Sometimes things happen that are well, kinda spooky.  A long time ago while people still used horses to travel in the USA and Alaska was not yet a state some people whose descendants would one day in the early 1980 s become my friends, received a letter from there relatives living in the  far off homeland of Germany I think.  This letter arrived in their post office with the only address on it being the persons name, the name of the city, and USA.  That was all it took, now had they lived in a common named city or a large city it may have never found them but as it happened they lived in a small town in Kansas which has the honor of probably being the only place on earth with that particular name it arrived.  Far-Out isnt it.

I always thought that was a rather quaint tail.  Well that is until last week.  Last week I received a letter here in Russia.  It was addressed to:

 "Siberia Tom and wife" 

Krasonyarsk Kray 

PO box #### 

Russia.  

Translated into American that is basically

"Siberia Tom and Wife" 

PO box ### 

midwest 

USA

Shades of Geroge Orwells world send shivers up my neck.  Who all know where I live???  Why do they Care??  

So what do you think......   Can the post office find you so easily??

Welcome aboard our Flight

Hey, have you ever flown?  You know in a real airliner, not one of those dependable little Bumble-Bees I work on.  Ok, ok, do you listen to the welcome Aboard Dream-air flight number 3332 from Inner-Podunk to Outer-Podunk tak-a-tak-a-tak-a ~~~ please note where the exits are ~~~ your life vest is under your seat~~~~~.  You know, "that part".  Do you pay attention to it?  Maybe you should, really, I mean, you should listen to it.  There can be some rather important news included.

Last week I had a conference in Turkey.  (It is really a tough life and Yes I am making the sacrifice to fill in as best I can.  I did spare Diana the hardship of this trip so she could enjoy February in Siberia at -40f/c while I toughed it out on the beach)  I thought that was the least I could do for her with Valentines-day coming up so quickly.  All that travel and nothing to do there on the beach but sit and go shopping and tour Antalya while I had meetings.  Nope, no fun for her there.

I like dogs so I thought I would include this pup just to cheer you up,  I can tell you were feeling sorry for me and I didn't want that feeling to get too strong, I mean I do appreciate it but really I can handle the stress of these hardship assignments as they only come along now and then.  

   Anyway back to the flight info announcement.  The background is important here so please bear with me.

    I left Turkey at about 15:50 arrived in Moscow about 19:55 and boarder my flight to Home about 00:45.  So along about 1:00 am the cabin crew is making the announcement relaying between Russian and English.  The lady doing the English part is not a native English speaker but her accent pronunciation and inflection are really good so I am kind of think wow I wish my Russian was as good as her English is and listening to the announcement but not as close as I could have been. 

 She does the seat belt part, the life vest part, the oxygen mask part, and then starts in on the legal part,  No smoking, no drinking your own booze and these laws are part of the XYZ code of federal aviation law in the Russian federation and if you are caught breaking any of these laws you will have to go to Church.

What a Country.

Amen 

Over past finished done.

Yes well, now we have moved into the has-been column for history to record and remember as a foot note *Tom and Diana were in Mongolia for 4 months between October 08 and January 09.  During the last days in Mongolia we enjoyed watching our friends win the Mongolian national Hockey tournament.   Go Pelicans.  There is something oximoronical about that name for a Hockey team isn't there?  Through that we met some interesting people.  One was a starter on the team.  #777 he is 53 years old and is the pastor of a energetic church in UlaanBaator.  We were told that he is still an effective Hockey player as in the culture one must respect ones elders and as he is so old no one on the opposing team can hit him, thus he can often score where a younger player would be knocked out of position.  He also has a very mature knowledge of the game and tends to be at the right spot at the right time.

John Luke and his family returned to UlaanBaator and we were not needed there any more.  The night he arrived as we pulled up to the guard gate our friend Sufda asked John Luke what the man opening the gates name was.  He replied Sambeno.  The guard then recognized him and greeted John Luke like a favorite nephew he had not seen for a long time.  

As I left the building that night to go back to the hotel where we stayed the last few nights I thought about how much we had enjoyed our time in Mongolia and the people we met and some we were able to help in one way or another and how the guard had greeted the son of the regular manger on there return and I knew it was time to go, time to move on, time to go home to Russia where we have other friends to care about and to be there for and yes to love as one does extended family,  the brothers and sisters we accumulate who just don't happen to have the same parents.

