Meekly's Russia Trip

2007-03-16T02:02:00.000-07:00

March 4, 2007.

Well, I wasn’t home for very long when I started making plans for my extended trip to Russia, Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to be exact. My first launch operations campaign for ILS. Fortunately, the company allows me a $500.00 foul weather gear financial allowance, so I was able to buy some warm clothes. Altho the hat, I already owned, as most of my family is well aware. Said goodbye to Cindy and left the states on Mar 4. Arrived in Moscow on 5 Mar midday, and made it to the hotel just in time for dinner. And can you believe, on the menu at the restaurant at the Courtyard Marriot in Moscow: Phlly Cheesesteak. No lie. And as you will see over the course of this blog, Philly will play a big part of my trip. It was a real steak served on a baguette with cheese and fried onions. I HAD to try it. And it really wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t like the real thing, but at least it wasn’t cabbage and cutlet from a beef. Ahhhh, snowy and cold Moscow in winter. Life is good? Picture is looking out my window at the Marriot. And the restaurant, its one of the few Russian words I know: "Pectopah"...and when you see "bap" before those words, you know you are in a "bar" and "restaurant". See...its like Piva. You have to learn the important words. :)

2007-03-16T01:42:00.000-07:00

these are the pics I was trying to show you on the last post. Sheesh, its only taken 5 days for the pics to download. It takes so long to download things here, I think all the snow will be melted by the time I get caught up.

2007-03-10T03:56:00.000-08:00

It sure is a different look at Moscow than last year. Everything is still gray, but now it is also white! Frozen rivers, everything covered in snow, the traffic even worse (and they really don't care that there is snow and ice on the ground...they still drive NUTS!!!!) One of the best things about that trip to Moscow was flying thru Germany and being able to see our boy Casey, and Caryn and Colon too (is that how his name is spelled??...*LOL*). Its just kinda nuts to think about it...being overseas and having breakfast with a nephew and his family in Frankfurt Germany. Who'd a thunk it. As you can probably tell by the new blog posts, I am trying my best to catch up on my trips of the last month or so. Had to get my January trip in before I filled you in on the launch op's.

well, I have been trying for three hours to post some pics but it won't let me. The internyet out here is sooo slow, by the time the pics download, it times me out. So I will post this note and try later to update the pics. Know that things are well, and going great. Will update you all later. With love to all from Russia...oops, I mean Kazakhstan.

2007-03-10T02:25:00.000-08:00

As the saying goes...he's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!! Back to blogging cuz I am back in Russia, and getting ready for launch operations out in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. I came out here in January for meetings with our satellite customers and our Russian counterparts, who are responsible for the launching of a rocket called the Proton. I was here from Jan 29 thru Feb 2, 2007. Needless to say, it was COLD...and it was SNOWY...every minute of every day I was here. Just a little different than last years trip...no shorts, no lake trips, no BBQ's, altho I still did bring my E-A-G-L-E-S shirt. Went out to a restaurant on our last evening here, a nice quiet place. And boy was it boring. As you can probably see by the pictures. I had a terrible time, as usual. And go figure, toasting with wodka...haven't had any of THAT since last July...*L*

2006-07-07T03:51:00.000-07:00

Before I left for home, Mark P and I had a chance to walk thru Red Square, and the Kremlin. Hard to imagine AGAIN, saying words like walk thru Red Square as an Americanski. But got some awesome pics of St. Basils Cathedral right in Red Square. I guess the colors are why it is called Red Square???.....*L* Had a great time while we were there tho.
Walked past Lenins tomb, the tomb of the unknown soldier. Need another trip thru the square to see (and take more pics) of other things i missed.

well, done for now, time for some more meatballs. From Russia with love...das vedanya

2006-07-07T03:12:00.000-07:00

something wrong when ya leave your house on the 27th of June, but ya doan get to your destination until the 30th of June. Sheesh. Sleep deprivation here we come. Got to Yas about 3 in the morning. And was greeted by a salami and cheese sandwich...the Russian way. Glad I ate on the plane. Slept for about 3 hours and sure enough as I went to breakfast, somethings never change...stroganoff, noodles, cutlets from a beef, lunchmeat, cheese, salad with no lettuce...the standards. Altho they did hit a new Poppy-esque low (Poppy would be my father), they had breaded and deep fried cucumber slices. OMG they were absolutely horrible. Pop would have liked them I'm sure. Got re-acquainted with our spacecraft most of the day, doing checks and balances so to speak. Dinner and then...guess what??...Vodka!! They didn't run out while I was away. Some pics, the Americansky security at work, left to right, Dean G-Love Glover, Tony LT Ralph, Steve Stle-man Stolle and Kevin See ya in Thailand Lanham. The other pic is me with the head *kgb* of security *kgb* Dmitry, also known as Papa Dima. And the othe rpic from left to right, Yvgeni our interpreter, the gentleman in the blue shirt is the entire HEAD of the Russian Space Organization, Director General Andreev (he likes my Eagles shirt btw, and we get along very well...not a bad guy to know out here) Vladislav the program director from Kosmotras, and Mr. Bernstein, he heads up the hotel here. Not a bad group to have your picture with. Keep them on my good side, specially anyone with a title like Director General. Just a note: it is very hard to get people to smile out here. Note the only one in the pic smiling. Maybe they were NOT enjoying my company. Oh well.....As the song says...Back in the US...Back in the US...Back in the USSR!!!!

