Our part-time resident of Warsaw, part-time resident of Port Jefferson, New York, DENNY HILL, just returned from spending the winter break at his home in Warsaw. He sent lots of interesting facts and articles about the politics happening there, the people he met, and friends he made. This email I received today I thought would take our minds off the political arena in the U.S, today, as well as make us who still live in Texas appreciate our weather. That is, unless you live in the Panhandle! Here in Austin it will be 69 degrees tomorrow, and 73 on Monday.
"On my flight from Warsaw to New York, on LOT (Polish Airlines) 026, our captain was a female pilot! (I have had female captains before on smaller planes, like from Atlanta to Shreveport, but this was the first time I had one on an international long haul jumbo jet.) She made a perfect landing at JFK.
While waiting for the flight in Warsaw, I got to talking to some guy, who is an American, but was born in Lithuania, so has dual citizenship. He now lives in Manhattan and in Florida. He told me he retired early (was in finance, an investment banker, so probably made tons of money). Anyhow, after retirement, he returned to Lithuania, entered politics there, and was elected to their parliament for 4 years. He was financial advisor to the president there, and eventually became Finance Minister of Lithuania. But now he has given it up, because as he told me, the Soviet mentality there is so firmly ingrained, that it is impossible to change anything. Bribes are still standardly accepted to get anything done, and the establishment resists any attempt to clean up the corruption.
I barely made it home before it started to snow. New York City is now totally shut down because of the snow. Already I have a foot of snow in my yard, and it is still snowing heavily, so I might end up with 2 feet" ...Denny
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Not to burst your bubble, Denny, but I heard on the news you will probably get 30 inches! The worst blizzard to hit New York in 90-years, it has caused the City to shut down the buses and subways, closed tunnels and bridges, and threatened to arrest anyone who is driving on the streets tonight.
There was a massive shutdown of highways in Kentucky, leaving thousands of motorists stranded overnight. However, even in the worst of times there are those who manage to have a little fun. Of course, this band happened to be in (I assume) a toasty warm RV, with food and drink. Tap your toes.
On that note, I'm going to say "good night", and may your home be warm and peaceful this winter.
Love,
Marilyn
P.S.
I need new photos of many of you! Please send me recent ones via email or snail mail (I'll scan them and return them to you.) Along with them, why not share some news with us? Good stuff still happens.
