So, what's been happening...

Glen Close expresses her true feelings for Michael Douglas in "Fatal Atraction"

There were a lot of things which have been going on around here which I didn't cover the last couple of weeks. As far as my own personal interests are concerned, that May 15th anniversary was pretty much the most important thing on my mind. But of course life goes on outside of the internet.

Maybe the most interesting thing that happened was that my bike got stolen. The whole story is sort of interesting and I started in writing about it, but I don't know if it needs to be printed here. The bike was grabbed by a drug addict and absolute loser who just hap[pens to be a friend of our downstairs neighbor Vadik. Yes, Vadik is still around and his own story has become even more tawdry. I went to the police over this but ended up finding the guy myself. Yesterday while taking out the garbage I saw him again and he smiled at me that same evil smile that Zaremba did while we were in court. This of course means that nothing really has happened in the case, and as I still don't have my bike, probably nothing will. Disparaging thought. I need to ride. I think we all do frankly, but it has been a couple of weeks and I really need to peddle around a bit.

A very good friend of mine offered to send me a bike from the states, which is a very cool thing. Unfortunately though, this is simply not going to happen as the cost of sending a bike from the states to Belarus is upwards of $1,300, a ridiculous sum which would also be taxed at a thirty percent rate once it got to the border. Yes, you heard that right: They tax the cost of the postage here in Belarus. They would also tax the value of the bike at the same thirty percent rate, but I suppose this is a given. In any case, I am looking at bikes these days though I have hope that I might find my ride. Tatyana said she saw it out our window being driven by some guy- not that I put all that much stock in this, but I have hope any way.

What else?

There was also some interesting stuff on the internet about me for about a week courtesy of my stalker- name withheld. All of this came about as a result of a breakdown in an over-the-internet relationship which started to get a little ugly for me. When I tried to end things, it turned into a "Fatal Attraction" deal complete with a very energetic slander campaign and e-mails to the rabbi asking to be mediator for the relationship. I was thinking John Hinkley. All very ugly. I know a few people saw it because I got three "What the F**k?" letters. Things seem sane as of the moment… wait, let me check…yea, he's working normally again. All is good.

John Hinckley: What the hell was he hinking about?

With the coming and going of the anniversary though, the question is now: What are my next steps? The truth is that I did not receive the money I had hoped for in my initial push. I didn't blank and I have the ability to do a bit more than I did two months ago, but I am still not there yet. But I think the next ting I am going to try to do is to find myself a newspaper who might be interested in the story. I haven't been doing much of this and obviously I should have been. I mean, at the root, it is a police scandal. That's always newsworthy, isn't it?

And about the website; I am not going to quit on beinghad.com just yet, though the numbers for the blogs are far better. I know I have been remiss about the letters and that there is not really much in there except for the case. I think my original intention was to replace the blogs but it seems as though people are more comfortable with the old format and the old addresses. I don’t know. Maybe it is just a lack of work on my part. Or maybe it just needs to be rethought a bit.

Today is raining as it has for the last while. The wet, cold weather has my knee aching and raises the level of depression for everyone. Luckily we finished the planting already this year. We planted only half as much as last year and as I said, no Tomatoes. Probably the fall will be less interesting because of this but the decision was made to concentrate on other things. Amongst them is Tanya's returning to work. This is something she really doesn’t want to do. I can't blame her but I think she has been having subconscious episodes because of this such as spraining her ankle while walking home from the market. I understand that she was in a lot of pain but on the other hand, she takes sitting on the couch and giving orders pretty naturally.

So I guess the bottom line plan is to forge ahead despite… everything. I'll see what I can do about filling in a lot of the details over the next few weeks. Maybe I'll get into the bike story after all. I am sure there is always a lot to talk about. But as spring is a time of new beginnings,it is good to have hope. And, I think it is time to really get down to business.

More soon…