Tim yes I read your point of view up till the end...but you know I like to share my view as well...sorry if I didn't understand your words quite right...it's just that talking about average relations make me feel crazy a little bit!!! How can there be average things in unique???:)))
Well OK writing more often is great but there are different circumstances...I remember the whole Lugansk region and a couple of regions too (Donetsk and a hakd of Charkov region if I'm correct) was left without any Internet for 2 or 3 days...there was some cable cut off...and all the people had to wait until this was repaired...and the problem of stealing different cables is a very serious here, though not as serious as it was a couple of years ago, but anyway people still cables and they interrupt the work and Internet connection for the unknown time...and you never can predict that....
It's not a very strange thing here, sometimes there can be no Internet for longer then 3 days, because of the thunderstorm, or because of some things people do to provide a better Internet, there may be internet but for several hours...or not very good...so it's not something unreal, I speak about absence of Internet.
The same as with hot and cold water and central heating at winter time.
"there was some cable cut off"
I wonder which one of the "Ivans" put a shovel through the cable ;o))
In Ptichka`s city there are many blocks of flats which are owned by landlords, it is common for these landlords to turn off the water in the early afternoon in order to save themselves money if they charge an "all included rent" !!
I know many people in Lugansk who often have no water for most of the day, and its back on again in the morning, but only until the landlord turns it off again !!
And not only the blocks of flats that are owned by the landlords have such a tradition...even the blocks which are in the ownership of the country suffer from this sill rule.
In my houses we're supposed to have hot water on saturday, sunday and official holidays, but there is some repairing so we don't have hot water. And cold water is very often turned off at the day time...
One of the biggest problems is that unlike the US/UK and most western countries, each apartment does not have its own heating system !!!
The country, or landlord who owns the building has a huge boiler which heats the whole block, and to save him the expense he turns it off !!
In the West we have our own heating in (almost) every home, and regulate what we spend individually, a much better way to have things !!
Another thing which can cause heating to go off is if there is a problem with teh system, and it has to be stopped (ie a leak someplace) then when it comes back on the whole block must have the radiators bled, if like someone I know in Tashkent, the people who live in the top flat in the block are away on holiday, then you have to wait until they come back for the bleeding to be done, and until it is done the heating stays useless !!!
Ptichka:
I just wanted to say honey, Im not trying to tell you these little bits of info, I know you know about all of which I write, but I write it to open the eyes and minds of the guys who havnt been to the FSU yet :o))
I can't say am shocked about the water shut-off but still amazed though. Being a landlord myself on a very small scale (rent out two houses), If I ever tried that you can bet my butt I would be in court in a heartbeat with me having to pay renters thousands of dollars in restitution for pain and suffering.
I'll have to give an explanation of my time to half explain my letters. Monday to Friday I take my son to daycare at 6 AM. In get home at 7 PM and am in bed by 9 PM. No time for phone calls during the week. That leaves the weekends.
She speaks no English and I speak no Russian. I do have CDs in the car for 4 hours a day, but the Russian I'm learning does not make for good conversation.
Our relationship did not accelerate until 2 weeks ago when we first spoke. We now send SMS once or twice a day, but it is simple English and pretty much just the PG-13 promises of our first meeting (Oct 1).
The shortest letter I have sent is about 2000 words. So the letters are about every third day. I don't talk to my mother that often.
We have spoken on the phone 2 other times, but it was only 2 minutes each. It doesn't take long to say Hello, how are you and Goodbye. That's all we know.
I work for a water company, our guys in the field would get assaulted if the water went off for 2 hours in a year:))), I cannot imagine not having instant hot water whenever I wanted...Does this mean when I go to Chisinau, I might not be able to have a shower, think I better cut it back to a one day visit
"If I ever tried that you can bet my butt I would be in court in a heartbeat with me having to pay renters thousands of dollars in restitution for pain and suffering."
In the US or UK you would for sure Dale, but as I have mentioned in previous posts, in Russia and Ukraine, in fact in ALL FSU countries the law doesn't work unless you can pay the bribes, and the landlords have money, so they would win even if they were in the wrong !! And once they have won once, no one would bother to try to take them to court again !!! The tenants have NO legal recourse what so ever, sad huh ? :o///
In the West we are Very spoilt !! We have a legal system which although costs money doesn't cost bribes (which are always the side the judge will agree with in the FSU !!) and will in most cases protect the little man in a case such as loss of water, heating, quality of life, but in the FSU its free reign for the landlords (particularly the independent and nastier ones) to do what the hell they like. Its not uncommon for a block to lose its heating for a few days in winter, or to have hot water for one hour only in the morning, and possible No water for the rest of the day until the next morning too !!
Ditto !! My dear friend, you have no need to explain yourself to me or to anyone else, if you are happy with your current letter rate to your lady and hers back to you, then thats More than cool :o))
Please don't think I was criticising you or your girl, I was Not, just that I personally would want more commitment to writing from my lady as I give that commitment to her, if I didn`t get it I would look elsewhere for someone who was committed and sincere.
Of course there are reasons why she cannot write more often, and in your case I'm sure its perfect for you both, every one of us is different in our wants, needs and views :o)))) You don`t wanna take Everything I say to heart and get bent out of shape over it mate :o))
"but the Russian I'm learning does not make for good conversation."
"Congratulations, your hamster is pregnant !!"
"How much is the fish ?"
"My grandmothers stool is made of wood"
"I don't talk to my mother that often."
Granted, but you don't want to sleep with, have babies with and marry your mother (not necessarily in any particular order ;o)) ) !! ;o))
Trad
"Does this mean when I go to Chisinau,"
If you are in a hotel you should be fine, if you are in an apartment its going to be pot luck !! When i went to Omck, I never once couldn't get hot water when I wanted it in the apartment I rented (will be having that place again in 3 weeks I think, it was very good) but in other cities its been touch and go if the heating even works. If you are in an apartment find out in the first few hours what the hot water situ` is and arrange your life around it. If its on in the morning shower then and wash later, or viki verki :o))
In summer it wont be so bad if the waters cold, and if your girl is a hot one you are going to be glad of a few cold showers ;o))
Yes it's a need to find out when the ho water is on:) As for me, at the flat where I live now, while there was the heating season (when they turn on the central heating), which is from 15 October up to 15 April (but it may end earlier depending on the temperature on the street), there was hot water 24 hours a day...they turned the cold water off at night, but there was still warm water...but when the heating season was over so did the hot water was over...
The usual hours for hot water in Lugansk (on the main territory of the city) is from 6 in the morning up to 10-11 in the morning, and from 6 in the evening up to 10-11 in the evening. Though in the centre of the city they never turn off the hot and cold water.
And don't forget one thing...the lift may be off too...because that somebody stole some part of the engine...and this may last up to 6 months (experienced my self and I lived with my parents then, and it is the 9 floor)...or because the lift doesn't work, or because the light will be soon turned off for some time...different reasons
But hotels have all kinds of service people need:)
Really???? I know that in so called "nobleman's nest" (the region where the flats are gorgeous and there are all the service you want, not just 2 or 3 rooms, the walls are really high and so on:)so there they never turned off the hot and cold water, at least it was a couple of years ago. Maybe it changed not sure.