More information! More information!My friends
As they say: "Tell me who are your friends and I tell you who you are":
I have many more friends in London, UK, Kiev, Ukraine, States, Italy, France,... all over the world. You can see some of them here. Although, I am probably not the best person to "keep in touch", but I do mean well. Especially with me losing all my data: addresses, telephone numbers, etc. there is not much chance for this to happen. So, if you reading this, please contact me, as I cannot do that from my end.
Year =>
| 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 |
| YEAR 2010 | |
| April 2010 | back to the year list |
| March 2010 | back to the year list |
| February 2010 | This year, there was allot of snow in the UK in December and January and February. Actually, in my 17 years of being in England, I don?t remember being this much snow, ever. But it was nice, it was the real winter, a bit on a chilly side, and roads are useless as no one grits them and most of the time drivers are useless ;-) but it was nice to have winter. 30 January – 7 February I was down with terrible flue. Its started very much like a usual cold, but after 4 days I was getting worse and worse, and I think only after day 8 I was starting getting better. It did wiped me out completely for 2 weekends and a whole week. Getting back to work after being away for the week, I did have to catch up on lots of stuff, so pretty much spent the next week doing double hours ;-). Still not 100% up-to-date, but at least I have it all under control now. It seems that winter just does not want to leave us at all. In the evenings and over night its still just above zero, and sometime its still snows a bit. Have to admit, I am very much looking forward to spring, to nature waking up and trees and flowers becoming green and birds and animals coming out. back to the year list |
| January 2010 | Well, the trip to Ukraine was .................. interesting to say the least. Actually it?s the travel, the flight to Ukraine that completely destroyed me. I will not be going into too many details as now its somehow not as important or as painful as it was at the time, but to cut a very long story short – we spent 36 hours at the airport! There was a bad weather in Kiev, and for time airport was shut. After while the Kiev?s airport opened up, but the plain from Dubai missed the landing strip, that the airport was shut for the rest of the day trying to recover the plain and its debris. No fatalities as recovery services worked well; but Kiev didn?t want to risk another bad landing or takeoff and shut the airport again. That was the beginning of the trip. The rest was very nice and interesting – we saw lots of people and spent a very nice New Year and Christian Orthodox Christmas. There was lots of snow in Ukraine, it was not very cold, about -12, but life does not stop at all – every thing was open and working as usual. People were nice and festive period was definitely felt. We also celebrated my mum?s birthday, and hope she enjoyed it. Trip back – was usual – no problems, straight forward ;-) The rest of January was very much in work. back to the year list |
| YEAR 2009 | |
| December 2009 | 1st: My birthday. Actually, this year I not only remembered it was my birthday, but for some silly reason was actually looking forward to it. It was a very nice day as well: I did my nails in Selfridges and had a nice meal there too. Afterwards, I just wondered around the shop doing a bit of window shopping. On 17 December we had allot of snow. There was no transport on Friday and I had to wait to take a bus to get myself to Reading as there was furniture that was delivered and delivery was definitely happening! The snow was on the ground for at least 2 weeks after that (well, I don't know if it was even longer as I will be in Ukraine). And it was cold, I mean it was minus all the time. I have to admit that I quite liked it. I got all my Ukrainian gear out and I was warm and had no trouble walking on snow , a bit more difficult on ice ;-). But looking at all the rest people walking - I was flying! Loved it. Althought, saying that I was not able to drive as I am hopeless at driving in snow, and living on top of a steep hill when roads and not ghritted is a no-no. At work December gone very quickly. I had allot of stuff to sort out in the flat as well, and after all that I am going into a new year with still quite allot of unfinished items ;-( but there is not much I can do about it - its all in the hands of builders - Shanly Homes that is. If I could be bothered at some point, I will actually write it all up so that the next people lookign to buy property with Shanly know what they are setting themselves for. 23-24: I fed the birds - ducks, swans, geese, etc at the river behind the office. On Wednesday I bought 9 loaf of bread and not only birds ate them all but it actually felt like it was not enough. On 24 I met up with Mike who helped me to feed them and this time we fed 18 loafs of bread between us! This is what cold weather and snow do to the birds. At least I was happy to know that they are fed for the next couple of days, at least I hope it will last them this long. 25-26: We went up to Mansfield to speand some time with the in-laws. We had a very nice time; and I think this is really the very first time that I have been really accepted. I got some lovely paintings for the flat and we both LOVE them. 27-28: is a bit cleaning up. Since we will have people staying at the house and looking after the cats, I had to clean the whole place up. It really is taking the 2 days, including all those wasing we had to make to take clean clothes with us! 29: leaving early for the airport and going to Kiev until 10 January. I will try to make sure that this time I remember to take some pictures and not only to carry camera with me there and back! ha ha back to the year list |
| November 2009 | Its getting colder and colder every day. It was so cold that I thought it woudl be snowing at some point, but it didn't in November, not until mid December ;-) I have my tickets booked to go to Kiev over New Year and for my mum's birthday! I know I said that I will not be going there this soon, but the deal was too good to refuse! back to the year list |
| October 2009 | I will fill in October later, for time being just 2 words for me to remember: Prospect and DC Law |
| September 2009 | My parents changed the roof! Apparently it was so bad and rotted, that it could have fallen in at any time ;-( It costed lots of money (lots and lots of money) but it was so worth it, at least I hope that it will stay for at least 40 years, and boy do I hope that temperature inside will be slightly higher than 12 degrees! I'll keep you posted on this one ...... That place in Caversham is moving, I guess, but it is like pulling teeth out, although pulling teeth out seems to be much easier (I know I had 4 removed in 1 go). back to the year list |
| August 2009 | We have finally finisged the garden!!!!! Well. alost, but its so almost there, that I don't even count it as almost ;-) Kandy I was looking at some flats around Reading to see if I can stay there once in a while rather than inflicting commute every day. The place in Caversham is very nice. Not sure what I will do yet. |
| July 2009 | At the beginning of July I went back to Kiev to spend time with my parents. I met up with some of my old friends, which is always a great way to remember my medical life...seems like its been another life all together as well. While I was in Ukraine, my dad actually managed to take some time off and we went to Askaniya Nova and Sofiivka. I have lots of pictures from there. Do check them out. It was also my dad's birthday, and I also have pictures from the celebration, admittedly not as many as I could have taken... |
| June 2009 | Every weekend was taken up by finishing the paving in the garden. It was a hard work, but we can now see its coming together. And its so nice being able to spend evenings out side in contort. back to the year list |
| May 2009 | May have come very quickly this year. Just recently it was Christmas and a new year, and now its May. Days are getting warmer, evenings are still cold. In general, the weather seems to be getting better, but than on weekends its not so great. You can see its trying, but just not happening yet. There are more and more cases of swine flue in the UK, and today I heard on a news that there is another confirmed case in Slough, making the total number of confirmed cases 28 in the UK. Not a great news, and Slough is a bit too close for my liking. They have already closed 2 schools in London and I fear more will be shut soon. Every weekend is being taken by doing the garden - paving the third of the garden. Still working every possible weekend on the garden. Still moving, and yes its still slow. Recently the weather was not so great. I cannot say its been very hard, but any rain is a no-no at this stage. So we had to slow things down even more. Just this bank holiday , when we had 3 days - 2 of them were lots to rain ;-(. The progress is still here. May Bank holiday - I went to Varna, Bulgaria for a couple of days to meet up with my parent's friends. I loved Varna. Its a place right on the coast of Back Sea. The place I stayed in is called St. Helena and St. Constantin, its is in the middle of Botanic gardens! Weather was great, it felt like summer, and it was off-season (season being June - August) so it was still quite. Sea was a bit too cold for me though, but it was a real summer, and I had a great break. I am so grateful to my parents friend's for showing me around. They took really good care of me - they did not let me out of site for a second! Thank you. back to the year list |
| April 2009 | Pretty much the whole of the months was taken by work during the week and by garden on weekends, including the long bank holiday weekend. You can see the progress of the 'garden' project here, together with its ups and downs, problems and solving exercises. back to the year list |
| March 2009 | 6th-10th: Dad in Sofia. He was skiing and said it was very nice. Maybe one of those times/years... I would actually go skiing there too. 8th: International women's day; the one that is not celebrated in the UK, but is a big deal in Ukraine. Went to forest for a very nice walk, and weather was holding until late afternoon, than it rained, but by that point in time I was tired anyway ;-). 15th: It was a nice day, very sunny and warm; went to Houghton Manor and you can see pictures on my facebook. Its so much faster and much more convenient to put pictures on facebook, rather than create a photo album, at least from the software that I am using. Especially now that I moved into another computer, and software is still on the old one; every time I am creating a new album, I have to transfer files back and forth, and than to set everything up before creating an album, and after that I need to check and change some HTML to make sure that everything is linking to the right pages. Basically, it is a bit taxing ;-). Went to see quite a few cars on a few weekends in March looking for my Renault Megane Couple Cabriolet, preferably Dinamique S 1.9dTI and not older than 2 years (so that there is a year of manufactures guarantee on it). Failed!!!! Still looking for it thought, but there is so not many of them being sold! back to the year list |
| February 2009 | 2nd: Pretty much every one in the country waken up to allot of snow this morning. I have no idea how, but I actually managed to drive to work. Well, actually when its a new snow that does now melt and is as fluffy as this one was, it was not a big problem. I was going slowly, very slowly and the main roads were gritted very well. So, I have actually driven in snow for the first time in...many years. And yes, this is a big deal to me. I have a story that goes with the snow and explains why I don't ever consider driving in snow, but this is not the place or the time. 3rd - 8th: The snow was on and off all the time. Some days it would be warn and even raining at times but in the evenings it was minus and there was black ice everywhere. I have not managed to get out of the house, but I have managed to keep working from home. Well, actually, I have driven to work on Wednesday, 4th February, but not the other days, The place where I live makes it very difficult to get any where, especially considering that I live at the end of the close, and the only way out of it is - down the hill, and to get anywhere else - it is back up the hill, or 2 or 3, depending which road one need and where one trying to get to. And what made it pretty impossible - is that the council run out of grit by day 4 of snowing, so all roads became ice rings ;-) nice if you are into that sort of thing. Was considering ice skating to work, but than 22 miles away might be slightly trickier for some one as unfit as me... 11th: Had a training day in Guildford, and almost crushed getting there as I hit a patch of back ice that was completely hidden and on the bend, and I know the van behind me was not impressed when I was going very slowly after that, but by that point I cared very little about him getting his knickers in the twist. 14th-15th: Spend weekend in London fixing one of the rooms. I had to repaint it and the kitchen as well, so that literally did take the whole weekend. Went to the cinema in Wimbledon as well on Saturday, watched Bolt. Was funny and nice. I like cartoons. 28th: Went briefly to the flat and London. Was hunting the Renault Megane CC as well, but I missed one of them by hours and to find another one is difficult. When I say its difficult, I am after a particular model Dynamique S 1.9 dCI. And those particular ones are nice and it seams that people are not selling them. And Renault have now stopped producing them (6 or 9 months ago). There are plenty of 1.6 or 1.5, but I have test driven both on the same day and 1.6 is sluggish for me; 1.9 was perfect. Not too fast, not too slow. back to the year list |
| January 2009 | 4th: Mum's 70th Birthday! As much as she hated and pretty much forbidden everyone to say the number, I will take this risk and mention it, just once. Every year, we are trying to go and do something on her birthday, but this year she did want to have what they call in Ukraine 'the usual' which is to take close friends to the restaurant to celebrate this day with her. And it was a very nice evening. We went to Italian restaurant 'Walters' - owned, managed and run by the Italian guy and his Ukrainian wife. The food was great, and everyone enjoyed it. And service was very good too. 7th: It was a quite but very cosy Christian Orthodox Christmas for us. We did make cutya that day and did have many dishes as we supposed to have, I think we even had more than 12 ;-). We even went for a shopping spree that evening, just to make sure that we do something together and as a family, and something different then we usually do. We went to the big shopping centre in Kiev, called Karavan, and spent about 4 hours there. We did have some coffee and ice cream, but we did not do ice skating. They even have Marks & Spencer there, which was a great find as my mum like this shop. 8th: Very early morning for me, and once again I am flying back to London. Richard met me at the airport and we did the usual - stopped at cafe to get a bacon and egg roll before going back home. 12th: Starting a new job with Ericsson Ltd. 23-25th: In Lakes. It was very cold when we got there, as heating was off. And we got there very late - like 2 o'clock in the morning. Turned the heating on and in 8 hours the temperature got up only by 2 degrees! Only at the end of day 1 the temperature went up to 18 degrees, and this is after a nice and warm (ish) day, heating full time and cooking. But it was OK by that point in time. At least we managed to do a big deal - to put an automatic garage door opener mechanism. This should stop any possible accidents, especially since the door is very heavy and used to shut very quickly and whenever it wanted ;-) sounds funny, but if one walks under it when it decides to shut - there is nothing you can do, just try to catch it and hope that a) you have nothing in your hands; b) you are strong; c) you actually managed to notice it doing so!... 31st: Went to the flat to say good bye to Thys and Adele who are leaving on 3rd February to go back to South Africa. At least weather would be nicer there. 31st: Met up with Tim for a cup of tea and a catch up. He is a real student now; and it cannot be easy after all those years of research. But I do admire him and the change that he is undertaking, and it is not easy to change career and to become a doctor after 30. I do wish him every success! back to the year list |
| YEAR 2008 | |
| December 2008 | 1st: My birthday. Any one want to share it with me? I eneded up leaving work on time and going to Selfridges. Had my nails done - walked around and looked at new fashion, electronics and lots of tasty food, had Yo! Sushi. I ended up having a nice evening. 2nd: Went our for a dinner with Richard and had a lobster. Wanted to have one for ages. Have to admit, it was not the best lobster I had, but it was OK. 3rd: This was the sad day for me and a very difficult day as well. This was the day I resigned from Avenue A | Razorfish. It was a very difficult decision and the one that was so hard to make. The reality is - I love the work, people I work with, team and the clients. So, why on earth did I do it, I hear you say?.. For the challenge and a better career prospect. Have I done the right decision - I don't know at this point in time. All I have to say, that it was a VERY difficult decision and a very imotional one as well! Every one was so good to me till the day I left! And I still got the card and I did cry when I read it at home (was not strong enough to read it in the office). It was bad enough that I cried when people got to my desk to wish me all the best for the future, and they made me an absolutely lovely leaving present. Thank you every one so much! And I had the best evening out with Kerry and Adrian on 16th! It was the leaving evening for me from them. I so miss them! 9th: Met up with David. Have not seen him in a couple of years. 11th: Went for a dinner to Cha Cha Moon with Tina and CheYok. CheYok is leaving London and UK at the end of February. 13th: evening out with Peter. Peter made a great present to me for my birthday - first of all, he cooked a lovely dinner and than he took me to Watford for ta night of dancing. Even thought I have not danced in ages, and the heels on my shoose managed to disintegrate completely within first 15 min of dancing, I had brilliant time! Just hope that I didn't managed to spoil it for Peter too much. It was VERY brave of him to do this, especially knowing how long its been for me since I danced last! Thank you very much - I had wonderful time!!! 15th: Day off work! 16th: Leaving dinner from Kerry and Adrian. This was the best evening I had in ages! Thank you guys so much. I will miss you dearly. Keep in touch, I won't let you forget me that easily! 19th: Day off work! 23rd: Last day at Avenue A | Razorfish, and a very sad day for me it is. 24th: Flying to Kiev to be with my parents for New Year, then its my mum's birthday, and then its Christmas. back to the year list |
| November 2008 | 4th: Victor's Birthday! 6th - 8th: the windows installation has finally been completed! After 7 days instead of 3 or max 4, I am finally the proud owner of the new double glazed windows. I will write about it more later on, when I have a bit more time. 8th and 9th: spent most of the weekend watching Heros. Quite addictive that is. 11th: Ukrainian Airlines have contacted me to say that the flight that I had ticket for on 24th December have been cancelled and that they have booked me on the earlier flight. This woudl mean that I woudl need to take more time off , which is not such a great news as I do have quite allot of work to get through before I go away for 2 weeks. 15th: Its amazing how busy I was at work for the last month, I even have not noticed that the whole month just gone ;-( Is it really the way the time will fly, this fast the older one gets? 16th: Nevil's Birthday. back to the year list |
| October 2008 | to 5th: In Taba, Egypt. Flew back really early on 5th, and had no time to do anything except of some sleep and un-pack and wash some clothe. 11th: visited Mike. A couple of week ago, Paul let me know that Mike is not well. At that point in time I had no idea what was wrong with him or how unwell he was. I went to see him and althogh he looks OK, he is still very weak and not 100% well yet. It will take time for him to fully recover after his poisining due to kidney problems. And he will have to have another operation ;-( . 15th: Went to see my client, and ended up being bullied by a very senior person!.. I will be checking on the company's policy regarding tolerance of such behaviour, because I do not tollerate bullying at all! 21st: It is 4 years since Jack died ;-( 31st: Olga's Birthday. back to the year list |
