Honey, I'll get the mail on the way home....

Yes, we have a post office box here. I shared once before about getting mail in Russia so maybe I have an issue that way I don't know. Thursday I was walking home and decided to stop in the post office and check to see if any mail had found us yet. We have been doing this since we returned from The US in early June but until now only "air mail" in our empty box.

The postal locks here are sorta neat they look like Philips #2 screw driver tips. They file off the sides like the notches on a key to make the key. There are 4 sets of tumblers that way. If it is made well that is probably a nearly pick proof lock, at least they want you to think that they are.

The down side is that the key fits any of 4 ways so getting it right on the first try is addressed with a mark on the key and lock that you match up when you insert the key. Well, on all the others you do that, on ours you insert it 180 degrees off. More pick proof I guess.

Ya too much info I know but Thursday we had mail. Well, sort of mail, we had two slips of paper saying we had mail. So I thought probably international mail requires you to pay for delivery or something so I went to the window to ask. The lady who works there is really nice and she took a great deal of time and words I didn't know telling me that I had to go to another post office to claim my mail. OK so I asked my friends where they pick up mail from the US. Of course it comes to there PO box next to mine. But boxes come to another post office a few blocks away in the general direction of where she had indicated.

Diana and I set off with our papers and knowledge of where to go. We went to that post office and were told that where we needed to go was near the train station. We went to the train station and asked for the post office. We were told it was on down the street a few blocks. We wandered on down the street and we found a sign that had the address of the post office we wanted on it. So we followed it and asked for the post office. Nope not here back the way you came.

We asked another guy yes further on the way you came from. And another, "it is on the train station" Russian prepositions sometimes translate funny. Ok back to the train station, and wow the address is the same as the one on our paper. So we go in and ask about the post office. No it is not here but go out the door and to the right 25 steps and there it is. So out the door and 25 steps to the right and there is a door. It is locked and inside is a desk pushed up against the door so it can't open. Ok so another 15 steps to the next door. It is a restaurant, but they know where the post office is. Great they point to a dilapidated building about 100 yards up the track in a industrial area that looks a bit spooky. So with Diana watching my back we venture into the unknown. When we arrive at the building in an area where people don't seem to pick up after there dogs or maybe it just smells like that, we get to the building and the only door on the front says Post Office Store. Inside we can see a small grocery store. We think well Aunt Bee got the mail in a dry goods store on Maybery RFD so maybe the same here. We enter and ask. A guy without shoes sits by the door selling seeds, there is a lady behind a counter with a postal scales so I approach her and show her the papers. She tells me "yes this is our house" no wait I bet she said "yes this is the right building" Hard to tell as Russian may not have been either of our first languages. But the guy with no shoes takes us back out side and points to the end of the building and to the right. Again with Diana guarding my back we set off in search of the post office.

We turn right and walk past the old truck blocking the parking lot and to the back corner of the lot and building and down a couple steps into a lower floor of the same building into a dark room with a few boxes and desks and a guy working at one under a bare light bulb. I show him my papers. Then I hear him say my name and then he produces my two letters. He then ask's me to write on the back of the papers from the registered letters that I received them to sign them and put the date.

So I have my letters and it only took two hours to pick it up, I got a couple miles walking in and learned how to say international post office in Russian so some people understand.

But next time I can do this in a hour or less. Cool

So what was your major acomplishment today?

ST

Well it almost helped

So do you get those annoying little time to update some bit of software now and then? I do ocassionally and

living here where the internet is just a bit faster than dial up it

signals having really slow internet until the newest update is installed.

If you notice I have not posted in a while and in part that is due to being

busy and in part due to not having an

y new pictures

to add and in part to my browser along with the free one

from Mozilla neither being able to display the BlogSpot site correctly.

A few days ago I got the update your browser notice so I left the computer on while we went out and installed the update. Just now was the first

time I could get back on BlogSpot and at first I thought the update has fixed it, well, almost. I have the bar back at the top but there is still three screens between the title applet

and the Preview box.

