Thoughts Archives - Chasing the adventure

About books

I just finished reading a book, of course a mystery, about the library in the small town “Hitting the books” by Jenn Mckinlay.

It felt like they were writing about us: crafternoon group (although we craft in the morning), book club, some (favorite in the book) visitors were falling asleep reading newspapers. “The manager wouldn’t kick them awake until someone complained or the snoring got too loud”.

When I finished this one, I promised myself to focus on the second book, which I checked out. Also a mystery. Not about the library, just written in the year of my birth.

Maybe I will write about it later…when I finish reading it or if I finish reading.

Yesterday at work, and I work in the library, I saw a book “The secret, book & scone society” by Ellery Adams… a mystery ( no surprises) about a bookstore. Here ‘s what I read:

“Stories don’t change much across continents and centuries. Hearts are broken. Pride is wounded. Souls wander too far from home and become lost. The wrong roads are taken. The incorrect choice is made. Stories echo with loneliness. Grief. Longing. Redemption. Forgiveness. Hope. And love”*.

All these different stories described in books can help people if they know what to read and when.

And it’s only page 4!

I literally force myself to put the book aside and do housework and hobbies.

I need to redo the sleeves of the sweater I’m knitting, sew together the rabbit’s head, ears, and body, and make a face. I want to finish the second rug for the bathroom set and put it under the mattress to straighten up. On Monday, I need to make several calls, and after all, no one canceled the work.

God help me! I gonna need it.

* quote from the book.

CarPlay

I would like to look into the eyes of the person who invented CarPlay.

If you think that progress is always good, then I strongly disagree with you.

If you know me, then you may remember that I started driving in America 7 years ago. I had different stages, with WOW! (Freedom of movement) to “OMG how scary!” and “Oh how scary always”, and “I did it!” (driving in a snowstorm and to a neighboring state), and also “Thanks to my husband” (when driving in the rain)….

All this time I’ve been trying to make the car my cozy zone, not Hygge, but simple convenience.

I listened to discs I burned by myself (a CD player was installed in the car). The music was needed to drown out Crackle’s barking.

I have installed rainguard.

I always had a phone charger and 2-3 pairs of shoes with me (I’m a girl).

There was a special blanket for the Crackle so that he does not fall on the floor if I have to brake hard.

February news-2, Tomsk, Russia

On Saturday I saw one of my long-time subscribers.

And I was just ashamed that I haven’t been writing for a long time.

The situation must be fixed, here we go..

I decided to see what’s going on in the world.

First I looked in Russian news:

February news, Tomsk, Russia

After listening to voice messages from my sister, I decided to watch the Russian news.

I started with the Tomsk news… and found a TV channel that I even didn’t know existed*. I watched one episode.

The new Tomsk oblast Governor Vladimir Mazur surprises with his activities.

-On February 8, he held a meeting with volunteers who were collecting humanitarian aid for Tomsk soldiers. He spoke about the results of his trip to the “Donetsk and Luhansk National Republics” over the previous weekend. I think on February 4-5. And, yes, the “National republics” that are now being “liberated” by the Russian army.

The governor put together a short video, most likely not by himself, and as he says, not for advertising purposes. The video is here.

-On February 10, he visited a plant that produces mining equipment, control systems for miners, etc. which are relevant for the Donetsk National Republic. Interestingly, the plant is heated with coal (!), while gas heating equipment is installed. But because of the bureaucracy, it cannot be connected. Now probably the governor’s assistants will sort out the problem.

-On February 11, Vladimir Mazur went to the ski track, took part in the marathon “Ski Track of Russia”. He published this in his telegram channel.

–Also I saw the gymnasium where my children studied. ..The director of the gymnasium (the same as 20 years ago) asked for modern security cameras and to improve the area around the school. I remember how difficult it was to get to the school grounds on rainy days. Nothing seems to have changed over the years.

How to find and lose a friend in 1 day? The mission is possible!

In short – accept a friend request and refuse the services from that “new friend”.

The story:

One recent morning, I got a friend request (on FB) from a lady named Tatjana.

