American Russia Observations

Escaping A Tacky Wallpaper Scam in Russia

2012-01-10T15:07:00.001+04:00

Our new kitchen wallpaper, safely up after our scamming adventure.

We recently got out of a possible scammers’ trap just before it slammed shut. It all had to do with whether to pay a deposit before work was finished, and overall sloppy business practice.

Time to wallpaper!

Back around 1995 Larissa sent her daughter money from America to put up new kitchen and bathroom wallpaper. We arrived in 2000 to an attractive kitchen but with the toilet screaming an electric metal reflective ambiance. So this winter it now seemed a good time to cater to our own tastes and fix things with new paper. Remember, Russians generally wallpaper their walls, not paint them.

How not to find good workers...

The woman we used for wallpapering before was in the Ukraine on vacation, so Larissa looked at some newspapers to get a a range of prices. She found small display ads for home repair... here it’s called in Russian remont.... for windows, doors, wallpapering, you name it. Also there were ads of just one or two lines including abbreviations followed by a cell phone number.

Larissa was impatient, and wanted the wallpaper up quickly, so she called a number from one of the short ads and arranged an appointment on a Monday at 5 PM.

A poor estimate...

Two men came to our apartment that evening to give an estimate. They said 10,000 rubles would include cleaning and smoothing the walls, prep work, and wallpapering... along with some tiling on the lower part of the toilet walls. I insisted one of them sit down and write out this estimate and sign it.

Written estimates are rare for small work in Russia, where being business-like isn’t considered necessary. I should have asked them to list internal passport numbers and print their full name below his scratchy initials. In Russia, people invariably sign with initials or fragments of names. so John Hancock would be something like J Han k.

Really, we had no idea if they had an office, where they lived, or how to be sure to be able to contact them.

Bad business practices...

In Russia home repair men don’t have printed business cards, estimate forms, or bonding and insurance. With potentially violent competition, corrupt and greedy officials, and no Western business sense, things are not wrapped very tight here... the direct opposite to how things are done in Germany, Finland, or the United States.

This Wild West, wide-open sloppy approach to doing business leaves the consumer vulnerable to scams, and sometimes exposed to dangerous people. These two men were young, tall, and strong, spoke good Russian, and seemed to be adequate for the job of shifting cabinets and fridge, and getting the wallpapering finished quickly. They were not ethnic Russians but we didn’t want to exclude them for something beyond their control.

Off to a poor start and an ill considered deposit understanding...

They implied that at least one of them would be working at our apartment the next day. Instead, Tuesday morning after 10 AM a scrawny young guy looking as if he had slept on the subway, was the only one to appear. He said he came to remove the old paper and do the tiling, and that a woman and her husband and would come in the afternoon to start the wallpapering. No one else arrived the rest of the day.

Starting around noon Larissa got a few calls from one of the original men saying he needed a deposit to continue the work. Larissa had said in the rush of words the night before that we could pay 50% when half the work was done. Even with eleven years hearing and speaking Russian, a rush of words is one way to get around me easily!

Red flags start popping up!

The Good Wife told him it was too early to collect money as the task was nowhere near half finished. His request was insistent, and so they agreed he could come by towards the evening. This felt like a potentially threatening situation to me. I reminded Larissa about Red Flags... when if you listen to your intuition you feel something isn’t quite right.

Larissa called her daughter to get her reaction. The daughter-in-law said to never give money before the job is completed. In the 90s some friends of hers got cheated just this way. So we agreed to stop everything before we were in too deep.

It seemed to us they wanted to put us in the middle of a wallpaper mess, as a way to manipulate some prepayment. Then, it would be easy for them to disappear and we would lose the deposit.

The shaky people disappear...

The young guy finished his task that day, but left his bag with a few tools in it. We put 500 rubles in the bag and planned to give it all to him but, although he called a few times to arrange when, he never came back for his bag. And the man demanding a deposit, didn’t come to see us that evening.

Things worked out all right

We contacted friends who have wallpapering friends, who had done good work before. We agreed to have everything completed over the next weekend, for the same 10,000 rubles. This husband- wife team wore pullovers, were skilled and careful, and gave us three tips...

1. Never call anyone for Remont who doesn’t list a landline number. It’s hard to find people if something goes wrong when they only have cell phone numbers. It’s just too easy for them to disappear after they scam or steal, or worse.

2. Never give a deposit before or during work... especially when the work should be finished in just a few days.

3. Try to only hire people who have done good work for people you know.

Be thankful that where you live things are probably done in a much more business-like way... and remember the Three Tips... It’s OK to not trust people until they earn your confidence... anywhere in the world!