2006-07-07T01:50:00.000-07:00

got to spend some much needed quality timed with a certain beautiful brunette, and we were fortunate enough to have Cindy's daughter Maria in for a long weekend as well. Was that same brunettes b-day June 25th (its kinda cool dating an older woman again...rowl-rowl), and we saw the Il Divo Concert at the Mandalay Bay for her birthday. Spent an awesome afternoon at Lake Mohave with Sammy and Laurie White and their fam. God it was gorgeous out. WAYYY hot but bright and sunny. Looks like a great place for a wedding...*nudge-nudge...wink-wink* Trust me, after those 18 days spent with family and friends, it was hard coming back to Yasnyi...but alas, that is where I am again.

2006-07-07T01:40:00.000-07:00

Got to see my long un-seen and much missed Aunt Judy from Texas, my pops youngest sister, who was visiting my folks for a couple weeks. I have finally met someone who takes more pictures than I do. Don't they look great together...Aunt Judy and Cindy Lyn (great necklace hun)...a couple of incredible ladies. And Cindy with (from left to right) Michaels arm, Julia Rose, Eric the E-man, Janelle and Chelsea, at Grammys house. Notice the grammy is a goofy on the board on the fridge. Leave it to my kids...

2006-07-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

Its July 7, but I want to take you all back a few days. Actually, many days. After the launch delay, I was able to come back to the states for a couple weeks. A couple of states actually, as Cindy and I were able to get home to Lansdale for a long Fathers day weekend. Got to see the kids, thanks for letting us use the pool favorite Uncle Nick, and Aunt Rick too. The kids as always had a ball. Eric the E-man learned to swim across the pool, went in the deep end and went off the diving board for the first time...way to go pal. Was a great day. Not sure if I could miss anyone more than I miss these five awesome kids. I love you guys............................

2006-06-07T05:26:00.000-07:00

but you may have noticed on the previous post the fact that the police-sky's were wearing baseball gloves. Well, perhaps the coolest thing so far happened that same day of the lake picnic. My new good buddy and Bigelow corporate attorney Michael Gold, pictured, arranged with his family in Washington DC, to have 9 baseball gloves, 6 balls, bases and a bat, to be delivered to the base for us to use on the picnic. We spent most of the day teaching the russians how to play americansky baseball. It was sooooo neat. A few of the russians had their children at the picnic, and well, after about 5 minutes TOPS, the Russian children and adults were watching us tossing the ball. We all spent the next 8 hours teaching them, watching them, laughing, it was just incredible. We...had...a...BLAST!!! Noone really understood each other, but apparently we managed to show them how to do things...how to catch, how to bat, throw. The pictures do not do justice to their faces when they would catch their first toss, or hit the ball after 2 or 3 swings. The adults as well. So many of the adults had their viodeo cams out, taking movies, taking snapshots. Its kinda neat knowing that somewhere in this HOOGE country, some local families are watching movies, or looking at pics, and seeing their children playing baseball with me, and the rest of the Bigelow team out here...a moment to remember. These are just a few pics of our newest ball players. Great job on the equipment Gold-sansky!! He even let the younger ones keep their gloves. Their little faces lit up when they found out they could take the gloves and balls home. Was AWESOME!!

2006-06-07T05:05:00.000-07:00

and as with everything else around here, if we leave the base we have ot have our security (KGB) escorts. So, you know me, I was sneaking our escorts pivas. They were my best friends by nights end. thats Nickolay on the right, Andreas on the left. Greta guys actually. They brought their kids to the lake with them. Best friends to the point where I was almost allowed to drive back to the base in the police jeep. And it would have been VOLUNTARY!!! Sheesh.,..who'da thunk it possible. We invited them back to the base later that evening and they were so happy to meet us that they brought along saled/smoked/dried fish for us to eat with our pivas. Oh my, the things I get myself into. They bring out these 3 fish, complete with heads, tails, fins, scales...was almost scary!! And they take out their sawsall *L* and start to cut these fish into pieces. Just HUNKS of this fish. Its a good thing they don't understand english. One of our boys would come up and ask me how the fish is, and I would just look at then, smilin and laughing and saying..."I think i am gunna puke any second!!" and our guests would smile as if I said...omg this is the best fish i have ever eaten. I did alot of that Seinfeld episode...saying to everyone looking..."thats some good mutton!!" and then I would spit it into the napkin. OMG it was terrible. But my new best friends just gnawing on fish scales and tails, and red meat stuff...sheesh. Making me want to skip dinner just thinking about it. But, they never knew I didn't like it. Chalk one MORE up to relations with our comradesky's. **Oh and btw, the other picture is an actual AK47 I am holding, unloaded of course, and my buddy Andreas is holding an unloaded 7mm Browning I think. Yes, they carry guns when the escort us around. They just take out the bullets for pictures.

