Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever — and my sincerely and long-loved CaseLogic was gradually losing ground: metal bits from my pockets had worn through the fabric, the straps had stretched out, the back panel had frayed and scuffed. The small crossbody pouch was also losing its looks, and most sadly — modern slab-phones no longer fit inside it!

With the arrival of a motorcycle, certain changes had to be made to the everyday carry setup — or rather, to how it was organized: a small pouch might not survive a headwind, and a phone dropped even at 80 km/h would be hard to even find, let alone put back together.

I love pockets and clothes that have them, yet for a long time I’ve carried nothing important in them: a phone in the front pocket gets in the way, in the back pocket it either disappears on its own or with a little help from kind strangers; leave your keys or access card in the pocket of a different jacket just once and you’ll be making a trip back home.

It’s no secret that our social circle is quite varied. There are relatives, old childhood friends, parents’ friends, neighbors, classmates, university groupmates…

We bought some furniture on Amazon — specifically, a couple of small tables.

an observation — the lamps shine not downward but upward: this way the light doesn’t hit your eyes directly, yet provides enough illumination by reflecting off the ceiling.

Miles, pounds, Fahrenheit…

There is so much to do that there is not always time to write down thoughts when they arise. And then you forget them.

Paper sheet sizes are different — trying to photocopy something from A4 is a whole task. Dates are written differently, outlets are different… It seems like driving on the right side of the road is the only familiar thing left.

Among the unfamiliar things I especially wanted to note… well, what did I want to note… I forgot.

When the fairly large BILLA supermarket was long under construction in Zaporizhzhia and then finally opened, it became something of an upscale place and a symbol of “eliteness” — perhaps because it was a branch of a Kyiv chain, perhaps also because it was located underground beneath the avenue, in a spot that was awkward to reach by public transport when you had shopping bags.

And now in Kyiv, Billa is a store I genuinely avoid, only going there when I’m in a hurry or simply too lazy. A store like any other, nothing to set it apart. The closest one to us, and yet — the least visited….

So you scroll through Facebook’s friend suggestions — and suddenly people I don’t even know have more mutual friends with me than those I’ve known for a long time…

The digital age changes behavior, changes the frames.

You can choose anything in this world, son… )

Back in 2007, when a friend helped me move, thanks to his exceptional packing skills, all the belongings from a one-room apartment fit into a Slavuta car. Running on gas… True, there was no furniture, but there were two adult bicycles.

The next move was from my parents’ place to a rented house, and it wasn’t as swift — so it didn’t stick in my memory quite as vividly.

Then came the road to the Zaporizhzhia region, and I don’t remember very well what junk made the trip there either. There was a microwave, I think… And a front-loading washing machine — that was the first major family purchase, for a crazy 2700 UAH or something like that….