| September 2008 | 3rd: Valera's Birthday. I sent him my wishes via Odnoklassniki. 5th: Finally, Customade Windows finally came to measure the windows. It only tool like forewer ;-) and now there is a chance that I will get my windows installed soemtime this yer, well maybe. 6th: Went to visit Irene in Mansfield. Had a lovely day out in Derbyshire, and a lovely tea in a nice hotel/restaurant on a side of the river. 9th: It was Richard's Birthday and he decided to be original, and not to celebrate it at all. Like he is not getting older this year! ;-) 13th: Tim's Birthday party - next door. From the very early hours in the morning the preparations have started/. The marque went up (2 of them actually), mirror ball and chairs and table were prepared. From the very morning, the food preparation started and drink coller pos posted outside with lots of ice in it. The party was nice and not very loud at all. People came with their kids (no matter how young they were), and every one was chilled and enjoyed a nice and dry weather. The drinks never stopped comign and food was delisious! I left the perty early as I had a migraine and went to bed, not sure what time everyone else left, but at 3 am there were still some people and a slow quite music ;-) It was a nice country side party. I loved it. 16th: Irene's Birthday. 20th: Heather's professional celebration in Birmingham (dinner). It was a nice place convenient for many and about equal distance for us and people from Mansfield. It took just over an hours to get there, another 30 min to find a place - had to use Google maps on blackberry to find it ;-) thanks to the gadgets and technology! It was the first time I met Heather's boyfriend, Jamie; he is a very nice chap and a doctor. 24th: Paul's Birthday. Wished Paul happy birthday and remembered that I still have not sent him my ideas on re-designing of his ground floor... which is just as well I think. 24th - 26th: Windows. I had booked 3 days to work from home in order for my new windows to be installed... and yet again, Customade Windows have let me down. The installation team arrived on 24th at about midday, looked around and stated that they do not have everything to complete or atrt the instalation of any windows. At that they have left for the day ;-( The next day, they arrived at about 2 pm and did 1 room, installing 2 windows. Leaving, they did mention to expect them about 9 am the next morning. The next day, they arrived at about 11 and managed to get another 2 rooms done - another 2 windows. But they have not actually finished any of the windows inside or out. [Just if you are not familiar with the windows installation - they take the old frames out, sometime with plaster, that is disturbing the inside walls, and they need to re-plaster afterwards. In addition, they do need to finish and seal the windows both on inside and out as moture will still get through the gaps. And it does not look that pleasing unless it is finished properly]. So, after 3 days of working from home, I did get 4 windows installed with 2 more sliders, 2 more casemen and 1 door to go, not mentioning all finishing works on all windows and door! I think it will take them at least another 2, more probably 3 days to finish it off. Not sure when though. I will be posting pictures of the installation once the work is completed! 27th September - 5th October: Egypt, Taba here I come! On 27th we flew out of the Gatwick to go to the Taba, Egypt. The flight was slightly delayed and took about 5 hours to get there. We landed in Taba, Egypt at about 23:00, and it was a de-ja-vu all over for me. This is the same place I went to with Tatiana and Svetlana earlier on that year. I will nto go into the details fo the holidays, just will say that we stayed in Intercontinental Hotel in Taba Heights and it was a complete relaxation: sleep, food, beach, swimming pool, cocktails, sea, beach, food, cocktails, sea, beach, food, cocktails, sea, icecream, sea, beach, cocktails, food, cocktails, beach, cocktails, sleep, and all over again! Its a hard life! There are some pictures of the trip. back to the year list |
| August 2008 | What can I say? - it was a busy month with lots of stuff going on at work, especially after I got back from being ill for a week. 9th: Discovered that one of the guys from work lives VERY close to me. We agreed to have a coffee at the Eden centre, but it was raining all day, so I cancelled it, sorry Tim. 12th: Girls at work were telling about the Hip-Hop class that they were going to at the gym, so I decided to join them. It was the last week of the 4-weeks routine that they were doing, and I got so terribly lots in it... Next week there is a new routine, and I wll be going back, meetings mermitting ;-) Met up with Heather and Matt. It was great to catch up again after a very long period of time. 18th: Yet again met with with Imran from Customade Windows. First time we finally met was 18th May, when he came in to give an estimate for all my windows. At that point in itme we agreed on a deal - he does all my windows and a door for a good price and I do his website for him. I did a test test on a back of it, which he liked (which is a bonus) but since than its been dragging for absolutely ages, with me being no closer to actually getting any of the windows done. So I was quite excited when finally we signed the papers on 18th and he said that he will send the surveyer the following day. The following day come and gone and another 2 weeks since than, and still nothing. I am now doubting if I get the windows done this year at all! 23rd - 25th: A long Bank Holiday weekend. 26th: Booked my week long holiday at the end of September; and boked a week in Egypt, Taba in Intercontinental. Now I am so looking forward to a week there. I love that place! Its like 100% relaxation, and nothing but relaxation. 28th: Finally met up with Steve. Its been ages since I saw him last, and it was great to catch up. The most important news - he is a dad-to-be in October this year! He is moving to Vienna ;-( but will be travelling between Vienna and London for a while. 30th: Got in touch with Julia from New York. She is a friend of Svetlana, and moved to New York a good few years ago. Julia is getting married on a 1st of November and invited me to the wedding together with Svetlana and Tatiana. I got in touch with the girls to see if they are going, and they are trying to see if they can make it. So, this is s possibility ;-). back to the year list |
| July 2008 | 3rd: Been stood up by my breakfast date ;-) Of well, there is always anothertime! 4th - 14th: in Kiev. While we were awy, Irene, Richard grandmother, was very kind to come and stay to look after the cats. Pictures can be found in various albums here. 4th: Flying out to Kiev for a few days for my dad's birthday. Celebrated our 10th Aniversary with a schampaign at the airport. 5th: Got my parents, cousine, niece and some of my friends around to celebrate our 10th Aniversary; and it was Zur's 4 months. My dad made a lovely BBQ, and it was a nice day. 5th-6th: Stayed in Vitachiv. 6th: Went for a long walk with the dogs over fields. In the evening, met up with my old friend Victor; went to Ukrainka for coffee and then to the reastaurant on Obuhiv road. There are some very nice places there. The second place we went to had its own small zoo! 7th-11th: In Kiev; generally walking around, meeting with my friends and visiting sites, not so much touristic sites, just normal Ukrainian sites. 7th: Met up with Svetlana and Tatiana and went on a river boat. It was a lovely evening. 9th: In the morning went to old country side house, the one that belonged to my fathers parents; and the one that I grew up in. Yulia is now taking lots of care of it, and have already done lots of work to it. Its still not perfect, but it still has a summer feel to it. My dad's 65th Aniversary!!! He had people coming in and congratulating him like all day. In the evening we had a nice meal, and I think it was a great idea to make it at his office - lots of space!!! And no need for my mum to cook! And I think he liked the birthday present - iPhone - although I am sure it will take him a while to properly move into it ;-) 10th: Had to get up early to make sure that Richard is on time at the airport. On a way back, me and my mum went to see her taylor; she was finishing a new dress. It took a while gettign there as niether of us knew exactly how to get there: it took a few times stopping and asking for the route, but we did get there in the end. In the evening met up with my class mates. It was amasing to see them and to see so mane of them. I knew that I am going to see 1 or maybe 2 people, but there was about 11 of them that came in! 11th: Spent day with mum and later on spent 2 1/2 hours posting parcel to UK!. After that went with Svetlana and Tatiana for a couple of coctails in my faivourite place - Fondu bar. 12 - 13: Spet in Vitachiv. 12th Met up with Victor agian during the day, went to Ukrainke for a coffee. I quite liked the place we went to - its on a promenade and you can observe boats going by ;-). Later in the evening we (dad, mum and me) went to our 'last dinner' together. Its something of a tradiiton - every night that we all together we go somewhere for Ukrainian food. This year, it was a place called Hutorets. Unfortunaty the link is for the franchase but not to the particular place that we went to. The place we went to is about 27-30 km from Kiev on Koncha-Zaspa road, on a left when you are driving from Kiev. The food was nice, but service........this was the worse service I have had in a long time. In the end, someone probably saw my face (or that I had nothing to aet or to drink for about 1 1/2) and asked if everything was OK... I just said how it was. No meal arrived at the same time, so we all had to eat separately ;-) Coctails got quite quicly, but it took over an hours to get Coke... And my main course: meat arrived separate from potatoe, 30 min later potatoes were nowhere to be seen - so I sent meat back for them to be brough at the same time as potatoes!.. They did offer us a free desert, but I have to admit that the last thing I wanted to do s to stay there any longer that I had to, so they did offer a 30% discount, which made our meal being a very reasonable price. But I will not be going back there, sorry. 14th: Very early in the morning I had to take flyight back to London and get back straight to the office. As it was I was slightly late for work 14th - 18th: Was quite busy at work. Not extremely busy, and not that I had nothing to do. So the week went by very quick. I have no idea what is wrong with the air conditioning, but it was absolutely freezing Wednesday second part of the day, Thursday and Friday! 19th: We have spoken about posibility of moving back into London from Wycombe. Of corse, for the money we might get for this place, we cannot really afford garden, cinservatory, garage and 3 bedroom house even close to the size of this one!.. So, it would be pretty much downsizing from this point onwards. Although, I do not want to take any part in restoring this house - Richard run it down, so I feel that he is the one that should be doing it. 20th: Kerry's birthday. On Friday, I got her a card, 2 bottle of schampaigh and a lovely cake from Pattiserie Valerie. I think she like it ;-) 20th - 26th: On sunday afternoon, I started feeling very cold and pain in my throat got very bad. I could not breathe at all through the night, which meant that I did not sleep. Monday was even worse. Could not breather at all through the day, no matter what I did, temperature got to 39.5C (just over 103F) and I just could not sleep at all, all I did was time watching: closing eyes, and opening them 3, 5, 10 or max 15 min later. Tuesday was not much better. It started to ease off closer to the evening and I finally managed to get some sleep. Closer to 23:00 I feel better, but my temperature still swings quite allot, and I sweat allot. Was thinking about going back to work tomorrow, but looking at my overall condition, I really soudl stay another day, just to rest and make sure that I am getting not only better, but 100% better. back to the year list |
| June 2008 | This was a strange month. Strange for 2 reasons - on one hand it was a happy month as my parents got a new dog - Zur, on the other hand the reason they got him is because one of the dogs is very ill. Its aving searures and fits up to 3 times a day, and while he is having fits the other dog is trying to kill him. While he is having fits, he is in quite alot of pain, and recently pretty much all of his teeth got broken. So, my parent took a very hard decision that he would need to be put down. A new dog arrived at the beginning of June and for 2 weeks it was 3 dogs. Just needed to make sure that the new dog can fit in. In the middle of the month, Bai was was taken away and was put to sleep. Talking to my mother afterwards, it was not the painless putting dog to sleep that we know of, apparently it was quite a painful experience for both my dad to watch and for Bai to take, even though he might not felt all of it. You don't have to read the next pharagraph.... Apparently what they did - they made an injection with something that realxed the dog. Apparently it took about 15 min to take effect, but after 15 min he was very relaxed and was not affraid of anything any longer. When he was absolutely relaxed - they make an injection into the hurt for it to stop beating. Have to admit that I was in no interest to find out exactly how long the second injectiont took, as it was too hard for me to listen to this any further.... Both Ala and Zur are finding their ways to live together and getting used to each other. 20th - Dietmar moved out. 24th: Adele and Thym moved in. Last week of June my father was in Greece. back to the year list |
| May 2008 | 1st-2nd: It is a public holiday, and a big one, in Ukriane, but not here. I have to work ;-( 4th: Did a car boot sale - I was the seller. It was a very warm and nice day and we had lots of fun, not to mention that I managed to sell lots of stuff, which is great way to clear some of the clutter. Considering that most things sold were going for 10p, 20p and 50p, I think I did pretty good making just over £40. 5th: Bank holiday. And it was a nice day for BBQ, not that we had any ;-( Have to admit, that having 3 days off in a row is good, you can actually relax, where as when I have only 2 days off, all I manage to do is the house work and my computing things. Why dodn't we have 3 days off every weekend? 10th-11th: the weekend has come and gone. The weather was very nice, but I have not managed to spend much time outside, unfortunately.... I managed to die my hair! 17th-18th: Another weekend come and gone. Was looking into booking the flight for fathers birthday, but still have not decided anything. I know I would need to do it pretty soon as all taickets would be gone. 23rd: Spend 1/2 a day getting quotes for changing windows in the flat. They are all very nice - period sash windows, btu they are pain in the rear, especially when its cold outside as they getting steamed up and mouldy, they don't retain heat very nice and when its windy, they shake and make lots of noises ;-). 24th-26th: this was a long bank holiday weekend, which I spent looking after Richard. He has one of those men's flue... so that was hardly fun! 29th-31st: Was not feeling very well at all. Actually, I spent most of the time sleeping. Not sure what that it; had no energy what so ever. 29th: Peter was trying to pop-by, which was great and I was waiting for a while, but than I guess I just drifted off, and that was the end of it. I found a DVD that he left under my door in the morning. Thanks for this, and I am very sorry. back to the year list |
| April 2008 | 5th: came back from Egypt and landed at 1:35 am. 5th - 6th: in Kiev with parents. 6th: Flyight back from holiday to London; landed in snow! Left Keiv, it was +18 on 5th, and landed in London in 0 and lots of snow. The flight took 2 hours more (which was perfect as I amanged to catch up a bit on my sleep). 7th - 11th: busy week at work with lots of meetings. 10th - 13th: Dad in London. 11th: Met up with dad for a nice dinner; and learened lots of stuf about what he was doing. All this Antarctic business is very interesting. 12th-13th: first weekend after coming back, and lots to do at home; and a bit of me time as well. 14th - 18th: Another week at the office. Lets see how long my holiday mood will last. It actually lasted quite long.... 24th: I have my annual review (finally ;-) ), and it was OK. I did get good and fair feedback, except of FT example: that was the time where I slightly list it, but only because I feel very strong about it; and that my boss was marking me for the next step up, rather than at the position I am now. Saying that, it was a good review and I did get doog marks, I think. Staill waiting to see the review being written up. 28th: got into the office today to find out that there was a break-in into the room that we are accupying right now. And it so happen that the only thing missing - was my laptop, my computer stand and my computer bag. Very annoying, espacially sisnce I originally waited 5 months to get the laptop I had. Now I'll have to wait for another one ;-( And all that strees, its so not good for me... back to the year list |
| March 2008 | 2nd: Got my ticket to go to see my parents at the end of March; very happy about it, and very much lookign forward to it! It was a mother's day, and Richard went to see his mother. I spoken to her on a phone, and wished her 'Happy Mother's day'. I spent the whole weekend scanning the old photos from albums, and than uploading some of them to my facebook. I added quite a few photos to the facebook, including some of Heather - my sister-in-law. I thought that some of those photos were OK, maybe not the best photos of her, but than I don't have many pictures of her anyway... To cut a long story short - I was unupdated with messaged passed through Richard from both her and her mother about how upset she was with the pictures that I uploaded, adn how she wants me to take them down straight away!... Forget what ever anyone might be doing, get to the computer straight away, and remove the photos... Anyway, I am not sure how upset she was, but my whole day was turned into hell, with Richard shouting at me, and how I have no right to post pictures of anyone, etc... So, thank you, I had a very nice weekend!? 8th: This is an International Women's day. As I mentioned before, its not really celebrated in the UK, but in Ukraine its a bank holiday (and if it falls on a weekend, than the next Monday will be a day off). Nice, no such luck for me ;-). I did get a nice flowers and we are going to the theatre later on to see the Chinese circus. Strange place for the circus, but never mind. I'm sure it will be very interesting. 13th: Was a very busy day with lots of going out and eating. Meeting firend for lunch, and than having a dinner with friends in the evening. Both were very nice, and it was great to catch up with some of the people that I have not seen for a while. Should really do this more often ;-). 20th: a quick packing evening and getting ready to fly. 21st: Flying to Kiev, where I have a few days with my parents and try to see some of my old friends and people I was in kidden garden and shool with. All those people I found on Odnoksallniki - networking site, kind of Russian version of FaceBook. 21st - 26th: in Kiev and about with my parents. Managed to fit in 1 days of work as well on 24th March (the bank holidays in the UK). 27th - 4th: Spent with my friends in Taba, Egypt. We had a fantastic holiday, and I have some pictures to prove it too ;-) chek out the pictures page (there are 2 albums) Have some great stories about flying to Egypt and than from Egypt. You do have to know how to fly! and it was flying in style ;-)... back to the year list |
| February 2008 | Here are some pictures from the trip to Ukraine. 6th: Peter have finally managed to convince me to do some dancing. I went to Kensington Studios, which are at the Polish Club at 55 Exhibition Road for a group classes. I have to admit, I really enjoyed it. Yes it was easy, but it was a bit of a starge feeling as well - doing what I haven't done in a such a long time. Will I do it agin? Probably, but not every week. 10th: This was a nice Sunday in London. It was a very warm day with lots of people spending it in parks. I was waling along the streets where I used to live - Kensington and South Kensington. Went to the cafe that I used to go to with my friends where I lived in the area. Its a bit different now, or maybe I just saw it through a different eyes this time. It was a day where London celebrated a Chinese New Year, and most of the centre was closed for people to enjoy the celebrations and a fire works. I remember, a good fre years back, I did that with my parents. It was a very cold day and we were absolutely frosen by the end of it ;-)... Doesn't time fly. It was interesting to see London enjoying the day; I did BAFTA, which was lots of fun, as it always is. 11th & 12th: have a day off. Have nothing planned, just to take it easy, rest and catch up on all those things that I neglected for the last month or so. It was nice not to do much, and not to hurry anywhere. I think we all need to re-charge our batteries once in a while ;-). 17th: I finally managed to convince Peter to take some of my plants ;-). I gave him 6 of my best plants - the most grown and bushier ones. It was a bit strange driving a car full of plants - it was a bit like a gungle in my car that night, but they all arrived in a good condition. I still don't know if he likes them or not, and I can only hope that he is watering them... And I had a look around his house. It was dark, so I could not se outside, but the house is in perfect condition. He's done so much to it since he bought it, and he is not finished yet. He is looking at getting a new kitchen and a bathroom, and, depending on finances and other conditions, might be extending the back of a house to accommodate a new kitchen; but, being quite a big project, he is looking to do this a bit later. 24th: Spent 4 and a half hours promoting The Mail on Sunday that was giving away the DVD of 'My left Foot'. Wathched the DVD when I got back, and it is a good film.  27th: Apparently there was an earthquake in the UK today @ 1:00The picture on the left is taken from the BBC page about the earthquake. This picture is a clickable on the BBC with more information, so if you want more information - just follow the link below. I had no idea, and I didn't feel anything, but friend of mine send me this link to BBC where you can read more inormation on the earthquake. 29th: Yes, this year there was 29 days in February, and as someone told me - we are not getting paid for this day... What this means - salaries are calculated on 365 days a year for permanent staff, so every 4 years, when there are 29 days in February, you are not being paid for it ;-)... back to the year list |
