Our New Casa ..

Or I should say , our soon to be New Casa. I like it , Maryna likes it . I don't know how anyone could not like it. It is new,has plenty of room and it is very easy on the eyes. It is not missing anything. I am lost for words to say about it.
Here, look at it and let me know what you think.Have I told ya'll that I like it ? The only question that Maryna had was , who is going to clean all the windows ? My wolves on the gates sure look like lions though. I guess if I look at them long enough they will look like wolves.I am still in la la land and just sit and look at the photos. I will see it for real in 5 days. I will be in Ukraina from the 21st until the 31st. Uzhgorod here I come. I get to see family,old friends, a new house ,take photos and movies, get some teeth worked on, watch an election, look at castles, drink shampanske , smoke cheap marlboros and inhale carbon monoxide . Damn what a life.

Через 7 днів я буду в ....

Our home in Uzhgorod Ukraina. I have booked a good flight and I am packing and ready to go. I had to book through Frankfurt then to Budapest, so for two hours I will be the big city and not a thing I can do but wait. I tried to get a flight through Heathrow and could not. I wanted to meet our pal Limey the Poles and Billy Boy, however it could not happen on this trip and for that I am sorry. I will catch them at a later date.The best part of the trip is getting to see and spend time with family. The next best part is being there for the elections again. I love the elections. I was there for the last two and now I get to do it again. Orange and Blue all over the place. People walking, talking, fighting and yelling, damn I can hardly wait. I will also get some dental work done, see old pals and meet a couple of new ones. There is something about marching down a street with flags and yelling that makes me crazy, damn I love a parade and all that goes with one.I will see my brother Sergey , little sister Andrainna, our pal Natasha and her family , our cousin Yana , my brother in-law Viktor ,nephew Dmitrij and most of all Babushka. Last time I was in Uzhgorod it was freezing cold and that was in Feb 05. Now Mar 06 it will be colder I am told. I am a very "lucky" man. If it can happen , when it comes to me, it will happen. Cold, snow, ice, freezing rain, hard assed beds and sour cream smeared on everything in restaurants including soups , stews and ice cream. I am looking forward to drinking some great Shampanske. I mean great and that is a very weak word for it. I am going to get in this business and we will all be happy. Yes !! It is best when served chilled with toast and caviar, red is ok, black is the best. I will bring as much of both back as I can get through customs and then some. I should have been a pirate, first it was Gold, then Cuban Rum and Cigars now Shampanske and Caviar. Ukraina has a very sweet heavy cream that goes good with coffee also Paprika that is so good you can make a sandwich out of it. I mean the good stuff that makes a plain dish outstanding.With that said, I will be in Ukraina for 10 days. If any luck will come back with news of a new home, business and tales of Yulia and her new position in like, Oh I will also try to contact our pal Tim and check on his well being.
До побачення , Ваш брат Патрік....

Strange , However True......

You never know what you will find on line. This proves that Super Woman Yulya is in fact a real woman. Tim will be heart broken, I am shattered and will take months to recover. Next thing we will find out is that she passes gas and stands in line at stores . Now this is a add for the elections later on this month. This is also a very rich woman who must need some spare change to add to her millions that she has made on natural gas. The poster says "ask for Kotex in your store in your city". The things people will do to get their name out is amazing. I need to do this, maybe I could make some extra money and get my name out to the public. Got to love it.
IWD was yesterday. I was very surprised that our lady pals did not know about it. The "I" stands for International and I thought that was all ladies in all countries. Now dumb assed me should have known better. I am now told that IWD is a European thing and the barbaric Americans have no idea what it is or stands for. There are some women in some countries that don't like it one bit. It is a Russian holiday that means spend, spend and spend more. The price of flowers rise over 200%. Perfume also goes up and even the price of sour cream goes from 3 hrivnya to 10 hrivnya. That is 75 cents to $ 2 .00USD. Not bad for one special day. Think of all the sour cream sold for meals and pancakes and that will put some change in your pocket. Ask our pal Limey he will tell you this is true. Add one day of 125% profit to normal profit and you can smile all the way to the bank. I would pray for special holidays just for this reason alone. WTF you got to love it. Friggin nasty assed sour cream and the profit it alone brings in is awesome. Add that with the flavor mayonnaise they have on the market in Ukraina and you are a very rich person on this one holiday and this holiday goes for couple of days. All people do is eat and buy sour cream for all their meals. Soup , hey Igor pass the sour cream please. Meat, hey Natasha you went all out on this today, more sour cream please. Pancakes , honey please pass the gallon of sour cream please and don't forget the jam, slurp, slurp, slurp, yummy, yum , yum. Eat it while it's hot. Once again ,you got to love it..Strange , however true!!

