Another fine day...

I'm a proud parent

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:27:00 +0000

After one year of study Biomedical Sciences at the University of Glasgow, our daughter has made her first important achievement - she's been awarded the Dobbie Smith Prize for 2009 which is a great honour for her and, obviously, for us as her loving parents.

Well done, Ksen!

Crisis... Recession... What we gonna do in 2009?

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:08:00 +0000

Since the mass-media is profusely infested by massive reports and opinions on the global financial and economic crisis and the longest recession in a quarter-century (that's for the USA but I assume it's applicable for the European community as well), it's impossible to avoid the constant pondering on what we gonna do next year and after the next and, what is our real perspective for the nearest future?

When I say "our", I mean myself, my family, our friends and colleagues and, generally, our country.

So, about myself... I'd worked hard the last 10 years and it seems that nothing gonna change in this department, which is quite OK with me. I'd get used to a tough business environment and do not expect anything special that I've not met before (including job loss, pressure, tight money etc.).
About the family... We've obviously get more disciplined in our domestic finance, spend less, try to keep up with the monthly budget and think twice before making any decision which may be quite risky and material. We've suspended our plans for building a new house for a while, unlike our neighbors who's house has been under construction for the last 10 months and the work is nearing the happy end (so, they've managed to escape the crisis so far).
About our friends and colleagues. Well, some of them are calm and confident, the others are nervous and pessimistic. It depends on the starting point at which they've met the so called "global crisis" (job, money, health) and, of course, on the personal approach to the living strategy.
And as for our country... Our President has reassured the public that his government follows a "calculated financial and social policy" to safeguard the island from the world financial crisis. We shall see how well they've made their calculations and whether Cyprus is strong enough to sustain the tough times when the big brothers are in trouble.

So, what we gonna do next year is: work hard, control our spending, take care of each other, help our relatives if they're hit by crisis, think positive and believe in future.

Highlands, Scotland

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 21:36:00 +0000

The divine natural beauty of Scotland will never cease to impress me.

During the last few days we've traveled across the Highlands and every day there was something new and different for us, something that we've never experienced before. Like a crystal lake hidden between the rocky folds of Glen Coe just about a mile or so from the main road and yet invisible and accidentally discovered by us when looking for a ... mobile phone lost somewhere on the way and found by another tourist who bothered to call us from there!!!

Or, like feeding a wild reindeer at Black Mount - he liked nuts and raisins but also chewed on some apple:

Or me get caught on the Ben Nevis path in darkness and walking a few miles back to Fort William through the forest. That was quite an experience for me, as I'd realised too late that I'd forgotten to ask at hotel whether there were any wild animals in the area (like wolves, bears etc.)...

I've also made hundreds of pictures of the most adorable Scottish sheep who've proved to be really cute and very intelligent as they kept on standing still and looking at camera while being photographed!!

I love this country.

For more photos look here.

LES MILLS FESTIVAL IN CYPRUS (15-16/11/2008)

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:33:00 +0000

Last weekend I’ve attended the annual Les Mills festival in Cyprus, and that was fantastic!

First of all, the location. Coral Beach Hotel and Resort in Paphos is a beautiful place to visit and stay for a couple of days or more. From my room balcony I could enjoy a view of the picturesque landscape where the sea looked more like a placid lake surrounded by the rich green frame of tropic trees and cypresses. The sun was shining, the weather was really nice and summer-like, and that was a good start for a really impressive and exciting two-days sport event.

Yes, the spirit of festival was all over the place. I could not imagine how many people would come and join the fascinating program made of a range of various fitness classes and presentations, including Body Attack, Body Combat, Body Jam, Body Pump, Body Step, Body Vive and, of course, my favorite Body Balance! And you shouldn’t be a very well trained and perfectly fit person to enjoy a great fun of this event – all sort of people of all ages and body shapes were rubbing shoulders at a huge hall designed for training sessions and sharing a genuine joy of being together and doing sport together.

And, of course, our instructors were great! I believe that 50% percent of the success in doing exercises belongs to the quality of the coaching and the understanding of people’s needs. We come to classes to get fit, to lose some fat but also to have fun and get a real change from our everyday routine at work. And our instructors were the best! They made us feeling involved and engaged, they’d never forgotten to praise our good performance and cheer up our spirit during the exhausting training sessions. Sometimes, I felt like a real professional, and that experience was unforgettable.

