Four Year Wonders Got Married: Ochka and ML

[ML]

Wife's contacts in Kyiv tell this story.

Ukrainian soldiers killed a Russian soldier.
In searching his body they found a dozen or more gold rings, necklaces, etc.
And they found his ID, VK contact info and his wife's VK info.

They took pictures of him and his 'booty' and posted to his wife on VK.

Here is all the jewelry you were expecting your husband to send to you, but he won't be sending because he is dead.

She quickly closed out her VK account.

[ML]

Good friend of wife has daughter who fled to Slovakia with 2 children under 4 years of age.
She has been in ill health since birth of youngest child and having a hard time by herself in Slovakia.
A distant female cousin of her father was later also fleeing with two young children and had a contact in Austria.
A well-to-do family in Austria provided the two women and the 4 young children with an apartment rent free.  This family lives in another property in the countryside.

Story was that the grandfather of this Austrian man lost both legs while with German army in Ukraine in WWII.  A Ukrainian family took him in and nursed him for over a year until end of the war.

This apartment action was repayment for kindness of 78 years ago.

[BC]

Nice story ML.

What goes around comes around.  Gift of giving and such.

[ML]

Ukraine Defense (2022) Anthem

This is now being sung around the world.

Chervona Kalyna  Red Cranberry

In the meadow, there a red kalyna, has bent down low ,
For some reason, our glorious Ukraine, has been worried so.
And we'll take that red kalyna and we will raise it up,
And we, our glorious Ukraine, shall, hey - hey, cheer up - and rejoice!
And we'll take that red kalyna and we will raise it up,
And we, our glorious Ukraine, shall, hey - hey, cheer up - and rejoice!
 
Do not bend low, Oh red kalyna, You have a white flower.
Do not worry, glorious Ukraine, You have a free people.
And we'll take that red kalyna and will raise it up,
And we, our glorious Ukraine, shall, hey - hey, cheer up - and rejoice!
And we'll take that red kalyna and will raise it up,
And we, our glorious Ukraine, shall, hey - hey, cheer up - and rejoice!
 
Marching forward, our fellow volunteers, into a bloody fray,
For to free, our brother - Ukrainians, from hostile chains.
And we, our brother - Ukrainians, we will then liberate,
And we, our glorious Ukraine, shall, hey - hey, cheer up - and rejoice!
And we, our brother - Ukrainians, we will then liberate,
And we, our glorious Ukraine, shall, hey - hey, cheer up - and rejoice!
 
Oh in the field, of early spring wheat, there's a golden furrow,
Then began, the Ukrainian riflemen to, engage the enemy,
And we'll take, that precious, early wheat and will gather it,
And we, our glorious Ukraine, shall, hey - hey, cheer up - and rejoice!
And we'll take, that precious, early wheat and will gather it,
And we, our glorious Ukraine, shall, hey - hey, cheer up - and rejoice!
 
When the stormy winds blow forth from the wide steppes,
They will glorify, through out Ukraine, the Sich riflemen.
And we'll take the glory of the riflemen preserving it,
And we, our glorious Ukraine, shall, hey - hey, cheer up - and rejoice!
And we'll take the glory of the riflemen preserving it,
And we, our glorious Ukraine, shall, hey - hey, cheer up - and rejoice!

[ML]

Recall that wife's one close relative and her two young boys, and her two female cousins escaped to Ireland to live with wife's other close relative.

Wife has townhouse there, but it was rented out.
Renters were asked to leave, but it was found that Ireland has law that renters can stay (after eviction notice) one month for every year they have rented.  That was 7 years.

But renters agreed to leave anyway last Monday.

Wife's relatives shocked to find the poor state of cleanliness in the townhouse.  But given there were three 30 something UWs available to clean, no real problem.  Some plastering needed for holes in walls and some other minor damage needing repair also.

But everyone happy that no longer 4 women, 4 children and one man living in Ireland relative's single family dwelling.  Probably the one man most of all !!!

[ML]

Wife's close relative that escaped to Ireland has mother, father and younger brother still in Ukraine.

They escaped to father's parent's home in small town 150 or so miles west of Kyiv.

Now mother and father moved back into their single family home about 20 miles west of Kyiv and about 10 miles south of the infamous Bucha.

And brother has moved into my wife's condominium near US Embassy and will start back with his job on Monday.  He is almost a walking skeleton with crohn's disease and was rejected by military.

No damage to either home . . . so far.

Soon the father will go to live with my wife's parents further west to help put in garden crops.

The mother is a school teacher, but her school was completely destroyed.

[ML]

I have kept infrequent contact over the past 12 years or so (Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, Birthdays, etc.) with a woman that I spent serious time with in Ukraine and on vacation trips. 

She had declared her love for me in stronger terms than any woman ever has.
She perhaps had highest IQ of any person I have known, and helped me improve my chess game substantially.
But our relationship had to end because of her volatility.