Flight Prices !!!!

Please don't believe what you read when it comes to prices on flights. I have been shopping for flights for the past week. I have found round trips from Dulles to Budapest for $399.00 USD all the way to $4000.00 USD.
Now you may think , wow 399.00 is great. This thought goes right out of your head when you push the select button. The part they don't tell you in the price screen is the $378.00 tax that is on top of the $399.00 price. Now one may think .well still that is not a bad price .True , very true not bad at all. That is just part of the cost for me to travel to Ukraina. Uzhgorod is near the border of Hungary. I have to fly to Budapest and then car, train or another flight to Uzhgorod. The down side of this is that there are only a couple of flights a week from Budapest to Uzhgorod and I never make the dates. Trains run everyday , however the last train leaves for Chopp the same time my flight arrives from Amsterdam. This is where things get good. I have to be picked up by a friend who has to hire a driver, who has to have a special insurance card and a passport to enter Hungary with a car big enough to carry my big ass and my bags. So this cost another $175.00 to $200.00 each way. I am not a poor man, I am not a cheap man, I do however have a limit on what I will spend to do things as I am sure we all do. This along with eating and entertainment for 10 days can beat your ass pretty good.
Here are some other things . Train ticket is $60.00,next day. Hotel for the night in Budapest $70.00. Taxi fare from airport to hotel and back to train station $12.00-$15.00. Not bad, dinner is another $12.00 to $15.00. A day lost to travel with a 9 hour train ride. So when you add up all the numbers and the time saved by being picked up and driven 4 to 5 hours it's not all that bad.Taxes and travel time are the killers. They should say well we are going to give you a cheap flight , oh hold on a minute make sure you add on the high ass taxes. So cheap flights are not so cheap and it is cold as hell also. Don't even ask about a price in warm weather, your head will explode. I have flown with the best and the worst. I have had 12 hour layovers and I have had 15 minutes to change planes. I have been held and missed flights and yes I am a member of the Mile High club and have been for many years so I guess it all evens out in the end.
So next time you read something that sounds too good to be true, trust me it is. Read the fine print, you will be amazed at how much it will cost you in the end.
The photo is of me and my pal,one of the reasons I am going to Ukraina. She is alone and needs checking on and I need to travel to check on her along with other things..

I Have No Idea..

What to write about. I have a urge to write and my brain is not working well, not that it worked all that good to begin with. I find that the older I get the more my brain just don't work right at times. It seems like the age thing says oh, you are a year older so slow down now. It just pisses me off real bad. I have a Birthday Friday. On a past Birthday, I would like to do something. Not this one, nope not a thing. I have lived longer than my mother and that does play with my mind some. Good people should live longer than 53 years. I do miss her and have for many years. My father died 5 years ago and I don't miss him a bit and that is bad to say. I think I just took one beating too many and it did something to me inside. At the grave I helped cover him. People ask me, why? I could not tell them the truth and that hurt as well. My sister understands, she knew and just held me. She does miss him and I feel her pain when we talk about it.
I am going to Ukraina the end of March. This house and land thing is driving me nuts. I am going over with a letter from my bank and I will buy the place or I will pull out and try to forget about it for the time being. We are looking at another place near so I will do something as long as the money is right. The tax system here is killing me. I got a new notice today, the value on our house has gone up $37,000.00 . That is just crazy. I am paying almost $5,000.00 a year in property tax for the house alone. WTF . The neighbor is selling his house because of the high prices they are selling for. I can't sell and buy for the same money so why do it now.I figure I have one more move in me, so when I do move it will be worth my time and effort. All I wanted to do to begin with was to have a small ranch and grow some grapes to make champagne . Damn what a life. I think I will start a Vodka import company. Top of the shelf Vodka. Maryna knows her business and has the contacts in Ukraina to do it with. She also knows her Wine and Vodka, she was in the business for the past 8 years until I got her here. So that is something to think about as well. Scott is working on my website so I can move some of this gold I have had setting for the past few years. Silver is up and going higher so that makes me happy.I am going to Ukraina at the end of the month. Maryna is helping me find a good flight and packing my bags. Wow , WTF my brain is starting to work again. This may have been just what I needed to clear my head. Thanks Y'all........