This was the view from the 28th floor of Hotel 71 in Chicago.

Apparently there is swearing in this blog. If a word is fitting, then I will use it. Sorry to the yungins that are possibly learning more useful slang on the internet. I am just giving back what was given to me. I am such a giver. Selfless giving is all it is. Grandpas taught me well. Grandmas taught me lessons for saying what Grandpas taught me. I remember when I was a little shit though. Things were different back then. Never swear near your parents is always a safe bet. But, I did. Oh well. On the playground, on the ice, on my bike, in my truck, in the bar, at the police.. and now just at myself usually.

So, if I can say one thing to an impressionable young mind is that...

you didn't hear anything from me.

Okay. Last post was Idabel Lake. I thought that it might be fun to post my summer so far pics. So, here goes in no particular order....



Shuswap Lake houseboating



Osoyoos Lake boating and just Osoyoos pics...





Silver Star biking didn't get camera worthiness. Mostly because I would crash and destroy my camera.

Wishing you all well... and talk to you soon.

RJDK

 
 

 

My Blogger is back in English... that must mean... I AM HOME!!!!! Another ridiculously long day on Tuesday. We were up at 4:00am Moscow time and I got home at 7:30pm Kelowna time and throw in the 11 hours difference and that makes for a long day.

So, it went like this...

We got the plant running and all was well, we were ready to fire up the second half (maybe) and shortly after our tour of the operating portion...KA-FKIN-BOOM goes the most important pump in the process. Contrary to recommendation, they decided not to repair the broken spare pump months ago and that pretty much left them crippled. So, the next days we just gathered up our things and tied up some loose ends and left them with an operational plant, once they fix their pumps. We had many challenges getting us to that point. Simple things like keeping our power turned on, or convincing the peasants that a tea kettle plugged in to our power bar will shut us down, or leaving fuses in place, you know, the little things. There was no sense of urgency from anyone except our group and in the end, they invariably end up with the fruits of their labour. Spoiled and tainted, half-assed and marginal. I commend our crew for getting us as far as we did. The rest is up to them.

So, after we left site, we had a few minutes to clean up and we decided to try out the Beer House for dinner. We found this place beside the outdoor market and decided to drag the welcome ones out for a farewell dinner. We followed up dinner with vodka and beer and decided what better than spend out last night in Zheleznogorsk bowling with our friend Slava. It was not at all what we expected as the place was new and had pool tables. It was like this place should have been brought to our attention weeks, if not months ago. We had a good time. It also helps to pay your tab as you are leaving too. That usually prevents getting chased down and bothered for money. We realized some things in Russia were inexpensive, but free was not an option apparently.

Sunday, we had a lazy day and got ourselves prepared for the train ride. One final tour of Zheleznogorsk by foot and some last minute souvenirs to escort us home were in order. We ventured out to a few patio pubs and had a few pops for good measure. Not much else to report really. We were seen off by a few friends and ventured out by train at 10:30. A trip through the night, yet again, would land us in Moscow.

We got to the hotel very early and ended up having to pay for two nights to secure the room that early. We would not be staying 24 hours, but still that cost us for two nights. A deal at twice the price. $325 Canadian per night. Plus a $20 breakfast. I got my moneys worth in food for sure.

We went out to Arbat Street for the third time in my Russian experience and picked up a few more souvenirs. This was probably going to be my last day in Russia for some time, so I decided to pick me up a few trinkets. A mentioned, I got myself a Khabibulin Russian jersey with Russian letters and spelling on the back. It is clearly a knock off jersey, but where else would you get one. My son ended up with a similar Russian jersey biz letters and numbers as the small ones aren't normally printed on. Another meal at the Hard Rock Cafe and we had to get our shit together for a hockey game.

Canada vs USA was at 8:15. Fortunately for us we had center ice seats, Row 14. Unfortunately we were in an arena that only had 20 rows of seats. We sat in front of the media boxes and directly behind a group of Americans. Hard not to rib them a little as they were down 4-0 after the first period. We mde a few comments that were pefect in the moment. They would lose their lustre being described here.



So we made it home and I am going to enjoy a few days off to hit it hard again Monday. My interior travels are about to begin as my international travels will fall by the wayside.

Another day in the life of RJDK... will finally be back to normal. As nomal as I will let it be.

We made it to Moscow again. Somehow we lined up tickets to Canada vs USA at the world hockey championship. I will be there in my new Russia jersey with Khabibulin spelled in Russian on the back.

Pictures to follow.

RJDK live on location...

the only thing working harder than us is our toilet brushes.

It has been a long week. The plant is up and running. One half anyways. We have taken the hands off approach to site specific training. Let em go at it because they have to figure it out sometime. So, I am taking this time to write this. My job was done correctly the first, second and third time, so I get to hang out on standby. Keep myself awake with some blog entries.

Last weekend we ventured out to the outdoor marketplace biz camera, so being that it was a nice day and all, what better than to leave your camera at the hotel and miss out on the Russian public life. Too many funny and different things to list. We wandered around for a while and checked out all the booths. There were many rows all semingly repeating themselves as far as stocked merchandise. Shoes, panties, watches, jeans and all the best China can provide. We are always looking for Zheleznogorsk memorabilia, but as this town has no travel infocenter, there is very little for touristy knick-knacks. We settled for a couple of wrenches for the site operator who was continuously borrowing mine. I have lost more than hair on this job. Amazingly the tools can be replaced. I have to watch as we get closer to the day so that I don't forfeit on bringing home the prize possessions.

