I have been writing down and collecting funny, quirky stories from my adventures in Kyiv for over 14 years. Here is one of them.

So, we are all on the phone one morning, and in the apartment building there is quite a bit of renovation/construction work going on, because it is still a “new” building and not all the residents are living there yet. Between, Monday and Friday you often hear hammers and drills and it generally is ok, as it may be a few floors down, or, above. But that day it was very very loud – it has happened a few times, and when they drill into the concrete the whole building can hear it. When it goes quiet you can think again. Not the biggest problem in the world, and they always stop promptly at 7 pm each day, during the week.

So, where were we … we are all on the phone, and the drilling is loud and I can’t hear shit, and they can hear over the phone the loud noise. Craig, who is on the call, says “When will they stop all the construction work ?”

The noise is most of the times in the distance and not very loud. About once a week it is loud, and only for a few hours at a time. Like that morning. The first time we hear this extra loud concrete drilling we all got a fright – it felt like the building was about to fall down. Once it was so loud and I scurried downstairs to the admin office and in broken Russian I asked about the construction.

Zhanna, the cool lady who looks after the building, speaks English. She is a very kind person with a great sense of humour. I chat with her and her colleagues, Sergey, Sergey and Sergey (it gets confusing sometimes). Between my scatty Russian, they understand that I am stressed and worried. They tell me all is normal and that I must not worry.

What I really want to find out is “When will this current drilling be complete so that we have an idea as to what date the noise will ease off ?” And that is when things get colourful.

Eastern European culture is very very defensive. No one is ever wrong and no one ever makes a mistake. Did you watch that brilliant TV show Chernobyl? That is an example of this culture.

So, when I ask when the drilling may end they straight away get defensive and start telling me that they are doing nothing wrong and that the builders are following the rules and that they are allowed to drill from 9 am to 7 pm from Monday to Friday.

I say that all is cool and yes, I tell them that I know all of this. I just want to try find out when their construction project will end so we can try plan ahead. For example, I tell them, that if they are only going to drill for one more week then we will be ok, but if it is for 3 months then maybe we will go walk in the park during the day … trying to explain to them why we want to know. And, it is a simple question : we just want to know. Call me curious.

Again, they start with : But what is the problem ?

I again say that there is no problem and that I am just curious. I just want to try find out when the drilling will stop.

They are not hearing me, and their view is that I am complaining and causing trouble.

I pick up on this and say that I am not complaining – I just want to try and find out when they may be ending their construction.

And again it goes on with the defensive push back. No one understands what I am on about, and because I am soft spoken and not aggressive, they are very confused. To them I look like a doose – a guy that is complaining and he looks not happy.

I am not complaining and I am not happy or unhappy – I am just polite and am trying, for the love of God, to get an answer. They pull out some paperwork and point out that we also made construction in our apartment and no one complained when we were making noise. I can see that I am now being labelled a trouble maker, and if this were Soviet times I would be sent to Siberia for my bad attitude.

Craig says to me, “This shit there never changes.” Craig has been to Kyiv many times and has experienced this when we shot that Ukraine concept video back in 2018.

The thing is, they have been suffering in Ukraine for over 1000 years. And we had been suffering, because of the drilling noise, for a few hours. Well, not exactly suffering but it was very loud, and you can’t work when the drilling is happening. They can’t understand what I am complaining about. But I am not complaining. If there was drilling for a 1000 years, then go ahead and complain, but their view is go back, and enjoy the noise, because for a long time we didn’t have any drilling. So, they seem to like drilling and can’t understand why we would complain about it. But I was not complaining. I was simply trying to find out when they estimate the construction will finally be over.

In the end we all laughed, nervously, and I left clueless, and with them all being suspicious of me. The next time I went to ask them something they all disappeared when they saw me coming. Like it was “Look, there’s the complainer again, coming to make trouble.”

I did not complain. I was simply trying to find out when …

They have been suffering here since +- 400 AD, when Kyiv was formed. They reckon a bit of suffering builds character. I guess the drilling noise is seen, er, heard, as a positive thing. And they don’t like trouble makers, who complain, and then start revolutions.

