Random thoughts from Vladivostok

This is one of those things that makes me go Huh??? They repaved the roads in Vlad with one little twist. They pave right over sunken broken drainage grates. They just let the blacktop fall into the manhole and run the roller over everything. Here is another one they fixed after they paved the road. The came back tore it up, repaired it then patched the whole deal up. I think they don't really put the whole job on a timeline and figure out the sequencing that would work best.

Here is a shot of a car that parked in the wrong place at the wrong time. You see that brown door back there is the entrance to a rather large apartment complex. The car that we have seen parked in this spot is usually a Lexus 570 or super duper Toyota Land Cruiser (both very expensive here). We always admire the cars that park here because they are spotlessly clean and oh so close to the door. It has been our opinion that they were mafia owned. Well this guy in the little white car didn't get the memo and parked in the wrong place at the wrong time. You can see the end result. It was there for four days so I think everyone got the memo and guess who is parking there again. Yup, Mr. Lexus

See the litle white van down by the orange pylons? Allie and I think it is really a cool little van. Extra emphasis on little.

This is me with my man purse (murse) posing next to it to give you some idea of it's size. You can really get around in one of these and most of them are 4 wheel drive too. We call it a party van because you can only get a few people in it. In Russia there is a law that you must have a document giving you permission to have more then 10 people gathered together at any one time. Hence, the little party van (it's under the 10 attending rule).

Spring is really here!!!

A look out our window. This little tree was just starting to blossom and we enjoyed it so much.

On our walk to the mission office we saw these beautiful little pink and white buds coming alive.

This is the same tree outside our window with the blossoms progressing quite well.

This is our main street that we come down every day. It was torn up for awhile, as you can see the railroad tracks are being taken out. The cut stone in the forefront is the new curbing that has been installed.

Here everything has been removed and a fractured stone base has been installed.

During the project they dug a few deep trenches and replaced some water pipes. You can't imagine how rusted they were. If you double click on this picture you will get an idea of how much rust is in the water system in Vlad. Our apartment is really good but some of the other places we have lived you wonder if smelled better getting into the shower rather then getting out.

The paving process.... It is all done now except for some minor repairs around manhole covers. They are air hammering up the new pavement and repairing them then patching around the repair. Yeah, it makes me wonder if all city crews are taught the same logic worldwide.

Spring is really here. This is President and sister Pratt's landlord's camper. This baby is 4-wheel drive and meant for some really rugged terrain. It has a roll-out awning for shade and is overall pretty cool.

You deserve a break today

This is the Far East Russia equivalent to McDonald's. If you notice you can see the golden arches. Except they are upside down, even on Ronald's

outfit. They have different flavors of "Mac Chocolate" drinks. No we didn't try these because we thought they were coffee.

Here we are with our delicious lunch. It is served in a plastic bag and wrapped with a napkin. By the time you get down to the bottom the bag has an inch or two of liquid and you just toss it in the nearest garbage can. It was pretty tasty. It had meat (which we found out later was dog), onions, tomatoes, maybe some cold french fries and a liquid like broth.

Here we are with that super satisfied look that is really improving their business. I think it went like this in the mind of the Russian's. Hey look the Americans are eating here it must be good. If you look behind sister Magill you can see a KVAC tank. It is a drink that they make and sell on the street from these portable tanks on wheels. It tastes like a fermented bread drink. No I have not given that a try yet.

More of Vladivostok

This is the main street out in front of our mission office. It has been blocked off for a couple of weeks now due to work on the road to the right. They have taken out the railroad tracks and are restoring the road.

This is what it has been like for awhile. We got new curbing that is cut stone which is hand set. The whole thing has been repaved now and it is looking good. I hope that in a few days they will be done with it and things will return to normal.

The railroad tracks were actually for an electric trolley that has outlived its usefulness. This cool truck with a rotating platform came along and cut down all of the overhead wires associated with the trolley.

This is a closer view of the worker cutting the electric wires. We all hoped he had the power shut off when he attempted this.

This picture was taken seconds before he cut this cable and the whole thing snapped back at him and almost took off his head. But it just knocked him down a little and kept on working. That is one tough Russian.