Escape to the Paradise

Last week, Irene and I went on a short unplanned power break to Dominican Republic where we joined our dear friends Krause recuperating after the depressing Petersburg's winter.

Dominican Republic was everything it promised to be and some more - generous sun, blue sky, clear warm water, sand beaches, palm trees, seafood, free drinks, lazy service, and, surprisingly, broadband wi-fi and a rock solid cell coverage.

(click for more pictures)

We spent all of the waking hours talking to our friends and we could easily go for more and more. So, everything was perfect and even flights were easy and quick and the only thing we came to regret was how quick it all went by. That, and, of course, the fact that we went alone, without kids - for Leon it was first week after his break and he couldn't miss it and Max, without Leon, decided against the trip (he said, 'you are going to talk in Russian about adult stuff and I'll be bored').

Since most of the troubles come in threes, in three days while we were away, the three unpleasant things had occured.

1. On Wednesday, Leon, coming back from his first group ride of the season somehow lost his beloved brand new custom designed Oakleys.
2. On Thursday, Max had an early dismissal at school. Unable to reach any of us on the phone from school, he took the school bus home, and, having almost two hours to kill while waiting for grandpa (kids stayed at grandparents), he jumped on the bike and rode to Dennis' house (a two-mile trip across a couple of big roads that he never made alone before). At Dennis' house, he circled around and instead of coming over, he decided to head back. He didn't have his helmet on and he could be easily stopped by any passing cop. When I asked him about it, he said - yeah, I thought about it, but come on, Dad, how often do you see a cop in our neighborhood anyway? So, the criminal act was premeditated and carefully planned. Max - a juvenile delinquent in making...
3. On Friday, my neighbor's moronic friends managed to get a huge van stuck up to its axles in my lawn. It is still helplessly sitting there. I'm calling cops. Ha-ha, Max.

Invisible Fence

Narrowly escaping death by electrocution earlier in the week, Dad almost got himself into another voltage related trouble. While jogging around the town, observing the destruction and devastation brought by the storm to some neighbors houses, Dad noticed, not without some healthy Schadenfreude, that the power was still out on some of the properties. The neighbors dogs, already unnerved by the non-stop high-pitch buzz of the chain saws of tree removal crews were barking louder than usual. The sight of Dad happily jogging, made them only madder and they charged full speed towards him. Nonplussed, Dad continued the run while it slowly dawned on him that if the power is down then the 'invisible fence' is down, and if the 'invisible fence' is down, then the only thing keeping dogs from attacking is, well, some reflexes. And shall the reflexes (same as the pump insulation earlier) prove to be less than perfect, Dad's disfigured arms and legs would be an ungainly attraction at the beaches of Dominican Republic, where he was heading in a few days.

Chess Comeback

Thrown by lack of Internet connectivity (due to the storm) practically all the way to the Stone Age, kids turned to chess. This second in a year comeback of chess made us think - what next ... reading ...? But, oh, shucks, the 'net is back, hopes of having them read anything longer than a Facebook post - shuttered.

Great Flood(s)

Last week brought two epic floods of different scale.

First, following how many years of abuse, we finally managed to clog the kitchen drain for good. After some meaningless exercises with the plunger, Dad said it's time to do it "right", opened up the drain and tried to clean it with the power-drill mounted snake. Max was duped into believing that Dad was drilling for oil and was quite disappointed when all 25 feet of snake came back empty. It was time to call professionals. Carlos, his helper and Dad, opened up the pipe full of atherosclerotical built-up and performed a garden-hose colonoscopy, thoroughly showering themselves in the process with bucketfulls of disgusting foul smelling slime... This yet another cleansing experience in a month, made Dad seriously considering going vegan (or, perhaps, investing in a proper garbage disposal device).

On the macro-scale, the event replayed just few days later, when strong wind toppled enough trees to knock off power lines throughout the town. The pouring rain finished the job, flooding what was not blocked by the felled trees. Meanwhile, coming back home late night after having a merry time with friends and family in Brooklyn, we discovered basement flooded and more water loudly dripping in at a steady clip. After finding the power generator in a sorry state of neglect, Dad set off into rain and dark looking for some fresh gasoline and motor oil. By 4 in the morning, the generator came to life, waking up, without doubt, most of the neighborhood. Dad, extension cord in hand, waded through basement waters and plugged the submersible pump into the outlet. It was only after the electrical whining of the pump and the sound of water pouring out brought Dad a moment of reflection (attaboy!), did he realize how close he was to being electrocuted in his own basement, shall the insulation on the pump turned to be anything less than perfect.

P.S. The third plumbing emergency happened a few days later - while trying to clean a clogged drain the bathroom, Dad broke the pipe for good and spent his Sunday afternoon cursing the lack of standardization in plumbing industry up and down the supply isle in Home Dept and re-learning the dark art of teflon taping the joints.