Technorati Tags: Russian business practices,remont home repair,3 anti-scamming tips.

Sliding into a cold dark winter of the Russian north...

2011-12-12T14:53:00.001+04:00

Setting moon tending towards waning gibbous, dawn 1051, 12 December, NW St Petersburg. Taken 1 1/2 days after the full moon and total lunar eclipse (obscured by skies) around 630 pm 10 December.

Barking at the full moon eclipse...

The Cold, Long Night, or Frost Moon are names for the full moon closest to the winter solstice, this year on December 10... when there was also a total lunar eclipse! Full moons occurs when the moon is most opposite the sun during its 29.5 day cycle.

The last few nights I couldn’t sleep much until after 2 pm. I felt a strong magnetic pull that wouldn’t let me relax, and recalled that around now would be another full moon. I am what the Russians call a lunatic, with no aspersions intended.

Further north than a Maine winter...

Russians, Alaskan Americans, Icelanders, Fins, Norwegians, Swedes, and Scots all live in the North... some with equanimity!

Latitude	City	Population
68 58	Murmansk	308,000
64 32	Archangel	349,000
64 08	Reykjavik	120,000
62 12	Helsinki	589,000
61 13	Anchorage	292,000
59 57	St Petersburg	4,800,000
59 55	Oslo	1,442,000
59 21	Stockholm	851,000
55 57	Edinburgh	486,000

Russians are not the only ones with a dark winter.

I remember Larissa once said ‘It’s amazing that people will live anywhere, in the worse climates and in bad conditions’. Well, it’s amazing that I now live in the unappealing cold and unattractive conditions of the Russian north!

But even with the flat topography... clusters of drab, grey high rises... city sand, dirt, and disorganization... given a will to be cheerful and positive, life can be pleasant and often happy in the forbidding North.

Less light, little sun, poor visibility...

We are fast approaching the shortest day of the year, 22 December. Dawn will be at 1100 and sunset will happen at 456 pm. Winter will start that day at 930 am.

Now there’s no sun rise, just a subtle lightening in the east. It’s rare to see even a soft glow of sunshine, because the sun arcs close to the horizon. What little sun appears is masked by the high rise apartments.

Even during daylight, it’s quite dark. In the middle of the day my camera’s flash goes off. Electric light is sponged by the darkness, seeps away, and things are harder to see unless you are next to a bright bulb.

Black clothes, dangerous crossing conditions, and some atrocious driving...

Black is the favorite clothing shade in Russia... not visible to cars when crossing the street, but otherwise practical as it doesn’t get discolored by polluted rain and snow.

It’s that time of the year when I’m only cozy outside with my black, long thermal jacket from Poland, which includes an excellent hood. If conditions get severe, it has a second zip in lining.

It’s rare to see reflective material on children’s jackets, which are usually dark also. There are no crossing guards at the faded zebra crossings near schools. I see children run across the roads far from intersections, no matter what the weather or darkness.

In Russia, pedestrians do not have the right of way. Many drivers have only been behind the wheel ten years or less but drive aggressively, with little appreciation of the rules of the road. Drivers routinely turn into and cross the path of pedestrians obeying the green light.

The unofficial crossing near our apartment on busy Cizova Prospect has no red light or zebra stripes. After dawn I was on my way across the road when I saw an old man with a cane moving towards me, gesturing for me to help him the rest of the way. I grabbed his arm, held up my crossing guard hand to stop rapidly approaching traffic, and got the grateful old guy safely to the sidewalk.

The day I wrote this part, a girl was hit crossing the road down by the other supermarket.

Better to not fight it, slow down, and enjoy life indoors.

This is a time of year to sleep in, be lazy, maybe give in to melancholy. Serotonin which helps a good mood is in short supply in our brains. It’s frequent to hear people saying they are under the weather...aches, pains, low moods.

There just isn’t enough daylight now to stimulate the body to make adequate Vitamin D, and there’s little fortification of milk or cereal here. We eat a lot of cheese and fish, and take some omega 3 fish oil pills.

Our parakeets, Kesha and Noosha, are less active with lessening light. Lazy birds now, they sleep in late, eat less, and aren’t as excited about their pieces of apple, hanging celery, or other greens.

How do we survive the dark, cold, and gloom?

Reading is my best escape. I send and receive books with Book Mooch, get others from a yearly sale at the International Woman’s Club, and trade with a British expat friend.

I’ve recently ordered around 30 books with my Mooch points. I enjoy the emails while arranging these swaps. It gets me out of the apartment to send and receive Mooches at the local post office, giving me much needed exercise.

