So what exactly is a quiet day like ???
Well it starts with the cat waking you up at 7:30 in the morning. Eric does not like people to sleep late think she worries that we should be doing something like giving her some milk. Whilst all you can hear is meow I know she is actually calling me a lazy g** I can read it in her eyes. So up we get coffee for me and milk for her and before you say milk is bad for cats she does not seem to agree and to be honest she only gets a couple of drops so not enough to do permanent damage. By now it is 7:40 so whilst I am beginning to loath it I go off and do my yoga. It takes all of my will power not to rush through it, I think it is supposed to be relaxing and peaceful but I just want it over with. Ok done now it is 8:00 and what do I do with the rest of the day?
I did almost all of the admin yesterday. Went and bought my flight tickets for Thursday got cash on Sunday. The fridge is full of coke and cheese and milk so no shopping to speak of although I think I will get a couple of bottles of wine just for stock (ha). I should put some more money on my phone credit as I ran out when I was stuck in Heathrow last week which made things difficult. I ended up using the Pc with email, messenger, Google talk and Skype to keep in touch. Maybe I don’t actually need a phone but not ready to ditch it just yet.
One of the things I am contemplating is moving from these blogs to more of a podcast but given I hate the sound of my own voice I need to practice a little as I will not be listening to them. So that should keep me busy for an hour or two. I want to have it start with the music from Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds with Richard Burton’s voiceover (nothing simple for me) and finding it as a wave file is difficult although I have a happy time searching through lots of old movie sounds. Even found some Winston Churchill stuff but i will need to fine an editing program.
Only a few emails today. Some in response to a query I have on Judi’s Mini Pc. The hard drive is not showing so I used the email support process and yesterday I was passed through 6 (yes 6) different people who all swore allegiance to my dilemma vowing not to rest until they had successfully move heaven and earth to fix it. You can guess how far we got, nowhere. So despite the attentions of Debashish, Prasenjit, Abhishek, Vivek, Arnab, Ritabra and Zack I am no further forward and personally I am not confident of actually getting it fixed without returning the Pc to the USA which will be a very big pain in the you know where.
So the weather is still nice so off to add 2,000 rubles to my phone credit ($65). I have mentioned the process before you go and use a machine inside one of the hundreds of phone shops. My local is by the metro (what a surprise). All the metros stations have these wooden shops close by and each metro will have at least one phone shop. So I am in line the guy in front keys in a number then feeds the money in. Then another number then another and another and another. Maybe he is doing it for the whole of the office, either that or he has a lot of phones. The last one he does only gets 10 rubles (32 cents) so not many calls going to be made on that one. Mine seems simple now and I get to the exit almost at the same time as him. Off to the supermarket grab a couple of bottles of wine and a loaf. I notice they have one in the shape of a turtle and one in the shape of a porcupine both cute but most of the bread is heavy and semi soft. Oh for the crunch of a fresh French baguette or an English farmhouse. I hope you lot appreciate the sacrifices I make to bring you these riveting updates.
Back via the Thai and nip in to pick up a Moscow Times, not much of a paper but at least it is something and I found out it lists the files showing in English and where they are playing. It is like “where’s Wally” fining them by actually going to the cinemas where the ticket staff rarely know or for that matter seem to care. I tell you someone is going to make a fortune doing Customer Service training out here sometime as the older assistants are trained to scowl and they seem to pass I on to the youngsters.
I find the handyman in the courtyard which is good. Two weeks ago he came up to change the cartridges in the water filter which takes up most of the space under the sink. Since then of course it has not worked and whilst I have told the landlady a couple of times I think there may be a communications failure. Even with limited Russian I am sure I get my message across, it is surprising how you can mime almost anything when you have too.
Outside the flats there is a man who has been painting a pillar by our entrance for a couple of days now. When I say paining he is really decorating it, there are plants and flowers winding around it with parts picked out in gold and what I assume us red. We chat for a while and whilst he does not actually live in our block they are allowing him to do it and very fine it is too. I suggest it would be good if it went up the side of the building whereupon he gives me one of those is this a joke or not looks. I leave him to his labors as it is still hot.
Upstairs a couple more emails. I seem to have found myself a job and will be in Ireland Friday, England the following week and South Africa the week after. So my days of lazing around seem to be numbered. Well it was nice whilst it lasted but it will not stop me writing (or maybe podcasting). Think the job will raise a few eyebrows, we shall see. I am now a mercenary for hire which sounds cool.
Pizza for tea if the oven obeys my commands “Steve this is HAL I believe you had pizza 6 days ago can I suggest you find a healthier option from the salad draw in the refrigerator” a small voice in my head comments, I respond by turning the radio volume up.