Month: January 2016

Went to Walmart to stock up the fridge. Here are the prices for part of the “grocery basket” that closely overlaps with mine. You can estimate how this correlates with local salaries in order to project these prices onto ours here: http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Location=McLean-VA/Salary From the salaries on the link, subtract 28% and divide by 12 to get monthly values. If renting a place in the same area, subtract about $2300 from the calculated monthly income.

For example, if the table states that a project manager here earns $93000, this would translate to about $5580 net per month.

According to http://habrahabr.ru/company/it_dominanta/blog/133558/ in Moscow, an average PM earns 100000 rubles. With an exchange rate of 76 rub/dollar, this is about $1315. A two-bedroom in Moscow costs about 40000 rubles or $526. Thus, after rent, $789 remains. Here, in McLean, after rent, $3280 remains for the same average PM.

That results in a coefficient of 4.15. In other words, prices here can be 4.15 times higher than those in Moscow when adjusted for currency and units. Next, we need to decide which should be the reference point – if it’s the prices here, we can interpret Russian prices as “cheaper or more expensive than here”. If we take Russian prices as the baseline, then we can evaluate prices in the US.

I’ve compiled all the figures into a table and converted them into common units. This is something I need myself to estimate the grocery budget, and it might be useful to someone else. I remember my expenses in Moscow, now I have something to multiply them by to estimate expenses here.

Bought tomatoes at Walmart on January 2nd, and they’re still as if they’re alive. The milk is still good, too. What on earth are they making this stuff from?)

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Bill Gates: “So, how’s heaven, Steve?”

Steve Jobs: “Great! It just doesn’t have any wall or fence.”

BG: “So…?”

SJ: “So, we don’t need any Windows and Gates. I’m sorry, Bill, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

BG: “It’s ok Steve, but I heard a rumor.”

SJ: “Oh, what rumor?”

BG: “That nobody is allowed to touch Apple there, and there are no Jobs in heaven.”

SJ : “Oh no, definitely there are, but only no–pay Jobs. Therefore definitely no Bill in heaven as everything will be provided free….”

Yesterday, I received two letters: one with the long-awaited Social Security Number and a permanent debit card (the credit card arrived earlier).

The processing of the SSN and its dispatch took three working days (Wed, Thu, Fri). They said to wait two weeks… Cool.

How to get a car in the States. There are four ways: buying a new one for 100% cash, buying a used one for 100% cash, credit, and leasing. There’s nothing to tell about the first two since it’s all clear. Talking about credit is pointless because, for someone like me, they don’t give it yet in the places I’ve visited. If I suddenly find a place that gives – I’ll make a separate post. And this post is about leasing.

Today I visited four dealerships: Koons Toyota (http://www.koonstoyotatysonscorner.com/), Safford Fiat/Alfa Romeo (http://www.alfaromeousaofvienna.com/), Stohlman Volkswagen, and Stohlman Subaru (http://www.stohlmanauto.com/).

The situation is as follows: I have a visa for three years, have a contract, will have a Social Security Number (SSN), and will have a permanent residence address, I want a car at the end of the month.

At “Toyota”, Indians politely refused. Won’t give leasing, banks won’t give credit. At “Fiat/Alfa Romeo”, they politely refused too but are ready to sell a used one for $7K. Both dealerships at Stohlmanauto said they’re ready to give leasing.

For a Volkswagen leasing contract, they need: 1) job offer, contract, or a letter from your employer 2) a copy of SSN or a letter stating it’s being processed 3) a copy of the visa with the expiration date 4) three letters from colleagues saying I’m reliable – non-binding 5) salary must be higher than four car payments per month (strange requirement, payment for the car – hundreds of dollars per month) 6) salary over $45000 per year 7) proof of residence and phone number.

Subaru also requires local driving license and insurance. Probably VW wants the same, but they didn’t explicitly say. Subaru promised to think it over and possibly amend the terms for me.

They give you the car in three days. Oh yes, plus you need to make a payment.

Interestingly, on the VW website, it is mentioned that the initial payment for a VW Jetta is less than $2000, but then the salesperson added an extra $820 for freight, $599 for dealer processing, $914 for sales tax, which seems to be for the entire car. Altogether, you have to shell out $4300 upfront, then pay $169 per month. For the Passat, same upfront but $239 per month, and for the Tiguan $199 per month, but initially about $500 more.

