And ??

A grand time was had by all. The food was great , well some of it was. Most of it I have no idea how to explain it's contents. Some fish, beef, liver, cheese, veggies and grease, or as they call it Gel. Oh ! 15 different kinds of potato salad and even some mashed potatoes that were very good
There were about 15 couples ,1 single man and 1 single woman. Match Making at its best, it is a pity it did not work out . When they left they each went in a different direction . I hope you like the photos of the food and the people. Also there were cases of drinks, beer, top of the shelf Vodka as well as "Sovietske Shampanske".
Our pal's Limey ,Twirl and Pea would have been in heaven with the food. Dawn and Jenny with the shampanske. King would have had fun with the single devushka ,e. with the music. Jennifer with the tales of travel Oedipa and Vague with the Professor . Neeka to keep us all up to date on the Ukrainian and Russian news. I think that about covers it. All of my pal's would have fit right in..Oh, Baby Girl locked herself in the bathroom. She did not want to leave..Photos are me with the Dr and her daughter, I am the big guy. Some of the guest, Maryna and her pals, food , food and food.. Cheers

I Like This !!!

There is a blog site that I had no idea about, well that among other things that I still have no idea about. The site is Global Voices. It is a site about different blogs and bloggers. The first two I checked out was Cuba and Ukraina. I can thank our pal Neeka at Neekas Backlog about living in Ukraina. To my surprise Limey and I had our blogs listed. She had real nice things to say and I want to thank her very much. It is not often that someone writes good things when they have no idea who you are and it made this old man fill good...
I get to go to a party tomorrow in Baltimore hosted by our pals Larry and Irina. They have invited about 20 couples of American men and Ukrainian ladies. This should be fun. I will get reports of how the ladies talk bad about the men and the pecking order among the ladies will be carved in stone so to speak.I can't wait, I am not very well liked by some of these sweet young devushkas and zhankas. I know their country and I know the games that they play. They seem to forget that I have a Ukrainian wife and that I have spent much time in their country in the past years. I will let y'all know how it goes. I will even take photos and if you want,I will send you some of the 12 tons of food that will be left over. Real deal Russian and Ukrainian food made with American products that they have to use and talk ugly about. Y'all want to go ?

End Of The Line ...

The door opens and we depart the aircraft. The cold hits us like a smack in the head. Down the ramp into the airport you have some steps that lead to the bottom floor to customs. We were met by the local 6ft blondes in tight uniforms, 4 inch heels and wearing 9mm on their hips. Not a bad sight to see when you arrive after a white out flight and landing. Passport please and hello how are you doing ? Fine thank you and it is good to see you again.This all takes any where from 5 minutes to 1 hour and then you are off to claim your luggage.
The fun of getting you bags is trying to catch them as you are bumped and shoved by the loud crazy old ladies that want to beat you through the door to see their loved ones that they have not seen in 17 years. I can and do understand this behavior so I don't bump and shove back.
The wheel goes around and no bags are dropping. The wheel goes around and there is silence. No bags , none. The wheel stops, crazy old ladies crying, men setting down and just a lost look from everyone. The minutes go by and someone ask the blondes with the 9mm what's up. You will not believe this. The doors on the aircraft are frozen shut. I am in a state of well, I don't know what state I was in. I am still numb from Amsterdam so I just sit down and watch the crazy old ladies scream and start laughing.
There are two doors leading out to the waiting area. One door you can see out of the other you can't. I am near the door you can see out of and try to see Maryna . Nope not a trace. I want to see her so she will know I have arrived and be calm. The time now is 4.30 pm and I arrived at 3.15 pm. The wheel starts again and a few bags drop. The bad thing about long layover's is that your bags are the first on and the last off. I know this and have tried to tell people about it. Do they listen ? Hell No!! The next problem is that the ground is so slick that the machines can't get traction and the bags have to be unloaded by hand. It is near 5.00 pm and the bags start dropping again. My hand to God, my bag is the last one to come down the chute. I head out the door and into the arms of my loving wife. Wrong !! Maryna is not there. She had to be at the flat at 4.00pm to get the keys and sign for the week. Andrainna our friend and the driver John met me. I am told that I am late and it is dark. It is my fault that they have had to wait and the driver is upset. The ice, frozen doors and all the delays are my fault.
Uzhgorod Ukraina is about a 4 hour drive from Budapest Hungary on a good day. This was not a good day for anything much less driving. It was bad cold , ice, snow and 3 pissed off people. I do not get angry very easy and when I do, I get over it and I still love you . These two get angry and stay angry. I call a time out and ask if they have the phone number to the flat so we can call Maryna and let her know that we are late leaving. Yes, they have the number . Ok great let's call. No !! The mobile phones will not work in Hungary. No problem I have a calling card, let's call and let her know. Ok, first we will drive to our favorite pub and then call. Fine with me, let's go. We get to the pub and I try to call. The phone lines are frozen. WTF ? Yep the phone lines are frozen. There are times when you just say what the hell and march on. This was one of those times. The time now is 6.00pm. The closer to Ukraina we got the worse the weather got. Our 4 hour trip was now 6 hours and we have not gone through customs yet. Now going through customs can be trying for the normal person. These normal people don't understand that you can bribe your way into Ukraina. A few words and a few dollars later we are through and 26 km to my wife. The phone call was made.Andrainna and Maryna talk, she hands the phone to me, I can hear my loves sweet voice and I was ask ;Why you make us wait so long? Honey Please!!!Can you fucking beleive it. To this day when I hear her say those words I want to eat nails..The cold got much colder.

