Uncle Pasha's News

January 17, 2007 - Presenting Julia, for the moment in the capacity of a driver. See www.moscowdrivers.net list. All goes for her: A woman of mature age, with fast yet distinctly feminine driving style. Her well-kept passenger van will easily accommodate seven. She is not a professional driver but her schedule allows her to do odd driving jobs, and her sleep patterns enables her to work at night. She travelled extensively and is quite comfortable on Russian rural roads. More

December 21, 2007 - Added a couple vegetarian restaurants in St. Petersburg to my Vegetarian Russia project.

September 10 Did a full review of my projects and was appalled by how many there are, how most of the have demonstrated their viability, and yet how underdeveloped nearly all of them are.

August 28, 2007 Added the first client response to Tina's page. Tina, for those who don't know, if my housekeeper and all-around assistant.

August 26 Sunk a hell of a lot (for a poor peasant and never-do-well like me) into a new portable computer. The result is that I'll be on line during my travels, and my clients can now expect an even faster response no matter where I am..

April 27, 2007. I've been travelling a bit recently and thus had a chance to experience the world from my clients' point of view. One of the things I was missing was access to basic cheap transportation. As a market test I made this Bike for Rent page and now anxiously waiting for the response. If the response is positive I'll be getting a few bicycles, a scooter or two, and perhaps even a beaten up old car. Check out Bike for Rent in Moscow for $10/day!

April 20. I'm hereby making my desire get a "real" job official. Tired of multi-taking and unlimited hours and ... just want to be like everyone else. Offers of 9-5 employment considered. See my resume.

April 6, 2007. Updated Examples of Russian Prices
Feb. 11. Cleaned the guestbook off spam which somehow gets posted despite the need to manually enter a few figures.

January 29, 2007. Compiled a list of vegetarian establishments in St. Petersburg. Put together a typical menu at my dacha, more than likely the only vegetarian oasis between Moscow & St. Petersburg..

Sept. 29, 2006. Updated slightly my old (from 2002) page with examples of Russian prices. Went to bed disappointed.

September 28, 2006.
Sort of recovered from the trip with a filming crew in the capacity of translator/fixer. Back to personally looking after my clients as far as it is possible given that 80% of the time I'm in Staritsa, and of course working on the sites. For a list of projects done in the last 10+ years see my www.oldmanfriday.com

March 23, 2006. Updated the Invitation and visa registration page. Yes, I can now issue you your invitation and register your visa.

March 9, 2006. Looked at Rooms & Homestays. In anticipate of the travel season reviewed the "room for rent" market geared to Russian travellers and added a few links. Also updated the Free Accommodation section of my www.cheap-moscow.com

March 7, 2006. Unsorted Photos are piling up faster than I can sort the out. As it is, this unsystematic collection can be recommended as a slice of life.

Jan. 27, 2006. My housekeeper Marina insisted on reanimating the Russian Brides project. I urged her to stay out of it but since she insists you may as well make use of her enthusiasm while it lasts. See Marina's page.

serve by "Russian brides" clients. Please consider all arrangements null and void. At least for a while. I and several of my colleagues had a remarkable succession of clients from hell from among Russian women seekers.

September 10, 2005. Compiled a list of small dating agencies in Moscow that are familiar to me or my colleagues, for the benefit of my Russian bride seeking clients. Proceed [HERE]

Vovchik of Ryazan (www.staritsa.info/ryazan.htm) has compiled the first batch of women up for grabs from Ryazan. Watch for it at HERE. Marina (see www.unclepasha.com/marina.htm) has rented out a PO Box and found a way around the increasingly restrictive system to allow us to publish your personal ad. The average bill for assistance with compiling an ad, running it 3-4 times, collecting replies, scanning them and e-mailing them to you is $100. That includes translation of 4-6 letters, which is an average response you will receive.

A Photo Gallery has been established to accommodate a pile up of good photos intended to be incorporated into my pages.

