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\title{Soviet Russia FAQ}
\date{\today}
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\section{Where does Soviet Russia's name come from?}

Kevin bought Soviet Russia using a real estate company called Redfin.
Unlike traditional real estate companies, Redfin does not use the same
agent to show houses and to actually do the purchase transaction.

Kevin viewed the house at an open house, and then saw it again through
one of Redfin's viewing agents, Tracey Lee Ann Foley.  Eventually,
Kevin completed the purchase transaction on June 15, 2010 through
another one of Redfin's agents.

On June 27, 2010, ten people residing in the US were arrested for
being Russian spies, with Foley being one of them.

For more information on the Russian spy ring:

\begin{itemize}
\item \url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegals_Program}
\item \url{https://www.redfin.com/blog/2010/06/tracey_foley.html}
\item \url{http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/r/russian_spy_ring_2010/}
\item \url{https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2011/11/01/how-russian-spies-blended-into-cambridge/LpnMO6TyqHSEGJgtfkr0PN/story.html}
\end{itemize}

\section{What time is the last T?}

The third to last train to Alewife is around 12:38 AM, and the second
to last train is around 12:48-12:54 AM.  The last train to Alewife is
highly variable, with a minimum of 1:05 AM, a median of 1:12-1:15 AM,
and a maximum of 1:45 AM.  (The last red and green line trains all
meet up at Park Street before any of them leave.)

The last scheduled red line train to Ashmont is around 12:32 AM, and
the last scheduled red line train to Braintree is around 12:25 AM.
These trains do not have the high variability mentioned above.

On Friday and Saturday nights (early Saturday and Sunday morning), the
T runs extended hours.  The last train to Alewife is about an hour
after the time listed above.  The last train to Braintree is around
1:48 AM, and the last train to Ashmont is around 1:59 AM.

\section{What is The Sweet Home / The Wirecutter?}

The Sweet Home (http://thesweethome.com/) and The Wirecutter (http://thewirecutter.com/) are affiliated sites that review different gadgets, trying to recommend a ``best'' peppermill, facial tissues, winter boot, Blu-ray player, office chair, or other home goods (The Sweet Home) or gadgets (The Wirecutter), taking into account price. A typical review involves
\begin{itemize}
\item talking with several experts to get recommendations and background information about the various gadgets (such as what are important features of a product class or good brands)
\item checking other reviews (Amazon, Consumer Reports) to narrow down the field to perhaps a dozen options
\item doing tests, using them as normal and also testing specific aspects (absorption of paper towels, or temperature drop inside a winter boot placed inside a pool of ice water)
\item identifying a single ``best'' item, based on the test results and price
\item identifying several variant great products, based on price/feature tradeoff, availability, or specific attributes (such as being eco-friendly)
\end{itemize}

Soviet Russia has a large number of the ``best'' gadgets (according to The Sweet Home or The Wirecutter) --
laptops,
Blu-Ray player (previously),
portable bluetooth speaker,
slippers,
wrench, pliers,
trash can, trash bags,
space heater,
dust pan,
laundry detergent,
paper towels,
tissues,
aluminum foil,
instant read thermometer (previously),
peppermill (best and best budget),
vegetable peeler,
olive oil,
and possibly others.
(Many of them were purchased coincidentally, but several of them we purchased at their recommendation.)

\section{What's up with the Soviet Russia fridge?}

Our original Bosch fridge started having problems in early November -- while the bottom of the fridge was fine, the top of the fridge was about 65\textdegree~F. When we tried to get it repaired, we discovered that there was heavy ice buildup in the bottom of the fridge. After we defrosted the fridge (leaving things on the porch overnight while that was going on), it seemed to work better again. However, in late March, we noticed the fridge was once more had a large temperature gradient, so we got it replaced by a Frigidaire.

The Frigidaire had early issues -- we only got a small handful of ice cubes before it stopped working. We got that repaired, but we noticed that the fridge had quite variable temperatures -- one of the vegetable drawers was down at about 23\textdegree~F, while the top shelves were at about 43\textdegree~F. We tried to get it repaired again, but the extent of the repair work was to tweak the cold drawer setting, which failed to fix the problem. Eventually, we got the Frigidaire replaced as well (since it was still in the return window, it seemed silly to try to get it repaired again, and Kevin thought it was too noisy).

In late April, we got the Frigidaire replaced by an LG door-in-door counter-depth side-by-side fridge. (It is, in fact, \href{http://refrigerators.reviewed.com/content/lg-lsc22991st-door-in-door-counter-depth-refrigerator-review}{the best such fridge} -- though it's also the only one right now\ldots) So far, the LG seems to be working fine.

\subsection{What's a door-in-door?}

A door-in-door fridge is (AIUI) an attempt to make it easier to access commonly used items and 

\section{Is your dishwasher clean or dirty?}

We generally unload the whole dishwasher at once, so generally speaking, if the dishwasher is full (or very close to it), it's probably clean; otherwise, it's probably dirty. You can also look at whether things look dirty or not (which, with a full dishwasher should include some obviously dirty things if it's dirty).

\section{What kind of tea would you like?}

We have a lot of tea. Kevin and Veronica mostly have teabags of various sorts -- black (often flavored) or herbal, mostly.

Alex has mostly loose-leaf green tea, though he has some others as well. If he asks for tea preferences, he's generally wondering what pot of loose-leaf tea he should make for the group, although he'll give you a teabag instead if you don't like the options.

Loose-leaf teas:
\begin{description}
\item[Plain green] Genmai-cha (2x), Hoji-cha, gunpowder, sencha (2x), Shulin's mysterious tea, Hunan Bai Hao Mao Feng, Chun Mee (Moon Palace)
\item[Flavored green (Kusmi)] Strawberry, Rose, Imperial Label, Ginger-lemon, Spearmint
\item[Mint] Moroccan mint (gunpowder green with mint; 2x), Moroccan mint (mint tea from Morocco), peppermint
\item[Oolong] Roasted
\item[Black (Upton Tea Imports Intro to Fine Tea Sampler)] China Keemun, No. 1 Tippy Orthodox GFOP Darjeeling, China Yunnan TGFOP, East Frisian BOP Assam
\end{description}

\section{Why isn't the Internet working?}

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

\subsection{What's the wi-fi password?}

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Network:\qquad\= \underline{\hspace{3in}}\\[12pt]
Password:\> \underline{\hspace{3in}}
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\section{How likely is it that you would recommend this FAQ to a friend or colleague?}

The Net Promoter Score is a tool used by companies to determine how
satisfied consumers are with their company, or its products or
services.  The answer is given as a 0-to-10 point scale, where 10 is
the highest rating.  The score is calculated by taking the percentage
of responses of 9 or 10 (promoters), and subtracting the percentage of
responses of 6 or lower (detractors).

\section{Why does Veronica not like to talk about [most FAQ entries]?}

Most of the FAQ entries are things that come up in conversation around Soviet Russia a lot (``so, how \emph{did} you get that name?'', ``when should I leave to catch the T home?'', ``what is this `best' you keep referring to?'', \ldots{}), and so Veronica has had to sit through far too many (somewhat lengthy) explanations\ldots. She's already less enthusiastic about several of the topics than the rest of us, so hearing them repeatedly doesn't really thrill her.


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