2006-06-07T04:48:00.000-07:00

but I do want to take this opportunity to finally catch up before I have to begin my journey home tomorrow morning. Our hosts threw another bbq for us this past weekend. Sunday we loaded up the bus and headed out to a lake. About 60 kilometers from here, no paved roads again...was bouncy as all get out. But it was nice. They had a motor boat, two jet skis, beer, food, (the food in the pic was only ONE of the thinsg they served. We did have grilled pork chops again. They were awesome. Real food...yummmmmmmmmmm). Minoga pivas again, but no wodka. They don't like to drink it warm, and they really don't ever use ice around here. Must be refrigerated. We brought a little ice with us, maybe half an igloo full. I taught Sveta our bartender how to spin a beer in ice to make it cold. She was impressed with americansky ingenuity. As for the jet skiing, yeppers, that is me. I did good all by myself. To quote my darlin Cindy Lyn, I was a "big boy and did it all by myself!!" There was a tragedy tho, I lost my hat. Sunk to the bottom of Lake Somethingsky.

2006-06-07T03:42:00.000-07:00

okay, I'm back. Its Wednesday afternoon here, June 7, about 4:30, and I figure I would update and do my best to get caught up. This past weekend it was about 80 to 90 degrees most of the weekend, and it was snowing. Not literally, but apparently during the late May early June time frame, the cottonwood trees seem to lose there seeds, and then the wind picks up. Saturday was a blizzard of seeds, no lie, by days end about an inch of seeds had blow and fallen. This lasts for about a week according to the locals. It has been sort of snowing ever since. Have never seen anything like it.

And just to let you all know, apparently there has been a launch slip. A problem with the rocket avionics, so it looks like I will be coming home FRIDAY!! WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! No more ground meat til I get back. For my co-workers, I will see you Monday, and hopefully rested. For my fam...my cell phone will work soon. For my children...dang guys...I miss you, and hopefully I will see you sooner than later. As for Cindy Lyn, (in my best Pepe le Pew voice) Le Bow...le Wow...le Rowl Rowlllllllllllllllllllllllll...heheheheh

2006-06-06T01:41:00.000-07:00

The days grow long as there is really not much to do. So blogging seems to be my form of entertainment. A couple more pics from the picnic, they seem to LOVE to sing out here. (I'm trying to get them to rent a karaoke machine...heheheh). They decided at the picnic, after about 13 wodkas, that they wanted to sing. From left to right, Vladislav, Mr. Vouron, Sergei Yushinkin, and Tanya. They sanf 2 local favorites, and then we all toasted...*AGAIN*...then they turned to me and said it was the Americansky's turn. I looked around and there were only three of us, so John LaValley and I stood up and sang God Bless America. We didn;'t know the words to any other songs!!!! I was going to give them Mac the Knife, but John didn't know the words. They must not have known the words cuz we didn;t get arrested!!...*LOL* Found out later that night that Mr. Vouron played the guitar. So I got Matts guitar and he started House of the Rising Sun, Let it Be, singing it in Russian. OMG was hilarious. He plays well, but hearing the words, was a riot. So I had to sing the English words with him. Too funny.....I changed his name from vilery to Elvis. Its all I call him now, he thinks this is the funniest thing. Elvis the King Vouron. well, its Tuesday afternoon right now, almost 3, and i am off to town again. Break the monotony of the camp. More to come later, just know how much I appreciate the comments from everyone, the emails, can not believe how much I miss all of you. Once again, to all......from Russia...with Love.

2006-06-06T01:18:00.000-07:00

A couple more shots from the wednesday bbq. Thursday came and they are finally starting to realize that we are not risks to national security. They have started to set up daily trips to the town of Yazny. Hmmmmm...the town of Yasny. Built in 1961, about 30,000 people, they are celebrating their 45 years this year. No paved roads to speak of running in and out. Didn't see one stop light. The dirt roads are less bumpy than the semi-paved ones. The buildings are gray...not in color, but in appearance...old, no single family homes. Stalin and Lenin built huge Wissahickon apartment type buildings. Everyone got their own 800 sq. foot of living space, and liked it. The buildings are run down, but I am told the insides are immaculate. Never take for granted what we have in the states. The grocery store, the MAIN grocery store in town had 2 aisles of alcohol and 3 aisles of food products, and was about twice the size of a 7-11. Just different. Spent some rubles on some things. Lays potato chips, found a bag of bagel chips. No pretzels to speak of. Did find kraft singles tho. YUMMY!! People were very nice tho. They were not used top seeing Americansky's in town. Got lots of stares. We have a black guy with us, from DTSA, these people have never seen a black man. Some of them were staring in awe, hesitating, and then coming up to him to get a picture. Incredible. A couple more shots from the picnic. The gang, Elena in the dark hair, Tanya is the blonde, and Dr. Nikolayev, the other pic is later on that night, John LaValley from vegas, your truly and Vileri Vouron, the big wig from Yushnoy, our rocket supplier. There was really nothing to photo in town. Will go again and maybe see something.

