I’m hoping that Mum and John are having a good time down in Falmouth, where they’ve parked their caravan to have a mini-break away from the stresses of work and see Nick, Ros and Ros’ mum. Last year they made the decision to sell the motor-home they had toured round in, as it was a little impractical to drive it down some of the narrow country roads you find in the more picturesque areas of Britain. I’m hoping we’ll see some posts from John on their trip, with a few photos, upon their return, as John has come on leaps and bounds in terms of regularly posting.
Oct 08 2009
Fourth Time Lucky?
We haven’t had a lot of luck with UPSs (Uninterruptible power supplies) over here in Astana. In three and a bit years, two have broken (one the battery definitely died, the other was never diagnosed) and the replacement one I bought a couple of days back didn’t ever work.
Anyway, to be fair to Planet Electronica, where we bought the 3rd UPS from a day before the final choice, they didn’t quibble over their product not working, nor insist on sending it back to Almaty for testing before issuing a refund. However, as the unit didn’t come with a power cable, and was supposed to, I am slightly tempted to go back in a week or so and see if the model is on sale again (it was the last of their stock), and if so look into DNA testing to check if they are simply re-selling a lemon in the hope someone won’t bother to return it.
So, this time, I’ve gone for a simple model (limited LEDs, no graphic display on the unit for exact incoming voltages etc) from a different supplier, not assumed that the big names would automatically mean a longer lasting model, and also took the opportunity to get a higher capacity unit (1250VA/~600W). Although the configuration has been set to initiate an automatic hibernate procedure when the battery gets too low (useful if we aren’t at home when the power goes out), I should get around 20 minutes to continue my work before that point is reached – plenty of time to finish off e-mails or posts and save/publish.
hmm, just noticed that although the powered USB hub, monitor and PC itself are protected by the UPS, the router is plugged in to the mains directly. Will need to see if I can wire up a free standing UK mains socket (the router comes from Britain) to a cable with a male IEC connector to make sure the internet connection isn’t lost either.
[edit]
OK, thinking about it, I need my portable hard drives covered as well, so I’ll probably just wire up a UK 4-way mains extension lead and replace the plug with the kettle lead socket (like the one your PC has on the back). The UPS is only currently running at around 20-30% of maximum load, and even if I’m using both drives and on the internet, I can’t imagine the current drawn is going to be massive.
Aug 24 2009
Kittens Available Soon In Astana
Tishka (Dasha’s daughter) has had four kittens this Sunday, and once they have been weaned and are ready for the big wide world without their Mummy around, they will be available (free) to anyone prepared to give them a good home.
So, if you live in Astana, know how to look after cats, and are interested, click the Contact page for e-mail addresses etc., or leave a comment here.
(Fairly) Obviously, the image above was just a google search, as the kittens themselves are very small, and living over at the in-laws. Will try and grab some proper ones next weekend. By which time, Dasha, these kitten’s Grandma, may have had her litter.
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Aug 19 2009
Night And Dawn Lights
Just a single image this time, snapped on the 29th June. To the right you can see the new bridge, with its lights that flash and change colours. In the middle you have Astana Tower, which is inter-connected with Ramstore (or Pam-C-Top if you’re Mum 🙂 ) and the North Wind ‘pub’. Finally there are some residential flats. In between us and those buildings, in the dark, we have the main road, tennis courts & gym, Astana park and the river Ishim.
It Looked Prettier At The Time...
Ah-ha, found another image, before we covered all the windows with mosquito screens, this one was taken on the 3rd July. You can see the rainbow effect here, though obviously the fact that the colours rotate across isn’t so obvious 🙂
Dawn Breaking - Lights Changing On The Bridge Over The River Ishim In Astana
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Aug 17 2009
Dasha&Tishka(in-laws’ mum+daug…
Dasha&Tishka(in-laws’ mum+daughter cats)both heavily pregnant.Wondering who will produce first.Aunty Sasha returning to Russia this evening.
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Aug 12 2009
Third Snap Happy Day In A Row
A day after Irina’s Mum’s birthday, (so that is the 12th of August. In case you’ve forgotten, I don’t really have some OCD thing going on with dates, it is just that I’ll eventually be altering the dates on any posts with Anna photos in them, for later importing to her blog), I think Aunty Sveta and the rest of the family from that area in Kazakhstan were leaving. Anna had coped very well with all the attention from lots of new faces the night before, and continued to impress us all with her willingness to be the parcel in a game of pass-the-parcel once more (hugs were much in demand).
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- Aunty Sasha And Anna In Her New And First Ever Dressing Gown
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- Outside The Front Of The In-Laws’ House
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- Irina And Anna. Anna Seems To Find The Photographer’s Left Ear Very Interesting
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- Big Family Shot
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- Granddaughter And Grandparents
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- Babushka, Aunty Sasha And Anna
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- Dedushka And Anna On The Swing
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Aug 11 2009
Father-in-law toasts mother-in-law
Father-in-law toasts mother-in-law on her ??th birthday. http://twitpic.com/di4ci
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Aug 11 2009
Ira’s Mum’s 60th Birthday Party
Another post where I can easily remember the date for Anna’s photos, as Irina’s Mum’s birthday is one day after our anniversary! So, these shots were taken on the 11th August, at a restaurant called Attila in Astana. Yes, I mis-spelled the restaurant in the post linked to.
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- Part Of The Meal At Attilas In Astana
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- Chris Anna And Irina
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- Family Shot Outside Attila
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- Two Roses Amongst Flowers 🙂
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- Friends And Family Outside Attila In Astana
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- Shot Of Attila’s Exterior Landscape
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- More Family Friends With Babushka At Her 60th B-Day Celebration
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- Losha, Evgenya (Babushka) And Genya
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- Family And Friends Again
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- Aunty Sveta And Her Friend
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- Babushka Holding Anna Outside Attila
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Aug 09 2009
Blinnay Have Returned
Ira’s Mum has made pancakes again. Yum. OK, they are more like scotch pancakes (so not called blinnay in Russian, but I’ve forgotten the word Ira told me earlier, and she is asleep right now), but I like both types equally. Anyway, I happen to know there are a few left on the kitchen table downstairs, so the next time I nip out (writing these posts in the bedroom) for a cigarette, think I’ll grab a couple 🙂 That said, I’ve recently noticed that Anna can actually partially perch on my stomach when I’m sat up, so maybe I’ll just grab one pancake tonight.
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Aug 09 2009
Aunty Sasha Visits Again
This time (9th August) it was for Ira’s Mum’s 60th birthday (pictures to come of this event that occurred a few days later, will appear in a couple of posts time), but Aunty Sasha also seemed very happy to make the long train journey from St. Petersburg to see Anna again as well. This is the last post I’ll write until I get around to uploading the last remaining Anna videos to YouTube, so apologies if there a few days pass before more Anna photos appear.
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- Irina And Anna
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- Aunty Sasha And Anna Smiling
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