Category: Russia

Looks like after the early morning walk, that I will have to try out the snowshoes. It snowed all night and is still snowing like crazy. Soon the snow will be too deep to get around in. The snowshoes will allow me to at least get down the hill and let Boza think has has walked. I may have to carry him though… 😉

Looks like the next two days is the final gasp of Old Man Winter. And it looks like all the snow in the world has just been dumped on us, well except for what Denver in the USA just got. We got more and then some…

Wind is blowing 10 to 15 kilometers an hour and with it is a wall of snow. Boza looked like a white snow dog when we finally got back and I am sure I looked the same. Snow snow go away and come again some other day…

I felt it coming and last night in a flurry of commotion, I threw Boza in the car and him and I fought our way to the Big Village. It was rough and I was not sure I would make it. I had some medicine/test strips to get and knew that I would not have a chance for a week or so. Sammy the Volga is a trooper and she dug us through the drifts and got us there. I bought more food and got to the pharmacy just before they closed. I was almost out of test strips for my sugar meter and needed them. It actually scared me to run out and I was surprised I had overlooked them the last time, earlier in the week… 🙁

I took Boza in case I was to get stuck. He would be better with me than stuck in the house. We at least could keep each other warm…

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Had a rough night and I will make this short today. Maybe later I will write again, but the weather has gotten into my arthritis and made life miserable. So reading a book will be the best thing to do and then try out the snowshoes later. My system is messed up today and that is just part of that roller coaster weather we have here in the winter. Oops, I mean spring, here in Russia. Just can not find spring, for it seems to have run away…

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Time to make breakfast to go with my coffee and then read a great Zombie, end of the world, book I found. Oh man it is perfect and great for a day like today…

WtR

It is a beautiful world that Boza and I live in. No traffic, no smog, no people, no hate and no trash everywhere. It is a world of solitude and to many, that would be a death sentence. It is not a life for all, but it should be a life we all need. It is a world that we can think in, a world that allows breaths of fresh air and a world that I am able to thrive in…

But I am looking for spring and it seems to have gotten lost!

Do you see spring in the pictures above?

Boza and I either…

WtR

I was taking my pills this morning. Those nemeses of life as you get older and frailness walks upon you. At one time I took up to 40 pills once a day and another 20 later in the day. This morning I realized that I have been working slowly but surely to wean myself off pills that are not needed. I looked at 5 pills in my hand and I look at 4 at night. That is 9 pills a day, down from 60+ at the peak…

This is in Russia only, in America I took maybe 80 a day and more at times…

It all started 10 years ago, when I came to Russia. It started with dropping the worse to start, the happy pills as I call them, the antidepressants. These pills were hard to drop and I took it on as a do or die situation. Taking antidepressants is a death sentence and no one better believe different, or you will find out soon enough. They take your soul and they take your mind…

Some will say, “How do you know what needs to be stopped?”

Good question and the answer is, “Research, research and more research!” Find out about what you take, study for a longtime and then make a sound decision about the true benefits of taking such pills!

There are a couple of pills that I will most likely never stop taking. I have experimented with dropping them and I realized that they are essential to my life. Two in particular are the most important; a cardiac aspirin a day and long acting nitro pills, twice a day. These pills are the difference between life and death…

The aspirin thins my blood and the nitro pill regulates my heart on an all day bases…

I take sugar pills for my diabetes and I am down to two a day, sometimes three, if I see issues toward the high side. I am getting close to being able to adjust this dosage again and may be able to drop another level down on sugar pills. Cross my fingers…

I have come a long ways and weaning off the pills is making me feel better everyday. While there may have been a sound reason to take all these pills at one time, life is changing and as a result the pills needed to defend against life have changed…

Doctors are good to have, but I have a lot of experience with doctors and have found that most of the time, they prescribe and it is what they get the most kickback by prescribing to you. They just use what they are told to use many times and since repercussions are far and away, who cares…

One pill in particular that was killing me, was a beta blocker for the heart. This blocker effected how fast my heart beat and even how strong it would beat. It was designed to force you to slow down. It also made me fat, lethargic and weak to boot…

I studied this beta blocker for many years,afraid to stop taking it, but after much research, I stopped and it was hard to do. My body had grown reliant upon having this drug and my body and mind said, “Hey you going to die with out your beta blocker!”

