NVASHAG

Hello Folks !!!!!!!!!!!

2010-07-25T21:09:00.002-04:00

I'm Back..............Here it is July 2010. I have not written anything for almost two years... so, what has been going on ? Well a lot.. The family is fine. Geno has graduated HS. He is working with me for a while and then US Navy bound...Babygirl is still being babygirl.. She has grown up . Babushka is doing well. This summer we have 2 more family members from Ukraine here with us...Dima and Yulia....I will post Photos later...
I just wanted to say hello and I will be back soon.............Cheers The Ranger........

Wow !!!!!!!

2008-11-19T19:40:00.002-05:00

Nothing like coming back and seeing nothing. Last post was May. It is now Nov, hell almost Dec. The crazy thing is, Nothing has happened. I figure if I hang around long enough something will.

English Russia » Miss Russian Army

2008-05-09T18:56:00.000-04:00

English Russia » Miss Russian Army
This is what I would call a very good contest. I do love a woman in uniform. When she is shooting a AK also.

Facebook | My Posted Items

2008-04-17T21:41:00.004-04:00

Facebook | My Posted Items

This will make you feel a whole bunch better. Just listen and be happy. Go to the site and click on Facebook/ My Posted Items. Then click on Andre Bocelli Damn what a man!!!

April What !!!!!

2008-04-14T18:29:00.002-04:00

14th and I have not posted anything in almost two months. What the hell, I have nothing to post that makes any sense . Why start now ?
I am getting my travel face on. For some reason those far away places with strange sounding names are calling me again. I should have learned to spell and write better when I was younger. I am going to call my pal Dave in Toronto and see if he wants to make a Cuban run soon.I miss the club Monserrate near El Floridita in La Habana. The Monserrate is where my pals let me sit in and play with them. The music and drinks are calling me. Can you hear it? Mojito's ? Hell no!! A nice cold Bucanero and Cristal.
The weather in Cuba is great now. Hot days and warm breeze of off the ocean as you walk the Malecón. Habana Vieja is alive with every thing and every type of person you can imagine. You can find your soul at the Plaza De La Cathedral a 18th-century Cathedral that is breath taking.
Food ? Oh yeah, great places like El Aijibe in Miramar. Chicken and black beans with fried bananas . El Floridita serves better food than drinks. It is know for the famous Ernest Hemingway who, if you believe all of the stories told was a daily visitor there.To me it looks like a fancy whore house all decked out in red.We pass it a lot on our way to the Monserrate for some real music and drinks. Barrio Chino is another place to get a good meal. The Tien-Tan Restaurante is great. Lobster meal for $5.00 to $6.00 . Seafood and Italian? Hell Yes !!!A Prado y Neptuno 100% real deal . The best food that you will eat in La Habana. Good service and outstanding surroundings . Not very expensive and worth every penny that you will spend. A real Italian owns and operates it. He is our pal as well.
I have photos of these places , well at least some of them I will post later. I also have photos of a rowdy Patrick and my pal Dave setting in some of them.
I will leave you with the same words my good friend Fidel said to me as I was leaving last time. Recherd Ya'll come back now , you hear..

Happy Birthday Babushka !!!

2008-02-29T20:30:00.002-05:00

Today is Babushka's real birthday. She is happy with flowers and having her family around her. Not to mention her favorite son-in -law making her day as special as he can. I bought her some flowers and 10 lbs of green grapes. She is very easy to please..

More Photos !!!!!

2008-02-28T20:17:00.002-05:00

Time Goes On ?

2008-02-28T19:08:00.003-05:00

Saturday night I had the honor of being inducted in to the VA. Shag Hall Of Fame. I had a great time. It was go good because it was two first. It was the fist time Maryna and I had been anywhere this year and also the first time Maryna had seen me dance.
Our pals Larry and his wife Irina went to Va Beach with us for the party. Good times were had by all.
The fat guy you see in the white shirt is me. I had no idea how bad I look. The lovely lady dancing with me is my pal and long time friend Janis Grimes Booth. It was Janis and her husband Steve Booth that were the driving force behind my being selected this year. I want to thank them for their support and my wife Maryna for being there for me on this special night.Man o man I love this woman..
Like I said before time goes on .Don't it ?
PS. I will post more photos later..

More Jana....

2008-02-12T21:19:00.000-05:00

Jana As We Know Her

2008-02-12T21:04:00.001-05:00

So Far In The Year 2008

2008-02-12T19:21:00.000-05:00

We have lost a family member in Ukraine. Had to call 911 for Babushka. Spend many hours in the ER and that is just in the first month.
I wonder at times just what in the world is going on. Why do such bad things happen to such good people. I just don't have the will to do this any more. It seems that every time I have something good to post about something comes along and well, just screws it up.
Why do such good young people die so early in life. We have lost a very good young person. The world is one good person short. When you have lived to be my age anyone under 40 is young. Not that I'm so old, it's just that most of the people that I'm around are younger. Does this keep me young ? Hell no !! It just makes me understand how old I really am compared to them.
Maryna was raised in Uzhgorod Ukraine. She has first cousins that were raised with her like sisters. They spend all their time together and shared everything just as most sisters do. They all had dreams of what life would be like . They all had their own wants, needs and desires. Sasha the youngest of the three sisters is now a beautiful blond woman with a son living in UK. Maryna the middle sister, beautiful as well, is now my wife living here in the US with me and our children. Jana the oldest , just as beautiful as the other two. A business woman working on her PHD from Uzhgorod National University has just turned 37 years old and 5 months pregnant with her first child. Fluent in Russyn English, Russian, Slovakian , Hungarian and Ukrainian . Smart is not quite the word I would use for her. She is off the charts as far as her IQ goes. She clocked in at over 180. Now in my book that is a little above being smart. My friend, my translator and my keeper when I am in Ukraine. Just an all around good person and human being that the world needs more of as is Sasha and Maryna.
Maryna got a phone call from Sasha . Sasha was on the way to Ukraine to see Jana. Sasha had received a phone call from her family that Jana was in the hospital. This beautiful woman, Sasha and Marynas sister, my friend and soon to be mother had suffered a stroke. She was in the hospital and that was all anyone knew at the present time. Maryna made phone calls to her brother to try to find out what was going on and what if any news he had. The news was worse than anyone expected. Jana was in a coma. She had not recovered from the stroke and would not. This hurt my heart. She was brain dead. She was on life support. She remained on life support for two weeks when finally her big loving heart gave out. My friends we have lost Jana. Sasha has lost her older sister and best friend. Maryna has lost her older sister and someone she could always count on. My good friend Vissa and his wife have lost their oldest daughter and the world has lost one great person. Me,I have lost part of my soul that I will never have back. Our hearts hurt and all we can do is not like it.
I can leave you with the exact words Jana said to me as Babushka I were leaving her house in September on the way back to the US. Patrick please be careful take care of auntie and please come back now, you hear me..
I am through. Thanks to everyone who had read what I have written over the past few years. My heart hurts and I can;t do this any longer. Warm regards Patrick

It Is The Night Before

2007-12-24T15:10:00.001-05:00

Christmas!!!!!
Nothing has gone right. One of the gifts that was bought for Maryna came today. Guess what ? I don't have to tell you what happened. I had a feeling that things were going to smooth. I bought this on line two weeks ago. It arrived today. Wrong stuff. Phony Perfume. I don't mean a little phony. It is the real deal phony, 100% to the bone phony.
What the hell has happened to people these days, selling phony stuff. I also must ask what in the hell is wrong with me buying phony stuff that these people sell ?
I am use to buying real products. I don't mind paying a little more for the real deal so to speak. This time I was taken in by a lady that said she bought it as a gift for her and she did not like it. I took what I thought was a good deal and ran with it. I do understand that you always get what you pay for. In this case I sure did.
So as I head out for the mall for some late shopping, I can hear the phony lady saying , Ya'll come back now, Ya hear...

My Pal's....

2007-11-12T19:15:00.000-05:00

This trip to Uzhgorod was the best yet. I had dental work done, saw some old pals and met some new ones. I have found one of the best Biker Bars in Eastern Europe. My pal Sasha is the owner and chief Biker. He has collected bikes from all over the world and has them on display in his bar. I saw bikes that I had only heard about. They were right in front of my eyes in living color. I could actually touch them. Man o man what a rush. Here are some of the photos that I took while there. I hope that you like them.

Does Anyone Have Any

2007-11-01T14:33:00.000-04:00

Idea. What in the blue hell this is?

Here Come's The Bride !!!

2007-10-17T21:22:00.000-04:00

My first Saturday night in Uzhgorod on this trip I thought I would spend a quiet night having dinner and drinks with my brother Sergei and his wife Maryanna. I show up in jeans , tee shirt and slip on ratty ass ed shoes. I should have known that some thing was up when they were dressed to the 10's. As a rule much don't get by me. This time it did.
Patrick we are going to a wedding !! Say what ? Da, we will go to wedding. Sergei I am not dressed to go to a wedding. No problem , we go to your flat and dress you. So, Off to the flat we go. I get dressed in the finest dress clothes that I had with me and off we went.
Another rule that I have is when I go to a wedding I like to know at least one of the people getting married. This was one that I had no idea who was who. All I knew is that I had a wedding to attend and with no gift.
I was introduced to everyone and all seemed to be in a good mood with one exception. There was one man that seemed ho have a problem with Americans. The more he drank the bigger the problem got. I like problems. I truly do. I have always had a thing for people with problems in general, and people that have a problem with me in specific. He would take a drink of vodka look at me and slam the shot glass on the table. Sergei said , Patrick that young man seems to have a problem with you being here. Yeah, I know.. Watch this. I walk over about 10 feet, pour a large shot glass full of vodka, down it and slam the glass down. He did not know what to do. Is this big American crazy ? I could see his small brain having this thought.It was showing through his small pointed eye's. To add insult to this, I went over to his table , poured him a drink and just smiled.
To make a very long story short, the war was on. I have a few photos of the wedding that I will share. I hope that you like them.
I will leave you with the same words that I had for the crazy young man as they carried him out of the building. Ya'll come back now, Ye Hear !!

Can Ya'll Say

2007-10-03T17:53:00.000-04:00

Party ? Man o man. I went to one hell of a good one the first weekend that I was in Ukraine. Our pal's Irina her husband Andre along with pal's Eugene his wife Yulia and the rest of the family had a "welcome to our house, we are glad to see you" party.
I was blown away by the amount of food and drink at the cookout. I met Irina's Mom and Dad. Her Babushka came by later on so I got to see 4 generations of family all at one setting. It was a honor to be at this party. I have new pal's. Her father Viktor who is a retired Soviet Union Army Officer and who can consume large amounts of Vodka when toasting his friends was my new best friend and yes I did get drunk. Way too drunk. It was not the amount of Vodka that I drank. It was the short time that I drank it in. The Vodka, beer, wine and of course my favorite Soviet bubbly drink of all time and yes we had several bottles of that as well, along with some home made Vodka that I would not wish on anyone.
I will attempt to post a few photos. I have to go. I have a tax audit tomorrow and I have to try to find some kind of proof that I did not make up all of my tax deductions
I will leave you with the same words my new best friend Viktor said to me as I was passing out.. Ya'll come back now Ya Hear !!!