Not so bad, at least I can log-in again... However I am still missing the formatting area so it may be hard to add a picture.

Yes, it was hard. The applet is there hiding in the white area. And the edit window holds all of 35 words. But we have opposing thumbs so we preserver.

ST

Take out Pizza?

Several months ago I was having lunch with a friend from a Western European country.  One known for culinary stuff.  Coming from the heartland of Steak and potatoes I am somewhat ignorant of  such things.  Anyway I was enthralled as he showed the proper way to eat using a utensil in each hand while holding the fork with the manufacturer data showing rather than underneath.  He told us how his country men found the American habit of eating one handed cumbersome and inefficient not to mention downright humorous.  This was interesting watching the peas being rolled up the bottom of the fork to perch there without falling as they made the trip to their final resting place.  He then shaired a bit of humor regarding Americans refueling rather than eating, which struck me as sort of oxymoronic as he was the one eating with both hands to save time.

Anyway, regardless of that, they do have take out Pizza in Paris.  Who would have thought a frenchman would stoop to buying take out.  Maybe the starving artists don't have time to cook or cant afford both a fork and knife so cant get regular food off the plate.  I don't know.  I wonder if they deliver to Central Asia.  I could go for an American sausage, Canadian bacon, and extra cheese on a traditional hand tossed crust.

Keep your eyes on The Son

ST

The rest of the picture

Some time ago I think I read that Paul Harvey passed on.  I noted that with casual interest as years ago "late 1970's" when I was farming in the midwest our tractor radio only got a few stations well, and one of them had his Rest of the Story broadcast a few times a day.  Those were particularly fun and interesting so I always took special interest when he spoke.  Sometimes he would report regular news and I would be disappointed as the news was never as interesting as the Rest of the Story.  We only worked 6 or 8 hours a day in the tractor in the spring and summer as that is when the field work happened and only the bigger tractors had radios.  The rest of the year we only used them for chores and such so the chance of catching Paul Harvey was not so good.  Well today I was thinking about that kind of thing and looking at this picture.  

You have probably noticed how I like posting pictures of Diana.  (she has been my best friend for over 27 years now)  lets see that probably means I hit the big 50 soon, ouch.  Anyway here she is in her kitchen.  No you cant see much of the kitchen but there is the Chainik (electric tea pot) as well as the regular kind on the stove in the background and the window which looks out at the rose in the last post.  Can you see the lace in the window.  That is used like fly screen here, it is interesting and kinda pretty too.  

The first week we were here we had lunch with some new friends.  They served us rice with lintels and a sort of almost TexMex enchilada sauce on top.  Diana being the Grandma at heart (In spirit only) that she is, she commented to our new friends daughter (about 9) that it looked really Yummy.  This precious young lady politely informed us that Yummy is the brand name of the paper on the roll by the toilet.  So not a good thing to equate with food.  Interesting.

Living in a new culture is always interesting.  It is quite intimidating as you make those first steps into the unknown.  In several languages there is a formal speak and an informal speak.  In english maybe the difference between (Hey Dude, and Excuse me Sir) sums it up.  In russian we learned that some verbs as they move into this tense at least some of the time use the (sounds like "eateya" or eat ya) ending which is easy to remember as when you are using the formal tense for the first times usually the apprehension makes it easy to picture the other person gobbling you up if you speak incorrectly.  Some things like that can add some humor to the situation and help ease the feelings and fear of the unknown.  Having lived in four new language locations now I have come to the conviction that no one should be able to complain about the inability of another to communicate well in the formers mother tongue until they can communicate better in the other fellows mother tongue.  Sort of the pot and kettle.  Regardless of the official language I shouldn't complain about Mr. Lee's english until I can tell him it stinks in Mandarin Chinese or whatever language his mom yelled at him using when he got his good clothes dirty chasing the farm cat under the barn.

