Lots of stuff has been going on but I won't tell you about that. Instead, some statistics to consider.
Road deaths, 2005*:
I like to compare the US, Germany and Poland whenever I can. The US, obviously, because that's where I'm from. Germany, because that's our next-door neighbor. They have similar terrain, similar weather, they're in the EU and so on - and yet so vastly different from Poland.
In 2005, Poland had 5444 road deaths. Germany had 5361. The US had 43510. To put it into context, in terms of per one billion kilometers driven: Poland had 29 road deaths per 1b km. Germany had 6. The US had 9.
Conclusions? Poland isn't a very safe place to drive in or be a pedestrian in. Germany's safer than I thought or, rather, the US isn't as safe as I thought. It would be very interesting to see the average age of the vehicles involved in crashes in Poland vs. the US and DE because, frankly, the average age of a vehicle in Poland is higher (or older) than the US or Germany. Older cars are cheaper but have less safety features. Additionally, it's quite vogue for people not to wear seat belts in Poland.
*The US data has been gathered from here and the EU data from Eurostat, here (PDF).
Purchasing Power Parity 2006*:
Poland 62.9, Slovakia 58.2, Germany 103.3, EU27 100.0
What does this mean? From the guide, "If the index of the comparative price levels shown for a country is higher/ lower than 100, the country concerned is relatively expensive/cheap as compared with the EU average."
Conclusion: PPP isn't GDP. PPP is, basically, an attempt to take GDP and then check how much things cost and then determine whether it's "cheaper" to live somewhere else based on how much you'll make and how much things will cost. E.g. it's not, generally speaking, financially viable to move to Germany and work there unless you're shacked up with five other people in a small flat and never spend money on anything. Keep in mind that PPP is checking against how much stuff costs in that particular country vs. the EU average. It's cheap for German tourists to go to Poland.
See the next group of stats for more comparison...
*Data gathered from Eurostat, here.
GDP in USD for 2006*:
Poland $14,400. Slovakia $18,200. Germany $31,900.
Conclusions? GDP and PPP are both commentary on how much we make and how much things cost and how much of our money it's going to take to get those things. Look back at the PPP statistics above for Poland and Slovakia and look here at the GDP in USD: Poland's GDP is lower, but PPP is higher compared to Slovakia. What does that mean? It means that living in Poland is ...well, we won't say cheaper... but perhaps "easier" than in Slovakia. Funny, ain't it?
*Data from CIA World Factbook.
Energy and Water*:
"Final electricity consumption of households, 2004 (GWh per 1000 inhabitants)":
Poland 0.6, Slovakia 0.9, Germany 1.7, EU25 average 1.7.
"Final natural gas consumption of households, 2004 (Terajoules per 1000 inhabitants)":
Poland 3.7, Slovakia 12.9, Germany 16.0, EU25 average 11.8.
"Price of natural gas, electricity and heating gas oil for households, all taxes included, 1st half-year of 2006.":
Natural Gas: Poland 10.5 EUR per GJ, Slovakia 12.1, Germany 17.8, EU25 14.5
Electricity: Poland 11.9 EUR per 100 kWh, Slovakia 14.5, Germany 18.3, EU25 14.2
Heating gas oil: Poland 570.9 EUR per 1000 litres, Slovakia 521.6, Germany 589.9
*The data was gathered from Eurostat, here.
Monthly charges for national mobile services expressed in PPP w/ VAT, 2004*:
Poland: Centertel 54.31, Era 36.74. Slovakia: Orange 54.11, T-Mobile 56.07. Germany: T-Mobile 43.73, Vodafone 48.32
Conclusions? If you lived in Slovakia in 2004 and had a reasonable mobile phone package from either major mobile company ...you were getting screwed. This is one of the sorts of things that PPP takes into consideration that raw numbers like GDP don't.
*Data from Eurostat, here.
Households with Internet 2006*:
Poland 23%, Slovakia 14%, Germany 44%.
*Data from Eurostat, here.
Price of a 10 minute fixed-line national telephone call at peak-time (PPP w/ VAT) 2005*:
Poland incumbent 2.25, competitor 2.05. Slovakia incumbent 2.32, competitor 1.96. Germany incumbent 0.43, competitor 0.82.
Conclusions? We're getting screwed in Poland when it comes to land line prices.
