Hello from Russia!

[cshigh]

Sergo,

Have you read any of Stuart Kaminsky's novels featuring detective Inspector Porfiry Rostnkov? I know they take place in Russia. Someone on another message board recommended the series to me.

Thanks.

 

[Sergo]

Sergo,

Have you read any of Stuart Kaminsky's novels featuring detective Inspector Porfiry Rostnkov? I know they take place in Russia. Someone on another message board recommended the series to me.

Thanks.

No, I haven't. I like detective stories, but haven't read them for a year or two. We have lots of our own Russian detective writers - mostly women, but somehow I am not too interested in their books.
I will try to find works of Stuart Kaminsky on the net.
By the way, Porfiry is our old name, I do not think there are many men with this name in Russia now. That's OK for a name in a story, but Rostnkov is incorrect family name: it should be Rostnikov or Rostinkov, or something like that.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Berezovsky... I do not think I know his motivation for sure. As he alienated himself to Mr. Putin & Co., it is difficult to say what said of him is true and what is not, being anti-Berezovsky campaign. And I have never tried to dig deep enough to uncover truth - really, I doubt it very much that I have ability to do so.

Well yes, they’re both involved with briefing against each other and it’s difficult to see what exactly what the truth is. But in general I don’t trust Putin, as his instincts are very communist era I thing, so things like this happen:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4472378.stm

So... It is much said that Berezovsky helped Chechen terrorists, in order to harm Russia and to get profit from oil, which is plentiful in the region.
I doubt it very much, as governments are expected to attack their enemies in any way available: Bulgarians killing their renegade in London by KGB hands, Mr. Bush ordering killing Al-Jazeera people, our security people killing Mr. Yandarbiyev in Doha... To mention all cases of governmental disinformation would have taken hours, I think.

Linking opponents to the Chechen situation is a very easy way to discredit them; it’s a cheap tactic but probably a very effective one, I would think.

So... I do not know. But I think that Mr. Berezovsky has enough money not to do everything for profit, and he seems to be intelligent enough not to spend much effort on doing harm.

Any support or even sympathy he is seen to have in that way would be totally counterproductive for his aims. He would be a foolish man to be caught doing this, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t of course, the world has plenty of fools after all rich or poor.

I hope soon to be drunk too: my wife just invited me to share a bottle of Tveeshee...

I don’t know Tveeshee, at least I don’t remember having it in Ukraine!

 

[Sergo]

Well yes, they’re both involved with briefing against each other and it’s difficult to see what exactly what the truth is. But in general I don’t trust Putin, as his instincts are very communist era I thing, so things like this happen:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4472378.stm

Yep.
And this case mentioned in a story is a very obvious one: a son of our Defence Minister killed an old woman on a pedestrian street crossing, and was found innocent last week. It is a case of double standards, which are quite common here.

Linking opponents to the Chechen situation is a very easy way to discredit them; it’s a cheap tactic but probably a very effective one, I would think.

Yep, as most of our people get easily mad at those associated with the Chechens.

Any support or even sympathy he is seen to have in that way would be totally counterproductive for his aims. He would be a foolish man to be caught doing this, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t of course, the world has plenty of fools after all rich or poor.

Yep, surely, money rarely make people better. Though if a person is good, money could help him to do the right thing, as he is more independent from others...

I don’t know Tveeshee, at least I don’t remember having it in Ukraine!

It is a white sweet Georgian wine.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

And this case mentioned in a story is a very obvious one: a son of our Defence Minister killed an old woman on a pedestrian street crossing, and was found innocent last week. It is a case of double standards, which are quite common here.

Well, it’s a sad day for politics when relatives of ministers stop being immune from murder charges, it’s one of the perks of office surely?
In Britain we have almost the opposite situation were everything is examined and any slip up brings a call to resign.

Yep, as most of our people get easily mad at those associated with the Chechens.

Yup, it’s a blind stop, all nations have them and politians can use them to their advantage.

It is a white sweet Georgian wine.

Mmmm I drank Moldovan wine and watered down brandy last time I was in Odessa, my friend was very angry about the Brandy, it was his main topic of conversation that day.
BTW, a couple of nights ago Britain changed its opening hours for pubs. Now truly Britain and Russia can sandwich Europe with our drunkenness! Not the Scandinavians obviously, they’re as bad as us, Swiss too.

