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.
Russian Lies #1
A friend shared with me a series of Ukrainian documentaries uncovering the tools Russian propaganda uses to mislead both the world and its own people about Russian and Ukrainian history, culture, and their respective roles in the world and how the Russian-Ukrainian war is the logical continuation of all of the above. I want to present these documentaries one by one and write (hopefully) detailed comments about each of them, mostly targeting my American friends.
The first documentary is about the history of Russia. Most of my friends likely remember only some episodes of Russian history that, for this reason or that reason, were mentioned in popular culture or were taught in school in relation to US history. The bottom line is that I do not expect anybody to have extensive knowledge of Russian history, so here is some explanation.
The first part of this documentary talks about the Medieval state Kyivan Rus (or Ancient Rus), with Kyiev being its capital and the language being the predecessor for three languages: Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian (and if you ask me, I’d say that nowadays Ukrainian is the closest of three to this old language). After the disintegration of the Kyivan Rus (the stage all the Medieval states went through) and after the Mongol invasion, the Moscow Principality gradually rose to power and eventually conquered most of the original Kyivan Rus land, but the rest of the world referred to it as Moscovia, not Rus. As this documentary states correctly, “Russia” as a name of the state appeared way later.
The most striking fact is that nobody ever made a secret of it! I was very much into history when I was in school, and by the time we started to study Russian history in the fourth grade, I already knew “all of it.” Nevertheless, I remember our textbook as clear as if I read it yesterday, and all of the above facts were mentioned there!
There were many facts I didn’t know about the newer parts of history; for example, I knew nothing about the joined annexation of Poland and the Soviet-Nazi parade in Brest, but everything related to Ancient history was well-known and was always in plain sight. I can’t explain why I never questioned the moral grounds of “conquering Siberia” and other colonial acquisitions. Let me repeat it again: while 20th-century history was heavily censored and presented as the “liberation” and the “fight for justice,” there were never any attempts for a similar cover-up of the earlier history. We all knew it, and we all thought it was OK.
Vision Updates
Since my first cataract surgery in February 2020, I knew that something wrong was done to my left eye. As a result, no lens can improve my left eye vision; it is constantly blurry, no matter contacts or glasses. In addition, it affects my double-vision negatively, and all my attempts to fix it didn’t provide any positive outcome.
Each year, when I go for my annual, an optometrist tries to send me “to a real doctor” so that I can “finally figure out what’s wrong.” Last summer, the same call was made again, but this time, an optometrist wanted to confirm my long-time suspicions about the cataract surgery ourcome.
He referred me to a specialist on Chicago North Side, and when I called her office, they said that the earliest they could see me was in December.
On December 13, I finally went to my appointment. After all measurements were taken, the doctor came in and told me that she was confident my suspicions were justified and I should never had a multifocal lens (which I was trying to get from the surgeon who did that first one). She went on with her examination and confirmed and told me that she would send me for a consultation with the best specialist in Chicago, Dr. Rubenstein. He would be able to evaluate the risks/benefits. Since I waited for an appointment with Dr. Rogers for four months, I was mentally prepared for at least the same with Dr. Rubuinstein, but she escorted me to the reception and asked the receptionist to make a call and see if “maybe something with holidays and such.” The receptionist made a call and said that Dr. Rogerst was wondering, understanding that holidays-and-such-but-may-be-something, and then she turned to me: will you be able to come on Monday? Yay!!! Having that it was Friday, and having that it was mid-December, and having that I already took a day off for that Monday.. Yay!
That’s, by the way, how my last attempt to finalize the cookie-sending without sleep deprivation failed! On December 16, I spent the morning with the pest control person, baked extra tea cakes in the early afternoon, and then went to Rush University Medical Center.
Even though I planned my trip perfectly, and all public transportation cooperated, I left home at 12-15 and returned at 6-15. Six hours! The travel in one direction took over one hour; the wait was minimal, so the rest was extensive testing. I really liked Dr. Rubenstein and all his staff. In a funny way, I felt a deep connection with him as a professional. When I was informed that although I have my test results from three days ago, “Dr. Rubunstein still wants to have them in his fingertips,” I laughed and said that it’s the same way as I always want to run a query execution plan myself, even when it is provided along with a ticket.
I spent over two hours being tested on different equipment, known and unknown, and finally, the doctor came to talk to me. He said that he had reviewed all the information, and he believed that I was a perfect candidate for a lens replacement surgery, although he usually does not recommend it lightly. I felt even more related to him when he said that he always fixed other surgeons’ mistakes and that other surgeons would send their patients to him whenever it was a complicated case. That’s exactly what happens with me! He said that this surgery would be more involved than my first one, but still, it would be an outpatient one.
