Watching the News Or Not

At some point I decided that following headlines on Ukraine was like reviewing the Department of States' Travel Advisory for the country you're intending to visit. It's good to be informed, but if you've already performed the moral calculus and intend to proceed with your trip there's only so much you can do before getting there.

Of course once Amy arrived and reports were trickling in by text message I did wonder why she was having a hard time getting hryvnia and why the renters of our apartment wanted to be paid in full for our rental in U.S. dollars. While attending my employer's annual Sales Conference, I received a copy of the New York Times that described all of Eastern Europe hanging by a very thin economic thread. Protests and a run on banks in Kiev.

Since arriving I've been following this a good deal more closely. A handful of articles describing the situation with the IMF, a smartly-dressed spokesperson for the secret police describing their action against Naftogaz, and so on. Today my search results were scuttled by the Dallas Cowboys signing Defense End Igor Olshansky, the NFL's only Ukraine-born player.

Before that it had been the gas crisis, and before that an apartment building blowing up due to a gas leak. Lots of strange goings on with gas in this country.