Anyhow, we went to a new eating and watering hole by the market. The entrance was shaped like a big oak barrel and we thought what better than to try this place out. It looks like we can get a beer at least. Us three Canadians can at least order that. Food on the other hand was a little more challenging. JM randomly slected what we thought would be a kabob of some sort and ended up with a fine piece of BBQ beast. A couple more beer for good measure and we walked back to the hotel. On the way we spotted a coffee shop/pub that we decided to stop and sit to have a beer. We were exhausted from the walking and needed to be hydrated. Plus, I walk a little faster than my beltline challenged companions. They both told me to slow down and if anyone knows me, I walk slow. Well, unless there is a reward waiting for me and I will race to it. More or less an agenda free day, so we made the best of it.

We carried on after the walk to the local beer/food/liquor store and picked up a few road pops and a few extra for poker. My room turned into the Zheleznogorsk Casino and somehow I swindled a few rubels from my workmates. Another butter and mayonnaise free dinner followed and we spoke our minds freely at the dinner table.

Through the week we having been hellbent for startup and seeing the light at the end of the train tunnel. A few hiccups with power and we were on our way. We have now implemented the "no kettle in the office" rule as the added poer on the circuit shuts down all of our computers and renders us useless with a running process. I have been playing operating instrument guy doing a bunch of loop tuning and getting the plant running and to balance. My typing now should be an indication of how that went.

Yeah..yeah...it is about the job, but we are just about done.

We had a big blip the other day and we dumped a small lake's worth of water on the floor. When you can't measure anything and the system sees zeroes everywhere, amazingly everything pumping stops. The water overflowed in bunches and we scrambled to get the system down without flooding the place. After some investigative inspections we determined the cause and fired it all back up again.

During one of our startup mornings, a mob of company brass decided they would conduct a very vocal and loud discussion directly adjacent to our temporary control center. With me at the healm, I was listening to commands over the radio and responding with commands via our interface. I was unable to hear my radio and quickly turned to the mob becide me and silenced the works with "HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And I do mean silenced. As loud as my vocal chords would allow, the group immediately stopped talking. Of course they all turned to look at the cause and my shit eating smirk gave me away. I could care less. I couldn't hear my radio or myself think.

So, we are nearing the end of my Russian adventure and in doing so we are planning our trip home. Just so happens Canada plays USA in the world hockey championships in Moscow on the day we are cruising through. We are lining up tickets for us. What a beautiful way to end a trip as far as I'm concerned. If I am lucky I will get some autographs for the little man back home. Definitely will have pictures.

The boss just walked in, so I should look busy. Well I must look busy because I am typing away and he is across from me ignorant to my preoccupation. I have a ton of respect for the guy as he has been placed in a nasty position, and I don't mean prison love kind of position. It has been a challenge for everyone. I am glad I am not at the top. Some days I get riddled with questions, but today as I say, I am directing more than doing. I won't be here in two days, so the people need to take it over. I call it transitioning my usefulness. Rightfully so. When you work through lunches and suffer through late dinners, I will call this time some form of reward for efforts.

I am going to go take some pictures. Talk to you all soon.

Lazy day....

and the Canucks better not shit the bed again. I fell asleep only to find out that they lost. We watched parts of it and most of it with one eye open. Then I slept until 1:00



Plus, I didn't get radiated this week. Always a good thing. Here is my watch with the nuke unit in behind.

Anyways, we went for pizza last night. Acccompanied with beer of course. A little Siberian Corona for good measure. It is our weeekly adventure from the hotel. It would help getting your reserved table when you can understand Russian. We were given a table for three not realizing someone had reserved a table for nine. We were moved over right after we ordered our beer. Sending three Canadians in the first cab was probably not a wise move. We can get to the pizza place and order beer, but after that we are lost. Gawking like retards again and again. Them talking louder and slower doesn't make us understand any better.

So, we are on to another 60 some odd hour week starting tomorrow and repeat repeat the butter, cheese and mayonnaise meals. Spaghetti is so much better "biz mayonazum". I can ask for my meals "biz" many things now. Turns out the Russian menu hass more on it. The "Roats Beef" is always popular. I was eating onion on my last trip too. Turns out our newest member to the Russian trip family has the same birthday as I do. He doesn't like onions either. Stewed clear is fine, raw and heaping on a plate is just short of eating it like an apple. I had to push that aside a few times before I figured out "biz loook". Onion free meals from here on out. Except at the mine site. The cafeteria lady likes to make us cold salads with onion. I just eat that fast. Shorter time on the tongue right. She apparently loves cooking fish with bones all through it. If the taste doesn't make you gag, the bone lodged in your throat will help that along. Thankfully, we have yet to get the jellied fish smudge thing again. Irony will kick me in the ass. It will be served tomorrow now. Just because I mentioned it.

Anyhow, I am off to eat another bowel lubricating meal.

My Blogger is still in Russian. What a way to make things work easier for people. Default language apparently is triggered by the IP address of the country you are from... or in rather... in my case. If anyone knows how to set my language back to just English, then please let me know.

We have had an interesting week. Lots getting done. Today we finally had a short day and tomorrow we are resting. Well, resting after the hockey game at 4:00 in the morning. Tonight we go for pizza.

We enjoyed some mixed emotions this week. One of our translators has become good friends with a bottle. I have seen people abuse alcohol before, but this is sad in every sense. We chuckled when we first saw him and thought to ourselves, "what else is new. He is feeling no pain." Shortly thereafter he was being helped to his room to avoid embarassment. I was told once that you can never know the story that is untold of how a person deals with their life outside of the realm in which you are familiar with them. Whether it be work or play, everyone has a secret and private side that is discussed very little. We can only hope that he realizes what he has brought upon himself and turns it around before he hurts himself. He has been unfit for work the last few days and probably unfit for walking around as well. After dinner last night, this guy was standing in the hallway as his toilet supply line disconnected and flooded his room. He seemed to have come around and was coherent again, but we figure by his demeanor this morning, he continued drinking through the night after he could regain entrance to his room. Unless of course, he started his day with booze.

