The forecasters predicted this to be happening around last night. Major storm is gonna hit Riga, bla bla bla.. It was calm and not even windy at all yesterday. They just got the timing wrong.

Well, with a lil bit of delay, a snowstorm is taking over the area throughout Sunday. I just came over from a basketball game and man it’s snowing like crazy. There was like 5 or 6 car accidents on our way to Daugmale and back.. Some of them are scary - makes me wanna remember my own New Year ‘08 ride to Daugavpils - thanks God I wound up alright..

And yeah, the snowstorm is on and poppin’! There are various reports of power outages in Riga. Let me post my own tho, quite funny one, the one that don’t happen every day..

We had a real hard hoops game today. 5-on-5, run & gun type stuff. I tell you what, I even got prepped for this one - watched last night’s Celtics @ Wolves game, listened to Mobb Deep on my way, to get to the battling mood, you know.

And check this out, my team’s in possession, right. I’m a playmaker, trying to see the court.. The ball was not in my hands at the moment though but face it - suddenly the lights go out! Total darkness, you don’t see shit!!! Can you imagine that! I was around midcourt, somehow found my way to the sideline, but some of us didn’t even know where to go, totally disoriented, you know what I’m saying =))

Everybody screaming, but in about a minute or two we started seeing the gym’s windows. It was dark outside too so still - it was kinda hard to find the way.

The lights went back on when we were in the lockers. The game had to be cancelled..

Memories again. Last time I suffered a blackout I was on board LPGC Havpil. Captain’s mate, on the bridge, alone, I was in charge of navigation and all the stuff. Quite a piece of an action, really..

Aaight then, I’m out like power, wishing y’all who’s in Riga to stay safe. And yeah, hopefully you don’t have to light up the candles due to the power outage tonight - save’em for a romantic dinner, would you.

Today, while shopping at SKY, I thought that I’m not gonna take those plastic bags. Don’t know, how did I come up with the idea, looks like it just becomes stylish.

It all began way before the sunset, when I decided to take a walk around Mezhciems and breathe some fresh air. The weather was really wonderful - calm, no wind, not even a cloud,  a typical early Spring. Seems like Mother Nature itslef has sent me a message.. Well, who knows though, maybe that Parex ad?

On my way back, I called at SKY supermarket on Hippocrates street to grab some food. Quick to throw in the cart all needed items, I stood in a short queue and at the cashiers I started to look for some “environment friendly” opportunities this store had to offer. As I didn’t have many goods, I chose one paper bag which looked pretty big and spacious enough to handle all of my Sunday shopping.

And then, a nice surprise was waiting for me - a girl at the cashiers smiled and announced that today, see, is the environment friendly day and big paper bags with a Zaļā Josta (Green Belt) sticker are free. 10 cents saved and I, feeling so happy for the harmony I got with nature, SKY store and the Green Belt campaign, was on my way home.

It became colder in the evening and I thought that I would need the gloves. That’s a small thing of course, because my mood is just perfect + clear skies, full of stars makes it even better. I saw the Orion’s Belt and smiled - life is beautiful after all!

What is left to add is, people often underestimate the abilities of paper (and cotton) bags. Those can lift not just all the 50 lbs, but also your mood! Here’s my truest wish: choose the environment friendly package! Yolkin, how are ya? =)

To all the ladies in the place with style and grace..

Happy Women’s Day!!

I am enjoying what looks to be one of the most beautiful moments I can remember - sunrise over the forest from my bird’s eye view right here =) And today, it looks even more picturesque than ever, thanks to this date, March 8 - thanks to all the women, young ladies you’re gorgeous, this one’s for y’all!

The Road Guide, or Ceļu Gids in Latvian, seems to be pretty nice idea to gather information for drivers in Riga and Latvia, as well as around Baltic States overall.

When I first stumbled upon that site, I noticed official Latvian State Roads web camera information which is live from Jurmala highway. Make sure you check it out, looks cool. If you could access those admin menus and move the cam or something, that thing would be priceless =)

The Road Guide is officially run by Latvian State Roads so they got the freshest info on road condition. I guess they own the automatic Road Weather Information systems - I do notice those booths along the highways with anemometers and stuff.

Plus, they’re the guys who are down with road works so they put online the latest scoop on road works, locations, speed limits in those places, what kind of work is done and when it’s about to be finished. This section needs to be visual though, integrated in Google Map cause I don’t wanna scroll all the way down with my route in my mind.

Speaking on Google Maps, there’s amazing stuff found on the Road Guide - Riga traffic web cams with cam location integrated on city map. These are not official State Roads cams like the Jurmala one, but still convenient if you wanna check out what’s happening in those usual traffic jam places.

The site also offers Google Maps shortest route calculation between Latvian cities but I guess I better use the original Google Maps screen, it’s larger and allows additional features.

Links to Baltic Roads site do good, as it turns out that page got official road weather data like temperature (both air and road), precipitation, winds all the way from Lithuania up to Finland and St. Petersburg area.

Those who cross the EU border from Latvia will find out about queues and situation on border through the Road Guide.

The site sure lacks English and Russian, perhaps German and Lithuanian/Estonian cause I figure there are some foreign drivers who’d love to be informed.

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]]> http://rigatalk.com/2008/01/19/latvian-car-drivers-go-online-for-road-traffic-guidelines/feed/langswitch_lang/en http://rigatalk.com/2007/10/13/latvijas-katrina/langswitch_lang/en http://rigatalk.com/2007/10/13/latvijas-katrina/langswitch_lang/en#comments Sat, 13 Oct 2007 12:00:00 +0000 Aleksandrs "Lexxus" Borovenskis http://rigatalk.com/2007/10/13/latvijas-katrina/

Damn. Viesuļvētra. Sūds ir traks.

Gāžās koki, elektrības stabi, uz šosejām avārijas ar bojā gājušiem, Daugavpilī izbēg cietumnieki no palikušā bez elektrības Grīvas cietuma..

Pilnīgākais haoss.

Bet īstenībā jau nekas tāds – tikai stiprāks vējš, lietus, šur tur sniegs. Salīdzinājumā ar citviet pasaulē notiekošām nelaimēm, kur bojā iet līdz pat tūkstošiem cilvēku – mūsu laiks taču ir burvīgs!

Šodien pat saulīte spīd.

Tāpēc būsim pacietīgi pret māti dabu un baudīsim šo brīnišķīgo rudeni! Lietusmēteļos un gumijas zābakos gan.