Katla close to blowing...

[shikarnov 7]

After a period of relative calm, it looks like Katla is stirring. There have been something like 8 or 9 earthquakes within the past week, and three within the past 48 hours.

http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/myrdalsjokull/

I'm quite glad that Ira's plane has just entered Canadian airspace. Moving her flight a week earlier seems to have been a wise decision. And even if the volcano doesn't erupt before next Monday, we'll both feel a lot better with her home safely.

I was, however, more than a little surprised to see the flight headed straight for Iceland given the new seismic activity. One would think that staying significantly south of Iceland (as they usually do on SVO-JFK flights) would be prudent...

Oh well... In just about 8 hours, my wife will be back

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Great. Alla comes back tomorrow and Sergey is coming from Moscow July 1. #######.

[shikarnov 7]

If such things have any effect whatsoever, I'll keep hoping, for you and yours, that it doesn't blow.

Good luck

[Casper&Diana 0]

Hang on a little longer, Iceland! I leave for Ukraine on Friday and come back (hopefully with fiancee and son) on July 2nd.

[shikarnov 7]

Wife's plane just landed Now I wait for them to park it and start coming out... Talk to y'all in a few days

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hang on a little longer, Iceland! I leave for Ukraine on Friday and come back (hopefully with fiancee and son) on July 2nd.

FYI Casper...you can book a flight through Instanbul from Kiev or Odessa. I went that route a few times (I think you may be able to do it from Donetsk also) and that flight goes directly over the Mediteranean and the Atlantic...no where near Iceland.

[LvivLovers 39]

My wife made it back on Saturday. It was semi-eventful again due to Aeroshit causing her to miss registration for her Delta flight from Kiev to NYC, but she got on the flight anyways. They left more than an hour late from Lviv...when my wife asked about the delays and expressed concern over missing her connecting flight she got all sorts of colorful replies such as "Not our problem. Your problem.", "You should know what to expect.", "You must be crazy not leaving more time between flights", etc. They were also oversold, but informed passengers that if they couldn't find a seat, they could just stand..."What else can you do?!?" they said. Anyway, she had a fantastic trip, is home now (luckily no volcanic interference this time) and just started her next semester of college. Good luck to all who still have travelling to do!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

My wife made it back on Saturday. It was semi-eventful again due to Aeroshit causing her to miss registration for her Delta flight from Kiev to NYC, but she got on the flight anyways. They left more than an hour late from Lviv...when my wife asked about the delays and expressed concern over missing her connecting flight she got all sorts of colorful replies such as "Not our problem. Your problem.", "You should know what to expect.", "You must be crazy not leaving more time between flights", etc. They were also oversold, but informed passengers that if they couldn't find a seat, they could just stand..."What else can you do?!?" they said. Anyway, she had a fantastic trip, is home now (luckily no volcanic interference this time) and just started her next semester of college. Good luck to all who still have travelling to do!

Alla got back last night and all went well, all the flights were on time and no hint of volcanic trouble. It took her 1-1/2 hours to get through customs (slow lines) at JFK. She had 4 + hours between flights so no problem.

[payxibka 10,044]

I wish I could say my wife is enjoying her time in Kherson.... My one year old has been in the hospital since Saturday.... I am not impressed with the level of care she is receiving

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I wish I could say my wife is enjoying her time in Kherson.... My one year old has been in the hospital since Saturday.... I am not impressed with the level of care she is receiving

Sorry to hear that Pay, I hope she gets well.

[slim 1,514]

I am not impressed with the level of care she is receiving

Good luck, hope your child gets well soon.

My wife keeps telling me she needs to go back to get "good healthcare" because our healthcare here just isn't up to snuff. I've yet to see the post where someone jumps on saying, "Wow! I was super impressed with the care we received." I'm hoping she'll go back, get some "care" and then never bring it up again.

[shikarnov 7]

My wife showed me pictures of the clinic in which her best friend had a baby recently. To say that the facilities were horrifying would be grossly understating the matter. Hygiene is the very last concern of Russian medicine, which, given the fact that good hygiene is the first line of defense against all kinds of maladies, doesn't bode well for the rest of the system. The pics show such a grotesque environment, that my wife is embarrassed to let me post the pictures here for you guys to see. She doesn't want us Americans badmouthing her country. But, by the same token, she has zero desire to have our baby there (which is very good because that is one fight I really don't want to have with her or her family).

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Good luck, hope your child gets well soon.

