Back from Ukraine/Czech

[slim 1,514]

It's not the size of the scope, it's the magnification.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

It's not the size of the scope, it's the magnification.

I could go so many directions with this.

[slim 1,514]

Just like the shooters that say, "It's my gun. Something's wrong with my gun."

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Just like the shooters that say, "It's my gun. Something's wrong with my gun."

When I was learning to shoot skeet I was having trouble hitting crossing targets. I told my dad there was "something wrong with the gun" He took the gun, my M12 20 ga I still use for skeet, and jammed 4 shells up the magazine and told the target guy to "throw four...pull it!" The guy pressed the "doubles" button twice and my dad crushed all four targets as fast as anyone could shoot an autoloader. He handed me the gun back. "Nothing wrong with the gun, you are shooting behind them"

He told one guy he needed to trade in his Perrazi for "A Model 870 and $4000 worth of practice" He was a drill Sergeant to finish out his career after WW2 and kind of an R. Lee Ermey kind of guy. But he no sh*t knew how to shoot.

[slim 1,514]

"A Model 870 and $4000 worth of practice"

I see so many shooters show up with, literally, thousands of dollars worth of gear only to get outshot by a 10-year-old girl with a pink Cricket rifle. There's something to be said for spending that money on training and practice instead of hardware.

I especially like the part in that video I posted where the guy recommends buying a .22 and practicing with it. That's about the same as an 870 and $4000 worth of practice. It's not the hardware...

[blahblahbl.. 1]

Brad and Vika, do you have any photos from your last trip to Odessa? I fondly recall the Potemkin stairs and Primorsky, very busy when I stayed there several times in 2009. Restaurants were packed with foreigners and their dates/interpreters. Agencies thrived on western visitors spending dollar after dollar. Clubs were full, as I posted in the below video taken in July. I would be curious to hear about Odessa, as my wife and I have not returned since April of 2010. Thanks. Ned

Edited January 14, 2011 by blahblahbl..

[Brad and Vika 129]

Brad and Vika, do you have any photos from your last trip to Odessa? I fondly recall the Potemkin stairs and Primorsky, very busy when I stayed there several times in 2009. Restaurants were packed with foreigners and their dates/interpreters. Agencies thrived on western visitors spending dollar after dollar. Clubs were full, as I posted in the below video taken in July. I would be curious to hear about Odessa, as my wife and I have not returned since April of 2010. Thanks. Ned

Gotcha

[blahblahbl.. 1]

Sweet photos! Thanks for posting them. Such a cool place to visit. Guess my wife doesn't think so - she lived there her whole life and has only been here in the States for (almost) 9 months now - but we have fond memories and your photos bring them back. I picked a nearly dead flower from that garden for my wife the first time we met, at that fountain off Deribasovskaya. She still chides me for not buying them from the nearby shops. We were both alone and walked to Steakhouse for dinner. There's a gym called "Champion" on a side street between Ekaterinskaya square and Primorsky, used to cost 15 hryvnia per day, I remember walking there from our flat above the McDonald's, right past that 'Mexican' restaurant which I loved because it had the closest thing to real margaritas I could find in the city. Anyway you're right it looks less busy, guess I just couldn't resist the temptation to reminisce. Thanks!

[Brad and Vika 129]

Sweet photos! Thanks for posting them. Such a cool place to visit. Guess my wife doesn't think so - she lived there her whole life and has only been here in the States for (almost) 9 months now - but we have fond memories and your photos bring them back. I picked a nearly dead flower from that garden for my wife the first time we met, at that fountain off Deribasovskaya. She still chides me for not buying them from the nearby shops. We were both alone and walked to Steakhouse for dinner. There's a gym called "Champion" on a side street between Ekaterinskaya square and Primorsky, used to cost 15 hryvnia per day, I remember walking there from our flat above the McDonald's, right past that 'Mexican' restaurant which I loved because it had the closest thing to real margaritas I could find in the city. Anyway you're right it looks less busy, guess I just couldn't resist the temptation to reminisce. Thanks!

If your flat was above the Mickey D's, you must have been at OES. We stay there too, and walk through that park every visit. The mexican place on Ekaterinskaya also has live Jazz on the weekends sometimes. I didn't even know there was a gym close by. I buy flowers from the vendors in Cathedral Square at the end of the block usually. The great new sushi place I wrote about recently (Yakitoriya) is back up the street where the big casino used to be, almost above O'Neil's. The top floor of that building is a poker club now, but the lower casino is a restaurant - since the casinos have all been officially closed.

[blahblahbl.. 1]

Yes! On my first trip to Odessa I had reservations at Hotel Ayvazovsky on Bunina St. Sat next to a guy from Texas on the plane, he told me about OES. So I met Scott and Irina and Yulia, and I've been staying at OES ever since. Funny story, on my first stay at OES, I asked Irina out and she said yes. But Scott was having a "ladies' night" and I ended up leaving with another girl. After that Irina wouldn't talk to me. Which ended up a good thing because I ended up meeting my wife. And now I must delete this post...

[Brad and Vika 129]

Yes! On my first trip to Odessa I had reservations at Hotel Ayvazovsky on Bunina St. Sat next to a guy from Texas on the plane, he told me about OES. So I met Scott and Irina and Yulia, and I've been staying at OES ever since. Funny story, on my first stay at OES, I asked Irina out and she said yes. But Scott was having a "ladies' night" and I ended up leaving with another girl. After that Irina wouldn't talk to me. Which ended up a good thing because I ended up meeting my wife. And now I must delete this post...

Scott is a decent guy, but honestly OES has had its share of problems in the down economy. We had a room last time that reeked of mold (from under the shower platform), and had some of the typical Ukrainian problems (TV doesn't work, etc.).

But seriously, try Yakitoria.

[slim 1,514]

I miss being overseas. The scenery is just so much different in the clubs.

[Brad and Vika 129]

I miss being overseas. The scenery is just so much different in the clubs.

Wouldn't know.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I miss being overseas. The scenery is just so much different in the clubs.

Thats why I married some of it and brought it here.

[Brad and Vika 129]

I wonder what the ugly weather is doing to Ukraine now. Has anybody been there recently to comment? Vika says that the weather doesn't stop school or anything typically (although extreme cold does - I imagine all that cold air causes the kids in school to drop like flies ). Kind of like the Brits and rain, just get a brelly and go.

Edited January 28, 2011 by Brad and Vika