da da Canada

We're in Russia now, home of the grumpy receptionists, indifferent salesmen, and large caucasian folks.

I was struck immediately by two things when I landed:

- fatigue from jetlag
- large caucasians and extremely rude customs officials, and indifferent service staff

Still, it's pretty neat being here. We're in Moscow and it's a huge sprawling city. The most noteworthy thing so far is the Kremlin and Red Square which is very historic and quite scenic but way too much walking. We need bikes except we'd be murdered on the streets by the drivers.

I seriously thought we might die on the taxi drive
from the airport to our hotel but we were saved by my fervent prayers to my God and the confident but highly illegal driving skills of our driver, Vadim. (At one point, I sucked in my breath audibly, to which Vadim responded, "Don't worry, when I do that, I close my eyes and just do it, it's no problem"). At times I wondered whether they keys to his taxi were not, in reality, the same keys he used to operate the rollercoaster in Gorky Park during his other day job, "Carnival Ride Attendant".

Turns out the travel company screwed up our reservation and we ended up at a hotel with no reservation. It was a poor way to start the trip after 16 hours on planes and in airports, but we found our way eventually so all was ok.

Da Da Canada!

3 innocents slaughtered outside our home

A few days ago, my cat set a new personal best and slaughtered 3 innocent mice outside our place.

Mouse 3 was the first to die by the paw. Mice 1 and 2 appeared the morning after, also by way of the feline. I discovered the mouse burial ground as soon as I stepped out the door and headed for church and was immediately met by a legion of flies, dutifully fulfilling their duty to waste away meat before the worms took their turn.

When I returned from church, I realized to my horror that Mouse 2 was still alive. It had a shallow breath though didn't move even when I poked it so I'm pretty sure it was unconscious. It also hadn't moved anywhere for several hours. I noticed also that mouse 1 was about 1/4 eaten, so part of its hind portion was exposed (and hence the reason the flies were already around). I will refrain from giving the gory details - suffice it to say that were it to recover miraculously in the hospital from its injuries, it would have been in a mouse wheelchair.

I was forced to put Mouse 2 out of its misery which I really hated to do but knew it was the right thing. I then cleaned up the carcasses and washed the concrete off.

When I went back into my place, the cat was sleeping peacefully on the bed. That's what you do after you slaughter 3 innocents.