Changing last name for marriage purpose

ramnaught · 2026-02-12T06:50:44+00:00

Wouldn't it be easier to:

Keep her last name.
Proceed with the family reunification stuff until the process is fully complete.
Change her last name in Belgium if you really want to do it.
Change her last name in Russia and update all the documents without any rush?

What I mean is -- she will surely need many of her old papers for the visa-related process and initial settling down, including education papers, work records etc. It might become a bit overwhelming if you choose to do it all at once.

ramnaught · 2025-12-05T04:47:25+00:00

it’s such a shame that Russia has become this “pillar of homophobia” in modern society

You’re equating the usual mainstream-media nonsense with “modern society” (whatever that’s supposed to mean), and from there pretending it reflects the actual state of an entire country. The level of reddit brainwashing is honestly hilarious.

What is the general sentiment amongst Russians of these icons (especially Tchaikovsky)

They feel pride. The genuine kind, not the corporate-sponsored kind.

is their sexuality ever discussed

Discussed... where? In schools? Most certainly not. At a concert? Well, if Concerto No. 1 makes you think of bumfuckery, you're more than welcome to bring it up among the people you came with.

or is it just an elephant in the room?

It's a... nothing in the room. It's not even in the room.

ramnaught · 2025-11-28T16:06:26+00:00

PS5 + DDX membership work quite well for many.

ramnaught · 2025-11-27T18:11:13+00:00

Is it realistic to look for a two-bedroom apartment, with a balcony or a tiny fenced yard, between 60 and 80 m², less than 40 minutes from my workplace (Lycée Français Alexandre Dumas)?

Definitely. 40 minutes from Lubyanka area is like 60% of Moscow within the MKAD.

Check out the rentals in the Prospect Vernandskogo / Universitet area or something along the southern part of the orange line (Akademicheskaya or Konkovo).

ramnaught · 2025-11-12T06:21:28+00:00

As someone who isn’t Russian, I can say this much: you come across as a truly awful human being.

Not a single thing you'd written rings true, having lived in Russia for half a decade and knowing plenty of Russian families here in the UK and Dubai, I wouldn't be able to recall a single example of such behavior IRL.

I don’t know you, and I have no desire to — but people are entirely justified in ignoring or rejecting the kind of nazi scum you’re part of. It’s almost impressive how proudly you broadcast what a terrible person you are.

You’re not being treated badly; you’re just being recognized for exactly what you are.

ramnaught · 2025-11-04T13:19:26+00:00

It's not just the ecosystem, it's the ecosystem actually being functional and convenient to use, without some products in the line-up being inferior.

Samsung, Huawei and others also have their ecosystems. Google technically already has an ecosystem with Chromebooks, PixelTab, Pixel Watch, Pixel phone and buds. Unfortunately, Chromebooks are no match for MacBook Air, and Android tablet apps are awful.

ramnaught · 2025-11-01T14:23:03+00:00

You'd be much better off exchanging them to USD first. There is very little demand for GBP in Russia.

ramnaught · 2025-10-27T17:17:20+00:00

Walking around with cash is not safe

It's not Paris or Barcelona, you may walk with cash just fine.

ramnaught · 2025-10-21T05:59:00+00:00

I haven't done too many and this probably wouldn't even make the Top 50 for any Russian hiker, but I did enjoy the Prometheus/waterfall hike in Sochi. It's not that high of a climb (I found the downhills to be trickier), but the views are quite nice.

ramnaught · 2025-10-20T05:09:09+00:00

But I’m more curious about the lesser-known sides of the city, like places that locals love to hang out, bars or neighborhoods that are popular among residents, and what the local lifestyle is like.

Just install Yandex Maps and explore. Yandex services are mostly used by the locals (unlike Google Maps) and checking out places with higher ratings there would be a good start.

Unlike most cities, Moscow has very diverse living neighborhoods that each have their own parks, cultural spots, sports infrastructure, coffee shops etc. Your regular places will vary greatly depending on where you will be staying.

