A corrida? No, a train

Driving around Akademgorodok requires the highest attention.There is a railroad crossing on the way to work which is always open to car traffic... Never saw a single wagon on it in 16 months... until today. This morning, they decided to use the railroad for a train. No luck, the barrier does not work properly, so the lady came out with a flag of the size of a handkerchief to stop the cars passing by at high speed. A chance that this morning, I was forced to take the taxi, because I would definitely missed that lady's sign and would have come to a close encounter with the train...

Looking at it on the bright side: Thanks to my Niva for breaking down today.

First game...

So, I survived my first Monday evening hockey game. I did not leave a single tooth or drop of blood behind... The only thing I left was maybe a bit of self-esteem. It was a 1h30 min game, 6 against 6, which was enough for me to get totally exhausted. I was by far the worse player on the rink. Was it embarassing? Yeah, sure, but it does not rank in the top 5 of my most embarassing moments. Not even when a teammate gave me his stick, explaining me I was probably left-handed and I was using a rightie stick. I am happy I did not have to tell him I bought this rightie stick after someone else told me exactly the opposite when I played with a leftie stick last year... I guess my game is just difficult to read. How well did I do? I stopped the puck twice with my big shorts and I passed the puck to my teammate for a goal once, with my stick. And that's only the first game of the season!

You wanna play hockey? OK

While summer is fading away, I have to look for a new seasonal hobby for the long and cold winter. Yes, I could go back to cross country skiing (and I will) but I also need something a bit more social. And of course, any other activity which does not require bulky and expensive gear is of no interest for me. Dog sledding would qualify... I'd make a minimum of 10 friends, I'd be the boss, and the gear is interesting, but I don't want to feed dogs 7 days of the week for merely one afternoon of fun. So I am signing up for hockey instead. Yes, I played hockey 2 years ago, so it is not entirely new, but I stopped when I saw a head-on collision just in front of me, and the sight of blood on the rink had me look for tamer winter activities. But this time, I got the full protective gear, including for my head. If there is blood on the rink, that won't be mine (or at least, not from the head). More details? I am joining a team who has red jersey (or so I was told). Hopefully they will let me play. I am starting tomorrow (every Monday at 21:30). That's as much as I know for now.

Back from vacation... first week end.

I got back from Corsica on Monday, just in time to enjoy the end of the summer in Akademgorodok. It seems my body is already getting prepared for the winter by peeling off the nice tanned skin, which I like but won't be of any use against cold. I also did my part for the preparation, by starting early on building up my seasonal layer of blubber.
A few good news were awaiting me as I got back: first, the customer service is still on an improving trend, as I noticed when the cab driver offered me a cigarette when he lighted one for himself. (Thanks man, I appreciate you don't want me developing a lung cancer from passive smoking). Then, upon arrival at the apartment, I was happy to see they did not cut off the cold water, which is a significant improvement from last time I got back from a trip.
So, I am now back in my little retreat, and I had to adjust to spending the week-end by myself again. I resisted the idea of going to the local train museum, a treat which I keep for myself for when I feel really down. I thought about upgrading my blog to include a wildlife encounters tracking system. That was after I saw a hedgehog last night. But I might as well insert a jpeg that shows rat: 1, chipmunk: 1, hedgehog: 1, and leave it alone for the next 12 months, and find something better to do with my time.
So I decided to put my kayak on my car and go to the river between Berdsk and Iskitim. There, it is quite nice with a nice coastline and less nudists than near Akademgorodok. It is also very quiet in the morning, with only a few birds shrieking and circling in the air, and catching fish every now and then (birds and fish were not going to qualify in my wildlife tracking system, by the way). Still, there are interesting sights, like planes floating by under high power electric lines.

So, overall, it was a nice week end. It is good to be back. And I promise... that was my last post on me kayaking around. Have a good one.