Pavlo creates amazing vlogs, and I am not even jealous; I know I can’t create anything even remotely close to what he produces. Excited to share his vlog about PG DATA 2026 conference (starring me, among others:))
Author: Hettie D.
My name is Henrietta (Hettie) Dombrovskaya. I was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russian (actually, back then – Leningrad, USSR) in 1963, and immigrated to the United States in 1996.
I love Saint Petersburg, the city I was born and raised in, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. Similarly (but differently) I love Chicago, and can’t imagine myself moving somewhere else in the observable future.
I have three children, Igor, Vlad and Anna, all adults living on their own, and one (so far) granddaughter Nadia. I also believe that my children are the best thing that happened in my life.
As for my professional life, I am working in the field of Information Technologies. When I was twenty, I’ve declared that the databases are the coolest thing invented and that I want to do them for the rest of my life. Thirty plus years later, I still believe it’s true, and still, believe that the databases are the best. These two statements together imply that I think a person can have it all, and indeed, I think so! Keep reading my journals to find out how I did it.
TIME Magazine: We are taking hobbies too far!
You might not believe me, but I am genuinely puzzled when I am asked about my “hobbies”. Is volunteering a hobby? I don’t think so. Biking, nature walks, going to the museums and concerts, even baking Christmas cookies – I can’t really think about these activities as “hobbies”.
That being said, I find this Time Magazine article interesting 🙂
Full text below.
Continue reading “TIME Magazine: We are taking hobbies too far!”“Not A Tornado” Pictures
Officially, we didn’t have a tornado in our neighborhood (there was a tornado that touched down more to the south), but while I was in the office on Monday, I could feel the building slightly swinging. And many trees in Rogers Park were uprooted. My neighbor walked around and took several pictures.
This one is mine – just by our house.
There were two storms on Monday, one around 1 PM and another around 5 PM, and both times, it became pitch black, as if the night had suddenly fallen. My mom got very scared, and when I came to see her later on Monday, she kept asking what it was. But honestly, it was scary for anyone who had seen it!
Lena In Chicago
A summer weekend when Lena comes to Chicago is always special. We have some favorite activities that we do each time, and we always try something new. Here is a short summary of all our activities.
Lena arrived on Friday evening. It was not super late, and we tentatively planned to go to Jarvis Beach and even went there, but the wind was cold, and we didn’t feel like getting into the water (and even more so – getting out), so we just sat there and talked, and then went home.
On Saturday, I went for an early bike ride by myself, and Lena just walked to the lake.
Volunteering And Being On Time
On Friday, I had an early morning escorting shift. When I need to be at the clinic at 7 AM, the 6:30 AM train is the fastest option: I can leave the house at 6:15 AM and be there on time. There is literally nothing faster.
When I left the house, I even had a thought that maybe-possibly I should hop on the Red Line, since the train was approaching the station when I walked by. However, I told myself that minutes matter, and I want to be actually on time – today, I was a team lead for the early morning shift.
Long story short: when I arrived at the station, I saw that the train was cancelled, and the next train, I knew, was in 30 minutes! Yes, it was Friday, but there are people who actually work on Friday! By the time I realized what was going on and went down to the street level, it was already 6:35, and I knew there would be no way to get to the clinic on time.
I ordered Uber while twenty people nearby were doing the same. Fortunately, it arrived in less than 5 minutes, and fortunately, the traffic was light. I texted everyone that I would be about 7 minutes late, and then I thought that if I wouldn’t have to go to escort, I wouldn’t even get Uber, but would walk to the L-train station. And I thought that the Uber driver would never believe I was so worried to be late to volunteering activity rather than to work.
And finally, I thought that the was majority of my volunteering activities are more time sensitive than my work. It happens so often that I realize I need to send certain emails “today”, no matter what, and spend time checking my language, like I would never do at work:)
Grant Park Music Festival: A Space Odyssey
Yesterday’s concert was another of my favorites: Grant Park Orchestra accompanied Troupe Vertigo. As I have already said multiple times, I shamelessly love circus, even the aspects which are usually considered vulgar, but Vertigo performances are always beautiful, elegant, and breathtaking! This season’s concert theme was Space:
Now that you have an idea about the music, I will just post the photos of the artists. I didn’t take a lot of photos because I didn’t want to take my gaze off the stage, but I think you can still get an impression of how amazing it was!
Grant Park Music Festival: Broadway Sings America
I have been to two Grant Park concerts in a row, and I absolutely loved both of them! The first one was yesterday:
Since this whole season is dedicated to the USA 250th birthday, that concert featured the numbers from various musicals about different periods of American history (in a loosely chronological order).
I heard most of these songs many times, but all of them presented in one concert made them especially powerful. At the end of the program, the orchestra and chorus performed one more song, which was not in the program: “Keep Marching” from Suffs, which we just recently heard on Broadway in Chicago. And the conductor concluded the concert with a reminder how important is it in the times like this, to “keep marching.”
As I already mentioned, the GPMF series is the only way I feel I can celebrate the America’s 250th…
What a beautiful city we live in!
Stormy Lake
On Saturday, after Anna’s family left, I went to the beach: the air quality was decent, and as we found out, this season, it’s not quaranteed, so even a warm summy day might be not a beach day.
Saturday definitely was, and also, it was the first day this season that I could jump in the waves 🙂
TIME Magazine: The Cost-of-Living Crisis Is Rewriting the Rules of Dating
I observed this trend of “postponing personal life while building stability,” but I didn’t think it was so widespread these days. Also, I am wondering why in my younger years we never thought about tough economic times being on the way when entering relationships and starting a family. Possibly because we didn’t have much even during the time of stability.
Meehika Barua is a freelance journalist who is currently working on her memoir on friendships and love.
Jul 6, 2026 5:00 AM CT
Biking With Anna And Other Saturday Activities
Anna sacrificed two extra hours of sleep to go on a Saturday morning bike ride with me. The air quality was significantly better than on Thursday and Friday, although the horizon was covered with clouds, so we couldn’t see a sunrise over the lake. Still, it was a beautiful sunrise.
When we came back, we tried to wake the rest of the family up, which took significantly longer than we expected, so we had to adjust the plans for the rest of the day. Still, the girls wanted to go to the Field Museum even if for a short time, so we did.
Now we are trying to figure out whether they will be able to come one more time before the end of summer.
Hettie's Reflections 