Every morning this week was rainy and drab, but Saturday suddenly turned out sunny and not especially cold. We took our time until noon to get out of the house, but still jumped on a train and went to the City. Setting out that late left us with only a…
Technology Christmas party left me with quite a headache, and the next morning my first local hire was starting. I am afraid I was hardly a presentable boss. The only mitigating factor was my own boss, visiting from New York, whom the party left in a much worse shape… When…
The cover story in this week’s Economist talks about British transportation problems. While the angle is more towards fixing the roads, the article also mentions in gory detail the issues with rail networks. Incidentally, I am starting to believe myself that my earlier high marks to public transport were misbegotten.…
Starting with an announcement today (especially for those who may be coming directly to the blog, bypassing my front page): The Guestbook feature of the website has been decommissioned – as writing comments to my posts is a better place for guestbook entries anyway. I also created a separate Guestbook…
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…
The weather is a bit overdue turning to the worse, but it’s catching up. On Saturday, several downpours alternated with bright sunlight, but the rain won. On Sunday, the rain continued to come and go. It is not really cold yet, but there were a couple of days during the…
No sooner I complained about not having a Russian store nearby that Natasha found one. It is in no way comparable to the ones we loved so much in the States, it does not have hot kitchen – and the owners actually do not speak Russian – but it is…
Taking a break from describing events of our life, I want to let a bit nostalgia in and recite some things that we so gotten used to in America that we never considered their importance. Without further ado, here are some things that we clearly took for granted in the…
The weather on Natasha’s birthday was beautiful – a bit crisp and windy, but bright sunny skies. We did not want to miss an opportunity for a day out, so we decided to take a train to the city, visit a museum and then stroll around… … but the train…
Traffic is an unbelievable problem here. After having driven a car in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, I thought I was prepared for narrow roads, weird signs, roundabouts, and all other quirks of the Old World driving. True, very little of my vacation driving was within boundaries of major cities. Still,…
Never having to move out of a house, we never had to deal with so much stuff coming into a house… The last few days have been spent on unpacking and trying to find places for our numerous personal effects. There are about 20 boxes that we still need to…
It’s only Thursday, but this week turns out to be way too exciting. I guess starting on a great note on Sunday (see Brighton) gave the week a push of sorts… Ok, ok, in England the week starts on Monday, but you know what I mean… First of all, the…
What comes to mind when you hear the word Brighton? Restaurant Татьяна, matrones in fur coats walking to a grocery store, pensioners and kids mingling all over boardwalk, Russian мат… We beg to differ. The original Brighton – there is no doubt in our minds that it gave the name…
Going strong! For the second weekend in a row, we, true to our purpose, explore the new environs. Can we keep it up? The kids must be having second thoughts, for sure… Watch this space! Today we decided not to travel all the way to the city, but instead visit…
I remember that when I first came to America, I used to literally write at least one letter a day to many of my friends in Russia. After a while, that exercise became less and less important, I started to skip days, then weeks, and then – in probably 7…
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… Sunday afternoon, Popivker family had to deal with an invasion of voracious Burlaks. This was the first…
These newcomers to London started with an act of sabotage! I did three rounds of laundry without a problem while I was by myself. As soon as my lovely wife got to it, one of my best dress shirts turned from white to salmon pink!!!… The first full day together…
Well, the car is parked in driveway, the wife and the kids are sleeping in their new beds – the new chapter in our life has officially commenced. And life is pretty damn good, at the moment (no little thanks to a bottle of nice Cotes-du-Rhone)… For such an exciting…
I watched an unfamiliar billiards game on TV today – hold you jokes, I only have five channels to select from (one of those keeps running some documentaries about deer – !?!?), there is very little to choose from… The game is called Snooker, which sounds familiar, for some reason.…
I’m back from my old life into the new one. Jet lag is not so bad when traveling eastward, plus I uncharacteristically managed a couple of hours of shut-eye on the plane. But going to bed early today is definitely the sensible thing to do, so I’ll be brief. The…