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.