My wife keeps telling me she needs to go back to get "good healthcare" because our healthcare here just isn't up to snuff. I've yet to see the post where someone jumps on saying, "Wow! I was super impressed with the care we received." I'm hoping she'll go back, get some "care" and then never bring it up again.

Alla was astounded at the level of healthcare here but equally astounded at the price. IMO there is no comparison in quality. Alla feels our system is less concerned with preventing illness and more with selling medicine and insulin. Then again, if our facilities were like theirs, we may apply more effort to prevention.

I really didn't want to discuss poor healthcare when one of our members has a child in a Ukrainian hospital. I will point out, for Pay's benefit, they seem to hospitalize people easily and for long periods for relatively minor things. Hopefully, Pay, your child will recover quickly and it is not serious. While Alla was just there, her mother was hospitalized for 7 days because her blood pressure medication needed adjustment. Had it been here, she would have gone into the emergency room, had some tests and been sent home with new medication and follow on appointments with her doctor and she would have been home in 3-4 hours. I was in the hospital for only 5 days for quadruple bypass heart surgery. So hopefully, Pay, your child will be out soon.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

My wife showed me pictures of the clinic in which her best friend had a baby recently. To say that the facilities were horrifying would be grossly understating the matter. Hygiene is the very last concern of Russian medicine, which, given the fact that good hygiene is the first line of defense against all kinds of maladies, doesn't bode well for the rest of the system. The pics show such a grotesque environment, that my wife is embarrassed to let me post the pictures here for you guys to see. She doesn't want us Americans badmouthing her country. But, by the same token, she has zero desire to have our baby there (which is very good because that is one fight I really don't want to have with her or her family).

When I lived in Odessa, I had occasion to go to the hospital a few times and my first impression was "What is this place? I must be in the wrong place?" NO. But it looked like the clock had been turned back to 1918 or so. The thought kept running through my mind .."you are kidding me, this is REALLY a hospital?" The hospital in Donetsk is no better (at least the one near our flat), serioulsy outdated. One of the leading sources of tuberculosis in Ukraine is the hosptials! But one of the funniest things I ever heard was from a Ukrainian who went to Turkey on vacation. His daughter was ill while they were there and he had to take her to a Turkish hospital. He said he thought his daughter "needed vaccinations after being in that place...it is SOOOO bad!"

Interesting about the photos. I have never taken a photos of some of the things there. Bushel basket sized holes in the sidewalk that open into catch basins below, for example. Or the dastardly "handicapped ramps" at the understreet tunnels that just look like a cruel joke, or the apartment buildings with wires hanging out all over in the hallways. Alla maintains a lot of dignity and our flat is really nice...on the inside, but outside one has to turn a blind eye. She took me to the building where she grew up and the little playground there is the same since the Soviet Union, all rusty equipment, broken, jagged metal on the swing set. And she says "this is where I played when I was a girl" and then..."not very nice is it?" I never took the photos, actually I did, and then deleted them and won't take them again.

It is not such a bad place and one can live there well enough, but it is nothing like here. It is not as bad as some places, I am sure and some things can't be un-seen. I kinda wish they would take every American 18 year old and have them do a two year stint in construction in Ukraine.

I guess I would not like it if someone took photos of the USA and showed them to friends by way of making fun of us.

[payxibka 10,044]

Sorry to hear that Pay, I hope she gets well.

Well they still have not diagnosed what her problem is.... however she seems to be responding to anti-biotics....

It started with a 105F temperature on Friday night, they called "911" but apparently the keystone cops work weekends. They came and told them that her body temperature was so high because the flat was very warm and they should take her outside to cool down. They left. Three hours later they called again. They went to the nearest hospital but this hospital refused to treat her so they took her to another hospital on the other side of town. They put her in a room that was filthy. The linens were dirty, my wife asked for clean linens, they said these were all they had. My wife had to wash the linens before she would put my daughter in the crib. Then on Monday when they were giving her some medicine, my wife (a pharmacist) questioned the dosage. My wife stopped a dosage that would have been 2.5 times more than what was appropriate for a child of her age and size.

Fortunately, I have a MIL who is a retired nurse, I affectionately refer to her as the "bulldog". Two days ago she went toe-to-toe with the department director and read her the riot act. Since then my daughter has been receiving increased attention. There is hope she will be released tomorrow, if not then it would be Monday because all the good doctors do not work weekends and the weekend doctors would not have the authority to release her over the weekend.