somewhat relevant ramblings

- Want another Amish bit? Here's a very interesting post with National Geographic video embedded. I found it even more interesting because the man they interviewed is on my brother's facebook friends list... hmmm How do they know each other? (I wrote him a message... maybe he'll answer. My bro, that is.)


- It's great to have friends. You knew that. I did, too... Well, picture this. An apt with a bathtub and a shower head. The shower head isn't attached to the wall, it just sort of dangles. Fine. There are heaps like it all over and I've used lots of them. No biggie. Someone (who is a Bear of Great Brain and comes from a Bear Family of Great Brains) rigged up a plastic coated wire and twisted it around the shower head and suspended it from a metal rod up above. This is Quite Clever, really. Except that I tend to move the shower head around (I'm short after all) and that messes it up. Totally. It shoots water everywhere. Last night, I totally hosed down half of the bathroom before getting it corralled. Well, last week I'd had enough. I sent 2 emails to 2 people working together in a city not so far from here. It said, basically- We'll cook you a nice dinner and really enjoy your company if you bring your electric drill with the cement-eating bit and hold it against our bathroom wall for a few minutes. Heh. They took me up on it. Yesterday they called to say they'd be here today. I scrambled out the door this am and toodled over to the bazaar 2 min away. Asked one man if he had the doo-hickey with which you could 'причипіти' the shower head to the wall. No, but if you go down there to the end on the left there's a kiosk, a man and his 'жіночка' (totally diminutive for 'wife') and they will. I toodle down there (it was toodling, too, believe me- everything is snow-covered ice and no one rushes anywhere) and posed my question. Жіночка finds what I want and for just over $3, it is mine. Yay. And- the emailed people come, they eat their lunch, they do their thing... and Voila! We have a beautifully functional shower!

 - Ever since I discovered Google Reader, I've done all my news and all but the private blogs that way- it's easy, fast and you read what you want/have time for and skip the rest. Saves a HEAP of time. So, I have a couple fun feeds there- like Mental Floss and Neatorama- and mostly I fly through them pretty fast. Today, though, there was a Christmas songs post... which I blurred through because they were all off the wall... but we'd had a Wikileaks conversation at noon and the Wikileaks Xmas song caught my eye... and was... funny. (What I find interesting about Wikileaks? The guy is uniting enemies all over the world- just look at the commentary in this photo essay- Democrats and Republicans love him; D's and R's hate him; and similarly across the board- people who usually hate each other- either love him or hate him- for the same reason. Brilliant. Sorry- not really. But... I guess I'll stop.)

- It's amazing how many unwanted sounds soft music piped into your ears through ear buds will block out. It comes in handy a lot- the bus, the train and a few other places. I'd love to talk if you want to, I'd love to connect... but if you're just being obnoxious- this is when ear buds and some nice music (or an audio book, come to think of it) come in handy.

- Another new law is coming here. Just heard today. You will only be able to buy (what the rest of the world calls) prescription drugs with a bona fide physician-authored prescription. This is, basically, a good thing. But- the pits, too. Yesterday, I wandered down to the pharmacy and told the pharmacist exactly how my ears have been hurting and my sinuses and that I can't breathe at times and how I'm not exactly dizzy but can't always just walk a straight line (ha- and I'm not exactly drunk, either!). Do you have a fever, she asked. No. Is your throat sore? No. She looks me up and down, peers at me, in fact (I'm sure she has x-ray vision and this is all quite scientific) and then walks back to the magic drawers and shelves, roots around a bit and comes back with Amoxicillin. Ok, Amoxicillin isn't likely going to knock this- but hopefully, I can get something stronger... hopefully. But not for much longer. Yes, of course, it's better that way. Prescriptions and doctors are good and safe. It's just that- I really don't have the patience or time (mostly patience) to go to your typical clinic here and wait for hours until the doctor gets around to you. Most clinics have no appointments, you just go and wait. Not. Fun. Esp if you're already sick. Ukr is anxious to join the rest of the (civilized?) world...

- speaking of- a major benefit of living in a (post USSR) country geared toward public transportation and getting around on foot- you seldom live more than 5 (or 10, max) min walk from: the grocery, a pharmacy, a bank of some sort, a shoe repair place, someplace to buy fresh produce- a bazaar or sidewalk stand. :)

- oh- and lunch today? For the shower-head people? It was, if I may say so, yummy. Everyone else was completely tied up so I did it... and since the advent of ear aches and head aches and sinuses, I opted for easy. A roast- cut slits in it and stuffed garlic in the slits, rubbed it with about a tbs of butter, salted it, sprinkled basil, oregano and rosemary over that then sliced an onion and leek on top of it, chunked a carrot around the sides of it and covered it all with tomato wedges. Very low oven for 3 hours. It really was unbelievably simply yummy. You all grew up on it, I did, too. And it's just plain good food! Baked potatoes, too, and a cabbage/apple/pepper/walnut salad with mustard/mayo/honey dressing. And pumpkin custard for dessert.

- heh- missed the photo op... but yesterday, in the famous it's-5-min-away grocery they had pumpkins. Real Live Round Ribbed pumpkins! Just like IN! ;) (we eat lots of squash but seldom see pumpkins like what we have back 'home'). I couldn't help myself. I found the smallest one (still plenty big- heh) and got it. And gutted it. And cooked it. And made custard. And... heh- we have a lot left. We'll be having pumpkin puree and in soup. Heh. It was definitely worth it though... ;)