We Took the Win Out of BIN

It has been a very quiet day here in Moscow. It is an official holiday so the traffic is very sparse; many roads are blocked off for various races, marches and demonstrations so getting around is a breeze.  I took a three and a half hour walk today, mostly around the river - and with the exception of the Zoo, there were hardly any people on the streets. The river tour boats are in full swing and many were hosting what looked like large family parties, very festive and judging from what I saw, alcohol was being served in vast quantities.  I know I go on about public drinking but it is just at a level of magnitude here as to be unbelievable.  I was walking though a quiet little park near a bend in the river and there was a well dressed grandfather sitting on a bench with his five or six year old grandson, and the guy reaches into his bag and cracks open a half liter of Johnnie Walker Red and takes several large gulps.  It is amazing.

The Zoo was aptly named today. I’ve never seen so many people waiting to get in. The cars were double and triple parked and the traffic cops were making a fortune taking bribes to allow these clowns to park wherever they wanted. It made it impossible for anyone to walk around the Zoo area since the cars were everywhere blocking sidewalks, crosswalks and lanes of traffic.  Again, it appears I’m the only one who really cared since everyone else seemed unfazed walking in the street and dodging traffic to get to the Zoo.  Perhaps I do need to drink during the day the way they do.

Scallops, Sausage and Vegetables

Dinner last night was a lot of fun to make.  I had purchased some frozen scallops that I wanted to try so I defrosted them and then made sure that they were completely patted dry of moisture before sprinkling them with pepper.  I first made some caramelized carrots, onions and garlic, then I tossed some fresh spinach in a bowl with a light sesame dressing.  I took some of the Polish sausage from the night before and cut it into chunks.  I heated a pan with some butter and added the scallops tossing them until they started to turn nut brown. I added the sausage and continued cooking for another two minutes.  Meanwhile I had reheated the leftover risotto and got two warm plates ready for the food.  I placed a nice bit of the spinach on the plate, added the scallops and sausage to the top of that, carrots on one side and risotto on the other and raced the plates to the table where Cindy had already pour the ice cold French Chardonnay.  The dinner was filled with flavors and color and great aromas and was as much fun to eat as it was to create.

With the demise of bin Laden by a talented SEAL team (way to go Kent), Moscow has cordoned off the roads surrounding the US Embassy, just in case some nut jobs want to punish us.  The Russians are not very fond of Muslims, especially since last week when one of the leading Muslim clerics suggested placing the Islamic Crescent

on the Russian Flag. I have a feeling that the Embassy will be well protected by the Moscow police as well as by our contingent of well-trained Marines.  Now if only we could figure out a way to get the hell out of Afghanistan for good, and I mean get everyone out of that corrupt country, we might be able to find a better use for our tax dollars than pouring them down that rat hole.  Here is just one of hundreds of projects that we are funding that get nowhere and the only ones who benefit are the corrupt warlords.

This was sent to me by one of our faithful readers in Australia. For any of you with children, grand children or think you might live to be 110, this will be upsetting!

The Ministry of Central Heating decided that May 1^st was a good day to turn off all of the heat to Moscow.  For the past several weeks they have turned it off during the day and on at night, but now it is totally off.  Guess what?  The temperatures today and yesterday never got above 55° in the day and at night it has been in the high 30s and low 40s.  Sometimes you just can’t win.  I’m sure that some committee is meeting now and deciding to turn the heat on again, which will guarantee that our temps will soar into the 70s.  In the meanwhile, we wear sweaters in the house and eat hot soup. 

Ciao for now, Cindy and Wm.