I have now finished creating a suitable map to use with the GPS Tuner application I mentioned previously. With the three calibration points configured, and the best points of interest discovered and precisely located via Google Earth, Alex, ChrisD and I should all be able to get to anywhere we need no matter what time of day, nor our alcohol intake levels 🙂 I also installed the Google Earth application yesterday on the in-laws PC; they seemed to enjoy finding all the major buildings and areas here in Kazakhstan, and Ira’s mum was able to check out the village she grew up in, over in Moscow!
Aug 05 2007
Mini-Dashas / Karra and Muska v2 On The Way?
Well it looks as though Dasha may be giving birth soon! See previous posts for last year’s result – our very own Muska and Karra 🙂
Anyway, Dasha is now acting a little strangely, so Ira found her favourite box she likes to give birth in. Later on in the evening, Dasha was trying to paw open some of the drawers in the study, again, apparently she tries to build a nest in them sometimes. Not sure if nest is the right word, but you hopefully know what I mean.
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Aug 04 2007
Just Chillin’
Well, with what was a complete (but pleasant) shock for us, well me at least, the A/C guys arrived almost on time, and proceeded to fit both the internal and external units today. I think Ira and I are going to take a while to find a temperature and fan setting we can agree on – I prefer to feel cool in a house, Ira likes it snuggly and warm. Anyway, I took a few shots whilst the guys were working, mainly to stop myself from getting too impatient, and secondly, in case they caused any major problem with their scary drills. If there was any argument about the situation before and after they came, I wanted undeniable proof. Anyway, no major problems, and all seems to be working well, apart from there being some dripping onto the external unit’s supporting brackets.
So, here we have the units still boxed, with a mere promise of cool times to come. I still did not believe it would all work out within one day. Cynical? Perhaps, I have just tried to lower my expectations in some areas here in Kazakhstan. Otherwise you get stressed over matters you have no control over…
Here we have the proposed site for the internal unit, we had to move the furniture and relocate the curtain, see the next text for why…
This is a serious drill bit. It took two people to safely lift and lower it…
It was not too hot inside today, still one of the installation guys could not handle wearing anything on top.
Here we have the external unit being drilled into place outside the bedroom balcony…
The end… All units in place, cool air (finally, some twelve months after initial decision to get some AC sorted) flowing through the flat 🙂
Apologies if this particular post has not enthralled my regular readers to the normal level, I am just so damned chuffed at having it in place and working finally. Even the CPU has dropped a couple of degrees when working under full load!
I am so looking forward to being able to be fully dressed whilst working at the PC. (Before anyone starts projectile vomiting, I’m not talking indecent, just when it hits 32 degrees, sitting on leather gets a little too hot to keep your jeans on, if no one else is around 🙂 ).
Aug 04 2007
Great Find In The Park
This evening, Ira and I went to find a new cafe to eat at, in Astana Park. Her parents had told us about a place that did good sashliq, and was not too pricey. When I discovered which one it was, I had my doubts straight away; a couple of months back we went in there, and walked out straight away, as the air was incredibly stuffy. Luckily the evening was still warm, so we plonked ourselves in their outdoor seating area.
The food was good, I had beef sashliq, which for once was cooked properly all the way through, but still retained some juiciness and flavour. Anyway, to the next person that comes out to visit us, we now have another local cafe/restaurant that we will be happy to take you to 🙂
PS Walton/Asel, if you read this, we may just have found a new Cafe Shimkent… it was a little more pricey, but the surroundings certainly make up for it, and the food was great.
PPS Walton, the vodka was cheap 🙂
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Aug 02 2007
Get Well Soon
Irina’s dad is currently in hospital, taking some tests to try and discover what his illness is being caused by. I wish him a speedy conclusion to the tests, and an even speedier recovery.
Just in case he should ever see this post (doubtful) – ???????? ????????? ??????? ?????
Actually, that appears to be more like ‘you will obtain the best way soon’, hopefully ???????? ????? is a little closer? I’m sure Ira or Oleg will be along soon enough to help me out 😉
Oh, if you are reading this Oleg, have you made contact with Mum & John yet, to confirm to them if you are able or not to come and visit them this year?
