Tver trip III

[DKMM]

Its not hard to tell, its written right there in big letters on the statue in his photo.  Can't you guys read?  LOL!!

Those frozen pictures bring me back to last month freezing my butt off in the wind right next to that statue.

That coffee house is fun.  When you have two back to back dates there, you can just go to the different sides.

That dark haired girl on the LTP staff is also a photographer if I remember right.  I had a lovely conversation with her... a guy could be so lucky but she's not on the market IIRC.

[av8or1]

Ok gang,

I made it back ok late this past Sunday night.  Returned to work a few hours later.  It's been a long week in a way, but not too bad.  'Been sleeping at least 12 hours per night as a minimum, just as I did after returning in January, don't know what's up with that.

I have the hats for Corbett, so give me a call when you have time.

I'll write more later, but for now I thought I'd post a few photos.  We went to Moscow one day to see the sights.  It was my first time to ride a Russian train!  As for the comment regarding the dark haired girl in the photo, her name is Anna and yes she takes the photos of the women as they enter the agency.  Well I should say "used to take" because Anna doesn't work there anymore.  She left for Turkey to do some tourist work and they've hired a new photographer.  She seemed nice also, didn't speak any English though.  Don't think Anna did either.  And yes, Anna wasn't available.  Don't know about the new photographer girl.  One of the new interpreters is available however.  I talked with her a bit and she went along with Olga and I one night as we had dinner.  She seemed nice enough, but I was impressed the most by her ability to do the splits!   Hahahaha!  There's a photo of her doing that in her profile too.  She says she wants to find her husband, so guys maybe y'all oughta look into that, dunno.

Ok I am rambling like crazy.  I just got up.  Still tired.  Still in a different time zone, somewhere between here and Russia.

Oh and KenC: sorry I didn't know your wife LenaC was gonna be in Tver or I would have tried to meet her with Olga one day.  I can understand your wife's story about rude Russian men though!  GET THIS GUYS: what would you have done in this scenario?

I didn't fly Aeroflot but rather Delta from Moscow to JFK.  Upon arriving in JFK I get up out of my seat to get my stuff out of the overhead bin.  I feel someone step on the outside of my right foot, elbow me in my right side and try to push past me.  So I braced myself with both hands against the bottom lip of the overhead bin.  The guy pushes past, goes all of the TWO FEET that were available and then proceeds to get in my face about the occurrance!!!!  By his accent it was clear he was Russian, he kept muttering things like "I'm serious" and other verbal tripe.  I just motioned for him to go about his own way but he kept it up.  My seat was near the lav just aft of the business class section, so I grabbed my stuff and walked to the other isle.  I wanted to KICK HIS F**KING RUSSIAN ASS BACK TO THE MOTHERLAND.  And I could have EASILY.  He was ALL bark and no bite but I am sure he felt otherwise.  Hell I had at least 30 pounds on the guy, what was he thinking?  Hell if I know.

Anyway, I did that (walked to the other side) because unlike LenaC's experience on Aeroflot, any physical confrontation on an American passenger flight will result in jail time, no questions asked.  There's another difference between the USA and Russia for ya!  And some BULLSH*T Russian guy just isn't worth time in jail, no thank you.  So I decided to play the "bigger man" card and just walk away.  As we exited the plane I saw him walking in front of me and found it increasingly difficult not to run up to him and open the whole can of WHOOP A$$ on his sorry carcass.  So I stopped walking for a while to create separation.  Fortunately I didn't see him again around the baggage area or anything because I don't know what I would have done...

Anyway, just out of curiosity, what would you have done?

Talk to y'all later!

Jerry

[Sohkay]

Nice photos Jerry. You and Olga look good together. What would I have done with the rude Russian? I would have avoided him, despite being able to defend myself.

[groovlstk]

Russian people are legendary for doing a chaotic rush for the exits the moment the plane hits the tarmac. I've always thought that if that passes for an orderly exit, what would happen if there's an emergency situation?

I've flown on dozens of international flights, but on only one - Delta JFK to SVO - was there an announcement before the flight prohibiting people from drinking from their personal stash

Jerry, looking forward to your TR. The best cure for jetlag is 750ml of vodka + a pizza, consumed mid-afternoon.

[Bruce]

Jerry, disgression is always the better part of valor in those situations.  The guy was probably a combination of up tight, drunk and worried.....................turn the other cheek and take comfort knowing he was holed up in immigration behind a family of slime from some third world country while you collected your bags and headed to your next flight home to Texas.  Unfortunately, our wives routinely are holed up for up to one hour as they get "processed" these days right with the slime.  Anyway, you are now 40 years old and one of the things that is a must when you are 40 is to repeat the mantra "cool, calm, collected is well respected."  Remember, 40 to 50 are the get a heart attack and suddenly die years, so please calm down big time.   Start counting in those situations and let the guy have his space.

You two look like a great couple.  I am hoping you are getting closer.  You went to my favorite event these days in Tver, the circus.  I look forward to the rest of your trip report. 

[Voyageur]

Jerry,

I definitely think that you did the right thing, to step away from the *ssh0le on the plane. Having met you, I know that you are a pretty reasonable guy and you were probably provoked pretty well. You don't want any future  K1 application stuck in the A/R limbo-world because of some incident on an airplane.  . (However, my advise is easier said than done, I do understand this).

I enjoyed the pictures and best of luck to you and Olga.

[Mir]

Jerry

How come your GF is wearing a half-sleevs blouse/shirt and you are in your leather jacket? You wimp

[av8or1]

Jerry

How come your GF is wearing a half-sleevs blouse/shirt and you are in your leather jacket? You wimp

Hahahaha!  Bite my left one.

All I can say is that I'm from TEXAS and when the temp drops below 70 F or so, it's time to break out the space heaters, parkas and muklucks in order to prepare for the howling bleak nothingness that is certain to ensue...

Jerry