Happy Lovers Day !!!

My pal Limey wrote a post on his blog about his lady Twirl having a hard time getting home from their vacation in Poland. This reminded me of a trip last Feb that I took to see Maryna before she arrived in the United States..
The trip was to be with her on Valentines Day . I got a killer deal on the tickets and was all happy and looking forward to seeing my sweetie and spending time with her. The flight started out at Dulles . I noticed that things were going real slow and soon found out why. The customs agents were present outside the gate and were checking all bags. The small bags that you get to carry on were checked and if they were too big they were put in the cargo area. Many, many pissed off people. You had a choice you let them have your bag or your ticket the choice was yours to make. Humor is lost on these guys. They don't even look at you , they just talk , write and search.
We get on the aircraft and are told we may not leave our seats. The surprise arrives a few minutes later.We were all watching when about 25 people were led on the plane. Guards in front and rear. Custom agents and armed as well. These people were being sent out of the US.They were in route to Amsterdam. Women were crying, men were crying . It was a big assed mess. The agents backed out of the aircraft. The door was closed and we were off. Now this is just the beginning of the trip. So far it sucks and will get much worse. Two hours later we were in flight, snacks served movies were on and I was talking to one of the people at the rear of the aircraft. They were being deported. All of them , being deported. They were some that had lived in the US for years. No green cards, not a one between them. One lady came to the US with her mom when she was a child. She spoke English like we do. She was educated and raised in Richmond VA. She was not a threat to anyone. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught in a net so to speak. The guy she was living with was arrested and she was taken along with him to jail. She had to show ID and when she was run through the system she was found out so to speak. I am not even a tenth through this trip and I am boring you with this nice lady's problems .
On to where the real fun starts. We land in Amsterdam. I have a 8 hour layover. The special people were taken off, I lock my bag in the locker and I am off to my local hang out to pass the time away. Now for you that have never had the chance to visit Amsterdam you owe it to your soul to go. The world is a great big place and many other people do many other things to pass the time . Some good , some not so good. I have never held what a person does against them. They choose to do what they do and who am I to tell them it is wrong in their country. The Bulldog Saloon and other nice places are waiting on us to play and party. When I say party I mean real deal partying.

When I walk in I always give the bar lady a tip and tell her when I have to be at the Airport and I get there on time so I am a happy man. No problems at all. I am taken good care of and we are all happy. I walk out of the bar and hear ping , ping , ping, it is sleeting and it is coming down real hard. Ice hurts when it hit's you and I was being beat to death with it. Airport here we come. Am I boring you yet ?