I did not die and I have become much better without it…

Just like years ago, I was told to take Plavix for the rest of my life. Seriously the rest of my life? Then another doctor said to stop taking it! I said, “But…”

So I studied the drug and I thought about it and I made a decision. I stopped taking a drug that was tearing me up inside, a drug that one or two doctors said to take for life and I stopped. I stopped after research and not before and found out that Plavix was really only a short term drug for after heart surgeries and such. The aspirin I was taking the rest of my life was the actual long term medicine that was necessary and Plavix was not a long term drug. It is expensive and drug companies want you to buy it forever and ever and ever…

At least now I can check my blood sugar and not bleed for three days every time… 😉

I have lost at least 30 kilos since living in the village and that is around 66 pounds. If you do not think that makes a difference, then go away, it makes a difference in my quality of life. 10 more kilos and I will be at my fighting weight of 220 pounds. While I am not as strong and bulletproof as I use to be, I feel good and alert most of the time…

Times I still struggle, such as this morning, I woke at 3:30 a.m. and found my blood sugar at 3.2 mmo/l. That scares me and I have to keep hard candies by the bed to compensate if I wake and am disorientated. It was not too bad, so I sat up and ate a candy. I then let the heater blow over me and waited until things started to congeal. Then I walked the dog for a minute, drank a cup of coffee and fried one egg, one slice of bacon, toasted a bun and put it all together with a slice of cheddar cheese…

Now almost three hours later, I feel good, my blood sugar is 6.5 mmo/l and dropping and we had a long walk, I am writing a post and Boza is sleeping after getting a slice of bacon for him also…

But I must eat a small snack at least 5 times a day to keep everything working. The harder I work the lower my sugar goes down and in the same token, if I get sick, my blood sugar goes up and there is nothing I can do about it. I eat mainly proteins and it seems to stabilize me for longer terms of the day (though it does not effect the short term situation very much,) but I have found that potatoes are fine for me now, but bread (except in a small portion) and pastas of any portions are a No No! Thus, a small bun is okay and my body accepts that with no issues…

A lot of why I am writing this is as much my researching as it is for anyone else. If it helps anyone then fine, but it is for me that I write this kind of information. This helps me to assimilate the data and make better decisions. It is my life and I want to live as long as possible. This will only happen if I am informed, not reliant upon a doctor who, as proven to me many times, is not aware of many issues associated with taken certain drugs and the long term effects are certainly not known to them in most cases…

Yes, I have come a long ways and I am still alive because of coming that distance:

1. I came to Russia, with a perfect girl and a person who cares about me…
2. I have found that doctors in Russia in general care about you much more than the western counterparts.
3. Pills have there place, but no one should try to take them for life,unless necessary.
4. Diet is essential to health.
5. Exercise in moderation is important.
6. Research about yourself and what you take and what you do in life.
7. Drink a cup of coffee or tea, walk an hour and get a doggy to walk with you.

Smell the roses, watch the birds, play ball with your dog and most of all love those who care about you with all your heart. For they will heal you and give you hope for the future…

I stopped this post and went outside with Boza, he and I tossed his ball around and Boza was the happiest dog in the world. Life is a ball (myach) and life is that simple…

I have come a long ways…

WtR

This morning at 4:45 a.m., Boza and I went for a walk. It was dark, scary and snowing! I always carry a flashlight at the dark walks and it is a good flashlight, rechargeable and allows me to see a long ways in the dark. I put it to use this morning…

First thing when it is dark, Boza stays near me and for a reason. Things get scary in the dark around here. There are bears and wolves and Boza knows it…

