Or, "Random Stories From The Abyss"
My wife is just back from a week of checking on our flat in Moscow (it's still there although I have some negative stories to regale you with about how Putin's Moscow is degrading, more on that in another post) and we are busy winding up the summer so a blogging format change is in order to allow for a quick post with a minimum of effort on my part. Because I don't get paid to do this you know. It's only narcissism with a dollop of masochism and 100 grams of Black Balsams that makes it possible. The famous Latvian tipple has been owned for some time by a Russian by the way.
And that's why you should pay attention to my next post which will present a problem that my wife and I have had to deal with for 20 years since she was repatriated, the concept of private property in Latvia and the hypocrisy of Latvians on this issue. A story of lies, cheats and incompetent cops. And me beating the tar out of someone with impunity. So stay tuned fair reader!
My wife is just back from a week of checking on our flat in Moscow (it's still there although I have some negative stories to regale you with about how Putin's Moscow is degrading, more on that in another post) and we are busy winding up the summer so a blogging format change is in order to allow for a quick post with a minimum of effort on my part. Because I don't get paid to do this you know. It's only narcissism with a dollop of masochism and 100 grams of Black Balsams that makes it possible. The famous Latvian tipple has been owned for some time by a Russian by the way.
- Since I returned to Riga mid-April I have been hearing Russian 75% of the time which surprises me since this is not a Russian enclave. In Riga at least for business it seems to be Russian first, then English, then Latvian. I can understand Latvians wanting to keep their language alive but there is no escaping the fact that Russian is more prevalent and therefore more useful to know. Plus the very obvious fact that everything in Latvia is for sale, and Russians are in a mood to buy.
- The recently implemented e-signature electronic verification format (eParaksts.lv) so far only adopted by 45% of Latvian citizens as they replaced their personal id card with the new eID card (also replacing the old visa like Permanent Resident Permit with an eID card like that which I & Mrs. TRex now have) is not surprisingly being used by government departments like Municipal Police as a way to insulate themselves from the public. A recent personal example: "We don't want your hand written hard copy complaint sir, so please go home and submit your statement to our user (un)friendly web-site using your e-signature account." Of course one needs to purchase a Smart Card Reader (most shops have sold out long ago), have access to a computer, e-bank account and the perseverance to slog through the opaque procedure of downloading exe. files to ones PC (it's not very Mac friendly) and then purchase the minimum sized service package of e-signatures in the case of a business eID card (did I mention there are three types of eID?) in order to submit one (1) doc. Yeah. Like that's going to happen with your average citizen although I certainly made the effort not being average or even a citizen. This is doubly surreal when you take into account the relatively high percentage of the population that are older citizens who live in one or two rooms with a wood stove for heat, basic electricity consisting of sixty year old rat chewed wiring feeding two light bulbs and three wall outlets and no phone line and a communal squat at the end of the hallway who along with this stark reality have to field suggestions from the teller every time they go to the bank that they use the bank computer (at 50 centimes/transaction, their bread ration for the day) or get their own computer and wifi! Whut!? 90% of the poor things can't even use an ATM! And then I heard on the Radio Baltkom this morning that the issuance of these "Smart" cards has been suspended indefinitely anyway but no one knows why! Who is in charge of this country?
- These neon green bottle recycle containers confuse me. Every one I have seen has had the rubber receptacle vandalized by bottle pickers attempting to fish out the bottles. I mean, why didn't they just let the bottle pickers take the bottles and recycle them, putting the small profit in their pocket? Without all the industrial bullshit! Is it an EU thing? I've seen a few of these bins burnt to the ground and I'm not really sure if it's just random property damage or something else. I have only ever seen one young guy with a huge gold chain around his neck picking bottles. Everyone else looks pretty desperate to me.
- Listen, speaking mat, driving a 20 year old Merc with Russian flags on the dash and wearing vintage Adidas's gym gear periodically puked out of a huge warehouse in Vladivostok doesn't make you a gangster. The USSR fell 20 years ago boyo, move along now. And besides, it's impossible that everyone of a certain age can be a gangster, the odds are just against it. It's just as improbable that everyone else in the country is a hugely successful business mogul or Elite real estate wizard. If you know what I mean and I think that you do.
- I can't figure out the food situation in this country. I mean, you can eat really really well, good healthy hot food, for two or three lats in literally a hundred different Kafe's around Riga but you can't purchase the food in any Rimi, Elvi or Maxima and take it home and cook it for the same price. I've tried. I'm a hell of a good cook and even if I spread my purchases out between the Riga Market and various different grocers I simply cannot make meals for less than what I can pay eating out. And I'm not talking about the Lido chain also owned by a Russian which has gotten hella expensive. It's a mystery, although a rather pleasant one I must admit. Many of these Kafe's simply disappear from one location only to re-appear somewhere else. Tax dodge? Avoiding a rent increase? I don't know but it's become a hobby of mine to try and keep track of these things.
- Hospital staff & EMT remain very professional and easy going in what must be very challenging and poorly paid professions. Back on X-mas day 2009 I suffered an attack of kidney stones while walking along Jurmala beach and barely made it back to the pharmacy in Majori where Mrs. T called a cab and got me home with me flopping all over the back seat and freaking out the driver, my plan being to just simply tough it out. I lasted about 1 hr on my bed before I was begging for an ambulance which showed up promptly. The EMT even shot me up full of dope straight away and then took me to the hospital where I was kept comfortable with more shots until I had passed three stones. Cost was three lats which I paid as I left. Contrast that with an attack I had @2:30 am in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada in 2010 that had my poor dad and Mrs. T driving me to the Emergency while | tried to not kick out the back windows of the SUV. It took forever to get processed, then I had to lay on a gurney forever while I waited for someone to show up, make an evaluation and then finally give me a small shot for the pain whereupon my gurney was placed in the hallway where I was forgotten about while I waited to pass a couple stones. Cost to me was nothing but then that's about what the level of care I received was worth. I've also received excellent care in Moscow so I chuckle when Canadians hold their bloated health care system as an example to others. Latvians should be proud of their medical sector, I sure am.
And that's why you should pay attention to my next post which will present a problem that my wife and I have had to deal with for 20 years since she was repatriated, the concept of private property in Latvia and the hypocrisy of Latvians on this issue. A story of lies, cheats and incompetent cops. And me beating the tar out of someone with impunity. So stay tuned fair reader!
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