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Funny I can't remember seeing any salt and pepper shakers on the tables of the restaurants in Ukraine. maybe they thought you didn't need more ( which is probably true IMHO)

... in response to Salt and pepper shakers, posted by Cold Warrior on Nov 25, 2002

they probably threw the whole batch over both shoulders-I can't even whistle in the house anymore (well I do and blame it on the birds) :)
Joe

... in response to Salt and pepper shakers, posted by Cold Warrior on Nov 25, 2002

...nothing in Ukraine is black and white. (Rikataboom!)

Whatdaya expect, A1 material? I'm tired....

... in response to It's because...., posted by LP on Nov 26, 2002


the Sandman would have brought out da hook on ya....

LMAO....

... in response to It's because...., posted by LP on Nov 26, 2002

;]

... in response to Salt and pepper shakers, posted by Cold Warrior on Nov 25, 2002

I remember most places the did not have covers on the shakers. Good thing I like alot of pepper :))

... in response to Re: Salt and pepper shakers, posted by JR on Nov 25, 2002

Homes.

... in response to Re: Re: Probably because they'd end up i..., posted by wsbill on Nov 25, 2002

Take your girl some salt & pepper shakers with plastic lids.

Ya know I was watching a show the other night and it was someplace in India where they were putting a droplet of chemical on salt to see if it had iodine in it.

I have to wonder, do they do this in Ukraine ?

The bags of salt said Iodinized, but the chemical droplet proved otherwise.

... in response to Re: Re: Probably because they'd end up i..., posted by wsbill on Nov 25, 2002

someone broke into my home and stole a vacuum cleaner and a 50 foot extension cord.  In doing so they walked right past two TVs, a DVD player, a computer, and several guns.  I live a half-mile back from the road so he/she had to climb over two locked gates to get away with his booty.

When I related this story to my friends in Ukraine Victor, the translator, nodded wisely and said, "Ah, he was Ukrainian.  We only steal what we need."

:-)

... in response to Just before my second trip to Ukraine......, posted by Griffin on Nov 26, 2002

Mine certainly have entertained a few, for kicks while us two-footer's are away. Bismarck, my Dane, had a blast with an illegal just last week. I ended up, picking him (Bis) up at the police station. He had become a mascot, quicker than I could get back from Santa Barbara the next day. Bis is a local hero, superfluous of his barking...    

I'm glad, you had a talented criminal...

Vaughn

... in response to Re: Re: Probably because they'd end up i..., posted by wsbill on Nov 25, 2002

While I was in Volgograd the summer before last my FRW/FSU (Former Russian Woman from the FSU!) took me to her dacha a couple of times.  For those of you who have yet to experience a dacha, it's basically a Russian summer cottage out of the city on a small, fenced plot of land -- no yuppy "view lots" here -- the buildings were home-made out of local brick and very simple at best.  No water or toilet facilities inside, just electricity, a couple of cots, and a few beat up pots & pans -- trust me, you wouldn't want to stay there.  Her family used this place A LOT in the summer months.  In fact, that's where they got all their drinking water for back in their apartment.  Everyone who lived in this dacha community did the same - standing in line, filling their bottles & jugs with water from the local community well.  

The big attraction of a dacha is the small lot that it sits on -- it's about 95% vegetables and fruit - the other 5% seems to be devoted to the outhouse (no bench seating, just a hole in the floor) and a driveway just big enough to hold a compact car behind a locked gate.  Her family went there all the time to collect their supply of drinking water, grow/tend/water their fruits & vegetables which they "canned" for the winter, escape the confined monotony of their apartment, breath clean, fresh air which does not exist in Volgograd, and gain a sense of inner peace.

[Ohoh, I feel a rant coming on here.]

If you really want to get to know your RW then sometime in the courting process go live with her and her family for awhile.  I did this twice for a total of 5 weeks and I got a more genuine look at what made this woman tick.  Don't put all your time into, lunch at the cute bistro, dinner at the best restaurant, strolling through the romantic part of town, dancing the night away at the local hot spot, or Xxxxing your brains out in the best deal for a flat that you could score on the internet.  Don't forget to touch her more than an AW might want, and don't forget to tell her she's pretty and she's a good cook (which she is), and don't forget to go hog-wild with her in bed and talk to her after.  Go to the "supermarket" with her and the train depot to buy rail tickets (you're gonna love this!) and to the travel agent for air tickets (issued in long hand.)  Take a day and go find a battery for your camera.  Experience ALL forms of local public transportation several times and under different conditions (winter/summer, midday/rush hour?), walking, bus, van, trolley, walking, train, cab, gypsy cars that pick up hitchikers, walking, personal auto and more walking...), take the garbage out with her just to see what it is & what they do with it (you'll be amazed at this!), help her do a load of laundry (without bragging about your W&D back home), buy some bread, milk, or an Xmas tree off the back of a truck. Pasteurize (boil) the raw milk and then seperate it into butter, cottage cheese, cream.

