Odds and ends...

I was sitting on the bus yesterday in front of the Fili, waiting for it to depart for the полтинник, when a classic black Volga went zooming past, and the thought crossed my mind: Does it even make sense to think of such vehicles as "classic," in the sense of, say, a 1964 Ford Falcon? When the opportunity presents itself, I shall have to ask Sergey N., among whose passions are cars (he's restoring a '91 Mustang) and dogs (he recently acquired a coal-black German Shepherd puppy).

The next stop of that train of thought recalled a mental picture I took outside the building of the Russian Government, which is located not far from the actual photo I took of the flowers near Kitai-Gorod (and which I posted here on my LJ). What struck me about the cars arrayed outside the building was that not one was of domestic manufacture. (In contrast, I seem to recall that, in the U.S., it is all but obligatory for members of Congress to be seen in cars made in Detroit, and that it is one of the few "issues" on The Hill that crosses party lines.)

* * *One of the launch team (the end client's representative, if I'm not mistaken) turns to me the other night and asks if anyone around here plays chess. The next think you know, I've retrieved my old roll-up tournament board and plastic chess pieces, the kitchen staff has cleared away the silverware and other table items at the end of one of the tables in the dining room, and we've started playing.

In retrospect, it's interesting to me to note how my play was affected by the conclusion I jumped to about my opponent's strength based on his opening moves (he played the Philidor Defense with the Black pieces, which is a very passive defense - but also eminently playable, especially at the amateur level). I played passively as well, or at least not aggressively.

Later attempts to replay the game from memory succeed here and there. There was an interesting sequence of moves in the middle game where Black obtained a pawn on the seventh rank (one square away from becoming a new Queen), which I was able to parry, and there was the combination near the end of the game where I gained a Knight for two pawns, but the opening remains in a fog. Since I can recall later stages of the game but not the beginning, I must conclude that it is not my memory at fault, but the fact that I was probably not concentrating as I should have been early in the game, lulled by the "fact" that the Philidor (1.e4 e4 2.Nc3 d6) is a "poor" opening.

I shall not make that mistake again, not with this opponent, whose handling of the middlegame had me hopping. Ultimately, the game ended in a draw.

* * *Today, I'm scheduled to go into town with the team. One of the tasks I'll face is to negotiate the procurement of a lamb, prepared to the exacting specifications of some French team members. Astute readers will note that we're not going to get some lamb, as in chops, or legs, but a lamb, as in an entire animal, dressed for a barbeque-style of preparation.

This should be interesting.

* * *The "loop" of road that runs around our general area (which is permitted to us for walking, running, or bicycling) takes about 20 minutes to complete if I walk energetically. Since a similar rate of perambulation in Pearland consumes just about exactly 2 miles after 30 minutes, well... do the math. While I've walked this loop several times more during this campaign than during the previous one last year, and despite having played more table tennis this campaign than last, I feel I'm still behind in my exercise (though I should concentrate on the positive side, I know).

Time to get dressed and get some breakfast. Then perhaps another loop.

Cheers...