Current location of CNS [consumables {read: beer... and some other stuff}] and HHE [household effects] from the US: Ishim, Russia. (What an appropriate name, incidentally ["Ishim" sounds suspiciously like the Russian for "Uh, we're looking for it..."])An overview of Ishim:* Current weather: -11 C* Predicted low over next five days: -22 C* Distance from Dushanbe (as the crow flies): 1,214 miles* Approximate road distance: 1,400 miles* Minimum number of borders between Ishim and Dushanbe: 3* Maximum: 5And some other fun facts:* Temperature at which beer may freeze: -5 C (depending on alcohol content)* What happens when supercooled beer is jostled: it explodes* Estimated arrival date of our HHE: January 15* Percentage likelihood of that happening: 1.
In other news, our 2006 Xterra being shipped from Vladivostok may run into serious trouble getting registered here in Tajikistan, if our colleagues' experience is any model. Reportedly because of the connection between tinted car windows and violence and/or criminality here since independence (as well as in other unstable areas in the former Soviet Union), the President of Tajikistan outlawed tinted windows earlier this year. And since it was penned personally by the president, apparently no one in the administration wants to be the first to try to sneak a darkened car around the edges of this decree. One 2008 Xterra has been on ice in the embassy parking lot for almost 2 months while the issue gets bandied about, and we don't have high hopes for our vehicle.The market for used Nivas is lookin' pret-ty attractive right now...
2 comments:
Ouch ! Maybe it is possible to explain that the windows, actually, are not tinted, but, rather, have a special layer designed to block ultra-violet waves, because of the eye and skin damage that they cause. At least, that is my California understanding of what is with that kind of window--which is common here.
I gather that your expectation is that the goods are not being stored in any kind of heated facility ? And, silly me, I thought that the stuff from California was supposed to go by air ? I hope the State Dept is more efficient at other stuff than it has been on this move !!!
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