|
Well, I guess there are a lot of misconceptions out there, both in regards to life in the FSU and in places like Texas. Whenever a Russian bride hears Texas (to a lesser degree Oklahoma also), they think A) it is straight off the set of a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western complete with a saloon with swinging doors and people having a gun fight on main street; or B) that every family lives like the Ewing family on 'Dallas' out at the South Fork ranch. Sure, they have people that do live like that and I even have cousins in the Panhandle who could give J.R. a run for his money. It's more the exception than the rule, however. Guys like Red Adair and Colonel Goodnight are gone. I think that spirit lives on, but it has been adapted to the modern world. People also seem to think Texans are not as intelligent for some reason, and I have found this to be anything but true. In my business, we have done a ton of deals with people from Texas and they want you to think they're simple, because that's when they have you right where they want you :lol:
Whenever I tell people I grew up on a ranch in Oklahoma, I get all kinds of questions. They range from inquisitive to the absurd. A sample of these would be: Is the Dust Bowl still going on? Did you ride a horse to school? How many guns does your family own? Do the indians still cause problems? and my all-time fave: How many oil wells do you own? My dad raised cows all his life, but he doesn't wear cowboy hats or boots. Personally, I think these type of questions need to be addressed because if Americans have these types of perceptions, can you imagine what somebody from a foreign country would have? I hope any woman from the FSU headed to either state realizes it's not like that any longer and they have the same modern amenities you can find in any other American city.
You're right. You can't make any money on cows any more, unless you finish them out in a feed lot and have several thousand. Even then, it's pretty risky. I've seen a lot of people get rich doing that, but a lot of people go broke doing the same thing. If you want to talk about some smart people, those cattle feeders are pretty quick witted and can do all kinds of complex math in their heads at super sonic speed. As my dad always said, though, you don't go into that type of profession because you want to make a lot of money. There are basically 3 ways to get into ranching: you're either born into it, you marry into it, or you get rich doing something else first. A lawyer, huh? In my experience, lawyers have about as much respect amongst those 'old-school' cowboy types as bankers do, so I guess we're 2 of a kind. I just keep my eyes peeled for ropes and trees whenever I go home these days. :lol:
*****************************************************
Kievan Rus' though it was Kievan but still Rus'. Rus'=Russia, not Ukraine not Belarus. Dosn't it meant anything to you? All rullers of Kievan Rus' had russian names, you won't find any Tarases or Ostap among them.
*****************************************************
:D leave alone that the very name Ukraina means not other than "at a border of something" - And that "something" is Russia of course, silly you :p
Now that historical fact such "hurts" hohols' national pride that they demand from Russians not to use pretext before the name Ukraina like we did that for centures :D
go some early ( let say 20+ years back from 1940) and take a look at maps of those times Then you will understand better where were those terrirtories (including Lithuania itself) and where Eastern territories ( the most industrial part of Ukraina) and Crimea were
|
|
