It’s still working around the clock, meeting with people and talking with potential sponsors.
A colleague sent me a picture from the first conference day (the Community Events Day), and I really like it:
This morning was a Women’s Breakfast. it was hosted in a different hotel, and the setup was a work of art!
That was an additional opportunity to chat with many of my friends with whom I hadn’t had a chance to exchange a word at that conference yet.
Women’s Breakfast group picture – I am at the very back, standing
It rained all day, so I was glad we had a chance to walk outside on Tuesday. Even though it was raining, we wanted to go for dinner with my UK co-worker, and we found a restaurant with mostly authentic food within walking distance.
I am really happy with how everything is going so far, with all the conversations I had, and my outlook for my upcoming conference is optimistic.
I do not have a spare minute at the conference, but what a difference between last year and this year! I do not need to run around nervously; I talk to everyone about the conference proposal submissions and sponsorship. On Tuesday, I led the Postgres Standard discussion, and we had an amazingly productive session.
We had an afternoon free (I didn’t need to do anything during the afternoon sessions), so Boris and I went to see all the “required attractions.” I believe I already mentioned that Riga is my least favorite city among all the Baltic cities, and in addition, I have some complicated personal history with it. Also, the wind was brutal, and it felt even colder than it was. I made two more attempts to buy a warmer coat, both without any result. Surprisingly, I felt OK in my very old coat, and hopefully, I will be able to manage for the rest of my stay (or I will finally find something!)
A shopping center where I didn’t find what I was looking forFreedom Statue, which survived all regime changesThe old motThe only fortress tower that survivedContinue reading “PG Conf EU: Days 1 and 2”→
I departed from ORD on Saturday afternoon, and it was one of my most uneventful journeys, even though it was on American Airlines, and not in the early morning.
To my surprise, both departures and arrivals were on time. The service in Business Class was as it should be, unlike the last time, and the food in the Heathrow lounge was excellent.
The only thing that went unplanned was that my attempt to buy a new fall jacket in Helsinki was unsuccessful. I love the one I bought several years ago, but I wore it up to the holes in the pockets and on the seams, so I wanted something “almost like that one.” It turned out, however, that fashion changed, and fitted waterproof jackets no longer exist— only the puffy ones.
I pulled out my super-comact-foldable one, which I kept in a drawer “just in case” – it worked perfectly today, but I still want to take something home.
One of Helsinki’s shopping centers with flying flower baskets 🙂
On Monday, I went to my co-working space (my UK co-worker was traveling earlier, and I wanted to make sure we had some coverage). I noticed the kids corner there, and I do not think it was there before!
I was able to work the whole day. Boris came there with my luggage at 5:30, and we headed to the airport. The flight to Riga was less than an hour, and by 9:45, we were in our hotel room.
Here is the article, and I agree with every word here!
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin as he arrives at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Aug. 15, 2025 in Anchorage, Alaska. Andrew Harnik—Getty Images
Seven days ago, Ukraine’s supporters were watching on optimistically, as all signs pointed toward Donald Trump allowing Ukraine to acquire long-range Tomahawk missiles at a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.
Giving the green light for Ukraine to buy and use such powerful weapons would have dramatically increased the country’s firepower and ability to strike military infrastructure inside Russia.
But Trump, whose tone towards Russia had hardened since his Alaska Summit with Putin in August failed to produce any meaningful results, made a U-turn that few saw coming.
Zelensky’s most recent trip to Washington had a lot more in common with the notorious shouting match that took place in the Oval Office in February. On top of Trump’s withholding of weapons Ukraine needs, he returned to some of his old talking points. Most alarmingly, he insisted that any halt to fighting would mean Ukraine give up the Donbas region to Putin—an area Russia has failed to take total control of, despite 11 years of fighting.
According to a report in the FT, Trump told the Ukrainian leader that if he did not bow to Putin’s will, Ukraine would be “destroyed.” The meeting reportedly descended into a bad-tempered shouting match, with Trump throwing away maps of the frontline, repeatedly swearing, and echoing a Kremlin talking point that the invasion is a “special operation, not even a war.”
