There are lots of guide books but no manuals for marriage.
Our marriage is the second for both Tanya and I. No matter whether our first marriage was a match made in Heaven or seemed to have had less stellar origins, mistakes were made, lessons were learned. We are determined not to make the same mistakes we made in our first marriages.
We are not having children. Just grandchildren.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Reasons I Love My Wife: #2644
Tanya decided she would plant some lettuce and as an experiment some cucumbers to see if they would yield in Sept/Oct. She went to one garden shop and came out with several packages of seed but they did not have one of something, so we went to another shop.
She was gone over 30 minutes, with Pop and I sitting in the car with the motor and A/C running as it was +38. She finally came out with two pots for house plants that needed repotting and anounced that they had a new plant in the shop with beautiful blue flowers which they had discussed at length, (though the sales person didn't know if it was for indoors or outdoors and gave her the wrong name of the plant also).
And they didn't have the seeds she was looking for, either.
She was gone over 30 minutes, with Pop and I sitting in the car with the motor and A/C running as it was +38. She finally came out with two pots for house plants that needed repotting and anounced that they had a new plant in the shop with beautiful blue flowers which they had discussed at length, (though the sales person didn't know if it was for indoors or outdoors and gave her the wrong name of the plant also).
And they didn't have the seeds she was looking for, either.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
More Flower Pictures
Tanya took some of these pictures after a rain shower and caught the raindrops on the petals and leaves.
These flowers' blooms last for one day. Don't know what they are called.
These flowers' blooms last for one day. Don't know what they are called.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Flying Trip to Dnipropetrovsk
Yesterday at 9:00 am, Tanya appeared in my office dressed for teh city and said she needed to go to Dnipro get see if she could find her blood pressure meds. None of the drug stores in ZV had them in stock and they are always expecting them "tomorrow". She had run out two days ago.
By 11:30 we were in the city and learned from a druggist in a shopping mall that the meds were unavailable as they were in process of reregistration or registration review. So Tanya went to the University Pharmacy and they helped her find a suitable alternative.
While she was down town, she had coffee with her friend Natalie. Natalie's husband had bought some land and needed the transfer documents registered with the city. It was more complicated than that but the upshot was for $15000 in bribe money, they would be happy to do it for him.
Ukraine has an obsession with documents, mainly I suspect because very document is an opportunity to extract bribes, hence no support for reforming the system. "What, you wanted it THIS century? Well, we are very busy but perhaps ..."
This is not something that grew out of the Soviet system. I just finished a translations of Gogol's "Dead Souls", written in the early mid 19th century and was surprised to learn that many of the practices I find objectionable in Ukraine are as old as Russian culture. People are appointed or removed from office at the whim of the person above them. NO ONE, Tsar, Party, or today's "democratically" elected government are answerable to the people. There is no accountability so to whom are you going to complain?
By 11:30 we were in the city and learned from a druggist in a shopping mall that the meds were unavailable as they were in process of reregistration or registration review. So Tanya went to the University Pharmacy and they helped her find a suitable alternative.
While she was down town, she had coffee with her friend Natalie. Natalie's husband had bought some land and needed the transfer documents registered with the city. It was more complicated than that but the upshot was for $15000 in bribe money, they would be happy to do it for him.
Ukraine has an obsession with documents, mainly I suspect because very document is an opportunity to extract bribes, hence no support for reforming the system. "What, you wanted it THIS century? Well, we are very busy but perhaps ..."
This is not something that grew out of the Soviet system. I just finished a translations of Gogol's "Dead Souls", written in the early mid 19th century and was surprised to learn that many of the practices I find objectionable in Ukraine are as old as Russian culture. People are appointed or removed from office at the whim of the person above them. NO ONE, Tsar, Party, or today's "democratically" elected government are answerable to the people. There is no accountability so to whom are you going to complain?
Explanations for The Guy
NINE PHRASES WOMEN USE:
(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.
(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.
(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.
(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!
(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)
(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.
(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome' . that will bring on a 'whatever').
(8) Whatever: Is a woman's way of saying F-- YOU!
(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to # 3.
(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.
(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.
(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.
(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!
(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)
(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.
(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome' . that will bring on a 'whatever').
(8) Whatever: Is a woman's way of saying F-- YOU!
(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to # 3.
Monday, July 20, 2009
A Taste of Home
Tonight I BBQ'd hamburgers on a charcoal grill. Can't say how many years since I last did that. We got a gas BBQ in about '89 so I guess maybe 20 years. Made the burgers myself from scratch and memory. LEAN ground beef, bread crumbs, eggs, Washdishyear sauce and ketchup. Put on the grill frozen, 5 minutes a side. Heaven. Served with raw onions, tomatoes, cheese slices and something like French Dressing for a burger sauce. Even found a package of pure white Harry's American Sandwich bread which had to serve as buns. 53% preservatives and cost about 4 times as much as the good stuff in the stores but tasted wonderful. Much as I love Tanya's cooking, sometimes I get lonesome for a taste of something familiar.
The kids' mom used to make the best home made hamburgers in the universe. She would make up about 10 kg at a time and freeze them with Saran wrap to separate. Chiseling them apart was a trick but supper could be served in 15 minutes flat from a standing start once we got a gas BBQ and didn't have to wait for the charcoal to heat.
She always put onions in the mix. Usually chopped up more or less fine. But one day we had two families coming for supper who informed us they DIDN'T eat anything with onions in it. So Ella pureed the onions in the blender. Said guests pronounced them the best burgers they had ever eaten and devoured them all.
The kids' mom used to make the best home made hamburgers in the universe. She would make up about 10 kg at a time and freeze them with Saran wrap to separate. Chiseling them apart was a trick but supper could be served in 15 minutes flat from a standing start once we got a gas BBQ and didn't have to wait for the charcoal to heat.
She always put onions in the mix. Usually chopped up more or less fine. But one day we had two families coming for supper who informed us they DIDN'T eat anything with onions in it. So Ella pureed the onions in the blender. Said guests pronounced them the best burgers they had ever eaten and devoured them all.
The Old Swimming Hole
When we were in Siberia, Tanya looked up a couple of friends she had grown up with and we went for a picnic to the river by her old village where she learned to swim. The river where all the kids swam was a branch of the Yennessee, which formed a sort of delta in the area. Her friend Volodya waded into the river but said the water was about +4 C and so all declined the honour of swimming that day.
Her village was called Kalyagino but when she was 18, the government decided that a new dam created a flood risk and moved the entire village. People moved to a number of nearby villages and Tanya's family went to Belii Yar. Buildings were moved or demolished. In the case of log houses (most of them), they were dismantled with each piece numbered and then reassembled in the new location.
Every spring, all the women in the village took their mats, rugs and carpets to this rock and washed them in the stream.
This huge grain storage, handling and cleaning facility is typical of the Soviet technology that dragged their agriculture so far behind they had to import wheat from Canada to feed their people. Horizontal instead of vertical was the logic of the day. Why they didn't all starve is beyond me. Their agricultural scientists were useless, partly because they had no ability to travel and learn from the rest of the world and partly because the higher ups in the system took all the credit for everything, so why bother.
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