Expat In Romania

I had a merry old time going through Google Search Console results a few days ago, and was inspired to write this blog post. If you don't know, Google Search Console is the Google SEO tool formerly known as 'Google Webmaster Tools'. It is used by website/domain owners to see what type of queries are helping their site show up in Google search results.  With my millions* of page views I knew I'd be in it for the long haul, so I settled in with a nice cup of tuica to analyze the search habits of visitors to this illustrious blog. Here are some of the top searches bringing visitors to my posts: 'why romania is better than america' 'expat in romania' 'romania vs usa; 'romania vs america' 'driving in romania' You get the idea. It's mostly topics I've written about. Since I no longer write regularly I am assuming that many of these searches come from people who want to see whether there's anything new -based on old p...

When I saw the yellow jacketed cop standing next to my car and speaking into his cellphone, I knew I'd parked where I wasn't supposed to. But it wasn't the typical Romanian not-a-spot-spot; like on a sidewalk or a crosswalk, or blocking an intersection, or just abandoned in the middle of the road. I had parked by a restaurant on a small, cobble-stoned street with no traffic. In their infinite wisdom, City Hall had suddenly decided to get tough on parking in the area, even while the kind of traffic violations I described above routinely occur elsewhere in town without ever bothering the local police. I mean, it's fine, but let's just be a little bit more consistent about the standards we're applying. "Don't worry," I told the cop, who'd put the phone away and was studying the car, "I'll save you the trouble and just drive off." "Is this your car?" He looked at me like he didn't exactly hear what I'd just said,...