I am not starting a revolution. I was just trying to find out when the construction guys may end be coming to the end of their building project.

I am laughing now, as I write up this story. I miss Zhanna and Sergey and Sergey and Sergey. I miss everyone in Kyiv. They are soulful people with big hearts. I hope we can return to Kyiv soon. And I miss the drilling. Those were good times.

I laugh a lot in Kyiv. I always tell people that the sense of humour of Ukrainians is the best I have ever experienced. And I have lived in different parts of the world.

The global stereotype is quite the opposite though. People often say things like “Ukraine is full of serious people who look miserable”. And yet, they have never even been to Ukraine, so where does this come from. Yes, when you arrive at the airport in Kyiv and some older, heavy-set looking man, in a leather coat, and an old style looking Soviet hat, comes up to you abruptly and goes “You vont texi ?!” then your first impression will match the stereotype. But start talking to a taxi driver when you leave the airport and the chances are you will be laughing soon.

There is no political correctness in Ukraine and people are straight forward and pretty direct. This often leads to very funny situations. And they laugh with their souls. Ukrainians are smart, and enjoy a good joke. Also, other things which add to the humour are cultural and language differences. I am a funny guy (even if I say so myself) so when you take a quirky, nerdy foreigner and you have him interact with smart, funny people, there is a lot of scope of comedy.

Look at the ongoing nightmare of a war. The most depressing and terrifying thing any of us has ever experienced, and yet, with all this insanity and horror, there are a flow of jokes coming out of Ukraine. The government on Twitter is making official jokes. These guys are funny. I am telling you. Come to Kyiv when the war is over – you will laugh a lot.

The jokes about the tractors and this new postage stamp that celebrates the “Go f__k yourself” story, just keep on coming. Ukraine is a funny country. Quite the opposite of what the stereotype would have you believe.

“Many early Jewish comedians in the US emigrated from Odessa to New York 100 to 140 years ago.

You can make a compelling argument, and many academics and comedians have, that the style of modern Jewish-American humor — from Jerry Seinfeld to Mel Brooks to Larry David — stems from Odessa, with its neurotic and pessimistic flavor. (Is there any better kind?)”

I have heard many people talk about the “genius of Putin” over the years. Yes, a hard, twisted, narcissist of a man, but a very smart dictator … I am not sure about this. Not that I ever thought he was ever that clever.

A few days ago I was texting with my old friend Branko and I said to him, “What if Putin is actually an idiot?” and he responded with, “That is my big worry.”

If Putin really did fear NATO expansion will then this insane war of his has backfired. NATO is re-energized and now Sweden and Finland are discussing joining. And as soon as that happened we read headlines like, “Russia threatens Sweden, Finland with ‘negative consequences’ of joining NATO”.

If Putin really wanted to disarm Ukraine then this has also backfired. Ukraine is united like never before, and armed to the hilt, with more and more hardware rolling in all the time. Yes, the opposite is happening. Ukraine is becoming the most armed country in Europe and their military experience is by now through the roof.

Putin is no genius. I am starting to believe he is an idiot. And what kind of a superpower is Russia? Their army is incompetent and unprofessional. Barbaric is the word, and out of touch. With no purpose or clue.

I was listening to Fiona Hill on an Ezra Klein podast and she says, “Putin wants to make this war about the United States, NATO and Russia”. This guy may actually be off his head. If Putin is in fact a mad idiot then God knows how this is going to play out. But it does give me hope that his days are numbered. It can’t be that everyone around him is the same. Surely at some point they are going to want to get rid of this idiot.

America and the West are helping for sure, but Ukraine keeps begging for more and more support. How many people have to die before the West moves into a higher gear. And what is with Germany? Like SA, not looking to be on the right side of history. But seriously – what is the number? How many deaths will tip the scales? And what of all the displaced people – most of them have nothing and nowhere to go. They will mostly all suffer and a lot will die spiritually. We are talking millions of innocent people here. Millions!

