Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The Countdown has Begun to get Serious.
In 22 days, Ky will be here for three weeks and in 31 days May-B will be here for two weeks. Both leave July 2 on the same flight. We have been dreaming and planning since they told us they would come to visit. We have a plan. OK, Tanya has a plan.
Tanya has put a huge amount of effort into her flower garden. Roman and Sergei have been and continue to pour concrete. My someday woodworking shop has a floor, the screened in room for BBQ has a floor (finished today). They will next pour an area in front of the BBQ room and then a wider and higher sidewalk beside our outbuilding.
Lena arrived this morning and spring cleaning is underway. The girls' bedroom has already been thoroughly cleaned; walls and ceiling washed, drapes washed, etc. The door has been closed and will NOT be opened until the girls arrive, keeping everything perfect.
There will be strawberries to pick and make jam and the yellow and red cherry trees are loaded with small green fruit which will be ripe when they are here. Our sour cherries are not looking good but we can buy a pail full to make jam. We can send up to 24 kg of home-made jam back with the girls according to CFIA but I doubt they will take it, what with the new one-suitcase rule.
The car is in for final repairs on brakes and suspension and we'll get the 75,000 km oil change done before they arrive. We hear the road to Crimea is impassible but hopefully they will have it patched before we attempt to drive it.
Counting, counting, counting...
Tanya has put a huge amount of effort into her flower garden. Roman and Sergei have been and continue to pour concrete. My someday woodworking shop has a floor, the screened in room for BBQ has a floor (finished today). They will next pour an area in front of the BBQ room and then a wider and higher sidewalk beside our outbuilding.
Lena arrived this morning and spring cleaning is underway. The girls' bedroom has already been thoroughly cleaned; walls and ceiling washed, drapes washed, etc. The door has been closed and will NOT be opened until the girls arrive, keeping everything perfect.
There will be strawberries to pick and make jam and the yellow and red cherry trees are loaded with small green fruit which will be ripe when they are here. Our sour cherries are not looking good but we can buy a pail full to make jam. We can send up to 24 kg of home-made jam back with the girls according to CFIA but I doubt they will take it, what with the new one-suitcase rule.
The car is in for final repairs on brakes and suspension and we'll get the 75,000 km oil change done before they arrive. We hear the road to Crimea is impassible but hopefully they will have it patched before we attempt to drive it.
Counting, counting, counting...
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
You can run...
Our friends Volodya and Oksana were sponsoring a three day dairy genetics seminar at Agro-Soyuz (where I had given my three day beef school in March). Three speakers were coming from Volodya's "parent" company, CRI, in USA. Volodya wanted us to meet them because he hoped they would want us to work with them in future.
On Sunday, Tanya and I drove to Samara, a rest resort camp on the Samara River, where everyone was staying, about 30 minutes from Agro-Soyuz. Only one of the Americans had arrived, the other two were delayed 24 hours. We sat in Volodya's suite (it is a fancy resort) and talked. Peter (Pyotr Vladimirovich) was originally from Nizhny Novgorod in Russia. He had started the livestock genetics company Semex Russia in Nizhny Novgorod in partnership with Semex Canada back in the mid 90's. He was now the Eastern European Sales Manager for Cooperative Resources International (CRI) out of Iowa with a Canadian branch in Ontario that Volodya and Tanya and I had visited in 2006.
He didn't look familiar but too much of his 1990's history sounded familiar. Finally I said "There was a guy from Nizhny Novgorod came to Canada in the early 1990's on a Yeltsin Democracy Fellowship". "That was me". "I hauled you all over Saskatchewan for several days". "That is why you look so familiar".
History. Peter was a very serious young man with a vision when I met him 16 years ago. (He was also tall, slim, with black hair. He is still tall). He had a degree in Law (the Genetics degrees he acquired later at Iowa State) and was an elected member of the Nizhny Novgorod Parliament, among other things. He was very active in the Democracy movement in Russia and in Nizhny Novgorod they had one of the most forward looking reform minded groups in the country.