| January 2008 | New Year! Lets hope it brings lots of new and wonderful things... 1st - 3rd: We spent in a country side house, in Vitachiv. 4th: My mum's birthday. Returned to Kiev from country side and went for a nice dinner in O'Panas restaurant. After that I went to meet up with my friends and we spent more time in Fondu Bar in Globus 1. We like that place: coffee and food are very nice and tasty and its not very expensive. There are very comfy chairs and a DJ playing good music all night. So, basically, it tick many boxes, including the convenience for everyone to get back home. 5th: In the morning I met up with Victor and we spent some time catching up. In the evening, me and mum went to Ukrainian State theatre to watch 'Sentimental Cruise'. It was written by my parents friend, the one that now lives in Paris. Have to admit, I like it very much. Never have I thought that she can write something so cleaver. And as an additional bonus - it as in Ukrainian. After the theatre, we went to visit my fathers brother and his wife and son - we popped by for a cup of tea and a chat. And I wanted to see all of them. I was nice to catch up with my extended family. 6th: Met up with Victor again, and he took me to see his flat that I bought a few years back. Now he is working on doing it up. He made good progress since I saw it last. In the evening, we celebrated Christmas: mum, dad and me. It was a very traditional celebration with traditional food and songs. 7th: Christmas day! In the evening mum, dad and me went to the Russian State theatre. It was a very witty and funny play with lots of humour I very much enjoyed it. 8th: Me and my mum went to the State Opera House to see the 'Nutkracker' ballet. Well, at least we thought this is what we went to see. Usually, 'Nut Cracker' is a 2 parts ballet that Ukrainian State ballet does so well... This time it was: 'Nut Cracker' in 50 minutes done by kind and a second part was some thing else. First part was not too bad, but it was so not what we expected that we left at the end of part 1 and didn't even see what part 2 was all about. Saying that, I still enjoyed the day and the State Opera House is amassing. You have to be there to know what I mean. 9th: Spent a day with Svetlana and Tatiana. 10th: Spent day with my mum, including a very good and very tasty lunch at my favourite Fondu bar In the evening went with Olga to see the ballet and the programme at the TSK restaurant. It was an interesting experience, but I have to say that I didn't like the place (I didn't like it the first time I was there on 26th December with my dad either). 11th: Met up with Valeriy during the day. Was waiting for 2 hours for him, and only managed to spent 20 minutes with him before he had to run off again. In the evening, we went to the Fondu Bar at the Globus 1 for our usual last evening meal with my mother and father. Meal was very good, and so was the service. We had a great evening. After that I changed tables, and spent the rest of the evening with my friends at the same place. After midnight, we went to the PaTiPa disco, were we stayed until 3 am. I finally got home and went to bed at around 4 am, just to get up again in 2 hours and leave for the airport. 12th: I am back in the UK. back to the year list |
| YEAR 2007 | |
| December 2007 | Only 12 working days left this year for me... 1st: Had yet another one of my birthdays ;-)This time, I actually quite enjoyed the opening of the cards, and this is why: The picture on the left shows just 3 of the cards that I got . Yes there are the same, but they are the best cards ever! They look so much like Gina and Lyla, it is as if someone actually took the picture of my cats (they not only look like them, but they are a very good representation of them too - 1 is a bit taller and slimmer, the other is a bit fatter). And those cards came from people that do know me pretty well. So, thank you very much, this actually did make my day and made the opening of the cards a pleasure (for once in my life as I usually don't like doing it, no idea why).   We were planning to go out for a nice dinner, but than I decided that instead, we can have a nice evening in. Of cause, that meant that we would get a cake ;-). I have not have a cake with the candles for like absolutely ages, so it was nice to do something different. Especially considering how cold and wet it was outside...2nd: Was planning to dye my hair with henna, but it does take ages, and this weekend I just didn't have that much time, especially considering that I wanted to do something else and not just wait for my hair to dye. Of course, I am still planning to do it before I go to Ukraine, so maybe in the next 3 weeks ;-). 12th: Went to Lille with people from work and client. It was a very simple trip: one 90 minutes on EuroStar. Its actually too easy! I can see myself doing it again. We went to the Christmas Market and drunk lots of hot malt wine; the weather was great - nice, sunny and crisp - a perfect day. Got some pictures as well. They are now on my Facebook, if you want to see them, and I'll try to get them here as well, so watch this space. back to the year list 16th: Did my first ever Cab Boot Sale as a seller. It was great and a very good fan. I managed to sell lots of stuff. Was even accused for selling it too cheaply ;-). But from my point of view - I just wanted to sell it. Of cause getting money is a nice thing, but not coming back with lots of stuff was even better. We had 2 full cars going into the car boot, and 1 half empty car was coming back home. Very pleased that all the big stuff was gone. 16th: Tate was Christened. It was a very cold day. When we got to the church 45 minutes late due to the traffic being absolutely killer, we really thought that we missed it all. But very soon we discovered that every one was running even later than we were! So, at the end, we got there in perfect time. The ceremony was very nice and friendly. It was like being with your family I have some pictures and videos from that day on Facebook. Check them out. 17th: Met with Peter. He has a lovely birthday presents for me... and one of them was to go to the theatre to watch 'Dirty Dancing' musical. And a very nice musical it was. I enjoyed it very much! Thank you very much for the wonderful evening! We agreed, that I am taking him to the next Arnies one ;-) 20th: A bit Christmas party in the office, but I am not going ;-( Have to pack, do some last minute shopping and generally get ready for travel. Had to spend an evening at the flat as well getting ready and everything. Did lots of cleaning so that I can leave the flat nice and clean for my flatmates. One of them is travelling to Mexico this weekend where him and his girlfriend will have a huge engagement party, and the other will spend it with his family in Reading. back to the year list 20th: Salvatore come back to... I guess to say good bye and to leave his bike outside of the flat so that Dietmar can look after it while he is away in Italy. I know he wanted to stay the night at the flat, but he never actually managed to ask me about it. 21st: Salvatore is flying back to Italy for a good few months. Not sure when he will be back, but he loves London and wants to come back. 21st-22nd: Doing some last minute shopping and getting ready to go. Packing is a nightmare. All I seams to be doing is moving things around: cats are helping me allot. They managed to get into the bag, and to pull everything out of it twice already! Now I have to keep my bag in another room and the door shut. Even thought Gina can open the door, I doubt she will try again, after seeing me being very mad the first 2 times ;-) Has to wrap endless amount of presents for all my family and every one from Richard's family. 23rd: Flying to Kiev to spend a New Year with my parents. The flight is at 11, which means that we have to leave at 7:30... I rather get a newspaper and a coffee at the airport that rushing around and being late. Not sure what the weather is like there, but my dad did say to bring a woolly underwear ;-) I guess it must be cold. The trip was a bit of a long one and took the whole day. The flights from London was at 11 am, which meant that all I had to do is get up in the morning and leave for the airport. When I got there, there were long lines every where (nothing unusual here - many people were trying to escape for holidays). It was very foggy that day, and what I didn't know that 150 flights were cancelled all together that day with all flights being very delayed. I never saw so many people in the airport. There was no seating places anywhere, including the floor... back to the year list I finally got the gate, 2 hours after I was supposed to get the gate number, and even after we boarded the plain, it didn't take off for another 2 and a bit hours. All together I was delayed almost 4 hours, and by the time I got to Kiev it was very late evening. So the whole day I spent travelling... 24th: Its my grandmothers 20th death anniversary (if you can call it like this). Me and my mum went to the cemetery and put some flowers and a small Christmas tree on her grave; spent a bit of time there. 25th: Its Christmas, and my in-laws are all going out for a nice Christmas lunch. Ukraine celebrated 70th anniversary of the Ukrainian Diplomacy. Some present and past diplomats were invited to the Opera House, were the president congratulated every one and some medals were given to some people for their work. After that there was a very nice concert. After that I went to see the concert of Ukrainian folk music at the institute that my father works in. I never expected it to be so nice. 26th: Met up with an old friend of mine who I have not seen in absolutely ages, and an old memories flown back to me. It was a good meeting from the investigation point of view, but somewhere I wish I would not have it... But this is my problem. In the evening - it was my parents friends 40th wedding anniversary. My mum could not go, so I had to go instead. It was a small but very nice evening, and it was nice to see some of the people that I only see every 5 years or so. back to the year list 29th: In the morning we went to Ukrainka to get me some jeans - I always get them there. They are very nice and cheap there. The only down point is that we didn't know that there were some shops with jeans as well, so I ended up trying jeans on outside, on the street (in chancing room, but completely outside) in minus 5 degrees for about 30 min. Of course, by the time we got back to Kiev, I already caught a chill and had a huge temperature. So, the rest of the day I spent sleeping and in bed. 30th: The last day of the 2007 hunting season. Very early in the morning, me and my dad driven past Dimer where we met up with other hunters from our party. I am not going to describe the whole day, because 1-I hate writing and 2- it will take me too long to describe (you had to be there to experience it), but we had a good and a very fun day. People that hunt in Ukraine will know what I mean ;-). Did we kill anything? - me and my dad did not, but some other people in our party did. Overall, from 6 am to 6:30 pm I was in the middle of the forest, in the open air and in the country side that I love so much. I even forgot that I had a cold or temperature, or my nose was running all the time or that I got through too many boxes of kleenex... It was so worth it!!! 30th: Its my parents 37th wedding anniversary. Even thought I had a huge temperature, we did go out in the evening to celebrate my parents wedding anniversary. The restaurant was nice, but the food was not tasty at all... At least we will know for the future not to go there again. 31st: New Years party. Went to the country side and had a nice family New Year celebration. Even the fact that I was very ill didn't stop me. And as usual, we watched 'Ogonek'. Even thought I recognised only 5% of the people I can still say that I missed that. back to the year list |
| November 2007 | New month ;-) and I only have 30 working days left this year!, not that anyone counting. 3rd: Went to Banbury to Peter's 50th Birthday. He rented a pub within the hotel and a marque. Food was very nice and the band was playing good music. Saw lots of people we have not seen in a while. 4th: Richard finally managed to 'edit some html and add some links' as he said. Check out his efforts. 4th: Today is a Victor's Birthday, and I don't even know how to get hold of him to wish him a Happy Birthday! Maybe (just maybe) he might read this and realise that I did remember ;-) 9th: Today is a Valentine Sperkatch Birthday, which is a happy occasion; and a 40 days from the death of his oldest brother-in-law, Valeriy, which is a very said occasion. I cannot believe that they decided to combine both... 13th: Barbara's Birthday. I could not make it there, but I know she had a wonderful time. She is very big now and expecting in February. And after all that, she is doing a New Years party at her place. Boy, she is very brave! 16th: Nevil's Birthday. Have not heard anything from him. Did send him Happy Birthday message and through the Facebook, and I hope he had a nice time. 16th: Had a champagne lunch and a very nice food. We were celebrating Stephanie's acception of the offer on the place at Clapham Common that she is looking to convert to a restaurant, her quitting the job at the end of December to do the 'catering business', planning a Christmas outing for the client, and our work and the business that we bring just to name a few. back to the year list 23rd - 25th: I spend a long weekend trying to go through some old things and see if 1 - I can trough anything way; 2 - move the things that I still think I would need somewhere to store. Have to admit, I was good at moving things around, not so good at throwing things away. I managed to get quite a few boxes packed for storage. The only problem - where do you store it? The roof seams to be a pretty good place - out of the way and I still have lots of room in the garage to collect all those other things than we don't need ;-)... Well at least that was the plan, until Richard told me that the way the roof is built - it that it cannot take any weight what so ever. So, now I have created another problem that I need to sort for myself: 1 - I need to get lots of space in the garage in order to store all that junk that is just too painful to get read off yet; 2 - to actually get the storage system and boxes so that I can move all that into the garage. And this is something that I won't be able to sort out very quickly as the next long weekend I have - is the 7th - 9th December. I guess I'll just have to wait until than to do it all. 29th - 30th: Had an 'Agile Training' at the office. It took a whole 2 days and was an OK training. Some bits very useful as an over views and a bit more details at the time, but most of it seams too confusing. It didn't look like a 'real' training. I am sure that the people that did the training were very knowledgeable, but they seams to look for confirmation on what ever they said and did from the Head of PM who was also present at the training. They were not a very good facilitators and let us go in our own way and got lots in new information. Some time a new information would be presented based on previous knowledge that no one seams to have in the group, no one except the Head of PM that is. Overall: after 2 days did I personally learn something? Yes, but very little if you take into account that it took 2 days ;-) and I am confused more that I was before in some other areas. 30th: It was a bit embarrassing that I managed to forget (really forget) that I had my own birthday the following day. Oh well... back to the year list |
| October 2007 | Valeriy, friend of mine from Kiev, wanted to come to London in October/November to show her daughter the city, but I think he might have changed his mind as I have not heard anything from him for a few weeks now. 3th - 7th: Its been a very nice few days: warm and sunny. Not all the time, but quite a good weather for October. Quite surprised really. 14th: My parents got back home after 2 weeks in Shanghai. It was a Special Olympics Games 2007 and from what I heard Ukraine did quite well. The website is not easy to navigate, but if you want to you can try to extract details here. It wasn't all sporty - while they were there, they spent some time with Mrs. Yushchenko, the wife of the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko. 15th: Launch, hopefully before so that I don't have to work on a weekend. Kerry, Stefanie and myself went to the launch party. Lots of buzz, and it was all very interesting. Didn't stay late as I was way too tired. 16th - 17th: Paul was working very hard, long hours and could not make breakfast. He is now off for a week with the family to Wales, so we'll do breakfast when he is back. 16th: I had an entry in my calendar which I forgot about - Peter and me going out to theatre. But I have not heard anything from him about this one. Dropped him a SMS in the afternoon, and he is taking someone that he met. Can do with some sleep ;-)... I know he was not very sure about this show as reviews were very different, and I do hope it was a good show. back to the year list 17th - 24th: Was supposed to take a few days off to relax and re-charge my battery and energy level from working 2 last weekends, but I could not do it. They asked me at the office to help them out with a problematic account/projects. And after 3 days of work - the project was canned! Great. This really does make me feel great. At least weekend is coming so I would be able to rest a bit. 20th: Managed to get a time off booked at work and booked my ticket to fly to Ukraine over the Christmas and New Year period. I am out on 23rd December and coming back on 12th January. Almost 3 weeks away. Not planning anything yet, but I already heard that Svetlana is organising trip to Carpatia Mountains and was booking a chalet. Not sure if I will go or if there would be a place for me yet; I do want to spend time with my parents... 21st: Today is a 3 years since Jack Davey died. 22nd - 31st: Its been a busy time, but I managed not to work till very late, go to the gym a couple of times and see some strange things in a sky at night with my flat-mate Dietmar. And trust me - it was strange. It was yellow, big, flying very fast and flashing a bit. It did look like a military plane or something, but it was flying VERY fast and very high. It would be OK if it was just 1, but we saw 1, followed by another 2 together followed by another 1. Interesting... I also managed to get a bit more familiar with the facebook (I am not into all those networking sites, but I think this one is OK, a least for time being. I'm sure I'll get bored of it very soon as I don't like spending hours on line, but for time being I am on Facebook. Ha, ha, ha). 31st: Olgas Birthday. Was trying to call her on all the numbers I have, but failed to actually wish her a happy birthday. Her mobiles were ringing for ages with no one answering, and her home number... well, I think she didn't pay the bill and it was disconnected all together. back to the year list |
| September 2007 | 7th: First day of holiday. I am taking a time off while girls are in London. And today I am opening my time off by.............going to Gatwick to pick them up ;-). 7th - 17th: Svetlana & Tatiana were in London and we had absolutely great time. Were in many places, saw lots of people and places. It was great to have them around. I wish they would come more often ;-) So, what did we do? 7th: The flight was 30 minutes earlier, and I was panicking that I missed them coming out. Nevertheless I was waiting for just over 2 hours - this is how long it took them to go through the custom! Great beginning to any ones holiday! ;-) Finally, they came out. I driven back into London and shown them the flat. Like this they were prepared straight away for the 'sleeping' arrangements and knew what to expect. We walked around Colliers Wood and Wimbledon a bit, visited the Wandle river, parks, and cafe, and went to Wycombe. 8th - 10th: We stayed in Wycombe. Visited lots of places around Wycombe, caves, state buildings, etc. Went to the city centre and did some shopping and walking / looking around. Went for a drive to Henley, Marlow and other small villages around Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. They loved village pubs and cafes, and the small windy roads. Celebrated Richard's birthday in a lovely country pub where the people even managed to shoehorn the candle into the desert - pancakes ;-) That was fun. back to the year list 11th-17th: We spent in London. Doing what any tourist would do plus walking allot around some less touristic places, having great food and drinks. Had a BBQ in the garden on 12th with my flat-mates. Was interesting evening. I think every one enjoyed it too. 13th: Met David and he managed to get us all into the Madox club. Girls really enjoyed it, and were talking about it for days afterwards. I know they wanted to go clubbing, but that made their evening, week and probably month, maybe even year. I am very grateful to David for this. 14th: Took a trip around South-East beaches of the UK. Started at Hearn Bay and continued trough Morgate, Ramsgate to Dover. I wanted to take them to Hastings and Brighton as well, but it was a long day, and by the time we were leaving Dover it was already dark - too long at the cafe ;-). So we cut our trip short and got back to London. But instead of going home, I driven they around city centre, city, all bridges, many parks, and the most of the landmarks that we saw previously, and many that we didn't see. We spend around 3.5 hours driving around, and I bet I only managed to cover a very small part of London. But it was the most interesting part of London. 16th: Went to the Absolute Ice Bar. Freezing, but it was a good experience. Really enjoyed it. Well worth the £12.00 entry fee. You get it for 45 minutes, but we left after 30 min., and by that point in time our feel were literally freezing / getting stuck to the floor. But its an experience, and it was great to try. And on 17th in the morning we driven them back to the airport and waived good bye ;-( And I was missing them already. back to the year list We made lots of pictures during their visit, and I'll be putting them onto the usual place once I had a chance to go through them. So watch this space. Pictures are now posted here. Please note that there are many of them, and it will take time to load. Enjoy! 8th: Surprise birthday party for Irene - Richard's grandmother. 9th: Richard's Birthday. 17th: Spent a day in the garden pretty much getting ready to go back to work. It was lonely without the girls... 22nd: Went to Josephine and William for Yom Kippur . Saw lots of people we already knew, and some new faces as well. Its always nice to see them and everyone was so happy! Nothing else interesting happen - just busy. Some news from Ukraine as reported by BBC. back to the year list |
