Can you believe it is 2018?

It takes a few days to sink in. 2018 is here and we are now counting down a new year….actually hard to get a grip on, for it seems that 2017 just started to me. It was a good year here in Russia and the Russian people moved forward far in life this last year…

According to the past:

1. We should be out of oil.
2. The ozone hole should have killed us all by now.
3. Y2K was the end of technology.
4. Religion televangelist Pat Robertson said, “I guarantee you by the end of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world,”.
5. Halley’s Comet, 1910 the end of times.
6. The upcoming ice age turned to a heat wave in propaganda.
7. Mass starvation the world over.
8. Pollution would end life way before now.
9. Nitrogen build up was inevitable.
10. Computers would never be a home and personal item.
11. TV and other media stuff would become boring and end in its usage.
12. Reading and such, would cause us to loose an eye and become cyclops.
13. Lots more was predicted.

But some things happened…

1. Nikola Tesla predicted personal wireless devices would be real.
2. H.G. Wells talked about Nukes.
3. Isaac Asimov talked about the Internet and learning.
4. Driver less cars.
5. AT&T told us about tablet computers.
6. TV will make future generations stupid.
7. Organ transplants.
8. lots more happened…

All I know is this:

We are able to do anything and everything, if we could just get over our stupidity. Nothing is beyond our reach as a species, but ignorance and self-contentedness keeps getting in the way all the time…

Will we grow out of it?

With a tree, all the growth takes place at the growing tips. Humanity is exactly the same. All the growth takes place in the growing tip: among that one percent of the population. It’s made up of pioneers, the beginners. That’s where the action is. – Abraham Maslow

Can we keep from killing, suppressing and devaluing the tips of growth?

WtR

“#FrozenAmerica”: Locals Panic As 92% Of US Below Freezing

Source: “#FrozenAmerica”: Locals Panic As 92% Of US Below Freezing

I find this article above interesting, for Russia is the opposite and is really very nice weather here…

I am not complaining….for it is great to walk around in just 0 Celsius temperatures instead of -20 below and that my friend is a needed break for us Russian types…

I have always said, “Keep the natural gas at home and use it for your own people! Life is not a dollar bill and staying warm is worth all the gold and dollars in the world.”

Why Britain is being beat to death over extremely high gas prices, that Russia is having to ship excess gas LNG to Britain so that the British do not run out of fuel this winter…

Hmm! Maybe Russia needs to ship some to America?

Stay warm America…

WtR

Such a sleepy holiday in Russia…

January 1st till January 8th and all of Russia literally comes to a halt. I kind of like it and have grown use to it. When I first came to Russia many years ago, I was taken back by the fact that the whole country shut down and people partied until they ran out of money and or booze. Russians have lots of extra spending money and the ones who drink? This is the holiday of all holidays….plus Russians shoot fireworks like no tomorrow and this shooting of fireworks will last about the whole week they are off. Once again, the limitations is when everyone runs out of money, booze and fireworks…

Though as the title suggests….this holiday is sleepy and quiet. You can walk the daytime streets of Moscow and find at best 25% of the normal people out and about. Svetochka and I take advantage of such moments in life and go see things…

Yes I like the holidays in Russia and below is a table of the 2018 holidays to come…

Date Weekday Holiday Name Holiday Type
Jan 1 Monday New Year’s Day National holiday
Jan 2 Tuesday New Year Holiday Week National holiday
Jan 3 Wednesday New Year Holiday Week National holiday
Jan 4 Thursday New Year Holiday Week National holiday
Jan 5 Friday New Year Holiday Week National holiday
Jan 7 Sunday Orthodox Christmas Day National holiday, Orthodox
Jan 8 Monday New Year Holiday Week National holiday
Jan 14 Sunday Old New Year Observance
Feb 14 Wednesday Valentine’s Day Observance
Feb 23 Friday Defender of the Fatherland Day National holiday
Feb 27 Tuesday Special Operations Forces Day De facto holiday
Mar 8 Thursday International Women’s Day National holiday
Mar 20 Tuesday March equinox Season
Apr 8 Sunday Orthodox Easter Day Observance, Orthodox
Apr 28 Saturday Spring and Labor Day Holiday Working day (moved weekend)
Apr 30 Monday Spring and Labor Day Holiday National holiday
May 1 Tuesday Spring and Labor Day National holiday
May 9 Wednesday Victory Day National holiday
Jun 9 Saturday Working day – moved weekend Working day (moved weekend)
Jun 11 Monday Russia Day Weekend National holiday
Jun 12 Tuesday Russia Day National holiday
Jun 21 Thursday June Solstice Season
Sep 1 Saturday Day of Knowledge De facto holiday
Sep 23 Sunday September equinox Season
Nov 4 Sunday Unity Day National holiday
Nov 5 Monday Unity Day observed National holiday
Dec 21 Friday December Solstice Season
Dec 29 Saturday Working day – moved weekend Working day (moved weekend)

Have a nice day…

WtR