 

[cshigh]

No, I haven't. I like detective stories, but haven't read them for a year or two. We have lots of our own Russian detective writers - mostly women, but somehow I am not too interested in their books.
I will try to find works of Stuart Kaminsky on the net.
By the way, Porfiry is our old name, I do not think there are many men with this name in Russia now. That's OK for a name in a story, but Rostnkov is incorrect family name: it should be Rostnikov or Rostinkov, or something like that.

You are correct, it is Rostnikov. I accidently misspelled it. Anyway, I am ordering the first in the series off the internet, and I am going to start the series soon.

 

[Flowerdk4]

Yes, I live in the South-West region of Moscow, and my office is in the North-North East region... That's a nice one-hour trip with one transfer from one line to another in the middle, and about 10 minutes of walk on both ends...

Really, I haven't read much of Dostoevsky. I thought him too depressing when I started - and that was 27 years ago or so... And somehow I never returned to his things later...

No, the new sofa is postponed. The wife just ripped the old folding carcass out of the old one and bought a new matress in IKEA. So I imagine we will have to wait until we buy furniture for our new flat - then we will spend some time on that... But as finishing works are not started even - I do not think furnishing is our immediate problem...

So you are like me. I like in the outskirt of Copenhagen and my work is on the other side of Copenhagen. I find it hard though to read in the morning on the buss as people are all pushing and the buss is very often stuffed with people.

I have heard people saying that Dostojevsky being depressing. Somehow I dont him depressing. I find him deep and with a deep understanding of peoples minds and behaviour.

Oh so you have IKEA in Moscow? I thought that you were building a house, dont know where I got that idea. Didnt you mention something about getting/having a small piece of land where you would build a house?

Saw you mentioned Rodin in a thread in the general chat area. I used to study art and we have a lot of his sculptures in a museum here in Copenhagen. I am a big fan of his work and have a great book with several pieces done in clay before they were made in stone. Its amazing to see how he was able to make clay so alive.

How is the whether in Moscow now? Have you gotten your fur hats on yet?

Flower

 

[Sergo]

Well, it’s a sad day for politics when relatives of ministers stop being immune from murder charges, it’s one of the perks of office surely?
In Britain we have almost the opposite situation were everything is examined and any slip up brings a call to resign.

You know, I like this situation in Britain much better than what we have here. OK, maybe it is ridiculous to have a minister resigned for using his free travel ticket on his mistress, but it is better to have a good laugh over foolishness of the rules, than have men of power as semigods, able to do anything they wish. Nearly.
You know, if a person of high origin in Arab Emirates kills somebody involuntary on a street crossing, he at least pays off the relatives of the deceased. And our princes do not have to do even that.

Mmmm I drank Moldovan wine and watered down brandy last time I was in Odessa, my friend was very angry about the Brandy, it was his main topic of conversation that day.

Moldovian wines were never considered as high quality in Russia. The only thing about Moldovia spirits we liked were brandy "White Stork". Though I cannot say that brandy were especially good.
The best wines in Russia were Georgian wines, and still are, though it is quite difficult to buy a real Georgian wine here these days - too many falsifications, you know. As to brandy - and we used to call that cognac, as France seemed not to have cared then about our using their brand, - our best were Armenian, Azerbajani and Georgian. There were cheaper kinds, but "Tbilisi" and some others were as good, if not better, than Hennesse and Camus. So, if you are interested in brandys - you ought to taste old cognacs of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbajan. But remember that the more stars on the bottle - the better. And try not to forget that marks "KC", "KB" and "KBBK" are even better than 5-star brandy.

BTW, a couple of nights ago Britain changed its opening hours for pubs. Now truly Britain and Russia can sandwich Europe with our drunkenness! Not the Scandinavians obviously, they’re as bad as us, Swiss too.

Eh, that's good. Really, I think that a good person must have his share of drinking when young. The problem is not to overuse it, as when a vodka starts to use a person it is much worse then when a person uses vodka. It is very easily seen here, when many good guys wound up in the gutter because of drinking.

 

[Sergo]

You are correct, it is Rostnikov. I accidently misspelled it. Anyway, I am ordering the first in the series off the internet, and I am going to start the series soon.

I just checked - nothing of the sort in Russian or for sale in Russia in English.
Only Stuart Kaminsky that google gave me was "Once Upon a Time in America".
And I am not sure if it is possible to use Amazon etc. from here...