I will definitely go to Les Mills festival next year, because this is a great chance to feel myself involved and being the part of a big community, to meet new friends, to share experience and have fun and happiness which last much longer than just a weekend.

Images of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 13:40:00 +0000

Sunday noon. Fellow motorists on the motorway (that was a BMW!!! unfortunately I've failed to capture a frontal image):

Later on. Fellow drinkers at Chester's share their views on the meaning of life, Universe and everything:

A little philosopher pondering on the eternity of beauty and quality cat food:

Laptop deals for students in UK

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:37:00 +0000

That was such a good idea to make a present to my daughter upon the beginning of her studies at university...
And it had turned into an ordeal which had lasted for three days, cost me money and nerves and ended up in a big disappointment.

This is an address you should remember if you want to make such a "present" to your child:

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/

I would've never expected from "The UK's Largest Online Laptop Specialist" the following exercises:

to process my order with an absolutely wrong delivery address I've never given to them and have no slightest idea how it's got into their system
to charge me TWICE for the same amount (I've received an e-mail that the second charge has been reversed and the money should be paid back to me in a few days... we'll see)
to charge me for "the next day delivery" and never deliver anything
UPDATE: Eventually, I've managed to receive my order being dispatched to the wrong address, after three days of extensive telephone communication, failed attempts to track the order on the web-site end general frustration.
as they've said (by phone and by e-mail), the delivery had failed 'coz the order had been delivered to the wrong address and in order for them to correct my address I should wait for a few days 'coz they should allocate that computer first and then make changes in the order (is that my business or I have to receive what I've paid for and the rest is THEIR business?)

Special comment on the Customers Service: every time I'd tried to contact them, I had to wait a long - I mean, really long!- queue and if that is not enough, every time I'd managed to reach a contact person and explain my problem, I had a different response and promise like "We'll do our best to get your order in place by 20-00 this evening" and then "Sorry, we cannot do anything for you and it takes a few days..." etc.

So, this is definitely NOT a good service and I feel offended being put in a position when I'd been forced to fight for my customer rights. And it seems I'd lost...

Now, I've cancelled the order and eager to see whether the money come back to my account as fast as they've been taken without anything in exchange.

We are going to buy a laptop at a different place and I'm sure there IS a good costomer service in the UK, but we have to be more careful to make a right choice.

_________________

Previous update (the order was made sometime in the morning on Mon 08/09/2008 with an option "Next day delivery"):
This order has not yet been transferred from our webshop to our order processing system. Please check back within 12 hours.Page Loaded at : 17:16 Wednesday 10/09/2008

Off to Glasgow

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:48:00 +0000

I am the happiest woman in the world.
No, we are the happiest parents in the world.
Because, after all the pressure of the last two years and especially the last two months when our daughter got finished her A levels and impatiently waited for the exams results, we've finally got the answer.

And it is a "Yes"! She's got an unconditional firm offer from the University of Glasgow, Faculty of Biomedical & Life Sciences.

We've been there several times and visited various facilities and faculties, including the medical school's Open Day where students-to-be could observe the process of studying and practice their curing skills a bit (see a photo above).

Beginning September we'll go together to Glasgow and get her well accomodated and equipped for the new and unconditionally fascinating life as a grown-up kid. Sorry, a grown-up full-time student.

I love and always loved Scotland. Now I have a chance to get there way more often. Though, I doubt Ksenia will be too excited about it...

Yet another page to be turned...

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:03:00 +0000

This is it. Our daughter has finished school.

Today was her last exam (Chemistry).
When I was driving her this morning, I'd asked: "So, how do you feel?" She'd started saying something, her voice was faultering, and then she just waved her hand and looked away from me at the window: "Mum, please..."

I remember my last days at school, those long days been full of inexplicable urge and anticipation of something huge and wonderful just coming straight on me from outside the open school gates. And I also new that I'd be missing something and I'd never ever get it in my life again. Missing a lot, actually. My school friends, summer camps, my naivety and ackward experiences of love... And above all that feeling of complete freedom and irresponsibility, 'cos responsibility - that's for adults, and the big adults' life just loomed somewhere in the distance yet uninteresting and boring.

I'm proud of our little girl and wish her that the big adults' life will stay at safe distance for some more time.