He spent three intensive months in Canada trying to understand "Why" we were as we were in Canada, our legal system, our agriculture, our attitudes, our everything he could think of. I lost track of him after he left. Email addresses changed regularly in those days and a couple years later, I heard he had moved to the USA. I was disappointed. I learned Sunday why he moved.
The old Communist bosses, the Oligarchs and the KGB "got to" Yeltsin and forced him to "take back Russia" (to coin a phrase) from those who threatened their power, their wealth and their criminal activity by wanting to reform the system, make it transparent, fair and responsive to the people. Yeltsin canceled all elected bodies, though they still had three years of their mandate left and held new elections across the board. Virtually every pro-democracy candidate was defeated. It was the end of democratic reform and reformers were on the endangered list. Peter had a brother in Iowa. It was time.
Now he is back, doing his part to help modernize agriculture in the FSU. I hope we can work together on some of it.
On Sunday, Tanya and I drove to Samara, a rest resort camp on the Samara River, where everyone was staying, about 30 minutes from Agro-Soyuz. Only one of the Americans had arrived, the other two were delayed 24 hours. We sat in Volodya's suite (it is a fancy resort) and talked. Peter (Pyotr Vladimirovich) was originally from Nizhny Novgorod in Russia. He had started the livestock genetics company Semex Russia in Nizhny Novgorod in partnership with Semex Canada back in the mid 90's. He was now the Eastern European Sales Manager for Cooperative Resources International (CRI) out of Iowa with a Canadian branch in Ontario that Volodya and Tanya and I had visited in 2006.
He didn't look familiar but too much of his 1990's history sounded familiar. Finally I said "There was a guy from Nizhny Novgorod came to Canada in the early 1990's on a Yeltsin Democracy Fellowship". "That was me". "I hauled you all over Saskatchewan for several days". "That is why you look so familiar".
History. Peter was a very serious young man with a vision when I met him 16 years ago. (He was also tall, slim, with black hair. He is still tall). He had a degree in Law (the Genetics degrees he acquired later at Iowa State) and was an elected member of the Nizhny Novgorod Parliament, among other things. He was very active in the Democracy movement in Russia and in Nizhny Novgorod they had one of the most forward looking reform minded groups in the country.
He spent three intensive months in Canada trying to understand "Why" we were as we were in Canada, our legal system, our agriculture, our attitudes, our everything he could think of. I lost track of him after he left. Email addresses changed regularly in those days and a couple years later, I heard he had moved to the USA. I was disappointed. I learned Sunday why he moved.
The old Communist bosses, the Oligarchs and the KGB "got to" Yeltsin and forced him to "take back Russia" (to coin a phrase) from those who threatened their power, their wealth and their criminal activity by wanting to reform the system, make it transparent, fair and responsive to the people. Yeltsin canceled all elected bodies, though they still had three years of their mandate left and held new elections across the board. Virtually every pro-democracy candidate was defeated. It was the end of democratic reform and reformers were on the endangered list. Peter had a brother in Iowa. It was time.
Now he is back, doing his part to help modernize agriculture in the FSU. I hope we can work together on some of it.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
No, You CAN'T Make this Stuff Up
Yesterday, Friday, was the last day for the annual safety registration of our car for 2010. While the ownership of our car is registered in Zhovti Vody, because our residence is registered in P'yatkhatskii Raion, we must go to the office of the Motor Vehicle Police (DAI) in the "county seat" of P'yatikhatki. To register, one is required to provide a safety diagnostic from a licenced provider and a health certificate for the main driver.
Tanya had gone to P'yatikhatki several weeks ago to find out what the protocol was for the safety registration and what documents we needed. Last time it took 10 minutes to get out little card. I had traded a box of chocolates and a jar of coffee to the local head doctor for her signature on a health certificate printed on what we used to call scrap paper and we didn't need a safety diagnostic. Because our car was new when we first registered it, we had two years before we needed to come back. I was not new but apparently my health certificate could wait the two years too.