Oh yes back to the beginning.  Well our young friend filled us in on the way things are done here.  Toilet paper is Yummy and you wash your dishes and clothes in

"And now you know the rest of the story"

(phrase shamelessly plagiarized from the Paul Harvey radio segment by the same name)

Keep your eyes on The SON

ST

our front yard

Hey what is in your front yard.  Over the years I have had cars, pickups, old cars, old pickups, running cars and pickups as well as the other kind, Tractors and other farm implements, barbique grills, friends eating Bratwurst and hotdogs, go-carts, an airplane without wings, strawberries, tropical flowers, mini-bikes, but today the rose Bloomed!

I am thanking the Fellow that made it.  It is an amazing thing.

Hope you have a bit of perfection in your life too.

ST

Camera out of my pocket

  Finally the sun shone while we were walking and I took some pictures as I was able through the trees of the Mountains and one fountain here along a main boulevard.  We live about a mile from some nice food stores and a reasonable restaurant.  the Bus costs between $0.13 and $0.26 each way but we often walk as it is nice and the bus is often pretty full.  The price depends on the type of bus not the distance or route

Here in our new home it is spring,  While still cool at times in the day when the sun shines it is quite nice.  The rain still falls regularly for now but when the sun shines the white on the peaks around the city is very pretty. 

.

Several of the bigger buildings here have fountains and they are starting to turn them on again for the summer.  The streets while not so smooth seem to be paved for the most part, at least in the parts of town we have visited.  The cost of living is not too bad with the national bread costing about $0.27 a piece.  Diana and I can eat about one a day with other things.  As we get more staple foods purchased we will probably drop that to about half a loaf, 

We ventured to a Bazar this saturday and purchased some things.  We found the long lighters and bought one for our gas stove which has no lighter built in.  We also bought a good pan and some other small required items.  A coffee Grinder was high on that list, along with a "Tiger Blanket"

  

as we find the house is cool but not cold enough to turn on the furnace.

While out rented house is lacking on view it is quiet and clean with big open rooms and western furniture.  The kitchen is the least well equipped part of the house but Diana would want to get or bring her own things for cooking anyway to that was ok.

We did get internet but it is limited use in the daytime and open at night.  This will make it nice to chat with people on the other side of the world but is already causing issues with our sleep cycle.

S.T.

Camera in my pocket

Hi again,  We are here.  One of my friends seems to blog about reading books a lot.  not that that bothers me but I just realized I was about to quote a line from a movie.  It is not as impressive to post a quote from "Bukaroo Bonzi" as it is say Tollken or Lewis, or even Sam Clemens,  BUT this fits.   "No matter where you go there you are"  well here we ARE.  Pictures soon I hope as this is quite a pretty place in a post soviet sort of way.  The people in our new home are friendly to a fault and the Skyline is just about impossible to beat.  Even coming from the Colorado Rockies the hills around town are very pretty and rugged looking.  

As always language is an issue in a new land.  Here we are able to use Russian with most people and if they are really patient with us we can communicate.  Russian is not a language learned but rather snatched bit by bit from the obscure corners of the memory, Usually half an hour after the conversation is over.  The simplest words often hiding behind some Spanish equivalent, only to pop up later when they are no longer needed.  

Diana likes the word Da,  in Russian it means Yes, in Spanish something else.  She sometimes gets a bit confused which meaning to apply and it can be fun to watch.  Last week we tried a cafe.  I would say it was a new cafe but we have only been here a week so they are all new.  I ordered Plove which is sort of Rice, meat, veggies, and lots of grease.  It slides down nicely.  My plate was too much for me so we planned to share it.  The waiter asked Diana if she wanted here own plate.  She intended to communicate that she would help with mine.  Her reply did not exactly communicate that idea to him.  I think it was something to do with her pointing at mine and repeating DA, Da, Da.  Neither of us could finish our plate of Plove.

I have been carrying my camera around with me in hopes of sharing some of the nicer views we have here.  If I remember I have it, it rains, If I forget it is sunny and clear.  Much like russian at some point the three will converge Memory Sun and view and I will post some more pictures of where we now live.

It's not so much the curves that life throws you but the turns you chose to take that makes it worth while.

ST