She married Ukrainian man about 4 years ago (her second marriage).

Now, after receiving some opinion pieces I forwarded to her about the war in Ukraine (like what we share here), . . .

she has branded me an IDIOT.

She was wild about sex, and even taught me a few things . . . but I feel thankful that I escaped.

And finally, I will cease communication with her.

[ML]

Planning is underway to extend the 4 inch main water line into a new area in my small single family residential development.

This pipe was costing $2.50 a foot 3 years ago.

Now the pipe can only be had for $8.00 a foot and is not readily available.

The price for all the free money given away and production shut down during Covid.

Luckily (I hope) at least one contractor is not planning to gouge me on the installation costs in his bid.  He is mostly a one man operation with occasional help from his retired father, so doesn't have to contend with increased labor costs.

[krimster2]

So a stimulus designed to replace LOST INCOME during the Covid shutdown from 2 years ago is NOW responsible for inflation, even in other countries
you should've TRIED buying plubing supplies in Texas after our ill-prepared, unregulated power grid shutdown the entire state and millions of homes were damaged by freezing pipes
try finding ANY plumbing supplies in Texas after that
meanwhile, states to the North, where it was even colder, BUT had regulated their grid, were all just fine

totally see why you voted for Trump

[Jumper1]

Krimster2-

You know its more simple than that,Water lines in northern climes are buried deeper or insulted well.
We have such *cold snaps for months every year.

It can in part be from.building codes,regulation but it's mostly from.common sense.
Building any home here a person would take weather into account.

If Florida had such a  freek cold snap it would be a diaster as well.
I see tons of water lines, meters  really shallow or completely exposed there.


Trump nor Biden need not be involved for that to be the facts, nor with 20/20 hindsight could anyone say that the Florida keys should regulate water line code to 5 feet deep as it doesn't make sense unless an usual  weather event occured.

That said i'm always surprised at how shallow water lines are in the south.

Whats the cost of initially  burying deeper to.prepare for a once in a lifetime event.vs the costs of more common regular  repairs when things require more hours to dig up.

I don't have that.answer but utility companies do (I used to work for one). And they lay.pipe * accordingly

[krimster2]

i'm not talking about Minnesotta,
I'm talking Kansas and Oklahoma, just across the border from Texas, more or less same winter climate as northern Texas
those states have regulated utilities, and they're connected to the national grid
they were just fine
ours isn't regulated/connected and it collapsed

our grid isn't designed to serve the people of texas
it's designed to make its owners richer
so on top of billions in damages, we had to pay billions EXTRA to the people who were responsible
when the cost of electricity went through the roof
cuz that's the way THEY setup the contract
nothing at all to do with weather, pipes, etc
everything to do with GREED

[Boethius]

I have kept infrequent contact over the past 12 years or so (Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, Birthdays, etc.) with a woman that I spent serious time with in Ukraine and on vacation trips. 

She had declared her love for me in stronger terms than any woman ever has.
She perhaps had highest IQ of any person I have known, and helped me improve my chess game substantially.
But our relationship had to end because of her volatility.

She married Ukrainian man about 4 years ago (her second marriage).

Now, after receiving some opinion pieces I forwarded to her about the war in Ukraine (like what we share here), . . .

she has branded me an IDIOT.

She was wild about sex, and even taught me a few things . . . but I feel thankful that I escaped.

And finally, I will cease communication with her.

What about what you sent her made you an idiot?

[krimster2]

because the articles he sent her were about the Crimean war. (1853-1856)...

[ML]

What about what you sent her made you an idiot?

Not sure what specific article set her off.
It wasn't about any of my own thoughts.
Just forwarded or cut and paste some editorials, etc., the same as I or others post here.

Her comment was something like "you are an idiot to believe this stuff."

Anyway, good to finally cut off communication with her, even as wife is not the jealous type.

[Chelseaboy]

Not sure what specific article set her off.
It wasn't about any of my own thoughts.
Just forwarded or cut and paste some editorials, etc., the same as I or others post here.

Her comment was something like "you are an idiot to believe this stuff."

Anyway, good to finally cut off communication with her, even as wife is not the jealous type.

I assume from your posts that she's pro-Russian ?


If so is she an ethnic Russian living in Ukraine ?

[ML]

because the articles he sent her were about the Crimean war. (1853-1856)...

Yes, I asked her if she had met Florence Nightingale.

[ML]

I assume from your posts that she's pro-Russian ?


If so is she an ethnic Russian living in Ukraine ?

No, she is not pro-Russian.
Her father is ethnic Russian and mother is ethnic Ukrainian.
She is very very pro-Ukrainian.
Even as most of us here are pro-Ukrainian we often post criticisms of various Ukrainian and western leaders, or praise various Ukrainian and western leaders.
Something in one of those posts led to her idea that I was an idiot, even as I didn't write the article.
It often happens that even friends don't agree on a particular idea or article, but we don't call each other idiots.
So obviously something else at play.
If I were big headed . . . I could imagine that things are not going well in her second marriage and she is lashing out at me for not choosing her.
Delayed 'scorned woman' effect.
But I could be totally wrong about this.