2006-06-06T01:02:00.000-07:00

By the timeI finally leave this minimum security prison, I just may be caught up on blog stuff. Wednesday, Nay 31, finally had our mem day picnic. And it is possible that there has been an eagles jersey in Russia, but I can guarantee you, there has never been a BIRDMAN shirt. Who would have thought, thats the Ukrainian flag, the American flag, the Russian flag, and a couple other ones behind me. For those of us that remember the cold war, who could have ever imagined this pic. Anyway, our hosts set up a military band, and a group of local kids all under 16 performed for us. A bit of russian culture. Was a nice thing they did. The kids were very into things. They sure are trying to make things not soooooo prison-ish for us. And they actually DID bbq for us. we did have the meat and cheese plates, the veggie plate, but they grilled up pork chops cooked over logs. Was an incredible dinner. We ate like pigs. You would have thought it was the proverbial last meal. Was a nice break from the usual meatballs and cabbage. Took WAYY too many pics to post here, but here are a few. Once again, minoga wodkas and minoga pivas. These people never stop. Don't worry grammy, I stopped trying to keep up with them, but they still chuckle whenever I try.

2006-06-02T03:12:00.001-07:00

Keeping in the celebration mode of things out here, Tuesday was the last day for our friends from SpaceQuest, or as I like to call them, SpaceGhost. They laugh everytime I use that term. It doesn't really translate in Russian. I say Spaceghost at a meeting and all of us crazy americansky's laugh, then it is translated and well, needless to say, the just nod their heads. Ahhh, the language barrier when it comes to humor. Doesn't seem to be a language barrier when it comes to wodka tho. Tuesday night, LOTS of wodka flowing. These peeps out here toast EVERYTHING. "Its a day that ends in Y!!!...woohoooo...nastrovia!!!!!...drink drink drink!! I can honestly say that I believe I have had more wodka in the 2 plus weeks that I have been here, than I did in my entire LIFE!!! And somehow, I missed breakfast on Wednesday. Must have over slept. Thats Dino Lorenzini, the president of spaceghost on the right, and Glenn Richardson, the software geekhead who makes our spacecraft work. Dang he is good at what he does. As are the rest of spaceghost. Glad they are onboard. As for this evening...sheesh...first the champagne (note the abundance of filled glasses in the pic), then of course...WODKA for all!!!...the four in the pic, lower left is Uri Srgvhchanovskyvich (actually i doan know his last name), clockwise, Sergei Somethingovich, and then the dark hair guy is the one who calls me Big Mike (in a Russian accent it is kinda funny) is Alexandar Vouron, (he's naughty) but he is also the big cheese, the head guy at Yushnoy, the provider of the rocket. He is avery powerful man out here, and he is the main culprit for me missing breakfast Wednesday morning, and Thursday, but that is another story. And then the other is Yvgenyi Whatshisnamesky. He runs the communications side of things out here for Kosmotros. They are like our Nasa. Space operations for the country. The other pic is two of the chiefs out here, Mr. Bernstein to the left, who runs the operations here at the hotel and Vladislav Solovey, he is the head of Space op's for Kosmotros. Two big whigs that both seem to appreciate us americansky's. It took a few days, Mr. Bernstein in particular, but we get along great now. Maybe its the way I drink wodka, they just chuckle when I make faces. Had a great sendoff for the spaceghost guys. They sure like to party out here.

2006-06-02T02:47:00.000-07:00

Well, Sunday night I suppose boredom set in. Or else it was the wodka's. Our hosts brought in a barber in case anyone needed a haircut. Well, as you can see, I figured if Mark and I were being singled out as naughty boys, well, the pics say it all. Mark and me after my haircut. Thats the barber, she didn't smile much (she must not have gotten my jokes). And the haircut cost a whopping 50 rubles. *CBB, that is even less than YOU charge...*LOL* I kinda think I look like my good buddy Bruce Fox. heheh...But as the saying goes, the diff between a good haircut and a bad one...about 3 weeks. Thinks I will need about 3 months. But, noone has complained about Mark and I since the head cleansing. Guess it drew the crew together. The three m's and sveta played pool til the wee hours of the night...was a lil chilly on my head most of the night tho. They really have set up a nice bar/game room. American pool, russian billiards, chess sets, ping pong, it helps pass the time. I did make breakfast Monday morning. Meat, cheese and some kind of ground something. YUM..........