Trump held a surprise two-and-a-half-hour phone call with the Russian President Vladimir Putin while Zelensky was on his way to America.
During that call, Trump reportedly agreed to a second face-to-face summit with Putin, this time in Budapest. Hungary is one of Putin’s few allies in the West, and its Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, has repeatedly dug his heels in on Western efforts to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. To say it will be an embarrassment not just for Ukraine but many of its European allies is an understatement.
The meeting will allow Putin onto E.U. and NATO soil, where in theory he should be arrested given an ICC arrest warrant. The sight of Putin standing alongside the most powerful man in the world in a NATO country will instead likely be used as Kremlin propaganda—and another sign that Trump has once again been played for a fool by Putin.
For all the positive noises that have come each time Trump has made commitments to Ukraine, or encouraged NATO allies to spend more on defense, or apparently started to see Putin for who he really is, the facts speak for themselves. A BBC Verify report in August found that the number of Russian attacks on Ukraine has doubled since Trump’s inauguration. In recent weeks, mounting drone incursions have even brazenly entered NATO skies.
Trump’s desire for the war to end seems sincere. He has also made no secret of his wish to win a Nobel Peace Prize. But if the war in Ukraine ends with the nation’s future largely in the hands of its invader, the very idea that Trump is deserving of the prize would be a dishonor.
The Russian President is a man who lives by the axiom: give an inch, take a mile. When the Obama Administration let down Syria, Putin was more than happy to intervene there to prop up his ally Bashar al-Assad. The West’s decision to turn the other cheek after Putin annexed Crimea in 2014 may have also emboldened him to launch his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin scoring another summit with Trump is a diplomatic coup. So is Trump’s decision to renege on Tomahawks for Ukraine and swing back to Putin’s way of thinking.
A version of Occam’s razor—that the simplest explanation for a phenomenon is probably correct—applies here. If Trump continues to reward Putin and punish Kyiv, Putin will most likely further escalate in Ukraine and test the West.
There is still hope that Trump may swing back to Ukraine, and heeding Zelensky’s call for an additional 25 U.S. Patriot anti-missile batteries is a good start.
Those closest to the U.S. President should urge Trump to do more for Ukraine, and stress that his current strategy is making Putin look smarter and stronger than Trump’s America.
For a man who cares about optics, that may be Ukraine’s best hope.
Yesterday, before I left for the airport, I walked to the beach and realized that if I wasn’t in a rush and didn’t put away all the beach things, I could still go! It was nice and warm and calm. Several people were walking in the shallow water, likely regretting having put their swimsuits into storage.
I rolled up my jeans and followed their example:).
On Thursday, I had a very packed after-work schedule. First, I went to the Art Institute to finally see the Strange Realities exhibit. Usually, I am among the first to see a new exhibit, but this time, I have something going on each Thursday, and I didn’t have time to make a separate trip to the Loop on any weekend.
Upon entering the exhibit, I realized that symbolism as an art movement had completely dropped from my radar many years ago. In high school, we studied symbolism in literature, including Alexander Blok and Andrei Bely. We “obligatory loved” Balmont, Annensky, and other poets of the “Silver Century” of Russian poetry. I just tried to find (unsuccessfully) a blog post where I wrote about how an “intelligent person” in Soviet Russia was supposed to admire certain poets and writers, who were not explicitly banned, but were not praised by the official propaganda; loving symbolists was one of those “requirements.”
Now I realized that for many years, it was not obligatory anymore, and this artistic movement dropped from my sight, and it took me a while to realize: yea, I know what it is all about!
Kupka: The FoolsEnsor: The Entry of Christ into BrusselsHans Thoma: The DreamFelicent Rops: The Greates Love of Don JuanAlfred Kubin: Judith with the Head of HolofernesGrasset: Morthin Addict
I think I will go see this exhibit again; I didn’t have enough time because I also wanted to catch up on the Elizabeth Catlett exhibit (I saw it as a “second one” when we were at the Art Institute with Boris in August, and it was not enough).
