What do you want for Christmas? -a tow rope.

How could I live for so long without a tow rope? You may think it is good only to get out of snowbanks, but today I used mine to get out of... the covered parking of the Auchan supermarket. When I came out of Auchan with my shooping cart loaded with nice food for the holidays, for some obscure reason, all the cars in the parking lot of Auchan had their remote alarm disabled. People were out of their cars, helpless...It looked very much like a scene in a super-hero movie where the bad guy comes up with a new weapon that disables all electonic devices.
What sucked is that I had left my big winter jacket in my car because it is too cumbersome and too hot to wear in the supermarket, and I could not open my car with my remote. So I was freezing my butt. I tried to use my manual key, but for a reason that is too long to explain here, I had to pour hot tea on the keyhole the day before, which then froze, so there was no way I could open my car. So I went back to Auchan to get de-icer, which allowed me to open my door. But that was only half the work, because my alarm prevented me from starting the car. A nice couple helped me by towing me with my towing rope, out of the covered parking lot to a safe radio-wave free zone where I could start my car. Whoever you are, nice people, thanks to both of you for helping me out tonight.
So in the end, that was a good reminder that this place is always full of surprises. Lesson learned? don't stop the engine when you go shopping...

The great country of soups

More on the food that I depend on to keep warm and fit... this time I'll write about the russian soups: soups are to Russia what pastas are to Italy, cheeses to France, and Frito pies to USA. The variety of soups is quite large in Russia, and I am on a mission to try them all. Tough mission, particularly cuz I already have my favorites. Here they are.

1- the Logman
I like the name of that one, which sounds like a soup made for real men from the logging industry. It is not a genuine russian soup though, I think it may be kazak but I am too lazy to Google if it's real true. It is a mix of meat, potatoes, pasta, carrots and water. It is hard to eat it without staining one's shirt, because the pasta drips all the time on the way from the plate to the mouth. That's why I recommend to eat it with a brown, orange and yellow shirt.



2-The solianka
I like that one very much too, because it is a chunky one. It is tomato based, with plenty of meat and a nice layer of oily fat on top, and water. That one keeps you warm. They also put olives, a slice of lemon, and a spoonful of cream. A little bit like a warm bloody mary, with more meat and with the vodka on the side...


3- The borsch
You probably heard of that one. I think it is Ukrainian. It is a beetroot soup, with chunks of meat and water. They usually add a spoonful of cream on that one too, just to make sure you get your load of calories.


3- The unknown soup in a bread bowl
I don't know the name of that last one: it contains cabbage, other veggies, dill (the favorite herb in Russia), and water. It comes in a bread bowl a bit like the clam chowder that I got in San Francisco, except this one is not sourdough. You don't have to eat the whole bread, because that is a lot of food... and the soup is only the appetizer, so leave some room for the beef tongue that's coming.


I wish you all a happy holiday. Stay warm. Eat more soup.

Nightlife

A scene of my exciting life in Novosibirsk, with the baby boomer generation. No comment.

dT/dt very steep

In 24 hours, the temperature went down 26degC. That was easy to calculate, because yesterday it was zero degC. Good bye, leather gloves and one-layer winter hats. Any good side to this cold, dry weather? Well, tonight, the dry air had my nose bleeding, but the blood froze inside my nostril so I stayed clean.
And more generally, in the morning I will get an early notice when my fly is inadvertently left open before I arrive to the office.