Notes from Tbilisi: Abandoned Military sites in Latvia / Estonia; Sold VW Touareg car; #2 Bitcoin newsletter
Good afternoon from sunny and hot Tbilisi. The weather was scorching today, reaching +32 Celsius.
The morning started with an interesting message to the blog's contact form - an Estonian person was asking some questions about military sites in Latvia, we exchanged a few e-mails and talked both about Latvian and Estonian abandoned military sites.
Information about former Latvian radar base Skrunda-1
Hello, Reinis
I read your post about Skrunda-1 and also did some internet ''research''. And I've come to a couple of questions.
When did You visit this place? And was it closed? Because I read that it is now closed for tourists and the Latvian army has closed the area. Could You please tell…
International Scout Centre Rustavi
The industrial town of Rustavi, approximately 25 km southeast of the Georgian capital Tbilisi, offers a modern international scouting center.
The youth center offers space for a variety of indoor and outdoor activities. The facility is available for children and young people from Rustavi and offers comfortable and reasonably priced accommodation, seminar, and conference facilities for regional and international youth groups, schools, universities, and non-governmental organizations, as well as tourists and individual travelers.
I first visited this place at the end of May 2022, during an event organized by Latvian Sunday School in Tbilisi.
Should I say I was really impressed after seeing…
How to Fix "Unable to install bootstrap, bootstrap.settings already exists in active configuration"
As this was already the second time i faced the "Unable to install bootstrap, bootstrap.settings already exists in active configuration." problem i decided to share a quick and simple solution.
Background: I have faced this error when performing the Drupal 7 upgrade to the Drupal 9 version and trying to enable the bootstrap theme.
solution: in PHPMyAdmin open the database your Drupal site is running, in the Search tab enter "bootstrap"
Make sure you select all under tables and click the go button
You will get a result with rows showwin where bootstrap setting might belocated, in our case, table config
Simply click the delete on config.
that's it - now you should be…
Notes from Tbilisi: Caru.ge services our Car, new expats join language courses, PCR test
The morning started with the kiddo having a little fever (temperature 37 C). Decided to leave her at home and observe, as this Friday we have our first school concert. It would be very sad to miss. Sent a message to Ms. Nino.
Yesterday - the car just stopped working, or won't crank. Already for the third time, this year ordered caru.ge to service the car. As the car was parked in Vake I went to the office in the morning to meet the service guy in the afternoon. Traded a bit of bitcoin futures. Packed out robot cleaner for cleaning our apt.
Met with the caru.ge guy, he said, the problem is with the starter, had to order evacuator. I left the spot and come home.
We received a letter…
How To Upgrade Drupal 7 to 9 (With Multilingual Support)
In this article, I will keep notes on how I upgraded the multilingual Drupal 7 site to a multilingual Drupal 9 site.
Turns out I had originally built this website on Drupal 7 more than 10 years ago and it already felt that the exciting website's look and feel is a bit outdated and we wanted to get a fresh look.
I thought it wouldn't do any harm upgrading the database too. As I have already done a few successful upgrades in the past and as the website was not very complicated I didn't spend a lot of time on this.
As I'm using Linode VPS I decide to go the migrate path, and started with creating a new subdomain on the webserver giving it a prefix d9
As I already had configured the server…
Dashbashi Canyon & Waterfall with 240 meter long Glass Bridge
If there is a reason to visit Dashbasi canyons near the Tsalka in Georgia - the canyons themselves, cascading waterfall and the glass bridge hanging over the gorge should raise some interest.
Dashbashi Canyon Natural Monument is part of Khrami (known as Ktsia at it source) gorge near Dashbashi village, 3 km from the town of Tsalka
I first heard about this place a couple of years ago from an ex-pat friend, back then the place was pretty much not developed and unknown to the broader masses.
