WTF! I cannot believe she said that!!!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I was shocked enough that she said the US was better (in some ways), and she would rather live here. Not looking for any direct slams against the motherland soon though

So she comes home from class last night, it was cold and raining. I hear the garage door opener and a couple minutes later she comes through the door into the house after dropping her shoes and coat at the shoe station before entering. I asked her "So how is the garage door working out for you?"

"Great! I love it! Push the button. I love pushing the button. It is a good life...push the button and everything happens. You should always make sure I can push buttons"

I guess that means it is better than walking from the bus in the rain and going up 5 flights of stairs and taking her shoes off in the stairway. D'ya think?

[Brad and Vika 129]

So she comes home from class last night, it was cold and raining. I hear the garage door opener and a couple minutes later she comes through the door into the house after dropping her shoes and coat at the shoe station before entering. I asked her "So how is the garage door working out for you?"

"Great! I love it! Push the button. I love pushing the button. It is a good life...push the button and everything happens. You should always make sure I can push buttons"

I guess that means it is better than walking from the bus in the rain and going up 5 flights of stairs and taking her shoes off in the stairway. D'ya think?

Gee - I don't know.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I had to dig up this thread as this is definitely in the "I can't believe she said that" category.

So Alla is saying last night how expensive it is to live here compared to Ukraine. This was also during one of our discussions about me retiring and how much income we would have if I did so. Blah, blah, blah. Her uptake as usual was "So it is enough, maybe not just to go fly anywhere we want anytime...but enough, yes"

I said..."So we can just live in Donetsk for maybe $500 per month for both of us and you can teach English and then we will have enough to fly anywhere when we want"

NO! Ukraine is a horrible place.

"Vooooooooowhat?????!!!!"

Yes, I will find you dead on the street and no one will even pick you up, here they will at least take you to the hospital and call me.

"Are you serious?"

Yes...we will not live in Ukraine. NO WAY!

"So why do we keep the flat there? I thought it was so we can live there"?

No, it is for visiting. It is cheap so why not?

"OK"

No way...live in Ukraine! Are you crazy? Especially Donetsk, it is just horrible there, so dirty. The air is dirty the water is dirty the street is dirty. Even my mom says "You got out, do not come back!"

"Voooooooowhat?"

No way, don't talk stupid. If you want to live somewhere else it should be warmer, Ukraine is not warmer either.

"Tuscany?"

Sure, if it is warmer and I can teach English.

Then we went to bed, she is still sleeping, she had some wine...maybe it didn't really happen.

Edited January 9, 2011 by Gary and Alla

[baron555 934]

We have the same conversation all the time. When we have to deal with the US medical system or when the weather is really cold, its "We'll retire to southern Russia."

But there is no answer to: "Where can we go canoeing and camping and have hot water in the showers and flush toilets?"

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

We have the same conversation all the time. When we have to deal with the US medical system or when the weather is really cold, its "We'll retire to southern Russia."

But there is no answer to: "Where can we go canoeing and camping and have hot water in the showers and flush toilets?"

"Southern Russia"? Southern Russia is 45 degrees north latitude. Same as Montreal.

Alla told me she WOULD retire to Moscow, but not to Ukraine. Not because it is warm, but because it is "interesting". But we will not make enough money to retire in Moscow. Dammit.

We have the same conversation all the time. When we have to deal with the US medical system or when the weather is really cold, its "We'll retire to southern Russia."

But there is no answer to: "Where can we go canoeing and camping and have hot water in the showers and flush toilets?"

You can canoe on the Moscow river...why not?

[slim 1,514]

she had some wine...maybe it didn't really happen.

Kind of like the time I woke up with wax all over me.

[Brad and Vika 129]

I had to dig up this thread as this is definitely in the "I can't believe she said that" category.

So Alla is saying last night how expensive it is to live here compared to Ukraine. This was also during one of our discussions about me retiring and how much income we would have if I did so. Blah, blah, blah. Her uptake as usual was "So it is enough, maybe not just to go fly anywhere we want anytime...but enough, yes"

I said..."So we can just live in Donetsk for maybe $500 per month for both of us and you can teach English and then we will have enough to fly anywhere when we want"

NO! Ukraine is a horrible place.

"Vooooooooowhat?????!!!!"

Yes, I will find you dead on the street and no one will even pick you up, here they will at least take you to the hospital and call me.

"Are you serious?"

Yes...we will not live in Ukraine. NO WAY!

"So why do we keep the flat there? I thought it was so we can live there"?

No, it is for visiting. It is cheap so why not?

"OK"

No way...live in Ukraine! Are you crazy? Especially Donetsk, it is just horrible there, so dirty. The air is dirty the water is dirty the street is dirty. Even my mom says "You got out, do not come back!"