Next, I went to a scheduling person. The next available date was February 19, and again, it worked perfectly for me! I still need clearance from my physician closer to the surgery date, but that’s it, and I am staying cautiously optimistic.
Merry Merry Chicago One More Time
When I realized that I wouldn’t be able to take Nadia to the Christmas concert on December 20, I offered an alternative plan: I took December 23 off, purchased the ticket for matinee performance on that day, and suggested to pick up Nadia on the evening of December 22, and then come back with her on December 23 and stay to celebrate Christmas. Unfortunately, there were no Amtrak tickets available for me for “swapping a suitcase for a child” (the only acceptable train was sold out), so Anna had to drive to Kenosha, and I took Metra there (and took another Metra back 20 minutes later). I packed a gigantic luggage with presents and all the things I needed in Milwaukee so that the next day, Nadia and I could travel light.
The trip back was very long, but Nadia entertained herself by reading all the names of the stops and keeping track of them – for some reason, stops had not been announced on this trip!
The next morning, we went to Common Cup for breakfast (I am so glad Nadia likes Common Cup as much as I do – yay!).
Then Nadia decorated all of the remaining cookies, and I was impressed by her skills! I told her that next Christmas, I will request her help in my cookies’ operation!
Continue reading “Merry Merry Chicago One More Time”TIME Magazine: Emotions And Productivity
An absolutely brilliant article! I agree with every word of it. I know first-hand how difficult it is to concentrate on what you are doing when your emotions dominate. That’s why I would always tell Boris that if we argue during my morning and won’t resolve the issue before his evening, my whole workday is gone. I am incapable of doing any work whatsoever.
There is one thing, however, which I would add: yes, we all should practice controlling our emotions, but also, we all should be mindful of how our behavior at the workplace affects others. Just remember that one rude comment can make a person completely unproductive for an extended period of time.
The full article text is copied below.
Continue reading “TIME Magazine: Emotions And Productivity”Chicago Union Station Decorated For Christmas
My Christmas celebration has not been going exactly as planned, but there were lots of happy moments and things to admire, including the Union Station Great Hall Christmas display.
Pre-Christmas Activities
I had a couple of days when I was not 100% absorbed by work crises and mailing cookies, which gave me some chances to enjoy Christmas activities.
I went to Harold Washington Library to listen to a midday Brass Christmas Concert (the quality was rather low, but I wanted to support a community event.
I went to the Christkindle Market “with purpose” and had a hot cider in a souvenir mug, bought more roasted nuts, spiced teas, some small gifts, and some sweets just for myself (nobody except for Boris likes marzipans the way I do!)
New Ornaments
I have a lot of new ornaments this season, mostly brought from different places I visited this year. To my embarrassment, now I have so many that I do not always remember where some of the ornaments are from!
Mice Everywhere!
First, my mom complained about mice (she said she saw a mouse running from her kitchen to the bedroom), and just after I brought two last mouse traps to her apartment and ordered new ones “just in case,” I saw mice droppings and ripped bags in my pantry!
I am surprised mice didn’t figure out my pantry for so long – before that, they were only in the kitchen. This whole thing happened right before Thanksgiving, and I could not find a day when I could stay home, so I didn’t call for an appointment. But as the cookie-baking process progressed, I couldn’t put it away any further, so finally, I called exterminators, and the first available appointment was on December 16, the day I took off to finish the cookie shipping (you see where it goes).
An exterminator came and sealed several potential points of entry and also put out the poison along the walls. It has been six days, and I see fewer signs of mice activity, although they are not completely gone. He said to give it about two weeks, and then he will come on January 17 for a checkup.
I breathed a sigh of relief, but then my mom said she saw a mouse at her place again. Today, I checked everywhere in her kitchen and indeed found droppings under the fridge. Going to call the same exterminator and ask to treat my mom’s unit because, apparently, nowadays, mice are too smart to be caught in simple traps.
Cookie Decorating With ODS
A week earlier, we made Gingerbread houses, and it was a surprisingly delightful activity, as I mentioned in this post. On Thursday, I brought two boxes of plain cookies to decorate, and once again, it was a hit! One of the boxes contained gluten-free cookies, which was very much appreciated by one of the residents.
As it happens these days, there is a sigh: oh, you are leaving already? when I tried to leave around 8 PM. I stayed for a little bit longer, but I had a workday ahead and a relatively long way home, even when I took Uber (which I did).
Now, I need to figure out how I can appear at the ODS more consistently, even when I travel and have other conflicts. Overall, though, I am happy with how this year ends at ODS – way better than it looked three months ago.
Hettie's Reflections 