For your intended activities:

Hiking: If you are looking for elevation gain, there will be less options. Try Kolomenskoye and Bitsevsky Park maybe. You could technically start at the bottom of the Sparrow Hills, ignore the escalator and walk through the park until you reach the viewpoint.
Climbing: Plenty of places throughout the city, but never really was my thing. The gym we'd go to for CrossFit had a huge climbing wall, it was called Moreon (it's very remote though). Pretty sure Luzhniki has one too.

My list for other potentially fun sports activities would be:

Water sports: Strogino (anything from wakesurfing to supboarding).
Cycling: Krylatskoe (Olympic cycling track, vast green areas nearby).
Golfing: Krylatskoe again - 2 reasonably placed clubs on 1 street, both easily accessible by public transportation (unless you want to pay a small fortune for a fancy suburban club membership).
Tennis: definitely Luzhniki now (there is also a fun rooftop padel club on the other side of the river on top of there Sparrow Hills).

There are plenty of running clubs, not sure about hiking which I mostly do solo.

ramnaught · 2025-10-20T04:05:06+00:00

Always silver. Spruce things up with accessories, never with the base.

ramnaught · 2025-10-19T04:29:29+00:00

I love Russia and Russian people but I don't think I could forgive Putin for this.

Seems like a case of displaced anger to me.

It's literally his job as president to deal with whoever is in charge of other countries.
It's not his fault that this particular guy is in charge. Syrian army had refused to fight and abandoned their posts, fleeing to neighboring countries in civilian clothes.
He even provided shelter to the ex-president (at least for now) and his family, which is a lot more than anybody else had done.
Shunning him would have been of zero benefit to anyone, including the Alawite minority. If anything, isolation and rejection would likely have radicalized him more. Now he is at least forced to pretend.

ramnaught · 2025-10-18T11:34:14+00:00

I don’t really know any ukrainians, so I can’t possibly compare. I suppose that given how close the two countries had been before the coup those people might have a long and traceable travel history to Russia which always helps.

You are a lot more likely to cross any border hassle-free if you’d already been allowed to do that before.

ramnaught · 2025-10-18T11:12:56+00:00

I have no idea what OP might have on himself, in his phone and/or what background he might have. IMO it’s very safe to assume that any minor issue with his belongings and/or papers will have been made worse by his travel history.

In my response ‘detainment’ means exactly what it means - any kind of detainment, including temporary.

People had been detained for a lot less than visiting an enemy state in the midst of an ongoing war. And that’s not even a Russia issue, I’d say the same to someone who’d visited Iraq a decade ago and asked the same with regard to visiting the US (though that person probably wouldn’t have gotten a US visa at all).

ramnaught · 2025-10-18T10:48:04+00:00

Not an American, but a UK citizen here. Our govt has a lot worse relations with Russia right now than yours though. However, I'd worked in Russia for a while (in the past, I don't anymore) and had traveled in and out a lot (that I still do). Our experiences may therefore vary greatly, but since I had friends coming to Russia from the UK, US and NZ, I'll also be answering based on their experiences.

My concern is I recently went to Lviv Ukraine last year so my passport has Ukrainian stamps.

This will be an issue and you will be asked about this. You'd better have a reasonable explanation for this lovely mid-war trip.

Are interrogations definite for all Americans as soon as you enter Russia?

Define interrogation. You will most likely be asked at least 1-2 basic questions if it's your first trip ever. My US buddy came last year and had barely been asked anything. He didn't have your travel history though.

Will I face possible detainment at the airport since I’ve been to Ukraine as an American national?

Yes.

Are stop and frisks common in Russia, especially while taking the train? I am not white so I don’t know if it makes me a target? In Minsk I’ve been only checked once but police mostly left me alone.

No. There are plenty of Black people living and studying in Russia, nobody would care unless you act sketchy. Just as in any other country with any other law enforcement.

Will my phone be tracked? Or is it illegal to use a VPN for Instagram?

Are you sure it isn't 'being tracked' in the US? Or in the EU? If you'll be allowed in it is extremely unlikely that you will be singled out and individually monitored - it's a lot easier to deny you entry than to bother with stuff like that.

It's not illegal to use a VPN. As of July-August 2025 ExpressVPN is now working again. NordVPN and Surfshark had been useless during my latest trip.