*Data from Eurostat, here.
Price of a postage stamp for a letter in the EU, 2006 (EUR)*:
Poland 0.52 national vs. 0.75 (EU). Slovakia 0.41 / 0.60. Germany 0.55 / 0.70.
Conclusions? The postal service is too expensive, especially considering how breathtakingly rude, incompetent and slow it is.
*Data from Eurostat, here.
Which of the following means of payment do you prefer to use to pay for a significant purchase of at least 100 Euros? (percent of respondents) 2005*:
Poland: 75% cash, 18% credit/debit card, 4% bank (wire) transfer.
Slovakia: 68% cash, 19% credit/debit card, 8% bank (wire) transfer, 3% cheque.
Germany: 51% cash, 42% credit/debit card, 9% bank (wire) transfer, 1% cheque.
EU25: 49% cash, 36% credit/debit card, 5% bank (wire) transfer, 7% cheque.
Conclusions? This is why DeGrasso pizza across the street from us doesn't have a credit/debit terminal and why we stopped going there. I'm told by Paula, though, that the charge for using a credit card is roughly 2% of the purchase, but perhaps there is a minimum charge - many places require you to spend 10 PLN or more to use a card.
Contrast this with the next question!
*Data from Eurostat, here.
Which one of the following means of payment do you prefer to use to pay for a significant purchase of at least 100 Euros in another Member Country of the EU? (percentage of respondents) 2005*:
Poland: 39% cash, 30% credit/debit card, 4% bank (wire) transfer, 2% cheque, 22% never bought anything in another EU country.
Slovakia: 46% cash, 26% credit/debit card, 7% bank (wire) transfer, 3% cheque, 14% never bought anything in another EU country.
Germany: 46% cash, 36% credit/debit card, 3% bank (wire) transfer, 1.5% cheque, 12% never bought anything in another EU country.
Conclusions? Poles are more than twice as likely to use their credit/debit cards when traveling: 43% (abroad) vs. 18% (at home). I think that's entirely down to the answer to another question in this particular stats review and that was to the "why?" question. It's easier to carry cash in Poland because there just aren't many card swipe terminals.
*Data from Eurostat, here.
Credit institutions 2003/4*:
Poland 2003: 7,585 ATMs. ATMs per 100k people: 19.9
Slovakia: no data available.
Czech Republic 2004: 2,393 ATMs. ATMs per 100k people: 23.4
Germany 2004: 52,595 ATMs. ATMs per 100k people: 63.7
Conclusions? There are usually quite a few ATMs in the larger cities in Poland but in anything under, say, 20k population it may be impossible to find an ATM at all. This doesn't appear to be the case in Germany.
*Data from Eurostat, here.
Average sales prices of unleaded petrol and diesel in Euro and PPS per 1000 litres, July 1, 2006*:
Poland EUR: petrol 1079 / diesel 1003. PPS: petrol 1954 / diesel 1817.
Slovakia EUR: petrol 1105 / diesel 1086. PPS: petrol 1927 / diesel 1893.
Germany EUR: petrol 1375 / diesel 1148. PPS: petrol 1293 / diesel 1079.
Conclusions? PPS tells the whole store here. The difference in diesel between Poland and Germany isn't much ...but the purchasing power of the two peoples is very different.
*Data from Eurostat, here.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
The Deathly Hallows
A milestone. Paula and I have just finished reading the Deathly Hallows. All I can really say is: wow.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
New job.
Well, I've spent a week and a half at Capgemini now. Very busy days. I don't foresee a lot of web-surfing and goofing off since there is almost always something to do.
For the most part I like the people I work with - some more than others, of course - and it's great being able to see Paula more often. We almost always go to work together, eat together and go home together. Tomorrow will be an exception and I don't know about Friday...
Not much else to say, really. We're workin'. When we get home we play on the computers until 2-3am and then hit the hay. It's awesome, really.
For the most part I like the people I work with - some more than others, of course - and it's great being able to see Paula more often. We almost always go to work together, eat together and go home together. Tomorrow will be an exception and I don't know about Friday...
Not much else to say, really. We're workin'. When we get home we play on the computers until 2-3am and then hit the hay. It's awesome, really.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
New job?
I've been intentionally quiet for a few days and quiet in general about my change of jobs. So here goes.