And it seems there are quite a lot of those stories:

Porfiry Rostnikov, Russian police inspector in Moscow, Russia, is featured in:



Death of a Dissident (1981)
APA Rostnikov's Corpse

Black Knight in Red Square (1983)

Red Chameleon (1985)

A Fine Red Rain (1987)

A Cold Red Sunrise (1988)

The Man Who Walked Like a Bear (1990)

Rostnikov's Vacation (1991)
Death of a Russian Priest (1992)

Hard Currency (1995)

Blood and Rubles (1996)

Tarnished Icons (1997)

The Dog Who Bit a Policeman (1998)

Fall of a Cosmonaut (2000)

Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express (2001)


I've read some reviews, and Mr. Kaminsky's use of our names is a killer again... Why writers do not take a telephone directory and check?

 

[Sergo]

So you are like me. I like in the outskirt of Copenhagen and my work is on the other side of Copenhagen. I find it hard though to read in the morning on the buss as people are all pushing and the buss is very often stuffed with people.

Ha. Sure, in metro it is much better to read - much steadier.

I have heard people saying that Dostojevsky being depressing. Somehow I dont him depressing. I find him deep and with a deep understanding of peoples minds and behaviour.

Really, I do not trust much my opinion of Dostoevsky, as I hadn't read him since 18 or so.

Oh so you have IKEA in Moscow? I thought that you were building a house, dont know where I got that idea. Didnt you mention something about getting/having a small piece of land where you would build a house?

Yep, we have at least two IKEAs in Moscow now, and I must admit they are very popular with our people.

Yes, I am building a house. It is almost finished on the outside, so now I am working on the interiors. But as I do myself as much as possible, and use professional help as little as possible, - I do not expect our house to be finished soon. Really, it is the second house. The first one, much smaller, took me a couple of years to make liveable, and finally to instal a French owen, an IKEA kitchen, an Italian bath cabin, and many other things that make living comfortable.

Saw you mentioned Rodin in a thread in the general chat area. I used to study art and we have a lot of his sculptures in a museum here in Copenhagen. I am a big fan of his work and have a great book with several pieces done in clay before they were made in stone. Its amazing to see how he was able to make clay so alive.

Oh, I like Rodin very much. I think some of my wooden sculptures were made under his influence. Too bad they are very far from being nearly as good as Rodin's.

How is the whether in Moscow now? Have you gotten your fur hats on yet?

Flower

The weather... Today was the first sunny day in three or four weeks. We had snowing twice this autumn, but both times rains washed all the snow away shortly. Usually it was -2 - +5C these several weeks, I do not like this weather very much. I like it much better to be -10 - -12C with lots of sun and snow, not dirt, underfoot.

I do not like hats really. I have some, but wear them only when absolutely needed - when it is -25 - -35 outside... The coldest winter that I remember was -45C.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

You know, I like this situation in Britain much better than what we have here. OK, maybe it is ridiculous to have a minister resigned for using his free travel ticket on his mistress, but it is better to have a good laugh over foolishness of the rules, than have men of power as semi gods, able to do anything they wish. Nearly.

That guys just had to resign for a second time actually! This time for a more understandable reason, although you may feel it’s still “amateur stuff”. If you’re interested take a look and make your own mind up...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Blunkett

You know, if a person of high origin in Arab Emirates kills somebody involuntary on a street crossing, he at least pays off the relatives of the deceased. And our princes do not have to do even that.

Oh yes, another of our partners in the war on terrorism and the campaign to bring democracy to the world…

Moldovian wines were never considered as high quality in Russia. The only thing about Moldovia spirits we liked were brandy "White Stork". Though I cannot say that brandy were especially good.

I can’t remember what the wine was like to be honest, I’m not really a wine connoisseur; it’s either drinkable or vinegar to me!

As to brandy - and we used to call that cognac, as France seemed not to have cared then about our using their brand, - our best were Armenian, Azerbajani and Georgian. There were cheaper kinds, but "Tbilisi" and some others were as good, if not better, than Hennesse and Camus. So, if you are interested in brandys - you ought to taste old cognacs of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbajan. But remember that the more stars on the bottle - the better. And try not to forget that marks "KC", "KB" and "KBBK" are even better than 5-star brandy.

Next time I went I took some French Cognac with me. But again I don’t really drink Brandy, dark beer and vodka are my drinks.

Eh, that's good. Really, I think that a good person must have his share of drinking when young. The problem is not to overuse it, as when a vodka starts to use a person it is much worse then when a person uses vodka. It is very easily seen here, when many good guys wound up in the gutter because of drinking.