[I told ya so... when I rant, I rant.]

Any way, that's what a typical dacha is & I just set a personal record for an off-subject rant...  SO, let's get back to the illusive salt a pepper shaker lids.  

Wsbill, you're right on the money -- this is the same deal as the missing toilet seats at the Volgograd gate at the Moscow airport, and the missing lightbulbs in the hotel rooms, and the same in the spooky hallways of my FRW/FSU's flat.  The economy is so absolutely lame in Russia that people steal things that have little or no importance to us.  Russians, after many generations of either being complacent or shot, just go with the flow -- why replace this stuff because it just will be stolen again?  The spirit of the people has, over several generations of communistic crapola, been worn down into accepting some very remedial conditions of life.  I find this quite surprising giving the educational level and potential of their people and the vast resources of their country.  Their leaders took them down the road of communism, our leaders took us down the road of capitalism.  Resource-wise their country just may have a lot more than ours.  So why don't the people have d__ley-sq__t?  Their system just didn't work as well.  That's why their women are such great catches now and eventually won't be as the most attractive ones are snatched away by you all!  Robo's prediction is that eventually, Russia will become a nation of ugly and socially unattractive women as the remnants of what you all do not choose to steal out from underneath their noses procreate with the remnant men. What the h___ - to the victor belong the spoils and we won the cold war hands down.  Grab a RW, throw her over your shoulder, haul her home, hitch her to your lifestyle plow, think you're rich, and watch your world blow up because you never even took the time to understand the nature of the woman behind your good fortune.
OR, take your time, do your homework, go slow, think about what you're doing, and with some good luck you'll end up being one happy man.

[____ - there I went on a rant again.]

Let's get back to the dacha and those salt & pepper shaker lids.  While I was there some bad, nasty characters made the rounds of several dachas in this community and burglarized many of the houses.  They broke into my FRW-FSU's place - this was discovered while I was there.  Access was through a window after they broke the glass.  My first reaction was "there was nothing here to steal."  Her family inspected the mess and knew at once what had been taken.  It was aluminum.  The pots/pans they took wouldn't be worthy of your hunting cabin/shack -- these were truly beat-up untensils.  Here's the kicker and what blew my mind.  They stripped the aluminum molding from around the rim of the formica/chrome 1940's style dinette table and they did the same with the similair trim around the counter top in the "kitchen area" (I'm talking about 5 ft. of 1" trim here.)  That was it.  They broke into the place to pick up a small amount of aluminum scrap.

And...that's probably why there were no salt/pepper shaker lids.

And I apologize for the rant but that's just me style.

"OK, now I'll take questions from the audience.  You, yes you in the 3rd row with the funny hat, what is your question?..."

Bob  

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Probably because they'd end ..., posted by robobond on Nov 26, 2002

Bob ,

I have to disagree with you about one thing : when you said , "....If you really want to get to know your RW then sometime in the courting process go live with her and her family for awhile....." ; and then went on to describe a lot of the things you could experience with your RW and her family that will really help you to find out what she's really all about....

You called that a 'rant' ; I call it GOOD SOUND ADVICE !

Thanks

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Probably because they'd end ..., posted by robobond on Nov 26, 2002

Bob,
I just would like to share a personal story here.  In the mid 50's my Russian Grandparents bought a shack/cottage much like you describe.  As my family lived in Detroit, their "cottage" was across the river in Canada on Lake Erie.  The only difference was that they didn't use it to raise veggies & fruit and it did have an indoor toilet.  No shower or bathtub though.  The fresh fruit & veggies were easily purchased from the many local farmers.  The cottage was decorated in early Salvation Army with about every discard my Grandpa could obtain.  The real prize finds were old sofas (AKA Davenports in Canada) that folded down into sleepers as my Grandparents' cottage was open for any and all friends and family.  At times they slept nearly 30 people (including children) for the night.  My Grandparents would leave their modest, but nice, suburban home and live in the cottage for the entire summer.  My Grandpa could commute to his factory job in downtown Detroit without too much hassle.
_
I was fortunate enough to spend many summers in this shack with my Grandparents.  A typical day would include a predawn hunt for nightcrawlers, followed by fishing for as many Perch as one had bait for.  After cleaning our catch for a later dinner, we swam, boated, and collected wood for the nightly bonfire on the beach.  At the bonfire, the adults would drink a few too many Labatt's and always break into singing.  This singing usually was supported with a neighbor's accordion or guitar.  These are times I still charish.  When I explained all this to my wife, she knew I "got it" when it came to dachas.
KenC

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Probably because they'd end ..., posted by robobond on Nov 26, 2002

I know some people who make a living collecting aluminum cans in the US but i can't guess how much they make for it in the FSU. Anyway thank you for your rant. I appreciate you sharing this with us.

... in response to Recycling, posted by Cold Warrior on Nov 26, 2002

as metals are like currency.