Second thing, we saved a kitty cat this morning. The huge orange cat had found itself against something other than a medium sized Boza. It found itself cornered by a wolf. One big ass wolf and Boza let me know where and how big. Boza started to bark and hugged against me as he growled and barked. He was ready to fight and it is very rare that I see Boza this way…

I turned on the light and within a few seconds heard and found a big orange cat trying to climb a concrete telephone pole and a wolf interested in eating said cat. The wolf was so interested in the cat, that he did not actually see or hear us.  The cat did and ran as fast as I have ever seen a fat cat run. Boza started to growl, his meanest growl, I have ever heard and the wolf then saw us. I could see his eyes glow in the flashlight and he was about 25 to 30 meters away. I immediately roared at him and actually had my sharpened walking stick ready…

Running would not get it done and I became prepared to defend Boza, the cat and I…

Adrenaline was flowing and I was scared to be honest…

The roar had the desired effect, for he knows what humans are and he knows that humans will kill. He would have only survived to as big as he is, if he had not learned this fact. He stepped forward as I yelled at him and then hesitated and stepped back. The cat was behind us hissing up a storm, Boza was barking and growling and stood by my side and I kept the light in his eyes, telling him to get the hell out of here and leave us villagers alone… 😉

Animals are smart and faced with a blinding light and unknown amount of adversaries and being all alone himself, or herself. It slunk away with tail between its legs. I found myself taking a breath and shuddering as Boza turned to look at the kitty. The kitty looked at Boza and as if nothing important happened. Boza barked and kitty hissed and off they went. Kitty got to the nearest pine tree and up kitty went, with Boza on it s tail. Then Boza barking happily and kitty cleaning himself as he set on a tree limb, high above the ground. As I shook from adrenaline overdose and found I was soaked in sweat. Life went back to normal…

For a few minutes…

The wolf was gone, but as we approached the dam of the lake. Out from the iced lake came a rabbit, another big fat creature. Wild eyed and scared. Right behind the rabbit was a fox and withing two seconds I saw several things happen…

1. It was almost light out.
2. Boza had come next to me and was watching.
3. The rabbit went literally between Boza and I.
4. The fox damn near had a heart attack and did a back flip as Boza started to bark and I once again yelled.
5.  The fox became the hunted and not the hunter.

Off went the fox back into the frozen lake and a Boza leaped to the chase and I stood there watching a big fat rabbit, running for the hills and now a cat running after the rabbit. I shook my head and started to yell at Boza to get back to me and Boza heard me on the third yell. He stopped and looked around and decided that he had gone far enough, but the fox never looked back and disappeared on the other side of the lake…

Therefore, there was just one thing left to do. Go look at the wolf tracks and see how big they were. Boza helped me out and stepped in one of its tracks and I have to say, “OMG it was huge!” Boza had tiny little kitty feet in comparison and I know that Mia at Vova’s, has smaller feet than this wolf…

I decided to walk to my bench and sit for fifteen minutes. I had had enough excitement and needed to think…

The snow is about a foot deep in most places and now it was quiet and peaceful, but then to add beauty to the world. George the birdbrain bird of ours sat on the roof of an old barn and sang his heart out. Then a chickadee or two joined him and a few sparrows soon joined. The world became musical and wonderful…

I thought about how fantastic this village is, but with the realization that as with all perfection and beauty, some danger stays in the background and you have to be alert to all around you…

Wolves, foxes, rabbits, kitties and George; Oh My!