There is a big problem with ‘binge’ drinking in Britain, and so there was nervousness when these new, longer, drinking hours came into force about a week ago. Fortunately the first weekend had no increase in problems, but that may have been because of the cold weather. The coming weeks will tell us if we’ve made things worse or not.
I used to be a bit of a drinker in my younger days, me and my best friend would take the afternoon off from work and go straight to the pub and stay there all day and night. Fortunately I could normally drink quite a lot without it effecting me too badly although I did once get hit by a car when I was ‘worse for wear’. I was lucky, if I’d been another yard into the road it would have killed me; as it was I just fractured my leg. A few years after that another friend of mine who’d started to drink heavily died one night, he’d choked on his own vomit. So those two things together kind of that slowed me down.

 

[Sergo]

That guys just had to resign for a second time actually! This time for a more understandable reason, although you may feel it’s still “amateur stuff”. If you’re interested take a look and make your own mind up...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Blunkett

Yep. What a man! To be born blind, got to be a minister, to have such a personality that even his dog likes him to the extent of puking at the opposing opinion...
BTW, we have a problem with some of our Big Fat Cats killed in road accidents lately, and one man is prosecuted now for "creating road obstacle" by not leaving the road in time for the region Governer to fly by in his limo making 200km per h. As the result of that the limo striked the ordinary citizen's Toyota and was thrown ot of the road and crushed, killing all the people inside it, including the Governer, former humor actor Mr. Evdokimov.
In our Road Rules there is an item about special right to pass for "cars with special signals", without proper explaining what that means. So in this category goes Emergency ambulance, Police, Fire brigades and any fat cat with a special light on the roof.

I can’t remember what the wine was like to be honest, I’m not really a wine connoisseur; it’s either drinkable or vinegar to me!

I am not a connoisseur myself. I really like sweet wines, so all those dry wines the French prise so much do not impress me too much.

Next time I went I took some French Cognac with me. But again I don’t really drink Brandy, dark beer and vodka are my drinks.

Yep, dark beer is my poison too - and Guinness & Kilkenny are the best, I think. As to vodka... A good vodka is an excellent drink, but it is not to be found easily here.

There is a big problem with ‘binge’ drinking in Britain, and so there was nervousness when these new, longer, drinking hours came into force about a week ago. Fortunately the first weekend had no increase in problems, but that may have been because of the cold weather. The coming weeks will tell us if we’ve made things worse or not.

I may be wrong, but drinking alone at home seems to be worse than in company to me, for many reasons.

I used to be a bit of a drinker in my younger days, me and my best friend would take the afternoon off from work and go straight to the pub and stay there all day and night. Fortunately I could normally drink quite a lot without it effecting me too badly although I did once get hit by a car when I was ‘worse for wear’. I was lucky, if I’d been another yard into the road it would have killed me; as it was I just fractured my leg. A few years after that another friend of mine who’d started to drink heavily died one night, he’d choked on his own vomit. So those two things together kind of that slowed me down.

It was even easier for me: I probably had some prenatal liver problem, because of that heavy drinking is always a problem: if I try to drink as much as an average Russian can - that will mean a day or two in bed afterwards. (Maybe it is in my genes though - my father had the same problem). So of course I drank as much as my friends in school and later in the Institute had done, but as that caused much bigger problems for me - my drinking habits gone through some changes gradually, and I cannot say that now I drink as an average Russian. Much less than an average, really.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Yep. What a man! To be born blind, got to be a minister, to have such a personality that even his dog likes him to the extent of puking at the opposing opinion...

Erm, I’m not that guide dogs for the blind can be trained to vomit on command, although I did know a kid at school who could…

BTW, we have a problem with some of our Big Fat Cats killed in road accidents lately, and one man is prosecuted now for "creating road obstacle" by not leaving the road in time for the region Governor to fly by in his limo making 200km per h. As the result of that the limo struck the ordinary citizen's Toyota and was thrown out of the road and crushed, killing all the people inside it, including the Governor, former humour actor Mr. Evdokimov.

I though the rule in Moscow was you can drive as fast as your wallet allows you too?

In our Road Rules there is an item about special right to pass for "cars with special signals", without proper explaining what that means. So in this category goes Emergency ambulance, Police, Fire brigades and any fat cat with a special light on the roof.

Sure, same here, you have to pull over to the side of the road for emergency vehicles, but politicians are given a police escort to travel quickly through traffic like this, and an incident like this would be a big scandal.

Yep, dark beer is my poison too - and Guinness & Kilkenny are the best, I think.