On a happy note, we discovered one of our companions working a different job on the same site is a Polish man that has lived in Poland, South Africa and now Australia. We were discussing how many languages were in different parts of the world, and in doing so, I called him by his African name (click)Tomas spelled !Tomas (Russell Peters anyone) He could not contain himself as he obviously had never heard the joke and could relate as there are many people that speak with the clicking and knocking jaw sounds of tribal tongues. Laughter is contagious and him being in tears brought joy to the table after our intoxicated translator scraped up his pride and went to his room.

I need a nap before dinner. I'll write more tomorrow maybe.

Well, I didn't get radiated. Maybe tomorrow.

In the meantime...

here are some pics





Нажав "Готово", вы сможете изменить сообщение и опубликовать его в своем блоге.

I think that means my picture went somewhere...



Tell you more later.

Time flies when you quit your job overseas...

...just kidding... we told that to one of my bosses back home in a text message. That got his attention. He said he could actually picture me throttling someone and just packing up and leaving. Ha ha. Don't let the foul mouth and tattoos fool you. I am a very peaceful person... unless you piss me off of course.

Anyways, we have been continuing on with the same old. Varying amounts of success for sure. I know I always say I won't bore you with job details, but today I am reading up on nuclear density gauges and need to keep my wits about me for zaftra utrum (tomorrow morning). BUT, I got a watch to use for the duration of my stay. If you thought you had a fancy watch, then ask yourself... does it have a built in digital Gamma radiation indicator? In simple terms it is a Geiger-Muller tube technology with a DER registration and indication range of 0.01 - 4000 mSv/h (0.001 - 400 mR/h) and it even tells where the sun is in the sky by means of two little pointer stick things spinning in a circle. Unfortuantely, I have to give it back. Fortunately, I have yet to hear if it has any form of warning signal to tell me to back away from the Cs-137 source...

Tomorrow, should be fun. Another day in the life of RJDK. If anyone is worried for my sake, don't be. The radiation is lower than what a lightbulb emits under normal operation. When and if it fails... I will be running away like a man trying not to radiate himself. They have these things in breweries too. Here I am only to setup the electronics portion. The Source and detector needs to be handled by somebody licensed by a nuclear authority and be willing to put their yetsa (balls) on a chopping block if something were to ever to go wrong with one. Same rules for Canada.

But, good news... we got the Profibus network back down to 1.5Mbps. Woohoo! It was so obvious why it was different than the others.

So, other than work, we spent last night having a little hallway party here at the hotel. We thought it was a great idea so nobody had to have the intrusion into their room and be left with a late night straggler or a big mess. The hotel security said "nyet" to that after we devoured our 10 pizzas and were starting in on beer and wine. Apparently some big shot was coming to the hotel and they didn't want us there or something. That was the excuse anyways. We were on the third floor and all the fancy rooms are on the other floors. (I know because my room ain't as fancy as the 5th floor President's Suite with slippers and housecoats.) So, we migrated to another room and actaully abandoned the party due to a MSN message from the boss. We talked work for a few minutes and then felt very safe with the distance to begin bashing him a little. He wasn't entirely pleased with the "Rob quit" joke. We found it amusing. After all the lightwieghts went to bed, we ventured out for beer and settled down with a little Life of Brian. We almost watched it all. Most of it with one eye open and then called it a night.

Sorry for text only too. I haven't turned my camera on in a few days. Plus, my blogger is all in Russian now. Опубликовать means publish I think. Выйти is logout maybe. Going by feel and memory here. this was saved as draft the first time. Ha ha.
I can read and pronounce the words, I just haven't a clue what they mean. But, so far my Russian is improving. I can insult fluently. Even the other day I showed my proficiency in "hello, how are you?" only to confuse the guy into thinking I understood what the hell he was going to say after that.

"Zdrast vuyt ye" I said
"Zdrast vuyt ye" he replied with a much more authentic Russian accent."Kagdyila?" He then asked expressionless.
"Kharosho" I answered questioning my pronunciation. "A u vas?"
"Normana" He replied. After a short pause... "blah blah blah nyet blah pashol nahooie blah eta blah blah sivodnya?"
"I don't fucking know what you just said man" I replied as I resorted back to native tongue and not my typical native tongue as that would have sounded more like
"Hay, anywaycse... dat sound crazy talk. Fkem-eye sposed ta-no?"

My laughter provoked assistance from the technical translator known to us as Stas.

hmmm.. Hockey I am missing.I am working on a playoff beard though. If I feel so inclined I may get up at 5:30 to stream Team 1040 and listen in on the bums. I also hear my buddy Brad is bagging some goals out east too in his playoffs. Amazing what happens when you are allowed to actually "play" hockey.

Weird news.Thankfully we didn't tour the Kremlin today...

http://www.mytelus.com/ncp_news/article.en.do?pn=world&articleID=2614747

We were there a week and a half ago throwing money around. Literally. I hope the beggars didn't get trampled. I can't say the same for the pushy junk peddlers.
"Why Nyet spasiba? Come buy Russian souvenirs?" Some of them you feel like doing a little nyet spasiba their noses flat to their faces.

So, on to reading again. I am motivated by some Lamb of God blasting into both ears. Thank god for Ipod. Some would think that this would negatively impact my thinking ability, but for some reason I am reading really fast and my head is bobbing a little. It is all good.

Talk to you all soon.

RJDK

I have a shower curtain!!!!

We made it to Zheleznogorsk. Funny how it doesn't feel like I left. Here is how it went after the train ride...

