Picture of the Week 37

September 25, 2011

  I decided to post new pictures for the rotating batch on my blog first in the form of  a “Picture of the Week”. This one I took last week in the Lipscani area in Bucharest. The contrasts in textures and the shapes appealed to me. It is actually not the first time I capture [...]

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The Lucky Cat

August 16, 2011

I haven’t posted for quite some time now. The reason for this was another project that took up all my time, an Ironman triathlon. I ‘ll write about this some other time.  But now, with my  Ironman out of the way, I was just waiting for the right moment to resume my blog. Yesterdays events [...]

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The Lucky Dog

December 22, 2010

I was in a meeting when my son called. He is a student at a Dutch university but visiting for the Christmas holidays. “Dad, please send a car, quickly!”  What had happened? He had gone for a run around Hereastrau lake with his mother and our dog. This is nothing special, we run around the [...]

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Parking, Places and Parking Places

December 17, 2010

Is seems to be en vogue to express opinions on areas in which you don’t have any competence. I decided to try this out for myself and picked a subject I don’t pretend to know much about: parking in Bucharest. Now, it is not difficult to have an opinion on parking in Bucharest. A lot [...]

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Bikes are Best

November 27, 2010

This is a guest post by my friend D. Tramp. Not only do we work and live in the same part of town, we also share a passion for bikes. My Favorite Place The best place to take a nap in the afternoon is this round field with grass in front of the tall green [...]

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Confession of a Banker

November 22, 2010

In have a confession to make, nothing juicy, nothing to do with the crisis, not even with OUG 50. It is just that I realized I don’t seem to be living up to some of the expectations about a banker. Too often do I hear that “all banks care about is to make short term [...]

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Too Many Bank Branches But Which Ones ?

November 12, 2010

Recently I wrote an article for Ziarul Financiar about the high fixed interest rate margins in Romania. I decided to write this as a contribution to a discussion about interest rates that was becoming increasingly populist. I ended the article with the suggestion that we should have a more professional discussion about what can be [...]

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Change of Address

November 4, 2010

Just a normal day in an EU country…. Just a normal day at the population register in an EU country which we will call “A” Public Servant : “Good morning, how may I help you ?” Citizen : “I recently moved and I would like to change my address in your administration.” Public Servant : [...]

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High Fixed Interest Margins in Romania

October 25, 2010

Last week an article appeared in the Romanian financial newspaper, Ziarul Financiar, with the title “How is it possible that in the year 2010 in Romania, an EU member state, the banks practice fixed margins of 9% for credits?”. Like many articles these days, it seemed to be written with the clear purpose of bashing [...]

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Not Serious Advice Taken Seriously

October 21, 2010

My first job in Romania was in 1993 when I worked for one year at the National Bank of Romania as consultant on the modernisation of the Romanain payment system. I was not new to Romania, having visited the country for the first time in 1985 and being married to my Romanian wife since 1986 [...]

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