2006-06-02T01:54:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, and then there was the imfamous b-b-q they were going to have for us. Memeorial day came and went, and no bbq. Seems they couldn't get it together in time, so it was postponed until wednesday. Better late than never. Sorry I missed all the picnics around the globe. The grad party at Uncle Nicks, the kids are upset with me cuz uncle Nick is their fave starting right around memorial day. coincidence that is when the pool opens?? Nahhhh...they just love him. And then Cindy Lyn at nanny and pawpaw's. All the Stevens fam. Thanks for the pics Dixie (man is she gunna be mad I posted her on the blog...oh well..she is a hottie tho), altho it made me miss everyone even more, it sure looked like everyone was having a great time. Guess it was good that we were working. Have worked everyday since we got here, but that is definitely for the best. Time is going by slowly, but, more than half way done the campaign. Oh and just to let yu all know, they made the mistake of asking us about how the food was. After about 37 STRAIGHT meals of ground something, they heeded our cries. Starting to get more chicken, beef, and pork, and all of it is NOT ground up and made into shapes. We even had french fries the other night. We were in HEAVEN. Our plates looked like poppy ate out of them all. They didn't even have to be washed. *L* Not sure if I will ever eat meat loaf again.

2006-06-02T01:41:00.000-07:00

couple of shots from the party friday night. Everyone is having as good a time as one can have when one is relegated to an army base with no means of leaving AT all...less you want to take the chance of trying to get out from the fence. Maybe later next week. They can't possibly have guards out there. The M&M's in the one pic, Mark Matt and Mikey, with Sveta, short for Svetlana. She's the bartender. We LOVE her!!!! My bar tab for the first 2 1/2 weeks was 9650 rubles. Won't tell you what that equals in americansky money. I want Cindy to still be in vegas when I get home. But just so she knows, I will stop buying rounds!! A note, I was out having a smoke, can't smoke in the building, and was real quiet, they have coo-koo birds out here. LOTS of them, and at all times during the day...coo-cooooooo....coo-cooooooooo...yeppers...just like the clock. The other pic, thats jerry in the front, showing how happy he was to be here. He left on thursday morning. more on that later. Think his happiness was attributed to the meatballs and cabbage. Every DAY!! He was NOT a happy Bigelownian. Also, Anya, Mike Gold, our corporate council, and at a whopping 5'6" and 165 pounds, he is commonly referred to as Big Mike out here, there is something to the fact that he has the power. Last guy is Pete, one of our DKSA...I mean, DTSA guys. *just kidding guys* All in all agreat time. I even made it to breakfast the next morning. Can't say that about every day this week.

2006-06-02T01:21:00.000-07:00

sorry for the lack of postings. Been an interesting week. I will write these like a Patterson novel, lots of small chapters. Will make it easier to read. No long paragraphs. Well the memorial day weekend started with a going away party for our one interpreter. Cake and lots of vodka and toasting. This is Anya, she is heading off to another launch campaign in Baikenor, in the Ukraine. Not sure but I don't think that there have been to many people in Eagles jerseys in Russia. A possible first?? Being my usual self out here, our hosts seem to enjoy my antics, but some of our own americansky's don't. I think I feel better keeping our hosts smiling. So in case anyone was worrying, I am NOT in the gulag ....... yet anyway. I still have 3 weeks. Not sure if I mentioned it yet or not, but its just hard to get used to the fact that it doesn't get dark out here until like 11:00 at night. and the sun is up by 5. We asked about shades for our windows, and check out the picture. They put aluminum foil on the windows. Are we spoiled as americansky's?? Not sure how to answer that one yet.

2006-05-26T04:29:00.000-07:00

wanted you all to see some of my co-workers from russia and the Ukraine. Anna is our interpreter, obviously she is the female in the picture. and clockwise, Dmitri 1, our team doc andreas nikolayav, and our internyet guy Buff Dmitry as i have so named him. Tough having 2 dmitri's. So he is buff dmitri. He wears tight shirts all the time. But, Everyone is very accommodating to us. Seems they are planning a memorial day weekend picnic of sorts for all us americanski's. Not sure what that will entail, I tried to get them to let me do the shopping in town, but the just laugh and speak russian things to each other when I say it. So the picnic could be eating our boiled frankfurters, cabbage soup and cucumbers outside. Not sure at this point. But, at least they are thinking about us. We taught them how to make americanski sandwiches tho. So now we get the salami, cheese, and cucumbers on two pieces of bread. It is going to take some time. Not even going to THINK about teaching them what a cheesesteak is. There is talk of an orchestra for the picnic. That might be the russian word for band, but we'll see. i am trying to get them to rent a karoake machine. Maybe sing some elvis for the locals. *L* They once again just laugh and speak russian. But they seem to like me anyway. I am learning some russian words tho. besides pazhosta minago piva (that means please MANY beers). Learning some basics, will teach them all to you when I get home. Should take about 10 minutes to give you all the words I know. I'm up to 8.

2006-05-26T04:11:00.000-07:00

well, its friday afternoon and I am finally getting a chance to catch up on whats been going on. First of all, as you can see, there was only so much I could stand with the twin bed thingy. I rearranged my room and now I have a double bed. So my feet don't hang over the edge anymore. wondering why it took me a week to do it, guess maybe I thought I would be sent to the gulag. Things have slowed down to the point of feeling like I am in the army. Up at 7, breakfast at 8. they actually made us omelets a few mornings. They go well with hen fried in the dough, and cutlets from a beef. work til 1, then lunch. work til 7, then dinner. Recreation time after that. then wake up and do it again. One thing that is very different, it gets dark here sometime around 11 pm. by end of june, I could mow the lawn up until midnight. If I had a lawn of course. and then the sun is up by 5 am. Weird. And it gets me in trouble too. Couple of us decided to play cards once it got dark. sheesh. a couple hours of cards, and it was 3:00 am. didn't quite wake up in time for the morning meetings. Got another hand slap. Think I need to get to bed earlier. but hey, one oversleep in a room with no alarm clock??...I think thats a pretty good rate. Missing you all more and more every day. More to come, but the internyet doesn't work so good out here. Almost as slow as grammys!!