| August 2007 | As I already mentioned below, July came and gone just way too fast. 2nd: PM frolic party - BBQ. It was quite nice. I didn't stay too long, and definitely didn't fancy getting drunk. Food was nice and there was lots of it too. Seams that for the budget of £100.00 we (project management) seam to work their magic into getting not lots of food but lots of drinks too ;-). 6th: Larisa Gorinshtein Birthday. 14th: Lunch with Matt Pearce. I have not seem him many times since I left Modem, so it was nice to catch up again. 17th: Another breakfast with Paul; and a bit of analysis too ;-). 24th: Paul McCarroll birthday. He is in Wales with his family and kids. 25th: Its been a year since Aleshin dad died. Alesha is my cousins ex-husband. Doesn't time flies? 25th-27th: Bank Holiday weekend. And lots of rest. Getting ready for when the girls come to London in under 2 weeks now. Another friend of mine wants to come to London at the end October / beginning November with his daughter to show her London. Not sure if I can take so much time off to spend showing people around; and I don't even get a holiday myself. So, not sure how I feel about that yet. Maybe I can persuade him to come sometime next year? ;-) We'll see. back to the year list |
| July 2007 | 1st: Today is the fist day of the 'Smoking Band' throughout UK. This means that no one can now smoke in the public place. Really, I cannot see how this will affect me, as I don't go out anyway. Richard's mum and Mel came to visit us in the flat together with Mel's daughter. We even had a BBQ. Not really, but the intension was there. It took way too long to get it going, and by the time it finally was going, it was too late to do a BBQ. Maybe next time. 2nd: Met up with Matt for a nice drink on a boat - that was strange. It was rocking... 3rd: Had another of my lovely breakfasts with Paul. I hope we'll have another one soon. Somehow I think its time for me to analyse him, rather than always being analysed ;-). I'm sure he'll know what I mean. Still, looking forward to another one soon (hint, hint, hint). 4th: 9 years... I think I deserve the medal ;-). 5th: Was due to meet up with Heather. That would have been the first time since she got her divorce, but she cancelled the last minute - she was tide up at work. Sounds only too familiar to me. 7th: Audi Polo in Virginia Waters. 9th: Dad's birthday. Apparently he head about 12-15 people and, from what I heard, they had a very nice time, including my parents. back to the year list 9 - 13th: This week was ever so busy for me - working that is. I did lots of hours and had to cope with lots of pressure. Hey, another day at work. Lets hope that next week would be a bit easier. I can always hope. 15th: Dietmar is moving in, so now we will have a full house. 22nd: Salvatore came back from Italy. He went there in the middle of June for his sisters wedding, and came back 6 weeks after. I wish I had a flexibility like this and ability to take such a long holiday once in a while. He has now a great tan. Looks like he had a very nice time 24th: Heathers Birthday. She is now 25. Unfortunately, we could not make it to her for dinner, but then again London and Birmingham is not that close. 24th: Company's doo to say good bye to DNA Consulting and hello to Avenue A | Razorfish, part of Microsoft now. 26th: Went to theatre with Peter to see Spamalot. It was great; both to see him again and to see a musical. Haven't done this in a while. Really enjoyed it. And I managed to give him his birthday present as well (which make a difference, because usually I completely forget about that. Shame on me, I know.) back to the year list 27th: Peter's birthday, which I think he celebrated by finishing some of the DIY furniture. I really have to find time to go and see his place. He's done so much to it, and most of it by himself. 30th: changing bank account - not as easy as one would think. 31st: I only had my new mobile phone for just over a week, and its already dead!!! I got it from eBay. I know, I know, but not every phone one buy through eBay is a disaster. In the past I was lucky. This is my 4th phone I got through eBay and the first one that packed in. Maybe this has something to do with Nokia under performing? Or just my luck. Anyway, its currently being repaired, and I do hope that this will be free of charge as this model is new and still on warranty! But until its repaired I will have to suffer with an older version that I had for 3 years, and nothing even went wrong with it, once. Month of July come and gone so quickly this year. I know this has something to do with me being extremely busy at work. But, at the same time, the time seems to fly nowadays so fast. This year was very unsettling in weather all over the world. Europe was hit by a heat wave, and UK was hit by tropical rainfall and flooding. Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Berkshire were pretty much under water for almost a week, even longer. Many people suffered losses from flooding. We were lucky. You can see some of the pictures on the BBC website that people posted. And here you can see the overview of the floods around the country, together with stories and pictures. back to the year list |
| June 2007 | 2nd: Was working for AUDI. Taking part in the 'Raisa Gorbachev' fund raising event which was held at the Hampton Court. 4th - 8th: Dad in Paris, so close and yet so far... I would've loved to take some time off and go and see him while his visit to Paris, but this is not that easy when there is so much going on. 4th: Dinner with Matthew Ollett. It was great to catch up after all those years (3 to be precise). And its great to see that he hasn't changed much, still the same Matt. 5th: Met up with Lucy, Luis and Brian for a dinner. I haven't seen them for 3 months, so it was great to catch up with them. 6th: Meeting with Michael Gudkov and GNI Man Group. I think the meeting went well. The outcome of it is still to be seen. 13 & 14th: Ludila was in London. She needed to go back to the Lunar House (Home office) to do her visa again. Now its all sorted for the next 3 years, so that they can relax and enjoy so free time). 16th: Had to take car back into the garage - it hasn't felt well recently with jumping and acting like a frog while accelerator is engaged. They did fix it - simply, the coil leads needed to be changed, well it is almost 11 years old. But I still love it, and its still holding up. back to the year list 21st: Svetlana got a visa and is now definitely coming to see me in September. 22nd: Met up with Paul for another one of my favourite breakfasts. I know I said that time and time again, but I really do enjoy having breakfast with Paul, he is such a good company ;-). 23rd: Went to the O2 Arena at the Dome for the celebration of 5 years of O2. It was quite good with all those artists like Tom Jones, Kaiser Cheifs, Basement Jaxx, etc. and was hosted by Dermot O'Leary 26th: Tatiana, Svetlana's friend got a visa as well, so now they are both coming to see me in September. Last time I spoken to Svetlana, she was saying that they will be coming around 8 September for about week and a half. But this is all still to be confirmed. 29th: Met with Ben and Joanne from GNI to finalise the documentation and to sign the contract. Looking forward to this taking up. 29th: This was a very strange day in London with all the police and helicopters about. And, of cause, unless you are in front of the TV (which I wasn't) you would have no idea about what was going on. I only read about it in the papers that evening, and than got more information on the news that night. back to the year list  The account of the events on that day from BBC website:  You can see the progress of the day in pictures here - on BBC website. And here are the Russian and Ukrainian versions of the above news. back to the year list |
| May 2007 | 1st and 2nd: This is a Labour Day in Ukraine, and a whole Europe as well. Which means that people don't work, except in the UK this is a normal working day ;-( this is so not fair. 4th - 9th: Salvatore is away in Paris. Its his birthday on 6 may, and this year he is celebrating it in Paris. Just learned that he broken up with his girlfriend... And I think he is enjoying the freedom way too much ;-) 7th: May Bank Holiday (No 1), which is a non-working day. It is nice to have a long weekend once in a while, unfortunately it does not happen that often. 8th: Meeting with MM. Not very interesting at all. I doubt anything will come out of it. 8th & 9th: Mike was staying over at the flat. 10th: Yet another of lovely breakfasts with Paul. It's actually very nice and relaxed to meet up before work and have a nice chat and a coffee. One would expect, that because of getting up early and rushing off somewhere it will be a long and tedious day. Don't know why, but its always sets the day right. We should definitely do it more often. back to the year list 10th: I only learned this morning that tonight is the leaving doo for Sarah Dudley and Bharat Trevedy. And apparently Greg Lee is crashing it... I managed to make it to Sarah's and Bharat's leaving doo for an hour. It was literally around the corner from where I was ;-) It was nice talking to both of them. And I learned that Felipe is now engaged to..... Sarah McCall ;-) This is a great news. They always had a chemistry going on between them. Greg come up to me at some point and said that he was glad I could make it.(?). It was interesting to see lots of old faces and many new faces as well. The turnaround is tremendous. And I got some latest gossip as well ;-) At the end of the evening Paul told me how proud he was that I managed to do it. 12th: Working in London - Swan Lake, the AUDI Ballet. Its something that AUDI doing every year in Opera House. Met all those people that I haven't seen in ages. This was a very nice catch up. I missed it, I really have. 13th: @ 21:21 Tate Charlotte arrived into the world. Both parents (Stephanie & Tony) are absolutely delighted. 16th: Had to take 1/2 a day off at a very late notice and go to Norwich to meet up with West's brother. He is a layer. 20th: Working in London - BAFTA's. This is always a very long night. Had to pick the car up the day before from Upper Heyford as I am one of the people that starting early. back to the year list 22nd: Was waiting for the delivery of the chimney I ordered a while back. It finally arrived at almost mid-day, and when I opened the box, the bottom pan was broken. Great!!! Now I have to contact them again for the replacement, and wait for the delivery yet again. Brilliant. 23rd - 24th: I am still thinking about the work, office, and people I am working with. I am making the right decision? Have I actually reached any decisions yet? There is so much going in my head, but I still no not have the right or any answer for that reason. I guess I still have 4 weeks to figure that one out. 24th - 25th: Barbara's and Paulo's wedding in Athens. I so wanted to go, but unfortunately this was not to be this time round. And I am not implying that they will have another wedding, just saying that it would have been nice to visit Athens. I guess there is always a next time for this one. 24th: The application was submitted, and I had a call on 25th to confirm which office it should be forwarded to. Apparently, its always have to be sent to the office closest to the place of work. I didn't know that; not that it makes a huge difference to me at the end of the day, only the bill to me ;-) But lets worry about this later. 23rd - 25th: Finally, Svetlana is definitely coming to London in September and was filling an online application form for her visa. It did take her almost 3 days to fill in the application. He was sending me the screen grabs with questions and answers so that I can check that he was filling it in the right way, and doing it all over again. I honestly think it would've been much faster if I am to fill it on for her ;-) But this is now done and she will be going to the Embassy on Tuesday to get her visa. back to the year list She will be coming together with Tatiana at the beginning-mid September for about 10 days. I am so looking forward to this one, in a bit scared sort of way. The reason for a scared - I know they would want to have a great time, and I would want them to have a great time, just not sure that I can organise that great time. So, no pressure what so ever... I need to do lots of planning. And, of cause, I have to make sure that I put some money aside so that we can have a really nice time when they get here. 28th: What's good about May, is that it has 2 Bank holidays. One - first Monday of the month (Spring Bank Holiday), and a second - last Monday of the month (May Bank Holiday). So today is a second, the May Bank Holiday, and its a non-working day. Love it. Shame they don't do them every month... 29th: Fingers crossed, we will have that dinner with Lucy, Kelly-Ann, Luis and Brian that we were trying to have for the last month. Its not easy trying to schedule something straight after work, but hopefully this time it will happen. back to the year list |
| April 2007 | 3rd: Joined the gym just across the road; and it was very cheap - just £20/month, so hopefully this will be an incentive to actually go there and get fit. Although my induction is only in a weeks time, at least it will give me time to get ready and get my stuff together. I haven't been to the gym for over a year now, and I am actually looking forward to it, especially being just across the road - no excuses now ;-). 3rd: Peter popped by with Grey's Anatomy Series 4 ;-). This will keep me going for a while. 4th: Steven Fajana (we used to study together ages ago) called me out of the blue, and I met up with him for a catch up. He is looking great, hasn't changed much at all. He is still doing films and managing clubs/restaurants part-time. 6th: Richard Jenkins (we used to study together ages ago) finally got in touch after all those years, and came around to mine. And its a good thing he stayed over - he was in no condition to drive - way over the limit!!! 7th: Sasi's and Dushi's wedding. It was a great ceremony - very nice, although I have to admit it was a bit long. In invitations it said 1 hour, but in fact it lasted just over 2 1/2 hours. It was worth it thought. 7th: Went to see Tony & Stephanie at their new place in Northhampshire. Very nice house with garden they have there. Stephanie is 4 week away from giving a birth!!! So the names are the topic of the day ;-) back to the year list 6th - 9th: I finally got around to do the gardening and painting the outside stairs and   bannisters. Its a hard work and is taking a while, but I am sure it will worth it after wards. Although..... Thinking about it, I might need to get something to keep cats away ;-). The very first day, after I put a compost down into flower beds, cats had a huge party, at least so it seems. I left garden in a perfect state, even cleaned the patio, and in the morning all compost was every where, actually more on the patio than the flower beds...... I'm sure cats had a ball digging it all out. Yesterday I went to the wedding and still have not seen my garden today, but if all my plants are dug out - I will have to put some measures in place to stop them doing it...All I have to do now - is get the BBQ and a table, and I am all set for the summer in the garden - so looking forward to it. The picture on the left - before and on the right - after. Looks nicer, doesn't it? The plants are new, but they will grow. I'll get another picture done at some point during or after the summer. 8th: Easter! Happy Easter to everyone. 8th: Managed to get the table, just the one I wanted, from www.gumtree.com. Its not new, but in a very good condition. Very happy with the buy. 14th: It was Dorter's wedding, and Peter was there. He said the wedding was wonderful and she looked very pretty and happy. I saw pictures, they all great. You can see them here. back to the year list 18th - 22nd: New York. That was lots of hard work, and lots of fun as well. I wish I could do it more often!!! I'll cope with jetlag as well ;-). I had the most amazing trip in a long time. I met some wonderful people and had a very good time. Of cause, it wasn't all fun, there was lots of work done too. 25th: Met Paul for a coffee in the morning - we really should be doing it more often. It was a lovely and sunny morning. I didn't even mind getting up so early in the morning. 26th: Had a company meeting when we had to stand up in front of the whole company and say: name, what I do and an interesting fact. And I had to go first! After that we had a small party on the roof, and it was freezing ;-). Evening are very cold right now in London. After that I had to run back home as I had Ludmila coming to stay with me. She needed to go to Home Office in the morning. 27th: Had an evening out with our department. Went for drinks first, and than for pizza at the 'Stone and Fire' in Covent Garden. Very nice place, and food is pretty good too. 28th - 29th: Nice and easy at home, relaxing after a hard and intensive week. And next week, it will be a new month, which will bring 2 bank holidays ;-) We like bank holidays and time off. I might even try to see Peter's house while day-light. And Stephanie is due any day now. Called her today just to check that everything is alright. They were shopping for baby stuff ;-) back to the year list |
| March 2007 | 3rd: Laura has moved out of the flat, and with me spending pretty much all of my time in Bucks, Salvatore is now alone. Not sure if he is enjoying it or not, but I'm sure I'll find that out at some point in time. Not sure about the date, but Julia (daughter of Kira and Slava from New York) gave a birth to a healthy baby boy. This is wonderful news. 20th: Had a small surgery on my big toe nail to remove the grown back bit of a nail. 21st - 31st: In Ukraine. 31st: My foot (toe nail to be more precise) does not seams to heal. Its just annoying more than anything. It does not really hurt, only once in a while, but it does still bleed, which is most annoying bit of all. I hope it will heal soon. back to the year list |
| February 2007 | 1st: This year I actually remembered to renew my road tax. Quite amazing actually! 9th: Richard was as sick as a dog (if you can actually say that). It seams there is some kind of stomach bug around that makes people very sick. He wasn't able to go to work at all, for the whole day. At least he got lots of sleep and rest. 10th: Today, Laura, my second flatmate gave me notice. They are (Laura and Marco, her boyfriend) are trying to save some money to buy the place, so she will move in with him and his parents to save some money. So, now I am looking for 2 new flatmates. As if 1 wasn't difficult enough. Oh well, I better get busy advertising again. 11th: Salvatore contacted me from the States (his girl fried went to work there for 3 months, and her company flue him over to stay with her). Apparently, he left the keys from the flat in London, and he wants someone to stay behind tomorrow morning to let him in... Good job he is flying very early, and I think both me and Laura will still be in by the time he gets to the flat from Gatwick. If not, it will definitely be interesting 13th: Apparently, now Salvatore is not moving to Luton, at least not just yet. His company told him that he will be working in their London office on Farringdon Road for next couple of months. So now he would like to extent his tenancy contract for at least another 4 months. This is fine by me. All I have to do now is find someone to replace Laura, which should be easier than trying to find 2 people in a very short space of time. back to the year list 14th: Oh, its another Valentine's day. Did you all remember about it in time? I got a lovely flowers ;-), and it wasn't from Richard. 17 - 25th: Question: 'What do people do on a weekend, when they don't work?'......... Fall ill, of cause! At least this is what I did this weekend, and if this is not enough, I was down with absolutely horrible flue not only all weekend, but the whole week as well. And come another weekend....no, I wasn't feeling good enough to do anything, because I had a migraine the whole of Saturday. So all I did was sleep. Great, now I have to go back to work without any rest at all in the last 3 weeks. And if you think having a flue is a rest - think again. I still don't have enough energy to sit up for 2 hours straight. 22nd & 23rd: There was 2 viewing of the room. Of cause I could not be there, but Laura let people in and guided them around. One came back saying that it was too far from transport (I see her point, 2 min. walk to bus stop and a tube is quite an adventure), and the other one just died on me. I'm sure he is well and everything, but he never replied. Maybe he just got scared, I don't know. 23rd: Its a 'Soldier' kind of day in Ukraine, which is pretty much marketed as a 'men's' day simply because every man has to go to The Army for 2 years when they are 18. And, yes, I forgot about it. Nowadays, I cannot even remember my own birthday! At least I remembered when my dad called me, which is a plus till some extend. 23rd-24th: It seams Peter spend all his years salary on IKEA mirrors ;-) which he is currently installing. The end result is looking very good, even if I wasn't allowed to see the intermediate progress. Well, they look good on a pictures, I am still to see them in real life, if I am allowed of course. back to the year list 26th & 27th: I have another 7 viewing setup (only 4 currently confirmed) for the room. Fingers crossed, one of them will like it and take it, and it would be a nice person. The was a couple that came to see the room 2 weeks ago, and a few days ago they called me back saying that they want to take it, but I didn't feel that they were right for the flat or me. And I really need to find someone, like this or next week at the latest. So, fingers crossed for Monday and Tuesday. Viewings: Well, I had 7 viewings setup, but only 3 of them actually did happen ;-) The rest, well not sure what happen to those - never heard anything back from those people, even after leaving a message on their mobile phone answering machine. As they say, you can't win them all! In comparison, so other areas of my life were actually even worse, if that's at all possible. Its funny, but every time I think to myself 'it can't get any worse' the life shows me just how wrong this statement is... And as a prove to that ... the events on 26th and 27th. Unfortunately, at this point in time, I am still (at least I think I am still) not allowed to talk about it - sounds fishy just by itself ... but I learned the meaning of the word 'escape goat'. Even thought I am still very confused as to exactly what's gone on and what it is that I was supposingly doing or not doing or supposed to have done, but this is one for the learning; and a lesson that I would remember ... for some time. Without going into any details, I would like to say huge thank you to all people that texted, called and emailed (or mailed) me with their words of support and furstration. Thank you. I very much appreciate it. back to the year list |
