![\"Fire](\"https:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/images\/Sakhalin%20163.jpg\" "\\"Fire")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis must have been pretty harsh on the stall owners who would have lost their livelihoods so close to New Year.\u00a0 Sadly it isn’t very surprising either.\u00a0\u00a0I went into that building a week or so before and, like in most of these types of markets, I saw heaters, freezers, fridges, and other electrical equipment\u00a0plugged into overloaded multi-sockets which were probably made in China and don’t conform to any kind of standard.\u00a0 Last year we had a major fire in a similarly arranged marketplace, which turned out to be electrical.\u00a0 Perhaps the Russian government would be better directing its inspectors’ attention towards genuine electrical and fire hazards rather than forcing only western companies to make sure all employees undergo electrical training in order to operate a kettle or laptop, and sending them on useless “fire safety” courses<\/a>.<\/p>\n So, 2007 came to an end with a roaring blaze, I bought a seven-foot tree to\u00a0furnish\u00a0our living room, and I had some time to reflect on the year\u00a0gone by.\u00a0 I\u00a0feel a little bad about saying this, partly because others’ found the last 12 months\u00a0rough going\u00a0and partly because I don’t want to tempt fate, but 2007 was probably the best year of my life.\u00a0 Everything seemed to go well.\u00a0 My job and career took off in this wild corner of Russia, and I developed the essential contacts for the future which had escaped me completely in the middle east, not to mention gain an awful lot of experience.\u00a0 My marriage\u00a0to Yulia turned out to be lots of fun, both our\u00a0social lives took on the characteristics of a student freshers’ week, and\u00a0we managed to get three tropical holidays in the sunshine plus\u00a0one or two trips to Moscow and\u00a0St. Petersburg thrown in.\u00a0\u00a0I found that I\u00a0have some excellent friends in Sakhalin, many of whom I will surely stay in touch with long after they or I have left, and they have made my time here\u00a0such enormous fun.\u00a0 I’ve rarely been bored, having found myself joining in on mountain bike rides, hill-walks, snowmobile trips,\u00a0and – more usually – marathon drinking sessions ending in daylight at 7am.\u00a0 In summary, if 2008\u00a0and every subsequent year can be as good as\u00a02007, I will happily die at 50.\u00a0 Actually, better make that 60.\u00a0 Or 70.\u00a0 Anyway, I feel extremely lucky.\u00a0 Unfortunately with my not going back to the UK last year I didn’t get to see\u00a0some exceptionally good\u00a0friends of mine, plus I haven’t seen any of my family since our wedding day, but this was\u00a0a price I always knew I’d have to pay.<\/p>\n Anyway, enough of that: here are some pictures taken over the New Year holidays.<\/p>\n 2008 is already shaping up to start with a bang.\u00a0 Next week I am due to go to Angarsk, Siberia\u00a0to look at a pipeline, where yesterday’s temperature was -55C.\u00a0 Now that<\/em> should be fun.\u00a0 I will be spending a day in Irkutsk though, which I’m looking forward to.\u00a0 The first two weeks of February we are going on holiday to Vietnam, which I’ve heard is warmer than Angarsk.\u00a0 After that, I am hoping to go to Kazan’ on business, probably\u00a0spending a few days in\u00a0Moscow on the way through.\u00a0 In early March there is a good chance I will have to go to Kazakhstan for a week, then late March is likely to feature a trip to Houston.<\/p>\n As usual, I’ll take my camera along with me and keep you all posted.\u00a0 Oh, I amost forgot!\u00a0 There is one more photo which was taken over the holidays, filed under “Don’t Ask”.<\/p>\n Many, many apologies to all those who have wondered where the hell I’ve been.\u00a0 After days of trying everything I could think of to no avail, my technical problems suddenly resolved themselves and everything is now back to normal.\u00a0 I … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"