B150:It wasn't a bluff

It's a slow news day. What to write about? Just back from my friend's birthday party last night. A good time was had by all. Good job it was indoors as the weather has been atrocious all weekend. Almost non-stop rain. I got soaked this morning when I went to collect the car (which I had to abandon last night after it had had too much to drink). And yet in Moscow this weekend it has been 24 degrees. I see from the forecast that as soon as I get back to Moscow tomorrow evening the temperature will return to one more normal for the time of year! Roll on Summer.
Today's pictures have been included to corroborate the marathon claims that I made last week. Here is a younger, and faster, me - in 1995 and 1998.

Four hours for a marathon is, I think, quite respectable. The elite runners finish in a little over two hours and slow, and fun, runners come in at about the six hour mark. In 2002 Lloyd Scott took almost a week to complete the course. But he was wearing an antique diving suit. 

Diving suit marathon man

B149:A tale of two toilets

The inspiration for the title came from Charles Dickens - this year we are celebrating the bicentenary of his birth.


Today I am seeking advice. I'm in the process of solving a problem but undecided what my next step should be.
The story, so far, runs something like this....
I noticed that the floor in the toilet was a bit damp (and I'm usually so careful!) . On investigation it looked as though the water was leaking from the toilet itself. A plumber sent by the управдом (building management people) suggested that I needed a new манжет (some kind of rubber 'sleeve').  I managed to buy said манжет from the local market and called for the plumber to fit it. A different plumber arrived and said the first one was an idiot and I really needed a whole new toilet and it needed to be a certain kind. He showed me where the cistern wasn't aligned with the pipe in the back of the toilet. 
So, did I really need a new toilet or was I the one being played for a fool? I wanted to resolve the problem myself without involving the landlady (hope she isn't reading this) as she always tends to increase the rent whenever I trouble her with anything involving money. My thinking at this stage was that if I throw some money at the problem it would solve it so whether the first or the second plumber was right a new toilet would be the end of the matter. Ha! Off to the market and start  looking at toilets. Of course, when I started mentioning the kind I was told I needed then people started saying "you don't want one of them, you want one of these" in the way that people do. A ordered a complete new toilet and two young men from Dagestan, and a new toilet from goodness knows where, duly arrived just after 9 p.m. (!!) on Wednesday evening. They ripped out the old one and installed the new. If only that were the end of the problem I could live "happily ever after". But, and there's always a but, the toilet seems to have been installed in the middle of the floor rather than against the wall. When I sit down my long legs  don't allow the door to close! I could see why they did it as the pipe sticks out a long way from the wall but surely as reputable plumbers (?) they should have told me that this particular toilet wasn't suitable in this instance rather than go ahead and "bodge" it. There is no Consumer Credit Act in this country (as far as I know). What do I do next? Some choices are:
1.  Leave it as it is and always visit the loo with the door open. Not really a viable option as sometimes there are students in the flat.
2.  Go back to the boys from Dagestan and see if they can cut back the waste pipe and reinstall the toilet closer to the wall. Firstly, the waste pipe is quite a substantial fitting, I'm not sure it would be easy to cut it. Secondly, if they made such a mess of the first installation, do I really have faith in them to come back and do good work.
3.   Buy another toilet, of the kind I was advised to get in the first place, and get somebody reliable in to install it? It would be throwing good money after bad but if it solves the problem.....
4.   'fess up to the landlady and get her to solve the problem. Not likely!
What should I do next? 

B148:English with love

Now the snow has (finally) gone, we can start reading the pavement ads again. This one says "English with Love". The mind boggles! I'd just  like to say it is not a reference to my website. I don't know what it means as I'm not brave enough to call....
Maybe instead of syntax there should be a sin tax?

B147:Aging

Sorry, but I couldn't resist this. Not very gallant of me I know, but look at the difference between the three young ladies in the poster (advertising a radio station) and the three, not quite so young, sitting on the bench waiting for a bus. I'm aware, of course, that I too have been slowly aging and am not the Adonis that I once was (ha ha). 

B146:Ostankino

When I left the flat yesterday afternoon I didn't really know where I would end up. I had no specific plan in mind but decided just to let my feet lead me. After a short bus ride and two stops on the monorail train I ended up in Ostankino. This is well known for its TV tower.

But as well as the TV tower, Ostankino has a cathedral


And a large park with at least one tree sculpture

and a "dancing veranda" where people of all ages can step up and dance to the music.

By way of a contrast from the rather sedate dancing, today the 32nd London marathon will be run. I wonder if I've got any more marathons left in me - I suspect not, but who knows what a bit of determination can yield.

B145:Subbotnik and Happy Birthday Your Majesty

Today, as Spring continues to invigorate us all, a subbotnik was declared for many Muscovites and indeed, as far as I know, for many Russians - at least in those parts of Western and Southern Russia where Spring has arrived.
This involves giving several hours of your time in the service of the local community. It is completely unpaid and voluntary. People are "encouraged" to attend by their employers and get some kind of black mark against their name if they don't take part.
Most of the work involves light gardening, tidying and making outside areas look nice after the ravages of Winter.
The work of painting everything that doesn't move continues. Here the entrance to my stairwell has been given a fresh coat of battleship grey paint to see us through another year. The second picture shows the result of a lot of people's efforts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subbotnik

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Our Queen has two birthdays every year, an actual birthday and an official one. On the official birthday, held on a Saturday in June, the Queen reviews her birthday parade, otherwise known as Trooping the Colour. See the video clip below.

Today is the Queen's actual birthday. She is 86 years old. Happy Birthday Your Majesty.

I had the privilege of meeting  Her Majesty in 2005.

B144:I survived Easter

I survived Easter:

The next two holidays on the horizon are Labour Day on 1st May and Victory Day on 9th. That nice Mr Putin has made an executive decision and juggled a few days around so that we get 5 days holiday for the price of 2. Not quite as generous as it first appears because we will have to work on 3 consecutive Saturdays to make up for it.
Victory Day is very important here in Russia. I may well write more about it nearer the time. For the moment I wanted to show that motorists are already marking the event by putting a slogan on the back windscreen of their cars "Thank you for Victory Grandad". I see this every year at about this time. Here is a photo taken yesterday through the window of the tram I was travelling in.