Just 'cause It's Not Safe...

...doesn't mean it's not fun.

Hannah and Charlie try out some playground equipment that will be unavailable to them in the States this fall.

The predecessor to the treadmill reminded me of another unsafe children's recreation opportunity from a few years ago in Kharkov, Ukraine.

In our defense, it all happened really fast, and before we knew it our 4 and 2 year old were driving these mini-jetskis around without accompanying seat belts or life jackets.

Although I laugh in the video I am simultaneously taking documents and wallet out of my pocket just in case I need to play lifeguard.

Sorry for the grainy images. I plan to get a phone with a better camera this fall.

Eye On...

I see that Eye On Perm has not been consistent in blogging. Perhaps this is the greatest blog commandment of them all: "Thou shalt not blog inconsistently."

After living in Perm, Russia for ten years perhaps I no longer see the fantastic, humorous, thoughtful, or absurd aspects of this great city as unusual. We've blown out at least three car windows this year, for example, (for various reasons) and I no longer find this challenging or humorous. I just go and visit the Chinese guys on Izhevskaya street and they install a new window. Maybe we just need a new challenge...

But now, we are beginning to say good-bye to the city whose name harkens memories of bad '80's hairstyles. We will be in the USA this fall and return to Perm for only a few months before moving to Moscow in March 2010.

At that point, Eye On Perm shall inevitably morph into Eye On Moscow and everything shall seem new again. Will this create more consistent blogging? If nothing else, I suspect that Moscow prices and Moscow traffic should account for at least a couple years worth of blogging material.

For now, I am finding that Twitter is something I'm fairly consistent at. Perhaps it is the combination of the challenge and simplicity of saying everything you want to say in 140 characters or less. To follow me on Twitter click here...