What A Month..

2007-09-29T15:09:00.000-04:00

I have had !! Only two days left in September and I have only spent 10 day's in the good old US.
It started on a Wednesday and I have been back 3 day's now. Dulles to Amsterdam. Amsterdam to Budapest and then off to Ukraina for what seemed like a month.
The trip over was great. No long layovers. No traffic on the road. No back up at customs. No drunk customs officer. Just great people and great times. I have about 192 photos. I brought back plenty of cheap Marlboro's and very good Vodka.
I went to a real nice wedding. Outstanding party's and even the only biker bar in Western Europe. Stories and photos soon to follow. I am still veddy,veddy tired..

What can I say ?

2007-06-24T13:41:00.000-04:00

I was thinking today and the blog came into my mind. I said to myself, wow it has been a month and I have not even looked at the site. I can say that I lost my old computer two weeks ago. I now have a new one and it took a few days to get all of my bookmarks back even now I am missing a few. However that is no excuse for not posting anything.
Ya'll ever had one of those weeks where nothing went right. Some people have days like that, not me , hell no !! I just got through with the week from hell. It started with an ice cream Monday and turned to dog shit before Friday.
We now have a front toothless Babygirl. I had forgotten how funny they sound when the teeth start to come out. She just gets funnier ever time she says something. I have to go now,cookout day at Patrick's..

What Would Be Worse ?

2007-05-10T17:59:00.000-04:00

Reading and posting nothing at all, or reading and posting something that you did not think of, write, or have anything to do with what so ever ?

I have been reading some of the blogs that I visit and have figured out something that I wrote about a few months ago. Some of these people are copy and paste hero's. Oh, the blogs don't belong to any of my pals. You are real, thank god and I do love to read what you post. I have also figured out something else. Some of these same people get paid to do this. How you may ask ? Well I have no idea. However !!. I am going to find out and let all of my pals know how to make money doing this. I don't mean a word or two. I am talking about whole pages of words that don't belong to you and posting them everyday. Maybe a day late, but not a dollar short. I guess it takes all kinds to make the world go around.

I have not posted in a long while. It's not that I haven't had the time. I am just too lazy to put what I wanted to post about in to words. Oh, I think about the words I just don't seem to write the words down and that is just pure lazy assed on my part.
I'll talk to ya'll more later. I have something very close and dear to my heart to write about next time..

The Other Side..

2007-03-28T20:11:00.000-04:00

It seems to be a shame that when you take a photo you miss being in the photo. Now I know that you can fix it to take a timed photo, that just don't count. It makes me crazy when I want to be in a photo and there is no one to snap it. Make the moments count my ass, make me crazy is more like it. Oh, this new blogger sucks big ones..
I hope our pal Dawn had a safe travel and is having fun in that far away place with a strange sounding name. I still want to bitch slap Bill O'Reilly just to wake him up and make a man out of him. God help him..
Babygirl in Amsterdam. She was shopping for a new hat,car, food and then had to sleep some. Shopping always makes her tired..

I will try again !!

2007-03-22T22:09:00.000-04:00

Well maybe I can post something now. Photos of Ukraina starring Maryna, Babygirl Sleeping , Babushka and Brother Viktor on visa day. I hope you like them.

Five Year, Multi Entry !!!

2007-02-22T22:18:00.000-05:00

Visa, this is what we received in the mail today. This is a very good thing. This means that we can have her here for 6 months at a time. All is good in my world now. This also means that I can bring them home 2 weeks early. This is great. I just thought ya'll may want to hear the good news.

2007-02-20T21:02:00.000-05:00

Valery Meladze and Ani Lorak : Verny mne moyu lyubov

This is a great Video and song !!!

Can Ya'll Say Visa ?

2007-02-20T19:04:00.000-05:00

Great news from Ukraina. I was in bed this morning around 05.30 thinking about getting up and the phone rang. It was Maryna calling to let me know that her mom passed her Visa interview and everyone was very happy. I am elated for many reasons. Her mom will be here with us where she can be looked after and taken care of and also I can bring Maryna and Babygirl home 4 weeks earlier than planned. This makes me very happy because I have missed them and our house is empty without them here. Having been apart for only 12 days in the past 18 months I had no idea that the trip would cause the emptiness that I feel without them here. So I am a happy man again. Maryna is on cloud nine. Babygirl is happy that her Babushka is coming home with her and Babushka is happy to be with her family again. Gino , I guess he is happy, he did smile when I told him then went back to sleep.
I will tell ya'll the same thing I told Maryna at 5.30 this morning. Ya'll come back now, Yea hear !!

Two Down Six To Go.......

2007-02-11T17:52:00.000-05:00

Maryna and Babygirl have been in Uzhgorod now for two weeks. Maryna has taken her Mom to the hospital. All kinds of problems that have to be taken care of. Her brother Viktor has some medical problems that she will help with. She has seen family and friends and the big day for the Visa interview is the 20th. She bought tickets today for Kyev so that is taken care of.
I sure miss them and they can't return soon enough. I thought I had spent my last time alone, this however had to be done, plus if you remember I was the one that went last March and did not like to go alone then. I am just rambling now, I miss my family and 6 weeks is not all that long, well it is I am just trying to fool myself into thinking it's not,
Ya'll have a good month and oh!! Ya'll come back now, Yea hear.

Short & Sweet ..

2007-01-30T20:26:00.000-05:00

Maryna and our Babygirl have gone to Ukraina for 2 months. As I write this she is flying to Amsterdam and from there to Kiev. We just had too much going on over there with her Mom for her not to be there . We were having to depend on other people and family members for all of our information about her health and how she was doing.
So off she went until the 27th of March when with any luck her Mom will be returning with her to live with us for a while so she can get healthy. Hell, I may just keep her here and not let her go back until we move there to grow grapes and do whatever it is we are going to do there. So,Gino and I are alone for the next two months with Maryna's stupid ass dog who just loves to pee in the house instead of the yard. Damn what a life..

Why In The Blue Hell ?

2007-01-25T19:49:00.000-05:00

Would the United States Of America want to put Missile Defense Sites in parts of Poland and other Central Europe Countries ? The US says that they are intended to counter threats from Iran and North Korea. Russia and other Eastern European countries say that is a crock. Poland and the Czech Republic are both former Soviet Countries that are now NATO members say, what the hell. One can host the Missiles and the other can host the Radar Sites to control them. It is win-win for the US and the hosting countries. The countries make much needed cash for their leaders and the US can defend against Lil Kim and that other Crazy Man whom has no respect what so ever for the US. Now today NATO said they were cutting off checks to Lil Kim, so you know he is in one of his better moods with this news. Oh!! If anyone is thinking about what Vladimir thinks, he is not too pleased with this news. Me, being me, called my pal Sergei Ivanov and got quite an ear full from him. He said that if they had missiles that powerful that Russia would know and would and could have put a stop to it years ago. Sergei told that he of all people would know "he is the Defense Minister of Russia" and with the right amount of money spread around all of this would be very low key and Vladimir would not be going crazy and making his days very long. Now my pal has to travel and make it look like a big deal, not to mention all the cash he will have to put out to make peace with his other Russian officials who have said that they see it as a threat that will upset the security balance in Central and Eastern Europe and these guys just don't like this one bit. More to come on this later.
I will leave you with the words of my pal Sergei as we ended out phone call today. Patreek, please tell Mrs. Clinton I said hello and Ya'll come back now, Yea Hear..

So Far This Year ...

2007-01-19T18:17:00.000-05:00

I have broken a tooth, had a very bad month at work and I found out today that a friend had gotten killed. Well he was not a good friend, however a friend and he leaves a wife and child with no one to care for them. This is the bad part, he was a former scum bag that had started to do good. He had quit his scum bag ways and was doing fine for himself and new family. I will not get started on his bad habits and will remember what few good traits that he had. He loved to work. He was happy getting up and going to work. What he happen to be doing at the time did not matter, he just loved to go to work. He liked manual labor the best. If you had to move he was there, if you had to move something he was there as well and attacked the job that had to be done. When the job was done he looked for more to do. You try to pay him,nope no way. He would grab his heart and act like you had shot him. This was just the type of man that he was. Nothing phony, he was just Rob and this is the way Rob was.
I will leave you with the same words I said to Rob as he was leaving for the west coast. Ya'll come back now , yea hear..

My New Best Friend

2007-01-08T20:59:00.000-05:00

AS a rule I don't brag about our friends , Well I do , I just don't call it bragging. We have a friend from Uzhgorod Ukraine with us this week. This is Maryna's hometown and our second home. We have with us Vasyl Zilhalov from Radio Free Europe. This is a man that has held several political offices in Ukraine, he knows all the power people from several countries and calls them all friends. Well he has one more friend to add to his list and so do I.
Dr. Zilhalov has written books, teaches at National Schools and is just an all around good man. I met his son Andre and his beautiful wife Kate on my last trip to Ukraina. His daughter and grand daughter were with us last month and now the Grand Master of them all is with us this week. If I keep this up, I may be famous one day also. I am the man that met Gen Omar Bradley ,Vice Pres Gore and Tipper. Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr and Clinton. I am also good friends with Dr. Dave Bubba" Harrison from Toronto Canada and Dr Zilhalov is the cream of the crop. Damn I hang around classy people now that I am married to Maryna.

Good Food !!!

2006-12-25T14:01:00.000-05:00

Thanks to little brother Carl. Ham, potato salad, peas and corn, mashed potato's,gravy and fried southern cornbread. it was great and we get to have some for supper too..

Merry Christmas !!

2006-12-25T11:05:00.000-05:00

Oh Yea, Santa came today. Babygirl, her daddy, momma, big brother and Uncle Carl had a grand time. It was gift day and all had a grand time. Maryna did not sleep she was on ebay all night stocking up for her trip to Uzhgorod next month to see her family. She will take Babygirl and be gone for around 2 months. I will be here with Gino and Kona. Talk to ya'll later I have to help Carl cook late lunch.

I Am Sorry...

2006-12-21T19:20:00.000-05:00

I just have a lot of other things to do . I will play catch up later on. Rush, rush,rush. Man o man life is fast. I have torn my right knee up pretty bad and yes, I will have to have one of those minor operations as early as next week after the holidays. I will leave you with the same words the Ortho Dr said to me yesterday as I was limping out of his office Y'all come back now, Yea hear

Actually !!

2006-12-12T19:49:00.000-05:00

This is a word that our Babygirl has learned and uses every chance that she gets. I like it when one of my gang learns a new word. Babygirl is gloating because she learned the word first. She first pulled it on Gino, then her mom. She tried to get it by me, yea good luck. I ask her where she learned the word and she had no idea she however uses it very well.