The aircraft was being deiced. I am as fucked up as a human being can be and still be standing. Next stop Budapest Hungary and my Maryna. Now the flights to Budapest are flown by Malev Airlines. A good airline that has a very smooth operation. The pilots are all old fighter pilots and Budapest airport is a former World War II airfield with very long run ways. I mean very long and fast. The landing are very smooth because you don't have to apply brakes when landing, you just glide in and hang a left turn. I have slept through the two hour flight and they wake me up for the landing. I look out the window and think; wow it is very cloudy. I look again and I see nothing but snow and ice. WTF ? A white out. 100% white. I am thinking well this will be fun. Bam, Rattle, Bam the ice on the wings fly off and we are on the ground. Moans and groans and I start clapping and cheering. Now when you land you still have a 5 minute ride at around 70 mph to the gate. These guys have a blast driving these aircraft. They are all older , wear their hats crooked and swagger around. They are Manly Men and show it. Brown leather jackets, spit shined shoes and a Manly attitude.

The gate is close I can see it and then it happens. We are sliding on the ice past the gate and have to be pushed back. Now this should be a easy thing to do. We are in Eastern Europe and nothing is easy there. Nothing at all from buying a house and land to being pushed back at the airport so you can get to your wife. The sleet and snow have made it so slick that the pushing machines can't get traction. They have to hook two tractors up to do it. One pulling one pushing and we make it.I don't speak Hungarian not a word of it. Oh I have tried I just can't speak it. I want to say thank you and all I can do is jabber and slobber..

The fun has just started and there is more to come. I am not off of the aircraft and I can feel that something is not right. How right I was ......

Ok. I Will Try This.......

you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, (even if we don't speak often) please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL memory of you and me. It can be anything you want - good or bad - BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE. When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people DON'T ACTUALLY remember about you!

Hard To Understand....

My move and housing plans have been put on a short hold. The man that owns the house and land in Ukraine has had to put a stop on things for the time being.. Are you ready for this ? He is in the hospital. Not only is he in the hospital, he can't speak with or see anyone for two months. Now you may ask and I know a couple of people who will do just that, why in the blue hell can't he speak to or see anyone for two months."This house has a stone wall around it". Well he has cancer. Now that is bad enough as it is.I have family members who have had cancer. Some are still with us others are not. It is bad and I wish him all the good luck that I can.
This is a small set back and can be set right at the proper time. My first reaction was no problem I will fly over and get all the paper work done, banking and such and all will turn out fine. Wrong!! This is not the way to think. The man has problems and let him get well first".This house has (5) Bathrooms.". Ok, this is a good thing to do. Well what if he needs money ? No honey, he has plenty of money that is why he builds houses. It seems that when you are in the hospital you can't conduct business." This house has (8) bedrooms". It is not good luck to do this. "This house has (100) acres of land". We have to wait and let him get out of the hospital. He will call us and then you can go to Ukraina.
I also want to send some cars and trucks to Ukraina. I need to make plans for this as well. I feel like the little boy who had his ice cream fall in the dirt. I am not talking about the 5 second rule. I am talking about down and dirty nasty assed ice cream. What is worse, all I can do is not like it. I can see it now, bye bye stone wall, bye bye 5 bathrooms, bye bye 8 bedrooms, squashed grapes and sour champagne. I have to cry now.

