MarkInTx -- UPDATE

[ScottinCrimea]

It seems the RW have the same impression of Disneyland/DisneyWorld.  My wife found the rides rather boring and felt that it was a place for children, not adults.  Next time I'm taking her to Magic Mountain and get her in a contest to see who loses their lunch first.  My guess is that she'll love it and I'll lose.

[Muckraker]

Magic Kingdom is great for kids, just hell for adults because it is always crowded and nothing there of any real interest for them.  Hell is a day at Magic Kingdom anytime from May-September.  But you do it for the kids...

MGM/Hollywood is also pretty good for kids, and not as crowded as Magic Kingdom, but absolutely boring for adults.  They have a nice Christmas lights show after Thanksgiving.

Animal Kingdom is really a let down from what we imagined it would have been.

But, my wife loves Epcot.  We go there all the time to walk around the World section where they have reproductions of different parts of the world.  Best ride there is Mission Space, forget the barfing, that ride kills a couple of people a year. 

Best park hands down for adults in Orlando is Universal's Islands of Adventure. 

But we also like just going to some of the hotel resorts like Portofino (and walking over to City Walk) or Gaylord Palms (in the summer when it is hot outside). 

My wife has had some Russian girlfriends from Vladivostok visit and they loved Islands of Adventure and SeaWorld the best. 

Muck

[Ronnie]

Howdy Mark!

I too took a hiatus from the board about 5 years ago.  Started up again in January (already have several folks put me on "ignore").  :evil:

It was great meeting you and Vika in Las Vegas in June of '03.  I don't know if Cameraguy is on this RWD or not...don't think so. 

I've moved a few times too since then...living not far from KenC right now.  Iryna (from Dnepr) and I got married in 2004 and she just got her license 2 months ago on the third try.  So tell Vika not to give up.

I want to congratulate your step son on his decision to join the Marines.  What was his name, Stas?  All my stepson's friends (RM) have joined the Navy and I suggested he do the same since he doesn't want to study, but he has declined - works as a baker at Panera Bread and lives on his own (with buddies).

We had a visitor from Moscow with us the past two weeks.  An older lady we met in Europe last year.  We took her to Vegas and the Grand Canyon and all over Southern California.  She went away completely impressed with our country.  She promised to come back next year.  She is one of those fortunate few whose ex husband is well connected and has set up their son in various businesses.  The son supports his mother not with the necessities but basically gives her a blank check to travel wherever she wants in the world.   Yet this 58 year old woman hasn't got an once of pretense in her body!  Great gal.

Let me know if you're headed out west sometime..would be good to see you two again!

Ron






 

[Ooooops]

You, wimps!      I double dare you to go on the front row of seats on Batman Rollercoaster!     

[AnastassiaAsh]

haha, just right timing for me to read all these comments about Disney World. We are going there tomorrow! 

[Son of Clyde]

You, wimps!      I double dare you to go on the front row of seats on Batman Rollercoaster!     

I rode the roller coaster at Six Flags in Crownsville, Maryland. The riders arriving before I departed did not seem so shaken up. One guy was wearing a hat. I decided if the ride was so mild I would leave my hat on too. My hat was the first thing to go after the first hill. My stomach followed it. It was a very turbulant ride reminding me of Space Mountain in Disney World. The track was nothing but steep hills and curves. It was an older wooden coaster which I have always enjoyed.

[SANDRO43]

My hat was the first thing to go after the first hill. My stomach followed it.

Going downhill, I suppose: you tasted the delights of negative Gs .

One day during a training flight, I warily observed my instructor place his packet of paper tissues on top of the instrument panel. He then said to me "Watch the packet carefully." and suddenly put the plane into a loop. The packet remained firmly glued in place, gravity balanced by centrifugal force.  Recovering to level flight at the end of the loop, I felt my stomach descending into my shoes, but positive Gs are MUCH more tolerable, and even enjoyable when you get used to them .

[Ooooops]

It was an older wooden coaster which I have always enjoyed.

When we were in Moscow few years ago we took our little niece to Gorkii Park.   There is an  amusement park there with small old rollercoster called Amerikanskie Gorki (American Hills).  She never been on one of those before so my husband, brave man, decided to ride with her.   I had an excuse not to go on that rickety affair - I had to take pictures!       After the ride they both came back with eyes big as silver dollars, she - because it was her first ride, my hubby - because it was the scariest ride in his life and he's been on many before.   

[MarkLeftTX]

Hehehe... I love the strange tangents the board goes off on...

Rollercoasters, eh?

OK... I'll chime in... when we were in the "email every day" stage of our relationship, one of the pictures I sent to her was of me and my daughter at Kennywood park (in Pittsburgh) in front of the "Steel Phantom” -- at the time, the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world. Viktoriya told me she had never been on a roller coaster and always wanted to...