We arrived at 6:48 and 38 seconds at the train station and made our way to the minibus van thing waiting for us. Short trip and we were at the hotel so we could check into our rooms and get cleaned up a little. We then piled in to the all familiar bus and ventured out to the mine site. Our morning was very hectic and we were scrambling to piece together where to start and where others had left us off. The office quickly filled with varying people all varying in their opinions as to what we should be doing. One particular fellow wasted a bunch of the chief's time with "plan" questions and essentially made for lost time. He was asked to leave us alone and to actually never return.

A site orientation followed for the newbie and I took him on a tour of the plant to show him what we'd be working on. We cut our day short at 3:00 and went back to the hotel to get settled in.

Saturday and Sunday was a holiday weekend for most back home, but as we were in a totally separate fundamental bible belt, Easter was a holiday much the same as Valentine's Day or Halloween. Recognized, but not celebrated as a holiday. We worked all weekend and endured meetings of the minds to evaluate, formulate, investigate and many other -ate words. If not for the 15 hours of sleep Saturday night, Sunday would have been painful.

So far we have been only eating, sleeping and working. Monday was no different. Somehow I ended up getting corned by the aforementioned "plan" questions guy and offered my two cents. My answers did not seem to be sufficient for him which begat question after question after stupid remark after stupid question after braindead reasoning before I passed all responsibility on to commander in chief. Unfortunately the commander was in the hotel with seared salmon flu and was personally greeted by the same "plan" question guy. He ended up with the nickname Jackoff. Jackoff was then told to nu yevo nahooie (F-off in Russian - I have mastered that one) but continues to ignore the requests and is apparently too stupid to know how irritating he is. Stupid can't recognize self-stupidity I guess. I know he is stupid and I could always be smarter.

We plugged away at our nagging issues and tried to make progress. So, other than the job, we are not doing much else. It snowed here today and was hovering around freezing. I packed for the temperature I remembered being in before I left the first time. No dice. I am wearing an extra shirt, but really it isn't too bad. Just wet and snowing.

I promise I won't bore you with job details.

But, that is all we have been doing is working and is in the forefront of my head. Second to wishing I was home and this prison sentence would end. It isn't that bad honestly. Just have lots to do....

Welcome to Moscow...

this was my view from the 16th floor of the Belgrad hotel. A deal at twice the price. Room and breakfast came to 7181 Rubels. 22 Rubels to our Canadian peso makes for... $326.41 for one night.

Tired as all hell, we just got to the hotel that night and slept. It was after midnight is all I remember. We had our driver arrange to have us picked up for 11:00 the next morning.

We got up and ventured to the third floor for a buffet breakfast only to be surrounded by white collars and suits. I cared very little of the big huge pig I made of myself eating two full plates of food. 13 minutes later we were done breakfast and got out of there. I took a few more pictures from the room and got my things together. Thought I would show off my Russian style Chicago roll...



A pile of money I would keep close to my balls at all times. Right next to my passport.

So, we were met fashionably late by our driver and he toured in circles to the office of our contact people. Being that nobody had a plan of any sort we were greeted with "Hello, what are you doing here?" Confused we explained we needed train tickets and would gladly come back later after business hours to have dinner with one of the bosses. Turns out he was going to be traveling with us. Last minute plans aren't beyond him either I suppose.

So, we killed the afternoon touring Moscow (now that I am a seasoned veteran) and went to Red Square. The sky was as blue as a blue sky (how poetic?) and we wandered around side stepping the old beggars and young souvenir salesman.

We made a short video on how fast your wish coins become "SCRAMBLES". Less than 2 seconds I figured and sure enough. If they were younger and more nimble it would have been less than two. So, the thing goes like this... people stand by this star by Red Square (apparently the marker for all destinations to be measured from - citation needed) and make a wish and drop their coins. Much like any wishing well in the world, but.. as soon as the ching of a coin hit the ground, there is a group of people scurrying in to grab it up... so enjoy the video..



After a complete loop of Red Square, down Arbat St. and a venture through GUM shopping mall, we were met by our driver to take us back to the office. We met up with the boss and he took us out for dinner. We chatted, drank a beer and had a customary shot of vodka naturally. A short walk back to the office, we then were treated to the difference between nice cold vodka and mediocre warm vodka. No comparison. Cold it is and always will be.

So, to make a longer story longer.. we made our way to the train and seemed completely effortless the second time. Even easier with someone that has done it many times. One more beer for the road and that was to help us to sleep. Octagonal wheels said otherwise. I slep a whole hour or two, but not much.

If I missed anything, then read the train post back a couple months and that will describe it. More or less the identical trip from there.

We made it...

Much like the last trip (read back a few posts) we made our way to Russia via Frankfurt. We had seven hours to kill in Frankfurt so we hopped on the Flughafen something or other and went to Mainz to walk around. Without trying to venture to far and away from the train station we meandered through town only to find ourselves in the maze better known as Mainz. We found ourselves enlightened by the scenery and architecture of Europe.

After an hour or so of walking, we decided to find a watering hole for a beer and came across a pub filled with locals. seemed safe enough to eat at, so we had ourselves a pint and some bratwurst. Why not?

After considering to eat and run, we finally were able to pay our bill and be on our merry way back to the train station to go back to the airport. We navigated a left and an extra right turn for sure, but we made our way back with little trouble. We had only 26 minutes of train ride and but it let us see the area rather efficiently.



So back at the airport and we just hung out window shopping duty free and took the time to get acquainted with another travelling companion.

Off to Moscow...again...

Apparently I leave Tuesday.

Okay, I know the last one was brief...

We ventured out with Roman first thing Friday morning. March 9th. It took 45 minutes to get us to the airport from our hotel. Much like other parts of Russia, we felt like we were driving in a scene out of the Simpsons. Exaggerated, but not far off, we drove for a few blocks in one direction and then busted a u-turn in the road and traveled the way we just came. We crossed over three lanes and took a right turn. We drove for a bit and then off on another off ramp. It seemed we did this a few times. So, renting a car and navigating through Moscow should be a piece of cake. To Russians I suppose.

