Of Torn Receipts and Other Fortuitous Events

The end of the first full week is upon us, let the celebration begin. As it is Sara's birthday and then end of the week, we are planning to visit what is apparently the city's best restaurant, which serves nominally Azerbaijani cuisine. The first time we went, it seemed a lot like the Georgian food I remembered from Petersburg, so maybe it is a more general Caucasus type of food. Flatbread, goats' milk cheese, delicious soups...all sorts of good things.

On other fronts, we are finally going on our long planned picnic at the dacha, despite the forecast that calls for 48 and partly sunny. I suppose that my hat and gloves and extra layers of clothes might make their first appearance of the year. I will have some good pictures of shashlik and the Russian countryside to share soon.

Yesterday, for the first time I tried out SKYPE , a voice-over-internet program. (Thanks Bob!) Check it out, I called my sis in New York City...from Vladimir...for free. I know this has been around for a while, but I am behind the times and it is new to me.

And lastly, can anyone give me a logical reason why every cashier in the entire country rips the corner of the receipt when she hands it to you?