Flash forward... Her first year in Texas, we are at Sea World in San Antonio -- which has one of my three favorite roller coasters of all time: The Steel Eel. We are passing it, and I say: "hey, here's your chance" and we go... Problem is that Viktoriya, actually, has acrophobia. So, as we start the VERY long ascent to the top hill, she is beside me, literally, hyperventilating... But from where I am sitting, it just looks like she is laughing.

Off we go, and about three minutes later, we are coming off, and she is shaking so badly she can hardly walk. Stas – eleven years old at the time – is white as a ghost. And I’m thinking, oh oh, maybe we should have started them off on something smaller.

To this day, Viktoriya won’t get on a roller coaster with me. I did talk her on the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood (one of my other three favorites – but it is an old fashioned wooden coaster), She wasn’t panicked on the Jack Rabbit – but she didn’t like it either. In fact, she has decided that she really doesn’t care so much for amusement parks at all.

I have her intrigued, though, with stories of Disney – especially Epcot center. I worked at Disney MGM the year it opened as a contractor… so, I have all the inside Disney lore – especially there fanatical devotion to perfection, and I have managed to pique her curiosity. But, it is really the food at Epcot that has her leaning… You have to understand that if food were the world, my wife would be Marco Polo – she loves trying new cuisines. There are some things she just loves (ie Sushi) but there is almost nothing she won’t try. Watching her eat food is like watching that rat in Ratatouille. She oohs and ahhs, and sighs… I call it foodgasms.

It’s really funny… I remember guys telling me that once I was married to a woman from Ukraine, I would have nothing but Borsch for the rest of my life, and I should get ready for mayonnaise on everything – nothing could be farther than my reality… I think I have had Borsch four times since we’ve been married (which is a shame, since I actually like it)… And Viktoriya would rather go to a new restaurant than anything.

Anyway…

@2BitBandit – good to see you still around, too.

@Ronnie – hey, long time no see… Glad to hear that you found someone. I know when we last met you were kind of discouraged with the whole thing… I haven’t heard from CameraGuy in years, either… I don’t know what he’s up to. Thanks for the encouragement on the license thing, I’ll pass the word to Vika.

[SANDRO43]

Hehehe... I love the strange tangents the board goes off on...Rollercoasters, eh?

A rollercoaster in Italian is montagne russe, i.e. Russian mountains. If I'm not mistaken, they were originally invented for Catherine the Great's amusement, a toboggan ride on tall snow mounds accumulated in the courtyard of the Tzarskoye Selo Palace - hence our designation .

[Ooooops]

A rollercoaster in Italian is montagne russe, i.e. Russian mountains.

Isn't it weird?   Then why rollercosters in Russia are called American Mountains (Американские горки)?   

[SANDRO43]

Isn't it weird?   Then why rollercosters in Russia are called American Mountains (Американские горки)?   

A Soviet attempt at expunging any recollection  of decadent bourgeois/aristocratic pastimes ?

[Ooooops]

A Soviet attempt at expunging any recollection  of decadent bourgeois/aristocratic pastimes ?

And replacing it with the name of the mortal enemy?   Nah, don't buy it.   

[SANDRO43]

And replacing it with the name of the mortal enemy?  Nah, don't buy it.   

Rebranding it this negatively would have been a reinforcement of their contempt for the activity, now wouldn't it ? Also something that goes up and down might have been considered psychologically incompatible with the granite-steadfast image of their régime, zut ?

With apologies to the OP for the absolute irrelevance of this digression .

[Bruce]

Marklfttexas - great to see you are still around.  Pennsylvannia now?  I am in Jersey.  Great photos.  Are you going to get a Dodge Challenger?   I ask because I saw the Charger.  Maybe when Victoriya gets her license you can trade in the Charger for a Chally.

[Markus]

Hey MarkLeftTx,

It's good to see you are still around. We know each other (only in text conversations) from, well, I can't even think of the name of that other board.  I went by 1weekwonder on that board. I'm Mark also. I continued as TheOneWeekWonder here for a while then recently changed to Markus. I've been married for over 4 years so that name didn't seem appropriate anymore.

I got into a debate, as you know I always enjoyed, with a lawyer guy on this board. I challenged him to answer some questions and he instead had other words for me. But, it was quite interesting to see the folks try to figure out who I was since I signed my posts with Mark. I felt a little sorry for you as some folks suggested I was MarkInTx. Now when that suggestion comes up, you can defend yourself.