This time there was no fooling about the health certificate. They had a new fancy blue form which was constantly in short supply. Mine has my picture and stamps approving me as healthy enough to drive trucks and cars but not public transportation. Andrei and I went to the local diagnostic centre where they check the brakes and steering, turn signals and head lights. We got an official print out, which I didn't read, but it must not have mentioned our cracked windshield (nowhere near my line of vision but illegal none-the-less) or the fact that no matter how often you set them up, the emergency brakes do not work.
We also needed a copy of our insurance policy, my driver's licences and the usual passport copies. We were set. Oh, yes, one small detail. Andrei had a couple of speeding tickets from some time ago. When Tanya first went to check, she found them posted on the computer under our car's registration. They have to be paid before you can get the safety registration renewed. Andrei paid them Friday morning in Zhovi Vody. Because his residence is in the city, he has to pay his fines there.
I picked up the receipts from his home and Tanya and I headed for P'yatikhatki. First, because the fine payment would not have time to work its way through the system, we had to stop at the office in Zhovti Vody which deals with all fines. Tanya took the bank receipt to them and got another receipt. By 2:30 we were in the DAI office in P'yatikhatki. We sailed through the first part but when it came time to deal with the fact the tickets were paid, we had a problem. TWO tickets require TWO receipts, not one for both. After some discussion we got a document from them that had to be stamped by the DAI in Zhovti Vody.
So at 3:00 we headed back to the city, got the required stamps and by 5:00 we were back in P'yatikhatki. Tanya walked in the door and the computer crashed. This is the program with every vehicle in Ukraine listed, which prints out the safety registration cards. We waited until 6:00 closing time to see if the computer would come back up. N'yet.
Kyiv sent a man down this morning to check the computer as it was not the main program which crashed. He turned it on and it worked perfectly. The man at the DAI office called tonight to say he would meet us on our way through P'yatikhatki tomorrow and give us our card.
Tanya had gone to P'yatikhatki several weeks ago to find out what the protocol was for the safety registration and what documents we needed. Last time it took 10 minutes to get out little card. I had traded a box of chocolates and a jar of coffee to the local head doctor for her signature on a health certificate printed on what we used to call scrap paper and we didn't need a safety diagnostic. Because our car was new when we first registered it, we had two years before we needed to come back. I was not new but apparently my health certificate could wait the two years too.
This time there was no fooling about the health certificate. They had a new fancy blue form which was constantly in short supply. Mine has my picture and stamps approving me as healthy enough to drive trucks and cars but not public transportation. Andrei and I went to the local diagnostic centre where they check the brakes and steering, turn signals and head lights. We got an official print out, which I didn't read, but it must not have mentioned our cracked windshield (nowhere near my line of vision but illegal none-the-less) or the fact that no matter how often you set them up, the emergency brakes do not work.
We also needed a copy of our insurance policy, my driver's licences and the usual passport copies. We were set. Oh, yes, one small detail. Andrei had a couple of speeding tickets from some time ago. When Tanya first went to check, she found them posted on the computer under our car's registration. They have to be paid before you can get the safety registration renewed. Andrei paid them Friday morning in Zhovi Vody. Because his residence is in the city, he has to pay his fines there.
I picked up the receipts from his home and Tanya and I headed for P'yatikhatki. First, because the fine payment would not have time to work its way through the system, we had to stop at the office in Zhovti Vody which deals with all fines. Tanya took the bank receipt to them and got another receipt. By 2:30 we were in the DAI office in P'yatikhatki. We sailed through the first part but when it came time to deal with the fact the tickets were paid, we had a problem. TWO tickets require TWO receipts, not one for both. After some discussion we got a document from them that had to be stamped by the DAI in Zhovti Vody.
So at 3:00 we headed back to the city, got the required stamps and by 5:00 we were back in P'yatikhatki. Tanya walked in the door and the computer crashed. This is the program with every vehicle in Ukraine listed, which prints out the safety registration cards. We waited until 6:00 closing time to see if the computer would come back up. N'yet.