Next stop was the CSO. A week before, they advertised the pickup dinners at the Rotunda. I think it was in response to the disappearance of the affordable “before the show” dining options, which I also complained about. So I tried it, and the answer is no :). I would rather stop at Lea!
As for the concert, it was absolutely amazing! It was an all-Berlioz program with Klaus Makela conducting, and now I have finally started to like him. I won’t say I disliked him when I heard him conducting for the first couple of times, but he is so different from Riccardo Muti that it was a difficult switch! This time, I sat with my mouth open throughout the whole concert 🙂
Oh, and the violist Antoine Tamestit was absolutely outstanding!!! Loved every moment of his performance in the Harold in Italy.
Today was “No Kings!” Rally day, and unfortunately, I was unable to attend the rally, because I am leaving on my two-week trip today. Technically speaking, I could, but it was risky, since I was unsure how fast I would be able to get out of the Loop back to Rogers Park. I might have tried, if I had no other things to do today, but I had, and I had to see mom before departure, and if I told her that I was planning to arrive before 11, she would have a sleepless night. I know there were enough people there (Igor texted me that it was as many people as at the Women’s March in 2017, and judging by the Tribune photos, at least that!)
So now, sitting at the AA lounge at ORD, I wanted to write something that was on my mind for over a week. When “all this” started, I was horrified not only with what exactly started, but mainly with the fact that everyone seemed to be paralyzed with fear, and not protesting.
And finally, this spell was broken. I can’t tell how happy I am with people’s movement. Since I firmly believe that thoughts are material, I firmly believe that since so many people, including myself, were wishing for the court to rule in our favor against Trump, since so many people self-organized and watched out for their neighbors, this collective power of thoughts, wills and actions made the world turn around.
I’ve experienced it several times in my lifetime: if everyone stands up, no government can shut down this protest. The only time during my lifetime when it worked in Russia was in August 1991, when everyone got out on the streets, when people were unstoppable. The Communist Party activists were haphazardly burning the papers in Smolny, fearful of people banging on the gates.
Last time. The only time.
Trump is going to the upper courts, but so far, it’s a firm “no” on all levels. I know it’s not the end of it, but it’s more and more evident that he is in a war with the people, and nobody can win a war with the people, except temporarily.
Copying the pictures from the Tribune before I am completely disconnected from their website while being abroad. I look at these pictures, and my heart is filled with immense pride for my city. The best. The kindest. The warmest. The strongest.
Yesterday, I chatted with My Favorite Coworker, with whom we didn’t have a chance to chat for a while. Among other things, we talked about my big goals in life, what I want to accomplish before retirement, and what my current priorities are. At the end of this conversation, he said: And you know, at some point, you will have grandchildren, and your priorities might change.
I stared at him: I do have grandchildren! I have two granddaughters, ages five and eight, how come you do not know?! And yes, I take them for bike rides, and museums, and places, and I love them dearly, but they do not define my life.
As I said that was almost the end of our conversation, and we started walking to our respective desks. I repeated again: I can’t believe, you didn’t know I am a grandma! How could that happen? And he said: perhaps, because you do not look like grandma! I replied: I am a cool grandma!
I love being a grandma, and really love my girls, and I love doing things together with them, but being a grandma is not what defines me.
And speaking about that, I appreciate immensely my fellow escorts from the Tuesday early morning shift, with whom we chatted about where we travel, and what jobs do we do, and about our families, and neither of them asked me where is my accent from. Huge thanks for that 🙂
This article seems a little bit “off track”: with so many pressing issues, everyday challenges, and people’s rights under attack, talking about school boards might seem obsolete. Still, I think, it’s just the right time for this topic. Since I arrived in the US, I have been fascinated with how the American school system works. I think it is deeply under-appreciated by those who were born and raised here and think that any other country in the world provides better education. I maintain that the best thing about American schools is the civic values they teach, and how they help the children of newcomers become American citizens, regardless of their actual legal status.
Hettie's Reflections 