2006-05-22T16:17:00.000-07:00

May 19, 2006
WooooHoooooo. Late yesterday we cleared customs. So after our big breakfast of ground fish balls in stroganoff sauce, potato pancakes, which were yummy, and the russian version of hotpockets (mystery meat baked in dough), we finally got to work. Sure makes the days go faster. And we also got a ping pong table setup in our game room. So we have pool tables, now ping pong. We brought a dart board with us, but we seem to have forgotten the darts. Wish we were able to go out and see the towns around here. Would be nice to check out the culture, but it is something the locals didn't want so we stay here on the base. Did some walking around checking things out. We have a fenced in area we are allowed to explore sort of. Haven't found any old land mines or anything so all is well. Lots of cows on the outside of the fence line. The locals refer to where we are as a desert. They need to come to vegas if they want to see desert. It is more like just open fields. Some shrubs, some trees, but mostly flat. The strangest thing I have thought is that not so long ago, this place used to be a nuclear base. With an intercontinental ballistic missle aimed at the US. Now, I am on that same base and there is an american flag hanging out in the courtyard. Incredible. Can't wait to see the silo where we will launch from. Sorry, no pics of that either.

I hope everyone that is reading this is doing well. I sure miss my babies, miss the hell out of CindyLyn, miss grammy and poppy, MARIANO'S FOOD!!!...miss my fam lots...everyone. Trying my best to not be homesick. Maybe if yu all weren't so much damn fun, I wouldn't miss you so much. So as the movie title says...From Russia, with Love.

2006-05-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

May 18, 2006

Its now Thursday, and I have finally gotten used to the time changes. I keep my watch on eastern time, 10 hours later than there. 13 hours different out in Vegas where Cindy is...so lets see, if it is 8:00 am here on Thursday, it is 10 pm wednesday in Lansdale and 7:00 PM wednesday in vegas. Breakfast: beef stroganoff, some kind of fish cutlets, and some kind of crepe somethings. and of course, salami, ham, something they call bag bacon, (mostly fat and smoked not fried), jerry one of the boys that works here from vegas thinks it is whale blubber. Its not that bad, but, it LOOKS that bad. And of course cheese slices etc etc., the veggie tray, mostly cucumbers and peppers, altho the tomatoes aren't bad. Meeting at 9:30 and still can't work. things are still in customs. Coasted thru the day just organizing and trying to stay awake. Lunch here consists of you guessed it, the salami/ham/cheese thingy. A small dish of some salad, cole slaw somedays, chicken salad with cucumbers chopped up on other days, I like the salads, and then they bring out big bowls of soup for the tables. Chicken noodle, chicken rice, had borsht once, cabbage soup. It was actually pretty good. It was red tho, but good. Soups here are very good. If I didn't know any better I would think that everyone here is on the atkins diet. Meat with every meal. Hopefully we can work soon. Oh and I found out today that my laptop does NOT have the right software to play movies. Brought 15 movies with me and can't watch any of them. Oh well, I AM catching up on my reading.

2006-05-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

May 17, 2006
not sure of the time...but it is light out.

finally got some sleep. Not sure if it was sleep or a version of being dead. Arrived back on the base as 2:30 AM. Unpacked the trucks, and all the pomp and circumstance took until 4:00. Oned of the most incredible things about the trip so far was as we were in our convoy back to the base, we had to stop to use the outdoor bathroom along the dirt road. Was dark as all get out, and I looked up...I have never seen so many stars in all my life. Was absolutely incredible. One thing it told me, was that we are really in the middle of nowhere. Sat down with a few of our russian friends for a bite to eat after we unpacked. Salami, ham, cheese slices and meatballs...yu get the picture. But they did have something they referred to as a "cutlet from a beef". It was actually kinda tasty. Tried the mash potatoes, but, well, they mash them with the same milk used in cereal. A couple of the boys like it. I just can't get past the taste. But I did learn that the Russians sure do like their vodke. Over dinner, 3 BOTTLES of vodka. and well, we toasted to success of the transport, future success of the mission, new friendships, good food (they made me toast to that one), good wodka...yep..we toasted to what we were drinking. They sure like to toast. After 8 toasts, I fell onto my bed. So as I said, I'm not sure if it was death or just sleep I got last nite. Can't be trying to keep up with these guys. They are NUTS!! And I missed breakfast and lunch, so I am starved. Can't wait to see what is for dinner. I looked around the hotel for a snack bar, or a snack machine, but no luck. Figure it would be good to start work if I can't eat, but seems our spacecraft is stuck in customs. We are not allowed to work until it all clears. Maybe tomorrow. At least they have a pool table for us, two actually. One american table, and one huge russian table. I think it is a chest puffing thing. Our table is bigger than your table type of thing. Hopefully we can work tomorrow. Dinner turned out to be a small cucumber, cabbage, scallion type of salad thingy, boiled potatoes, and a sauteed mystery meat, I think it was ground chicken. It was actually pretty tasty. All in all the food here is good.