I am tired. we had our yearly inventory last weekend and it was cold and took way too much time. It sucked and will always suck.

Glen Beck. This blond hair fat faced candy ass prick is next on my bitch slap list. Why is it that the Fox News guys are such candy ass cowards ? These Non Military Serving Warhawks need to be beat. It seems to me that if they really wanted to do something they would put on a uniform and serve. At least they could say, I tried. They will be put in harms way, they may get wounded or worse. They can at least say I Stood Tall, I Looked Sharp and I Was Proud. Damned what others think, I Tried....

2006-12-03T17:53:00.000-05:00

Denmark Speed Control

Man o man , can you believe this ?

Three In A Row

2006-11-25T22:53:00.000-05:00

Our first Thanksgiving meal was in 2004 in Uzhgorod Ukraine. Myself, Maryna the kids her mom and a couple of friends. In 2005 they had arrived here so it was a very special holidy for all of us. This year 2006 my little brother Carl had no one to spend it with so guess what ? He arrived Wed and helped with the cooking. Well to be honest he cooked most of the meal.
He cooked a great turkey, southern corn bread, potato salad, mashed potatos, peas and corn, southern iced tea , apple pie and other goodies. It was one of the if not the best Thanksgiving lunches I have ever had.
Friday morning he drove Maryna and a missing one tooth Babygirl to Atlanta Ga for a long holiday. Daddy has to go back to work Monday and could not go down this time. Here are some photos , I hope you like them.
I will leave you with the same words I had for the travlers Friday morning at 6.00am. Ya'll come back now , Yea hear..

Aunt Anna...

2006-11-21T16:30:00.000-05:00

Aunt Anna is the lady in the red dress. This photo was taken on my last trip to Ukraina. In the photo with her is our Babushka,"her sister". Her daughter Maryanna in blue our Yana and Anna's husband Ivan. These are all great people and I am glad to be in their family. I had never met Anna before my last trip. She welcomed me in her home, cooked a great meal and we spoke for a couple of hours. She was very nice and it was a very cold afternoon with rain . The food and company was as warm as you could ever expect. We spoke of her family and friends. She was very happy that Maryna and the kids liked the US and I invited her and her family to visit anytime. To my delight she liked that idea and said she would be very happy to visit the US and see her niece and where we lived.
Maryna received a phone call Saturday morning . Aunt Anna had died Friday night. We have lost a good person that we all will miss. Ivan has lost the love of his life , Maryanna has lost her mother, our sweet Babushka has lost her sister and the world has lost one of the nicest people that I have ever met. God will be good to Anna because Anna was so good to the world and all the people around her.
I will leave you with the words Aunt Anna said to me as we were leaving. Patreek you say Maryna, I love you..

One Year Ago !!!

2006-11-19T13:47:00.000-05:00

Maryna and I were married. I am a very lucky man. I have a wife and family that love me and what's better is they let me love them back. I would never have thought that I could or would be so happy.

Here She Is !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-11-11T19:13:00.000-05:00

From Sports to Utility Again !!!!

2006-11-11T18:36:00.000-05:00

Remember the puppies ? Those two cute little black and red baby dogs we got a couple of months ago. One of them was going to my friend Dave to replace is long time pet Annie that had to be put down. The black male Jac was too stay with us.
Well, this is what happened. A church lady friend of Dave's had a 17 year old pet that also had to be put down. She was all broken up. This was the only family that she had. She was heart broken. Dave being Dave gave her his little red lady. He was still missing his Annie. Can you see where this is going? Now I have known Dave for 35 years. He and I were in the army together and are big pals. We have seen the best and worst of life together. Me being Me, was not going to let my pal Dave be without a pet to love and care for. Dave lost his wife Margaret a few years ago and he is just not ready for a new two legged lady. I gave him Jac.
Now this was not a big problem. Our Babygirl was making Jac's life pretty bad. He was so small that she liked to put baby clothes on him and well, he was not a happy little Jac. Maryna wanted a larger dog. So Me being Me got Maryna a larger dog. We now are the proud owner's of Kona. Kona is a black and tan Cocker. She is a 8 month old, not house trained and just a big pain in the ass. Maryna is happy, Babygirl is happy and all is well in El Casa Ranger.....
I just thought ya'll may want to know this . I will attempt to post photos of the old and new. I have no idea if it will work. Oh, I am going to go back to my old format. I liked it much better and it seemed to work pretty good.
I'll tell ya'll the same words that Kona's old mommy holding her sides laughing as we were leaving with an 8 month old not house trained puppy. Ya'll come back now , Yea hear.......

Devine Dissatifaction.

2006-11-05T16:29:00.000-05:00

I have no idea what is wrong with me. I have no idea what to post about. It seems that everything that I have tried to do has gone from Ice Cream to Dog Shit. Nothing has gone right. Has anyone noticed that food prices have gone up ? It seems that gas prices have come down and food has gone up.WTF is this? Does anyone know how to pull a baby tooth ? Babygirl has one of her front teeth very loose and my hands will not work, they are too big. See what I am talking about!! Have ya'll noticed that the same lame ass adds are on TV day after day. These people must think that we are stupid or just don't have a brain that works. The thing that makes me so crazy is these people get paid for doing this. They make me crazy and get paid for it, wow what a life.
Oh, Our AOS paperwork is being held up . They need more proof that we are a family and that I have a job. It seems that W-2 forms, marriage cert and pay stubs are not good enough. I can't wait until we have to go for the interview. I am going to turn Babygirl loose in the office. They can talk to her and find out if daddy is daddy and if mommy is mommy for real. We pay these people as well and get a lot of problems from them. I am through for the day. My brain hurts.
I'll leave now with the same words that the lady crushing our food at Cosco said to us as we were leaving yesterday after spending $154.52. Ya'll come back now , Yea hear

Here Kitty Kitty !!!

2006-10-31T19:55:00.000-05:00

Well another month gone. This is one long month and our Babygirl had a lovely time out Trick- or- Treating to end it. I have seen some candy given out in my years. Nothing like this year. Full big ass candy bars,these things cost a dollar in the stores. A fun time was had and I am sure she is looking forward to next year. As the old lady dumping candy in to the bags said to Babygirl as she was leaving. Ya'll come back now, Yea hear..

Found !!!

2006-10-20T20:37:00.000-04:00

Maryna's International Passport. Just when we were getting her and the kids AOS paperwork ready to send in it was missing. Our son Eugene got a pair of his pants out of the closet and the passport fell out of one of the pockets. Now the paperwork has been sent off and I sure hope all goes well. For some reason the US makes to so hard to stay if you do it right. I can understand why some people just say the hell with it and just forget the paperwork. I don't agree with it I just understand it.
Have ya'll noticed how long this month is ? I have never had slower months in all of my life. October just never ends.
I chatted with our pal Dawn last week. It was good to see her writing again. I hope she will return soon. Our pal Stephen had a good trip to Ukraina. Pal Cris is working and going to school. Has anyone seen Jenny ? Pea had a party and fell. Scott and Indica are doing well.
Tuesday I saw my pal and MD Sam Jones. I am ok and not eating right. I smoke too much and don't drink enough wine. It is strange that I collect wine and don't drink a lot of it. I took Sam a nice 1994 red and a few Cubans a damn fine combo to have a good evening with. This also helps to bribe your doctor with when you have to have the finger wave. Damn what a life.
I'll tell ya'll like Sam told me as I was limping away for his office Tuesday. Ya'll come back now, Yea hear...

And ???

2006-10-09T15:56:00.000-04:00

Ya'll thought I was just talking . I told that the little goofball would do something stupid. Now what will we do? I will say this one last time. He can't be allowed to get by with this. He can and will do it again. What is our own goofball in our country doing? Asking for sanctions. Goddamn sanctions. I will shut up .
Oh, has anyone ever heard of Anna Politkovskaya ? She was killed Saturday outside her house in Moscow Russia. She was a writer and a very good one. She wrote about bad things that happened to good people and the bad people that did these bad things. She is dead,she was 48 years old. Shot, killed for bringing the truth to people, and the world just keeps right on turning.When will some American Exc ask a Russian Exc. Mr Russian why was one of our citizens killed in her home. She was born in the United States NYC. Where is The Lone Ranger? Where is John Wayne and now Superman is gone.Our world has been shit on again. My heart is broken and all I can do is not like it. It is cold in our world and will get much colder.

I 'm not going to say !!

2006-10-05T20:55:00.000-04:00

I told you so. A couple of months ago I wrote a post about Lil Kim. He is the crazy man from North Korea. Their much loved leader and all around father figure is making noise again about testing a nuke. No problem he will set it off under ground he says.
These bombs work very well. All he has to do is ask some of his neighbors. They know from first hand experence how well they work and how much damage they do. They kill and make life pretty miserable for all around including their neighbors that catch all of the left over fall out.
I have no idea what else to say. This fool has got to go. Period got to go. Will someone please talk me out of doing something real crazy . Our pal Stephen has been to N.K. if remember right. Does anyone have his number in Ukraina ? Speaking of pal's. I miss our pal Dawn. She brought a lot of smiles to my face. I hope she is doing well.
Another thing that has my attention is the fact that a man from Ukraine has been fired from his job for speaking his native language. He has been told that he has to speak and fill out all of his reports is Russian. The milk company feels that not speaking Russian is bad for the company.This is a man that lives and works in Ukraine. He is a real deal Ukrainian.They fired his ass for speaking his language !!
This reminds me of a man named Boris Pasternak. Anyone remember that name. He wrote a book in the 1950s. The book was Dr.Zhivago. He won and had to turn down the Nobel Prize in 1958 because the Russians did not want it published. They thought it would degrade the Russian history and cause problems. He had to refuse the award. Beleive it. The Ukrainian man is taking them to court and asking a great sum of money. I think it converts to around $2,000.00 usd. If he looses I will take up donations to help him and his family. Hell two grand for some of us is nothing, for him it is life. The Russians are getting higher and higher on my list as well. They will mess up real soon, watch you will see. They have started some shit and will try to blame others.
The world has pissed me off real bad this week. I pity the poor fools that keep it up. I think I am having what our ladies call PMS. Men have FUMS,so I am fuming. It is just something we have to live with. Does anyone read this shit I write ? Man o man I have got to take my meds.
I will leave with the same words that my pal Pavil said as I was leaving Moscow beat and robbed a couple of years ago. Ya'll come back now, Yea Hear...

One long month.......

2006-10-01T13:46:00.000-04:00

The month of October is the longest month of the year IMHO. This is a month that never ends. Now as a rule I like the fall time of the year. The weather changes you get to wear warmer clothes, jackets and the world just seems a better place to be in.
We went to costco this morning and bought 15 items.The prize was a gallon of sour cream for Maryna and the kids. The total was $82.45. Not bad I thought. We then went to Wal-Mart bought 47 items and the total was $38.25. Even better I thought. Our favorate old check out guy Mr Lee was working the longer line so we went to a shorter line and it took double the time to get checked out with older Mrs slow lady. I just can't seem to get a break when it comes to check out lines.
Ok ! Time for NASCAR, I will leave with the words of Mr. Lee as we were leaving Wal-Mart. Ya'll come back now, Yea Hear.....

