Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev.

Some observations after driving for almost 7 years in the USA.

– Roads are either being built or upgraded to simplify traffic rules. Essentially, the most important rules are—don’t drive through a red light, don’t veer into oncoming traffic, don’t speed, and don’t cut across lanes. Everything else is dictated by common sense. Situations where you need to use your turn signal are quite rare. Obviously, when changing lanes, but the roads are constructed in such a way that if you are in one of the right lanes, other drivers generally understand that you may soon turn right. There’s almost always an exit pocket ahead with a safe right turn and an acceleration lane afterwards, and using a turn signal seems unnecessary.

– I have never heard of the police nitpicking over anything other than the issues listed above. Red lights, speed—that’s about it. No one in their right mind goes against traffic, and there are almost always dividers. Accidentally brushing a wheel over a double yellow line or stopping beyond the line at a stop sign is not even considered an offense.

– Almost everyone drives after a glass of wine or a can of beer – that’s a given, some drink more. Everyone has their own limits, of course, but usually such an amount isn’t enough to deter them from driving. The limits are 0.07% BAC (Driving While Intoxicated, DWI) and 0.08% BAC (Driving Under the Influence, DUI). If caught above these levels, the fine is $2,500, and you can end up in jail for a year. Technically, 0.08% BAC equals 14 grams of pure alcohol, or four cans of beer (12fl oz) or four glasses of wine (5fl oz). Thus, one can or glass is definitely safe. Two are almost certainly safe, but three or four—you’re walking on thin ice. Ideally, after any amount of alcohol, it’s best to avoid any accidents.

– Turning right on red from the right lane is very convenient. It’s clear that you must yield to all speeding vehicles and pedestrians (who are almost never around in our parts). At some intersections, such a turn is prohibited.

– Turns almost never block traffic. It happens on small roads, but there is always a separate lane for turning left or right only, and separate lanes for going straight. This is very convenient. Often, you can turn left on a green light without a left arrow, yielding to oncoming traffic, unless otherwise prohibited by a sign or a red arrow.

– Simultaneous turns from both directions – like in the attached right picture – are very common. It was a bit scary at first

– Initially, turning left onto an adjoining road across a double yellow line intersecting several lanes (for instance, three or four) really surprised me. It’s considered normal, but it was scary at first; I waited until all the cars had passed. This only applies to infrequent side roads. Usually, a proper turn is made.

– Many intersections have STOP ALL WAY signs where you need to stop and wait until the cars that arrived at the intersection before you pass. Simple logic, and very effective. But it requires time to adapt.

– It’s not advisable to stop along the highway. Not forbidden, but you may encounter a police officer who might stop to ask if everything is okay and if you need help. Thus, to enter something into the navigator often means having to exit the highway. Stopping on the shoulder is often not possible due to the absence of one. There might sometimes be a small strip, but it’s really scary to stop there.

– In our state, Virginia, there are no cameras, but speeding over 20 mph (30 km/h) is very strictly punished (Class 1 misdemeanor – up to $2500 or up to 12 months in jail). Exceeding the limit on roads with a 25 mph limit is usually forgiven (you’ll still have to pay around a $200 fine). Driving above 80 mph (128 km/h) is considered reckless driving and is also punished as a Class . There is somewhere (I think not in Virginia) a highway where 75 mph is allowed, we usually add five on top of the limit, but no more.

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Interestingly, the ginger Yuki is orange in English, and the ball is also orange. However, English uses a much broader array of words for colors than we are accustomed to in Russian. For example, for shades of red there are scarlet, pink, crimson, rose. There are also purple and magenta, for blue/purple there are indigo, violet, and lilac, and there’s also navy.

So our Yuki is red (red, but sort of ginger), and the ball is indeed also red (but not ginger)

I found a moment to come to Tysons Corner. I didn’t make it inside, the entrance was blocked. Some idiot decided to open fire in the store, and now thousands of cars are hastily leaving the mall.

A helicopter, loads of police. It seems there are no casualties yet.

P.S. In the end, there was no shooting.