We first visited Dashabshi Canyon in 2020, back then it was still a pretty much-underdeveloped area, but some touristic routes were built. Back then we didn't climb down to the cascading waterfalls, but…
Tsalka lake & Dashbashi canyon with waterfalls
This time, our destination was the mesmerizing Tsalka Lake and Dashbashi Canyon, where nature's beauty unfolds in every corner. From hyper-lapses over the tranquil lake to an adrenaline-pumping drone flight over a 240-meter long glass bridge, this weekend was truly one for the books. Fasten your seatbelts, and let's dive into the magic of Tsalka and Dashbashi!Our journey began at Tsalka Lake, a hidden gem surrounded by rolling hills and lush greenery. The calm waters mirrored the clear blue sky, creating a serene atmosphere that instantly transported us away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. A-frame houses dotted the landscape, offering a picturesque backdrop for our weekend…
Notes from Tbilisi - Crypto Club, Learning Spanish, Could Bitcoin crash $25,000
Yesterday I visited the crypto club event at Local Tbilisi. Met a bunch of smart guys, mostly expats, was fun to watch bitcoin love/hate talks, listened to stories about investing in alt-coins. Been there, and seen that.
As you might already know - I'm neutral on crypto, neither bullish nor bearish. Prefer to trade Bitcoin futures.
With a smile, listened to the crypto talks about where should bitcoin go next, some saying bitcoin will have support at $20,000 some said at $18,000. nevertheless, most of the crypto enthusiasts didn't care about the bitcoin price dropping, as seems they are hodlers or not investing in Bitcoin at all but in some altcoins.
Belgian guy made a lot of…
Georgian language classes for Expats in Tbilisi
I've been involved in the Georgias ex-pat community for some good time already, a few years ago I helped to launch the Georgian Expat photographer club, and some years later I launched Expats in Georgia Facebook group, and today I'm happily sharing the latest brainchild - Georgian for expats
A couple of weeks ago I helped to start - the Georgian for an Expats language course. It took us some 72 hours from the idea to realization, as we already had an office in a convenient location, tutors, and even a whiteboard - it was all about marketing texts, and Facebook ads.
After the first 24 hours, we got our first students.
Here is what it all is about
Learn basic Georgian in 8…
Notes from Tbilisi - Gym, BitcoinGeorgia.Ge, Georgian for Expats and Bitcoin dips under $32,000
Wow, what a day it was today - stock futures were opening lower, quite lower, Dow Jones index was failing more than 400 points, extending the stock market bleeding for some sixth or seventh week in a row.
I was holding several long bitcoin positions on Deribit with strike prices above $40,000, and the losses just kept accelerating, to keep my positions above the water I bought more bitcoin and deposited them on Deribit.
Bitcoin is not for all. Bitcoin futures, definitely are for a few select ones.
Went to the Champions academy for some cardio and dumbell workout. Later worked on my latest brainchild - BitcoinGeorgia.ge (more on that in some of the other blog posts.
In the evening…
Weekend trip to Batumi from Tbilisi by Train
In this article, I will share notes and points of interest from our latest trip to Batumi during the Orthodox Easter 2022.
We were traveling from Tbilisi Railway station by train, paying GEL 25 for a seat in second class (The price for the seat in first class was GEL 60, business class GEL 100). Comfortable 2-story Swiss-built Stadler train, the total travel time about 6 hours. Just a few stops - Tbilisi - Ureki, Kobuleti, Batumi.
Batumi railway station is not located in the city center, so we took a Taxi (Bolt app) and paid about 5-6 GEL for a transfer to our hotel near the Boulevard. We chose to stay at Best Western Premium hotel, which is located out of the city center but offered a…
Batumi Loves You
R is For Restaurant - or here is what we got after spending 4 days in Batumi - dealing with a ton of real estate developers, cheesecakes and chocolate fondants, blue skies, and swimming pools. Hyper lapses and long-range drone flights.
Filmed with a DJI Mavic drone and Samsung Galaxy A52 mobile phone. Batumi April 19-April 23, 2022
Best Western Premier Batumi Hotel
Best Western Premier Batumi hotel is one of our best finds in Batumi, the price corresponds to the service. Budget-friendly 4-star hotel with a swimming pool.
I booked this hotel directly by calling to the reception instead booking online and got a very nice offer - 800 GEL for 4 nights with breakfast included and additional head for our 3-year old kiddo. I think we saved at least 500-600 GEL. Quite nice. If you prefer online booking, here is my shame affiliate link: Book now
Not centrally located, but taxis are quite affordable in Batumi, literally we spent about 2-3 GEL for getting to the city center and GEL 8-10 to getting to Batumi botanical garden with Bolt taxi. Very affordable.…
Easter 2022
Good times in Georgia or another awesome Easter weekend have been recorded in our tapes. From the windy mountains near Mtskheta, hiking trip near Turtle lake, egg fights in Tbilisi, meeting fellow Latvians at Vake park, and dining near the Bazaleti lake.
