Comments by "janburn007" (@janburn007) on "Путешествие с Расселом"
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I live in a city of almost 400,000 people, which has always been very "forward-looking" when it comes to retail store trading hours - & even around 30 -35 years ago, regular retail stores were open for trading all day Saturday & Sunday, & supermarkets were often open till around 11pm in the evenings. These extended trading hours in our city were even way ahead of some much larger cities of 2 - 3 million people, where the stores at that time were still not open on Saturday afternoons or Sundays & there were no supermarkets open for late night trading.
Unfortunately, during the recent restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the supermarkets which were previously open until 11pm at night, started closing earlier, at around 9pm or 10pm - & even though the COVID-19 restrictions are no longer in force, the supermarkets have not extended their opening hours to what they were before the pandemic. So most supermarkets in my city are now closed by 10pm in the evenings. But I've not come across any supermarkets in my city that are open 24/7.
I often pop into the main supermarket in the CBD of my city, on the way home from work, to purchase a few items - so by the time I get there, it's often around 7pm or a bit later. But the problem I usually find, with shopping at that time of the evening, is that a lot of the shelves are half empty by then & because of that the choices are sometimes limited & the items that I want are just not on the shelves &/or out of stock.
So it always surprises me when I see supermarkets in Russia open 24/7, with such fully stocked shelves & scarcely an empty shelf in sight (like the supermarket in the above video). Of course I realise it was mentioned that the above video was filmed around 9am in the morning, which might explain why all the shelves are still so full. So I'm wondering if there could be a particular time of day that one might go to that supermarket, & find it has some empty/un-stocked shelves - just like the supermarket I go to in my home city.
My city was also the first one in our country to completely ban the use/sale of light-weight single-use plastic shopping bags - like the ones that groceries used to be packed in at the supermarket check-outs. My city banned their use almost 10 years ago now - & we've managed just fine without them ever since then.
As of more recently though, stores no longer sell plastic disposable cutlery (knives/forks/spoons etc) & crockery (plates & bowls etc). Instead, disposable cutlery & crockery now comes made out of recyclable materials such as paper/cardboard.
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A very interesting tour around the transport Expo! It was also very interesting to see there was only ONE "campervan" on display. Judging from what you said - it sounds like the Russian people are not very interested in camping/caravaning/campervaning - which I find unusual, given that in many other parts of Europe, camping is very popular in summer time.
Some of the nice features shown on the buses which were on display, have actually been around for a number of years. In Canberra, Australia, the buses used in the public transport system there have had "wheel-chair friendly" buses for quite a number of years - buses which lower their front suspension when the bus stops, & at the front entrance/door to the bus, instead of stairs/steps there is a "ramp" which can roll/fold out, to allow wheel-chairs to board the bus (which can also be handy for prams & strollers & elderly people). There are fold-down seats with their backs against the side walls towards the front of the bus, which can be folded up to make a space for the wheel-chair to be "parked". There are usually also at least 2 rows of seats towards the front of the bus, which are "facing each other" - which means that one of those rows of seats is "facing backwards" - just as shown in the above video.
Seats facing backwards (to the direction of travel) are quite common in some military aircraft, as they are deemed to be "safer" in the case of an emergency or emergency landing/stop - as passengers are not then "thrown foward". Many of the Canberra buses also have the braille signage on the "stop" buttons - just as shown in the above video.
A couple of years ago the public transport system in Canberra also introduced a number of new electric buses, that have the USB charging ports for passengers - usually 2 charging ports in the wall of the bus alongside each row of 2 seats - so, enough for each seated person to be able to plug in their mobile device & charge it up while commuting - which is a very handy arrangement.
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I am one of those people who uses public transport in my city every day - as I don't have, nor have I ever held a driver's licence. So for that reason, I also don't own my own car, & am totally dependent on public transport.
I live in a city of about 350,000 people, & where the public transport is okay, I would say - though obviously nowhere near as good as, or as frequent as in larger cities & countries, like Moscow. My city's public transport system consists mainly of buses, but we also have a relatively new (in the last 5 years) & still rather limited tram/light rail service. It's about a 5 minute walk from my home/house, to the nearest bus stop, from where I can catch a bus (a maximum 15 minute bus ride) to an "interchange", from where I need to catch the tram the rest of the way into the city centre (a further 6 minute ride).
The tram is of course heated in winter & air-conditioned in summer (as are the buses) & have a free wifi service on board - though there is more standing room than actual seats on the trams. The trams & buses can sometimes get a bit crowded during peak periods - though at the times when I catch them, that's usually not a problem.
The only thing people sometimes complain about is the low frequency of the suburban bus services, especially at night time & on weekends. However, when you are familiar with the timetable as a regular user (like me), you know how to time your journeys accordingly. But understandably, people who use these services only occasionally & just show up at a bus stop with no real planning, could be in for a rather long wait for a bus to arrive, if it's on a weekend.
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The apartment does look very modern. But one thing I've noticed about these apartments that seem to have an open plan kitchen/dining/lounge area, is that so often, the amount of bench space in the kitchen, for meal preparation, is very minimal. If someone were really into cooking, I'm not sure that such a tiny amount of kitchen bench space would suit them. I don't think it would suit me - as someone who is used to a larger kitchen, with a double sink. The dining tables also look quite small, & the lounge area rather narrow. Also, even in the master bedroom - there does not appear to be any wardrobe/cupboard space for their clothes etc.
I also noticed that in some of the common areas of the building, there looked to be a lot of unused open wasted spaces that could probably put to better use.
Having said that, certainly for the price of the apartment though, it does seem very reasonably priced, looking at it through the eyes of someone who lives in a western developed country. But I do wonder how affordable it would be for an average Russian person/family on an average Russian income.