I like an expression that I learned here: “Sorry, I am not sorry”.

The expression from me is “I was surprised, but not surprised.”

Lately, I started getting friend requests often, almost daily.

And I don’t do anything special: I don’t advertise myself, I don’t sell anything, I don’t write posts. However, sometimes I share photos/posts from Instagram / Telegram.

In general, FB and its younger brother IG are not my favorite platforms.

There is a joke: I like people who like me. They have good taste.

Christmas Eve Thoughts

conversation with the seller:

-Are you Russian?- the seller

-Yes, – I

-I have a Russian sister-in-law. She has the same accent. I don’t understand her sometimes. But her English is pretty good and so is yours.

-Thank you. Tell her … – I tried to tell something nice

-She has a happy life with my brother in Сalifornia…near the ocean..- she couldn’t stop talking

December 2022, Russia

The morning of December 27 looks different from my window: neither parents dropping off their kids, nor school buses. It seems earlier than it actually is.

I haven’t written here forever.

It doesn’t mean I don’t have thoughts. Let’s try to put them together.

As you know I try to monitor news, mostly Russian/Tomsk news.

Independent journalists, whom I watch on YouTube, talk about the lawlessness in the (Russian) army, when officers beat soldiers, about fires across the country, about speeches/statements by high-ranking officials.

My Tomsk/non-Tomsk friends and relatives are trying to live a normal life: they are working, preparing for the New Year holidays, for an increase in utility bills and public transport.

But, as one girl said, the news eventually “catches up” and scares with inadequacy and prohibitions

December 7, wedding anniversary.

Another December 7th, another anniversary.

Normally I would write about how good I am: what I have learned and achieved over the years. I would be proud of myself.

But not today…maybe I just got used to my new = not new life or became wise, or maybe it was just the rainy weather that affected my mood.

Back then it was not easy to organize a wedding during the festive season. But Daniel did it. I couldn’t help him at all. But time flies by imperceptibly. It’s been 9 years, wow, a whole 9 years. Now I feel more confident in some subjects. Now we can discuss everything and make decisions together.

Thanks to my full-time job, I was able to take a day off today. Daniel took half of the day off. We planned to go downtown and have dinner at a local restaurant.

We planned, and other people planned too. The local restaurant held an event, not our anniversary. Another restaurant also was unavailable to the public. The third one took us into its warm and tasty-smelling establishment.

Carmines at Candleworks is the name of the place that saved our anniversary. The food was good, a little expensive, like everything else now, the service – good too.

We returned home well-fed and with containers with leftovers. Crackle was happy to see us, as if he hadn’t seen us forever. We fed him, treated him to a cookie.

So, mission accomplished – officially our family is 9 years old now.

November is everywhere

Yesterday I wrote a post in Russian.

Just simple “about us”.

Here I will be talking about Tomsk, a little bit about Russia, and about us too.

November 20th – the 270th day of war.

The life of Tomsk goes on as usual… or almost as usual.

-Positive daytime temperatures (above 32°F) prevailed in Tomsk until mid-November, the Tom River has not frozen yet. The cold snap began on Thursday, on Friday morning it was – 20°C (-4°F) in the city.

Cloudy weather with clarifications, gusty winds and -11-13°C are expected in Tomsk on Saturday, light snow is possible.

It’s November there now. The falling snow will no longer melt, but will accumulate until April.

October, 2022

…8 months since the beginning of the war

The war has been going on for more than 8 months. It does not let me enjoy life, the weather, the sun.

By the way, snow has fallen in Tomsk. It will most likely melt. But in a week it will fall again and for the whole winter at that time.

I try to occupy my brain with something pleasant… projects in the library, projects at home, socializing with friends, hobbies. This helps for a short period, but the anxiety does not let go. Daniel said to plan the next vacation, but I can’t get into the planning mode.

I continue to watch YouTube (on various topics) and read telegram channels. And of course I learn Tomsk news from riatomsk.ru. By the way, there is an English version of the site. But it seems to have less information in it.

At the beginning of the war, someone came up with the expression that Putin cured everyone of COVID.