The memories we carry home are special;  Good food at really good prices at restaurants in UlaanBaator,  Special friends in the office who we will cherish knowing for many years,  baatar and David special folks who are in the same line of work as our Father.  We really enjoyed talking about the family business with them.  Diana found her fur coat in Mongolia.  We decided that wearing Sheep skin is actually greener than a synthetic coat that contributes to global warming.  Even greener than one with down as there is synthetic materials used in the shell and stitching.  Yes the only way to really fight global warming is to only buy real fur coats.  Besides she looks pretty cute in her Darkhan Minj Mongolian sheepskin.   Speaking of Global warming there is some debate here in Siberia as to it really being all that bad.  Tomorrow night is forecast to hit -50f here, at -70f the trees start to explode.  Some more global warming should help save some trees so would it not be greener to warm up some more?  "right Jewel"?

We did enjoy a 44 hour train ride home with our boss in the coupe as well as a nice Mongolian lady who seemed to have bits of clothing and shoes and blankets scattered all over the car.  It was a rather interesting ride especially at the border where she managed to be wearing about 6 shirts and 3 or 4 pairs of pants and a couple coats while we were clearing customs.  The heat in the car also seemed to have been set to about 90f at the crossing for some unknown reason.  We saw one of her friends being escorted off the car with a queen sized blanket full of coats, shirts, pants, shoes, and all kinds of nice stuff from China.  Later in the trip we saw the nice lady literally selling the shirts off of her back at each train platform in Russia.

Quiz time.  Both of you who read this,  As I am now back in Russia and soon may be off to another location should Sambeno be replaced with a more local themed blog or has Tom and Sambeno become one linked eternally in your mind thus changing it would doubtless result in causing irreparable damage to your mental state?  Ok really, should Sambeno only deal with Mongolia stuffffff?

What do you say When:

  This is our last week in Mongolia.  At this time we are getting packed up and ready.  Our tirp will take 44 hours on the train to travel the 800 miles.   We head north in a few days back to our adopted home.  After only  a year we have come to like Siberia.  This coming year may change our thoughts but for now we look forward to going back.   Which brings me to the subject of this post.  

The following questions are from a different time and place While these things occurred, none were in Russia or Mongolia.

  What do you say when the National Guard sentry at the checkpoint requests to see the receipt for your 4 year old hair dryer in your suitcase?  Is "Why?" an adequate response?  Or the receipt for your camera which you bought in another country many years previously?  What is a culturally sensitive reply?  Is Why rude?

  What do you say when the somewhat inebriated National Police Airport Guard who is holding the machine gun asks for money to buy batteries for his flashlight so he can guard your Hangar?  Do you help buy his next bottle of Whisky or risk him holding a grudge?

  What do you say when the City Policeman who is holding the machine gun at the checkpoint  asks you to take a Pregnant lady from that town to the hospital in some city on up the highway as she is giving birth now and they have no money to buy gas for the ambulance and you are driving a company car with a no passengers policy?  How could you refuse even knowing that the hospital is actually just a location and there may not actually be any Medical equipment or staff there?  

  What do you say to your coworkers in a war zone when they ask if all the armed people walking around bother you?  However you hadn't noticed that there were that many as the country you had just lived in for 9 years which was not at war had more solders carrying automatic weapons on the streets and it actually felt less threatening than where you were? 

  So what do you say?  I'm not going to tell you.  Think it over and let me know.  I am interested.

Tom.

Crisp morning air

In Mongolia occasionally we have a nice fresh morning where the crisp air puts a bit of color in your cheeks and a fresh spring in your step.  This morning was one of those.  The internet said it was -22 f but we are never sure if anything on the internet is actually true.  Today was special as Diana arrived at the office with new hi-lights in her hair.  Are not they the cutest thing you ever saw?  Look how the white contrasts with the fresh pink in her cheeks.

Betcha wish you could be here too.

The best toy I ever had was A

My Grandfather ran a Saw sharpening, Glass cutting, and Lawnmower repair company.  He was a survivor from the Depression.  He once told me that after he got married to my grandmother he had to take the only job he could find.  That job was in a Rendering plant.  Those of you from non rural backgrounds may not know what that is, and to be truthful I only know from his description.  Then that was where they took the farm animals who had died or were too sick to save.  The critter was processed to retrieve the Lard or Tallow or whatever name given to the fat from that species.  So picture this, working in a place that cooks rotting animals to retrieve the fat.  I guess the fat has some kind of industrial uses, but probably not for making Pizza.  They had a garden that could feed 20 for a year.  But that is not the topic for today.

