The Czar and the Цесаревич wandered around Muscovy today to see what trouble we could get into. (Turns out: we wound up buying some street hockey sticks and rubber pucks for $2 each…a great deal!)

One stop was to the local oil change place to get the blood cleaned out of the palanquin supports. While there, the Czar heard a woman in the waiting area hollering that the easiest way to reconcile the loss of educational funding was for the union to give something back, particularly eliminating pensions for new teachers since there is a plethora of retirement options available that did not exist 100 years ago.

We did not stay to agree; instead, we went next door to the doughnut shop (have you tried these toroidal-shaped fried confections? Bliss!) to get some Bavarian cremes for ourselves. Upon entering, a table of four people were outraged over the passage of the healthcare bill, and were highlighting the ways they themselves would personally be hurt by it.

The Czar was interested to see Americans getting passionate about politics again. Portentious is a word that comes to mind.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.