On my walk through the neighborhood today I noticed this.
I pointed it out to the tall person and suggested that the owner is clearly obsessed with speed and had stripped his car down to make it as light and as fast as possible.
The tall person smiled and agreed that my theory was a possible reason for the car’s condition but pointed out that by removing the wheels the driver has drastically affected its potential to move.
Hmm. The driver clearly has no understanding of Newton’s laws of motion.
On my walk through the neighborhood today I saw someone preparing for a long trip.
I pointed it out to the tall person and he said he hopes there are no low bridges on their route.
I saw this fantastic 1:1 scale model of a Soviet era Zhiguli car today. The detail was amazing.
It looked so real. It was hard to imagine that it was made from a plastic scale model kit.
I pointed it out to the tall person and he said it was a real car and not a model.
Hmm, if it is not a model car why does its number plate say it is a ‘TOY.’
You may remember that there is an old abandoned American jeep in my neighborhood. I call him Eugene. I haven’t been to see him for a while and suggested to the tall person that we go and make sure he is okay.
Eugene lives on a sidewalk at the top of a hill on the other side of the valley from my house. He doesn’t actually have a house. He’s the rugged outdoor type and prefers to feel the sun and the rain and the gentle breeze on his olive green skin.
Anyway, he was snoozing in the sunshine when we got there so we didn’t wake him up.
As we turned to head home the tall person said that we can see our house from here and sure enough there was our house on the other side of the valley.
It’s in the center of the picture. If you look carefully you can see the white door that leads out to the toy room balcony where I sit with my kitten, Barnaby. You can also see the tall tree that stands behind my house. Tall person looks for that if he gets lost when we are walking in the maze of narrow lanes that make up our neighborhood.
Barnaby! Barnaby! Can you see me!
No answer.
Hmm, I think he is asleep on duty.
There is an old Soviet era Volga car parked in my street. I have not seen it for a few days but it was parked in its usual place when I came back from my morning walk.
It looked different.
I noticed several improvements.
See if you can spot them.
The Sarplas sticker is a big clue. Sarplas make double glazing. The windows in my house are made by Sarplas. Obviously, the owner of this car wants to be warm when he is driving but he also cares about the environment and has installed energy efficient glazing in his car. Well done Mr. Driver!
This car owner is also security conscious and has upgraded the existing protection for the vehicle’s trunk by securing it with a stout rope. Full marks for security Mr. Driver!
You will have also noticed the roof rack. No doubt this extra storage facility was installed because the additional security on the trunk makes it less easy for the car driver to use. Hmm, I suppose caring for your environment always requires a little reorientation.
Anyway, I award this concept car full marks for innovation!
On this afternoon’s walk I discovered this beautiful car enjoying the autumn sunshine near the railway bridge in my neighborhood. I haven’t seen it before. The tall person said it is a Soviet era Volga Gaz-21 from the mid 1960s.
The car’s external design was made by Lev Yeremeev and was largely influenced by Western vehicles of the same period, American in particular.
I think it has a very happy face.
It’s owner must be very proud of it because it has been parked on a pedestal overlooking the road.
The tall person said “They don’t make cars like this anymore”. I know tall person, they stopped production in 1970!
Near my house there is a car that lives under a tree. The little person told me that it is a Soviet era Volga GAZ 24 and probably forty years old.
The little person also said that Volga cars were traditionally used by Soviet government officials and also as taxi cabs and road police interceptors.
Another version, called the GAZ-24-24 was never available for private ownership and was used by the KGB services.
I don’t think this car worked for the KGB though. It is too conspicuous!
When autumn comes the tree will lose its leaves and the car will get wet. I hope it finds a proper home soon.
We live on a hillside overlooking Tbilisi and one of the benefits of living on a hill is walking down it – it’s easy on the paws. But what goes down must come up and it can sometimes be quite tiring returning home from the valley below, especially when it is hot. It’s not too bad for me because I have all four paws on the ground and I have a lower centre of gravity but the tall person, De and the little person all walk on two paws, which I think makes it more tiring when going up the hill. To help them, I regularly stop at trees and bushes and pretend to sniff around. I do this to give their legs a rest. They don’t know I do this for them but I know they appreciate the regular rest stops!
When I am not with them I know they often get a taxi up the hill, especially when they have been shopping. It makes sense to do this because if they walked up the hill without me, they wouldn’t regularly stop and sniff trees and bushes and rest their legs. It’s also good because they come home quicker by taxi and have more energy to play with me. There is a taxi rank at the bottom of the hill and there are usually six to ten taxis waiting there. I know some of the taxi drivers as I often walk that way and they always say hello, which is nice.
Anyway, the main purpose of this little story is to tell you about the little person’s favourite taxi. If it is waiting there, the little person will always ask to ride up the hill in it. I was waiting on the balcony for them recently and saw a beautiful white car turn into our street and stop outside our house. The tall person, De and the little person got out and waved to me.
The taxi is a Soviet era Volga and is one of the little person’s favourite old cars. This one is in excellent condition and its owner obviously takes great care of it. The taxi driver was very happy that his car was photographed by the neighbourhood Englishman!
The little person told me that there was an old abandoned American jeep in the neighbourhood so we decided to go and see it on this evening’s walk. As we were walking, the little person told me that although everyone calls these military cars ‘jeeps’ their real name is Willys MB. Soldiers nicknamed them jeep after Eugene the Jeep, a character in the Popeye cartoons.
Sure enough, we found Eugene.
The little person did not know how long it had been there but even I could see that it hadn’t been driven in a long time. The tall person said that it could be very old, possibly dating back to the Second World War.
I think at the very least it needs new tyres!
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