A guy pulled something resembling a gun, just to switch from “fighting” to “fleeing” mode. And that’s it. But just the fact that a weapon was pulled out in the mall justified an “active shooter” mode and evacuation. If they catch the guy, I wouldn’t be surprised if nothing happens to him. People carry weapons just so, in case of trouble, they have a chance to get away alive.

Do Zenit or Spartak have an official plumbing partner?

Very true! “…You can face personal challenges like not having enough money, slow career progression, or issues with the project you are working on. Quitting due to personal reasons is completely valid; however, continually complaining about them to everyone at the company is inappropriate. Additionally, you don’t need to fail spectacularly in front of ten thousand people—incessantly grumbling to even one executive about your stock grants can be almost as detrimental.

If you aim to capture everyone’s attention, ensure it’s to further the mission, not for personal advantage. Analyze the issues afflicting your project. Document thoughtful, insightful resolutions. Present these to the leadership. These solutions might not succeed, but the undertaking will at least be educational. Don’t nag, yet be persistent, choose your moments wisely, maintain professionalism, and be clear about the potential repercussions if you fail. Express your dedication to making this position work, but convey that if the issues remain unresolved, you will likely resign.”

Well, I’ve experienced it myself, how much professional labor costs in the USA. Replacing a 15-dollar capacitor, which can be removed with a screwdriver, costs 346 dollars. With the total cost of the entire half-ton unit (Air Conditioner Condenser) being 1500 dollars. Of course, 90% of the 346 dollars is the knowledge of identifying that the capacitor was indeed the cause of the observed issue. Plumbers and electricians earn similarly (thank God, I’ve managed to handle those issues myself so far)

Reading an interesting book, BUILD by Tony Fadell, co-creator of the iPad and iPhone. The chapter discusses assholes, their types, and distribution in nature as well as their strategic significance 😉 a good read

I have already mentioned that my classes are twice a week, focusing not so much on English anymore but rather on art history and history in general. Although, of course, the ultimate goal is to improve my English along with increasing my knowledge on subjects that interest me.

Yesterday we discussed Repin and Kramskoy. I learned a very interesting story about the painting “Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan.”

On January 30 (17), 1913, the painting was severely slashed by a visitor, Abram Balashov, who claimed he did it “in a burst of emotion.” Soon after, Repin himself arrived from Kuokkala (now Repino), where he was living at the time.

Repin was almost seventy years old at that moment. The artist agreed to restore his painting.

It is worth noting that long before this incident, Tretyakov had stopped allowing Repin into the gallery with an easel and paints. It was normal for Repin to take an easel, enter the Tretyakov Gallery, take down his own canvas, and add what he thought necessary or sketch out what he deemed unnecessary. Tretyakov, of course, disliked this, as he purchased the paintings in what he considered their completed form, and he had subsequently asked the guards not to let the artist in with his paints.

But this time, they called him, and even with paints. And Repin went all out. Grabar writes: “When I entered the room where the painting was locked up and I saw it, I couldn’t believe my eyes: Ivan the Terrible’s head was completely new, freshly painted from top to bottom in some unpleasant lilac hue, terrifyingly mismatched with the rest of the painting’s palette.”

In short, afterward Grabar and Bogoslavsky had to wash off all the new art and restore it to its original state.

When several months later Repin again visited Moscow and entered the gallery with Korney Chukovsky, he was overall satisfied with the condition of the painting. The old man wasn’t told that they had washed off everything he added and had trouble restoring it to its original state.

In the 1920s, Kuokkala became part of Finland (along with Repin), and he died in 1930 without seeing “the return” of Kuokkala after World War II.

In 2018, the painting was attacked a second time. A man named Igor Podporin seriously damaged the frame and canvas with a metal barrier pole. The restoration took four years, and the result was shown to journalists, but it will only return to the museum at the beginning of next year, if the Tretyakov Gallery figures out how to protect it adequately.

I believe the next step is meaningful animations generated from narrative.

Very sad news. Gabrielyan and I worked very closely together almost ten years ago. He was actually the one who recruited me into the division.

And this is the second time, ten years later, that I receive news that my former direct manager has perished during an extreme wilderness excursion.