2006-05-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

May 16, 2006
2:00 PM

Was a very interesting first meeting. Vladislav's, Uri's, Nickolai's, Anya's, Svetlana's, Anatoly's, and even our own Bigelow Aerospace Russian, Boris. Interpreters just a rambling on. I would say something...then wait while it was spoken in Russian. Rather interesting. Makes me think sometimes whether what I am saying they are actually interpreting correctly. Like if I said its a pleasure meeting yu all...would it be translated..."i'm a big dork with six toes on one foot". But, thats the way it is out here. I am starting to learn words tho. Da means yes. Nyet means no. Wodka means...well...we know what that one means. And my cab driver taught me to say "pajosta minoga piva"..that means "please many beers". and after i get them I say speciva...that means thank you. But the day continues. We are off to meet the satellite at the airport. The Orsk airport. BACK down the dirt road for an hour, then the so called highway that I was just on last nite. Welcome the spacecraft and then load the big trucks and drive BACK over the highway, and then again BACK over the dirt road. Its like deja vu all over again. But luckily we have sandwiches and bottles of water for this ride. yep, Russian sandwiches and room temperature water. Think i will try to teach these folks some English words like CHEESESTEAK!! HOAGIE!!! ICE!!!!!! man I would kill for a bag of UTZ!!

2006-05-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

May 16, 2006
8:00 AM.

Once again did not sleep much, maybe 3 hours. For some reason, I was wide awake until 4 am. Up at 7:00 one good thing...lots of hot water. Down to breakfast and still feeling dazed and silly. Poppy sure would like this place. Breakfast consisted of beef goulash, spaghetti noodles, and chicken cutlets. The full tray of tomatoes, cucumbers, banana peppers, scallions, beside the tray of sliced ham, genoa salami or something like that, cheese slices, something that looked like cottage cheese (didn't even THINK of trying that), liquid yogurts and some kind of juice that is served at room temp and is mixed with some kind of gelatin. OMG it is TERRIBLE!! My first sip I thought it was like pink lemonade or something, but it coated my upper lip and stayed there. Was disgusting. I couldn't wait to have my goulash to wash down THAT taste. They do serve cereal as well, nothing like cocoa pebbles, or Cinnamom Toast Crunch. But they aren't bad unless you put milk on them. And the milk?????? room temp and I think it comes from a Yak or something. Disgusting. So many things I take for granted...and I miss every one of them. Oh well, off to meet our russian couterparts.

2006-05-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

May 15, 2006
nearly midnight

Well, after a 3 hour flight from Moscow to Orsk, crammed in a plane where I could barely even move, we made it. Now for the final stage, a bus ride from Orsk to Yaznyi. Feeling like Steve Martin in planes trains and automobiles. Funny little bus it was too. An hour on what I think was a road. And another hour on a dirt road to the launch base. An old Nuclear base I might add. Didn't think i would ever get there. Can't even begin to think of how many miles I traveled in 2 days. But it was LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. Got to the hotel about 2:30 AM local time. Starved to DEATH. Tired, thirsty. You name it. Welcoming committee made sure we had sandwiches in our fridge when we got there. A Russian sandwich consists of one half piece of bread with a piece of salami, and a piece of cheese, and butter!! YUCK. Ate it in two bites, could have used about 40 bites. Oh well, breakfast in 5 hours, I could survive. Up in the room, laughed my butt off when we walked in. Me, Mark Pierson and Matt Boyd. Three of us, the M&M's as we are referred to. In the rooms, 2 twin beds. TWIN beds!!!! I haven't been in a twin bed since college. Feet over the edge and all. And mind yu, this is a brand new hotel. Talk about 5 star. But, as with many things, yu have to make the best of it. It will be home for 5 weeks. God I hope I survive.

2006-05-22T03:17:00.000-07:00

A couple more shots from the train station. Right into the airport for our 7:15 flight to Orsk. Tickets in hand, and sure enough, in Moscow airport...handing my ticket to get on the plane...Ahhh...Mister Tee, come with us...there is problem with luggage!!! Fortunately my best friend in the whole world (at that moment anyway), Vladislav Solovey was right there with me and was my interpreter. Whisked off to security and everything they said was in Russian. Sheesh. Could only happen to me. Into the back room...(yes I definitely watch too many movies...all I could think of was Marathon Man when Dustin Hoffman was getting his tooth drilled out by the bad guy,....."Is it Safe??") But no drilling, no torture, no Midnight Express behidn the glass wall (nudge nudge). Seems one of our Russian guests is our company doctor out here and his luggage went thru with mine. he was carrying medical supplies. So shaking hands and sweaty me went back to the plane as they were closing the doors. Lost 5 yrs off my life in a russian security office, but made it onto the plane regardless. And as we were flying to Orsk, Vlad reaches into his carry bag and pulls out a bottle of wodka...shots for my new american friends!!!! So, three vodka shots later...I slept the rest of the flight. I LOVE this country!!! Thinking of staying...*LOL*....NOT!