I've not been really happy with ESCS - being an English teacher - for quite awhile. Excuse me while I go into it a bit:
- When I first was starting I got virtually no support from Matt. That really ticked me off because I wasn't working with any other teachers, either. At the same time Matt was always ready to kind of criticize me or offer teaching techniques that would address a very specific, small problem but not any of the overall problems.
- In this last year I definitely started taking the job a lot less seriously because, basically, the students had never taken it seriously. It's hard for me to get fired up all the time when the students so rarely do.
- The situation with the building where we worked. I had the keys on and off. Sometimes I could stay late to work on lesson plans, other times I had someone waiting impatiently for me to leave the building. Sometimes I had to sit on the stoop next door and wait for someone to let me in. Often had to sit in reception while a class was going on. That sort of thing.
- A big thing was the hours. They were always, always changing. Each week, usually, something would change. Often they'd have me come in early in the morning for a class and late in the afternoon for a class. The schedule was often set up so that Paula and I would hardly see each other in the day. I'd get called in randomly, shit like that. I hate that sort of thing.
- Little things like the fact that I never got the pay raise that Matt told me I'd get ...how Beata always unplugged the power strip I used so I'd have to reach behind the cabinet and plug it back in ...just little irritating things like that.
So, moving on to Capgemini.
- I think close to two months ago now Paula talked me into applying for some IT job. I didn't really know anything about it but Capgemini called me and asked me to come in for an interview. I didn't really feel great about this job but I went in anyway. The interview didn't really go that well - the requirements were way beyond what was indicated on my CV which ticked me off a bit. They said they'd call me in two weeks. They never - ever - did call me about that job. Paula had to check in with HR a few times and finally with the guy that interviewed me only to find out that the position had been eliminated or the job requirements had drastically changed.
- I finally got Paula to get someone from "credit collections" - the job I originally wanted because the hours are so good (1430 - 2300) and it's just plain easy. I should be able to move up quickly. Anyway I did the first interview which seemed to go well. A few weeks went by and, as promised, I was called back and asked for a second interview yesterday. Paula happened to meet with both people involved in yesterday's interview, today, and it turns out that they have asked HR to offer me a position.
So, hopefully I'll be starting soon. I guess I'll be calling people and nicely asking them to pay up. Shouldn't be too bad and a good way to get my foot in the door. We'll see what happens but, at this point, I feel confident enough about the job to mention it here.
I've not been really happy with ESCS - being an English teacher - for quite awhile. Excuse me while I go into it a bit:
- When I first was starting I got virtually no support from Matt. That really ticked me off because I wasn't working with any other teachers, either. At the same time Matt was always ready to kind of criticize me or offer teaching techniques that would address a very specific, small problem but not any of the overall problems.
- In this last year I definitely started taking the job a lot less seriously because, basically, the students had never taken it seriously. It's hard for me to get fired up all the time when the students so rarely do.
- The situation with the building where we worked. I had the keys on and off. Sometimes I could stay late to work on lesson plans, other times I had someone waiting impatiently for me to leave the building. Sometimes I had to sit on the stoop next door and wait for someone to let me in. Often had to sit in reception while a class was going on. That sort of thing.
- A big thing was the hours. They were always, always changing. Each week, usually, something would change. Often they'd have me come in early in the morning for a class and late in the afternoon for a class. The schedule was often set up so that Paula and I would hardly see each other in the day. I'd get called in randomly, shit like that. I hate that sort of thing.
- Little things like the fact that I never got the pay raise that Matt told me I'd get ...how Beata always unplugged the power strip I used so I'd have to reach behind the cabinet and plug it back in ...just little irritating things like that.
So, moving on to Capgemini.
- I think close to two months ago now Paula talked me into applying for some IT job. I didn't really know anything about it but Capgemini called me and asked me to come in for an interview. I didn't really feel great about this job but I went in anyway. The interview didn't really go that well - the requirements were way beyond what was indicated on my CV which ticked me off a bit. They said they'd call me in two weeks. They never - ever - did call me about that job. Paula had to check in with HR a few times and finally with the guy that interviewed me only to find out that the position had been eliminated or the job requirements had drastically changed.