Kyiv sent a man down this morning to check the computer as it was not the main program which crashed. He turned it on and it worked perfectly. The man at the DAI office called tonight to say he would meet us on our way through P'yatikhatki tomorrow and give us our card.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Today's Cartoon
Salesman: One meter, (one) kiss.
Girl: (I) will (take) three, and my grandmother will pay.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Dentists, Eye Doctors and Electricians
I went to see the local optometrist a couple weeks ago as my eyes have been bothering me of late. It was like going back in time to when I was a kid and got my first glasses. His equipment consisted of an eye chart and a box full of different lenses with which he tried unsuccessfully to correct my left eye vision. I will be going to Dnipropetrovsk next month to a specialist with more up to date equipment. I miss Dr Robertson's high tech office in Regina.
Yesterday, Tanya and Lena went to Dnipropetrovsk on the minibus and I went to the Dentist. Tanya went to collect a shipment of flowers that was supposed to have arrived in late March. Lena went to "help" her. Good thing as they came back with both of them loaded with bedding plants and such from the big flower market in Dnipro. We may need to buy more land shortly.
Andrei said that Dr Tretiak was an excellent dentist and I think I agree. At least his equipment was modern. Not totally high tech like Dr Weiss in Regina who looked after my teeth for about 25 years but recognizable. And one of his techs spoke a bit of English which helped
I had my teeth cleaned last week. That took 30 minutes and involved removing the tartar build up. I didn't specify whitening or it might have taken longer and my teeth wouldn't still be yellow. Live and learn. Anyhow yesterday was to repair a tooth that broke about two years ago. Split down the middle, leaving I'm guessing only filling and root.
Another 30 minute job. No freezing. Scared the life out of me, waiting for the drill to hit raw nerve but it didn't and it sure speeds things up and is a lot less painful afterward. He chiseled out the bad stuff, packed it full of Redi-Mix, cured it with UV light and got out the angle grinder. Even dentists have angle grinders in Ukraine! Shaped the top of the tooth, gave me a piece of carbon paper to bite on to check the match. Perfect on first try. And I'm on my way. $50.00.
Today was one of Tanya's kind of days. First she had all these flowers to plant. Roman and Sergei came at 8:00 to finish the floor in my workshop and the tech showed up to install the AC in my office (which we bought last February when it was cheap). The tech is the same guy who installed our upstairs bedroom AC a couple years ago. He knows his stuff and really looks the part - he could do TV commercials in his green bib overalls with yellow trim.
But he got on the wrong side of Tanya by saying there wouldn't be much dust and then drilling a 2" hole through 12" of cindercrete blocks and getting dust all over our books and the floor. And the electric cord from the inside unit hung down the wall and didn't look nice. Then mid-afternoon, just as the boys finished the floor, the building shop brought another 10 bags of cement. Instead of telling the delivery crew to put the bags inside, Roman headed for the shower and they stacked the bags outside. When Tanya saw it you could hear her all the way to P'yatikhatki. I just keep my head down and try to look invisible.
But Lena came in the afternoon to help plant to flowers, tidy up the yard and clean up the dust. Tanya phoned our electrician friends Dymr and Volodya - who, as it turned out, were working a couple blocks from our house. they were here in 20 minutes and fixed up the electric cord so it looks like part of the trim moulding. I made a nice supper of veggies, cheese and tea which was all either of us wanted. Now she is all happy again. I am too.
Tanya said she totally agreed with (May-B) "All men are dumb". Not exactly what she said at age 15 when she came home and slammed the door so hard the pictures fell off the living room wall. "All men are scum", I believe was the expression. But close enough.
Yesterday, Tanya and Lena went to Dnipropetrovsk on the minibus and I went to the Dentist. Tanya went to collect a shipment of flowers that was supposed to have arrived in late March. Lena went to "help" her. Good thing as they came back with both of them loaded with bedding plants and such from the big flower market in Dnipro. We may need to buy more land shortly.
