Rob Bauer
One Man’s View of the World
Pictures from Russia
Aug 5th
Ok, I had issues getting pictures up on rsbauer.com so I put them up on Pathfinder instead (files are probably too big). Here’s the link:
http://pathfinder.rsbauer.com/gallery2/v/MoreRecent/Russia2009/
Watch this gallery instead of the other one.
The first picture is of Olessia and we are enjoying breakfast at a London airport restaurant. The rest are of Dubna and a party at Olessia’s friend’s house.
Arrived in Russia
Aug 4th
Olessia and I arrived safely in Russia. We are doing fine and catching up on some rest. More news to follow later.
Good news: I’m able to check my email. Haven’t tried sending though…
Russia 2009
Jul 30th
Just a few days away from being in Moscow. This is just a note, if you’re interested, I hope to post pictures every now and then while in Russia. The gallery will be located here:
http://www.rsbauer.com/wpg2?g2_itemId=9494
Any pictues
Surprise birthday party
Jul 12th
It has been so hectic, I almost forgot to mention this. Olessia threw a surprise birthday party for me! It was quite a surprise! She had about 30 people over, tons of food, gifts, and fun to be had. On top of it all, my friend John was in on it. He suckered me out of the house to fly with him. You ask me if I want to go flying and the answer almost always will be, “yes!” So I figured the flight itself would be a treat (it was! we had 3 60 degree banked turns, 3 stalls, and a touch-and-go at Lost Nation before returning to Burke Lakefront).
This flight was a ruse to get me out of the house so Olessia could get the house and people ready for the surprise. Wow! Looking back, she had about two to three hours, I think. John brought me back to the house and I still didn’t have a clue until I got out on our patio and saw everyone (for a moment, I thought Olessia invited some friends over to hang out).
If any of you attended: Thank you!!
The pictures are up in the gallery. Olessia took pictures at the party. I took pictures while in flight.
John (took Rob out flying), Rob, Mr. Ezzo, David
Downtown Cleveland. Coming in to land at Burke Lakefront
It is computer chaos!
Jul 12th
It has been a crazy 2 weeks. This weekend being MUCH better than last weekend.
Last weekend, between Friday night and Saturday, my main PC (the one I use for development, photo editing, game playing, etc) locked up. I haven’t seen a computer freeze and lock up like it did for quite some time. Reboot and no luck. It was having problems getting past POST and if it did get past POST, it locked up on the screen where the XP logo fades in on boot up. Lots of potty language later, I realized this was a heck of a hardware problem.
I ended up at the local computer store and snagged a new motherboard and processor. Of course, gotta snag some RAM since my former rig was as ancient and the old RAM was either bad or incompatible (maybe it would have been compatible, it definitely would have been a performance bottle-neck). Dual monitors? Need another video card for that since the old one doesn’t fit any of the fancy-pants new AGP slots. Also had to get a new hard drive, just in case one of mine died and a new DVD drive since all my gear is IDE and I was out of IDE connections for my existing DVD drive.
I replace it all and thought I did a great job. The problem was still there! WTF?!
After more trouble shooting, I determine it to be a 2 part issue. The mouse really wants to be plugged directly into the box versus the USB hub. Also, it would appear my USB LCD display (a little 4 line, 20 character display) is toast and appears to be the source of all my hardware problems.
Oh well.
That machine was at least 4 years old and an upgrade was about due. It runs Word really nicely (think how fast WordPerfect would be!).
I picked up an Asus Netbook for Masha (Olessia’s sister). It is a spiffy little gadget! She will be able to use it to connect to Skype and call in whenever she likes (it comes pre-loaded and we tested it out and works nicely). It was so spiffy, I got one for myself. I’ve been able to toss all sorts of stuff on it without any problems. I’m looking forward to taking it to Russia and using it on the plane. I’m also looking forward to toting it around to class and using it for note taking.
Some Updates
May 30th
Olessia’s green card was successfully renewed! This one should be good for 10 years. She hasn’t received the card yet but has received a notice letter.
I received my visa for our Russia trip. With this, we are just about set to go.
I joined the Cleveland Photographic Society and have been busy snapping pictures. Check out the gallery at pathfinder.rsbauer.com/gallery2.
Olessia got an A+ in her accounting class. She is starting her MBA at BW.
I got kicked out of U. Akron for taking a calculus at Tri-C without Akron’s permission. Thanks Akron! I took the spring semester off and I’m taking classes at Tri-C to finish up my general education requirements I know I will be required to take when I transfer back to Akron. I’m taking a biology class, golf, and a humanities class.
Olessia and I went out and partied in the flats with 13 of our friends. That was FUN!
I got rear ended by a Progressive driver (no one was hurt). I got the Progressive concierge service experience and it was great (washed the car – inside and out).
Olessia got a raise and a bonus at work.
We ate at Lola’s with our friends.
I know there’s been a lack of updates. We have been kind of busy…
Three Weeks in Russia
Feb 15th
Olessia has three weeks of vacation. Me, on the other hand, has been switching jobs so much I am lucky to get a week here and there. I made the switch to Progressive at the beginning of January and the trip to Russia had been on hold due to the situation at National City Bank. It was looking pretty good I would have enough comp. time and vacation time at National City Bank that I could take three weeks off. But the bank was in trouble and then bought out and my job security wasn’t looking all that great. At Progressive, you accrue vacation time on an hourly basis. The Russia trip looked like it was in jeapordy.
With some checking with my boss, I am able to take three weeks! Granted, one is unpaid, but that’s ok!
Olessia has some paperwork to take care of back in Moscow. That’s the number one priority. I’m having fun looking into number two: touristy things to do. So far, I think the following (in and around Moscow) might be fun:
- KGB Museum
- Polytechnical Museum (science museum)
- Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics
- Moscow House of Photography
- Kremlin
- Dubna: Swimming pool Olessia went to
- Moscow University (Not sure if that is the right name. The uni Olessia went to school)
- MAKC (2009 Moscow air show)
Notice, there’s no McDs on this list like in 2007. As I come up with more ideas, I’ll post them here. If you have ideas, feel free to leave a comment.
No Longer an U. Akron Student
Jan 31st
I tried to transfer my calculus 2 class from Tri-C to the University of Akron. No luck. In fact, because I took it outside of U. Akron, I’m no longer a student. Nice. So now I have to transfer back in as a new student. Doing so will require an additional 3 or so more classes I will have to take, so I’m going to wait and take them at Tri-C, then transfer everything over.
Whoo! I passed calculus 2!
Dec 19th
It took a year to do it. But i did it. I passed calc 2. I scored an A in the class. No more calc classes for me! Now I need to transfer the credit to U. Akron and I am done with this flavor of math. I still have a stats class to deal with.