- I finally got Paula to get someone from "credit collections" - the job I originally wanted because the hours are so good (1430 - 2300) and it's just plain easy. I should be able to move up quickly. Anyway I did the first interview which seemed to go well. A few weeks went by and, as promised, I was called back and asked for a second interview yesterday. Paula happened to meet with both people involved in yesterday's interview, today, and it turns out that they have asked HR to offer me a position.
So, hopefully I'll be starting soon. I guess I'll be calling people and nicely asking them to pay up. Shouldn't be too bad and a good way to get my foot in the door. We'll see what happens but, at this point, I feel confident enough about the job to mention it here.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Gratitude
Ok, it's been almost a week. There's a good reason, though.
Well, I dunno what happened on Wednesday. Maybe I was busy, wrapping things up at ESCS. Thursday I was for sure.
Thursday night Paula and I drove to Belchatow and slept at her parents' for the night. Friday morning we drove to the Heineken Open'er festival in Gdynia. We set up the tent and checked the place out. Bought some shirts. Saw most of The Roots' show. Saturday we foraged for food, had digestive and poop issues and saw the entire Groove Armada and Beastie Boys' shows. GA was good. Beastie Boys' ...well even if it sucked it would have been great, and it was fuckin' awesome which means it was mind-wreckingly amazing. I have never been to a better concert. We caught a tiny bit of the Muse after getting food/drinks.
In between a lot of that it rained on and off which turned the already infirm-in-the-face-of-60,000-people grounds into basically a big mud hole. That is not so very bad when you are just walking around and a bit drunk. This is, however, far more of a concern if you drove there and want to leave sometime before the next festival in 2008. Sunday morning I was already a bit worried so we asked people at the info kiosk about getting out. They basically said "good luck." I walked around the grounds - there were now several places people could get out because some industrious fans had dismantled parts of the gates/walls, but still difficult. Finally I saw a free opening and fairly good lines, so I immediately went for it. We drove through most of the mess very quickly and in 2nd gear - the only way to drive through mud in a FWD car - and made it to the edge of the grounds but not in a "legal" area. We packed up our stuff and got out early, sadly missing the 2nd/last Beastie Boys show (instrumental). We did see their main show though, obviously.
We didn't take our cameras since we didn't think they'd be allowed in. Of course, security was tight but not that tight nor that vigilant. So, here are some photos other people took of the festival. There are photos on the festival web site but it's all in flash so it's impossible to link to them.
Sunday we drove back, listening to The Mix-Up by the Beastie Boys three or four times. It's quite good, really. We stopped in Belchatow again to shower and eat some of Paula's parents' food and then continued on our way. We finally got home around 1am, today, Monday.
It was expensive and tiring but very worth it. We'll consider going again next year if there are decent artists lined up.
Well, I dunno what happened on Wednesday. Maybe I was busy, wrapping things up at ESCS. Thursday I was for sure.
Thursday night Paula and I drove to Belchatow and slept at her parents' for the night. Friday morning we drove to the Heineken Open'er festival in Gdynia. We set up the tent and checked the place out. Bought some shirts. Saw most of The Roots' show. Saturday we foraged for food, had digestive and poop issues and saw the entire Groove Armada and Beastie Boys' shows. GA was good. Beastie Boys' ...well even if it sucked it would have been great, and it was fuckin' awesome which means it was mind-wreckingly amazing. I have never been to a better concert. We caught a tiny bit of the Muse after getting food/drinks.
In between a lot of that it rained on and off which turned the already infirm-in-the-face-of-60,000-people grounds into basically a big mud hole. That is not so very bad when you are just walking around and a bit drunk. This is, however, far more of a concern if you drove there and want to leave sometime before the next festival in 2008. Sunday morning I was already a bit worried so we asked people at the info kiosk about getting out. They basically said "good luck." I walked around the grounds - there were now several places people could get out because some industrious fans had dismantled parts of the gates/walls, but still difficult. Finally I saw a free opening and fairly good lines, so I immediately went for it. We drove through most of the mess very quickly and in 2nd gear - the only way to drive through mud in a FWD car - and made it to the edge of the grounds but not in a "legal" area. We packed up our stuff and got out early, sadly missing the 2nd/last Beastie Boys show (instrumental). We did see their main show though, obviously.
We didn't take our cameras since we didn't think they'd be allowed in. Of course, security was tight but not that tight nor that vigilant. So, here are some photos other people took of the festival. There are photos on the festival web site but it's all in flash so it's impossible to link to them.
