Toy Cars

How's everyone doing? I don't really have anything to post about today except for this Toy Cars in Real Parking Spaces website that was mentioned in the blogger news which thought was really cool. Today I really haven't done anything about work. We got audited this morning and I was told to come into work before noon, and the if anyone asks I was a journalist. I feel a lack of respect from the people I work for and therefore I have a lack of respect for the work I do. Tonight a friend of mine is doing a stand up comedic act at one the local bars. Stand-up comedy is not something that is well known in Latvia. In fact I think that this is the only regular stand-up comic and this is only going to be his second time. Anyway I'll let you get back to whatever it is that you were doing.

The List in my Head

I couldn't get to the computer all day today, because tomorrow there is an auditor coming and everyone is shredding something. All day I kept making a list of thing that I should post about, but as soon as I logged in to Blogger the list flew out of my head. Oh, wait there's an echo of something...Ah yes...I was bored waiting for administration to sign a document and I started looking at a World Map that hangs on the ugly orange wall behind my desk. As I looked at the names of places I've never heard of I started to think about the things I've done in my life and I made a list of things that I want to do before I die;

1. See the Triple Crown Live (Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes).

2. Travel somewhere below the Equator.

3. Visit Australia.

4. See the Northern Light.

that's all I could think of. I was amazed at how short the list was. I remember when I was younger that I had such high ambitious plans, but life has whittled them down to these four things (two can be combined). Now for a quote...

"How do you know that terrorists aren't planning to drive a train into the White House?" - Ali G while interviewing the head of the C.I.A.

Dad's Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

(Although I don't think he reads this blog, Oh well if anyone reading this sees him give him another happy birthday from me)

To Market

On Friday, night I went to the fraternity and met up with one of our alumni that has been one of the leading surgeons in sports medicine for the last 15 years. Most recently he operated on presidential candidate Kerry's shoulder. On Saturday Lena and I and two friends went to the Market in Old Town, which was fun we bought honey and apples (as is the season). On Sunday, the day was spent as most Sunday's are, in bed relaxing and hoping that the work week would move farther and farther away. Monday's are getting intolerable. I never look forward to going to work and the weekend always seems so far away. Fridays are usually spent dreaming of things to do on the weekend that never get done, because we are too tired from the week that we end up doing nothing, and now time for a joke.

A man walks into a doctor's office with a duck on his head.

The Doctor looks at the man and says, "How can I help you?"

The Duck exclaims, "HELP! I need to get this man off my butt."

Some jokes just get better with age.

Stuff

Well, there seems to be a lot of stuff going on right now, but some how I have confidence that I will get it all done. Maybe that's just my blind optimism, but we'll see. Work is just a pain in the butt. I have a butt load of stuff to do for the fraternity and the project has just been moved up from May to April. So, I have no time for all the writing that I was planning on doing. Money is tight until the end of the month, but on the good side tomorrow is one of the Markets that take over Old Town when the seasons change. I hope I'm not getting my hopes up for nothing, but the potential for a good time is there, and I want to use it. I guess that's all for now.

Voting

Today I sent in my absentee ballot information so that I can vote in the up coming elections. I still don't know who I'm going to vote for. A lot of people here are very angry at President Bush. I didn't vote for him because of his foreign policy. I voted for him, because I thought he would be good for American business, but other than giving the SEC more power he really hasn't done anything good. Apparently his new tax cuts are just going to increase the deficit and not actually help a lot of people. Although I don't want to vote for Kerry either, because he can't seem to take a stand on anything. Bush is dumb and everyone knows that. I still don't know what Kerry is. It should be interesting to see who else is going to be on the Pennsylvania ballot. Maybe I will vote for a third party. I think the U.S. needs a strong third party, because many times the Democrats and the Republicans say the same thing and then do exactly what the other party would do. Bush is talking about the benefits of big government while Kerry talks about controlling spending. Even though I don't know for who I'm going to vote I am going to vote, because I think not voting is bad. I don't like people that criticize the government and never vote. Voting is every Americans right to change what the don't like in government.