New York, New York !!

2006-09-23T15:08:00.000-04:00

&nb
When Maryna moved to the states there were three places she wanted to see. The ocean was one. Any ocean would do. Uzhgorod Ukraine is land locked so her and the children had never seen anything larger than a river. The fact that they flew over the Atlantic did not matter. It was dark, they were at 38,000 ft. So much for seeing the sights when all you can see are blinking lights on the wings.
Another thing or place she wanted to see was New York City. A couple of weeks ago our pals Larry and Iryina were going to the big city and ask Maryna if she wanted to go with them. Now this was something that took a lot of thought on her part.Hell Yes !!!! That said, it was a done deal and they were off for the weekend.
Daddy was baby setting three kids and mommy was in the City of New York. Here are some of the photos .. As the Indian waiter said to them as they were leaving the resturant. Ya'll come back now, Yea hear

Puppy Dawgs

2006-09-15T11:00:00.000-04:00

The Ranger Casa has added 2 new animals to it's family. Thanks to Babygirls big brother Scott and his lady Indica. My neices dog had seven babies and uncle Bubba just had to have a couple. Say hello to our sweet little red girl Sopie and our little black and tan bad boy Jac. Man this is fun..

Five Years Later..

2006-09-11T17:52:00.000-04:00

Today I was on the street . I was stopped and ask by a reporter if , I felt safer today than I did 5 years ago. I want to say this and I hope that it sounds ok. I am an American Man. I was raised and have lived most of my life in America. I have not and will never not feel safe in my country. I told this to the reporter lady and she seemed angry and wanted to rush away to another person.
How can a man be a man and be afraid to live in his country of birth? I was born here. I was raised here. I have family and friends here. Why and please tell me why me or anyone else would be afraid to live in the United States. I have continued to fly and travel around the USA and the world. I have not let actions of others make me change my life or how I feel about life.
I spoke out to this lady. Hey reporter lady, why have you left your country? She tried to ignore me so I ask again. Hey reporter lady, why did you leave your country? Sir, this is not about me, it is about the adverage American. It may be however you were not born here, why did you leave your country ? Sir I am an American !! Ok, you may be however you were not born here. Do you feel safer here than you did in your country ? If so,I am happy for you if not, leave us adverage Americans who are not afraid to enjoy life and live in our country the fuck alone. I said this to the reporter lady and her camera man. They wanted to leave the area real quick. They had a getting pissed off redneck on their hands and had no idea what to do.
I get home tonight , turn on the TV and what do I hear? Do you feel safer today than you did 5 years ago ? I change the station. Guess what ? Do you feel safer today than you did 5 years ago? These people say this with a very serious look on their faces. I want to smack the words back in their mouths. I am not asking for any discussions. These are my thoughts and feelings. Good , bad or whatever, you are reading how I feel. Why can't one of these candy assed pretty boy reporters say to the American public watching them on tv , I am an American and I am not afraid to live in my country.
I will be quiet now. I'll tell ya'll the same thing that I told the reporter lady today as she was leaving. Ya'll come back now , yea hear.

Dinner At The Rangers

2006-09-10T21:47:00.000-04:00

My son Scott was here for the weekend.Anytime he comes in it is a real treat for everyone. Babygirl gets her laptop fixed and gets to go swimming with her big brother. Gino gets to spend time with his big brother. Dad gets his new wireless system installed. Maryna is happy that all the family is together.
Tonight we had dinner with Scott, his mother Liz and her long time friend and all around great guy Simon. Maryna cooked a great meal along with Ukranian Vodka as you can see by the photos a great time was had by all. I would try to explain however I will let ya'll figure them out. I'll tell leave with Maryna's words to Scott, Liz and Simon as they were leaving the house tonight. Ya'll come back now, Yea hear.

Can Ya'll Say School ?

2006-09-05T19:13:00.000-04:00

Today was the first day of school. Babygirl was all dressed up and ready to go at 7.00am. She was a very happy young lady and had no fear at all. She said she is looking forward to going back. Mom was happy and yes I did see a tear or two.

Mr. Mom

2006-09-04T13:40:00.000-04:00

I have been with the kids now for 2 days. Maryna went to NYC with our friends Larry and Iryna. I had no idea how hard this would be until now.Babygirl is being just that. A baby. Nothing is right, nothing is quick enough and she sees me as a form of amusement for a couple of days.
It is a bit different from coming home from work and being daddy. Mommy is here and I don't get to see the fun she has to endure while I am not here.
Mommies you have my respect. God bless you. You have earned it.
I will leave you with Marynas laughing words yesterday as we were leaving Baltimore. Ya'll come back now. Yea hear.

Dentist, Yuck

2006-08-29T19:23:00.000-04:00

Today Babygirl and I went to the dentist today. I was ask before the she came in not to even say the S word.This is a hard thing not to say when you are ask point blank, daddy will I have to get a shot? Say what! Where did you hear that word honey? Oh Eugene said I would have to get a shot in the mouth. Not a good thing to tell your baby sister when she has never been to a dentist, forget about a shot in the mouth.
Daddy being the daddy he is, told her that she should not worry about this that shots were not as bad as she may think and that the shot would make her feel better when she was in the chair.
I go in first and get my teeth cleaned. She goes in sets down and tells Dr Chris , no shots please. Now this is not what a dentist wants to hear out of a five year olds mouth before he says hello. He takes xrays , tells us what the problem is and refers her to a dentist that works with kids. This was all before noon.
Today is not a good day for me. My son died 3 years ago on this date and it is sure hard to get through. I think to myself it is not a day I like to think about, however I always think of it on this day. I know it makes no sense. My head hurts, my mouth hurts and my soul hurts.
As Dr. Chris said to us today as we were leaving his office. Ya'll come back now, Yea hear.

I Stand Corrected !!

2006-08-23T21:13:00.001-04:00

I still have a toothache. The Hydro what ever I am taking makes me real stupid. Not that I all that smart on a normal day. I spelled Cris and Jenny wrong. I am very sorry for that. Cris was not in Spain, she however still had a good time. Last but not least. Maryna is upset about her passport missing and guess who she thinks had something to do with it? Why is it that we always turn on the ones that love us the most. I'll never understand these thoughts.
I don't know if ya'll will want to come back at all. This just keeps getting worse.Now I have learned that my favorate show in the whole world is not coming back next year. Damn, can't a redneck ever get a break ?

My Brain Hurts..

2006-08-22T19:04:00.000-04:00

Today I have a brain drain, I also have a toothache. Last week I went to my dentist. I had a cracked tooth and it had to be fixed. Hell it had to be rebuilt. He told me that I should know if it was ok in a few days. Well it is not ok. I have been taking pain meds for a few days now and I don't like taking any meds that make me feel strange. These do . It is called Hydrocodone. The warning says "This Medication May Cause Dizziness" Well no shit. I like this one " Do Not Drink Alcoholic Beverages" No shit number two. Oh it gets better. "If This Medication Hurts Your Stomach, Take It With Crackers Or Bread" . Damn three strikes and you should be out. Not this stuff. There is more. They just love for you to take this stuff and tell you in writing how to make it better.
I have a idea that tomorrow I will go and say Dentist Pull It..This will make 3 teeth I have lost this year. Damn it is hell to get old.
I have a larger problem now. Some one has taken or we have lost Maryna's International Passport and all of their papers. The I-90's and everything. So this is going to be fun to get it replaced. Wish us luck, we will need it.
Our pal Limey or Stephen is back that is good. He and Twirl are still together that is better. I hope all goes well with them and he has a good holiday when he gets to go. Dawn is on holiday and having a good time I hope. Pea is happy with her new kitties. Ginny is working her new job and she does not like it. Karen is back in NYC and seems to love life again. King is being King, e is e and not writing much. Chris is back from Spain , it seems she had a good time. Me , I am sitting here with a toothache high on dope and telling you things you know already.
I will leave you with the words that my sister Beth had for me when we were leaving NC. Ya'll come back now, Yea hear..

2006-08-14T19:47:00.000-04:00

Valeri Meladze & Via-gra - Pritazhen'ya Bolshe Net

Here is Valeri Meladze and Via-Gra. The girls have had to change their group name. It seems a certin drug company got upset because the people called them Viraga. It seems like they would have liked it. The drug company scared the poor little Ukrainian girls into changing their name.

2006-08-14T19:38:00.000-04:00

Valeriy Meladze - Bez Sueti

Mr. Manly is at it again. This is one great singer. I would travel to the west coast to see this guy. Damn for some reason I like Russian music.

From Sports To Family....

2006-08-11T20:14:00.000-04:00

For many years I have driven sports cars. My last toy was a Monte Carlo SS. I had a real good time with it and it was a very good power car. The good things about it I had to forget. The bad thing about it is that it is not a family car.
I got us a new car last week. We now have a 2006 Chevy Trail Blazer LS. It has all the things that a family needs. I do have a real fondness for the color grey, so we stuck with it. It does have one bad habbit. It likes gas, as a matter of fact it loves gas to the tune of about 16 miles per gallon. I went from a $40.00 fill up to a $70.00 fill up. Damn aint life grand.
I will tell you the same thing that Hugo said to me today as I was leaving the gas station. Ya'll come back now, yea hear..

The Old Grey Mares..

2006-08-03T20:34:00.000-04:00

Are coming back. The IDF has asked the older men and women of the Israel Defense Forces to come back and talk to the younger force members.
Does anyone remember when the IDF was the most feared force in the world ? These men and women took no trash from anyone . They did what they had to do to keep their country and land. Now that the younger men and women are in charge it seems like it has gone from Ice cream to Dog Shit. The younger IDF is ok if you don't have to get nasty and guerrilla on their asses. The younger people just don't have the heart for it. It takes a lot of heart and a strong mind to do what has to be done to others before it is done to you. The other guys have what it takes and prove it everyday. The will strap on a bomb and blow your ass up in a heart beat. They will take a live person and rip them apart without a second thought. They can and will do what has to be done to make life as bad for you as they can.
No one likes this kind of war. It is called Guerrilla warfare. It is the last thing you would wish on your worst enemy. If you think of the person or the people that you dislike in this world you would not want them to go through this.
Conventional wars like some in the past are won on the battlefield. When one Army can't stop another on the field of battle the war is over and the advancing Army wins. This is where it gets crazy. The war is over people are happy and everyone goes home to see family and friends. The winning Army leaves behind a small force , just to look after things, hey things have to be run right. The conventional war is over. The guerrilla war begins when the locals Army is defeated. The whole point is to kill and destroy as many of your guest as you can. You do this in as many ways as you can. Civilians, women,children,old people and the occupier pay a heavy price . This is what happened to the French in Algeria,the Israelis in South Lebanon and us in Vietnam. The whole idea is to make the bad guys as sick of you and having their people killed that they will just go home.Both sides have to kill, torture and terrorize as many local people as they can. The local people have to out crazy the occupier. The sick part is the crazier people win.The local people care more about their country than the other guys do so they leave. You put your flag back up and go about your business living your life and loving what is left of your family. This is the part that you don't want to tell your grandkids about. It is bad. It is nasty and it is done everyday.
I can go in to more detail, however I will not . Some of my pals here already think I am a war lover and crazy. For me to go on would only make them think I was crazier. Like I read on my pal Dawns blog this all comes down to land. Not religion, not one nation not liking another . Land. Land, Land that is the key to it all.
I will leave you with the words of a tall guy named Osama as I was leaving Dubi in the 1970s. Ya'll come back now, yea hear...Oh , by the way Patrick, send Cooper Anderson over here, we want to have a talk with that candy assed behind the lines , lying, pretty boy son of a dog. Please..