WtR

How about a cup of coffee? Even a cup of tea would be perfect, just grab something and stay warm. For it is snowing and snowing and snowing. I look out and the world has gone white, again and now I can not see past our fence and the fence is almost faded away. It reminds me of a book about the end of the world as we know it…

A man who was very set in his ways and patterns, noticed the world was fading. Slowly going away. It became understood to him, that the world was disappearing and that his familiarity in the secluded pattern of his life was the only thing keeping the end at bay. But the end would not be stopped and he sat in his favorite chair at the end, as the world finished fading around him. Just being slowed down by his own abilities of familiarity of his surroundings…

Today feels like that, as the snow has now faded the fence from sight and I can no longer see the weather station in the yard. Therefore, I will have another cup of tea and then cut my hair. For there is not a whole lot I can do outside and I do not feel like writing too much today…

WtR

I drove to the Big Village and picked up some food. It was rough and Sammy the Volga had to be on her best behavior. We ended up sideways in the road a dozen times. But she is a Volga you know and understands Russian roads…

I decided to buy a treat…

I found a new product; Black Angus Burgers and at 79 rubles ($1.16) a box for three of them. I decided to splurge. I normally do not buy food that expensive and try to make the ruble go as far as possible, but when you want a burger, no; I mean really want a burger… 😉

So I decided to buy two less cottage cheeses and buy the burgers. I bought a pack of 10 buns for 19 rubles, the burgers at 79 rubles and I had cheese (267 rubles a kilo) at home. I wanted nothing else on the burgers, but Russian beef, real Russian cheese and the buns made at the local bakery…

I sliced the cheese thin, cooked the burgers well done with the cheese melted on top. I toasted the buns and a little salt and pepper to taste, and I had the best meal I have had in a long time. I made two of the patties into burgers with bread and one left unseasoned, un-cheesed but cooked for Boza. I ate one and a half burgers and Boza ate one and a half burgers…

He has spent the last hour trying to check every pocket, corner and nook and cranny we have, at the outside chance I sneaked a burger and he did not see it. He loved them and is one happy dog. I am just as happy and we both have decided that we will eat this once a month if we can afford it! ????

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Life is easy to make happy, you just have to accept what is and what might be. Then look for the small treat of life and enjoy…

The burger patties cost; .38 cents each + a bun at 3 cents each + 15 cents each for cheese = 56 cents per burger…

See kinda expensive when you are use to eating much cheaper. $1.50 for the meal…

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Milk ran 36 rubles per liter.
Grapefruits ran 79 rubles per kilo.
Navel oranges ran 89 a kilo.
Cottage cheese ran 32 rubles per pack of 200 grams. I buy expensive cottage cheese to be able to freeze the packs.
Bananas ran 49 rubles a kilo.
Salt Pickles ran two liters for 89 rubles.
Eggs ran 5 rubles each.
Vodka for Vova was 189 rubles a half liter. His brand.
Cigarettes for Vova were 40 rubles a pack.
A pack of 20 Gillette disposable razors ran 200 rubles. Ouch that hurt.
Canned corn 340 grams at 39 rubles.
Kilo loaf of black bread for Vova at 17 rubles and a loaf of white at 20 rubles.
Whole chickens at 79 rubles a kilo.
carrots at 9 rubles a kilo.
Potatoes at 9 rubles a kilo.
Cabbage at 5 rubles a kilo.

I could go on, but you get the drift. Try buying that stuff in America for that price? Well maybe the razors?

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Well Boza and I are going for a walk. Boza and I are going nuts at the smell of the burgers and we want more. Good thing we do not have anymore, for we would eat too much. It really was a good treat and now I know that when a burger is desired, I have the option to get the products to make them. This was a very good quality products and the taste was fantastic…

See we are almost civilized at times in Russia and I am here to tell you that Russians are producing any and all products to satisfy the taste buds. Sanctions have been wonderful for Russian productivity…

Thank you Western World…

WtR

Vova has rabbits and more rabbits. Rabbits to Vova are very important and a very important crop, for food and money. People come from all around to buy his rabbits and he has a never ending supply of them. Rabbits breed like crazy and thus a sustaining entrepreneurship…

Yesterday, I helped Vova feed the rabbits, little piglet ducks, chickens and Big Mia. He has a happy farm and the ducks just quack like crazy when daddy comes around… 😉

We were lucky and some of the snow melted. It was -4 all day, but since the sun is positioned better and the days are longer, we had enough heat from the sun to do some melting. I hope today does the same. Last night was -15 again and it was crispy cold this morning as we walked. We found our bridge has finally washed out and will miss the ability to cross the river…