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Just for the rcord - I don't think it's that uncommon for trains to depart from both sides of the platform in the same direction - when that particular train station happens to be at the end of the train line, with nothing further beyond it. In my home city (not in Russia) of about 350,000, a new "light rail" service opened about 6 years ago now & the "end of the line" is basically in the heart of the CBD, with the service not going any further. So in peak times in particular, when the services/departures are more frequent - both sides of the platform are used for departures - which all head in the same direction - otherwise you might have some trains colliding! Outside of peak hours when the services are less frequent, they tend to only use one side of the platform - so the other side does not get used very much in off-peak times - except for perhaps new driver training.
From memory, there's a similar situation with the standard London Underground train service (the one which stops at just about all stations) which goes from the east of London at one end, though the city centre, then terminates at Heathrow Airport at the other end. It is the Piccadilly Line (blue) - & because Heathrow Airport is the end of the Piccadilly Line - trains depart in the same direction from both sides of the platform at Heathrow Airport. It's been like that for many years. But that sort of thing only happens of course, when the train station happens to be at the very end of the line.
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The studio apartment/bed-sitter certainly looks nice & is light & airy. But there a a few unusual things I noticed about it.
The sofa/divan, which pulls out into a double bed, does not look like it would be particularly comfortable - either as a sofa, or a bed - it appears too "block-like" in shape. But of course, I could certainly be wrong on that score.
The desk/table could do with at least one extra chair - in case the apartment is rented out by a couple - & if they decided to have someone over for a meal, a third chair might also be preferable.
The kitchenette has no micro-wave oven at all, & there does not appear to even be enough space for one. If it were placed on the kitchen bench-top, it would take up whatever little free bench space there is, leaving no room for meal preparation etc. I guess you could probably put it on top of the refrigerator though - as that would be the only place to put it, if one wanted to leave the bench space free for meal preparation.
The other obvious thing missing was the vanity basin for hand-washing etc in the bathroom - which I thought would have been essential for good hygiene reasons. Of course, one could wash one's hands at the kitchen sink - but that means any bathroom germs will be carried into the kitchenette - which is not good. I would much rather have seen a vanity basin in the bathroom - & if that meant there was then no room left for the clothes washing machine in the bathroom - the washing machine could have been moved into the general living area if need be. Or was it intended that people use the bath tub for washing their hands etc?
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goodcat1519 The empty shelves that I see in the supermarket when I go there in the evenings, are usually because all the stock that was on the shelves that morning has been sold & the shelves have just not been re-stocked during the day.
When I'm here in the evening, there are always plenty of staff in the grocery aisles, re-stocking the shelves. But sometimes the shelves cannot be re-stocked with certain items, because the store has no more stock of that item - even out the back in their storage area. So they have to wait until more stock of that item arrives from their suppliers.
These days, many supermarkets here, operate on the "just in time" principle for their stock/supply of goods. In other words, to save themselves money & avoid storage costs for their stocked items, they have daily supplier deliveries to their stores & only order sufficient stock to last them for one or two days at most. So if they run out of any item on the shelf, the shelf then remains empty of that item, until more stock is delivered to the store - which is usually in the next day or two.
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@СветланаКовальская-и5б In some countries of which I have had personal experience in the workforce - namely the UK & Australia, when people talk about their salaries/wages - they usually do refer to the amount of salary "before tax" etc. This is despite the fact that the employer IS actually obligated to take out money for income tax, medical/health tax & pension fund contributions before giving the employee whatever remains.
So the amount of money people actually receive, is only after all those amounts have already been taken out/removed. Both the UK & Australia also have free medical/health services for all conditions & for all citizens/residents, & those services have been in place for many years now.
In order to have their own house in which to live though - most people in the UK/Australia would. borrow money by way of a "home loan" which would be secured by a mortgage over that home. Otherwise, few people would have enough money to be able to purchase a home with their own money.
When children go to school their parents are expected to send them to school with a "packed lunch" or provide money for the child to purchase lunch at school. The children are expected to eat breakfast & dinner at home, before & after school respectively.
In the UK & Australia, women in the workplace are usually provided with up to 12 months "maternity leave" on the birth of a child, following which she can return to the job she had prior to taking that leave. But they usually must have worked for their particular employer for at least 12 months to be entitled to that. And usually only a portion of that maternity leave (about 3 months I think) is provided on their normal full rate of pay, in some workplaces.
Beyond that, the government in some cases, can provide a "maternity allowance" to women who may not be entitled to "maternity leave" from their employer.(eg if they have not worked for their employer for at least 12 months prior to needing maternity leave).
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@СтудияПозитивчик Where I'm from (not the USA), we also have free medical/health care - but one can also pay separately for private health insurance if one wants to - & it's not too expensive (not as expensive as the USA). Having private health insurance can sometimes help a person to be treated more quickly in hospital for some operations, for which there may be a "waiting list" with the free health service.
In my country, people usually need to borrow money to be able to buy a house - but the maximum length of time for a home loan/mortgage is usually 25 years.
We also don't have various sales taxes added on to the purchase price (unlike the USA) - so the price on the shelf is also the same as the price one pays at the checkout.
It's great to hear that the cost of living in Russia is relatively small, compared with the amounts of money that people earn in their jobs - enabling many people not to have to borrow money to purchase a home or apartment in which to live.
I did think that Russell was showing the prices of the supermarket items (in addition to the variety of items), so people watching could compare it with what they would normally pay for similar items, when they themselves go shopping. But I think the prices need to be compared with what people earn. Even so, it seems, from what people are saying in the comments here, that the cost of living in Russia, is quite low, compared with what people earn.
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