| January 2007 | Christmas and New Year has come and gone. Well, I had 2 Christmases (first one - the one that is celebrated in the UK, and a second one - the one that is celebrated in Ukraine) and 2 New Years (first one is the official New Year, and a second one - Old New Year as celebrated in Ukraine). So I cannot really complain. The work is so busy, its is almost impossible to imagine. I am doing 16 hours days, plus min. 1 hour travel each way, this leaves me with.......just over 4 hours of sleep. I feel and look very tired, and I hate every second of it too, which is just the worse combination and situation one can be. 2nd: Anastasia's birthday. Was trying to call her to wish her a Happy Birthday, but she was away in Amsterdam and had her mobile switched off. At least I know she had a nice time. 4th: My mum's birthday. She did not have a huge celebration or anything like this, my parents just went to the restaurant and had a nice meal. And I know she like it this way so much better. 7th: Christian Orthodox Christmas ;-). I have a suspision why it is on a 7th: The Old Cyrilic Calendar was 12 days behind the one that is currently used and globally accepted. But this is only my theory, but I might be wrong. 8th: Richard's friends - Richard Lee is leaving today to go back to Australia. It was nice to see him, after almost 5 year. And nobody knows when would be a next time. back to the year list 9th: It is Matt's birthday, and I know for a fact that he is not celebrating it today - the celebration will be on Saturday, 13th, and I am planning to go; have not seen him in ages, it would be great to catch-up. I know he had some very big changes in his life since we spoke last. 10th: My lovely husband as he is, has finally upgraded the broadband to the faster, better, bigger, whatever thingy, hence the connection was down for almost 2 weeks ;-) and costed me 10 years of my life... 13th: This is an Old New Year; but this time it is definitely because of the calendar changes, this is I know for sure. It is still very widely celebrated holiday in Ukraine. 24th: One of my flatmates, Salvatore gave notice. He's got a new job to start on 12th February, and its in Luton. Travelling to Luton from Colliers Wood will take at least 1 and a half hours, and its if all connections work properly! He really does not want to move to Luton as he likes being in London and enjoying the London life. So, now he is looking for a place somewhere near Kings Cross. 28th: And, yet again, I left server for a week, and the connection to the broadband went down AGAIN!!! The Orange Broadband Livebox is a real pain in the rear ;-) Now that I am back here for a day, the server is up and running again, but for how long this time??? back to the year list |
| YEAR 2006 | |
| December 2006 | 24th - 10 December: Mum was staying with me ;-) 1st: Another year has done. Have I become any wiser? 8th: My dad is back in Kiev from his trip to Switzerland. 10th: My mum left back to Kiev. 14th: Mike took me to see and hear the band that his brother Alex is playing in. In was in Reading - no idea where exactly ;-). It was fun. 17th: Richard's friend Lee is coming from Australia where he lives now to see his family in New Castle, and will be spending a couple of days with Richard. They have years of catching up to do. 25th: We were invited by Richard's mother for a Christmas lunch at the nice hotels restaurant in Yorkshire. Had to get up so early in the morning it wasn't even funny, and drive there for 11:30. But the lunch was very nice and tasty. It was only 5 of us, which was perfect in more than 1 way. After the lunch we drove to Janet's place, where the unwrapping of the gifts took place. Every one was happy with what they got, so this a relief. I didn't open my presents because I was saving them for the New Year. And a great idea that was! 23rd December 2006 - 2nd January 2007: I had all this time off work, and that was GREAT!!! After a couple of days, I had lost a sense of what day/date/time it was ;-) All I had was a complete relaxation and complete of doing nothing. Although going back to work wasn't so nice. back to the year list |
| November 2006 | 4th-7th: The guys came and painted all around windows outside. It was a big job. They were in a terrible condition. Now they look like new. 5th: Went with Peter to see the fireworks. It was great! 12th: Heather made her first flap jack, and I think it was a success. 12th: I have less and less time to update my website, but will do it once in a while. The calendar is still up-to-date thought ;-). 21st: The hell at work broken out (more about it later) and I am too fedup of incompetent managers trying to run things. 21st: My dad is going to Switzerland for work for almost 3 weeks. 24th: My mum arrived to London!!! I took some time off to spend with her in the next 2 weeks ;-) I met her at the airport. More about her visit later. 24th - 10 December: Mum in the UK ;-) back to the year list |
| October 2006 | 1st: I have a new room-mate - Laura. She is moving in today. Now we have 3 people in the flat: Salvatore, Laura and me; and we all work close to each-other: Old Street, Warren Street and Euston. 2nd - 4th: On 2nd the work on the garden begun. It took 36 man hours, 2 people working to complete the design that I have created. Well, it is a tiny garden !!! ;-) It was even faster than I thought - it should have take about 3-4 days to complete the paving (quality is not great, but it shows the progress). Now that the circles are on, I should be able to plant lots of nice plants, although I might leave planting to next year ;-) but at least now I have a nice place to chill out when its warm outside. 1st - 6th: My parents went to Italy. They stayed in Rome 4 days and 2 days in Venice. 7th: Spoken to my mum today, she was telling me how much they enjoyed both Rome and Venice and how much fun they had: the food, the site-seeing, everything was great. 13th: I am sure that this has nothing to do with Friday 13th ;-) but .....I had a really horrible and frustrating day. Went to the Lunar House in Croydon trying to transfer a visa from my expired passport to my new passport, and......to cut a long story short - I wasted my time and returned with nothing being done. You can read the full story here, if you are interested of cause. 17th: Met up with Peter - have not seen him in ages. We spend a whole evening catching up and talking: well not so much talking as me interrogating him. Sorry, but there was so many news that I had to get through. We really do have to make it more often, especially now that we live not far away from each other. 18th: Had a chat with Greg about our working relationships - hopefully it will get better from this point onwards. Face it, it can hardly get any worse ;-) 21st: Today is 2 years since Jack died. We wanted to go to Mansfield to be with Richard's grand mother, but Richard is working and doing his accounts; and I need a weekend of rest rather than to move about as well. 22nd: Was supposed to be working, but it got cancelled, so now I can just enjoy my weekend rather than being in Manchester. back to the year list |
| September 2006 | Its not easy to find a flat-mates. Many people interested to look at the room, but only 10% actually do, and than not all of them I would like to live with, and some of them never call back ;-). Hey, but I am still trying. 2nd - 7th: My dad was in London with Royal Society. He brought me a new passport of mine: I applied for it while I was in Kiev, but had no time to pick it up. We met up a couple of times and went for a dinner in Camden Town. 3rd: Valeriy's birthday. I sent him million on-line cards (just because ICQ was telling me to send it every 2 min. - boy that was annoying). 9th: Richard is one year older. He is still playing a catch-up game. 15th: Its Irene's birthday today. I could not go, but have made some Ukrainian food for Richard to take up to Mansfield. 27th: Its Alisa's birthday ;-) She is now 6 years old. This is a year that she went to school - almost grown up now. back to the year list |
| August 2006 | Sasi moved in with his wife. They got a place in Croydon. A bit far, but at least they can spend much more time together. 8-9th: Spent both days in Portsmouth at IBM offices due to work. Managed to walk around Portsmouth sea front a little bit. And weather was nice: not hot, not cold, and not rainy - just perfect. 9th: Dan came in to see the room. 10th: There was 25 people arrested trying to get on 9 flights at Heathrow airport with liquid explosives. Houses in London, High Wycombe and Birmingham were searched and arrests made. Its been a bit of a problem if you are travelling, but otherwise all is fine, it seams. 12-13th: Were supposed to meet up with Stephanie and Tony for a catch up and maybe a game of poker. Unfortunately it did not happen as Richard had to work... 12th: Richard got his first job in a new BMW. And today was the first time I had a ride in it - very nice ;-) I'm still smiling. 13th: Hanna with her boyfriend are coming to see the room. 15th: In Luton at clients site again, but only for half a day. 18th: Working from home and expecting delivery for Salvatore. He will be my new flatmate. back to the year list 19th: I finally managed to find someone that will get read of the shed for less than a grand! It took 2 big guys just 2 and a half hours to dismantle and take it away... No more asbestos shed at the back of my garden. But now I discovered that I have no fence at the back of my garden, and I cannot really put a fence there as the garden in front has about 50 cm (2 feet) compost heave backing straight to it, so if I am to put a fence panel it would rot very quickly. Hence it would need to be a brick wall at least 1 m (4 feet) high. 19th: Salvatore is moving in. He is arriving from Italy to work in London. He found the add about the room on the Internet, and we arranged the whole lot through email. Week beginning 21st August - went to Ukraine for a week for work ;-) with another person from the office. That was interesting... I doubt I would do it again. Of cause I stayed with my parents, but in 6 days that I was there, I saw my dad for no more than 15 minutes, and my mum for almost 4 hours, and only because she specially came back to town to spent some time with me. Otherwise, I spent all my time with people from the office. Saw Svetlana and Alisa for about 3 hours - they specially came back to town as well, otherwise I would not see them at all. 25th: Aleshin father has died. Alesha is my cousins ex-husband. Salvatore has moved and settled in. He is very nice chap and trying to work and study at the same time, which is not easy - I know, I went through it. back to the year list |
| July 2006 | 4th: Yet another anniversary. Richard took me to a nice Japanese restaurant in Soho and we had a lovely meal. After that we went to Kensington for a coffee. It was a nice and relaxing day, which is just what I needed after a long and stressful day at the office. 7th: Sasi's wedding day. That was a wonderful day, or so I heard. Meanwhile I was stuck in a traffic on M25 and around London and was not able to get there in any normal or reasonable time. I hate London for this. 7th: Ludmila was in London. She can a conference somewhere in or near Oxford, and came to the flat that night. She was joined by her husband and son the very next day for a weekend in London. 11-12th: Had a meeting in Lund, Sweden. But to get there, had to travel to Copenhagen, take a train to Malmo and then another train to Lund. Stayed a night at Malmo, which looked very much like a holiday resort town ;-). On a way back from Lund, had to do the full monty back: train from Lund to Malmo, train from Malmo to Copenhagen and a plain back to London. What was worse is that every train was delayed, and a flight was delayed as well. By the time I got home, it was almost 11 p.m. So much for glamour business travel... back to the year list 16-17th: Richard's sister (Heather) travelled to London through us: and I mean she popped by on Saturday, left her car and went to London on a train. On a way back she stopped for lunch and a chat. That was very nice as I don't see her enough. She looks great, and now that her student time is over, she is getting a job. 18th: I met up with the friend of mine Heather. We used to work together for Skybridge a while back. She still works there, but moved on from developer to an operator working on Microsoft account. It was very nice to see her after about year and a half. She changed so much!!! She has a very short hair, and looks much more free and happy. I know she had lots of changes in her life lately, but they are all for the best. I wish her every luck, and will be keeping in touch to offer any help and advice I can; or just be a friend. This summer is very hot. Well, for the last 2 weeks it was very hot, and some days the temperature was above 30 degrees C. What is worse - we have no air conditioning at work, so every day we were boiling, and once its all over, I have to get home in a steaming tube with no fresh or any kind of air. That was not fun. Today we had some rain for the first time in weeks, and although it feels a bit better, it looks like beginning of next week will be just as bad. 30th: Sheetal and Katen moved out... They wound a new place closer to Sheetal's work in East London ;-) Not sure how Katen feels about it, but I doubt he has much choice. 31st: Richard got himself a brand new BMW series 7, long, silver, fully packed with darkened windows. Very nice. All he needs now is operators licence and clients ;-) back to the year list |
| June 2006 | 31st May - 2nd June: Have a terrible flue that I picked up in Prague. Just cannot shake it off. 4th-24th: I was in Kiev visiting my parents, friends and taking care of my health. If you need to get in touch with me while I am there - please use my Ukrainian mobile as my UK will be switched off. The number is: +38 050 7184812. 4th-9th: Had to work as the company could not find any cover for me: not enough project managers and the ones they have are all extremely busy. 10th: Had my operation. 27th: Met up with Stephanie and we went for a dinner. 28th: Met up with David. I have not seen him for ages. We went out for a drinks and a dinner. Both places were very nice, but when we got to the dinner - I was already full on drinks ;-) And I was told that this will be the case... back to the year list |
| May 2006 | 1st: This year, the first Monday of May fall onto 1st, this is the only reason it is a bank holiday. Otherwise - its a normal day in London, just like any other. And this is something that is very difficult for me to get used to. In Ukraine, both 1st and 2nd of May are still the bank holiday. I miss that: street parties, celebration and smiles all around, and long fireworks. 9th: Yet another bank holiday in Kiev - this is the day on which we celebrate the end of The Second World War; and the military demonstration on a main street it is still going ahead. 26th - 30th: In Prague. Richard and I went to Prague for a bank holiday weekend. Its a beautiful city, later on I will post pictures taken there. After 3 days, Richard fell ill, and later on he shared it with me ;-). So, now both of us are lying pretty much dead with the flue. Just to prove my point - holidays are not good for me... ;-) back to the year list |
| April 2006 | 1st: Fools day, ha ha! 4th: The 'Cat' was put to sleet. He was way too ill and dangerous, not only to the other animals but the humans as well. Sad, but such is life. I will post some pictures of the cat later on in a short memory of his difficult life. 7th: MOT. Boy, this is a difficult exercise. Nowadays its all computerised, so you need to make sure that you booked well in advanced and have MOT before previous expired; or do not drive! 14-17th: Easter weekend. Long bank holiday weekend. Originally was planning to re-design and do the garden. Unfortunately started looking into it only about a week ago, and all deliveries usually take 21 days or so. So have missed this weekend anyway. Not that the weather was actually any good anyway. 23rd: Christian Orthodox Easter. Spoken to my parent and wished them nice Easter. Spending day with Tony and Stephanie playing poker and having generally nice and relaxed day. 26th: Wow, time does fly!.. It seams like only a couple years ago, but this year is 20 years since Chernobyl. There was many postings on the web, news pages, etc. about it. I could not resist not to link to BBC site I think they did cover many aspects of the disaster, and even my uncle has his say ;-) And, of cause, I never forget that my best friend is/was from Pripyat. I am talking about Svetlana. Now she lives in Kiev. 28th: Tim is in the UK. He has 2 offers: one from St. Georges and another one from Durby to study medicine. St. Georges is very close to my flat - the whole 15-20 min. walk... So, I might be having a new lodger ;-)... All I have to do it make some room for him... 29th: Nika's birthday - she is 88 this year. back to the year list |
| March 2006 | 5th: Spoken to Emma - she is pregnant is due at the mid-August. Both Chris and her are so happy with the news. 8th: As a tradition, I celebrated this day with very nice dinner. 12th: After a long time, spoken to Peter. He has put an offer on a house and it was accepted. He is planning to close the deal and exchange so that he can move in at the mid-end-April to South Croydon. Not sure about the location but it sounds like a nice place: 3 bed detached house ;-). Hope I can and will be allowed to see it soon. Learned that David and Yuka apparently had a second child. 14th: Girls night out. Went out in Soho: had a couple of cocktails and a very nice dinner. Had a nice chat as well. Would love to do it again soon, if time permits. 14th-15th: My mum called me to say that dad was taken to the hospital with pancreas. Spent half the night and following day on a phone talking to what seams to be half of Kiev trying to find out what and why and whether I need to jump on a plain the same day... He was taken to the hospital previous Sunday morning (no one told me about it before Tuesday might). After long conversations, it seams that there is no need for my immediate return back home, but I am planning to go over and see them very soon. 15th: was working till almost 11pm, to catch up on my work. 17th: Lots of very happy and marry people around - it must be St. Patrick's day! ;-) Had to stay late, even later then usual. 18th: It is almost the end of March, but still it is very cold both here and in Kiev. Were trying to remember when was the last time it was this cold at this time of the year. End March - my mum picked up a very ill cat on the street and trying to treat it and nourish it back to life. back to the year list |
| February 2006 | 7th: I have now a new number plates for my car. Spent about 2 hours in DVLA with all documents, and... Good bye 306D109 hello N511PYL. I could not believe my eyes when I go N-reg - I missed P-reg by 2 days! How disappointing is this! Now my car 1 year older than it actually is... 11-13th: Tim is in the UK for a couple of days. Unfortunately, due to my poker night, we would not be able to meet up, but he said that he will be back soon. We can try and do Big Easy again ;-)... That's blast from the past. 11th: Stephanie and Tony came over and we had a very nice dinner (completely prepared by Richard) and than a nice game of poker. We all still learning how to play so that added to the fun too. At the end of the evening, we all agreed to go to their place in France at the end of May. 13th: Had a call from Ludmila. She was very upset: she had her bag stollen from her apartment with all the valuables inside it. What can I say - Liverpool is no different to any other cities. 15th: Had another call from Ludmila. She sounded very happy and announced that she had the best Valentine's present yet . Police called her the night before and told he that she can come in and get her bag - it was returned... And it even had some cash in it left!!! They did empty the wallet and taken mobile phone, but she did get all her keys, ID cards, phone book, etc. back. She was very happy. 15th: Went for a dinner to Chelsea Kitchens, and saw Kate, Fred and Guy. They all looked well. Have not seen them for ages, although have to admit I doubt they shared my view. 18th: Went to see Mike, who lives near Reading, well not so near, but this is the place that people might recognise the name of. 19th: Yet again saw Fred and Kate. Spent some time running around London looking for coffee after mid-night. But it was very nice to catch-up after such a long time. back to the year list |