P.S. Just to mark this life-turning event, we went to Debenhams and bought Ksenia a new swim suit. Summer is in )) And no more exams now!

Images of my love in UK

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:02:00 +0000

"Love" is a very big word.
In the UK, my love is for the spirits of the cities I've visited and wish to come back again.

London - sophisticated, indifferent and yet very live and vibrating to smallest details.

Manchester - masculine, industrial and never promising.

Glasgow - all too historical and yet warm and friendly.

This is how I feel it... And try to catch the moments of my love in pictures.

What is our life goal anyway?

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:59:00 +0000

I'm really fascinated by this joke spotted nowhere else but in the middle of an article in the professional magazine:

An investment banker is on holiday in a lazy Mexican town on the coast. From his balcony he observes a fisherman who appears, to the banker, to have a dream life. He goes out fishing when he needs some money. The rest of the time he mends his nets and sits happily in a bar with his mates.

The banker comes up with a business plan for the fisherman:

- If you were to work harder you could earn enough to run another boat, and before long you would have a fleet. Further growth would enable you to build a processing plant and then a fleet of refrigerated trucks to get the fish to the stores. You would be rich.

- And what would I do then? - asks the fisherman.

- Why,- says the banker - you would be free to go out in your own boat and hang out with your mates in the bar.

Source: Robert Bruce. The corporate paradox. Accounting & Business. Feb.2008, p.88.

How true indeed...

Saved

Earthquake hits Britain?!

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:22:00 +0000

OMG! I thought it's not possible in that part of the world...

Britain was shaken by a huge earth tremor at 12.56am this morning which was felt by people from Yorkshire to the South Coast.

When I saw Leeds on the map I was shaken too since we just came back from there...
I do remember an earthquake in Cyprus on 9.10.96 when the magnitude was 6.4 and later aftershock tremors (no less than 78!) continued for another couple of days followed by torrential rain. We were really scared then.

I wonder whether buildings in Britain posses any aseismic stability?

One day in Prague

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:37:00 +0000

I've heard that Prague is beautiful and worth a visit but I would have never expected (after seeing Vienna, Warsaw etc.) that Prague is so beautiful...

Due to the flight schedule, we happened to luckily have a 7-hours gap in our journey from Larnaca (Cyprus) to Manchester (UK) and made a trip to the city center that is Old Prague.

The weather was unusually warm and sunny for middle February, the river Vltava was magnificent in its tranquility.

And, of course, The Castle.

From the hilltop we could enjoy a splendid bird-view of the city expanded on both sides of the river and feel the sun and light medieval breeze.

Misty dawn, naked trees stretching their branches to the sun, little squirrel watching tourists from a safe distance some 200 ft over the ground... bohemian glass... even the ancient sewer hatch which I was careful not to step on - everything was fantastic.

I will definitely come back to Prague and sure for much longer stay.

Let's get our windows clean!

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:27:00 +0000

Great Manchester.
Picture made on 13.02.2008 when the weather was unusually warm and sunny.

Spaghetti Cabling

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:51:00 +0000

I thought that a cabling hurl behind our TV set and those ugly "spaghetti" on the floor in our bedroom (a working place of our family geek, in fact) is a mess.
But when I've seen this...

Spaghetti Cabling that would make a fully-grown sysadmin cry, or… Cable management is for wimps.

Jesus Christ! - that was my first thought, but then I've realised - no, that's fun! :)

I just wish to see the pictures of those guys who can guide through that cabling chaos...

Good bye, quiet life!

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 12:40:00 +0000

When we moved to the village 2 1/2 years ago, one of the main reasons was to have a quiet life in a countryside yet not too far from the town where we work, study, do sports and meet with our friends.
Also, our cats would have there more freedom and security (from human neighbors and cars!).

The thing is... We knew that we couldn't enjoy our privacy indefinitely, and here we are: a construction site has been set up nearby and from now on, instead of the morning bells from the church and the birds singing their "good morning" to the sun, we gonna wake up with a busy roar/rumbling of bulldozers, trucks and concrete mixers (not saying of exhaust). And people, of course. I don't mean those building workers but the people who'll leave in a new house when it's finished.

So, it's time to start working on our own building project in the forest more vigorously. I hope, neighbors will not follow us too fast...

