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Published: October 7th 2006
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Getting Ready to Bake
Okay, the pie crust did not come out too bad. Not very flacky but very flavorful. Thanks to everyone for the receipes, I will be trying different ones until I find one I like.
Also, the cream here I used to make my cream pie, was so thick, I had to use a spoon to get it out. It was almost like yogart/sour cream thickness. I hope the pie is good! I do not know what it is, but I am have my second cold since being here. I am not sure if it is the weather or my body is not use to the "bugs" here, but I have come down with another bad cold. I stayed home last night and went to bed around 9 PM after a hot bath. I slep to almost 9 AM then took a nap today. I feel about the same but hopefully I am getting over it. I am about to head to bed now, but I wanted to post some things since it has been awhile since I have been on the blog and a few things have happened.
I have a new one for you. I am sure everyone has heard of a baker's dozen and we all know what a dozen is, but has anyone heard of a russian dozen? It means 10! I am sort of joking, I made up the term Russian dozen, but seriously, I bought a dozen eggs and got 10 in the package. There was only room for 10 so I did not get short changed, so the new word is Russian dozen means 10.
Radiator for Heating
Since I talked about in the blog, even though it not an interesing picture, I thought I would post one of the radiators from the flat. Last Monday, I had a great discussion with one of the guys from the volleyball team. He is probably one of the best, but not part of the "in" crowd, but has also been very nice to me. We were waiting for the captain to get out of the sauna and he asked me something in English. This was the first time he said anything to me in English. We started talking. As long as I went slow, he understood me and I understood him. It was great. We probably talked for 20 minutes then walked to the bus stop together as he lives across from it. He told me I was the first foreigner he has spoken in English to. I asked why he has not said anything sooner. He really did not respond, but I think he was afraid of messing up, but he really did well. It was a lot of fun talking to him.
If you are planning on moving to Moscow, I just saw in the paper the average cost per square meter for an apartment is $4000. Yes, $4000 per square meter. According to the article, it is now the most expensive city for homebuyers overtaking London, New York, and Tokyo. Let me tell you, these are not luxury apartment either these are still the old Soviet housing I have been taking pictures of for you. I would hate to think what a new luxury apartment is going for. Anyone want to move to Moscow? I guess that is one of the reasons my boss wants to give up his apartment in Moscow to move to Obninsk. He lost the place he was looking at because he made the landlady mad and she gave it to someone else. I am not sure what he asked for or wanted, but she did not like it and leased it to someone else.
It is getting colder, but it is still nice outside. From what I have been told this is a very mild fall with temperature getting into the 50's during the day and lower 40's to upper 30's at night. People tell me it is usually about 10oF colder this time of year than what we have experienced it and because of the warmer temperatures, we probably will not have snow stick to the ground until November, where in the past, it would be usually late October we would start seeing the snow stick. No snow showers yet, but I am sure they will be here shortly. I have used my heater several times at night, but I am glad the "central" heat has not been turned on. Michael told me it was October 15 when they turned it on, but reading in the paper, it says there is a system for when they turn it on. The formula is as follows, "As soon as engineers record five consecutive days with an average temperature of 8oC or below, they will turn on the heat....The centralized heating system, which dates back to 1931, diverts the steam produced in the city's power plants through pipes as large as 1.4 meters in diameter to multitude of heat-exchange stations throughout the city . In the stations, the steam, which can be as hot as 130oC..."
I have a new hand gesture/signal for you and no it is not bad. If you want to go get a drink (alcohol) you are to lightly flick your lower jaw bone. Anyone you meet in Russia will know what you mean and most will gladly accept your offer. Speaking of drinking, my boss just finished his first year of his contract and has decided to stay on for another year. I am glad of this as well since I am finally getting to know him and likes that he supports not only food safety, but also quality; however, we had a small celebration at the plant this week and started drinking. I had a glass, but choose not to participate as I do not agree with drinking at work. I was asked why I was not drinking, but no one pushed the issue. I just have real issues with drinking while on the job.
Last before I head to bed, I had my first "Vince Kramer blow up" with the Deputy General Director. He is one below my boss and in theory I would report to him, but the way the organizational chart is set up, I report directly to the General Director. Any ways, they sent products to one of our larger customers without my approval and we can not meet the shelf life, but we sent them anyways. I came unglued in the middle of the staff meeting. I never got an apology, but I did get agreement I was right for getting upset for not being included. Michael just sat there and laughed. Afterwards he told me he was glad I was here and that is was not just him being excluded from things.
I am also on a mission to replace my second in command. She barely gets the job done, but provides no ideas or solutions. She supposedly wants my position when I leave, but she is not near strong enough to be in charge so I am meeting with our labor attorney to see what the process is, but I am sure I can help her find the door. Those that have worked for me know what I am talking about...lol
I forgot something. I am trying to run shelf life studies here which is like pulling wisdom teeth! We have a Regional Lab, similar to a State Lab in the US where we send things to for them to determine our shelf life. We send them one package and they test from the same package everyday until they think the number is too high, but can not tell me what that number is. I asked for several specific organizims including E.coli. For those of you that do not know, E.coli is short for Escherichia coli in the world of microbiology; but not here in Russia. I was told if they were different and if they found one (I forget which one), I would have to condemn all of the meat, but the other one was okay. And these are scientist with supposedly PhD's and/or vet degrees????? Scary!!!!
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Mark
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Drinking on the Job
hey their are days i would love to have a drink on the job. I have a question?. who buys the Voldka? the HR Manager or is it runing in the water fountain? I am glad the weather is holding out for you. the temp here is been getting down to mid 40's to low 50's at night and upper 70's during the day wow great sleeping weather. every else is doing great Tourqe says Meow and yes he is sleeping under the covers latley. Cat hair everywhere..... LOL well go get them and dont let them pass you by man.