Yeah, I’m a Guinness man myself. You know people in British hospitals used to be given Guinness to drink as the iron in it was considered good for you.

As to vodka... A good vodka is an excellent drink, but it is not to be found easily here.

Yes, I only drink vodka in Eastern Europe if I have a local to keep me away from the dodgy stuff.

I may be wrong, but drinking alone at home seems to be worse than in company to me, for many reasons.

I agree, I think drinking at home alone is one of the main signs you have a problem. Getting drunk at home I mean, not one or two whilst you watch a football game on TV.

I cannot say that now I drink as an average Russian. Much less than an average, really.

That may be a good thing. I used to work in a city that was famous for it’s many excellent ‘real ale’ pubs, and because of that there was quite a strong drinking culture. My company had people from all over the world working for it, but the ones with the reputation for heavy drinking were the Russian-Latvians. If anyone failed to turn up for work, or came in looking ‘the worse for wear’ it was always assumed that they’d been out drinking the night before with the Latvians. They normally had too; the Latvians of course made it into work looking fine and talking about which pub to go to in their dinner hour.

 

[Sergo]

I though the rule in Moscow was you can drive as fast as your wallet allows you too?

Ehhh... It is not yet as crowded on Moscow streets as it is in London, but in any case it is not easy to move faster than 100 km p h within the city limits, without risking to get to a cemetery rather than to one's original destination...
But you are right to an extent, and most problems with the traffic poilice are solved on the spot.

Sure, same here, you have to pull over to the side of the road for emergency vehicles, but politicians are given a police escort to travel quickly through traffic like this, and an incident like this would be a big scandal.

It is not always so here. You see, to get an escort is much harder than to get a roof light, so absolute majority drives with the light only, or with a jeep with some personal bodyguards nearby.
So we have lots of cars with flashing lights whizzing to and fro about Moscow and Moscow Region. And that Governer I've mentioned before has been denied the police escort on that day, and nobody could remember now if the limo had the flashing light on that day or no...

Yeah, I’m a Guinness man myself. You know people in British hospitals used to be given Guinness to drink as the iron in it was considered good for you.

Oh, it must be iron that I always felt was special about Guinness...

Yes, I only drink vodka in Eastern Europe if I have a local to keep me away from the dodgy stuff.

Really, most of our vodka is of poor quality. When during my stay in Latvia I was given "Samovar" vodka, I was shocked by the difference between that superb quality and everything I drank before. Now we have Platinum standard that is said to be the best in Russia, but I cannot give my own opinion on it, as I never drank it in quantities needed to check vodka quality properly.

That may be a good thing. I used to work in a city that was famous for it’s many excellent ‘real ale’ pubs, and because of that there was quite a strong drinking culture. My company had people from all over the world working for it, but the ones with the reputation for heavy drinking were the Russian-Latvians. If anyone failed to turn up for work, or came in looking ‘the worse for wear’ it was always assumed that they’d been out drinking the night before with the Latvians. They normally had too; the Latvians of course made it into work looking fine and talking about which pub to go to in their dinner hour.

And even for me to "overdrink" our friends from the Baltic States were never too hard: we tried many times in Lithuania with the same result: local guys could not stand quantities that we Moscovites drank easily. We often came to Palanga... Oh... The nearest thing to West we had then...
And once an Abkhazian tried to overdrink us: we came to Gagrah (several month before the war between Abkhazia and Georgia began) with our wives or girlfriends, and my friend has a sister with him. So the owner of the flat we rented wanted us to get drunk in order to gain some time to speak privately with the sister. And the man was a wine-maker himself, as most of them are. He brought a big bottle - 20 liters or so - and the three of us started. After some time I decided it is enough for me (I was the only one there with both a wife and a daughter), so I left the party. The Abkhazian was quite shaky already. And Sasha remained with him to the end, when he fell under the table. After that all of us, including Sasha, went to swim in the sea and got a walk around town. Of course, Sasha was ill the next day, but the Abkhazian was so ashamed of himself (they are folks of honor, in a way) he leaved to the mountains and sent his wife to collect our money in the end even.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

You live near some woods don't you Sergo?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4489792.stm

...well, if you suddenly stop posting we know what's happened...

 

[Sergo]

You live near some woods don't you Sergo?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4489792.stm

...well, if you suddenly stop posting we know what's happened...

Wow... Quite a bizarre occurence... And I've seen a squirrel only 15 minutes ago or so... There are at least ten of them in the nearest part of the forest...