Aug 01 2007
Tin Cans Upgraded
Ahhhhhhh, the first of the month. Not a reference to a BLACKstreet track, merely a report on our ADSL connection now being back to its awe inspiring 256KBit status. Until I have used 3 Gig of internet traffic, then it is back to 64Kbit download, 32Kbit upload once more. Last month saw 16Gig of downloaded traffic, and I did not even grab any large torrents…
The part that made us giggle is when Ira asked our ISP why the speed had not been reset at the beginning of the month… It turns out they have to go and manually re-assign my speed in their system – there is no automatic reset each month. Which makes me wonder if we can find out whether the same person is responsible for limiting the speed each month. If so, I wonder what his vices are… perhaps a bottle of vodka would enable him to forget to restrict my speed each month… I’d feel a little bad doing that in Britain, but as life is approached differently here, if you can’t beat them, join bribe them 🙂
Hopefully we will get a 1024Kbit connection soon, unfortunately you need to visit the ISP office in person, and they keep the same hours as Irina does at work.
If we do get the upgrade, it will cost the same, and the limit to 64/32Kbit kicks in at the same point, so I don’t really understand why anyone would ask for a lower speed… (They originally did not mention that prices were the same for an unlimited account at different speeds).
Aug 01 2007
Plus One On The Amsterdam Trip
Sadly, it isn’t Irina who can now come, but instead AlexC is now coming as well. Let me rephrase that… I’m sad Ira can’t come, but happy that Alex is coming. I hope that is a little clearer?
Now there are three people, I’m hoping at least one of us will remember how to get back to the apartment at all times, if my GPS, PDA and Smartphone batteries all die by the end of each day 🙂
Hopefully either she or I will be updating our blogs whilst out there – worst case scenario is we write posts when we return to Britain, but I’m hoping to at least make some sort of draft notes each day, in case my memory gets too hazy.
Jul 27 2007
Trip Planned
Unfortunately, ChrisD is not able to make it over to Kazakhstan this year. On the plus side, I am meeting him in Amsterdam for a few days of relaxation, and then travelling onto Britain to see family and friends. (My brother’s birthday is something I was hoping to get back to the UK for, and now it is sorted 🙂 .) Unfortunately Irina does not have enough holiday left to come as well, but we will all be back in Britain around Christmas time.
Anyway, my travel details are as follows :-
Leaving Astana 21st September 08:50
Arrive Kaliningrad 21st September 11:00
Leave Kaliningrad 21st September 12:50
Arrive Amsterdam 21st September 13:55
Spend 3 nights in Amsterdam, at an apartment with a view of the canal, that belongs to the Hotel Amstelzicht.
Then on to Britain…
Leave Amsterdam 24th September 18:20
Arrive Birmingham 24th September 18:40
3 and a bit weeks in Britain to say hello to family and friends. Hopefully fit in Evesham and Cheltenham, then Swansea (well Clydach actually), then down to Falmouth for my bro’s birthday.
Then…
Leave Birmingham 16th October 06:25
Arrive Schipol 16th October 08:50
Leave Schipol 16th October 16:15
Arrive Kaliningrad 16th October 19:15
Leave Kaliningrad 16th October 21:35
Arrive Astana 17th October 05:15
(All times are local)
I am going to miss Ira like crazy, but I am looking forward to the break immensely, and it will be really good to see Nick, Mum, John, Dad, Jan and some Cheltenham friends as well.
Pink Badger
Why that random phrase? One of the main reasons I am posting this flight information is so that if family want to know the details, or I am not at home, I or they can just search for a unique (I’m pretty sure I did not include it anywhere else 😉 ) phrase on this blog, and know they have the right post immediately.
You never know, perhaps pink badger is also a popular search engine search term, and I will increase this site’s traffic…. Not too likely though.
Jul 25 2007
Eagle Eyed Ira Spots Flooding (Pictures)
Many thanks to Irina for spotting the following pictures covering the ongoing problems in Gloucestershire with the recent flooding.
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Jul 23 2007
Brown Holds Emergency Meetings Re. Floods
The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, held a Cobra committee (Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms) meeting regarding the response to the national flooding problems. Glos.’s Gold Command emergency response team was represented by Tim Brian – it’s head. He was included in the meeting (via a phone link up) as my home county (Gloucestershire) was one the hardest hit counties. There was the normal amount of slopey shoulders and buck passing, as the government has come under fire for not providing help to prevent the flooding, and assistance to clear up the mess. Some have stated the current military deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq had made their assistance difficult in areas; the response was, no that isn’t the case, anyway, sandbags are the local council’s responsibility…
hey ho.
On a more positive note, it looks like there will be more funding put in place for proper flood defence systems in the future – whilst these may not completely prevent future floods, they may help to stem the flow, and give better warnings.
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