Land (cont'd)

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 07:10:00 +0000

How to build a house on a slope? Shall we hide it in the trees or put it on top of the cliff? How strong are the winds here? Is it possible to remove a tall pine tree from one place to another?

These and many other questions we were pondering on for weeks and last Saturday we went to the land with our friend who has a house in mountains. He gave us a lot of ideas and useful hints.

I think the first couple of months we'll be going there every weekend with different people and just collect ideas and suggestions how to make our new place beautiful and comfortable to live on.

I figured out one obvious benefit yet - fitness! Climbing up is gonna be our main exercise for now :)

Kitten love

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 07:52:00 +0000

Just wanted to share this with you :)

@Weekend Snapshot #13 - Kitten love

http://sasha-says.com/2008/01/19/weekend-snapshot-13-kitten-love/

Climax of laziness

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:34:00 +0000

You won't believe it but my husband just called me on my mobile from upstairs (I'm sitting downstairs in the kitchen) to tell that he's not gonna drive our daughter to school, so I should go instead.

Men...

Link Love in 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:52:00 +0000

Start Copy and Paste Here.

This link loving in 2008 came from Sasha.

I have randomly selected 5 of you below to be tagged and I hope that you will similarly publish this post in your blog. You will have to tag 5 other bloggers and just keep adding on to the list. (Do not replace, just keep on adding! Yes we hope it will be a long list!)

It’s real easy! Tag others and see your Technorati Authority increase exponentially!

The benefits of Viral Linking:

- One of the fastest ways to see your technorati authority explode!
- Increase your Google PageRank fast
- Attract large volume of new traffic to your site
- Build your community
- Make new friends!

The land is bought. What now?

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:40:00 +0000

The last 16-18 weeks were an ongoing search for a decent plot of land.

Actually, there is a distinction between the definitions of "plot" and "land" here: the former is for a sort of pre-developed piece of ground (incl. roads, electricity, telephone, water) where you can build a house or a bunch of them at once whereas the latter means a "wild" place either on flat terrains or high in the mountains or somewhere in the middle, and this land requires development and has a little %-age of covered area (6 to 10%).

Since we leave in a cute little house in the village near the shore, we were looking for something absolutely different - forest, heights, cold winter and NO PEOPLE for miles around.
And, finally, we found it. Thanks God!

What made me excited and at the same time a little bit perplexed that the whole deal took only one hour early this morning, when we went to the Land Register with the vendor, signed some papers, paid some money - that's it! We left the building with a piece of yellow paper which confirms the payment of transfer fees and the registered contract. The title will come in a couple of months, and the land is up in the mountains. So we couldn't carry our "purchase" with us :)

Well, it was more than one hour if we count all preliminary works and searches through the public registers, disputes with the vendor and meetings with our lawyer and architect.

But I still can't get used to know that that beautiful piece of pine forest 1100m above the sea level is our now. And I'm missing it already and going to visit it every day (50 min drive one way), because I love it.

I let myself to savour these feelings for a while and don't think of what is coming next - I mean a building project. I suspect it means less free time, less money (or more money to spend, to be precise) and more headache and communication with people for the next couple of years.

The latter shall be a topic of some other posts.

My Grandma

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 07:41:00 +0000

Today is my Grandma's birthday. She'd be 98. She passed away 10 years ago, but I still can't get in terms with that.

As for me, she's somewhere near me and I always remember her voice, her strories and cooking recipies - a lot of minor everyday things that keep on reminding me of her. And of course, I have a picture of my Grandma on the shelf in the kitchen, where I spend quite a lot of time when at home. She's smiling to me, and sometimes I talk to her.

Many years back, my Grandma was sauch a big and integral part of my life that I couldn't imagine that it could be any other way. I used to wake up early without an alarm clock because I heard a familiar whisper: "Wake up, Lana, it's time to school". And the first thing I felt every morning was a smell of fresh pancakes and a tea waiting for me in the kitchen.
When I came back from school, my Grandma was waiting for me with a fresh lunch and while I was excitied eating and telling my daily news (including bad teachers, fights with the classmates, my top marks on algebra tests etc.) she set quitely listening to me and nodding with her gentle smile, and her warm tired hands stroke my head.

She was the only person in the world I could share my deepest secrets and darkest fears with...

Because of her - and without any special effort, just in due course of our everyday life - the great values such as family, love, care were incorporated in my heart and became as natural as life and breathing.

