In Soviet Russia...

Thought I would delight you with a brief explanation of some of the differences around the house in Russia.




Russians don't really have a knack for design, and nowhere is this truer than with lamps.




This is a fixture that's on my wall. I can't explain it. I can't decide why anyone would buy it.




Although brooms made of plastic with synthetic fibers are available in Russia, most people seem to prefer to broom the old-fashioned way. You see these in the home. You see people sweeping the street with them. They're everywhere, except stores, which is kind of strange.




The wall outlets are a bit different too.




Here's one place where I'll cede that the Russians are ahead of us. The light switches with the built-in light are really a good idea. I can never remember where the light switch is, especially if I come home and I'm really ... tired.




Aaaahhh.... the Russian toilet. I'm not sure how this design got through R&D. I have brought up the Russian toilet with a number of people and there is always an impassioned response. There really is no justification for this. If you look at the picture, you can see that the water basin is in the front rather than the back. Instead of being a wide bowl, the basin is a narrow tube. The back part of the bowl is elevated, and unfortunately not properly slanted, so water kind of pools after you flush. Another problem is the handle. On my toilet, and on many Russian toilets, there isn't really a handle, but a tab you pull that sits on top of the toilet that gets stuck on the way down every other flush. As for some of the other problems, I'll leave that to the imagination.




The water in Moscow isn't safe to drink, so everybody has a filtered pitcher and a kettle.




There's a lot of exposed piping on walls.




And of course the heater is exposed, which is actually kind of nice if it's near your bed and you can cuddle up near it.




Most of the shower heads in Russia aren't attached to the wall, so you have to drop the shower head when you're doing your hair or lathering on the soap, which isn't too convenient. It's also not much fun when you turn on the water and the metal tube comes to life and water starts spraying all over the room.