Ad Sense

Well I finally figured out how to put ads on my blog. I signed up because I thought it might bring some new people to my blog. I get like half a cent for every time someone clicks on an ad, and since very few people read my blog I'm not going to be expecting any fat checks any time soon. It is nice that the ads reflect my subject. The ads are going to be ads for places or things in Latvia. So enjoy.

Earthquake

Well after just experiencing my first earthquake I'd have to say that I'm a little disappointed and very relieved. An Earthquake hit Kaliningrad today and the aftershocks were felt here everything just kind of shook a bit, but there was no damage. Some people didn't even feel it. As soon as I think that this town is about to get boring something like an earthquake happens to brighten things up. Here's a list of things not to do in an earthquake.

1. Don't start running around screaming "We are all going to die!"

2. Don't make the joke "I hope that's a candy bar melting in my shorts"

3. When the Editors says that he's going to jump out the window, because he thinks it's safer than being in the building don't open the window to try and help him out.

4. When your reflex kicks in and you duck and cover as learned in 4th grade make sure that spot under the desk is empty.

I hope that this list brightens up both my blog and your day.

Mayor

Well a lot has happened, but I can't talk about it. I spent most of last night with a friend in a bar who was "crying in his beer". He asked me not to tell anyone what was going on so I'll just leave it at that. Something that I can talk about is that today is the fourth round of The Baltic Times Open Bowling Tournament. I'm looking forward to the sushi that will be served. In other news, it doesn't look like I'm going to have time to write the musical that I was planning at least until the spring because I have too many things to do for this semester in conjunction with the fraternity, but I can't really talk about that either. In Latvia things are going well, the weather is turning colder. The minority government survived another vote of no confidence and the campaigns for next year's Riga mayor elections are gearing up with several people expressing their interest in wanting the job. Since everyone else is doing it I might as well throw my hat into the ring as well. I'm running on the do nothing platform. I figure Riga is doing fine as it is and I promise to not screw it up, by doing stuff. Vote Karlis for Mayor in 2005.

Birthday

I can't believe I forgot to mention this yesterday, but is was my brother Davis' birthday. He turns 16 and is going for his driving permit today. Good Luck.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVIS!

Storm

Not to be out done by Hurricane Ivan, there is a thunderstorm that is just starting. The tower of the 13th century Dome church which I can see from my office window is shrouded by a thin vail of slanted rain that is just the beginning of a storm that could turn out to be a pain in the butt. A storm doesn't have to be really large into order to disturb things around here. I'm not looking forward to going home. I was hoping to meet a friend at one of the few remaining beer gardens before they get swept away by the fall wind. Its a sad sight seeing full squares and courtyards empty as the umbrellas, tables, and chairs get hauled off to be stored for the winter. Living here you never know which ones will return and which will be gone forever. It was a poor cold summer so I doubt that many will return. Most of the time a beer garden needs a full profitable summer in order to support itself next summer. Only the beer gardens that are run by bars and restaurants will be staples of next year's summer parties.

Latvia's other blog

This blog was mentioned in today's Blogger News.

Arturs's Photo Blog

My Boring Blog

Ben Franklin once said "A man should either do something worth writing about or write something worth reading." At the moment I am doing neither. My plan to do something worth writing about is sunk into the project that I can't talk about. Due to the fact that I am no longer being asked to write for The Baltic Times, because of budget cut backs and reducing the number of freelance journalists, I have decided to continue writing my rants and raves of sports here in my blog. If that doesn't work out I have a Plan B which maybe more interesting. In August, Lena and I went to see a musical that was far from good, but upon seeing it's popularity I have decided to take the stance that if they can do it anyone can do it and I will write a musical. I will try to write it in Latvian, but translate it and discuss it here. I have a lot of experience working with and reading plays. We'll see how it turns out. If you have any comments or suggestions please let me know.

Eatten "Weekend" Post

Of course when I have something meaningful to post that I think might acctually interest people it gets eatten by the system. Like all great dreams the more I try to remember what I posted the more I can't remember what I posted. I guess you will all just have to believe me that it was a great post.

