Thank you all for your support. It means a bunch to me.
A couple of updates.
I spent curfew (imposed from 8:00 PM March 15th to 7:00AM March 17th) gathering and sorting things I may need if I called from the mobilization point. I already had a "food" backpack ready at the exit of my apartments, so in need I could shoulder it and not be starving for around a week. It is packed mostly with light and long lasting food, some medication and so on. I wasn't sure if I will be called, but being busy helps to keep one's mind clear in times like we have here and now. Therefore I sorted and prepared for packing thermal underwear, socks (there is no such thing like enough dry clean socks) and even my leather motorcycle gloves which may serve as good as any tactical ones.
The 17th of March brought no call to arms but it brought bad news. Whatever russian buggers may be piping via their propaganda channels about precise strikes on military targets, the truth is different: from the very start of their invasion they don't give a f**k about using indiscriminate weapons on civilian infrastructure and civilians. And as soon as they realized they were failing, they started to destroy anything they could reach. That's why men (and many women) here are ready to tear throats necks with bare teeth. As I already mentioned, my niece and four other persons had to share two small rooms of her apartments in besieged Chernihiv since the start of this war . They already spent some days without electricity and heat. At some point a missile or shell struck the apartment house next to theirs. Then, on March 17th they got an even closer call: close explosions blew out the glass in their windows, damaged the roof and likely damaged the very structure of their apartment house, since pipes of the heating system disconnected and door jamb turned out to be twisted. They had to kick the door to get out.
Luckily, Chernihiv, unlike Mariupol, is not totally encircled by russians. Leaving the city is dangerous because of shelling, bombing , firing. Also some of the ways are mined. But there are local people who know all the smallest ways out so they transport people to the safer villages around. My mother and stepfather found such people and arranged transportation of our people from Chernihiv to one of such villages. However, the further way to the town where my parents and my relatives live wasn't safe too, because of russians lurking around. I think I already mentioned that my father died in a car crash when I was only seven years old and my mother raised us on her own (with help of grandmothers) for years until she met another man. He turned out to be a great man. He taught me to search for answers to my questions about how to fix things in books and I fixed and adjusted my first unit (car gearbox) under his guide. He also knows all the ways from that town of ours to most of the cities around. So he just jumped in the car and was already in an arranged village when a car with people from Chernihiv arrived. That was a long two hundred kilometers back home but they made it and now they all are in a place which is much safer than where they have been before. Thanks to the bravery and strong will of a couple of men. It was a great relief for me knowing they all are much safer now.
So far, I haven't been called. However, I did what I could and now have to wait. Russians already began to dig in on the lands they took and to dig them out the army will need more men. When the time comes, I will be ready. Meanwhile, I was busy helping my family: searching and buying medications for my brother's wife and fuel pump (injection pump) for my stepfather Ford Transit. My family uses that bus to haul supplies to their shop (that's why my stepfather knows all the roads around), so keeping it working is of essence for their business and in time of war for people who rely on their shop. I made a bunch of calls and hurray, and with the help of my friends I found the thing here in Kyiv. Luckily our courier services renewed their work in more or less safe areas so now the injection pump and medications are on their way to the closest safe city where they could pick the parcel. Hope the pump I bought will last long enough.
As for me, I have had no close calls so far. The closest missile hit the upper stores of the apartment house some two kilometers from my location. It was around 4:00 AM on the 18th of March. I woke up from the sound of an explosion followed by the sound of windows glasses trembling. Yep, it was far enough, but when you hear those sounds, you know: someone is likely dead and for sure people have been injured...