I appreciate time in the kitchen. Recently I put together another variation of spaghetti sauce ...this time with crushed rosemary, the tastiest sauce yet!

Happiness depends on your mood.

On waking, start with a self-willed good mood, try to be cheerful, and be sure to find activities you enjoy. Whatever climate and conditions you live in, you can with fortitude, mood, and some good luck, find the living pretty good in most places in the world.

Comments welcome, or if you wish you may contact us using the Wibiya strip below.

Technorati Tags: winter,full moon,cold moon,long night moon,frost moon,total lunar eclipse,winter solstice,lunatic,chart northern people,pedestrian safety,serotonin,vitamin d,omega 3,parakeets,happiness,mood.

Water, Milk, and Cabbage in St Petersburg Russia

2011-11-17T14:38:00.001+04:00

The time has come, the Walrus said,
To talk of many things
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings

Lewis Carroll, 1872 excerpted from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. The Walrus and the Carpenter hotlink

Excellent water, the best milk, and homemade sour cabbage bring some pleasing moments to our daily lives... in this the gloomiest month of the St Petersburg calendar!

Never drink water from the tap in Russia!

St Petersburg claims our water is contaminant free before it is piped through the system. The most obvious problem is poor quality corroded and leaking pipes between the treatment center and our taps. Also city water includes some chlorine or chloramine which can be possible dangers for skin, body... and lungs during and after a bath or shower.

We used to use a Brita filter to make potable water. For a while we did a second step of putting water through a Heboton, which claimed to make silver water. We stopped bothering when I found out that colloidal silver water is apparently of no value, and could be dangerous.

Clean clear water in St Petersburg? hotlink Our post 09 December 2009 tells more about water here.

Now in the last year we have a big improvement in our lives! A new kiosk near our front door claims it sells artesian water, with no metallic crud or chlorine, for 24 rubles a 6 liter jug (you bring the jug). We use around three liters a day.

The attendant puts a curved wand out a small window, carefully filling your container close to the top.

You may notice...

Russians like to hid from each other... don’t like openness... witness the notices stuck strategically on the window so customers can’t see in. I crouch down and say pa-see-ba, barely seeing the woman inside the darkened space.

Graffiti is endured, not cleaned off right away. Exterior appearances are usually not considered important here.

Fresh milk with cream on the top...

Fresh rich milk from a tank on the back of a small truck is sold by competing dairies - both two times a week- one just out the back door of our apartment section, the other by the school. Around 10 AM they arrive for around twenty minutes. One liter costs thirty rubles, around a dollar.

Larissa boils it at home, and puts aside some milk for procto-kwasha. This is a type of sour buttermilk... also known as a clabbered, cultured, or fermented milk. I enjoy the surface penka from boiled milk after the pan is cooled.

The milk is delicious, as it hasn’t experienced the factory homogenizing blasting process or had it’s cream mechanically skimmed, and then just a little added back.

Scrumptious fermented cabbage this year!

квашеная капуста! Larissa hand sliced two large cabbages, some carrots, worked all in a large basin (no water added, just a tablespoon or so of salt) and compressed everything in this make shift apparatus of pan, pot, plate and a six liter jug of water in place of a stone weight!

After five or six days the cabbage tasted just right! The good wife moved the pail to our unheated balcony after putting a jar of this fermented cabbage in the fridge so we could start enjoying the pungent biting flavor right away!

Fermented Russia hotlink our post from 22 September 2010 gives a lot more background on three ways to practice Russian zymology!

Comments very welcome... or check the email, Facebook, and other portals below.

Technorati Tags: tap water,city water,artesian well,chlorine,Brita filter,Heboton,colloidal silver,proctokwasha fermented milk,buttermilk,payky skimmed cream,квашеная капуста,fermented cabbage,homogenized,zymology.

Surprising Insights about Hard Times in Russia and America

2011-10-30T17:36:00.001+04:00

robrush54 from Photobucket

When people look at current economic statistics, whether about the USA, Russia, or Greece, often they feel that things have gone wrong when it comes to fairness.

I view talk by the conservatives about austerity as a big lie meant to continue manipulating people to cave before the powerful. Maybe this is why the Occupy Wall Street Movement has sprung up.

The Russian people have continuing economic problems, even though real income has multiplied since 2000. Most pay no mortgage or rent, a legacy from the end of the Soviet Union, and don’t need a car for work. But the consumer economy in the USA is crumbling, dramatically going from good to bad.