Transcarpathia,

Is well, the most beautiful place on earth in my opinion. The land the people and the mountains. I love the mountains. There are about 12 or 13 Castles in the area as well. I will be in heaven. Clean air, clean water what more could a man ask for.I want to retire soon and Maryna being from Ukraine has a rather grand idea.As many of you know I was raised on a working farm and ranch in North Carolina. I have knowledge of how to to work a farm and ranch. This knowledge may come in handy for me in the future. We have found another house in Ukraine. Now I know some people think why in the blue hell would someone want to live in Ukraine ? I will tell you a secret . You all must swear not to tell anyone. I want to own and operate a Vineyard. I collect wine and have always wanted to grow my own grapes. I have no idea why , I just do. I have a idea on the label, bottle and all that goes with it . I am not talking about 2 Buck Chuck. I am talking real wine with grapes that you have grown and harvested. Not a grape that you have bought as a overflow from someone else. My Grapes !! My Land !! My Harvest!!
Now the house we have found has a lot of land with it, it now may or may not be ready for sale.Maryna has found another area that she is keen on. This land is for sale. Oh Maryna knows wine. She worked in the business for many years before moving here . She knows the right people , the business and the area. This is a grand idea, at least we think so. I am talking about real Wine. Real Champagne. Not the Sparkling Wine they pass off here in the United States as being Champagne. I am talking the drink of the Gods. The real deal. Not the dry, sour, nasty assed stuff that taste like vinegar. This will be a bottle that you will want to drink, not sip, drink and then open another. I am excited and of course I will share my Wine with my pals. Now, before any of the French start any trouble. I am aware of what you think of anyone calling their drink Champagne. I am also aware of the fact that you think that you own the word and that it has to come from France to be true Champagne. Well get over it. You don't , it don't and I am going to do it. So get use to it.Damn what a life..
Champagne, Anyone?

Call Me Lucky.

I have good friends. I think that puts me in a special place among some people. Now you may think you are old enough you should have friends. I mean I have some real good friends. My blogger pals read what I have to say and that matters a lot to me. With all the people who write on these things there are many post to read and comment on. I want to say thank you for your time .
I have a chat room that I chat in every Sunday. It is a bunch of people that have wives and girlfriends from or in the FSU.The men are from all over the world. Some Americans some from Canada and many from Europe. My friend Steve lives in England with his beautiful lady Nadia. This is a man that said he would take off work, drive to London to make sure Maryna and the kids got to the right gate when they had a short lay over in Hethrow.My pals John and his lady live in Holland. He will be in NJ in Feb and I hope we get a chance to meet.TJ the baby of the group also lives in Holland and travels to to Russia to see his lady .My pal Roger lives in Brazil, who is a cancer survivor God Bless him is a professor in Latin Language . Helen our Moscow lady takes no shit from anyone and has a lot of knowledge to pull from. She keeps most of the guys in line.CoCo lives in Belgium and speaks several languages , he and Ste also know good beer and keep me informed. Maxx my US pal along with Larry and his wife Irina from Baltimore all are good people and I am lucky to know them. Richard lives and works in Russia is a wealth of knowledge and helps out many people.
Here is the crazy part. With the execption of Larry and Irina, I have never met any of these people in person. Phone calls yes. I have spoken to many of them however, met in person, only two.Now these people are what and whom I call friends. What do you think ? I want to thank them all and say my door is always open to you as I know yours is open to me .
Thank you my friends.

How ya'll are?

Indica here. I'm engaged to Scott, Rick's son. We are in town visiting and Rick asked me to do a guest post on his blog. I'm honoured!

Tonight we had a lovely dinner (Maryna is the most amazing cook!) and now Scott has gone to help his little sister find a game for her computer. Rick is watching a football game (Buccaneers vs. Redskins). If the coaches could hear what he's saying, this game could be won in short order. Though the Redskins are currently winning the game 17-3, so maybe telepathy does exist and the coaches are using Rick's advice to advantage.

And as soon as I say that, the Buccaneers score a touchdown, get a field goal and the score goes 17-10 in the third quarter. Maybe Rick should talk louder or I should stop typing about the game.

I'll opt for the latter and maybe the Redskins will win after all. Thanks for reading, folks.
Ciao ciao!

Dinner With Friends.

Last night we had a couple that we are friends with spend the night with us. Lady friend is from Ukraine and has one child. Her son and Gino are the same age so it is good that they can talk and be boys. They brought dinner items and a grand feast was held.A table full of Ukrainian and American food and good company . What more can a family ask for?
I got on the scales this morning and I have gained 14 pounds during the holidays and I feel every pound of it. Baby Girl looked at me today and said , daddy what is this, patting my stomach saying ,no good, daddy, no good.Now what is a man and a daddy to do when his 5 year old daughter says he is fat ? Chinese Buffet for lunch, as good as it was ,I don't think that it helped at all..
Yum Yum and Happy New Year to all of my pals. I am going to eat some Doritos.