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.