Finally, I have decided to make a trip over to the cold region of Russia. I have never been to Siberia, but I won't be able to say that phrase for much longer. Tomorrow morning at 10 am I am boarding a plane to Novosibirsk :) It's a business trip and will only last 2 days, and even though it would be fun to see a new city and visit my company's store there, I am not looking forward of going from spring weather in Moscow to winter weather in Siberia.
Matt wants me to take lots of pictures, but honestly, I will only be there for 2 days and I am not quite sure how much of free time I am going to have, because I have lots to do during those 2 days :)
It's funny, but time wise it's like going to London. Siberia is 3 hours ahead of Moscow (London is 3 hours behind), and the flight to siberia is 4 hours, while the flight to London is between 3 and 1/2 to 4 hours from Moscow. Although, I am sure the scenery and weather in Siberia is going to be nowhere near that of UK.
Overall, I am looking forward to it. I have been traveling a lot though, not for work, but to see Matt. And the next week I am going to Germany to meet Matt in Munich, so that will be fun :) Well, I am off to Siberia. Enjoy your warm weather everybody :)
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Life On Hold
...that is my way of living lately. It feels like most things that used to make me happy were put on hold. I used to be happy to spend time with my friends. I used to be happy to be living with my husband. I used to be happy to have a house and be able to make decisions with Matt together on everything.
Once I moved to Russia things have changed, but only now does it start to hit me. I no longer have a place of my own, where I can spend time alone. And lately I feel like I need to spend some time alone. I no longer can escape people's judgements, because all of a sudden I started paying attention to them and it drives me nuts. I can no longer go out with my friends and visit them, because most of my friends are in the states, and those that are left from childhood are in my hometown, which is hours and hours away from Moscow. I no longer feel like I am making any decisions with Matt, rather I let him make them all and just agree on his final decision. No, I don't need to be in total control, but some control would be nice. I just feel like everything I used to like about my life is now on hold. Of course, I spend time with my sister and that is great, and I can see my parents more often, but for some reason it does not compensate for all the things I miss so dearly.
So, it just feels like my life has been put on hold, and I am afraid it will stay in this condition for quite a while.
Once I moved to Russia things have changed, but only now does it start to hit me. I no longer have a place of my own, where I can spend time alone. And lately I feel like I need to spend some time alone. I no longer can escape people's judgements, because all of a sudden I started paying attention to them and it drives me nuts. I can no longer go out with my friends and visit them, because most of my friends are in the states, and those that are left from childhood are in my hometown, which is hours and hours away from Moscow. I no longer feel like I am making any decisions with Matt, rather I let him make them all and just agree on his final decision. No, I don't need to be in total control, but some control would be nice. I just feel like everything I used to like about my life is now on hold. Of course, I spend time with my sister and that is great, and I can see my parents more often, but for some reason it does not compensate for all the things I miss so dearly.
So, it just feels like my life has been put on hold, and I am afraid it will stay in this condition for quite a while.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Apple forNEVER
My sister is a huge fan of Apple and so are a ton of other people. In fact, I myself was thinking of getting a MacBook Air, well, that is until my recent discovery that Apple Customer Service sucks.
Well, let's clarify. My sister's computer is 2.5 years old. Her computer recently started going into sleep mode whenever it felt like, even when we were working on it, so we took it to a certified Apple representative in Russia. Well, it turns out that we have to pay about $400 for repair and wait 4 months for it to be fixed. Mind you, the store told us that it would only take like a month.
Apparently, Apple considers Kara's computer obsolete, even though it's only 2.5 years old. Ok, they did not say that, but the customer service from the European Division has brought the fact that the model is "old" and it's hard to get parts for it. Come on, they made thousands of these computer, probably actually like hundreds of thousands, I can't believe that they don't have any spare parts for it. I used to work for a manufacturing company, they product spare parts for parts that were active over 7 years ago and more. 2.5 even for a computer is a very short period to have issues with spare parts.