Meanwhile, Subaru asks just $1700 upfront for the simplest model, plus some taxes. The guy promised to send the details by email.

Here I’m not even counting insurance – which must be paid separately.

The perk of leasing is that for three years, you only have to pay for gasoline; car maintenance is free. After three years, you have to return it or buy it out at the residual price (about 50% of the initial cost).

Subaru is more satisfying, of course. But it’s already clear that I shouldn’t stop visiting other dealerships.

American traffic rules are quite unusual. Firstly, they prioritize safety and all that. But on the other hand… For example, it is not forbidden to cross a double solid line and turn into a driveway, even if it involves crossing three lanes. Also, you can exit a driveway by turning left across a double solid line.

You can turn right on red unless otherwise stated, there is no designated right turn arrow, and you are not in a state with contradictory rules.

At ungoverned intersections with STOP signs, drivers yield to each other in turn. The right-hand rule does not apply.

Most signs are in words, which requires some knowledge of English. This might not seem like an issue, but sometimes there are whole sentences spread across multiple lines that you need to grasp in a fraction of a second.

Yesterday in Washington, it took me five attempts to get onto the right road. You need to change lanes well in advance on large interchanges.

Here, no one, not even the police, signals their turns; but you still should.

The general speed of traffic is higher than in Russia, and interchanges are often denser, so timely lane changes are crucial. If you miss your turn – oops, keep going. After Moscow, where proper interchanges are only really on the third ring road and the beltway, a GPS is initially needed here just for that. You can drive without one, but you’ll likely miss your exits often.

There are HOV lanes – high-occupied vehicle lanes, used when there is more than one person in the car (HOV-2, HOV-3 – meaning at least two, three people). In California, this is called the CARPOOL LANE.

If you violate traffic laws with a local license, the court sends this to the local DMV where they’ll attach it to your record, accrue points, possibly decide to suspend your license (if serious), or send you to a driver improvement clinic, where offenders attend lectures. They accrue 3, 4, or 6 points per infraction. Accumulate 8 points in a year – you get a letter at your home address about how you’ve been bad and the consequences that await. 12 points in a year, or 18 in two – and you’re sent to driver improvement clinic, with a course you need to complete in three months. If 18 points in a year or 24 in two – then you lose your license for three months.

The number of points affects the cost of insurance. http://www.myimprov.com/how-much-is-a-speeding-ticket-in-california-speeding-ticket-cost/

Besides, you need to pay the fine itself. It varies by state, but for California see the link above, and for Virginia it’s $6-7 per mile over the speed limit, plus $62 for “court services” (subsequent ones are $11 each). The maximum fine is $250 plus $62 for the court, making $312, and if you also violate in the so-called Highway Safety Corridor, where fines are doubled, it totals $562. Beyond that, you can only lose your license, and even then, not for long 🙂 But the real downside, of course, is the insurance. It skyrockets.

With Russian licenses, I can drive for another three months. Then, it’s required to get local ones.

Continuing the theme of large portions. I stopped by McDonald’s to get a coffee. It’s called a “medium cup.” Additionally, notice the level of coffee in the cup.

As for the taste, like any coffee in the USA, yuck.

I’ve filled out forms in various places for the third time now, where they ask for Security Questions. You have to pick three from a list. Not only is it unclear why they are considered security questions—perhaps it’s not customary here to share the names of deceased pets or the names of colleges attended. At Bank of America, there was a question about your favorite color, with a minimum of six characters 🙂

I looked online and there are special sites that sell good security questions – http://goodsecurityquestions.com/. Even they admit that only 40 in their commercial list are good, and even then, “..Some GOOD Questions are Still BAD…”

Among the good ones they list are:

What is the first name of the person you first kissed?

What is the last name of the teacher who gave you your first failing grade?

What is the name of the place your wedding reception was held?

Do you remember the answers to the first two?)

Very interesting about sports in the USA. School, college, amateur, and professional. Masha and I have a big item on this one.

I will write about sports separately, for now, I can only say that figure skating here is like archery in our country. Moreover, in our place, you could join a club and grow to become a champion for free, but it’s not the same here. Here, there are no sports schools for figure skating, only private coaches. Well, this is a separate big topic for a post in its own time.