[Boethius]

Or she is stressed from living under constant threat of siege.

Be the bigger person.

[ML]

Or she is stressed from living under constant threat of siege.
Be the bigger person.

I will be.  I did not respond in anger to her.
This isn't the first time she has sort of 'put down' on me, so I think it has been a build up.
Anyway, for sure time to call it quits.
I have never maintained a cordial relationship with someone who disrespected me . . . except if there were some business left to finish out.

I am more concerned now with the cost of water pipes !!

Excavation guys and casual workers have maintained their hourly rates to me.

One guy raised the price slightly to deliver some gravel for a new road, to compensate for increased gas prices.

Yesterday wife and I put down grass seed and straw on about a quarter acre that had been cleared as a house site example on a two acre plot.

She didn't raise her price at all.

Problem now is no substantial rain forecast for the next 10 days.

[ML]

PBS is just now running a 2 part series on life of Benjamin Franklin.

Very interesting and wife and I were quite struck by the similarities of the interplay of Colonies - British - French and the current interplay of Ukraine - Russia - Western Countries.

Just one - - - to get you interested.

France didn't want to provide much help to the colonies until it was demonstrated that the colonies were putting up a good fight against the British.

A very good production and I highly recommend it.

[ML]

How Ukraine was clever in sinking a Russian ship.
Details have emerged of how Ukraine’s military distracted the Russian warship Moskva with drones before missiles were launched, causing significant damage to the vessel as it burst into flames and later sank.
Apparently Ukraine sent two drones into the sky East of the Moskva.  This attracted the attention of the Moskva's radar and the sailors on board.
Then Ukraine launched two of its newest R-360 Neptune class anti-ship missiles from a hidden battery in the southern port city of Odessa which hit the Moskva from the West.

Russia now claims Ukraine had nothing to do with it, and that the Moskva was merely reassigned to 'special operations under the water.'

Слава Україні !  Slava Ukraini ! (Glory to Ukraine !)

[Jumper1]

That's what I'd heard prior.
The ships hi res radar (that can.pick up stuff near the surface ) is 180 degrees capable.
A drone was used as a decoy and a geo locating guidance to occupy th ed radar to face away.the low res radar is 360 degrees ,but has more issues detecting things near the surface like Neptune's running low near  the waves (and bigger waves this time )
They also having the drone to.locate and signal to  arm the neptunes last moments making detection more difficult.

I do think Ukraine had fired missles prior at the moscva and its anti missile systems had defeated those.
They came up with a better tactic.

[ML]

The 3 Ukrainian women and 2 children of one of them have now fully moved into my wife's townhouse along the eastern coast of Ireland south of Dublin.

A lot of wall patching, painting, replacement of kitchen counter tops and replacement of carpeting on stairway accomplished.

A couple of new beds, clothes washer and microwave purchased.

One of the women is to have major birthday milestone this week.
Pre-war, she had planned to take a birthday trip to Italy.
As a consolation prize, the group is planning to take her to Dublin for extensive site-seeing to celebrate.

As a side note:  I am horrified that these townhouse units have short and fat water heaters in the attic !!  Apparently very common in newer construction in Ireland.  I am expecting the unit to fall through the ceiling or at a minimum to start leaking through the ceiling.

[ML]

Got my 4th dose of Pfizer Covid vaccine yesterday.
Such a slight sensation from the needle that I wondered if the gal even punctured my  skin.
But then, about 6 hours later my arm started to hurt, and a couple of hours later my arm felt like Mike Tyson had slugged it.
So this must have been the dose that has the computer chip in it.
I think someone forgot to file off the sharp corners of the chip.

[krimster2]

I had two sputnick vaccines and two moderna vaccines
still freakin got Covid!

I was sick for about a week, joint aches, shortness of breath, fever, EXTREME fatigue, and one eye was bleeding

after about 2 weeks, was back to normal
I credit the vaccines with saving my life
and I understand that generally vaccines don't provide absolute protection, but relative protection, and reduce the spreading of the disease

worst part of my covid experience was quarantining myself from everyone, but no one else around me got sick!!
they just dropped food off and picked up garbage

I’ll get some kind of booster in the fall, smart thing would be to make an RNA vaccine for flu and covid in the same injection
when I got the moderna vax, I also got the vax for shingles

my daughters and I were in Israel, I used connections to get the panel of vaccines that IDF receives including the Israeli anthrax vax, which is better than the old USA one

so i’m prepared for next Chinese virus as best I can be
however, Israel wouldn’t give me a smallpox vax, cuz they say it’s too dangerous for geezers
apparently, the vax gives you a mild case of smallpox!