"Voooooooowhat?"

No way, don't talk stupid. If you want to live somewhere else it should be warmer, Ukraine is not warmer either.

"Tuscany?"

Sure, if it is warmer and I can teach English.

Then we went to bed, she is still sleeping, she had some wine...maybe it didn't really happen.

I don't know the words, but the toon sure sounds familiar

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Kind of like the time I woke up with wax all over me.

I don't know the words, but the toon sure sounds familiar

Don't whistle in the house.

[Ban Hammer 13,144]

Kind of like the time I woke up with wax all over me.

[1HappyGuy 45]

On yes, the topic of retiring in Ukraine or Russia. That's where life will be better for us poor Americans. That's a discussion we all seem to participate in. My wife's apartment in Kiev has dropped in value considerably with this economic depression. (I refuse to call it the great recession). But as long as her mother is alive there probably won't be any changes to that. It's still better than having her work on getting MIL here.

Since her brother moved to near Odessa, I'm thinking after MIL passes we could sell the apartment and buy a fairly large home near her brother. It's outside the city with lots of country atmosphere. To me it sounds like a great summer home. And with some good income savings living in Ukraine ( ) we would be able to travel to all those exotic European spots.

That is the dream for her, but unfortunately reality keeps getting in the way. Right now we are dealing with her son trying to move out into an apartment. It seems that he believes it will be easy and Lena is complaining about his choices even before he moves. No, this is too close to University with all that crime and drug dealers, that one is too expensive, Oh no, he will be living with two girls? It never seems to end but in the end it will be better. She has not come to grips with "Out of sight, out of mind" concept of children growing up. Right now she is going crazy with his antics of taking off and not returning for two or three days.

I am looking forward to his absence so she will return to normal, at least until he asks if he can move back in. He has not shown an ability to manage his money so I figure it will only be a few months until that happens. Then it will be .

But, much better for him to learn those lessons while still in town, rather than moving to the city (SF) and learning the really hard lessons farther away from us. That would ultimately cost us more to save him.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I kind of take it like this...have you ever flown a small airplane? If you do you find out (immediately) that the thing moves around and bounces around and kind of floats up and down, thermals, downdrafts, updrafts, yada, yada. If you react to each one you end up overcontrolling and before long the barf bags are coming out and getting filled up. So you just kind of go along for the ride and just ignore the small stuff. I think everyone should get a pilots license.

Now we had planned on keeping the flat in Donetsk and Alla would get her degree in teaching English and I would retire and she would teach English somewhere, maybe Donetsk, and we would live there and travel to the US whenever we wanted. Life is pretty cheap there particularly if you own your flat outright, we do. Yes the values have dropped considerably and it would be stupid to sell it now and it is so cheap to keep that it pays for itself easily on visits.

Now Ukraine is terrible. Who knows why? Just another "thermal". Tomorrow it will be Ok and she will deny she ever said that. I am just not going to think about it now, but it makes for fun discussion and few laughs.

[Brad and Vika 129]

Don't whistle in the house.

Now Ukraine is terrible. Who knows why? Just another "thermal". Tomorrow it will be Ok and she will deny she ever said that.

I think selective memory might be a common cultural trait.

[1HappyGuy 45]

I kind of take it like this...have you ever flown a small airplane? If you do you find out (immediately) that the thing moves around and bounces around and kind of floats up and down, thermals, downdrafts, updrafts, yada, yada. If you react to each one you end up over controlling and before long the barf bags are coming out and getting filled up. So you just kind of go along for the ride and just ignore the small stuff. I think everyone should get a pilots license.

Yeah, I'm okay with the changes, but I've already been through this with two daughters. For Lena, this is her ONLY child and so she obsesses about everything. Plus, she's a Ukrainian mother, enough said.

He just returned after a two day absence in which he wasted more money. I figure it will be a 3 to 5 month experiment on his part and he will either succeed or fail. I am expecting the latter as he has not shown an ability to manage money and his hours are going to be cut back now that the holiday season has passed. I will ask him to review what he is doing before he makes the decision, but his tendency has been to do what he wants and not think about consequences. So, it's sink or swim for him.

[Tnic 5]

"Southern Russia"? Southern Russia is 45 degrees north latitude. Same as Montreal.

Alla told me she WOULD retire to Moscow, but not to Ukraine. Not because it is warm, but because it is "interesting". But we will not make enough money to retire in Moscow. Dammit.

You can canoe on the Moscow river...why not?

Maybe you could talk her into Krym? Warmer, cleaner, relaxed. Still cheap (like me).

[slim 1,514]

So, it's sink or swim for him.

If he sinks are you going to be there to bail him out?