On family history, parenting, education, social issues and more
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.
A couple of weeks ago, when I had to change a light bulb in the hallway ceiling light fixture, I realized that even my tallest ladder was not tall enough for that. I give myself credit for not pushing this task to “sometime later” but making myself do it “now.” Still, it as a stunt. I had to move the ladder closer to the wall and touch the wall with one hand while standing on the ladder landing. And to be honest, I needed both hands because I had to unscrew this thing in order to change the light bulb.
I have a very lightweight ladder which Boris and I bought in ACE Hardware shortly after we moved to Rogers Park, and I love it. But having the ceilings as high as mine, this ladder is not high enough. When last time an electrician came to fix my ceiling fan remote, I asked him to let me measure his ladder, and it turned out I needed two more steps (or two more feet).
First, I tasked Boris with finding a ladder that would be comparable to what we have now, just taller. The ladder I have now weights 6 lb., which is a record light, and I was hoping to find something around 10-12 lb. Boris researched it for a while but didn’t find anything. Then I researched and I couldn’t find it either. Then, I looked at “best recommendations,” and the vote came for a ladder that was 18 lb. Boris said: no way, and then took another look at Amazon and found the ladder, which was said to be either 9.5 lb (in the description) or 14.5 lb (in the product specs). I ordered that one, and it arrived, and… it weights 17.7 lb!!!!
I keep wondering why people want to use social media less – I feel like I am not doing enough of it because I do not have enough time. Often (and this article is not an exception), the author would emphasize “meeting with people” and “communicating in person” instead of on social media. In my case, however, the only people with whom I communicate on social media are people whom I know in real life but who either live too far from me or have challenging schedules. This way or the other, it is not easy to regularly communicate in person, and I want to know what they are up to. I often feel that my very real friends are upset when I do not pay attention to their lives. And it’s not just “them,” I would love to be informed about what’s up with them. As for professional social media, it’s even more important. Firstly, I also know many of these people in person, and secondly, in my profession, it is vitally important to stay on top of what are the new things others are doing. I always feel like I am missing out on important professional updates (until somebody pings me explicitly).
Anyway, here is the article (and I am trying to do almost all the opposite of what they suggest!)
I saw this video clip in my friend’s blog, and I agree with her that more people should see it. It has English subtitles, which I can confirm is accurate. I wish I could say it’s a fake, but it isn’t.
I didn’t take pictures of Lake Michigan last weekend, although the view was spectacular: The lake was so much warmer than the air that it was steaming like a giant cup of hot tea.
I saw it from the car window when we were heading to the Aquarium, and I couldn’t take a good picture then, and I couldn’t make myself get out of the house one extra time. Yesterday, it was already much warmer, so I went to say hello to the lake.
I didn’t feel birthday-ly on January 19, but not because I was upset or miserable or whatever. It was just that I met with the family on Sunday, and we talked about my past year, how I feel about it, and what I am looking forward to. And my actual birthday was just a date. There were two goals I had for January 19: to do some things that I love doing and to go to bed at 10:30. The latter one didn’t happen again, but I keep trying.
So the day was just Friday, the way I like it. I worked out in the gym
Went to work, had time to have breakfast in peace and quiet, and talked to Boris before work started.
Vlad was in Japan for a work trip, and we hardly heard from him. A couple of times, somebody would pass a link, or he would post on Instagram a clip from news coverage, a photo of the newspaper page, or an article link – all in Japanese! I sent some links to my friend in Japan (Anna asked suspiciously whether my friend actually speaks Japanese😂). I was unsure whether my friend would be interested, but I sent the link anyway. She reacted enthusiastically but without much detail. When I sent her one more Instagram post, and she reacted enthusiastically again, I finally asked her whether she could tell me what it was all about. She was happy to fill me in and said she sort of forgot I could not understand it!😀
Here is this post, and Vlad is on the fifth and on the last photo:
We had several really cold days, and then several just cold days, and we will have several more. On Tuesday, when I called my mom in the evening, she told me that her thermometer in the kitchen showed 10C, which is about 50F. It could not be possible unless there was an actual heating problem, so I told her that if that was the case, she needed to find the heating device in her closet immediately. Otherwise, I will drop everything and come to her. Then I thought again that it was impossible, because the day before it was not hot, but pretty normal in her apartment. So I asked her where both of her thermometers were located, and it turned out that both were close to the window. I asked her to move them in the middle of the room and call me in 30 minutes. When she didn’t call me in 45, I called her again, and she said that she was just writing an email to me, and that when she placed thermometers at her computer desk and at her kitchen table, they both showed around 19.5C, which is about 67F, so quite livable.