We arrived at the airport and we all had issues getting our tickets. We had all changed our flights and used 3 different methods of doing it. We were all dealt with in 3 different ways and all received different treatment. Not at all stupid or bizarre, but we got through. (Sarcasm intended). "Thank god for Ipod" we relaxed in Moscow's SVO airport for our final hour in Russia.

Flight was short and sweet to Frankfurt and the 3 hour flight wiht the 2 hour time change left us in Frankfurt at 8:00am. Since we left Moscow at 7:00am, we had an extra two hours of drinking time on Friday. And then some...

We sat in the airport and indulged on a Munich breakfast which consisted of beer and sausages. We killed a few hours lounging in the waiting area and recharged our Ipods for our 9.75643 hour flight to Vancouver. Very uneventful really, but we were very tired. PLus, we knew there would be free beer on the plane.

So, we finally got to load up and make our way to the plane and unlike some of the other normal airports I have been to we had to go through a gate, down stairs and load onto a bus. The bus drove us out onto the tarmac and we then got onto the plane. Some massive piece of metal and motors and Lufthansa or something written on the side of it, I didn't care I just wanted to get in. The endless line of people all had to funnel in one door and we eventually dropped our lazy asses down on our seats. Our stopover in Frankfurt lasted 4 hours and change, but felt more like 6 or 7.

In flight I was asleep when they handed out the two pronged headphones to be able to listen to the movie in stereo. So, on went the ipod and on it stayed. I napped with it full blast apparently and awoke in time to order a beer. Food was served shortly after and with that came another Warsteiner. My travelling companions brought sleeping pills with them and I was not about to try mixing my poisons, so I just kept a steady flow of beer coming.

After my beer induced nap, I was again reliving that whole episode again and seemingly a few hours had passed. With one eye open checking for anything interesting on the video and screen and outside ambient temperature reports, I came in and out of consciousness for the rest of the trip.

We arrived in Vancouver at 1:00 local time and gained another 10 hours to our day. We were met by family (not mine) and bosses that entertained me until my connecting flight 5 hours later. We were late getting my ticket to Kelowna, so I had to drink a few more beer to help me pass the time. Just to wash a meal down of course, but considering I had just passed 26 hours in a day, it still wasn't over yet.

I said my goodbyes to my bosses and waited in the waiting area for my flight trying to stay awake enough to protect my belongings. It was another Ipod filled hour and we then began to board the plane. What I did not even notice or realize was that my ticket was first class for the short trip home. Front row, leg room, high back chair and I was clicked in and gonna nap til Kelowna. I was then awoken by big rude man asking me "Would you like to sit over there all by yourself?" "NOT AT ALL." was my reply and back to sleep I went. I think he mumbled something about sitting next to his wife or something all chipper, but I couldn't be bothered. If we were to compare stories, I believe he would bow down to me. For the rest of the flight my shit eating smirk spoke volumes for how he must have felt. Not another word was spoken to me from the man that was left to sit beside me dejected and away from his wife. He was mistaking me for someone who cared I guess.

So I arrived in Kelowna greeted by loved ones and lived happily ever after. The end.

Well, until the phone rang. I am going back to Russia Easter weekend.

To be continued...

So, I figured I should do this before I forget what happened...

We went to Moscow as described. Got there first thing in the morning on Mar.8th. We had planned on Stas take us around and tour us, but with his bad back and plans to meet up with his brother, he invariably bailed on us. So, we went to the Oksana hotel and checked in by 7 something. After a short nap and breakfast we ventured out curbside and flagged down a cab. It was actually pretty easy considering he was just parked there. We got in and just said "Kremlin". "Pit sot" was his reply. So, since I knew my numbers, 500 was his price in rubels. I tried to negotiate a lower price by just saying lower numbers, but no sale. 500 it was.

We got to Red Square and got the cabbie to pull over by St.Basil's Cathedral and we got out and walked from there. The architecture there is second to none. The whole area and city for that matter. It is very elaborate and detailed.


So, we wandered aound and checked out the shopping on Arbat St. looking specifically for hockey jerseys. We stumbled upon some..ummm...souvenirs. Can't say yet cuz pops doesn't have his yet. :)

Anyways, we wound up the day with dinner and crashed early in anticipation of our 4am wakeup call to get ourselves to the airport. Roman would be waiting for us at 4:15...

Well, time for another update...

The last week has been really hectic. Trying to get completed before I have to go. 12 hour days and then dinner and bed has been about it. We worked a shorter day Saturday as we had plans to take out one of the locals for his birthday. We went to a diiferent restaurant and I unfortunately made a spectacle of myself doing a Rob Special dance solo on the dance floor and had the whole place watching me. It was hard to avoid the attention of course. So, the owner dragged me up and got the music going...that was all I needed. All eyes onme for some reason. Clapping and hooting and as I lifted my shirt to show my abdomen, the music quickly changed. Haha. Cheers from all around. It was a send off for my co-worker as he had to leave to get out of Russia before his visa expired. So, after dinner we went to the train station and helped him with his gear onto the train. A few extra rubels and he was upgraded to a VIP car as his ticket was good for a shared coach with 3 others. There wasn't enough locks for his suitcases so, we had to get our friend Sergei weave his magic.

Sunday morning was a continuation of Saturday night. I was entertained to cognac and private Russian lessons. I am well versed in basic Russian language. I can speak Tarzan Russian and communicate somewhat effectively. I actually have most numbers down from 0 to 100. Enough to get by. Most of my job uses numbers, so that is very helpful. Anyhooo... on to Monday...today...

