Transportation

I like a story my mom tells on herself: She might have still been in college and on a trip to Oslo possibly for the first time by herself. Maybe it was after her interview for studying in the theater, anyway she needed to get across town (to hangout with my future father at their favorite cafe?) She saw a stopped tram and streetwise and savvy as she is raced up to it and jauntily jumped in and grabbed a seat and waited breathlessly for it to careen off down the street to their rendezvous. Only the tram just sits there and sits there; the driver must have been on a cigarette break. She tells it on herself that by then she was feeling like a kid from the country who'd watched too many movies where trams are caught only just in the nick of time.
Does this figure in to this post? Well, yeah because I like to get places fast too. Like the time last week when Simona and I jumped off the train at 10:00 instead of staying on 'til 1200. The idea was to race across country on a bus and make up time that way. Well we had a short hike through the mud to the station where I got in line for tickets...and the line did not move...the cashier was not on a cigarette break, no. There were three people at the desk trying to fix the computer. All of them were older than me which did not bode well. Something else I noticed was behind the computer to the left was a "ruskaya pechka". This is a traditional wood/coal burning stove (for making tea and for heat) which is built into the wall. Some of them look like they belong in a gourmet bakery like for pizzas or something. It had a stovetop built in to it with a burner made of 3 concentric iron rings that could be removed. There are special pots then that fit into the hole so bottom of the pot can nestle into the coals. The word that came to mind was "a-n-a-c-h-r-o-n-I-s-m". I took a picture, but all you can see on there is the sign that says "Information - 50 kopeks"
There's more to this story, so hang in there -
The other ladies in the line with me were also going nowhere, like my mom on that tram that she was in such a hurry to catch. So we all had our noses pressed to the window to see the action, are they gonna fix the computer or will they give up and make tea? She probably felt a bit awkward with us fogging up the window, because she finally yelled at us to get lost; we then all agreed on who was first and next and last in line and amicably dispersed. But hey! In a matter of moments another line forms of totally different people! And before long she is selling tickets to THEM! Well we all know that's not fair and a second line forms... The ORIGINAL line, the REAL line. We are the good guys because we were here first and she asked us to leave and we did but now we're back and we are FIRST! Yes, you could say that all animosity broke lose for a while but we pushed and shoved until they all knew better than to mess with US!
See the picture of the cat? He slept through the whole thing.