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Malaysia Airlines Flight 17: do you stop to wonder why the west refuses to give answers, or at least straight answers? I do and then when another jet goes down, such as the one recently in Russia. I find that 99% of the time straight forward information is the norm. Not hiding all the facts and twisting facts to meet the narrow criteria. It has been very hard for the west to spin the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 as a Russian issue. They have tried and we now see that it has become a hidden Pandora box, for if the truth becomes known, it opens a whole nest of lies. These lies from day one pointed at Russia and the liars know this and still cover it all up. The problem I see is that too many people in the west, want to believe that Russia is evil and Putin is a dictator…

It really is simple; they lie and we accept the lies as truth…

What does that say about us?

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Myself, I think that we should put a chimpanzee as president of the USA. No, seriously…

I think we would find that we would be better received in the world and we would find that nothing would change as to our policies. For the presidential position of the US is probably the most restrained position on earth. For anything else would be called a dictatorship by the west…

Some people would say that we have one (a chimp) now, but that is really stupid and ignoring the fact that a chimp would have at least a 50% chance of getting things correct. Just simply throwing a dart at the board would do a better job at world affairs than what we have allowed to become our government. Obama (who is white when he needs to be and black when he needs to be,) is just the puppet and figurehead for a whole power structure that tries to look like they care about us little guys…

The truth is, there would be many more people backing a chimp (think power of PETA,) than who we have running and have had as president of the US, for as long as I can remember. That is the level and state of affairs that we have allowed our country to fall to…

Seriously; I would vote for a chimp, before voting for Hillary or Trump and or any one of the others, that are trying to run as president. That is the state of affairs in America…

Does that make me a racist?

Na, I am just a realist…

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I have got to say something about Trump; I would not vote for him (see above,) but I see that he has woke a serious storm and if the powers to be are not careful, this storm will become a hurricane… (Trump is good for TV ratings I am sure!)

With a huge chance Hillary will be ramrodded into the presidency; Lets hope the storm does flatten Washington DC with the winds…

I think (I hope,) that it is time for God to step in and show us he cares about us as humans. For soon we will be in trouble over our heads and trouble that we can not control. But then it is our fault and God does not have to help self induced folly at its finest…

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I guess I am going to try to get to the Big Village today. Or maybe not! I am thinking about the subject right now and am not sure that I can get there. Oh well!

WtR

March 20th, 2016 is the first day of spring… And the picture is small, because spring has sprung the wrong way. Spring in fact got lost and we are in the middle of winter, but then it is Russia and I have said we have long, long, long winters…

How about what Boza and I experienced this morning? Is that called spring? I am not sure, but I think it looks kind of like winter still. Oh well, I guess our little weather station was correct and the big weather stations online and TV were wrong… 😉

Have a nice day…

WtR

I have said very little about Ukraine. It is a subject that upsets me tremendously and a subject that causes me anguish. East Ukraine is one of the most wonderful places in the world, or at least is / was until Kiev and the west decided that killing the people was the answer to all the worlds issues…

I have seen much in life and I have been involved in this same sort of destruction of a country. It seems that whether we want to notice, see and or accept the fact, our country (USA) is a country that will take lives of innocent people and use them to destroy anyone in her way…

We do not target just the military in countries, but we sanction and bomb the civilians in that country and I know, for I have been there and done that. A perfect example is Japan; we nuked out of so called necessity, two Japanese cities. We Nuked these cities of civilians… Why? Because we could and because we don’t care about human life…

It is “WE,” for “WE” accept such behavior on the part of our governmental services…

Russia had nothing to do with what was started and agenda instilled in Ukraine. The fact that we have installed Saakashvili and other passport hold Americans into various governmental positions in Ukraine, is the perfect answer to any inquiry. And actually Russia was very constrained as to what was happening and America would never let something like what we did to happen in Mexico or Canada. So what is the issue and why is Russia condemned? America started it…