Numbeo.com compares the USA to Russia

Consumer Prices 23% higher

Rent Prices 52% higher

Restaurant Prices 2% lower

Groceries Prices 51% higher

Local Purchasing Power 170% higher

More information on economic fairness,,, These numbers indicate the US has a large disparity of income and is less mobile than much of Europe.

Russia has a better GINI income distribution than the USA, 42.3 to 45. Actually, the Russia number is better than its face value. Russia Now hot link

Economic mobility... USA 1.0 Russia? Denmark 3.2 No Russia number available, but I guess it’s significantly better than the USA. Economic Mobility Project hot link

Both countries have serious problems...

chaotic medical delivery
unresponsive government
corruption

Trouble in the Land of Plenty...

Americans have 170% higher purchasing power but they have to deal with outrageous medical costs, along with other high costs, such as public and private transportation. They have an advantage in that they can exercise some democratic rights, but these days the US government seems unable to help its citizens effectively.

Many Americans in real terms are poorer than years ago... Unemployment is now 9.1% The recent trade bill will likely result in a further net loss of jobs. Christian Science Monitor hot link

Most of the poor have appliances, cars, electronics which most Americans think essential, live in larger spaces than many middle income Europeans. But still they feel down and out as they are hard pressed to cover their expenses and often compare themselves to those more well off.

20 years after the Soviet Union...

Even with all their troubles, Russians don’t have a stress-disaster mentality but rather are extraordinarily stoic (maybe masochistic?). Economic survival has always been difficult here, and people are not surprised or very upset by a downturn. Russian hard times hot link Unemployment is at 7.6% (2010).

The situation for the very poor in Russia is much harder than anything America has recently experienced. There is a scant welfare system, small and scattered unemployment benefits, and the average pension is around 8,500 rubles ($328) a month. Food Stamps and Meals on Wheels are not available, except for the wonderful initiatives of the JDC for Russian Jews.

You are poor in the USA if your family of four makes $22,350 or less. In Russia people who can not afford the hypothetical (and too low) Subsistence Food Basket are considered poor.. a yearly $2,013 for pensioners and $10,425 for two parents and two children. 14.9% of Russians are statistically poor.

The Consumer Price Index... General and Food Inflation

Inflation in Russia is now around 8.1%, while in America it is close to 3.9%. The Russian food basket increased in cost 20 – 30% recently, and 15% in 2010. American food costs rose 3.5 to 4% in 2011.

How would Americans react if their grocery bills went up 35% in less than two years?

Food in Russia takes somewhere between a third and two thirds of income, while the average American spends 9% on food... (but gradually a larger share as you look from the poor to the poorest... 37% of income on food in 2009). Business Insider hot link

Russian Medical Benefits...

It’s easier to get approved for disability payments in Russia but the benefit payments are very low.

100% of hospitalization and clinic doctors costs are covered with no deductible or co-payment. But the trend has been towards individuals having to pay for specialists.

Surgery and drugs are only covered in exceptional circumstances. Drugs are still much cheaper than in the United States.

Pharmacy bills...

Russian pharmacies sell packages of bubble wrapped drugs which rarely require a prescription, with no onsite pharmacist, just a scurrying clerk or two. This cuts down on costs, but no one checks for contraindications. Without this protection, I study the internet pharmacy sites to find out more.

Americans are charged outrageous prices for prescriptions. The NJ Prescription Drug Price Registry, shows some of the best prices available. In Flemington the best pharmacy price was $143 for 90 tablets 2.5 mg Warfarin. Here in Russia the current price is an equivalent $4.99 for 100 pills... 28.6 times cheaper, and with 10 extra pills! NJ Drug Price Registry hot link

Our monthly costs...

Besides some rather crass New Russians, most people have fewer expensive wishes than more acquisitive Americans. Cars are a luxury as we have extensive public transportation. Russians are less wasteful of food.

We get by with frugal living. We watch the rubles but spend when necessary, as for medical drugs or even an occasional taxi ride (no car expenses for us since our arrival). We spend around 10,000 rubles ($328) to 12,000 rubles($393) monthly for grocery items and 5000 rubles($164) for medicines.

There are monthly bills for cable internet, electricity, hot and cold water, apartment fees, and we pay for medical treatment and tests at times, too. Typically we have no charge cards, other debt, or loans to pay. We are in our late 60s, our wishes are less but our medical needs can cost more than we feel comfortable paying.

Money isn’t everything...

Economic life can be tough whether you live in Russia or the United States. I hope you are getting by, or better, prospering. Remember while money is essential, it should not be confused as the most important part of a happy life.

Comments very welcome!