I asked for some assistance as we are down to only 2 and in doing so I ended up with 13 helpers. Two of them spoke some English. The rest just followed me around. Our translators bailed on us today, so that made things very interesting. I was directing a full Russian crew and trying to get them to work independantly. Here is your job and call me when we are ready to test. Five minutes later they would drag me away and say "Okay. Test now". No change. Same issues as before. Wires crossed and backwards function.No, like this...and show them the issue and they were needing direct and constant supervision. So, my day was very interesting. I laughed though it all and actually got a bit done.

So, by Wednesday I am out of here. Start my long trek home. we got our train tickets today. So, we leave in the night and will arrive in Moscow in the early am. We have planned for a day in Red Square and to do some shopping. We have to saty the night as our flight leaves the next morning.

I will keep you all posted. The next few days will be interesting and busy all the same.

I have my eyes on
A distant horizon
Somewhere between
The crude and the mean

Still I know
Heel and Toe I'll go
Do what I must
For those that I trust
Because for today
My dawn is your dusk

This leaves me hollow
But, my heart I'll follow
Back and around
To familiar ground
That I have my eyes on
As my dusk is your dawn

When this is all told
And you I can hold
Just for the pure sake
And the look on your face
For tears and smiles
Of days gone by

I've had my eyes on
The dew on my lawn
And to hear you say my name
Again with our days the same

So as my dawn is your dusk
and your dusk is my dawn
My heart will find you
While I am gone.

Another day in the life....

Last few days were something to be remembered and forgotten all the same. Thursday was just a regular work day. We are experiencing our challenges for sure. It has not been the easiest job in my career. Language barrier becomes a distant second to the lack of organization and inherent dysfunction of all concerned parties. It is very hard to stay motivated when every day is met with another roadblock. We have had to adapt to the daily changes and still have an expiring visa looming in the near future. My bitterness is probably evident.

Friday was a national holiday here in Russia. So, we did a little shopping in the morning and then celebrated man's day with our go between guy, Sergei. We call him Sergei Front Right, as he sits in the front right seat on the bus every morning. Very kind and generous fellow. So, we indulged in food and vodka in my hotel room. An idea sprung on me that we would make a video tribute to my dad, as it was his birthday on Thursday. I am still compiling the footage. So anyways... One led to many more and mixed with beer and food, my activity was interrupted by a late afternoon nap. After a few hours of recovery, we migrated to a local pub for a change of scenery. The patrons of the pub soon discovered it was my birthday and made the best of treating me to a ton of attention. I was cornered every chance by mobs of people. Mostly curious of me just being foreign and in doing so, I was constantly questioned and greeted. Very flattering. I felt like a celebrity of sorts. Just short of signing autographs. We stayed out until it actually was my birthday and after a brisk walk home, we crashed for the night in preparation for our work Saturday...

Saturday morning, I was saluted by a happy birthday song from the crew in both english and broken english simultaneously. We put in a shorter day and came to the hotel for a late lunch. Three customary toasts to me and I switched from vodka to sprite. Hair of the dog...and made my head come back around again. A few casualties from Friday night bailed on dinner plans of pizza and beer, so we were left to just 5 of us to continue the celebration for me. Not an ideal birthday as I could not be home with the ones I love, but they made the best out of having to be half way round the world from them. The delay between posting here should now be evident.

Today is now Sunday here. We again worked a short day as the bus brought us back for 2:30. I am feeling remarkably okay, but wanted to spend some time by myself to reflect a little. My patience is wearing thin on the amount of meetings to discuss why work isn't getting done. Requests have been made to compile massive list of defect items, when the majority of equipment isn't ready. I figure it is easier to say what is done rather than spend a bunch of time defining the deficiencies. I just think if there was less time talking and more time planning, we would be further along. The point of my trip was to come and setup everything as it was ready for me. Bait and switch. I am having to bore y'all with details now.... sorry for that. Thanks for the ear (or eyes I suppose). Rant over.

It looks like I will have to come back here also. Maybe a month later. I am not convinced that it will be as interesting the second time. I have been here almost two weeks and the novelty is wearing off. As is my hair. I will save all my true thoughts for when I am home.

Nonetheless, I am still alive and probably to be sober from here on out. March 8th is another national holiday, so with my visa expiring, I will probably start my voyage home on the night of the 7th. The exact opposite trip as my arrival. Train to Moscow in the night. May or may not need a night in Moscow to meet up with my plane ticket. Off to Frankfurt, then to Vancouver and then to Kelowna. Who knows what the recovery time will be. I am expecting the jet lag to hit me harder on the way home.

Well, that is enough for now. We'll see what the next few days bring. I am hoping for some real progress, but optimism is a poison pill the same as hope. Gotta keep my spirits up.

Miss you all and love you more.

RJDK

Okay time for a new chapter...

I have internet access in my hotel finally. Thanks to some very crafty people. I wouldn't be surprised if they were reading this as I type it. Haha.

Anyways, Friday was the last day, so we'll fill you in since then. Saturday was a work day. Nothing special. Came to the hotel after and played some cards with the guys. Drank beer of course.

Sunday was a complete write off. We were invited out to Maslaneetsa. That is the annual festival here welcoming springtime. The whole town came out in -10 C weather.



So, the afternoon we gathered with food and drink (vodka) and celebrated with the locals. The people from work took us out and they showed us how to celebrate Russian style. We played "don't try to keep up with the Russians". So, after 4 bottles of vodka and 6 hours, we went ice skating. I found out that there is absolutely no edge on Russian rental skates. Could not scratch a nail with them. Might as well be spoons taped to the bottom of my shoes kind of bad. Now, I have hip bruise, but the pain was only felt on Monday morning for some reason. ey-ey-ey...head was not that sore.