Ukraine was a favorite place of mine to spend time in. I have spent many hours walking the streets of Kiev and many hours, days and even months, living in Ukraine. What has happened to Ukraine is a crime against humanity and I can attest to that personally. I do not and have not lived for long periods of time in Syria, Libya and other war torn countries. But I have lived in Ukraine and spent many hours talking and getting to know the people there. I know what Ukraine was and it was a wonderful country…

I have helplessly watched my government destroy Ukraine, all for a geopolitical game of checkers and I have seen Russia play chess back and America losses at every move…

I do not have to try to see what is wrong with the picture. I live what is wrong with the picture everyday and it become more clear as everyday goes by. I watch a emboldened US government brashly expanding its death squad and our gov knows that we will do nothing…

We are exactly where the western admins want us. Under their thumb and they will slaughter us to keep us there…

I hurt everyday because of what we have done to Ukraine and yes, we did it and allowed it. Even after we found out the truth, we still looked the other way. Just look at Europe, they have all stuck their heads in the sand and let a handful of politicians rule their existence. Sanctions that bite the EU more than Russia…

Why?

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A friend on Facebook posted this video…

I had to cry, then I had to post it and as my soul reached out to cry with me. I realized how important Russians are to me now. Russians have a soul and it is old, wise and deep…

Мой друг…

WtR

It was -15 (Weather station said so!) at 5:00 a.m. and it had snowed most of the night. This morning was a frozen winter wonderland and it was so beautiful as the sun came up in a crystal clear sky…

It seems like a fairy tale as just a few days ago, I was burning rubbish and cleaning the yard. But if you remember, I had to get to the Big Village and get food and supplies. For my weather station was predicting snow and lots of it. It said Thursday, but the snow held off until Friday night. Regardless it was accurate enough for me…

The three big weather reports online said some snow to no snow at all. Our little station said, “Bull!”

Now the weather station predicts, “-5 and sunny all day!”

It will be about two weeks before I can get out with the car again. Thus you see why it was important on Tuesday to get to town…

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Seriously! What is it with people in America always telling me and many others online, to go live some where else if I do not like the USA. I never said I do not like the US. I think that the principles we now are upholding suck…

Everyday I get told to move out of America. They toss it at me like it is a great big and powerful insult. They attack me with a statement such as typical as this, “Why don’t you find you a country that best fits the freedom that you seek? I never been to any other country where there is better life than this one, why do you think there’s millions that want to come here? And millions more that want what you have, so suck it up and change what you don’t like, be senator or a president .”

I get this all the time…

It makes me laugh, I live in Russia and oh, I know that you believe Russia is the next thing to North Korea and China, but I can burst your bubble and prove it different about Russia, but China and NK, I do not live there and can’t express what it is about. But I promise that it is rapturous information against them, being spewed daily by the west…

Seriously, I am told most of the time and presented as hate and spite, “Just leave!”

I have been to at least 50 plus countries in the world. I have yet to find a country that is as we are told it is in the western media. Not a single country…

Yet Americans act like telling someone that they should leave America is a threat. It is not a threat unless you simply believe all the western media tells you. It is an incredible world and the attitude that I see from the west is what makes me wonder,what is wrong with us…

Do you truly believe that the world stops at the US borders?

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Besides for all you people who think you are scaring me, humbling me and causing me to shiver in my boots. I already live in Russia and I live in a Tiny Russian Village with three people living in it, including myself. So I think I am seeing the real Russia and not the Russophobia Russia that the west constantly presents to the masses…

I also lived years in Moscow and found Moscow safe and wonderful. (No wild gangs of native Russians cutting heads off and raping and pillaging the dogs and cats. No really!)

I am not living in fear…

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A Flydubai Boeing-737-800 (FZ981) has crashed during landing in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. All the passengers and crew on board have been killed…

Need to say a prayer this morning, for all the relatives of the people who died…

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I am going to read a book today…

WtR