But really I think that's a revenge: many dog-owners allow their dogs to hunt squirrels in our public parks, sometimes near children, who try to feed the squirrels from the hand. When asked why they do it, the owners explain that the dogs are hunters by nature, and it is very much natural for them to hunt forest beasts, and as to children - the earlier they get to understand the cruelty of life - the better.
So I am with the squirrels on this issue, and I hope they wouldn't hurt me.

 

[Flowerdk4]

Ha. Sure, in metro it is much better to read - much steadier.

Really, I do not trust much my opinion of Dostoevsky, as I hadn't read him since 18 or so.

Yep, we have at least two IKEAs in Moscow now, and I must admit they are very popular with our people.

Yes, I am building a house. It is almost finished on the outside, so now I am working on the interiors. But as I do myself as much as possible, and use professional help as little as possible, - I do not expect our house to be finished soon. Really, it is the second house. The first one, much smaller, took me a couple of years to make liveable, and finally to instal a French owen, an IKEA kitchen, an Italian bath cabin, and many other things that make living comfortable.

Oh, I like Rodin very much. I think some of my wooden sculptures were made under his influence. Too bad they are very far from being nearly as good as Rodin's.


The weather... Today was the first sunny day in three or four weeks. We had snowing twice this autumn, but both times rains washed all the snow away shortly. Usually it was -2 - +5C these several weeks, I do not like this weather very much. I like it much better to be -10 - -12C with lots of sun and snow, not dirt, underfoot.

I do not like hats really. I have some, but wear them only when absolutely needed - when it is -25 - -35 outside... The coldest winter that I remember was -45C.

Sounds like you are able to build a very luxious house! and I bet you enjoy doing it. Is it a nice place the piece of land that you are building your house on?

IKEA is also very popular over here. I do believe I own a couple of things from IKEA. Its Swedish. Some of it I like and some of it I find to be too Swedish, kind of dull.

I also likes it when there is snow all over. The sounds in the streets changes and I like to walk on the snow. Its boring and somewhat depressing when the snow is only light and washed away by rain. This year we have had a very mild autumn and only had two or so days with snow, mild boring snow. We have a shop in Copenhagen, where they sell real russian fur hats. They look very very nice, but I dont think that I would be needing to wear one of these over here.

Flower

 

[Flowerdk4]

You live near some woods don't you Sergo?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4489792.stm

...well, if you suddenly stop posting we know what's happened...

This put a big smile on my face!

 

[Kenny Shovel]

There's going to be a programme about Boris Berezovsky on the BBC this week:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/listing...filename=20051208/20051208_2100_4284_62637_60

I'll let you know if it's any good...

 

[Sergo]

Sounds like you are able to build a very luxious house! and I bet you enjoy doing it. Is it a nice place the piece of land that you are building your house on?

Yep, I try to make it as comfortable as possible. Also it offers me a possibility to use an engineer in me...
And as to land - it is 0,15 hectare of nothing special, but it is near a forest, so I like it very much, as it is only several metres from my door to the forest.
But with these squirrels there... Brrrr...

IKEA is also very popular over here. I do believe I own a couple of things from IKEA. Its Swedish. Some of it I like and some of it I find to be too Swedish, kind of dull.

We have many things from IKEA really. But in the beginning I had a big quarrel there: we bought a big closet, and they delivered wrong doors: they were of a wrong size and much cheaper. I came to them and asked to deliver the correct doors, the ones we have paid for, but they told me to deliver the wrong doors to them, so they could check if I tell the truth. And that was the time when we had only one IKEA in Russia, and it was situated on the opposite side of the city. So I got very angry and came directly to their general manager, or how they call their chief, and shouted at him until I had no English words left in me. Amazingly, the Sweed understood me, apologised and had the problem solved. Too bad he was removed after some time, but before that we met several times in his shop, and he always greeted us very warmly.

I also likes it when there is snow all over. The sounds in the streets changes and I like to walk on the snow. Its boring and somewhat depressing when the snow is only light and washed away by rain. This year we have had a very mild autumn and only had two or so days with snow, mild boring snow. We have a shop in Copenhagen, where they sell real russian fur hats. They look very very nice, but I dont think that I would be needing to wear one of these over here.

Flower

You mean it is not that cold in Copenhagen?
It is -5C outside now, so to get wood for the owen it is still possible to go out in a T-shirt, but I imagine it would be quite cold very soon here...