The crew we have here are very good natured. Awesome sense of humour. When we translate our Russian back to English we mimic Tarzan talking and it is absolutely hilarious. We sound just like that. Simple words to get a message across. The same comes back to us by some that learned English in school and never used it (like Canadians and French). So, as you can tell from my typing, I am communicating in baby English and distorted by Russian.

I am now able to order a complete breakfast and get what I hoped for. Orange juice (fresh, fresh squeezed), oatmeal without butter?, 2 yogurt, black tea, and sometimes a ham and cheese bun thing. The bun thing I still have to point at in the menu, but other than that, I am speaking the order.

What else....counting. I can count to 10 and I am working on 11-20 this week. Some odds and ends just get written down on paper. Paper is a wonderful thing. Even better when you remember your pen. Big numbers I just say each number from left to right.

The language is easier to say than to read. That's why we have our translators. They are very good. Technical translators. Worth their weight in gold. So, we treat them to cognac and such. Well, just give them a bottle and let em go at it.

Well, now that I ahve internet in my hotel, I will update more frequently. Hope everybody is doing well, and we'll talk to you all soon.

RJDK

Friday Feb.16th in Zheleznogorsk

Today was the first real day of work start to finish. Our normal day consists of getting up in the morning and showering (no shower curtain by the way), head down to the plush hotel restaurant for breakfast with the crew at 7:15 and then into the bus to work by 8:00.

We arrive at the second biggest iron ore facility in Russia. Very eerie to see. Looks like a scene from a movie. Every aspect of our day revolves around translators asking questions for us. Even this morning, our site safety orientation was translated sentence by sentence and we just had to smile and nod. Due to the fact that we only now speak 6 words of Russian, we are accompanied constantly by translators. Sergei is our young translator and doubles as a mining technologist of some sort. Stas is the other translator from Magadan (Ewan and Charlie anyone?) and we are inundated with Alexanders or Sergeis. Except for Yuri and Dmitri, everyone it seems is named Alexander or Sergei. 50/50 chance usually of getting names right.

So, that is where we are now. Without boring you with details of the job, we are getting our way through to get the power on to many things so that we can start setting it all up.

We are served lunch on site. Today’s meal consisted of beet sauerkraut dish, a fish in gelatin dish, sweet water, roast beef, rice, pickles, bread, cheese, grapes and then tea. I was a little confused as to which bowl was what, so I mistakenly put salt in my tea. At first I thought the tea was different, then realized I was actually an idiot. We asked the translator to get me a new cup, but when he asked for me, he dropped the idiot part from the translation. We obviously don’t leave the lunch room hungry.

At 4:00 today, we left the site by the same bus we arrived in. It is about a 20 minute drive from the hotel to the site. We have been doing everything as a group, so the time I get to myself before dinner is when I document my day here. Because we only have internet connection on site, I type in advance and then just cut and paste the post for the blog.

Tonight we had planned on going for pizza. The hotel restaurant is very nice, but we are overwhelmed by the very rich food and were feeling like a familiar meal. So, we crossed town by cab and went to the Pronto pizza place. One of our translators was leaving for Moscow for a few days, so this doubled as a kind of dinner to see him off. We had many beer and many pizzas and just talked for a few hours. Eventually my slang English became a curiosity of our young translator, so I had to teach him some good old Canadian slang. I like to think of myself as a goodwill ambassador of sorts. Unfortunately, I will not disclose here what I taught him  Those that know me can well imagine the new words our friend has is in English arsenal.

We made our way back to the hotel for night cap. The hotel restaurant is a multi-use facility and we went there for some Armenian cognac and beer. There is a dance floor and DJ adjacent to the restaurant, but we did not venture to go dancing. Laughter is universal so with help of translators, we made a point of sharing our jokes and stories.

Another day is done and is one day closer to being home... Mar 10th I have to leave Moscow. We will have some long days ahead. Lots to do.

Talk to you all soon.

Thursday Feb.15th Arrive in Zheleznogorsk

We rode the train through the night and arrived in Zeleznogorsk at 6:40am. We were met by our co-worker JM and our translator Sergei. We piled our bags into a small car and drove to the hotel. We had to temporarily check into a room (Presidential Suite) and wait for our rooms to be prepared. I was going to take a picture of the room, but I actually thought that we were going to get to keep the room and get another one like it. They moved both of us out later.

We went to site and did the meet and greet, but the respect for us was shown by allowing us to go and get cleaned up and caught up on sleep. I had the same clothes on since Monday morning. Socks were changed in Frankfurt because my feet were killing me.

We arrived back at the hotel by lunchtime and they had a cot and a bed for us. PA hung out and watched a movie as I showered and went and had lunch with Sergei. After lunch, I went and had a nap….4 hours later I was awoken by the dinner phone call reminder. That was the best sleep I had in years. Just that tired is all. Drool everywhere kind of tired. Haha.

We went down to the lobby and we were to hand over the keys to the presidential suite and we were given keys to the next two rooms on the same floor. Big difference. Half the size, no shower curtain and no little shaving kit, housecoats or slippers. Oh well, decadence for a few hours is okay. The hotel clerk as she gave me my key was able to spit out a few words in English to me. MINI BAR. I had a water and had to pay up. So, 15 rubles later, I was into my new room. Nice all the same, just not as big or with all the fancy attached to it.

We had dinner as a group and then got acquainted with the other crew with conversation after. By 10:30 we were all asleep.

