Articles

Samshvilde is one of those places that looks close enough to Tbilisi for an easy day out, then feels much further away once you leave the city behind. This was our second proper attempt to reach Samshvilde Fortress. The first one, in May 2025, ended in heavy rain, mud and a sensible retreat before we reached the ruins. This time we came back with one unfinished job in mind: finally find the fortress.

I've been building a Translator Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) platform for our translation business - essentially an internal system for managing our translator network, from CV intake and testing through vendor profiles, rates, availability, communication and periodic profile updates.

One of the most important steps recently was getting email sending working directly from the system.

Ireland movie is out! Or at the start of summer, back in June, we traveled to Ireland for the GALA Conference, bringing together people from across the translation industry.

Straight from the airport, we picked up a rental car, quickly adjusted to driving on the other side of the road, and headed west to Galway. From there came a spectacular visit to the Cliffs of Moher and the wild Atlantic coast - dramatic cliffs, endless ocean, strong winds, and some truly unforgettable scenery, partly powered by Jameson, Guinness and chowder on Fisher Street.

The last week of May turned into one of those spontaneous Georgian adventures that are difficult to plan but impossible to forget.

It began after Renée returned from an overnight stay with her classmates at Hotel Kopala in Tskneti. We picked her up directly from the school bus and immediately headed east toward Lagodekhi with friends from the BIST community.

A losing short put creates an uncomfortable question: should you close the position, roll it, accept assignment, or add another options structure in an attempt to improve the trade?

One possibility is to sell a bear call spread above the market while continuing to hold the short put. The additional credit can reduce the position's cumulative cost, but it does not eliminate the downside risk of the put. Instead, it introduces a second risk: the stock may recover strongly and challenge the short calls.

Today, after looking over one of our properties in western Latvia, I invited representatives from the local Swedish-owned forestry company Sveaskog Baltfor to estimate the cost of clearing the overgrown bushes from the property.

Recently, I added Bank of America stock to our long-term stock portfolio after selling a cash-secured put on BAC.

This was not a random trade. I have been selling options and investing with Bank of America stock at least since 2020, and over the years BAC has become one of those names I keep returning to. It is not the most exciting stock in the market, and it will probably never behave like NVIDIA or some fast-growing technology company, but that is exactly part of the reason I like it.

During my recent visit to Chiatura, I stopped at one of the city’s scenic viewing platforms — and it turned out to be one of the best places to overlook the entire town from above.

I have been living in Georgia as an expat since 2011. Over the years, I have seen many initiatives come and go - investment programs, startup incentives, real estate trends, banking opportunities, crypto mining, free industrial zones, and different attempts to position Georgia as a regional business hub.