Thursday, 15 October 2009 08:52
You may have already read on Facebook or Twitter (see “Tweets”, right sidebar) that I got stopped by the police yesterday and didn’t have my car documents with me. This is a cardinal sin in the world of Russian traffic laws. Remember those World War II movies set in Eastern European countries, where the authorities are always demanding, “Show me your documents!” Russian beaurocracy rises and falls on documents (and bribes. In the absence of one, the other will usually suffice.)
An aside about car documents: We need to carry a dozen or so forms with us any time we’re in the car. However, if the car happens to be stolen, the insurance company will not reimburse us unless we have all the original documents in our possession. This means we have to carry the bulky folder full of paperwork into the car, then back out of the car every time we leave it. It’s a pain in the neck, especially if you’re doing a lot of hopping in and out for groceries at different places, but the real breakdown happens—many days—when Tim brings Sarah home from language school and I leave an hour later to take the boys. More often than not, I forget to get the document packet from him first, and that’s what happened yesterday.
Anyway, the long and short of it is that I begged the police officer for mercy—literally—and he laughed and let me go. He didn’t even hint that I should try to pay my way out of it. I was astonished and gratified, and really glad because I only had a one-thousand ruble bill with me, and I wasn’t about to part with it. (Asking the police to make change for you in situations like these isn’t considered Good Community Relations.) I’m certain the incident gave me a slight twinge of heart failure though: I will not be forgetting my car documents again.
Speaking of the car, one of our inspection requirements is that we carry a fire extinguisher with us. Today, as Tim was rearranging things in the hatch, getting ready to take Sarah to school, he accidentally squeezed the handle. Imagine 2 or 3 cups of finely sifted flour covering every inside surface… We are going to be busy with buckets and rags this afternoon.
Also in car news: the insurance company (see "Accident", 2 entries ago) came through for us and paid for a new bumper. You can't ask for fairer than that.
In the odds and ends category: Tomorrow we begin our children’s English club in Atirkha, about a 2-hour drive away. We’ll be doing this every Friday evening. Saturday afternoon, I speak to the public school teachers group. Homeschooling is going well. It takes a lot of time, but it’s time well spent. Fall, my favorite season, is well and truly here: we have baskets of chestnuts and apples in the kitchen waiting to be roasted or made into pies. I need to go hunt up a couple of pumpkins too, for jack-o’lanterns and pies. We have a really busy November and December ahead of us, but I’ll tell you all about that when it gets here.
