Going to Moscow again, will miss all events during may.

[magnusfeuer]

My employer sent me back to Russia to manage the test program of our latest upgrades. I will leave for Moscow on Saturday (with Aeroflot of course), and have an open return ticket booked from Stockholm to LAX May 27. That last date will probably be moved before all this is over.

This means that I will miss all the blats and events during may. >grumble<

On the other hand, I get to stay at the ultimate hotel:
http://www.ukraina-hotel.ru/fotoen.php

It is a study in the light, nimble architecture from the good old days...

/Magnus F.

[moosetestbestanden]

Dasvidanya, have a safe journey. Please send photos of vodka-soaked beautiful Russian women asap.

[slomove]

Make sure to bring a screwdriver. A friend traveled with Aeroflot (some years ago) and watched the flight attendants bolt some pieces of an exit door latch back on that fell off during flight.

But then I traveled wit American last year and my arm rest cushion was affixed with duct tape.....Maybe that is just the result of all the cost cutting :)

Gert

[moosetestbestanden]

was affixed with duct tape.....Maybe that is just the result of all the cost cutting

No. American is based in Texas. Texas is one of those red, southern states. On Sunday, they worship at the NASCAR alter. NASCAR holymen use duct tape for EVERYTHING ("Hey BillieBob, stick another wedge of HolyStick in at'ere sprang. Ol' Dale sez the cor's a runnin loose") like carburetor (whatever that is) restrictor plates (whatever those are) etc. It's the carbon fiber of round-dee-round racin.

Ergo, American is just trying to be nearer to god.

[magnusfeuer]

Update:

Things are moving forward here, in a Russian way. We are grinding our way through the test program preparing for client acceptance tests and trying to work out the language barrier. Right now, it looks like I will be back Jan 2.

Swedish expats here in Moscow have given me a peek into the Russian way of life. I've been naked and sweaty with unknown men in a hot steamy sauna (bania), where I was ritually beaten with leafed branches by other naked, sweaty men. This stirred something deep inside me which I am still trying to suppress... I've been to very exclusive nightclubs and restaurants which, as the evening progressed, turned out to be whorehouses. I excused myself and left alone. I've eaten Uzbeki food (a pure protein bomb) and watched 240lbs+ belly dancers do amazing numbers in the restaurant. I've also realised that being a (drop-dead sexy) professional from California who is visiting Moscow is very attractive in the eyes of the native female population.
As a married man, I can only say: "Maybe in my next life..."

During (WW2) victory day (May 9), I got to see Russian fireworks, which was something completely new. Instead of rockets to propel the charges, they use cannons to fire them straight up. Since the cannons are located out of sight on the ground, you don't hear the actual firing, instead the sound is echoed between the buildings, very much like thunder. Two charges then goes up, trailed by the glow of their fuses, followed by the actual explosion, light cascade and boom. These were quite normal.

But, unlike fireworks in other parts of the world, they did not up the tempo to a climactic finale or even vary the show at all. Instead, every thirty seconds they launched another round, identical to the last. It was very slow and not that festive at all. When the band started the traditional Russian and very solemn military music, I realised what all this was about.
This was not a firework to celebrate victory day, it was a firework to remember victory day and the 23 million dead that had lead up to it.

It blew my mind.


Attached are a number of pics showing a victory day banner display looking suspiciously Soviet, various subway shots with symbols from the good old days (including some very gay-looking reliefs of war heroes), and what can only be the fastest Lada in Moscow.

/Magnus F.

[Rod]

I think Moscow would be a step up

I think Moscow would be a very big step up. I am stuck in Chia. I am now in ShenZen and in two day I will be heading up to Shuzhou. This is my 18 trip to China. I am hoping to get back in time to attend the Jim Russel advanced drive class.

Rod

[Roll a 7]

Ve vant more fotos uf der vimmen.

[moosetestbestanden]

Right now, it looks like I will be back Jan 2.

Is this a typo?

By your account my current duty station (Victoria B.C. Canada) is somewhat bland by comparison. I haven't yet seen any of the naked leafy sweaty things that you mention, nor am I in a hurry to do so. And, while there are lots (and lots) of beautiful, young, redheaded 20ish women (well, girls really) here, they are not so crazy about Muricans as the Russians you describe. I've been told that it's got something to do w/ the annual migration of the flag waving, stuffed to the gills blubbery cruise ship set, and the actions of a Texas village's idiot who's gone walkabout for about 6 years (and counting). Or so I've been told. They're long on tatoos, and holes in themselves, but short on being interesting otherwise.

So, here's the deal. I'll ship you a bunch of visually attractive yet completely unsexy boring Canadian chicks, and you ship me a bunch of those Russian women you're talking about. Then we'll compare notes. I reckon either way it'll be the same for you. You'll be in the company of females you can neither understand nor, erm, um, well... you know.

Man, I'm really jonesing for the car & a racetrack. Bleah.

[magnusfeuer]

Deal Chris.

I'll fetch the tranquilizer gun and give FedEx a call.

Speaking of tracks. It seems like as soon as the Russians manage to grab enough cash to buy a upscale car, they unfailingly go for a black Mercedes with dark windows. Lacking the funding for that, they trawl the ladder downwards for black Bimmers, Audis, Volkswagens, Peugeouts, Skodas, or, as I saw in one sad case, a beat up Volga with a Mercedes sticker.
But they are all coool when they step into their -86 MB300E (Diesel) and take off in a cloud of unchecked pollution.

The only remotely cool car I've seen here has been a Fiat Barchetta convertible, carrying a driver with well developed lung problems. To my utter horror I saw an H2 stretch limo (black of course), proving that civilization has failed Russia once and for all. Stalin, come back! All is forgiven!

Russia has a long way to go before they reach the level of sophistication that can support a decent Seven population.

/Magnus F.