The sad implication of the lack of electricity

The electricity and the water supply are returning in Kyiv. But not for everyone. But not everywhere. I don't know if I mentioned that few people know Kyiv as well as me, that's why fastly I created a kind of map in my brain of places that have electricity. But that changed too after the latest russian bombing. That's good to have a car as with a car I can fastly change locations. Sometimes there is a feeling that fewer cars are on the streets. But today and yesterday I witnessed a relatively big traffic jam on one of the main streets. Weather conditions also influence traffic, and the lack of lights makes driving more dangerous: there are more accidents on the streets, and many traffic lights are not working as well. That's one more example for libertarians: drivers are finding consensus themselves. Driving in the evening ads solitude - you can see the empty streets, and the whole dark neighborhoods...

A big part of the left bank of Kyiv is without electricity for more than 2 days. But the mechanic whom I contacted regarding my car says to come. He knows my old Toyota car even better than me. It's been a few weeks since we changed the hydraulic booster liquid, but in some time I hear this scary sound of the wheels. I also needed to change the motor oil, but we were not able to do it, as the was no electricity. This can be done later, but he found liquid which he added for the hydraulic booster and it helped. I wasn't able to pay him, as I had no cash and because there was no internet - he couldn't look the number of his card. But I'll pay him later, I know him for 2 years, we met there, at a completely different edge of Kyiv as I was checking the car from a seller and he gave me an honest and good audit. Time passes so fast. I'm surprised that it's been more than 2 years. That time I had a "black period", back then I even stopped drinking alcohol and so it's been 2 years since I don't drink.

After the technical car station, I call a small cafe to check if it was working. As it hasn't been working since yesterday. In past, this small cafe was fortunate to avoid electricity turning off, but after the last bombing, it changed. From time to time I go to this small cafe, as I used to go there even 10 years ago when I worked nearby. That's the part of history and it's a small business I want to support. There are also economical reasons - the meal there is really cheap, I can have a good meal only for $3. In the past when my crypto-business was doing fine - I didn't care much about where to eat as any way in Kyiv that's not expensive compared to the US or other countries in Europe. But now I have to spend less.

Just across the road from this cafe is a big and fancy skyscraper. One of the crypto companies I used to work with has an office there. But only maybe some tech employees visit it, as all the management flew to US or Western Europe. And even in the past, these guys wouldn't visit a small cafe like this, as it's not fancy. Their management said they donated to the Ukrainian army, but when I contacted them with volunteer requests, they denied it. Then after I asked to pay my salary in advance, as we needed to buy one piece of expensive equipment - they fired me. This happens, because there is no stability. And I understand that's nothing personal - just crypto market started to go down and they decided to cut salaries. Ironically, a while ago some other company offered me a job, but that would be a conflict of interest, so I had to decline that offer. A while ago I had dinner with the company's CEO in that neighborhood, he was culturally a "Soviet" guy, but the tech industry and crypto made him ultra-capitalist, and now he is a very rich guy, he has a good life abroad now, and we don't speak as now we live in a different world. I hope the new generation of capitalists will emerge - I see here and there the new businesses start to operate. So many ideas, but so few funds. That's why you can have many ideas about what to do and how to raise the economy, but the hardest question is where to get the money... I have no answer to it.

The small cafe is not working. It's actually open, but there is no electricity that's why it's not working. The woman entrepreneur who runs it is crying. And I don't know why is it because of the lack of electricity or maybe something happened. I feel guilty that I called several times to ask if the cafe is working, probably it was annoying. But I just want her business to survive, I'm one of the few frequent clients without whom it won't survive. Once we even spoke about cryptocurrencies, and she was happy to start accepting crypto - but there are few visitors and there is even no bank terminal...

The sound of generators tells you which places are open... In a number of cafes with glass windows, it's visible that all the places are taken - people work and people charge their devices. That's why I understand if I would have some additional funds, I would start a crypto cafe or crypto hub which would carry an additional social role.

It's sad to understand that the war is hurting small businesses, but even more sad that best people die on the frontline...