Tuesday Feb.13th and Wednesday Feb.14th

Well, as the last post stated, we flew to Frankfurt and hung out for about two hours. The flight from Vancouver had some electrical issues about 2/3 of the way through the movie Scoop and the screens retracted back into the ceiling. Being that I was curious to see who done it, I listened to the remaining portion of the movie. The electrical issues continued as the cabin lights would just come on and off at random. Fortunately for us, we remained in the dark. The flight attendants were going around and placing dark stickers on the lenses so that the passengers could sleep. It was a long flight of about 11 hours. We flew over Greenland and the outside ambient temperature showed as low as -95 Deg C on the screen. There were two full meals and 1 and 2/3 full movies. I indulged in some free gin and tonic and drank countless glasses of water in anticipation of not having a lot of good water in Moscow.

Because of the time change and flight duration, we couldn’t help but lose a whole day off the calendar. We left Frankfurt at about 3pm Frankfurt time and the flight to Moscow was only 2-1/2 hours. We did though lose a couple more hours in time change. The customs in Moscow was what we were geared up to be cavity searched, but only PA set off the “coloured guy” flags and was made to x-ray his bags. My tool bag was on his cart as we didn’t discriminate luggage at the carousel and loaded it all on two carts.

We were met by Roman, our driver, and he quickly guided us through the maze of cabbies and out into the parking lot where his van waited. We piled in and watched him pilot us through the hellish Moscow traffic. We were traveling 5 km/h and needed to go 15km. Do the math on that. We were very short on any Russian and he was only in possession of 16 English words, so we had to sign/gesture/communicate for him to phone our contact people and get us to the train. PA and I both picked up a Russian Lonely Planet book to help us translate. Roman laughed as I said “hold me” in Russian. Those books have absolutely every phrase you could imagine. After a short discussion about hockey (just naming Russian players and nodding) we finally got onto the main street and were able to change to a gear higher than first in the van. As we passed the landmarks in Moscow, Roman would say “Gorbachev..office” or “military...musee: and we would just gawk at the bright lights and immense cultural differences. Finally we pulled up to a gate in a commercial area and we pulled through and parked. This was the office building of the contact people responsible for our travel. Partly responsible anyways. We had coffee and cookies and waited for our English speaking contact person to set us up with our train tickets and feed us.

Natalia arrived at 9:00pm and was a very cheeky but polite escort for us as she took us to a local eating establishment and purchased for us miscellaneous food items for us to “try”. She smiled at everything that was before us and had us wondering how much of the food were cow testicles or something. Nonetheless, the food was good and we had to hurry to catch our train. We arrived back at the office where we had 10 minutes to check e-mail and then off again with Roman to the train station. Thankfully Roman led us to the train and took us right to our car. Only my name was in English on the ticket and good god if I would have been able to navigate to the train by myself in the dark. We said farewell to our new friend and hauled all of our stuff into our cabin. Two men with 7 bags made for tight quarters. We were met by the train mom and she was speaking in Russian to us. We were having trouble understanding what she was talking about, so we assumed passport and found out after that she was offering bedding for us. Exhausted from traveling, we pretty much layed down and tried to sleep. The octagonal? wheels prevented me from sleeping much. Ultimately I slept less than 2 hours in 2 days.

Passport photos are never flattering...

Well, today is the last day I will spend in Canada for some time. Sleep is something I will cherish when I am free of any emotion. So, for now... I will lead y'all in to the adventure I am about to begin.

If you have Google Earth on your computer... then 52°20'4.49"N Latitude and 35°22'25.22"E Longitude are the coordinates of where I will be close to.

So, here is what I know for now. I am flying to Vancouver 11:00ish Feb.13th. I will be fashionably late for the cavity search and then proceed to the plane departing from Kelowna. The plan is that I arrive in Vancouver around noon. From there, I know this... I will be flying to Frankfurt, Germany... hopefully with a passport. Gotta pick that up in Vancouver with my visa. I would expect it to be at the airport with my traveling co-worker. If not, then I fly home and veg out and watch hockey.(That would never happen. Not without the massive scene in the airport and the deranged man being hauled away on the 6:00 news. That would be me)

Then, we wait in Frankfurt for our connecting flight to Moscow. Some point after we arrive in Moscow there will be a train ride south. I can't wait to use the train washroom. I have heard how marvelous it is (Picture to follow)

Eventually we will plane, train and automobile our way to the coordinates as above and realize we are half way round the world. Shortly thereafter, I will shower all the stranger hair and drool from the commute off of my shoulders and arms and possibly even unload all my shite.

I am planning on having just enough stuff with me. Tools, clothes and a backpack full of entertainment electronics, toilet paper, sacrificial toilet socks (for when I run out of TP), 3 pairs of 8-day underwear (in case luggage goes to Tanzania), a bag of white powder to amuse the border people, the anarchist cookbook for light reading and my "How to fly 767's for Dummies" book. Unfortunately for me, my sense of humour will be packed away until I am in comfortable space. I will probably gawk like a retard with Sesame Street overload at all the sites and invariably miss something.

Only time will tell, I guess.

To all that are going to keep up with me, I will do my best at updating this regularly.

Well, today I made the decision to adapt a more reader friendly approach to posting. I have edited most previous posts for blatant rant infested swearing and such. Contrary to how some may think, I actually have a child and he is very impressionable. Not to mention brilliant. He reads between the lines here and asks amazing questions. Most importantly he thinks for himself. Who'd think that an 8 year-old could do that. Not the public school system. Shut em up with Ritalin and wonder why they have health issues or social issues later.

So, as promised to some verbally I am going to start posting books that are very influential and inspiring. Let me know if there are some I may need to review myself. So without a better way to do this...we'll just start here..in no particular order or rank

Look to the right=============>>>>>>>>>

I changed template finally


That should get you started. I will probably touch on each of these a little when I get a moment.

At some point in my life, these books found me and opened my eyes and my mind. Some are fun, others are truly insightful.

Make yourself one that makes a difference in the world. We must abolish the apathy.