Technorati Tags: Numbeo.com,austerity,Occupy Wall Street,income disparity,purchasing power,GINI coefficient,income distribution,economic mobility,unemployment,trade bills,poor,Food Stamps,Meals on Wheels,Subsistence Food Basket,JDC,CPI,Inflation,share of income for food,disability payments,hospitalization,medical costs,pharmacy bills.

My Chancy Attempt at Russian Rye Bread

2011-10-17T15:52:00.001+04:00

A kneading break after a 5 minute workout.

Hesitation and procrastination...

I was worried baking bread would be more chaos than Larissa could stand, maybe with yeasted dough growing quickly to fill the kitchen, and bulging out the door.

First, I was going to wait until she was gone for the day, but then I thought that was a little sneaky, and anyway she might come home (not the first time) to a smoking disaster. She stayed calm, helpful, and a good sport about the mess in her kitchen.

Finding ingredients...

Our two neighborhood supermarkets in our part of St Petersburg have no

onion powder
unbleached wheat four
un-bromated flour
molasses
malt or
dried mustard.

Without the right ingredients it’s hard to make a good bread.

20 Steps to get started baking bread...

If you break apart something you plan to do, and figure out what’s the first step, second step, and so on... why then you have enough confidence to start.

After checking many recipes for Russian Rye Bread, I selected two authentic recipes [listed below] that appeared possible for a beginner to bake. Then I melded what seemed sensible into 20 steps.

The 3 1/2 hours span these steps take allows gluten and other ingredients to become digestible. If bread disagrees with you, it’s probably because now in 2011 it is made -start to finish- in two hours, an unhealthy fast bread process which the baking industry has foisted on consumers since the 1950s. Dough is best if allowed to ferment for more than 6 hours.

Some cogitations and adjustments along the way...

The recipes weren’t clear about when and how to add the wheat flour.

I found it necessary to switch to a larger mixing bowl half way through the recipe.

We didn’t have a metal sheet so I resorted to circular baking tins.

Two loaves on a cooling rack.

My lugubrious thoughts on trying my bread...

That evening it just wasn’t edible. It would have been easier to saw wood than to cut this bread. It hurt my old teeth and gums. The taste wasn’t good.

That night I had dejected thoughts.

These loaves could be doorstops.

A piece of this bread would be better than the proverbial sheriff’s badge, better than a small Bible in the left breast pocket, as it could easily stop a bullet.

This bread could parry a knife attack!

If you smacked someone’s face with it, it would leave a nasty bruise.

If dropped on your foot, your toes would hurt for a week.

But with the new day...

OK bread that pleased the Russian wife!

We had a few pieces with soup at dinner. Now cool, the crusty bread has become softer and Larissa liked the taste. Noosha the parakeet eagerly took crumbs from a piece wedged in the side of her cage.

What to learn from my bread experience?

I need practice! I found some good ideas in the Hubpages [listed below].

Start with pleasantly warm water, not tepid, not hot. Error on the side of a few more ounces of water, as wetter is better in dough handling, even if you have to knead in the bowl instead of on the board. In the oven, the yeast will stop acting and the excess water will evaporate.

Understand what punching down means. I took this literally and joked that it’s preferable to hitting one’s wife, Actually, the French call this step turning the dough... moving the dough and gently folding it over on itself to keep as much gas in as possible, not deflate the mixture.

I will...

Add a pinch of salt
just a teaspoon of vinegar... or none
use caraway spice only
use just a pinch of baker’s yeast
allow more rising time
use a baking tray
add a pan of water to the bottom of the oven to help initial oven spring
use the central oven rack
try the Lahey method... let the dough sit for 18 hours, with no kneading

Humbled...

I’ll keep at it until I report back with good results. This first attempt tastes better with time. And Russian rye is famous for keeping teeth white!

Notes worth checking!

Two bread recipes

Russian Rye recipe from King Arthur Flour, credited to Anya Von Bremzen, Please to the Table, the Russian Cookbook.

Russian Black Rye by Natalya Mann, Missouri translator originally from Volgograd.

Hubpages

Never punch down the dough, by John D. Lee

Baking bread easy, by Steph Harris

More valuable information

Nourished Magazine... How bread became a negative. .

Bread Experience... A great reference.

Let Time Do The Work... Mark Bittman, NYT, about Jim Lahey

Comments, suggestions, and tips are very welcome! Or see other ways to communicate on the Wibiya strip below.

Technorati Tags: Russian rye bread,bleached wheat flour,bromated flour,gluten,fast bread,baker's yeast,rising time,oven spring,Lahey slow bread.