Burlaki on the Thames

I frequently rant about things that we do not like in England (the last obvious example of that was the driving license treatise), and even wrote a post once about things that we took for granted in the States. But occasionally, we come across a concept that makes us think, Why don’t they do it in the US? It’s long overdue on my part to collate some of those into a post. So, here goes a list of some things that we like on this side of the pond.
Continue Reading »

There is nothing quite like a classical music concert to take your mind off mundane happenstance, even if the first piece of the program is somewhat disturbing Also sprach Zarathustra, by Richard Strauss (which has been immortalized by Kubrick’s 2001: Space Odyssey, but is more likely to be associated with Что? Где? Когда? for most of my readers). It was followed by very enjoyable Sibelius’s Second Symphony, and then, for encore, two short energetic pieces that I have no recognition of.
Continue Reading »

I felt quite pathetic that I stayed indoors for such a lovely day on Sunday, so I decided to do a bit better on Monday. This was the last pre-Christmas day off (with an oh-so-imaginative name of Summer Bank Holiday), and it was very tempting - sunny, fresh, not too hot…
Continue Reading »

My lonely life has got so boring that I actually spent an hour vacuum-cleaning the house today. Hopefully, Natasha does not get any ideas…
Continue Reading »

One of my free rides has finally caught up with me. To the tune of £830.
Continue Reading »

Saturday

Got a haircut, then spent all day in front of the PC, working through the list of computer-enabled errands. Stock market has been beyond depressing.

Watched a previously recorded movie - crap. At least, the football season started, caught some games on the late-night re-cap.
Continue Reading »

It is still quiet on our street, and I have not ventured out of the house to check what may be going on at the nearby intersection. There is a price to pay, of course. Pizza delivery man took almost an extra 30 minutes to get to the house, and was understandably cross about it. I tipped him well, though.
Continue Reading »

Tuesday morning it was some water leak in front of my driveway. Today it was the full-blown watermain burst at the busy intersection between our rented house and the train station.
Continue Reading »

On our trip to the States, we had to take care of renewing two sets of important documents.
Continue Reading »

I was woken up this morning by the wonderful sound of jackhammer right under my window. Two nice blokes informed me that there was some water leak that they would be repairing for the next hour…

Looking at the bright side, I might have overslept work if not for them…
Continue Reading »

Of late, I have been using the word home in several different connotations.

First of all, without a doubt, my home is the country that I love, the country where I spent my entire adult life, the country where an immigrant with no money but a reasonably high IQ has the proverbial Dream within just a few years’ reach. Only one such country in the whole wide world - America.
Continue Reading »

My British colleagues are happily exclaiming that the summer is finally here. From my perspective, the weather is a lot more like spring than summer, but with no rain, and it certainly makes it feel considerably more cheerful.

Too bad we won’t be around for a while. Let’s feel the embrace of undoubtedly scorching and humid East Coast summer, I say.

In fact, this short post is to announce that the Burlak family is happily departing homeward for a long-awaited sojourn. I hope to see some of the most loyal members of my audience in person in the next ten days or so. But I will likely not resume blogging until my return to London around the 15th of this month.

See you all soon.