| January 2006 | 1st: Celebrated New Year with very interesting people while in Turkey. 4th: Mum's Birthday. Yet again we were in Turkey and were celebrating it with the people that we got to know while on our skiing trip. 7th: Went to the cinema in Kiev and saw a very interesting film. The best description - it was a Russian Matrix, just as interesting if not more so with just as many special effects with were great. No wonder they were signed off by the Americans. 11-12th: In Stockholm. Lovely city and nice people. Shame I had no time to do the site seeing. Definitely want to go back and do it properly. back to the year list |
| YEAR 2005 | |
| December 2005 | Another year can be written into history. Year older, yet again. There is no way of just stopping the clock and time. What a shame. 1st: Lots of nice words from my friends, family and people I know. Thank you everyone. 10th: got an email from Igor - he sent me a surprise - old picture of us. I have now added it in. 10th: booked tickets to go to Kiev. Another new year celebrated with my parents in Kiev, well close to it anyway. 2 weeks before Christmas was so busy, its unbelievable. So much needed to be done and sorted out. No wonder I had no time for anything or anyone. 21st: Met Platon (he lives in Paris) for a dinner. He's got a job in London and was planning to rent an apartment. Was trying to give him a couple of suggestions regarding London prices and places to stay. Hope it was useful. 24th: Flew to Kiev to meet my parents and see my friends. 25th, 26th, 28th: Before going to Ukraine I posted an event in the Kiev's section on VT site (VT - virtual tourist - is the site where you can share information about places, travel and experiences with fellow travellers and meet them up - make travelling alone more interesting). A few people replied, but I have managed to meet up with one of them - Greg. He is from down under - Australia. We spend time wandering the streets of winter Kiev trying to find interesting places, exhibitions and generally just looking around. In winter you do have to have warms-ups in-between, and we visited many cafes and restaurants in doing so. 29th: Had to get up very early (3a.m.) to travel to Turkey. We went to Turkey skiing. I know what you think - skiing in Turkey??? I thought so too, but they do have mountains in the East of the country. The place we went to is Erzurum. Erzurum is a town that is located in between mountains and they heat their houses with coal - this is why the town is always in smoke (I guess this is what London used to be ages ago ;-) ). Here is some information about the skiing resort we went to, and the hotel we stayed in. Skiing was good, maybe not that interesting for the people that ski very well, but was enough for me (I do it once every 5 years or so). There was one problem - they do not service mountains very well: i.e. if there is snow you can ski, if not... They do have technology to create snow, but they do not use it, and rack tracks are just for getting up and down mountains after an avalanche... Which is a different story. While in Turkey, we had 1 avalanche just before New Year, a small one. It did get a boy, but his father saw him going down and dig him out.  On 2nd January 2006 we had small and large avalanches. The small one came down during the night, and the large one about 14:45 in the afternoon. The last one did get 5 people: 4 men and 1 woman. At about 20:00 they found all men, all 4 alive; at about 3:00 the next morning (3rd January 2006) they found the woman - she was dead. Her spine was broken in 2 places and they think that she died very quickly... She was Svetlana Virastyuk, the wife of the Strongest Man on Earth. The picture on the left shows both Svetlana and Vasiliy together just 3 hours before the avalanche, and in a background is the mountain where the avalanche came down. If only someone knew. back to the year list |
| November 2005 | Before I went to Ukraine, I had an email from my dad that someone is trying to find me. It was another old friend of mine, back from the years of medicine and Kiev. He is currently in Israel with his partner and 2 lovely daughters, working in medicine and I think he is happy. Once Igor finishes his site, I'll post a link here. 8th: Got back very late. Have to say that travelling via connection is not too bad by itself - you get to read allot, but travelling when there are many delays at all departures and arrivals because of very thick fog is not fun. And turbulence while you are in the air is not something I enjoy. But I did get back safely. This time instead of looking for the permanent position, I was ready to accept the contract work. And I think that might have been a right decision - I started a contract the very next Monday. Now I am at Modem Media. The contract is till Christmas, after that we'll see. back to the year list |
| October 2005 | 1st-11th: Nokia Game. 4th: Finally I have started adding those pictures I promised ages ago - including the ones that were taken in Egypt... Please remember - it is WIP (work in progress), so please don't expect for the whole lot to be ready over night. I actually do sleep during the night. Anyway, do have a look around and let me know what you think. 6th: I have now finished adding and uploading all the photos from Egypt. You can view them here. I will continue working on updating some other albums in November. So watch this space. 12th: Met with the guy - Sasi. He is moving in some time beginning November into B1. At that point I will have full house, and in more then one sense. ;-) 13th: Played Nokia Game final - have succeeded the life, which is a good news, but no results as yet. 15th: One of the old friends of mine - Igor Chernyshov managed to track me down. Nice to hear from him after all those years. Since I saw him last - he has moved to the Israel, and said that he has a surprise for me - he just have to scan it ??? Any idea what it might be? Answers on a postcards, please. 16th: Getting ready to go - I am off to Kiev for 3 weeks, so might have some more news on my return (knowing me - I probably won't)... 17th October - 8 November: in Kiev. Kiev was as always great. I love going there and not only because I always see my friends and family, and get to do lots of fun things, but it feels like I am home too. Saw lots of people, went to a birthday party, saw my relatives (which I don't do often at all, and this is not something I am proud of) and spent lots of time with my mum. May people had interesting ideas about the places I can work at/for if I move back to Kiev, and I have to say that didn't sound like a crazy idea at all. At least I know I have options... back to the year list |
| September 2005 | 4th: Last day. I got some lovely flowers too. 4th: I got a presents from my parent... Very tasty. Ludmila brought them for me. Thank you very much to her for that. 5th: Got a call from my mum's friend She is coming to London in a weeks time with her play. That should be interesting. And my job is to meet her at Waterloo - great. But I do look forward to it. I have not seen her for at least 20 years. 9th: Richard's Birthday. He was working, so nothing was happening. 10th: Met friend of my parents, Tamara at Waterloo. Obviously she did change in those 20 years, but she still looks great! I wonder what's her secret . 13th: Richard's Grandma Irene is in High Wycombe. She will be flying to USA the next day. 15th: Irene's birthday which she is celebrating in the States. 15th: We are going to the premier of Tamara's play in Islington, I think its called Cruis. Yet again, I am not sure what to expect, but my mum did like it. Looking forward to it. 17th: Couple moved in into B2. They are quite nice and quiet, at least so far. 19th: Nokia Game 2005 begins. It will last until the final, which will be held on 12-13 October. Sad, I know, but I love this game; and this year it is interesting again. 20 Lives - one gets to life the lives of others... 27th: Alisa's Birthday - she is 5!.. Remember those years? Actually I cannot - too old one can say, but I'm sure its a worry free time, at least from adults point of view. 29th: Irene is back from the States - sounds like she really enjoyed the trip. back to the year list |
| August 2005 | 31st July: As a background information - on this day my car broken down - camp belt snapped and damaged 12 out of 16 valves. So now they all need to be replaced - VERY expensive repair, and the one that will take a while ((( 4th: Anyone has a position for pm?.. I have to start looking for work. 4th: Spoken to the garage and they gave me an estimate of the work. Oh yes, it is being a very expensive repair indeed! Now I am having a second thoughts - maybe I should have written the car off? But then yet again, in that case I would be without a car since I cannot afford a new one. 6th: Called the garage to see if the car is ready. The short answer - no, they did not get parts in time, so it will not be ready until next week. Great... 12th: Spoken to the GT Auto Motors garage and agreed that I will pick the car up tomorrow - Saturday. Hey, my credit card sweating ;-) 13th: Went to the garage to pick up the car - wish I would not! But about this later - just do not have enough time right now... Yes it is a long story. Basically, I was not able to pick up my car due to the garage owner fleeing the garage taking my car keys with him... I was a bit worried that not everything looked like it should, so just before picking up the car - shown him a picture taken 5 days before. The owner of the garage took one look at it - and was gone!!! It took us 2 1/2 hours mediating with the colleague of his, and talking to the garage owner over the phone, for the guy to say that now due to all this trouble, we had to pay with cash! One grand on Saturday 3 pm - IMPOSSIBLE. Every one knows that! Anyway, I had to call the police in hope to get some kind of closure, and they were just as useless as they always are... Long story, but I did not get my car that weekend. 20th: Finally managed to get my car back!!! Hula-hula. And it costed me almost one grand, 3 weeks of time and lots of lost nerves... back to the year list |
| July 2005 | 1st: The things that I do not like - relationship conversation. Was it last? 4th: 7th Anniversary is a Wool. 7th: What started like any other bed day turned into a VERY sad day. As usual, I have reached the tube about 15 min. before I actually had to travel, about 8:20 - I like to be in the office early so that I can have my coffee, toast and a cigarette before I start day. The tubes were not running due to a defective train. So, as always I got a bus to Wimbledon, got on a train to Waterloo. Decided to get out at Vauxhall to get Victoria line. On my way to the tube I bumped into another guy from the office. Together we made our way into the tube, got onto the train. The train would not leave the station for a while, and then the announcement came that there is a power cut and train is suspended till further notice. We decided to get back out of the tube, got to the train yet again and went to Waterloo. When we got to Waterloo it was about 9:40. At that time no tube were running at all - they said major power cut. We decided to get outside and try to walk for a while as all buses were absolutely full. It took us about 50 min. to get into the office, On a way we saw lots of police, fire brigade and ambulances passing in different directions. No idea what was crossing my mind at that point, but it was worrying and a bit panicky. Later on when we got to the office, we have learned what was happening in London (below is a cutting from various web sites): back to the year list London bombings toll rises to at least 52 killed and 700 injured. A series of bomb attacks on London's transport network has killed more than 52 people and injured about 700 others.  Blasts occurred: back to the year list Blast time line:  Left: Passengers evacuate an underground train at Kings Cross (Photo: Alexander Chadwick) Right: Three explosions on the Underground left 35 dead and two more died in a blast on a double-decker bus. This is a day London will remember for a long time. back to the year list The following is from BBC website: back to the year list More Information on 21 July 2005 (from www.bbc.co.uk): At 0850 BST a bomb exploded on Piccadilly line train number 311 travelling south from King's Cross station to Russell Square.   back to the year list At 0850 a bomb exploded on Circle line train number 204 travelling east from Liverpool Street station to Aldgate.   At 0850 a bomb exploded on Circle line train number 216, which had just left Edgware Road station heading west for Paddington.    back to the year list At 0947 a blast tore through a number 30 double-decker bus at the junction of Tavistock Square and Upper Woburn place.    back to the year list 2th: Nona is in London and we had a girls night out at her place. 15th: Natasha called. 16th: BBQ at my place with Tony and Stephanie. have not seen them in about 2 years - was great to see them again and to catch up. 21st: More bombing in London.      back to the year list 22nd: Man shot at Stockwell by police - they thought he was a suspected bomber.  Police have said they shot a man dead at Stockwell Tube station in south London after he was challenged and refused to obey an order. Met Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said the shooting was "directly linked" to the ongoing London bombs inquiry. THURSDAY 21 JULY |
| June 2005 | 1st - 17th: Away in Ukraine. If you need/want to get in contact with me, please email or ICQ me and I will reply as soon as I get your message. See you when I get back, or maybe not, depending where you are reading this from. 6th June - friend of mine was be in Felixtow. Shame that I am away and would not be able to meet him. But he will be back at the same place on 28 August - so there is still a chance. 18-19th: very long hours and lots of work has been done. Too tired and need lots of sleep now. 20th: Back in the office to see if Wunderman has another contract for me. Although it seams it may take some time until I find out. 23rd: I was told that I have a contract, but I do not know any details or a physical contract yet. I do know regarding the project and now working on it. back to the year list |
| May 2005 | 30 April - 2 May - working, so don't even call me. Will be busy, sorry. 1st: Labour Day - the one that is celebrated in Ukraine. 1st: Its Ukrainian Easter!!! So, get the Easter Eggs going ;-) 11-15th: Had a flu and was in bed pretty much the whole time. In addition, there is a chickenpox going around the office. Lets just hope that I'm not going to get it. 13th: Got huge gas bill. I never know it is possible. And no, it is not. I have a faulty meter - its just keep counting all by itself. And it will be fixed / exchanged next week for a new one. 19th: Had a visit from the Ariston engineer to fix my boiler. That was amazing!!! for once I actually got someone that knows what he is doing ;-). Sounds strange? Doubt it. In the last 6 months I had engineers in and out of the flat too many times to count. They were all trying to fix the boiler and only today someone actually did! The guy spent 20 min, and now not only does it works but it does so in a perfect manner. Finally, one load of my mind. 20th: Had to stay in the office till VERY late - had a pitch deadline and was waiting for people to get out of the meeting. So that was a very long and tedious day 21st: The Eurovision song content - was in Kiev. Greece won... 25th: Had an Electricity Engineer - now I have a brand new electric meter, starting fresh from 00000. 26th: Had a Gas Engineer - now I have a brand new gas meter too! And yet again starting fresh from 00000. So now I will be able to find out exactly how much natural resources I am using ;-)... 26th: Had some upsetting news from friend of mine - Peter. He has to go for an operation while I'll be in Ukraine. 27th: Was my last day of the contract work on Jaguar and Land Rover account for Wunderman. Have deployed in 24 countries, 67 sites overall! I think they were happy with my work and services that I have provided. 31st: Off to Kiev, Ukraine to see my parents and friends... back to the year list |
| April 2005 | 5th: Had a company car for a day to drive around - Land Rover Discovery 3. Very nice car - was very pleased with it. And I managed to move some things around as well - so it was very handy. 8th: Had Discovery 3 again, but this time not for fun - had to go to the clients meeting in Gaydon, Jaguar Land Rover client. Funny that is... 9th: My mum arrived. Met her at the airport. She looked great! Wanted to find some daisies for her - she loves them, but left to the last minute, and ..... failed. Ops. 11-14th: Had to go to Amsterdam for business. And hence my mother was visiting me, I took her there as well. We had good time in Amsterdam, walked a lot and visited many places. I really like spending time with her, and exploring different cities. Its fun. 9th - 25th: My mum was in London. I had to work during the day, so she visited many places in London on her own or with her friends. She managed to see so many people in week and a half that she was in London - this is really embarrassing, I never manage to find any time to see those people :-( We did spend every weekend together walking around London or High Wycombe, or Amsterdam for that reason. That was so nice to spend time together and with her. I do miss my parents being so far away. Its not like I can get into the car and drive for 4-5 hours and see them... The last Friday she was in London I took a day off work and we visited London Zoo. That was interesting. Its much smaller then I remember it to be,. We had good day and weather was nice as well. On a last weekend, we went to the pub near Beaconsfield and a sea-food restaurant in Reading. She liked both of them, and they were pretty good. Especially the pub - the oldest Free House Pub in the UK. I think it was something like over 700 years!!! Impressive. Overall, I really hope that she had a good time and that she liked my flat. Its is always difficult to know is someone really enjoyed their stay or if they are just trying to be polite... 25th: I drove her back to the airport and waited with her while she checked in, which took almost an hour. Then I had to go to work - already was late. But she landed and gave me a call straight away, saying that she landed and every thing is fine. She did say that she liked spending time with me, even though I had to work very day. 29th: Managed to catch up a little bit on my caning, filing and accounts. Tedious thing, but it needs to be done. 30th: I am trying to do the Advanced Driving Test. And today is my first assessment. Not sure what will come out of it. Maybe I will be so scared that I will change my mind. Possible. back to the year list |
| March 2005 | Yet again, quite busy at work, lots of things happening and project is running quite nicely. Not without the usual problems, but nothing I cannot manage. 8th: This is one day that I so enjoyed last year in Ukraine. I spent it with my parents and my friends. For the benefit of people outside of Communism - this is Women's day. it's a big bank holiday back in Ukraine, the day when everyone celebrates. Not the same here, at all. Actually, this is just a normal day here, one of many. 8th: This is the International Women's day (at least so it said in Yahoo! Calendar ;-) ). Well, not in England, but at least in Ukraine, and I was celebrating it as well; but I won't be able to have those bank holidays... 8th: Richard's dad was staying with us. Watched some footy, spent some time. Nice evening. 10th: Went to see Mary Poppins with Peter. That was a great musical. It really was. I very much enjoyed it. Can't believe I never saw it before. Told Peter that this was my first time, and he sent me a DVD to watch. All I have to do now, its connect my DVD player. No, its not that difficult, its just a bit tricky... 19-20th: One of the members from the Deployment Team was in London this weekend. He was working on a project in Germany. That was a very first time I met Andreas. And it took some meeting up skills. And before you say anything - you try to meet up with some one in a very busy pub in central of London on a Friday night, especially if you never met the person before! It was not that easy, but we did manage it. Had a nice but short drink and talk. Hopefully we can do it again at some point in the near future. 23-24th: A very-very old friend of mine was in London as a stop-over from and to States. And this is some one I used to know while living in Ukraine. We have not seen each other for....many years (sorry but no numbers here). It was great to meet up and catch up after all this time. So much happen in both of our lives, we moved on from Ukraine and, from what I understood, we do some thing similar. I understood that he is a Project Manager as well. But he is trying to so SO much MORE. He is trying to open his own business, and I am sure not only he will succeed, but he will be very successful and good at it. All the very best to him. And we did agree to met up again, next time he is in London and go clubbing - now I am scared. I cannot remember when was the last time I was clubbing. And what do you do there ;-)... I hope it all come back to me at some point, although hopefully sooner rather than later. 26th: That was a Wedding Day of Emma and Chris - my dancing friends. Unfortunately I was not able to be there as I was away from the country at that point in time. But I heard that they had a wonderful day! And very happy! Congratulations to them. 26th: Luda from Liverpool with her son were coming to visit London for the Easter weekend. It was very nice of them to pop-by and say hello on a day that they came to London. I felt so bad when they came and brought lots of sweets and chocolate for us. I had nothing to give them. The best I can do was to offer them a tea. Quite pathetic performance on my behalf, I know. But what can I do - I was decorating all day, and some how lots track of time. Time was not an issue, all I wanted to do it to finish the flat, and spot running around with the paint brush and roller. I love when people coming to see me. It gives me the rare opportunity to play the host. Thank you Luda, that was greatly appreciated. And you are always welcome to stay in a flat, when ever you need to. 31st: My sister-in-law was in London with her friend. They were staying in a flat before flying to USA. I think this time she liked the flat. And I guess, not having a building site inside helped a lot. She even might come and stay at some point - at least she did ask me to keep 1 room for her!.. back to the year list |