Photo's.......

2006-07-27T21:48:00.000-04:00

Why I can't stay fat forever.

FAT !!!!

2006-07-27T20:56:00.000-04:00

In 1998 I weighed 303 lbs. I said to myself one day.Self,this is crazy. You are fat out of shape and ugly to boot. I went from 303 lbs to 205 lbs. I lost weight like it was going out of style. No drugs, no diet just stopped eating, started drinking, smoking and staying out late every night.
I had stopped smoking in 1987. I had not touched a cigarette in 11 years. I always wanted to smoke I just stopped . I had not had a drink in 10 years. I have never missed drinking. Smoking was my down fall. I wanted one everyday. I would sit and dream about smoking. I would hang out with people that smoked. It was a very hard 11 years. I was a cigarette junkie that had control over my weakness.
Back to the weight loss. Too much too quick. I have always hung out with a nice crowd of classy people when I hung out . Doctors, educators and just real good people. I have 2 good pals that are MDs. We use to ride our Harleys and just have real good times. Both pals told me , pal you are nuts. You can't keep on loosing weight and keep your body and mind right. I would listen and then act right. One pal was very worried about my health. I respect him and did listen. I gained weight and was in better shape. I got up to 235 lbs and that was a real good weight for my height. I was 6'3" at the time. I stayed at 235 for 5 years. Now guess what ? I stood on the scales Saturday and the numbers smacked me upside the head. Two Hundred Fifty One Pounds. That's 251 friggin pounds. WTF is this ? I can feel the fat just jumping all over my red necked ass and I just want to crawl in a hole. I have got to do something and get some of this weight back off. I could start dancing again. I could not eat junk food. I could and should start walking and running again. I wonder what I would look like now if I had not been in such good shape for so many years in the military.
So now , I am going bald, blind, deaf and getting fat again and don't forget. I have a 14 year old son and a 5 year old daughter. On top of that I have a 33 year old Smokin Hot Druzhyna to look out and provide for. Damn what's a fat man to do.
As my 300 lb beautiful sister Lynn said to us as we were leaving North Carolina, Ya'll come back now, yea hear..

North Korea..

2006-07-21T19:22:00.000-04:00

These are without a doubt the craziest people that God has created and allowed to breed. Big North Koreans breed and grow crazier little North Koreans.
I think I might be one of the few Americans that are still in a state of shock that the missle pad in Nodong, yes that is the name No Dong, is not blown to hell. North Korea has a habbit of spitting in our faces. The bitch slap us every chance they get and No Dong is what our people show toward them. Oh !! I know.. It is the President and his people that do it to us, not the real people, so we have to show restraint. Well that is a lot of peace lovers shit. I am a peace loving man. I have always been, even when being shot at, I would say man o man, when will this shit end. Well if you don't shoot back it will never end. I have proof of this , I really do. Dont get me started, I will make myself crazy and hurt a lot of feelings.
Another thing that I have been told is, well don't worry it is just Kim acting crazy to get more aid. Well I do worry and Kim is crazy. It is not a act, he is a 100% crazy man. His daddy was even crazier, he was just kept busy kidnapping women to play with and watching porn. They have agents that are all over the world and they are real deal agents. I think that they even have a terrorist school and teach crazy to people. You can't take any of them alive because they have and use the poison pills that all agents have and few use. Not these guys. When cought they eat them like candy and no info is gathered from dead agents.
I lived in Korea for some years. The South Koreans are very nice people, oh they have their moments, however they are a pretty nice group of people. North Korea wants them along with all of China real dead real bad. They may despise China a little more than they do the USA. That is a tough call. Japan is a close third.
Now back the the real bad guys. They make no attempt to hide the fact that they are starting to test fire missles. These are not small missles. They are ICBMs. They have made made comments that they will point and fire them at America. They have no problem with doing just that. Well don't worry the last one only flew for 55 seconds. Well shit people they program them to fly for as long as they want them to fly. That is how you get the flight paths correct. These missles are the size of a battle tank. When they reach the set speed and I think that is about 18,000, thats right Eighteen Thousand miles per hour. How do you stop it ? You don't !! Big brother will not tell you that. Star Wars program ? Nope, not ready yet and will not be for another 10 years. Take my word for this. I know of what I speak. A intercept missle ? ICBMs laugh at them. Our great gov contractors are not even close yet. We pay these sorry assed people to make a missle to protect us and they can't. Oh, pay me this month . I will fuck you out of your money and here take this little missle that cost 2.5 million dollars and please don't use it because it is not working right and may blow you ass up when you fire it. We have fired 25 or 30 of these things and not a direct hit yet. Cash $$$$$$ more cash and nada, zip , zero.. Kim knows this and beleive me he and his people can and will push that button when the time is right.
Have you younger people ever heard of the USS Pueblo ? A little ship that the US Navy sent sailing off the North Korean coast in 1968. It was a high-tech Navy Intel ship that was fired on , boarded and taken to Pyongyang. One killed and 83 or so taken, tortured and kept in a prison for a year. What did our President do ? Guess !! Nada , our poor boys and nothing was done. 83 people in a North Korean prison eating shit and we did nothing . No Dong again. It gets worse. In 1969 the crazies shot down a US-121 aircraft,31 people dead. Did you read about it ? Do I have to say it? At the time people said well we can't piss of Russia that could lead to a real war. Well guess what. North Korea don't like Russia either. The only reason they don't fuck with Russia, is because Russia is closer and can and will fuck back. Lil Kim knows this and keeps his distance. Same with China, they will kick his ass and he knows it. Let's fuck with the USA, more food and money until we get these ICBMs going and then we will see how bad they really are. Remember the 50s. We made the American POWs eat dirt and killed them just for fun. Man o man happy days are comming again and they will do nothing about it..
Japan is not too pleased. The Korth Koreans have a hard on for them as well and the missles have to cross Japan to get to us. That makes you sleep well at night. I have always wondered why the Japanese drink so much and have bad attitudes at times. I don't blame them, I am getting one too.
I have lot's more to tell you that will have to wait. I will leave you with the famous words of my pal Long Dong Jong. Ya'll come back now , yea hear

$248.50

2006-07-12T19:23:00.000-04:00

To have my computer fixed. Can you believe it ? Twohundredfortyeightdollarsandfiftycents.You may ask what I got for this amount of money . Well I did get a memory upgrade to one gig. The rest of it was to fix what I had really messed up and had no idea how to fix myself. Oh some was used to remove Russian spyware, I can understand that. Six pages of printed junk and I have a super duper fast ass computer.
Fist fights broke out today in the Ukrainian Rada , that is their Senate or Congress. The new guys just don't play well with the real elected guys. Yosh had better get his stuff together and have his people kick some ass and get that place straight. It is hot and I don't want to have to go back there for a few months, well at least until it cools down where you can breathe without sweating. It reminds me of Cuba, in 5 years there I would be wet just walking out of the casa to catch a taxi.
I thought as many did that Yula could get in and make things right. I think that she is too busy now doing other things. Damn what a waste of talent and brains. The rich get richer and the real people still have pot holes to avoid when they drive or walk. We were all fooled and lead to believe that the people would be heard and things would change for the better. What a pity. Piss poor water,bad roads, bad sidewalks, bad power and forget A/C. The buildings that have it waste it and the others don't really care if they have it or not.The people deserve more and should demand more from their elected leaders. Sour Cream and Mayonase on ice cream and hotdogs. What a life.
As my sister Andrinna said to me as I was leaving Uzhgorod.Ya'll come back now, Yea hear..

What In The Blue Hell !!

2006-07-08T17:27:00.000-04:00

Is going on in Ukraina ? People you had better wake up and understand what is going on. In Sep of 2004 you had something wonderful happen. You won your freedom. You got rid of your watchdogs and became a nation of free people and free speech. In Nov of the same year you agreed on a new man to lead you and all looked very good. Now what have you let happen to your country?
Some may say, what do you care. Oh I care because I have a home in Ukraina. I have a wife and children from Ukraina. We have family that still lives in Ukraina. We have friends that live in Ukraina. Yes, I am an American. I was born and raised in freedom and I would not stand still for one moment if there was a threat of it being taken away by a bunch of clowns that could not make a decision to unite.
There is a man named Moroz. He is the leader of the Socialist Party. He is not a good man. He is a user and a slime bag.Please treat him like one. Someone go drag his ass outside and stomp him. Beat him so bad that he will not want to show his face to his friends and family, much less the outside world. Expose him for the phony dog he is.You voted in office who you wanted to lead you, he is a traitor to his own party and he still comes in and wants to disrupt what you have fought so hard for. I have a few other people I can name. I don't need to,you know who they are. Treat them as they want to treat you. You had better do it quick. You have a neighbor that would love to send his people in to help you out. He may even lower the price on the gas he sells you. Man o man what a deal, I can see it now, old friends back together. Ok Yush, I need to get back. The face sure is looking better. We will find those bastards , I promise you that. Have you seen Yula around ? Be sure to tell her we still need to talk. I will send a plane to pick her up. Make sure you say hi to Kathy for me. When was the last time she was in Chicago ? Man I sure liked that speech she gave when you visited the US. Oh by the way, the General will stick around and provide input on a few things. You don't mind do you ? Hell of a guy, he won't be in the way. He has really helped me out . I am sure he can do the same for you. Look at all the help that they have provided our pals in the west. Man who would have ever guessed that they would have come around to thinking our way. Talk to George next month when he is in the city for the summit. He and Dick love those guys. That stuff with your son his bodyguard and the bullets, hey man shit happens don't worry about it. People forget and forgive, plus what they don't know don't hurt them a bit. Hell we are sending troops to Iraq to take care of the guys that killed 4 of our people and you are the first to know. Damn I need to get back to Moscow. Keep this between us if you will please. Too much to soon makes them crazy and they start asking questions.
I was there with you in 2004 and 2006. I saw the joy on your faces. I heard the pride in your voices as you sang. I held my wife as she cried along with our family and friends. Their tears and feelings were for real and still are. Was it all for nothing? Only time and your actions will tell.
In the words of my brother Sergey as I was leaving Uzhgorod a couple of months ago. Ya'll come back now,Yea hear.