Sunday we drove back, listening to The Mix-Up by the Beastie Boys three or four times. It's quite good, really. We stopped in Belchatow again to shower and eat some of Paula's parents' food and then continued on our way. We finally got home around 1am, today, Monday.
It was expensive and tiring but very worth it. We'll consider going again next year if there are decent artists lined up.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Eat cheese now. ask me how.
My sticker. The original.
Zibi or Beata told Paula that one can buy cheddar at Alma, on the way to Capgemini. So after we get back from the concert this weekend and we have some more money ...ch33s3.
Zibi or Beata told Paula that one can buy cheddar at Alma, on the way to Capgemini. So after we get back from the concert this weekend and we have some more money ...ch33s3.
I can't be bothered to think of a title
Went in for an interview at Capgemini for a credit collections position. It's not open until someone quits, then I get the job. Here's hoping it's soon.
Oh and I got enigmail working again. I'm at work now and I shall proceed to goof off for the next six hours.
Oh and I got enigmail working again. I'm at work now and I shall proceed to goof off for the next six hours.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Bad as usual
We did nothing this weekend, being poor as hell. Sunday was just as lazy as Saturday, although we did visit grandma (free dinner).
Today ...well, also lazy. No classes today although I did spend a few hours re-working a bunch of mid-term reports that my boss just got back to me four days before the term is finished. Good one. In his defense they never even gave me the paperwork to fill out until about a week or two ago.
Not sure what else to say. Oh, my pgp stuff in my email is broke. Gotta fix that.
Today ...well, also lazy. No classes today although I did spend a few hours re-working a bunch of mid-term reports that my boss just got back to me four days before the term is finished. Good one. In his defense they never even gave me the paperwork to fill out until about a week or two ago.
Not sure what else to say. Oh, my pgp stuff in my email is broke. Gotta fix that.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Tsk tsk
See? I'm so bad at this.
Thursday I meant to go to the immigration office but just couldn't get there in time. It closes at a reasonable 3pm you see. I got a call from the woman that runs the credit collections team(s) at Capgemini and I have an interview next week. We'll see how that goes.
Friday I went to the immigration office and got the decision that says I'll be getting a residency card (in 5-6 weeks - typically 6 weeks) and that little piece of paper means I get to work at any job now since the card will be based on the fact that I'm here because I'm married, not because of any specific job. This means I can easily change employers. Friday night I tidied up here a bit. It's been getting messy again.
Today has been sleepy and lazy so far.
Thursday I meant to go to the immigration office but just couldn't get there in time. It closes at a reasonable 3pm you see. I got a call from the woman that runs the credit collections team(s) at Capgemini and I have an interview next week. We'll see how that goes.
Friday I went to the immigration office and got the decision that says I'll be getting a residency card (in 5-6 weeks - typically 6 weeks) and that little piece of paper means I get to work at any job now since the card will be based on the fact that I'm here because I'm married, not because of any specific job. This means I can easily change employers. Friday night I tidied up here a bit. It's been getting messy again.
Today has been sleepy and lazy so far.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
It's in Polish?
That's weird. All must stuff on blogger.com is in Polish now. I guess they noticed where I was coming from.
Not much else but we're full of pizza and tired.
Not much else but we're full of pizza and tired.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Late!
Getting this in on Monday with minutes to spare. Did nothing today, really, except watch STTNG which I downloaded and played a lot of Travian.
Someone was just trying to attack me or steal from me. Unfortunately, for them, they're a ways away so I had an hour's notice. Unfortunately, for them, they didn't scout me first despite the fact that I have a population of 250. How they thought I wouldn't have several platoons of people of my own at this point is unthinkable. How does someone like that manage to actually advance in the game? They scouted me after the attack but just sent one scout, which died which means they get ...no report back. So my osada is still a black hole to them but theirs is not to me and it's ripe for the plucking.