I always remember one of your posts about you and your wife traveling down the road and you saw a bumper sticker that was similar to "the boss." And, you let your wife know that you were the boss. Then you continued with words that she responded with. It was a humorous post. For some reason, that post stuck with me. I've joked about the same thing with my wife.

I have a buddy who married a Russian lady who is a U.S. citizen. This man and I talk occasionally and he's still in the 1st year. He learned how strong RW are. I told him that sometimes that strength isn't in our favor. I also pointed out that AW who think FSUW are weak don't know what they're talking about. A woman can be very feminine yet very strong willed. It's the husband that gets to experience that strong will.

Take care,

Mark

[MarkLeftTX]

@Bruce: Naaa... might get a Charger though. In fact, I probably will.. I'm spinning up a new company that creates cutting edge technology for Police cars... now that Ford is retiring the Crown Vic, looks like the Dodge Charger is the heir apparent....

@Markus: Thanks for the warning... hehehe... Yea, I remember the One Week Wonder thread.

Funny thing... I've been married now three times. Once I dated for months, went through an engagement, and marriage in a church... Once I met someone from AOL, fell in love and got married in a couple of months... and once I met someone online, emailed back and forth for a couple of months, met her for a week in Kiev, and got married as soon as the INS would let us.

In none of the cases did I REALLY know the woman I was marrying  (despite me assuring everyone that I did!)

First marriage -- the one I spent the most courtship on, was the worst... absolutely miserable for years.
Second marrige -- a lot of fun, until I found out that the fun was not just confined to my wife and me (and, no, I wasn't invited for the others' fun)
Third marriage -- going fine. Not because of her being from Ukriane. Not in spite of it. Just because we are both mature enough to realize that nothing is a fairy tale, all marriage is a compromise, but when two people are committed to each other and the marriage -- it works.

BTW, keeping my pictures alive, here is my wife at the Maryland Renn Faire -- she loves these things. I don't mind sitting at the shows and drinking beer and listening to Celtic music... I hate it when she decides we have to go look at all the shops -- but like I said, Marriage is compromise.

Last year, she dressed as a Gypsy... really cool mid-riff baring outfit that had scarves as a skirt, and that created quite a stir when the wind picked up ;-) That outfit got her picked for audience participation in a show -- so she decided to tone it down this year... You can see her idea of toning it down! Skin tight black leather pants and a tight Tee that reads: Twisted Steela nd Sex Appeal".

Funny thing... more people approached her this year than last year. She got to the point she wouldn't go anwyhere without me next. Not too bad -- but it did interrupt my beer drinking ;-)



Mirror Mirror one the wall....

[Maxx2]

Hello Mark. Cool photos.

[Misha]

In none of the cases did I REALLY know the woman I was marrying  (despite me assuring everyone that I did!)

I would say that in my first marriage I knew the woman that I was marrying, but I ignored my intuition (those little voices warning you not to do a stupid thing).

Second marriage: I knew what I wanted, what I did not want, and understood where to compromise and where stand strong.

Makes for two very different marriages (second being much better).

[Cold Warrior]

Hey Mark, good to see you around. Glad to hear that you are Victoriya are well and going strong.

[CaptB]

Hi Mark,

Good to see you and Victoria are doing well. My wife is from Stavropol, Russia.....and is also named Victoria. We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary last August.


Capt B

[zebrazeb]

Adding to the history of this thread, in December we hit the 5 year marraige point!  We actually moved to Chicago area this summer.

Really interesting to see some old names I remember.  we have been through a lot togther, and it is very reminessing (spelling?) bein gon THIS message board, instead of some of the others from the past.

Hope everyone is doing great for the new year!!

[Jumper]

hi Dennis!

i did not know you relocted to the Chicago area..
We went downtown for New Years..
maybe we saw you out and about, and din't know it? lol
 

[CaptB]

Dennis,

Good to see another one of the old RWG board "geezers" doing well. Don't be a stranger. I don't post as often as I used to......but usually check to see whats up (here) ocaisionally. Actually....the wife and I may be in Chicago the end of February. It will be my wife's birthday......and she wants to go to Chicago for a weekend to see the Field Museum and eat at the Russian Teahouse. Maybe we can hook-up.



Capt B - Marc

[zebrazeb]

Hey back at ya...

Capt B...  we actually live  afew blocks away from Field Museum.  Could be an option to meet up.  The tea house is way over rated from what I hear.  It is basically across the street from Art Museum, so very touristy area.

AJ, I thought we saw you on New Years!!  Call me next time and we can hook up.

Still really interesting to see the old names.....

....Now life is more day to day, and not so much about being married to a Russian.  More about being married to a woman.  You guys know what I mean. 

We are very close to Naturalization.  Tha last step of all this stuff.

take care guys.  I think my e-mial is here if you want to drop a privtae message.