Home Sweet Home !!

2006-07-03T16:57:00.000-04:00

After a 8 hour drive that on any other weekend would have taken 4.5 hours, we arrived in North Carolina to visit my family. It was a grand time and I would love to share photos if this site's photo section would ever start working again .
We had many people there and little brother was the guest of honor after being absent for almost 6 years. Hotdogs , hamburgers,roasted corn, salad both potato and leaf and all kind of drinks.
Everyone was nice and all the love we had for each other was in full force. It was good to see my brother and his lady is a very nice person as well. Babygirl got to swim and the weekend was capped off by her getting to ride a horse for the first time, she even seemed to like it. My sisters husband Gary, just out of the hospital from a bike wreck was out in his wheel chair and having fun with us. Heat !! The heat was very bad and seemed to get worse as the day ended. There is a cloud of heat that has come in and will stay for a few days.
I'll tell ya'll the same thing my sister told us yesterday as we were leaving. Ya'll come back now yea hear..

Let's Go Racing Folks !!!

2006-06-28T21:17:00.000-04:00

Outside of going to a race in Richmond Saturday, my computer not working and having floods in the area, not a lot has been going on. My teams have advanced in the world cup and I am happy about that. Aunt Liza is moving to New York Saturday.We are going to see my family in North Carolina this weekend . Eat BBQ and have a cook out with my sister and family. Scott will fix all of the computers, babygirl will have her laptop back, she will be happy. I will see my brother for the first time in six years and that should be a good time. Time sure does fly when you are having fun. I have tried to post photos from the race and that is not working. I have a big customer that is very angry with me and life in general this week just sucks. More later
Ya'll come back now, yea hear..

New Hotel's in Uzhgorod.

2006-06-19T21:09:00.000-04:00

These hotels are in the city. They are in the 3 million dollar range and took almost 2 years to build. The newest one is top of the line with all the goodies that come with it. The rooms start at over $100.00 per night and go up from there.

Ring, Ring !!!

2006-06-19T20:16:00.000-04:00

Hello. Hey pal, how are you doing ? Fine thank you and you ? I am fine, thanks for asking. A friend from Florida calling. I have a question for you. Ok, I have an answer for you. It is true you have bought a mountain with a castle on it in Europe. Yes, that is true, I have found a mountain and have put in a bid on it. Why do you ask? Well I have a business partner here in Florida and we are very interested in buying land in Europe to start a business, hotels to be exact. We are starting a new company and we need to get in the European network from the ground up. Can you help us? I will have our lawyer get in contact with you. You and her can work out the paperwork, we want you to work with us on this project..
Tonight I get a phone call from AZ. Hello Patrick , this is Susan so&so. My law office is so&so and I got a phone call from your friend and partner in Florida. We need to get some numbers from you so we can put things together and get started on this venture. May I send you a ticket and get you to AZ by the weekend ?
It seems that word travels fast. All I wanted to do was buy some land, have a small business,grow grapes and make some wine. I think there is more to this than I am aware of. Crazy Suka is not returning my calls. I have been ask by 2 people in the past 3 days about my land. I received a email from a friend in another country today asking about the same land deal.I get a email from a lawyer friend in Ukraina asking if he can be of any help. Can someone please tell me what in the blue hell is going on. I think I have bought some land in Ukraina and the word has got out that the crazy American is moving in.
Ya'll come back now, yea hear.

Daddy Why

2006-06-12T21:43:00.000-04:00

Are people fighting ? Humm, fighting where baby girl ? On tv daddy. Honey there is a war going on and that's what people do when the go to war. Why are we at war daddy ? Because some bad people did some bad things to good people and many innocent people got killed and hurt. Now this is coming from a 5 year old. Were you in a war daddy ? She has seen my Army photos and is a very smart baby girl. Yes honey I have been in a war. Tell me about it daddy. Please. What in the blue hell does one say when ask that by his 5 year old daughter?
Does he say , well darlin it all started back in 1978 when some crazes stole over 400 American citizens and we allowed them to get away with it. Then in 1983 they blew up and killed people in a US Embassy in Beirut Lebanon, or it gets better later in 1983 when they blew up and killed people in the US Marine Barracks in the same city. Now sweetie lets not forget the 1988 bombing of the Scotland Pan Am flight to New York. That was a good one for them. Woah baby girl I had forgotten about the 1st World Trade center bombing in 1993 that went over real good. Anything done about it , nope nadda..They just kept bombing buildings, ships. Then in September of 2001 they went all out and flew airplanes into the World Trade Center again and then for good measure they flew a plane into the Pentagon just a few miles from here and killed more people and one of them was our next door neighbor. This time they went too far and the people had all they were going to take. Do I say that from 1978 until now that over 7000 that's seven thousand people have been killed by terrorist attacks worldwide. Baby girl listen to this, Presidents Carter,Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton and Bush 2 Did nothing. Can you believe this. Not a party in power did a thing until the people took all they would take and demanded that they be safe in their country.
This will have to be finished later. Daddy is getting very sleepy.
Ya'll come back,yea hear, there will be more.. Daddy is very pissed off.

Commercials On TV.

2006-06-09T20:33:00.000-04:00

The new ones make me want to throw the TV through a window. I have only thrown one out in my life. I picked it up and threw it out the back window. I not only lost a lot of money, my TV and window were broken. I have often wanted to do it again.
The urge to do it again just hit me. I am minding my own business, having nice thoughts and then wham out of the clear blue sky it hit me again. As a rule I ignore commercials. The new "what is your wallet" commercial came on. This Angel watching over a nice lady let's her get hit by a truck,burnt in a tanning booth and other nasty ass stuff. When she goes to pay for something using cash, he jumps in and tells her to use her credit card. This is a fat, sloppy, nasty ass, shave needing, bad breath fucking prick. Now don't get me wrong. I like Angels, I always have . I have a couple here in the house with me. However this prick has pissed me off. So please if any of you see this dirty winged ,nasty assed prick around tell him his time on this earth is limited. He has made his last shrug when something goes wrong and people get hurt. I got his number and can and will kick his fat, sloppy,shave needing,bad breathed,nasty winged candy ass. Here are a couple of my Angels.
Ya'll come back now yea hear.

A Sunday Well Spent..

2006-06-07T21:36:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday we had a real good outdoor party. We had 9 couples from our Capital Couples Club get together for a small party. A great time was had by all and we welcome Maryna Aunt Liza to our family. She arrived last Friday with new green card in hand and she was welcome with open arms.
I am trying to get some of these ladies to smile. They need to have a better time and be happier. When you look at them they look very happy, taking a photo they seem to just look , well blah, I will have to change this . Maybe when I get my Castle up and working that will change, I am planning a grand party for all of my pals when it is open. Get your passports ready, we is goin to have a party.I will call it a Redneck BBQ and all of my pals are invited. If you have any Tattoos show them. Light them if you got them ! Ya'll come back now , Yea hear...

My Blue Heaven

2006-06-02T20:18:00.000-04:00

My Castle.

2006-06-02T18:11:00.000-04:00

In Sep of 2004 I was riding with my brother Sergey outside Uzhgorod Ukraina in a small town called Nevytske . The town is very small and well, just great. While drinking a Stella , I happen to look to my right and saw it. I was not sure what it was to begin with. I have a nose for strange things and this is the best ever. After driving as far as we could drive up a mountain, we started walking. I should say climbing. At the time I was just out of the hospital due to a motorcycle wreck, 4 broken ribs, beat all to hell and I just plain old hurt. With the pain pills, vodka and stellas I was able to get around.
At the top of the mountain I saw it. Big and beautiful, in ruins however magic to my eyes. My castle. I was there and in great spirits. I was in the center of a former Kings house. It was mine now, all mine. My mind and spirit flashed back and I was there. I was the protector of the Queen and all the people of the land.
There is even a bath and toilet in the place. A tower for my knights and rooms for all of my virgins who the knights had to fight to get to. Mothers sent me their daughters to protect. No problem mothers, they are safe and will not be harmed. My queen keeps me happy and my brave nasty assed knights will keep the locals away so they are in good hands. The only hitch is if they defend your daughters good name you may have to call them My Lord because they can marry her and you will have a noble in the family. Now don't get me wrong , you are not a noble. Your daughter, her children and her knight are, we have to have that straight. Know your place and role in life. I still want my potatoes, cabbage and wine.
You can see the country of Slovakia in the far mountains. You can see the rebuilt village at the foot of the mountain. You can also reach out and try to touch heaven, I did and it did my soul a world of good.
More later. Ya'll come back now , yea hear..

Just Words...

2006-05-29T16:26:00.000-04:00

They say that words make the world go around. Words can paint a beautiful picture when spoken in the right way. Words can make the truth known. Words can make a deaf person hear and a blind person see. Words can also hurt if not spoken or written correctly. We all use them, some better than others. We all understand most of them, however there are many that we don't understand.
On a couple of blogs in the past few days some words have been written that have hurt and informed some people about a person that many of us know and respect. A persons private life is just that. Private. As in belonging to that person and not to be made public and or shared. Many people are hurt and a couple may feel good about what was written and enjoyed seeing the fall out that it has caused. I for one am not. We all have private lives, I say lets keep the private part of it just that, Private. I will shut up now. Ya'll come back now, yea hear.

Streets & Critters

2006-05-19T21:21:00.000-04:00

As you can see the roads are not made for a wild assed,Tattooed Harley driver.These kind of roads beat the hell out of a chromed out road machine. The rooster in the photo is a very Manly bird. This bird was guarding ever inch of his land. He looked at me and kind of said get the hell out of my area. Me being a Manly Man at first wanted to fight to show him who had the bigger set of balls. I took a quick look around and saw all of his hens and figured that he had proven that already. I gave him the finger and left his area. It would have been a hell of a fight, I think I could have taken him. See the mountain in the photo. It is a nice mountain and would have made a real good place to build and live. It is a big mountain and even has it's own fresh water springs. Cold mountain water, clean, fresh and did I say very cold. I'll be back later. Ya'll come back now yea hear.

American Writing.....