Andrei said that Dr Tretiak was an excellent dentist and I think I agree. At least his equipment was modern. Not totally high tech like Dr Weiss in Regina who looked after my teeth for about 25 years but recognizable. And one of his techs spoke a bit of English which helped
I had my teeth cleaned last week. That took 30 minutes and involved removing the tartar build up. I didn't specify whitening or it might have taken longer and my teeth wouldn't still be yellow. Live and learn. Anyhow yesterday was to repair a tooth that broke about two years ago. Split down the middle, leaving I'm guessing only filling and root.
Another 30 minute job. No freezing. Scared the life out of me, waiting for the drill to hit raw nerve but it didn't and it sure speeds things up and is a lot less painful afterward. He chiseled out the bad stuff, packed it full of Redi-Mix, cured it with UV light and got out the angle grinder. Even dentists have angle grinders in Ukraine! Shaped the top of the tooth, gave me a piece of carbon paper to bite on to check the match. Perfect on first try. And I'm on my way. $50.00.
Today was one of Tanya's kind of days. First she had all these flowers to plant. Roman and Sergei came at 8:00 to finish the floor in my workshop and the tech showed up to install the AC in my office (which we bought last February when it was cheap). The tech is the same guy who installed our upstairs bedroom AC a couple years ago. He knows his stuff and really looks the part - he could do TV commercials in his green bib overalls with yellow trim.
But he got on the wrong side of Tanya by saying there wouldn't be much dust and then drilling a 2" hole through 12" of cindercrete blocks and getting dust all over our books and the floor. And the electric cord from the inside unit hung down the wall and didn't look nice. Then mid-afternoon, just as the boys finished the floor, the building shop brought another 10 bags of cement. Instead of telling the delivery crew to put the bags inside, Roman headed for the shower and they stacked the bags outside. When Tanya saw it you could hear her all the way to P'yatikhatki. I just keep my head down and try to look invisible.
But Lena came in the afternoon to help plant to flowers, tidy up the yard and clean up the dust. Tanya phoned our electrician friends Dymr and Volodya - who, as it turned out, were working a couple blocks from our house. they were here in 20 minutes and fixed up the electric cord so it looks like part of the trim moulding. I made a nice supper of veggies, cheese and tea which was all either of us wanted. Now she is all happy again. I am too.
Tanya said she totally agreed with (May-B) "All men are dumb". Not exactly what she said at age 15 when she came home and slammed the door so hard the pictures fell off the living room wall. "All men are scum", I believe was the expression. But close enough.
Monday, May 10, 2010
My Wife is Not Always Right
Roman and his friend Sergei were here all day mixing cement for the floor in what will be my woodworking shop some day. Tanya went to town for a haircut this afternoon. While she was away, Roman came to tell me that his mother was wrong about our neighbour being responsible for our water pressure problems.
I kind of figured that was the case as even when their taps were shut off our pressure was still fluctuating and besides he was on the wrong side of us. Like blaming someone downwind for the bad smell. I had tried to argue the point with Tanya when the whole issue first blew up. There are two chances of having a reasonable discussion with Tanya when her mind is made up - fat and slim.
I told Roman he could talk to his mother. I was staying out of it. We both knew it was futile. When she came home, Roman is trying to explain and she is having none of it. Roman and I are doing our best not to crack up. She caught me smothering my laughter and I said in Russian "I understand nothing".
Ogden Nash said it best:
With love in the loving cup,
I kind of figured that was the case as even when their taps were shut off our pressure was still fluctuating and besides he was on the wrong side of us. Like blaming someone downwind for the bad smell. I had tried to argue the point with Tanya when the whole issue first blew up. There are two chances of having a reasonable discussion with Tanya when her mind is made up - fat and slim.
I told Roman he could talk to his mother. I was staying out of it. We both knew it was futile. When she came home, Roman is trying to explain and she is having none of it. Roman and I are doing our best not to crack up. She caught me smothering my laughter and I said in Russian "I understand nothing".
Ogden Nash said it best:
“To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it;
Whenever you're right, shut up”
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