April 06 2017, 10:19

Traffic features in our small town. Along this road, we often travel from Tysons Corner to the outside world – to Washington, to Lisa’s or Masha’s schools.

The colored pathway represents a turn (!). There is a traffic light hanging in the middle and a stop line. When it’s red, you can still turn right according to the traffic rules, but very cautiously. So, according to those who built this road, there is a right turn (if you move from north to south). It’s also a left turn, if you move from south to north – but that’s somewhat understandable, though also complicated.

For me, this road might as well have no turns at all.

April 03 2017, 07:58

Can you recommend a TV series?

House of Cards is quite tough in English, greatly nourishing my inferiority complex: I can’t understand half of it in the original, and I don’t want to watch the Russian version. I’ve watched White Collar, it was cool, but it’s over. Didn’t get into Westworld. Stranger Things was cool, but it’s over. Watched Black Mirror (partially, but that was enough). Really like Homeland, but waiting a week for the next episode is too long; I want something else.

Here are the results of my last poll on this matter: https://www.facebook.com/raufaliev/posts/10154175525097368?match=0YHQtdGA0LjQsNC7

Drop me some ideas please. What is a must-watch?

April 03 2017, 07:38

Watched “The Odyssey” about Jacques-Yves Cousteau, where Audrey Tautou (the one from Amélie) performs wonderfully. She’s in a very unusual role for her. Plus, the soundtrack is cool by Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The King’s Speech, Harry Potter … ). Seems like the first movie in Russian translation that I’ve watched here. Too bad I still lack French 😦 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unCIKO7-PSQ

March 31 2017, 23:58

Note to service providers, from online stores to telecoms: this is how you should ask for feedback. Just regular SMS messages. I text with T-Mobile when it’s convenient for me. It can even be stretched over a day. They send a question and wait as long as necessary. The response can be either free text or a number. Compared to an audio survey at the end of a call center call, which almost everyone hangs up on – it’s a breakthrough.