Why she was talking about 10C, I am not sure, but I will leave it there. I am trying to remember what the doctor said: at this age, she can do whatever she wants!
My company featured me internally at the Employee Spotlight and externally :). Those who know me can tell that this interview was extensively polished (not only from the grammar perspective) to the extent that I was ready to call it off. However, we finally agreed on the edits :).
This weekend was packed with events. For Christmas, I gave Anna and John the “Hamilton” tickets, and the show was on Saturday evening. Also, I gave a “Penguin Encounter” gift to Nadia, and that experience was on Sunday morning. I planned it in a way that we could fit it all in one trip. In addition, since my mom’s birthday was on January 10, and my birthday is coming next week, we also decided to celebrate both birthdays on Sunday.
Extreme weather (we have had negative temperatures for several days now) altered some details of our plans, but overall, things were great.
Anna and John were really happy with the performance, Kira was cooperative and didn’t throw a tantrum when it was time to go to bed, and we made a bubble bath and read stories. Sunday morning was a little bit hectic because the penguin thing was at 8-30 AM, and we had to be there no later than 8-15, and the weather didn’t call for public transportation.
When John learned what I was giving Nadia for Christmas, he asked whether he could go as well, si we were a party of three. We had to get into the Aquarium through the service entrance because it was before the museum opening, and then we were led to the waiting area. We had to leave all our belongings in the lockers and change into the high rubber boots.
Before we entered the area where we would meet the penguins, we had to step into a disinfection tray. The staff who ran the event told us that we could touch penguins only when the instructor tells us and only the way she shows.
That’s me touching the penguin named Georgia
One of many interesting facts we learned about penguins was that there is no easy way to determine whether it is a male or a female, and the only reliable way is to collect the shell of an egg after the chick hatched and perform a genetic test And if there is not enough material for a genetic test, they have to wait and see whether the penguin would lay an egg. I asked how the pegiguins themselves can figure this out, but apparently the scientists are not sure either.
We all had a great time, and after the experience, we went upstairs to see the exhibits.
The plan was for Anna and Kira to come later and join us at the museum after the show. Since I have a family membership, I didn’t anticipate any problems, the only thing I wanted to double-check was how I could get the extra two people in, when we were already in. And that’s were we found that we had a huge problem.
I didn’t pay attention to the Chicago Free Museum week (because I do not care, I have memberships in most of them), and I should have! It turned out that because of the Free Week, all tickets for Sunday were reserved, and no matter my membership, I couldn’t get more people in! John tried to call Annam but the calls didn’t go through, and we knew that they were already approaching and looking for parking. We decided that I will take Nadia to see more exhibits, and John will keep trying to reach Anna.
Nadia and I went to the Wild Reef, and once again, I forgot that there is no reception downstairs.
After a while, I decided to check on the situation, and then I realised that my messages are not coming through. Meanwhile, an unbelievable thing happened with Anna.
She didn’t know about the ticket situation, so she on crutches, and very cold Kira appeared at the admission, and apparently, the staff didn’t have a heart to send them away. Anna explained that the rest of the family was already in the museum, and that I am a member, and the staff checked with her supervisor and let them in! When Nadia and I emerged from the Wild Reef, we almost immediately ran into the rest of the family! We spent another two hours in the Aquarium, to everybody’s delight.
In the afternoon, we celebrated my mom’s and my birthday at the Italian restaurant close to my home.
Love their ceiling decorations!
They serve pasta in cones, which was very convenient – we ordered six different kinds and shared. Mom was very pleased with the photo album which Anna and I put together, with a big collection of photos pf different generations.
We also gave her several books, and Nadia made a birthday card.
And Anna made this day really special 🙂
And since all of us had MLK Day off, we had a little bit more time together on Monday morning 🙂
I should have purchased more of the Kyiv metro token pins, because apparently they are in high demand, but I hope there will be other opportunities (and I’ve got a Christmas ornament, which will have to wait till next Christmas 🙂 )
Hettie's Reflections 