Burlaki on the Thames

I received a package today from my UCF friend Janiece. Since I am pretty sure that everyone else in the group had received theirs ahead of me (I am one of only two “offshore” members of the club, and the other person is “near offshore”), I can safely divulge what her Super Secret UCF project was: A T-shirt with the UCF logo on the front and personalized member blog address on the back. I’m wearing it as I type this.

Janiece, I’m speechless and a bit embarrassed that I cannot think of a way to get back at you.
You rock!
Many thanks!

[update] It turns out that a US-originated delivery to Canada - and to a couple of Stateside addresses, as well! - takes longer than a delivery to the UK. Cheers for Royal Mail!

Natasha’s 17-year-old niece Katya, who has been fighting Hodgkin’s lymphoma for over half a year, has passed away last night in Rostov. We knew that she has not been doing well lately, and one of the main reasons for Natasha’s trip was that she knew she might not get another chance to see her, but still, her death came as a shock. The year ended on the saddest note possible.

This picture is of a couple of years ago - somehow seems fitting…

 
Continue Reading »

We continued to disprove my earlier statement regarding diminished activity by making visits to friends over the weekend.
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 »

Weather again. Some portions of England have experienced the worst flooding in 60 years over the last couple of days.

Watching the news last night, I’ve noticed a clear convergence of events. Deluge in England… Floods in Texas… Inundation in Bangladesh and China… Is it too late now to start building an ark?
Continue Reading »

Resuming our London-based activities, we went to the Taste of London festival on Saturday.
Continue Reading »

Our guests have returned home, and we have a brief lull until the next visitors arrive.
Continue Reading »

Contrary to my regular protestations of an utterly routine boredom, things happen to us all the time. As it happens with the rest of humankind, only the biggest things tend to leave an imprint on our memory and, later on, resurface at a point of writing a blog entry.

The last few days gave rise to a few big occurrences, so my task of keeping an up-to-date, yet entertaining, chronicle is so much simpler.
Continue Reading »

It took me a while to emerge from under the pile of emails after a protracted absence from work. But I did emerge from that battle victorious, if in desperate need of another vacation. Nice trips, I always found, have an annoying quality of appearing insufficiently long, when recalled after just a couple of days of routine, work, school, etc…
Continue Reading »

Sincere apologies to my faithful readers for such a long gap in my posts.

I was not in much of a mood for writing. My family in New York has suffered through an inconceivable loss, and a beautiful little girl has never got a chance to open her eyes and experience the world and the love of her family. I am truly not a sentimental person, and it is hard for me to find words to express how I feel. So I decided to give it time…

Guys, our hearts go out to you, we grieve with you and curse at the senselessness of it with you. But we also know that joy and happiness will one day be with you again! We love you all!
Continue Reading »

It’s nothing short of amazing that I don’t impersonate Natasha-without-her-voice today. Try singing karaoke for a hundred songs in one sitting, and you’ll understand…
Continue Reading »

If you have not read the first part of our report, you can do it here. Otherwise, read on.
Continue Reading »

This weekend, I watched more NFL than on any weekend on the US. Sky Sports channels broadcast CBS/NBC/ESPN games live, with a recording repeat next day. Because the weekend was 4 days long and we have not had much to do due to everything being closed, I watched 4 games in total…
Continue Reading »

Over the last weekend, I triumphantly assembled the new wardrobe that Natasha had bought in IKEA… Well, ok, ok, it was a really pathetic performance, comprised of 36 steps according to instruction manual, that took over 2 hours to complete. But I did raise my arms in triumph when it was finished…
Continue Reading »

The wife demands a rebuttal - the shirt did not turn the color of salmon, but rather a very pleasant pastel pink. I should still be a big hit in a gay neighborhood…
Continue Reading »