| February 2005 | Nothing much was happening during February. Busy at work and a very good progress was made on my flat. The walls in my flat came down and new walls were built. It took ages and with all the dust and rubbish around - looked right building site. But now that the major structural work is completed, I have to spend lots of time to decorate the place. Everything needs to be pained: walls, sealings, windows. New carpet needs to be put in as well. Great, that will take me ages, not that I mind - its actually quite therapeutic, if you like that sort of thing. Some one that I knew ages ago (well more then 15 years ago) have managed to track me down - Larry. That was a surprise. He will be passing through on his way from and to USA and we agreed to meet up. back to the year list |
| January 2005 | The New Year I spent with my parents in Egypt. We had a nice party put up for us by the Sheraton Hotel were we stayed. Food was good too... 4th: My mum's birthday. That was strange birthday as well, we did not go or do anything. Somehow I don't think that is the birthday she will be trying to remember. 5th: This is the first day that I got back to work, and boy there was many things that needs to be done... 6th: Christmas Eve (this is the Christian Orthodox Christmas). Had people calling me from Ukraine to wish me a nice Christmas. I think that was a first time ever that I had so many good wishes for a Christmas, my Christmas. 7th: Christmas Day. Hey, as always I was working all day, but I did managed to get out of the office at 17:30 ;-) At the end of the month, my father managed to visit me. Well, not so much to visit me as to come and spend an hour in-between running around and doing his business. Great, made me feel so great and wanted. Thanks. Nothing else interesting or worth writing about. back to the year list |
| YEAR 2004 | |
| December 2004 | This was a very busy month for me, not only because it's was a short months - i.e. work wise, and definitely not because of Christmas and New Year, but because this is time for holiday. Yes there was lots of work to be done before I could go on holiday, but at the same time there were SO many people that are coming to stay in London, and I had to do other stuff as well. At the same time, the work on my flat had started in a first week of December: builders came in on Tuesday, knock the wall down and left the complete distraction on Wednesday - they got pulled into another job - so much for doing things at all ;-)... Richard ended up covering for every one: building the walls, doing electric, cleaning, knocking bits of wall down - multitasking BIG time. 1st: This was the strangest Birthday I even had. 4-5th: my fathers friends were staying in London - very nice family. They said that the flat condition did not scare them too much, well I hope it did not. But I guess I'll never know the truth - they said it was good.... 11-12th: Heather - my sister-in-law are staying with me in London - we were going to do some Christmas shopping - that was fun, even I hate shopping, but I have managed to do shopping for my mum. 17th - Left for Kiev. 3 Days in Kiev and straight after that 20th December - 4th January: Egypt. That was such a great time. 17th - 19th December: I spent in Kiev. The very fist day me and my mum went to the Kreschatik to see the 'Orange Revolution' - those young people that were staying and living on a street for over 2 weeks now. That was great, so much more to it that I have seen on a TV in the UK (and they were doing an update every 30 min, but nevertheless they still could not tell the whole story, as you have to understand the culture and people of the country in order to present the full picture). People were living there in tents, absolutely peacefully: they did not drink and they did not take part in any fighting, actually there was no fighting at all. People supporting the other side - i.e. Yanukovitch, were drunk pretty much all the time. Apparently when they travelled to Kiev in support of their candidate, they were paid to come to the capital, Kiev, and many of them treated this as a paid holiday to see the city. They loved the city and people, they were making comments how friendly everyone is. They were saying that if the other side supporters would have come and visited their town, the would have been beaten up first, and only after that anyone would ask on whose side they were.... After a while they were joining the other side - Yuschenko. There is so much more I can say about it, but I think it will take much longer (like a book) to describe everything... 20th morning: we left for the airport and setup on our way to Egypt. My parents were in Egypt before, but I haven't. My father was the one that put the whole itinerary together... I actually think that in 2 weeks being there we have seen pretty much everything, this is how packed the trip was. On some days we were flying 2 - 3 times in order to visit as many places as possible, and we had 6 days beach holiday (even if half of it we were still travelling to and from more places to see). 20th December - 4 January: we were in Egypt (pictures). Wonderful place, and that was a good time to visit it as wee - it was warm enough, but not hot. And we spent Christmas and New Year there as well. back to the year list |
| November 2004 | 9th: Met up with someone I have not seen for about 8 years or so - Soucerer. Its interesting cause he did change and he hasn't at the same time. Probably not that easy to understand but you would know what I mean if you saw him now and you knew him 8-10 years ago. 12-16th: Nevil in London. It was great to see him after 2 years. And last time I saw him for only for a few hours - this time he stayed with me, so I got to see him much more. Went to Barbara's birthday party as well, which was very nice. And I haven't seen her for a long time, probably 5 years or so. She looks a bit different - she is blond now - it suits her though. While being with Nevil, I missed one of my friends form SkyBridge leaving doo - on 12th and a ULU catch up charity dance on 13th, but it was worse it. Especially I have no idea when I see him next... 21st: Second round of voting for the president of Ukraine. 30th: Met up with Tim - he was in the UK for 3 days (curently working in the USA) and got in touch - great, very much appreciated. back to the year list |
| October 2004 | 2nd: Ukrainian Art exhibition and Black Tie dinner at Wotton House (Gladstone) The art exhibition was different, and the artists was there to answer any questions. After a look-around, we had almost 2 hours concert of piano music - that was great, and then a VERY nice and posh dinner. Overall it was an ex visit evening, even though we had to wear black tie and evening dresses ;-). It was well worse it. 21st: Jack - Richard's grand dad has died. After a couple of operations his hart could not cope any longer. He has dies in peace (hopefully) at 12:22. He was such a nice gentleman. My deepest condolences to all the family. 23rd: Richard Irons moved out of the flat. So, I am looking to let out 2 rooms now. Anyone interested - let me know. 23rd: registered to vote on 31st October. No prises for guessing who will be getting my vote though. 23-24: Weekend in Mansfield. 24th: an old friend of mine - Dima Volkov managed to find me through the internet and we spoke on ICQ. It was nice to catch up after all that time, even if it was online. 28th: Jack's funeral in Mansfield. It was a very nicely organised and very lovingly done ceremony. He will be deeply missed. 31st: First Round of election: President of Ukraine. Just 1 guess who I voted for ;-) back to the year list |
| September 2004 | 1st: A friend of mine came to visit me in London. Had a nice night out and in. 8th: Out and About. 9th: Richard Birthday - went out for a nice meal in China Town. 15th: Out and About. 19th: Working. 21-24th: Richard in Paris. 23rd: Evening in town - London. 26th: Working. 29-30th: Activities packed day out in the country side with my work colleagues. That was such a great day out: we did lots of things: like robes course, driving a tractors, be a ship herd, horses-slave driving, etc. In the evening we had a nice dinner and lots of drinks, and stayed in a very nice place around Oxford. Overall - it was a great fun day! back to the year list |
| August 2004 | 7th: Went out in London and had a great time! Thank you to my friend that took exceptionally good care of me ;-) 11-19th: was in Kiev. I had such a great time - probably the best time I had in ages. Spent time with my parents, went hunting and camping, had a boat trip with bar and disco on a river, visited Andrey (Underground) [I met him through internet on ICQ. Saw many friends, and bumped into people I haven't seen in a long time - was great!!! In times like this I miss Kiev SO MUCH... 20th: Started contract work in London, next to Camden Town. And now they are keeping me busy, very busy. 12th year in a row I have failed to visit the Notting Hill Carnival. No excuses this time at all. I wanted to go, but (as always) was quite busy. On a day that I wanted to visit the Carnival, I was told it was a 'kid's day' - i.e. the least interesting day. Oh, well, there is always the next year! back to the year list |
| July 2004 | 4th: Spent all day in Mansfield with Richard's relatives. Had nice dinner. 6 Years Anniversary!.. I need a medal ;-) 6th: Spent a day with Tony & Stephanie - friends of mine. Had great meal and time. We really should do it more often. Check out their business website. And if you fancy some time away in France, please check out this fancy place, which is available for rent. 9th: Father's Birthday. 20-26th: spent all that time in London, meeting people and going out. Great time, should do it more often! back to the year list |
| June 2004 | 2nd: Meeting in London on behalf of Finport Technologies Inc. 4th: Pauline McMillan birthday. Otherwise - working hard, and having not much time to do anything else. 28th: Emotions - Ukrainian Art Exhibition - very good. back to the year list |
| May 2004 | 1st: Louisa & Brian's Wedding. Here their website for more info. You would need login details, which are: username wedding, password london. 1-2 & 9: No celebration for me on those days. Just in case you don't know there are BIG bank holidays in Ukraine. 5th: Meeting in London on behalf of Finport Technologies Inc. 10-14th: running around London for lots of meetings and telephone conferences. 16th: Working all day. 21sth: Meeting close to Birmingham on behalf of Finport Technologies Inc. 26th: Working all day. 28-30th: Working all day. back to the year list |
| April 2004 | 2nd: Meeting Alan from FinPort Ltd. 2nd: Shamrock night out - meeting people I used to work with. 3rd: Louisa's hen night. That was a very nice day!!! We have had a very posh afternoon English tea at a very nice and posh hotel near Hide Park Corner. 7th: All day in Mansfield - visiting Richard's family. Saw Michael ans Vendy new house - stunning, and its almost finished as well. Were running from one place to another as we always do, but had a nice dinner with the family @ Jack and Irene's place. Very relaxing for a change. 10th: Easter and Orthodox Easter. 17th: Sarah's Birthday doo. Had BBQ outside, even though it was a bit on a cold side ;-) Could not stay long as working the next day. 18th: Early start for a very long days work. Had lots of fun though, and London marathon was not in my way. 24th-29th: Trip to Italy - 2 1/2 days in Venice and 3 days in Rome (pictures). Great trip and great experience. Both cities are nothing that I have seen before. Probably almost 3 days in Venice was enough to see everything, but not much for relaxing, but 3 days in Rome is definitely NOT enough. Probably even 3 weeks would not be enough - there is so much to see its amazing, and if the city itself was not enough - there are many more historic sites just outside and around Rome. Oh well, I just would have to go back again! back to the year list |
| March 2004 | Half the months was spent in Kiev and occupied by business and treatments. It was the first time in years that I had a real celebration of the 8th of March - the International Women's Day. I've missed those holidays. 14th: Got back to London. All I have to do now is to look for the right job. And try not to think about the great time I had in Kiev; and not to miss my friends and family too much. 20th: Saw Peter, even though it was for 5 minutes, it was still nice 21st: Saw Richard, Matt and Sarah for lunch and a quick drink in the pub and a game of pool. I have missed those people. 25th: Went to see Renault Megane Couple Cabriolet. Nice car, wish I could afford it though. And waiting list is getting bigger and bigger. Nowadays, after parting with almost £25K you still have to wait for about 4 - 5 months in order to get one. Still, I want one! back to the year list |
| February 2004 | All February spent in Kiev, with the exception of a trip to the Vienna (pictures). 14th - 19th: Me and my mum went to Vienna. This is the first time I was in Vienna and Austria all together. City centre is great: lots of places to visit and see. Spent solid 5 days running around from dusk till dawn around the museums, parks, galleries, and simply walking the streets. Absolutely stunning place. The friend of my mum's friend was kind enough to drive us around Vienna and show all those hard to reach without transport places. Thank you very much to Mitco for doing that. Very much appreciated. Otherwise, pretty much all of the February was taken by business and running around different hospitals for diagnostics, treatments, more diagnostics and more treatments. Have managed to see quite allot of my friends and their children, which was great since I never have time to do it otherwise, i.e. if I come to Ukraine for just a couple of weeks. back to the year list |
| January 2004 | 3rd: Trip to Thailand (pictures). Got on a plain to Istanbul and spent 8 hours there - nice city. Seen quite allot of it including churches, baths, markets, streets, bridges, etc. Had a nice walk around the city. The weather was a bit on a chilly side, but it was nice that there was no rain as weather report predicted. Got on a plain to Thailand. 4th: Arrived to Thailand and checked into the hotel. Spent evening celebrating my mum's anniversary on a boat having a great dinner. Almost missed the boat as driver decided that he will bring us to different hotel that we asked him to, but have made it with second to spare... 4th - 9th: In Bangkok. Did lots of sightseeing. Very nice city: completely different culture with its own feel. Really great place. And it wasn't as hot as I expected it to be. Visited crocodile, paper, wood, orchid, etc. farms, fabrics and places and, of cause, the jewellery fabric. Rose garden was nice, even though there are no roses nowadays (the name is stuck as roses were growing there before). back to the year list 9th - 17th: In Pataya, Central Hotel. Pataya is a pretty resort with markets, beaches and more markets. Food is cheap and great - all delivered to you while you are sunbathing. And I mean everything: food, fruits, clothe, bags, accessories, jewellery, etc. Absolutely everything. Its not as cheap as it used to be 20 years ago, at least so I was told, but it is still much cheaper that on a continent. 17th: Flight back to Kiev through Istanbul, but no city visits this time, just a simple transfer. 18th: I did not fly back to London as intended as while in Thailand I have discovered that I still have stitches in my mouth left from that operation I had in December. 19th: Removal of final stitches. Hope this is the last time I visit this place! It gives me shivers. I hate dentists. I hate all doctors (when they come close to me with the intention of doing something), but dentist especially. 25th - 28th: Gone skiing in Zakarpatye with Olga. Stayed in a nice place called "U Tarasa". Did horse riding, skiing and went to the banya. Had a very nice and relaxing time. Even thought I have not ski for about 7 or 8 years I absolutely loved it. Olga, thank you very much for that! The rest of the month was spent with friends, family and business. back to the year list |
| YEAR 2003 | |
| December 2003 | 1st: My yet another birthday. Nothing exciting, just one year older. 19th: Left Skybridge Group. What now? - going to Ukraine to meet my parents and friends. 22nd: Flight to Kiev. 22nd - end December: in Kiev. 23rd: Had one of the marks on my body removed. Took only 5 seconds after 15 minutes conversation. Well impressed. Although they said it might come back at a later time. Mentioned that I cannot be on a sun or use a sun bed. What a surprise. 24th: Had an operation done - removed cyst from under my tooth. As they could not find it straight away, I had a bigger peace of the bone removed that intended to. Operation lasted about 30 minutes. Did not feel a thing, only smell of burned bone. Nice ;-( Was swollen for about 5 days after that, and had a pain. Nothing that KETANOV 10 did not take care of. 30th: Parents Wedding Anniversary. Went to not very nice restaurant. The food was good, but service... Not sure you can call it service. We had 7 people at the table and starters were arriving for 1 1/2 hours (from when the first one got to the table till when the last person got it). 30th: The stitches from the my operation were removed. 31st: New Year Eve. Went to the parents friends country side house (or shall I say palace). Great place. And had a really nice time. back to the year list |
| November 2003 | 5th: Had a day off and went shopping to IKEA for lots of stuff for home. 7th: Went to see Matrix. It was OK: better than the second one at least. back to the year list |
| October 2003 | Lots of work: keep checking calendar. 6th: Finish of the Fast. Great party at Josephine. 17th - Been away in one of the Centre Parks, the one near to Cambridge. Lovely Place, well recommended. back to the year list |
| September 2003 | 9th: Richard's 30th birthday. Had a nice home made dinner, but nothing fancy 10th: Richard's birthday present. It sounded like he enjoyed it! It was the Ferrari driving experience. Went to visit Richard's grandparents on a way back home, which was very nice, since I have not seen them for more that 6 months. 6th, 8th and 20th visit to the doctors: trying to find out why I am so tired all the time. 28th: Tony & Stephanie had the opening of the gallery: some very quite things are there, please do check it out! (not updated yet). back to the year list |
| August 2003 | I must be mad - I am looking into a couple of courses: Law or Psychology. It seams that there is a chance I might be going back to Uni. 9th - had a nice dinner with dancing people. Even Jens came back for it! Some latest News from dancing: Louisa and Brian and Freddie and Fiona are got engaged. Good luck, guys. 16th: Saw Stones in His Pockets play, very nice, but it is not one of those easy going once. Went for a nice meal; it was a very nice day. 20th and 21st: no energy what so ever. Had to stay at home and sleep all day. 22nd: Last day at work for the MS freelancers, Dave is one of them. 23rd-24th: will spent in Wycombe. 23-25: Notting Hill Carnival. Yet again, I did not go. back to the year list |
| July 2003 | 4th: 5th Wedding Anniversary!.. Richard got me a wonderful present: bracelet and earrings. We had a very nice dinner at our favourite place: Cafe Pasta on High Street Kensington and a nice evening. 5th: Richard's mum and her boyfriend came to visit us on their way back from London. Had a BBQ outside in the garden. 6th: Flying to Kiev. Due to land in Kiev at 19:20. Heather got 2:1 from her University and is going to Jamaica for her well deserved holiday. 6 - 20th: in Kiev for my Father's 60th Birthday Doo. And going to Odessa after that for a week of a holiday on a beach. Very much looking forward to all of that, and meeting my fiends. Came back on 20th very late. 24th: Theatre with Dave. back to the year list |
| June 2003 | 2nd: I think I can write a book on how NOT to get a second mortgage! Together with all ins and outs of the law around it and on the subject. After month and a half of waiting around, seller's solicitors mentioned (by the by) that there is another part that is trying to buy the flat! By the way, by Law they supposed to disclosed that more that 1 copy of the agreement is being issued, but (of cause, silly me) he did not. 3rd: Signed all documents and waiting to exchange. Seller's solicitors will not exchange until he gets back the copy of the second agreement: arse covering move, bit toooooo late though. Wend out for a VERY long drink, a few actually. Had a great night and stayed in London. 4th: Third party agreed to return the agreement, but seller's solicitors would not exchange until the document is physically in his hands. 5th: Pauline's birthday - Couch Bar, Dean Street , Soho (Oxford Street end) from 6:30 onwards. 6-8th: Devon - Wedding party of Paul and Rachel. 6th: Have exchanged the contracts on the Flat. Boy, this took a long time. Now, we will try to Complete on 20th. Will be looking forward to this one! 20th: Have Completed!!! Now the Flat is mine. Went to pick up the keys, which took a while, since the solicitors of the Seller forgot to tell the agents that the Completion tool place, and they can now release the keys. Interesting. How many sales did he actually do in his life?! 21-30th: Have been painting the whole Flat. Have new carpets delivered and fitted. New furniture and electrical goods. Boy, this is very expensive business... Saw Dave a couple of times during the month. He is looking very good. back to the year list |