2006-05-22T02:33:00.000-07:00

May 15, 2006
3:30 pm local time (8 hours later than Eastern time, so this would be7:30 AM in Lansdale)

On the train to Moscow airport. Train ride will be 45 minutes to the airport. Plane leaves for Orsk (a city near the Khazakstan border) at 7:15 pm. some pics along the way. (took as many pics as I could because once I get to the launch facility, no more pics of the scenery). Was a pretty cool trip on the train. Just watching out the window. Saw the Russian homeless guys standing around a 55 gallon drum with the fire going. Saw a family, with 3 kids standing on a hill waving to the train as it went by. Reminded me of the CBB and the Houn kids waving to the train out the back door on Maple. Another gray day tho. Seems like this is the time of year for it out here.

2006-05-22T02:23:00.000-07:00

May 15, 2006

well, as you can probably tell, I am catching up this blog all on the same day. Glad I took notes. Didn't sleep much the first nite. Maybe 3 hours. Woke up to a great view of Moscow. Some of the pics of the city from the 18th floor. Bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, toast juice...for breakfast. Had I known this would be the last normal meal I would eat for a month, I might have eaten even more. Or filled my pockets. Checked out of the hotel about 2 PM and waited for our comrades from Kosmotros to pick us up for the next leg of the journey. Kosmotros is the company launching our spacecraft. Nickolay and Vladislav and Stanislav met us in the hotel lobby for our train ride to the Moscow airport.

2006-05-22T02:17:00.000-07:00

May 15, 2006............................this is the bathroom in the Swissotel in Moscow. About the coolest bathroom i have ever seen at a hotel. HUGE walkin glass shower, soaking tub, and there is a glass wal separating the toilet from the rest of the bathroom. 4:00 am on Monday the 16th. Needless to say, had to hit the loo in the middle of the night...WHAM!! right into the glass wall. Some things just don't change..,.even in the country does.

2006-05-21T23:56:00.000-07:00

May 14, 2006

On the road to the hotel. Mockba is moscow. And note that there are some billboards somewhat written in English. No Mom, we did NOT go there. Moscow is a very busy city. Over 15 million people just in Moscow proper. Traffic was incredible. They do drive on the correct side of the road anyway. But it was nuts. Went to dinner out in Moscow. 5 of us crammed in to a cab. I got the front seat. There are advantages to being this size. *L* Was wild driving in the cab that night. Like I said, 5 of us crammed. No english on the driver, and they drive like maniacs. I felt like James Bond BLASTING thru the streets of Moscow, around curves...no stop lites hardly. Was a riot. Dinner was great, good food, lots of soups. Chicken sausage in strogannoff sauce, crab salad. and it only cost me 700 rubles. 27 rubles to one dollar. Not bad for dinner.

The other pic is the bathroom in the restaurant. The bathroom was in the basement, had to walk down a tunnel to get to it. Was a cement tunnel in the basement. Something tells me that this said tunnel used to be something else. Was almost creepy. Walked in the bathroom and a woman was cleaning the sink. So I waited, she just kept cleaning, and she never looked up or anything, so...I just went. She never noticed. Strange goings on out here. *L*

2006-05-18T03:22:00.000-07:00

May 14, 2006

Well, I suppose from the customs sign behind me, you can tell where I am. Started out on May 13 in Las Vegas. Landed in LA at 4:00 pm, and wisked our way to the international terminal where needless to say, we almost didn't make it. But lo and behold, at 6:30 pm and $30.00 in tips later, we were on our way to Moscow. I will NEVER complain about the length of the flight to Vegas from Philly again. Left LA at 6:30 pm Saturday and got to Moscow at 6:30 pm Sunday. Altho it was business class, and I had a fully reclining seat, and it was all you can eat and all you can drink (dang those are about my favorite 8 words in the world), it was still 12 hours on a plane. Was neat flying over the north pole. Looked down from 38000 feet and I can almost swear I saw Santa's workshop from up there. Lots of ice, lots of snow, lots of water. The strangest thing was the fact that even tho we flew for 12 hours, it never got dark outside. All in all, was a very uneventful trip. Many MANY smokers in the airport. A little different than the states. It was funny, you could have a smoke, but you had to stand near the bathrooms, which were about 5 feet from the baggage carousels. Rainy, damp and gray in Moscow. Waited over an hour for our luggage, got thru customs with no problems, but our ride to the hotel never showed up. Got a cab, 5 of us in two cabs. Talk about a language barrier. Fortunately our driver knew some english. Finally made it to the hotel about 9 PM local Moscow time. A long day.