2006-05-19T19:32:00.000-04:00

Our pal Dawn said that I have had some crazy writing on my blog for the last 10 days. Yes !! It is Ukrainian writing . It is the name of the club and restaurant that I was writing about. That was my idea and Maryna wrote it for me. It seems that our brain stops working when it comes to language after we hit 40 . We don't hear the words right and when we try to speak it just comes out wrong. That is my story and I am sticking to it.
We have found out the real reason for the delay on our house. The builder has family members who help him out and they don't want a foreign buyer owning that much land in what they call their village. It seems that when a western person moves in they like to buy everything around them and control things. WTF is this. All I wanted to do was buy a nice house with land and live a good life with my family my grapes a few goats and a horse or two. When I saw the roads that lead into the place I forgot about riding my Harley up and down the streets, I will post photos and you will see why.
Now for the real news. When I was in Ukraina last month I looked at some land to buy for building a resort and shops. I found one section that I fell in love with and made an offer on it. This was done without anyone's knowledge "guess who's" and I thought it was ours. I thought it so much that I was already making plans for stocking the shelves in Maryna's shop that she wants to own and operate. Along with mayonnaise and sour cream there will be nice perfumes and other goodies that people of means will want to buy. The broker that I am using I will call Crazy Suka. Suka is a slang term for Sobaka. That is a female dog. So we all know now what it means. I made a real good hard offer on the land. I was told by crazy suka no problem Peter it is yours. I promise it is yours. All is fine in my world. Money is in the bank along with plenty for building and the bribes that go along with being a western person building a business in Ukraina..
Monday morning my cell phone rings. I look at the number and see 044 658 and so on. Great I say to myself. Crazy Suka, Hello Peter and how are you ? Peter, I am fine thank you for asking. I hope all is well with you. Crazy Suka , Peter we have a situation that needs your attention and I need some guidance on. Peter, ok tell me and we will take care of the situation. Crazy Suka, Peter they have raised the selling price on the land. Peter, I thought I had bought the land and that it was a real deal.Crazy Suka, Peter they have changed their mind and the land is now $60,000 more money. Peter, Ok I will pay the $60,000 more. Tell me please that we own the land. Crazy Suka , Peter I will call you back in one hour, we own the land , there will be no more problems.
One hour,no call. Two hours,no ringy dingy. Three hours, all is quiet. Four hours,WTF. I am watching the clock and the hours are passing by with no phone calls coming in. I know how to make a phone call and will make one . I will call anyone at anytime and even speak to them. I know if I can so can others.
Peter, calling 011 044 658 and so on. Crazy Suka, hello Peter what can I do for you ? Peter, say fuckin what!!! I have been waiting on your phone call for seven hours, whatz up ? Crazy Suka, Peter I have another person that is making me crazy about this land. Peter, WTF! What and who is this person that is making me crazy as well ? Crazy Suka, Peter I represent more than one buyer. A cold chill ran through Peters body and soul. I just closed my eyes and waited to die.
More to come later. Ya'll come back now, yea hear.

" Деца у Нотаря "

2006-05-08T20:15:00.000-04:00

"100 Shots Of Vodka At Notarya's House" is the name of the place I think. Well that is as close as I can get. I have been in bars all over the world and this is by far the best I have ever been in. I thought that the Club Monsarat in La Habana Cuba and the Bulldog Saloon in Amsterdam were the best until Sergey took me to this place in Uzhgorod Ukraine.
It has by far the best food, coldest beer and vodka that money can buy. Live music , live wait staff and the wildest ass people that I have ever seen or been around. There are two kinds of people there, drunk people and people getting drunk. I mean funny,have a good time and laugh your ass off drunk. Not sloppy ass fighting and showing your ass mean drunk. One lady wanted to fight her sister , they threw her out and let her sister stay. These are good people and a good place. The prices are right and the photos on the wall say a lot about the place. The only thing missing was Maryna. Just her being there would have made it a night to remember for always. I am posting some photos . I hope you like them. Ya'll come back now, yea hear.

Sales, Rebates and Other Things..

2006-05-03T19:41:00.000-04:00

This may sound crazy to some. They should find the person who came up with product sales and beat them. I got one of many sales adds today and they all said what a good deal I could get this week because they are having a sale. Well one said all month, however there is a trick to it. The sales are in the form of a rebate. I bought something last weekend it had a $20.00 rebate to it. I got the form and tonight was filling it out . The rebate date has passed. That's right passed. The final date was 1-May-2006. WTF is this ?
I for one am tired of getting sales papers and the sale is a sorry assed rebate. This is a bit much for me to process. I have filled out rebate forms and never got back a rebate. Tonight is my last rebate form filling out. If is ain't instant I ain't buying it. I will get just nasty red necked on their asses and tell them my name is Johnny Paycheck. Ok I am through, here I am telling them off for something that I wanted to buy. My brain hurts, I am not making a lick of sense and even I know it.
I am sorry that I have not written any post or comments of late. My pals that read this blog know that I care for them and read there blogs everyday. Our pal Limey is working his ass off, Pea is sick. Jenny is wanting to return to the US, King is finding castles.Dawn is chilling out for a change and e is e. Where the hell is Cookie ? Our poet has some great photo's on her blog.Neekas daughter Marta is 5 months old and getting more beautiful everyday. Twirl's new blog is great and Maryna met some of the local Russian Mafia today at our area wal-mart. Thats all folks. Ya'll come back now , ya hear.

Ain't It Purdy !!

2006-04-25T19:01:00.000-04:00

I have just recived a new toy via the Big Brown Truck. Now if I only figure out how to use it I would be in good shape. Dell had a sale last week that I could not pass up. I will invite Scott in later and let him deal with it. I figured that if our pals Limey, Pea and Jenny got a new one I could too. Ya'll have a good day now, ye hear..

My Family and Pal's......

2006-04-13T17:14:00.000-04:00

These are some of the photos that were made of the good times and good people. I have many more some I will post later. For some reason I can't get site to load some of the photos and it has me pissed off. Later Ya'll
Photo # 1. Kate and Andre. These are two beautiful people.They are both educated to the max with PHD's on the wall. For fun they ride bikes 75 to 100 miles a weekend.
Photo # 2. My pal & Maryna's uncle. He is a farmer and a builder. He makes things with his hands. I mean he makes real good things. I am proud to call him family.
Photo # 3. Family and friends. They don't come any better. When god made them he broke the mold. I am a very lucky man and prayers are said for them everyday.
Photo # 4. Me and my brother Sergey. This is one of the best bars that I have ever been in. Great food and great drinks. At this time we were holding each other up after many vodka shots and a few beers. Damn what a life.
More to come.........

More Of The Trip.......

2006-04-12T20:04:00.000-04:00

When we arrived at Norek and Natasha's house a real meal and a very upset and worried Natasha was waiting. After 10 hours of driving and being lost it was a real pleasure to see our town and family. Not 10 minutes after we got in the house Maryna called and wanted to know why I was late and had everyone worried. I told her about the wait at the border, the drunk customs officer and the lost bag. What ? Who bag is lost? The bag that had all of the gifts and most of my clothes in it.. Oh no honey, how you did loose it ? I not loose it , the airline did. Not good , not good at all. Have any of you ever had to explain how and why a bag was lost and the paper work you had to do to trace it back to where you were. No problem sweet, when the bag gets to Budapest they will bring it to me. It did arrive 2 days later with all but two things in it.The bag was torn and beat up, however it did arrive, tape and all.
Babushka is fine and looking great. For a woman who can't speak or hear and a man that can't speak the language we had no problems at all. As a matter of fact the only problem that I had was trying to get some dental work done. Not enough time I was told, not by 1 dentist but by 2. One said he could do it however it would cost double or triple because of the time it took to make the bridge. I have had a lot of work done in Ukraine and it is great. This time was not to be.
These people love to eat and drink. I mean big meals and big drinking. One night I had to set and drink through 18 toast. Now one might think no problem, just take a sip at each toast. Nope !! Not a chance. You drink a shot of vodka.This vodka is made by the vodka gods of the world. This is not the nasty assed stuff you buy in the states and other places in a pretty bottle. Smooth as silk and goes down real easy. Not to drink a shot is very bad taste and just not done. On shot number 12 I started to get light headed and wanted to set down. Shot number 15 , I was getting 6 eyed drunk. I do remember the last toast, I sat down and just kind of slobbered something to the person next to me who happened to be a factory owner that makes leg garments for export all over the world. I do have 3 new pair of pants that look great . They were a present from our cousin that is a big boss in the UK owned factory in Uzhgorod. The factory owner is now one of my new best friends and I have been invited to the UK to see how a real country works and people of means live. I told him about our pal Limey and he said come on over and we would find him and have a few drinks. All and all a very good night from what I remember. I do have photos and will share with all my pals. You can see for yourself some of the party..
More to come, this was a very long trip...
The photos will not load. I will post later..

Oh What A Trip...

2006-04-06T19:34:00.000-04:00

I am half way recovered . This was the longest period of time I have been away from Maryna and the kids in a long time. It was a very long and I will not go alone again if I can help it.
The trip over was fine until I hit Budapest. One bag was lost and it had to be the bag with the gifts and most of my clothes in it. I was sure I would never see it again. The flight arrived on time , my driver and pal were waiting on me and I was stuck in the baggage claim filling out paper work . I was given a token lost baggage payment and a promise that my bag if found would be brought to my flat. I am very lucky in that I have always had my bags arrive and no problems with losing them. I guess it just goes to show you that it can and will happen when you least need it to.
I had no idea that it would take 10 hours of crazy driving and a even crazier customs border Officer to make it home to Uzhgorod. The trip from the airport started with a very long trip through down town Budapest. This is a new way I thought. Nope my pal was lost. For the past few years when we leave the airport we have always turned left. Always, every time left turn and away we go to our favorite pub to have a real meal and a few drinks . Not this time. We went straight and then right. The fun had just started. I can't describe what happened in the next few hours because I was as lost as a person can be and still be on earth. Well guess what ? So was Norek. When we had crossed the river for the third time, I had thoughts of walking and beating him home. It is a strange feeling when you know the area better that your driver does. After he stopped in the middle of the road for the 8th time to ask anyone that would speak to him directions, I ask him if I could drive. No! I drive!! Ya'll ever had to pee so bad that it hurt ? This is a bad feeling that gets worse as time passes. My pal speaks , Russian, Ukrainian, Slovik and no English, well he can say" big problem" and did many times during the trip. When he stopped for the 9th time I just got out and peed on the side of the road.

To make a long trip short , after a 10 hour drive 1 crazy drunk customs officer we arrived home to a very worried Natasha and a calling every hour Maryna

More of this trip later. The fun just gets better and better.

I Am Back.

2006-04-04T20:43:00.000-04:00

And very tired. All is fine in Ukraina and everyone is ok. Mammy in-law is fine and doing very well. Cousins are ok and we all had a grand time. I can't get rested from the trip back. I will never understand why it takes 7 hours to get there and 9 hours to get back. Hell this time we made it in under 7 hours. I guess time flys when you are having fun. I will have to write more later. I have work to do and my ass is beat. Later Ya'll

Our New Casa ..

2006-03-17T18:22:00.000-05:00

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 ....

2006-03-14T22:30:00.000-05:00

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......

2006-03-09T18:06:00.000-05:00

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 !!!!

2006-03-05T15:21:00.001-05:00

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..

2006-03-01T20:51:00.000-05:00

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........

Babushka.