Everything is about numbers. If Putin’s numbers were better in his own economy then I am sure this war would not even have began. If Russia was doing better they would care less about their cool neighbour. And yes, Ukraine is cool, Russia is not. Russia was going backwards, their economy was in the toilet, and their population largely lives poorly and struggles. Ukraine was growing at a very healthy pace, and more and more people were being lifted out of poverty (of course the pandemic did mess the world up a bit, Ukraine included). This must have pissed Putin off. The ex-girlfriend was doing good. The jealous ex-boyfriend was angry.

This is a war about good and evil. And if evil wins here, God forbid, it will spread. I don’t think anyone has a clue what will the end result be, and this is a scary thought. Of course, if the West stepped up their game, the Ukrainians predict they will be able to repel the Russians. But if this happens won’t it make the violent ex-boyfriend even angrier. Or, will the world finally put Putin in his place. He is not pressing the nuclear button. He is a total narcissist and he does not want to die. It is reported that this evil maniac is the world’s richest man. Once again the numbers tell a story. He is not going to risk dying by entering into a nuclear war. I just don’t buy it.

Ukraine needs more support. Again, the numbers spell it all out. If I was walking past your house and it was on fire I would help put out the fire. I would try find a hose pipe and start spraying water. And I would of course call the fire brigade. What I wouldn’t do is leave a glass of water on the patio (ala Germany). And If I saw you in the window screaming for help, I would try and save you. But the West is so slow in Helping Ukraine, all because the are not in the club. If I was walking past your house and you were in trouble, I would help you. I would not start discussing the fact that you are not in the club. Ukraine tried to join the club, for years, and they never were allowed in. And yet, their neighbours are in the club: Poland, Romania, etc.

People wrote about Ukraine long before anyone ever heard of Russia.

Russia is now trying to rewrite history. They are trying to spread a lie that says that Ukraine did not exist before Russia. It is simply not true. Russia will not succeed at changing history. The fact is that Kyiv existed before Moscow. That part of history cannot be changed. No amount of lies, or this insane war, will change the facts.

Ukraine will win this war because Putin is living a lie, and the truth always wins out.

One interesting thought about this war. Putin is paying mercenaries to fight this insane battle. Ukraine has volunteer soldiers from around the world coming to fight for freedom. This speaks volumes.

We started a documentary film project in 2018 that explored IT entrepreneurship in Kyiv, and how the Soviet legacy has affected the nation’s work life. Risk taking in Soviet times was not a thing, and following a dream was non-existent. So it is fascinating to observe how in Ukraine a group of free thinkers, a new generation of dreamers, are rising to the challenge.

We had come up with this logline for the narrative. It took us many many years to arrive at these words. This is the elevator pitch, ie, a short summary of the vision: Rewriting The Code.

Ukraine’s struggle for freedom and recognition from their hard-wired Soviet conditioning. A story of identity. They are not The Ukraine.

This nightmare war that started in late February is all about identity. And in terms of Rewriting The Code this is what the Ukrainian military have done, and continue to do. If they were all in their Soviet state of mind they would have been defeated. That old, miserable Soviet way lacks purpose and honesty and it is weak when it comes to organization and leadership. The Ukrainian army has passion and purpose, has been open to Western intelligence and technology, and they are fighting with all their heart and soul.

We arrived at this vision with respect to entrepreneurs and business people, and it is evident in the Ukrainian military too. The Ukrainian army has rewritten the code for sure – that is why they are kicking ass.. The Russian army has been incompetent, corrupt, cruel, with no motivation or purpose, and it is an army based on brainwashing. The Ukrainians know what they are fighting for, and this is fundamental.

Our film story is very much about “purpose”. A key theme to throwing off the shackles from their hard-wired Soviet conditioning. Our documentary’s narrative explores who, what, where and why is Ukraine. The war highlights this in the biggest possible way.

Ukraine is fighting for their identity and this war is showing the world who they are, where they are, why they are, and what they are. They are not Soviets – they are rewriting the code with the highest possible stakes.

Our story is about who is Ukraine. This insane war is showing us their determination, passion, belief, courage, spirit, identity, humour and more. Ukrainians are using their innovative skills and entrepreneurship to help win this war.

Ukraine was under Russian rule in the Soviet Union but Ukraine is not Russia. It has a culture far richer and older than that of Russia. A culture that is open and warm. Not a culture rooted in arrogance and evil. Russians are not free, and Ukraine is fighting for freedom. Russian culture, despite its being famous, didn’t save them. In fact a lot of their artists were of Ukrainian origin.