| May 2003 | 10th: Went to the social dance with Peter, Emma, Vanessa, Derek, Chi, Yuka, David, Debbie, Freddy, Audrey, Tom and other people. It was wonderful. I have not danced for over 3 years, like at all, and it was very nice to do it again. Brought back a few memories. Boy, I miss that part of my live. And all those people I have not seen for ages - it was nice to see them looking so good and well. Shame we don't meet up more often. 11th: Not much progress on the flat yet. At the moment we are stuck on the legal issues: leasehold. It might be a good few weeks before anything will happened. Can't wait; although the buzz has now gone and the reality of a second mortgage settled in. Scary. 14th: Lyla should be having her stitches out today, but nothing is scheduled yet. Lets see how its going. 16th: Debbie is going away - big decision. 25-26th: conversation. end May: Lyla had many problems after the operation. Apparently they really got it wrong. They did not close the cut correctly and stitched skin to the muscle, and part of the muscle was left exposed on top of the skin. If you are trying to imagine it, don't , it is impossible to imagine. If you are interested in seeing it (and you are not screamish) I can send a photo or a few. Let me know. back to the year list |
| April 2003 | The Aprils full day passed and I even did not notice it. At least no one played any silly tricks on me! 2nd: Went to see and compare 2 places that I really liked, well one much more than another. And guess what, I just had the most expensive lunch of my life (at least so far), and there was no food involved! I just ended myself with the second mortgage! I am lucky, or just simply stupid?!... (no comments, please) Still to be discovered. The place is nice, well at least the nicest I seen in the last 2 months, and I saw allot! Spent pretty much every single lunch time and 1 hour after work every day for the last month and a half looking at the places. I probably seen more that 200 properties in the last 1 1/2 months. And the 2 cats were the sign, I believe. Not sure if it was sign - get, or run though. Spoken to my parents - they don't know anything about it yet, but my father will be coming to London in a month and I would like to make it a surprise. Although, I don't think it would be completed by that time yet. We'll see. 19th: Went to Nona's Easter party. Managed to do a BBQ, which was a challenge, especially when it was raining ;-). Have to admit, it was an interesting evening overall. Nona's son managed to throw out Nona's friend daughter and her husband. He had to leave shortly after that himself. I am still surprised that he managed to drive back home - he did drink 2 bottles of vodka! That was at about 20:00. And we did managed to have a pretty good evening after that. We stayed till 2 am. Very unusual for me. 26-27th: My father was in London for 2 days, which we spent were well, even though I ended up working all Saturday (like from 9 am till midnight!) On Monday he left for Cardiff, and stayed there till the end of the week. I have not seen him as he flew back to Kiev pretty much straight from there. 29th: Lyla had an operation today. Nothing serious, just to be spade, but They did keep her overnight, and she does have staples on top of stitches. But STAPLES? on a live thing??? back to the year list |
| March 2003 | The whole month has passed without much happening. I guess, I was kind of busy at work and was doing lots of extra work on properties around Wimbledon, which are all ever so expensive. Saying that, you always have to put things into prospective... Mid-March: Had a memo at work about the redundancies starting immediate with candidates being interviewed - do not know who and when. It is a terrible feeling of insecurity. And what ever the result will be, it is as hard on people going as on people that are staying. 31: An email was sent that who ever was up for redundancies are either gone now or serving notice period. And it is not me. I guess I feel relieved, especially thinking that I have way TOO MANY financial commitments to take any kind of risks!!! back to the year list |
| February 2003 | 1st: Woken up to another portion of snow, but this time it seams that sunny nice weather is just to much for it to handle - its a melt down. Snow did lasted for quite a while, a whole week actually, which is very unusual for London and the South East. 8-16: Had quite a nasty flu, but recovered now. Was told that this kind of flu can lead to other health problems. So would need look after myself for a while. 17-21: This was a very hard and hectic week. Lots of things happened at work, and I was working very long hours. I don't think people and especially my boss would appreciate the work that I have done in the last week. But such is live, and I except it. 22nd: Surprise happened, not for me, but I was a part of it. It was a brand new car for my parents, and my mum especially. It took lots of preparation, but now this is done, it all was worth it!!! Had a call from my mum to say thank you, she was crying. back to the year list |
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January 2003
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I am back from Kiev. That was nice and relaxing, no matter what I said when I come back. It was very nice to see all the people that I did see, and shame that I did not managed to meet all others, but have to admit, the time was flying faster that fast! The best thing, of cause, was (and still is) to see my parents and to spend some time with them. And now I am extremely busy with the work - so much to do so little time... So, no major updates from me for time being; and not much is going on. 29th: On Monday we discovered that Misha had a few bumps on his head. We arranged a visit to a vet and took him on Wednesday. Apparently he had a very deep and strong infection and the best solution was to put him down... So, as of 29 we do not have a mouse any longer. He had a happy 13 month leaving with us (at least I hope it was a happy for him). We do miss him. 30th: I could not believe what I saw to day in the morning when I opened my eyes: everything was white. We actually had a snow, and it was not melting. The travel to work and back was an experience, but we lived through it. 2 days later and the snow is still with us. The temperature is just above freezing, but as long as there is no wind - its fine. I actually quite enjoy it. 31st: Got to work today in about 2 1/2 hours. We had a 3 hours company presentation, quick break and another 3 hours of film: Gangs of New York that was. I have only 2 words to say about this film: bloody, long. You know what I mean if you saw it. The presentation was good, and lots of people (about 30 of them) were selected as the best performance of the agency to go for a week to Cape town in April. Most of people who got the award well deserved it, but some of the DID NOT!!! And I found it was quite de-motivating to see them standing there and smiling, crying, feeling proud when they really shouldn't do/be... Oh well, its not the first time I would say that live is unfair. And I would have to work through the weekend, as people depend on me to deliver! back to the year list |
| YEAR 2002 | |
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December 2002
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This was a busy month for me, it always is. 1st: My birthday, yet again I will be 21! No other offers accepted, sorry. 5th: I guess I would not know what I am missing: the eBS Christmas Dinner Party - every one is going except of me. Talking about separating myself from the others. Well, I did not mean it to be this way, I am just taking part in the Wedding the following weekend, and will be too busy preparing for it. Anyway, this is my excuse and I am sticking to it. 7th: Pampering day: doing the full pampering experience, and a few shots. 8th: Tom's & Audrey's Wedding. Big day for them. My job is to do everyone's (everyone's important anyway) hair, make-up and nails. Lovely ;-) 29th December - 12th January: Wined down time. I am going back to Kiev to see my family and friends. Yet again, it would be a New Year time, so it should be a great fun. Very much looking forward to it (as long as its not very cold, but I think I am ready for it). back to the year list |
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November 2002
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14th - now: playing Nokia Game. I don't know that any of the people I know play this game. Have to admit this year is not as good as it was last year. Nokia Game 2001 was packed with media and entertainment. This year its a bit lagging. But nevertheless, its still the game. 18th: Yet again, I have changed the colour of my hair, not much, just a tone-down, lighter red. Was quite surprised thought when a few people noticed it, because I could not see a difference myself. 23rd: Had a conversation with NeviI (the one from the other side of the world). Yet again, he invited me to come over to Columbus. Have to admit that the offer was ever so tempting, I even spend a few hours on the Net trying to look for the best deals and flights. 24th: Now that I had a chance to sleep on my travel to the States, I really don't think its a good idea: I only have about 4 days to do it in; taking into account a jet lug that I will have, and I busy next week in the office - this is a no-no. Sorry Nev, there will be plenty more time. back to the year list |
| October 2002 | 18th: This was the last day for Pauline in Skybridge. She is going to syzygy: the world is small - I know many people say it, but not many realise how small that is. 19th: I had a bit of celebration to do. As of today its been 10 long years that I have lived in the UK. Hardly to believe. I remember this day 10 years ago: tears and agony of unknown. I guess it still stand till some extend. ;-) |
| September 2002 | 1st: We have got a second child - Lyla. She is a lilac girl. Really nice and very beautiful. 9th: Richard had a birthday. I have a suspicion that he is trying to catch up with my age. But face it: he won't be able to do it anyway! |
| August 2002 | 8th: I feel very proud of myself for contacting 4 people I have not seen for years, 4 to 5 years to be more precise. 9th: Went for lunch with some of the people from my previous work - Shamrock Marketing. It is nice to keep in touch, and I am admittedly not very good at it. 10th: Have met with Stephanie to discuss a few things and I think it went very well. I am very optimistic and full of energy to search for more information and to take things further. Have met up with Bob from Penge Latin Formation Team. Nowadays he is teaching ballroom dancing. I still could not believe it. Its just amassing. Met up with Richard Jenkins and Steven Fajana who I have not seen for 4 and 5 years. That was a meeting and a half. Its nice to know that people progress in their life and manage to change very little if at all. They are both just as I remember them. Its strange, as it was as if a saw them just yesterday! back to the year list |
| July 2002 | Oh boy, 4 years of being chained down for someone. Not funny... |
| June 2002 | Now she is back to her senses, as nothing ever happened. Lovely. 17th: Gina had stitches out and has more freedom to move around as colour came off as well. 6th: Gina was sterilised and ever so sweet at the moment. It looks quite painful: her scar and tears, but she is still under pain killers. At the beginning of June we have had Richard's father with his wife and daughter visiting us. Went to London to see a few places, and saw Queens Golden Jubilee celebration on TV back to the year list |
| May 2002 | 20th: I have started new job with Skybridge Group plc and now have to travel to London, Wimbledon to be more precise every day. 17th: It was my last day in Shamrock, as I am moving to Skybridge. Everyone was ever so nice. In the evening most of the people went to Bar Med in Beaconsfield for drink/food/dance. We have had a great time, and part 2 coming up on 6th of June. 11th: Yuka and David got married in London, and it was David's birthday. Well, Yuka always says that she wanted him to remember their wedding day, but I think she was a bit over protective this time. Everything was great and it was nice to see all the dance people I have not seen in years (as I had to stop dancing because of my neck, and now Peter have had a knee operation after his lovely skiing trip... He always said that he was very unlucky with his holidays...). 6th: We went to Janet for a buffet and tea. Apparently she is invited a few relatives/friends over, and I don't think its because of Christian Orthodox Easter. It was very nice, and not long at all. After the lunch, we have went to see some new, just build house around Mansfield. On the way back to Janet's house, another car run into the side of Richard's Mercedes. He was very disappointed to say the least. The day after, car had to go back to the garage to get fixed, I guess at work they might think twice now before giving him another car as good as the last one! 5th: I have met a very old and good friend of mine (and I do not refer to the age!) - Victor Yarmak in Felixstowe during one of his short visits to the UK. It was very nice to see him after 8 year (gee time flies, or is it me just getting older ;-)). Shame his visit was this short. May be he will come back and visit me next time for a little bit longer, which would be nice. I still think that he is the only person that knows me not only better than everybody else, but probably better that I know myself, and this is the scary part of it... back to the year list |
| April 2002 | My father was in London for a week (last days of April - beginning of May), and I have managed to spend almost 2 whole days with him. Does not happened very often. I am still looking for my 'dream job', although at this point I am losing my faith in finding one any time soon, and my temporary job should be expiring at the end of May. I know they want to keep me, and yes it is very close to home, but I don't think I could do what I am doing at the moment for a very long time - it's not challenging enough for me. |
| March 2002 | 9th: Very good friend of mine, one of the best - Nevil, was in London for a week. I went to meet him for a day in London and we had such a good time. I have missed him so much. Why does he have to live in the States now? Well, such is life, but I do hope to see him sometimes very soon. 7th: My parents took 2 dogs, they are lovely and will be growing very big. 2nd: Peter came to visit us. back to the year list |
| February 2002 | Mid-February we have went bowling in Maidenhead with the guys from the office. It was a good night and I really enjoyed the bowling. We will try to do it more often. On Valentines Day Richard was cooking me a dinner, but it all went pear shape. I could not tell it to him for obvious reasons. 19 February: My father called me today and told me that a very good friend of theirs have died in a car crash. He was on his way to the airport with his father-in-law and friend. The car have crashed on a very big speed in the fence between lanes. I guess he had lost the control of the car and crashed. All 3 have died. And to think, that just over one months ago him and my parents enjoyed a very nice New Year together. I bet he never thought it would be his last! Real shame as he was very good person and an old and great friend to my parents. 19 February: Finally, blast from the past - Svetlana have called me today. They are in some small trouble and I will try to help them as much as I can. Nokia Game. Yes, I am a very sad person, who plays an on-line games. I have to admit that I did quite well in Round One and Two (second ranking in Round One and first in Round Two). Semi-final wasn't too bad: I was third, but Final went very wrong, I was 323rd. How embarrassing this is! 24th February we had a dinner party with friends of ours here in High Wycombe. And, of cause, I was be cooking. back to the year list |
| January 2002 | Not the best time to have a cold. From 2nd I was down with the flue for almost 2 weeks. Never mind: I survived. I keep forgetting the fact that we now have a Misha - albino mouse. Well, it's a long story, which somehow I rather don't disclose. Richard Lee was with us again for a couple of weeks (here and there). And this time he finally had some luck - he has sold his bike! 12th January: Finally, the guys are now finished the conservatory. And the floor is not very good at all: we have all the furniture wobbling on it (the floor is not levelled). At this point we don't really know what to do as to correct it would take too much time and money. Bagger. I keep forgetting the fact that we now have a Misha - albino mouse. Well, it's a long story, which somehow I rather don't disclose. As of 15 January, Richard is now down with the cold. I guess it's all that lovely British climate. Not that I am complaining or anything ;-) I have followed very shortly with another flue. 22 January: Finally, we are both back at work. It only took about a week to recover; and for me this was a second one this month. One thing is - it put me off smoking. Don't know how long for thought. Nevil called me to say that he is planning to come to London somewhere in the middle March. Can't wait. back to the year list |
| YEAR 2001 | |
| December 2001 | I have had my Birthday Party, and I think it went okay. I was extremely tired after that, but I did enjoy it. After all, not every year you are 30! Shame, my best friend could not make it, but I hope she would come to visit me one day, preferable while I am still alive. I have had my parents over: father for 1 week and mother for 3 weeks. They both were staying with us, and actually my mother was enjoying it this time (surprise, surprise!). We had Richard Lee staying with us for a few days (the one that was in Australia, came back for a month or so and now desperate to sell his bike and go back there). This should be good for Richard as he would have some one to talk to. On 21 we went to the Richard's Christmas Party at work. I have to admit, I quite liked it. And it was not only the fact that he had won a prise. I enjoyed meeting people and talking to them first of all. Tim has made a contact with me on 21 December. He is flying back to the UK today and will contact me later on during the week to meet up. Quite looking forward to this one, as I have not seen him for more that a year now. Doesn't time fly We have spent Christmas with Richard's family. They have not seen us for a while, and being a special time of the year it was very nice to see every one again, and to meet lots and lots of new people. Tim have popped by to see us and stayed over the weekend. It was ever so nice to see him. We were trying to show him the country side we are living in. Hope it wasn't too much. back to the year list |
| November 2001 | There are many things happening right now, and lots of work on the house is being done. And now you can see what exactly. Even though, hopefully it would look much nicer in a week time than it does right now. Yet again myself and Peter did some filming: crazy Charleston... Difficult to say any more about it. Richard's best fried - Richard, came back from long travel and stayed with us for a few days. It was nice to have someone else in the house, and Richard seems to be much happier too. I guess, finally he had someone to talk to ;-). No comments. |
| October 2001 | I am taking care of the house - trying to make it pretty: making and changing quite a few things. So the improvement are can be seen now. At least I hope they can. |
| August-September 2001 | I have spent great time in Ukraine visiting my friends and generally relaxing. Crimea was very good and Richard enjoyed it very much too. The pictures from Crimea and many others that I took while being in Ukraine. |
| July 2001 | I was enjoying the freedom of Lady in Leisure. Did lots of different things in the house, for which I never had time before |
| May 2001 | We got a CAT. She is absolutely adorable. See her here. back to the year list |
| YEAR 2000 | |
| November 2000 | We have finally moved into new place in November and now are settling in . You can see the details of the house and the moving in and settling in progress diaries |
| December 2000 | I have had my MSc graduation, from which I unfortunately do not have any pictures. Sorry, but every one forgot their cameras...... back to the year list |
| YEAR 1999 | |
| Not much was happening during this year, and not many changes: Lived all that time at the same place, worked for the same company. In July, I took Richard and his mother and sister to Ukraine. I think they liked it there, but I am not sure since no one actually told me anything about it, except of Richard - he liked it there. Strange but interesting were his words. |
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| YEAR 1998 | |
| November 1998 | I have had a graduation for my BSc. It was quite interesting, and boring at the same time. My father came over for a week and we had a great time. You can see the pictures from that day: We had to wear those gowns, which actually weren't too bad. They were black with yellow. And I needed some help with putting it on. It was a bit tricky. Although, when I was ready, I was really smiling. I didn't know I can smile like this!!! Just before the graduation ceremony I have managed to snap a picture with my course director - Dr. Dave Wilson, very nice chap. The ceremony itself lasted not too long, and wasn't too painful. Each of us had to go on a stage and shake hands with Sir. Adrews. After the graduation we have managed to take a few more pics: like me and Richard (note that he looks much more happier?..), and a few friends on mine: Milan and Edward. I can't remember were I was going, but I remember what the teachers always used to say to us in school: always look to your left first... back to the year list |