Photo

I finally figured out how to put my picture on my blog. So now you can all see what I look like (in case you forgot). Only now do I realize that the picture doesn't look anything thing like me. The picture was taken during this past Easter that Lena and I spent in Copenhagen. Since then I have lost the hat and the Go-Tea. Anyway at least its a step in the right direction. If I had a digital camera I could post more pictures. That would be fun, but since that's not going to happen any time soon, you will all just have to enjoy my beautiful descriptions of what is happening in my life. I have been asked to not disclose the project that I am working on, which will be a problem since it takes up a large portion of my time and my blogs will consist of "Today I worked on the project" and that will be it. I'll have to come up with some other things to talk about or post. If anyone has any suggestions they are more then welcome to post them or email them to me at the address on the page.

Project

I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I'm working on this side project that is taking up a lot of my time. Also as soon as I get something going to take away all the free time I have at work something happens and all of a sudden I have no free time at work. I don't want to say what the side project is just yet, because I'm afraid that if I start talking about it and dreaming about it's success then it won't happen. I have to keep it on the down low for now.

A Fun Night Out

On Saturday, Lena went to a sleep over party, which left me with a night without anything to do. It had been a very long time since I had gone bar hoping, so I thought that this would be a nice chance to get it out of my system. The night started by heading over to Aaron's (One of the people I work with) place. Elizabeth (Another person from work) was there too. We sat around, drank Gin & Tonics, and talked about the joys of being an American Latvian. I'd like to say that it was a very interesting conversation, but after Aaron said that we had to finish the Gin bottle I don't remember the details of what we talked about. After we were good and tipsy we went to Orange bar (Yes the whole bar is Orange) to wait for a friend of Aaron's who might be moving in with him. Aaron has a huge apartment in a quiet part of town, but without a roommate it's way too expensive. After Martins got there, we went to Tequila Boom. Its a nice place with a staggered terrace courtyard. The tequila is served with oranges and cinnamon and is served on old bricklayer wedges with old bike bells attached. When you've finished your tequila you can ring the bell and another full round will magically appear. After Tequila Boom we got the urge to eat, but we didn't go to a place where we could get food. As I remember this fact I am puzzled as to why we didn't go eat right away. Anyway, we ended up at the new Balsam Bars that opened up across the Dome square from our work. I remember the music being good enough to sing too(and we did), but the prices were a bit high and everything was brown which doesn't make for a comfortable drinking environment. After deciding to leave we went to eat at Pelmeni which is one of the few places you can get food at 2 AM. After filling our stomachs with boiled and fried ravioli with with assorted meats and cheeses, I walked home, because it wasn't until I was at the trollybus stop that I realized the trollys don't run that late at night. Other than that outline the details of the night escape me, but that was to be expected. It was a good night that I probably won't be doing again for a long time.

No Violence

Well the police are touting a victory, because nothing happened last night at the concert. The square in which the concert took place was so confined and filled with police, dogs, firetrucks, etc., that nothing could have happened. I heard today that there were even boats in the river incase a riot broke out on the bridge and people were tossed into the river. With the disaster avoided everyone is watching the news to find out whats going on with the Russian school thats been taken over by Chechen rebels. I've read alot of other blogs today and realized that my blog is no where near as well organized or written as other blogs. So, I'm sorry, I'll try to do better...Tomorrow.

Sept. 1

Today will be the moment of truth. With the concert blaring it's sound checks right outside our window, the view from our office will be a mass of school children and police with a huge cloud of tension hanging over it. OK, here's alittle background. Sept. 1 is the offical first day of school for all public schools, and to celebrate, there will be a concert sponsored by the city council and education ministry, which will take place in the square right outside our office window. The concert will start at 18.30 (6:30 PM). A protest against the education reform that I mentioned in the last post starts at 18.00 (6 PM) across the river. Playing in the concert outside our window is a popular Russian group that most of the people attending the protest are going to want to see. Causing a huge wave of protesters to meet a large amount of drunk education reform supporters. The protesters are threatening violence, while the city has allowed the use of dogs and water cannons should things turn ugly. There is nothing left to do but wait and see if Riga erupts into chaos, because some drunk Pro-reform high school kid bumps into a drunk anti-reform kid. Never has violence so big depended on people so young.