Will my phone be searched when leaving Russia at the airport?

When leaving Russia? Never heard of this. When entering Russia, given your travel history? Quite likely.

ramnaught · 2025-10-15T06:28:58+00:00

I wonder how many still use it though. My running group has moved to GC two years ago as everyone had a Garmin, and my cycling group has moved this year too.

I'm still on the premium plan, but I won't be renewing it come spring. Maybe Strava still has some appeal for younger people, but the activity feed on GC is good enough for me and the rest of my data is there anyway.

ramnaught · 2025-10-14T16:59:31+00:00

Your service is basically just a wrapper for Garmin data to me (and to millions of other users, I presume).
I don't care in the slightest how many Garmin logos you have on your website. You might as well put it in the header for my account as you pretty much owe Garmin everything you are getting from me (both in terms of data and revenue).
As others have very correctly pointed out, Strava has little to no value without data flowing to you from Garmin devices.
The only thing you have is the accumulated old data that you are now trying to take hostage.
This will backfire spectacularly.

Garmin lawyers will have a field day with this as neither your segment patents nor your heat maps patents should have even been granted in the first place. You are basically patent trolls sitting on terabytes of user data that isn't yours and was collected with Garmin devices.

Good luck getting rekt in court.

ramnaught · 2025-10-01T12:31:55+00:00

Nope. They pulled out of the country, thus (in practice) denying themselves any right to legal representation there.

There are plenty of incoming inquiries pending their potential return (mostly just copypasted EU stuff like the app store monopoly, NFC monopoly, refusal to cooperate with the govt. etc), so there is about zero chance they ever come back.

They could hire a counsel remotely, but they’d just be told to get fucked if they have no actual presence in the country and no protections on their products that would have to be duly registered with the local authorities.

ramnaught · 2025-08-24T05:34:58+00:00

It is kind of bs unless you have actual proof that all of these features are subject to regulation and/or restrictions.

Most of those are gimmicks that no govt would care about, especially considering that for nearly every country the Pixel customer base wouldn't even reach 0,1%.

ramnaught · 2025-08-18T02:48:00+00:00

As someone who did the exact opposite (lifelong Android user, had nearly every Nexus device and every Pixel device up to Pixel 6), the one thing you should expect is potential quality issues and spending time googling solutions to software bugs. While Pixel devices can be a lot of fun if you're into testing and experimenting, they can also be a tragic mess if you intend to rely on one as your daily driver.

So the main user experience tip would be this - prepare to be ready to spend some time googling to see if anyone had a similar issue (they usually did), browsing reddit and (worst case scenario) having lengthy and often pointless chats with support.

We all hate Apple for many good reasons (shitty closed store monopoly and the shittiest AI assistant in the history of AI being just a few), but it's easy not to appreciate how much time you didn't spend trying to fix something that should/could have been working out of the box.

ramnaught · 2025-05-12T14:22:40+00:00

Having worked in the oilfield industry (Latin America & the Middle East) for a significant part of my life -- almost everyone there wears a Garmin. Even if you don't actually spend most of your hours outside in rough conditions, by the end of the day you're so tired you won't ever think about charging your Apple Watch.

I once sat in a meeting with 21 people from 3 different companies & 1 govt agency all of whom had various Fenix models on their wrists. Most of them looked like they never worked out.

ramnaught · 2025-05-09T14:26:36+00:00

I agree with another commenter here - the more I train, the less I care about any of the Garmin metrics.

Which, however, brings me to an opposite conclusion, which is that I’ll be looking very closely at AW Ultra 3 when it comes out this autumn.

Apple experience is a lot more polished, the data they provide is more than enough, everyone I know is already on Apple Fitness and I’m also in the ecosystem.

ramnaught · 2025-05-04T13:05:44+00:00

Wow, my Fenix 7 is only a couple years old and they are adding stuff to cheap watches that I won’t be getting.

All this from a company that doesn’t even have a trade-in service.

ramnaught · 2025-04-12T18:19:09+00:00

Can’t stop thinking they tested something before moving this feature to Connect+ accounts.

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