Enjoy the video and thumbs up!
Diaries from Tbilisi - Bitcoin's Correlation to S&P 500, Teacher's Parent meeting at QSI
Good evening from Tbilisi!
The day started with a few short positions on Bitcoin, while I was waiting for the stock futures updates from CNBC, visited my hairdresser Katya, got my hair trimmed and straightened. Love it.
The futures market opened and showed kind of a green day ahead, my short positions on Bitcoin got challenged, but I decided to keep them open and see what happens next.
We went to the newly opened Domino DIY shopping mall in the Dighomi area and bought some goodies and tools for Sandra's urban garden in Vake. At 16:00 we had agreed on a teacher-parent meeting at QSI.
Had a lovely conversation with Ms. Nino, and discussed our 3-year olds achievements at school. All is…
Bitcoin, Gym, SP 500 and Tbilisi
Another interesting week has started here in Tbilisi. At the night I woke up I placed a long position on Bitcoin futures at $40,017, later in the morning before going to the gym I noticed Bitcoin in but under $40,000. Once I was at the gym Bitcoin tumbled another 1000 points, and I had a chance to think a lot about liquidity issues.
Post-processed a few photographs and made a short movie about our Easter adventures.
I know Bitcoin correlates with SPX 500, so I was waiting for the futures market to open and quite frequently refreshed CNBC. during the day Bitcoin bit recovered and I placed a few more trades with a long position.
At 15:20 left for the QSI school, with Ramaz, our…
March 2022 Dividend Income Report - $154.58
Welcome to the fifty-ninth (#59) dividend income report, covering earnings I've made from dividend-paying stocks in March 2022.Last month we spent both in Georgia and Latvia. We had a Spring break from QSI school in Tbilisi and we decided to visit Latvia, my daughter had a chance to pick up some Latvian, and I had a chance to install floors at our Vilgåle apt. Also, we bought an old Mercedes Benz ML 400 SUV car, so we have transport next time when in Latvia. Rental cars add up in the end.Buying a car in RigaFrom the perspective of dividend income - Last March was nothing to brag about, some humble $154.58 from a few dividend-paying stocks.Dividend income…
Goldigen Room Artisan Pizza In Kuldiga
Welcome to another Kuldīga Restaurant review - today I will write about a lovely pizza place located just in heart of Kuldīga town - Goldingen Room Artisan Pizza.
The family restaurant Goldingen room, located in the heart of the old town of Kuldiga – Town Hall Square, is a story about the taste and mood of Italy. The restaurant offers to discover flavors of Mediterranean cuisine, complete with topping-up local produce and matching wines from Italian, French and local producers, and other soft drinks. You can also enjoy real Italian pizzas here, fried in a wood-burned pizza oven, delicious Italian pasta, and more. The interior of the restaurant is designed in an industrial romantic way.…
Installing laminate flooring, painting walls
During the weekend I did a lot at our Vilgāle apartment, fixed some electric plugs, painted walls, and installed the floor, but first things first - it was agreed to save huge on the floor by choosing laminate instead of parquet.
We paid less than EUR 9/m2 for laminate and saved on installation as I did it myself. Parquet would cost about EUR 40-50/m2.
I chose DEPO store in Riga to buy the floor and tools
In total paid EUR 378 for about 32m2 laminate, figure saw and wooden fiber boards (the green ones)
Before proceeding, I had to remove 9 bags of trash from the room
Looks quite cozy already. Unfortunetly that afternoon there was a very heavy storm and our village was cut off from the…
How to Fix Apache Configuration Error AH00558: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name
Not the biggest Apache fan here, but today working on a server while setting up Apache as a reverse proxy for the JBoss application, after trying to restart the apache service I faced the following issue Apache Configuration Error AH00558: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name.
Luckily, a quick Google helped to find the solution:
Long story short (For Debian / Ubuntu)
sudo nano /etc/apache2/apache2.conf
Add a line containing ServerName 127.0.0.1 to the end of the file