The Putin-meister

Yesterday, a buddy of mine forwards an email to me about a scheduled shut down of the main building & writes "Vladimir Putin will be here in case you didn't know". Vlad must've forgotten to call me b/c I had no idea. You know...me being the buddy buddy of Russian Prime Ministers. In reading the email, I was glad that I do not work in the main building...Or I may have been stuck there for hours & hours waiting for him to show up.

I didn't think much of the email until lunch time when Secret Service, KGB, or whatever they call themselves nowadays began to enter the building (I have lunch in the main building) & stood around the entrance talking into their sleeve. Hello Hollywood? Yea, apparently you got that one spot on. As I walked back to the "safety" of my building, approx 4-5 policemen walked up behind me & one decided to cock his sniper. I guess the trio I was with looked suspicious & we needed a warning? The snipers were waiting for the elevator (lazy bums! Even I use the stairs now!) when one of them dropped something. I thought it was the gun & I swear I must've jumped 30 feet in the air. The policeman was amused. Me? Not so much.

As I was leaving for the day, the Putin-ator hadn't arrived yet but tourists, camera crews, police, & the rest of his entourage were all at the entrance to the office. I left as the helicopter approached.



But this is not the end of the story...Apparently, Vladster was disappointed that we didn't run into each other, because later in the evening, his motorcade & helicopter escort wizzed past me as they headed to parts unknown (at least to me).

I guess the Vlady & I will just have to catch up next time.


PS - I did not take this video but thought you might appreciate a little glimpse of "my world".

The Snipers

The Camera Crews

The Motorcade