideas and news about our country and communities. Subscribe them to your rss feeder. You never know where a good idea jumps from. Or how a simple view on life can change your point of view.