So, basically, if you buy an Apple computer you can only expect a good service in the states, even though it's a global company. And if you buy an Apple computer get ready to be told that your product of 2.5 years old is obsolete. I am sorry, but it's an absurd.
If I was my sister, I would go from "apple forever" to "apple fornever" after this experience. On that note, no more thoughts of MacBook Air for me. Sorry, but I don't see the point of overpaying for the looks of the computer when it's only relevant for a year even to the company itself and the customer service is non-existent anywhere but the US.
I am pretty angry about this whole deal. Matt ended up buying the part in the states and importing it for us in order to have our computer fixed faster. I mean, come on, isn't this the job of the Apple and it's certified affiliates? Well, apparently not. After all, I was given a recommendation by the customer service representative to go this route, importing the part myself, for that will be the fastest solution. Un-freaking-believable.
Ok, I think everybody got the idea that I am super mad at Apple right now. And I think everybody got the idea that Apple won't see any of my business in the future. Not that I bought anything in the past, my sister is a much bigger fan than I am, but I was thinking of switching over to Apple, well, I am thinking no more.
STUPID APPLE
Well, let's clarify. My sister's computer is 2.5 years old. Her computer recently started going into sleep mode whenever it felt like, even when we were working on it, so we took it to a certified Apple representative in Russia. Well, it turns out that we have to pay about $400 for repair and wait 4 months for it to be fixed. Mind you, the store told us that it would only take like a month.
Apparently, Apple considers Kara's computer obsolete, even though it's only 2.5 years old. Ok, they did not say that, but the customer service from the European Division has brought the fact that the model is "old" and it's hard to get parts for it. Come on, they made thousands of these computer, probably actually like hundreds of thousands, I can't believe that they don't have any spare parts for it. I used to work for a manufacturing company, they product spare parts for parts that were active over 7 years ago and more. 2.5 even for a computer is a very short period to have issues with spare parts.
So, basically, if you buy an Apple computer you can only expect a good service in the states, even though it's a global company. And if you buy an Apple computer get ready to be told that your product of 2.5 years old is obsolete. I am sorry, but it's an absurd.
If I was my sister, I would go from "apple forever" to "apple fornever" after this experience. On that note, no more thoughts of MacBook Air for me. Sorry, but I don't see the point of overpaying for the looks of the computer when it's only relevant for a year even to the company itself and the customer service is non-existent anywhere but the US.
I am pretty angry about this whole deal. Matt ended up buying the part in the states and importing it for us in order to have our computer fixed faster. I mean, come on, isn't this the job of the Apple and it's certified affiliates? Well, apparently not. After all, I was given a recommendation by the customer service representative to go this route, importing the part myself, for that will be the fastest solution. Un-freaking-believable.
Ok, I think everybody got the idea that I am super mad at Apple right now. And I think everybody got the idea that Apple won't see any of my business in the future. Not that I bought anything in the past, my sister is a much bigger fan than I am, but I was thinking of switching over to Apple, well, I am thinking no more.
STUPID APPLE
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Atonement
Last night I decided that I should treat my sister to a movie. She loves going to movies and I love going too, but I am really tired during the week after work and on the weekend I am just plain lazy to go to any movies :) But once in a while, I do go and most of the times I enjoy such outings. Anyway, yesterday I decided that it's time to go to a movie, because my sister was in a weird mood and movies usually cheer her up.
So, we decided to go see "Atonement" I did not think I would like it too much. I wanted to see it, but I wanted to see it in English and the one we went to was in Russian, but it was great anyway. It is by far one of the best movies I have seen in the last year. It has a great story and it's beautiful and sad and full of thoughts.
Anyway, I would love to go see it again and I am definitlely buying it on DVD.
I highly recommend to see the movie, it's great!!!
So, we decided to go see "Atonement" I did not think I would like it too much. I wanted to see it, but I wanted to see it in English and the one we went to was in Russian, but it was great anyway. It is by far one of the best movies I have seen in the last year. It has a great story and it's beautiful and sad and full of thoughts.
Anyway, I would love to go see it again and I am definitlely buying it on DVD.
I highly recommend to see the movie, it's great!!!
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