The contraption is.  Pop H.(grandpa) built it for me.  That is a sad copy of it in the picture below.  To me the 200 shot Dasiy Red Rider repeating carbine from A Christmas Story paled in comparison.  (I had both so I can make that statement)

These young drivers are about 2 and 4 when this picture was taken.  No safety gear, no brakes no guard on the drive belt.  And the best toy I ever had.  My contraption lasted from when I was about 4 until I was too big to fit behind the steering wheel.  Probably about age 13.  It was great.  I wore out 3 or 4 B&S 3.5 hp engines over the years,  Countless tires who knows how many tones of carbon I reintroduced to the atmosphere helping to warm the planet.  I liked it so much I built the one above for my sons.  An old Cooper-Clipper reel-type lawn mower sacrificed its life for my sons entertainment.  Later in life it sprouted 600/6 aircraft tires for the back and it looked like a little drag racing rail.  Josh was light enough to do wheelies and leave black marks with it (He was about 3).  (calm down Diana it only goes about as fast as you can walk)

Here is a picture of the car some friends gave us to use in 1999.  Smoky Joe as this Voayger came to be known was a good car.  It needed Valve guides so if it idled for long it earned its name. (usually by fogging the intersection where you were waiting on the green light)  In Ven we could have earned extra cash by adding insecticide to the oil and renting it out as a Mosquito fogger.  We didn't drive it much for that reason as West Nile virus had not hit yet and fogging Mosquitos was not an appreciated practice in Colorado then.  Smokey Joe was a dependable car, got reasonable gas milage and seated 7.  Our older son learned to drive in that car.  We passed it along to another needy person who fixed the Valve Guides and we saw it around town for several years following that.

Then came the Blue Bug, our oldest sons first car.  The Turbo Diesel part made it ok for a guy to drive.  It also burnt oil but it was by design.  It got 45 to 48 mpg so we saved a lot on fuel but due to the constant requirement to purchase parts to keep it running it was not such an economical car to own.  

The younger son learned to drive in this one, as it is also 2wd he learned how to dig out when it got stuck.  Known as Larry Boy for obvious reasons it soldiers on today unless something has happened he hasn't told us about yet.

 last but not least is the  Gherkin.  No real story here it was not mine but I did like the way the front suspension broke for no reason with no warning so I threw in the picture.  It had the GM version of ABS which in this case stood for anti stop brakes.  I still remember the looks on the policemen in the toyota as the Gherkins brakes did nothing while I mashed the brake peddle to the floor trying not to rear end them.  Luckily for all of us they cleared the pothole and accelerated away just as I rolled into it so I missed them by 6 or 8 feet.  A genuine light duty GM vehicle.  The paved roads in Venezuela shook it to pieces.  I never managed to finish the trip across Venezuela to Puerto Ordaz without buying tires or bus tickets to finish the trip.  Buen viaje amigos.

Coffee, Ice, Sun, & 2009

This morning we went out with some friends to visit a bit.  My friends in South America are always trying to rub in the fact that we are a long way from Coffee.  Well actually it is only half a block walk.  This cups is for you and you know who you are..

I have been trying to tell people for years Diana has a thing for a guy with a mustache.  Well here is the proof.  This poor Gent. was just minding his own business standing in front of the Lego store and she was, Well you can see... making eyes at him...  To his credit though he gave her the cold shoulder.

And then to make matters worse, this Ice Bear had to pick up her Cub and hold him out of reach where Diana could not take his bottle of Coke.  It is time to leave Mongolia she is totally losing it here.

The Coffee was good and the Ice sculptures are nice.  Today was bright sunny and felt pretty warm it was a nice day to be out and about.  Then our friends showed us a restaurant where they make a pretty good Philly-Cheese-Steak sandwich.  It was the kind of place where it seems like you are friends with everyone in the restaurant.   They have a webpage  www.subbaatar.com and check it out.

Here is wishing you have a good 2009, happy New Year from Mongolia.