The cheapest apartment on my list is now $40/night. M. Babushkinskaya, 20 min. to city center, one room, sleeps 2-3 comfortably. See Marina's page on my site or write to marinacus@mail.ru Also floor space for $10/person/night or $15/couple is available. That presently the cheapest way to stay in Moscow, with the exception of options described at www.cheap-moscow.com/free_accommodation.htm

Business services are moving to www.oldmanfriday.com I'm drifting away from pleasure travellers. A matter of wavelength incompatibility.

I'm looking for low-hassle low-interest loan to buy a small 4wd vehicle. Details (amount, conditions, security) will be posted soon. In the meantime I'll gladly consider offers. The arrangement will probably be of interest to someone who travels to Russia regularly and needs to have access to a vehicle without the hassle associated with keeping it. The sort of vehicle I'm thinking of: either a Russian-made newer modification of Niva/UAZ/Izh, or a 7-10 year old Japanese 4wd van, eg. Town-Ace. Something in the $10-16 th. range.

As part of the comprehensive upgrade of my apartment that is available for rent, my housekeeper and all-around assistant Marina thoroughly investigated the Moscow furniture market. Are you new to Moscow and need to settle in? Marina has the capacity to assist you in finding items for your new apartment or organizing a quick and cost-effective renovation, and I'm willing to rent her out for $15/hour. [More info on Marina]

Getting an increasing number of weird calls. Last one, a couple of nights ago, was from a woman who "just wanted to chat" at 2am. The one before that was "yes, I realize it is 4am in your country but I need to ask a few questions before deciding if I'll hire you". Plus numerous others with trivial and totally non-urgent questions that could be asked by e-mail. I do want to have my number available for emergency use but something needs to be done about inappropriate and wasteful use of telephone. For the moment I can think of nothing better than a desperate please NOT TO CALL ME WITHOUT IT BEING AN EMERGENCY OR SOMETHING DAMN CLOSE TO IT.

Snapped at a few "small errand for $25" clients. One couple phrased the request as "the hotel xxxx wants $100 per room but if you negotiate us a $40 deal we'll be happy to pay your fee". A few potential clients were insisting I investigate the railroad schedule and help them in planning their trip - which I don't mind but can't possibly do that for $25. I am starting to realize that small cheap services are a net drain on my resources and going after them was one of the reasons for ending up in our present predicament. I would very much like to keep errands on my list of services - only if I could somehow communicate to my clients that my time, energy, and other resources are to be used sparingly. Sigh. As I'm reviewing praise and complaints I see a clear pattern that the more the client pays the higher the satisfaction. Got reprimanded by Olesya and was told to send her small annoying requests her way while myself concentrating on developing sites and inventing new service products. So I'm retreating to the village of Dubrovki in hope that quiet surroundings make it more likely the muse will speak..

Presently three persons, the newly added Maria, "Girl Friday" Olesya, and I, the famous Uncle Pasha who stirred up it all, may appear to be doing the same thing: room and apartment rental plus a range of traveller and business support services. The difference in style and approach and especially specialization is explained HERE.

Finally, the new de-cluttered list of services for Russian Bride Seekers. Other Russian Bride pages on my sites are to be considered obsolete.

Presently considering a car trip from Moscow to Chisinau, Moldova. A powerful camera has been procured, and the old Renault is having its engine overhauled in preparation for this adventure that is expected to generate a killer of a travelogue. The story will be posted at www.marisha.net, with a copy on www.cheap-moscow.com

Now able to accept calls to my mobiles at no major expense. See Contact Details.

Russian Links. I cleaned it up a bit. It is a few day's job to do it properly. A volunteer wanted to check links, write short descriptions, add new ones, and contact the owners of complimentary sites about link exchange. A huge job but in return the list of hand-picked Russian interest links is yours to use as you like.

Established www.staritsa.info. The plan is to gradually document places between Moscow and St. Petersburg, and also some of the Golden Ring cities.

Russian vegetarian page www.unclepasha.com/vegetarian_russia.htm is also on the list of pages to be updated real soon. The problem is that vegetarians don't make profitable clients for the most part.

Black list is scheduled for an update. Tony Magnifico and Bien Estopare get ready for real fame. Submissions of stories of known offenders welcomed from my travel business colleagues but expect having to prove to me that your case is beyond doubt.