2006-02-23T18:46:00.000-05:00

My Mother In Law, Maria is a sweet lady who has a Birthday coming up Feb 28th. She was born on the 29th of Feb 1936 in Berezniy Ukraine. She will be 70 years old and has lived all of her life in Ukraina. She has traveled to Georgia , Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Russia. Outside of these countries she has lived in Uzhgorod Ukraina for the past 69 years.
She lived life as a devochka in a small village when World War II broke out. Life got real bad real quick. Due to the lack of rations and medical care things got worse. Sickness hit the region and many people died and the suffering was very bad among the villages and towns. No food , no medical care and bad guys all around doing bad things to many good people.As a rule when bad things happen to good people they become better people. This was true with Babushka, she became very ill and there was no medical care of any kind to help her and the others who were ill and wounded.
This is the woman that welcomed me into her home . She cooked for me, she welcomed me with open arms and a smile on her face. She would not let me send my clothes out to be cleaned. She washed and ironed them herself.
I was setting in the living room one afternoon and heard something in the hall. I get up and see her cleaning my shoes. I thought Baby Girl was playing a trick on daddy, she likes to sneak up on me and say I love you daddy.
Babushka was cleaning away on my shoes with polish and a brush. Talk about feeling like a dirty, lazy man.Every visit and at all times she is doing something. Cooking, cleaning , looking after the kids and more. I have no idea where she gets the energy and the go to do it all. The woman does not slow down or ever quit. She has passed this along to Maryna as well. Maryna is busy all day and slows down to eat meals and that is about it. I think it is , one does as one sees.
Babushka has 3 sisters and 2 brothers still living . She is the 2nd of 5 children all raised together. One brother went in the Soviet Army when he was 18 years old, went to Siberia and still lives there. Ivan has been home one time. Maryna saw him about 15 years ago for the first time. All of the others are still in the same area. So as you can see this a very loving and caring family that has stayed close to home and each other.
The family is having a Birthday party for Babushka next week. She is being honored for her 70 years of life and love. We can't be there and it is breaking our hearts not to share it with her and the family. I will share the photos with all of our pals when we get them.
A good party will be had for a very good woman. There will be food, wine , song and story telling . There will be much to say and hear for everyone except our Babushka. She as a result of her illness is a deaf mute. She lost her hearing and ability to speak when she was ill with Typhus when she was 5 years old. God bless Babushka may she have many more Birthdays..

For the past 20 years..

2006-02-20T21:29:00.000-05:00

I have taken a Holiday in Jan or Feb. This plus me watching the Winter Olympics. I have a desire to travel again. Problem I have is ,Maryna's AOS is not approved yet and she can not go with me. What does one do when this happens ? Now there is a lot of things I want to hear and taking a holiday here in the USA is not one of them. I have been in all of the states that I care to be in. Another problem we have is Gino is in school and will be until June.Taking him out of school for 10 days is not a option at this time of his education.
I am still going crazy and need to travel to far away places with strange sounding names. Maryna's mother has a Birthday next week. It seems to me that some family member from her US family should be there. What do you think? I think I should book a flight and go to Uzhgorod. This will help in many ways. I can check on her Mother, check on dying guy in hospital and get more information on the house and land. I also need to get things lined up to send a couple of cars and trucks over, oh and a Harley too. I want to ride in style during the summer. I also need to take some meds and things over , so I think this is a good idea and just needs a bit more planning and a few phone calls. How about it gang, let's hear your input.

ebay & ice cream cake..

2006-02-15T20:04:00.000-05:00

Limey last week was telling us about bidding on items on ebay. This site can whip your ass if you let it. I am sure that the people that started ebay had no idea what they had started. This is a multi billion dollar business. I have been doing business with ebay for a few years now.
I had no idea how much Maryna would love it. When I shop ebay I search for the item or items and then bid. I do check many times during the bidding period and stay in touch with what I am bidding. Maryna stalks. She is a wild woman and wants to win every bid. She has her watch and the clock set to the exact time that is left and can't wait to outbid the other person. Now this is a good thing, she has got some real good deals. I do love to mess with her . Yesterday she won 7 items. Me , honey do they have computers in Ukriana ? Maryna, big eyed and smiling , Yes of course , you know that !! Well did you bid on ebay in Ukraina ? Honey Please !! These words have a very sharp tone to then and make me crazy. It is a blast watching her go crazy and sit at night stalking the prey so to speak. I try to sleep around 11.00 pm. I woke up Monday morning around 3.00am and she was stalking, Tuesday around 2.00am and guess what? Oh yea , bright eyed and still stalking. I ask her tonight what time she came to bed. Oh 1.00 or so. Now our pal Limey can and will tell you, these people just don't sleep at night. When we are at home in Ukraina, it is 2.00 or 3.00 am and then they start to get sleepy. I am glad that I don't have anything to do there because I would not be able to get up in time. I think that when we get our house and land things will have to change .A farm and ranch. The ice cream cake was and is great. I saw it in a store and had to have it. Nice white ice cream and a red filling with a cherry on top.
That along with roses and cards made for a nice night. Baby Girl liked making red mush out of it and well I just had a good time eating lot's of it. See for yourself what it looked like, or what was left of it. Oh, thank you Dawn the poem, that was a first for us and Maryna and I were very happy to hear it. Jenny,travel safe and God Bless you and your son. Bubba, you don't know what you are missing. Pea,I am glad that you like the cake cream also, Neeka,I am having a hard finding the book, I will though,I will not forget. Damn , I have got to learn how to type. This is taking forever and I have a lot to do tonight, yea believe that shit.Maryna is taking a break and talking to one of her pals, Baby Girl is playing with a flashlight and Gino is in his room angry at the world and I am here typing to my pals from all over the world. Limey is still cleaning his flat to get his deposit back. He may or may not have clothes on. Jenny is somewhere in Africa or lost in a airport. Pea is having dinner with Mr Pea. Neeka is typing and looking after Marta. Jen is studying law or starting a brawl in a club. King, is playing with his two timing cat.Oedipa is reading or writing a poem. Dawn has her hands full with the kids. Moizza is drawing lines and typing something on one of her blogs. e! who knows, I am afraid to say , he may beat me up and I am too old for that. Dykun is writing more information on his Baba and corruption in Ukraina with the gas problem. Scott is still planning my web site and how he is going to run it to sell my gold and silver. Indica is playing with their dog's. Last but not forgotten is my brother. He was released at 07.35 and is already telling the system what his rights are. It seems to me that he would have learned after 5 years and 2 months, that it is the system that tells him what his rights are. I wonder who his daddy really was ? Tim who knows , I bet he is in Kiev chasing Yula around and picking fights with her husband.Goddamn I love life !!

One Month Later ...

2006-02-13T17:53:00.000-05:00

Well we still have a offer made on the house and land and the owner is still in the hospital. No news . I will say this is starting to get on my nerves and making me crazy. I have no idea why, I think it is just the fact that we don't know any more now that we did a month ago. That alone is enough to make me crazy. I will let all of my pals know the minute we have some news. I never thought that buying land in Ukraina would make me this crazy. All I want to do is live in peace with my family, grow my grapes , make my wine and raise my livestock. Speaking of livestock, tomorrow is release day for little brother, now I have to deal with that.
Now the VP has shot a fellow hunter.Things like that happen. Should they ? Hell no ! Now the press wants to know why it took so long to report it. Damn, can a brother not get a break? The man shot someone. He is still in a state if shock. Now the press wants to question him on the time it took to report it. The fact that it took 18 hours to make sure the man was going to live and get the information out to the press was not good enough. It seems that a man can't win at times.To me I am just glad that we have a country that provides us with the facts that someone was shot and that the victim is going to live and be ok.

What in the blue hell is going on in the news ? I hear that people are upset over some cartoons that were put out. Big deal. Get use to it. Cartoons have never hurt anyone as far as I know . I could care less who is hurt or upset about them. This is nothing new , they have been doing it for years.
Abuse and torture. What do you expect . That is just the way things go. You don't have to like it or agree with it. That is a fact. I think that most of my pals know my stand on it. If it helps and saves lives , go for it. Do what you have to do to get the information . Any country or conflict I have ever been in it was a known fact that it could and would happen. Bring it on, get it done and over with. This is a fact! Everyone knows it happens, they expect it. The problem seems to be some weak assed people with a do good attitude and love for mankind want to make a big deal out of it. Trust me weak assed people, they can and would do it to you . The thought of a normal weak assed person is they think that it only goes one way. Trust me on this, it goes both way's . The people who are handing out the abuse and torture are someone's son, husband ,brother ,uncle, cousin or some relation to some of the weak assed people making all the noise. This is a fact also. Open your eyes people, see the conflict or war for what it is. It is not nice, it is not pretty, it is not going to ever be anything but what it is, nasty and cruel. With killing, suffering , abuse and torture. The only thing that changes are the names and locations to protect those who did what had to be done..

It had to happen..

2006-02-11T17:52:00.000-05:00

Snow, and a lot of it. We have bought some new furniture and today is the big day. We had heard that the snow coming and the only question was how much and when. Well the when is today and the how much is still up for grabs.
The furniture was here and so was the snow.Nothing like new stuff and new snow along with wet feet and in a hurry to finish helpers. Thanks to my pals Gus and Robert who did all of the heavy lifting, Maryna is now a very happy woman with her new stuff, Baby Girl is dancing in her new bedroom and Gino is hanging something on the wall, well he is using a hammer so I hope that he is. Me ? I am just glad that my house is back to normal and I can watch Lions kill nasty assed Water Buffalo.LMAO....

You had to be there..

2006-02-05T16:54:00.000-05:00

This weekend we made a trip to North Carolina to see my family. We made a short trip of it because they were calling for snow and also the SuperBowl.
Part of the fun of the trips is eating as much local food as you can stand.When it comes to this, we are one of the best . The same is true when we are in Ukraina. We are pig's. I have no idea why, to be honest with you I have never thought of it, I am too busy eating.
The state of North Carolina is famous for a couple of things outside of me. NASCAR and what we call Carolina Barbecue. This comes in many forms. Pork, chicken and beef. Pork and chicken are the best sellers. Ribs are great and are always served with cole slaw and fries with ice tea to drink.
I bought Maryna some ribs a couple of months ago . I had no idea what I had started. She loved them and eats them with zeal. Friday night we went to one of the better joints and ordered ribs, chopped pork and all the other good things that come with it. This is a real mess as you will see and a grand time was had by all. The woman was wild. The kids went crazy and I just set there beaming like the proud husband and daddy I am. I was ask by one church lady, y'all sure talk funny;where y'all from? Vee are from Uzhgorod Ukraina; ver from you please ? Hu ? Whars that ? Vee are near Rossia. Whars that ? I am wanting laugh, Zhenya is just staring at church lady open mouthed with a hush puppy in one hand and his fork in the other. Baby Girl and Maryna come back to the table and we start eating again. Church Lady just looks, shakes her head ,mutters something and walks off. Damn I love a family outing....

And ??

2006-01-31T18:52:00.000-05:00

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 !!!

2006-01-28T14:53:00.000-05:00

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 ...

2006-01-26T18:02:00.000-05:00

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 !!!

2006-01-20T21:32:00.000-05:00

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.......

2006-01-18T19:39:00.000-05:00

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....

2006-01-16T18:18:00.000-05:00

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,

2006-01-12T18:36:00.000-05:00

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?