Now, being grown-up and seeing that for some people to understand, accept and embrace those values takes a lot of efforts, pains and mistakes, I'm really glad that my Grandma had blessed me with hers withdom in early years, when my heart was open and my trust to the world was unlimited.

I'm no longer a girl, but her spirit is still with me. And sometimes when I'm desperate or broken-hearted, I cry and talk to her (picture), and she's smiling to me and I feel her warm hands on my head, and it gets better.

I beleive in God and I know that my Grandma is in Heaven. But for me she's still alive somehow....

Скромное обаяние

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 17:26:00 +0000

Предыстория:
накануне Нового Года говорю Ксюше о том, что много денег потратили на подарки,
надо откладывать на посторойку нового дома,

- ...Так что нам придется в ближайшее время затянуть пояса.

Едем в машине, я рассказываю, как сегодня ездили на участок и при помощи специалистов и GPS замеряли границы, и что участок оказался даже больше, чем мы предполагали, и можно будет сделать бассейн... нет, два бассейна как в водном парке, со "ступенькой" между ними. Ксюша:
- Только надо быть осторожными, потому что у нас кошки. У одной девочки из моего класса тоже большой бассейн во дворе, и водопад, и колодец, так туда одна кошечка упала - и все...
- Не волнуйся! У нас будет всего два бассейна и маленький водопад между ними.
- Ну мам, ты даешь! Это называется "затянуть пояса"? ВСЕГО два бассейна (смеется)...

BLog365

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:01:00 +0000

I've spotted this link when reading on my friend's blog and here I am, a new member no.948 of the new social network.
Dunno whether I manage to keep up with the condition to blog every day but I'm gonna try and see.
As I've understood, all posts count - on my own blog and on the other members' blogs.
And I've put a badge on my profile to spread the word.
Interesting...

Каждый год для Ксюши - новый (2)

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 13:23:00 +0000

- Ксюша, какие у тебя желания на 2008-й год? Чего бы тебе больше всего хотелось?
- (ни секунды не раздумывая) Сдать экзамен по вождению, чтобы мне дали машину и я, наконец, стала independent.

Затем, после короткой паузы:

Чтобы у нас было много денег
Похудеть
Сдать все экзамены и выбрать университет, который я сама захочу
Начать жить самостоятельно

Да... Список очевидно составлен в порядке приоритетов, только вот для нас последние Ксюшины приоритеты как раз самые важные.
Очень хочется, чтобы наш птенчик был счастливым. Только грустно, что время летит так быстро.
Нам с Димой предстоит вскоре проводить много времени вдвоем. Посмеялись...

Да, это будет действительно новый год для нас всех.

Ничего лишнего вокруг

noreply@blogger.com (Lana Kurbatsky) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 19:47:00 +0000

Два года назад я влюбилась в Норвегию с первого взгляда. Впрочем, желание побывать в этой стране и иметь настоящий норвежский вязаный кардиган с орнаментом (?!) у меня появилось еще в детстве - наверное, после какой-то сказки или передачи по телевизору... Короче, внутреннее ощущение, что это моя страна - было давно.
Но только сейчас я поняла, почему.

Там нет ничего лишнего.
Бесконечные пространства окрашены в два цвета - серый и белый, но зато какая палитра оттенков!!! От величия гор захватывает дух. Тишина пронизывает насквозь. Воздух можно трогать руками.

Холодное озеро высоко в горах у деревни Ватнахальзен - это мой Грааль. Камни, вода, молчаливые деревья... На этом фоне любой, даже самый слабый, цвет или звук (голубая полоска неба, солнечный луч или шум ручья в 500 метрах под ногами) воспринимается как откровение во всей своей новизне и яркости.

Там, среди гор и снега, я отдыхаю душой. Это опасно, потому что в просветлевшую голову приходят мысли. Вспоминаются поступки и разговоры, волнения, знакомства, дела наконец, которые - конечно! - имели какое-то значение, но только в совсем короткие моменты, а на самом деле большая их часть не имела ни-ка-ко-го значения по большому счету.

Очень мало вещей имеет значение по большому счету.

Лично мне этот счет стал ясен именно в этот день рождения на берегу озера, когда я смотрела на маленький дом, который стоит у подножия огромной скалы и будет там стоять еще много-много лет, обещая тепло и покой тому, кто не боится высоты и холода.