This nightmare war is all about rewriting the code. Russia has proved once and again to be the evil empire. Ukraine stands for freedom and goodness. This is indeed a battle of good VS evil. I believe there is more good in the world than bad, and I believe that good will win here. Ukraine will be victorious. They are showing the world how brave they are. This is their code.

The horror in Ukraine is just unbelievable. When will this nightmare end? And when will America/West stop messing around and really step up and help properly?!

“Meanwhile the EU is scared that “gas prices are up,” so keep paying $1B a day to Putin.

We Westerners enjoy great lives of privilege. We cancel each other for saying banned words but can’t ban oil for murder, and cheer on tepidly while women and 130lb software engineers do the fighting for us.

This war has exposed us all.”

These words above are from my friend John in the US. He has a Ukrainian soul and he has solid insight.

You would think that most normal, caring people would stand behind Ukraine, but no. It is around 50% that supports Ukraine. It would appear that around half of the world does not like the West. Yes, not everyone likes the free world.

Russia is a pimple compared to China. They are the next superpower that will influence our kid’s futures.

We sold our standards for comfort and greed.

https://brave.ua/en.html

That story of the cold calling captured my imagination. There is indeed a battle underway online too, and Ukraine is winning, in my view. Yes, Russia is losing, and they did this to themselves. Who on Earth will ever want to visit Russia or have anything to do with Russia ever again.

https://callrussia.org/eng

“In World War I and World War II, no one had a smartphone or access to social networks through which to observe and participate in the war in nonkinetic ways. Indeed, a large chunk of the world’s population was still colonized and did not have the full freedom to express independent views, even if they had the technology. Many of those residing outside the war zones were also extremely poor subsistence farmers who were not so heavily affected by those first two world wars. There weren’t the giant connected globalized and urbanized lower and middle classes of today’s wired world.”

We have heard of many innovative and creative online activities to try help Ukraine. The Jooble story, like the cold calling campaign, is about spreading the truth.

“Twitter to introduce restrictions on Russian government accounts, propaganda. Head of Site Integrity at Twitter Yoel Roth said that Twitter will not “amplify or recommend government accounts belonging to states that limit access to free information and are engaged in armed interstate conflict.” Russia blocked access to Twitter on March 4.”

Let’s not forget the tractors

Europe and America are not helping Ukraine because they love Ukraine. They are helping Ukraine because they are afraid of Russia. Ukraine is fighting their war.

https://spendwithukraine.com/

You can’t fool all of the people all of the time. These stats are seriously revealing. The truth will come out.

I know I have picked on the Ukrainian Oligarchs before. I think they are all a bunch of parasites, and I wonder how much they are doing to help the country from where they took everything. The key word is “take”, because that is what they do. Take, take, take. What they don’t do is create. No jobs, no role models, no wealth distribution. And I am sure that when the war is over, they will be the first to cause problems. Perhaps I am wrong though. I hope I am. But enough about them.

Let’s turn our attention to the famous billionaires. You know, the ones that are always in the headlines. The ones with their space race and all. Why aren’t they helping more. Bill Gates, for example, has a lot to say about human suffering when it comes to malaria, but not when it comes to genocide. Perhaps I am just angry and confused. I am no saint either, and I could do more to help people. I do help a lot of people but I could do more. We could all do more. When it comes to Ukraine though my gut feeling is that the billionaires could do a whole lot more. Not that they owe Ukraine anything, but if you think this is a war about Ukraine and Russia then I would say you are wrong. This is about good and evil, and if we don’t help to stop this evil then we are all going to be damned.

The world is being tested here. Humanity is in the spotlight, and I think we are failing. And yes, I am over simplifying and yes I am naive. So here is my thinking. If Ukraine had the money, then can’t they simply buy the weapons they are begging for? How does this even work.

I also think that it is becoming open season for dictators. Yes, this evil is spreading. If the world doesn’t make more of a stand soon, and help Ukraine end this nightmare, it could easily escalate and before we know it we are going to be heading into WW III.