Someone was just trying to attack me or steal from me. Unfortunately, for them, they're a ways away so I had an hour's notice. Unfortunately, for them, they didn't scout me first despite the fact that I have a population of 250. How they thought I wouldn't have several platoons of people of my own at this point is unthinkable. How does someone like that manage to actually advance in the game? They scouted me after the attack but just sent one scout, which died which means they get ...no report back. So my osada is still a black hole to them but theirs is not to me and it's ripe for the plucking.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Oh stuff
Quickie. We went up to Belchatow and grabbed Ania #2, had lunch at Belchatow grandma's and went back home. Oh and while we were up there we checked on the Belchatow Brown Booty cache. It hasn't been found yet but I wanted to see how it was holding up. Seems fine.
Friday, June 15, 2007
I've been bad.
Oops, been ignoring this. Sorry to myself.
Wednesday: Uhhhhh nothing much happened apparently. It was probably too hot.
Thursday, yesterday: Hot. Met with Alex after work and had a few beers. Afterwards we went and found the "Misterious Gate" geocache. That was Alex's first and my 150th or 151st depending on how you're counting. It was a micro, which I normally hate, but actually in a mildly interesting location and well-hidden, so no worries.
Today: Nothing much yet, although I woke up at 7:45 so I could be at school at 9am and, of course, my lazy, good-for-nothing Pepsi student has decided to skive off class.
BBC had a "Have Your Say" on whether or not the UN ought to send a peacekeeping force to Palestine. I'm happy to see that most people say "no." As they rightly point out, why the hell aren't local countries doing that stuff? Every time the UN or someone else sends a peacekeeping force it turns into a big, shitty quagmire. Let the Iranians give their troops some exercise and build up some desperately-needed moral fibre.
Speaking of the Iranians: Some retarded students decided to disrupt the UK embassy's "Queen's Birthday" party because some Iranian officials were invited. The stuff that stupid people do and say never ceases to amaze me.
Of course, Poland is no exception to the "doing-n-saying stupid shit" game. Some tabloid here got all uppity about a few British tourists drinking too much and acting like yobs. As I commented on Beatroot's blog ...they're basically hypocrites and should cram a ham in it.
Wednesday: Uhhhhh nothing much happened apparently. It was probably too hot.
Thursday, yesterday: Hot. Met with Alex after work and had a few beers. Afterwards we went and found the "Misterious Gate" geocache. That was Alex's first and my 150th or 151st depending on how you're counting. It was a micro, which I normally hate, but actually in a mildly interesting location and well-hidden, so no worries.
Today: Nothing much yet, although I woke up at 7:45 so I could be at school at 9am and, of course, my lazy, good-for-nothing Pepsi student has decided to skive off class.
BBC had a "Have Your Say" on whether or not the UN ought to send a peacekeeping force to Palestine. I'm happy to see that most people say "no." As they rightly point out, why the hell aren't local countries doing that stuff? Every time the UN or someone else sends a peacekeeping force it turns into a big, shitty quagmire. Let the Iranians give their troops some exercise and build up some desperately-needed moral fibre.
Speaking of the Iranians: Some retarded students decided to disrupt the UK embassy's "Queen's Birthday" party because some Iranian officials were invited. The stuff that stupid people do and say never ceases to amaze me.
Of course, Poland is no exception to the "doing-n-saying stupid shit" game. Some tabloid here got all uppity about a few British tourists drinking too much and acting like yobs. As I commented on Beatroot's blog ...they're basically hypocrites and should cram a ham in it.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Gina
Gina. TCGina. I've got Paula using it, along with - of course - Truecrypt. She formatted her laptop last night and installed WinXP from a corp CD I had but, of course, the code on her laptop is for WinXP Pro from ...not the corp cd. So despite the fact that she has a legal code for windows xp pro, she's using an illegal key because we didn't have the right CD. Lame!
Her new laptop is nice but the screen res, at 1600 something by 1000 something is hard to read for me. I would prefer something in between, around 1300-1400 by 800-900.
It's hot out but not too humid.
Her new laptop is nice but the screen res, at 1600 something by 1000 something is hard to read for me. I would prefer something in between, around 1300-1400 by 800-900.
It's hot out but not too humid.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Total hell!
A bunch of stuff.
Thursday morning we left for the mountains. Picked up cousin Ania aka Ania #2 then picked up Marcin and Ania. Got down to Szczawnica with no problems. Didn't do much Thursday; just went walking around town and got something to eat and drink. We got rained on walking back to the hotel (about 5km!) but we were in good spirits nonetheless.
Friday we parted company for the afternoon. Ania #1 and #2 went with Marcin somewhere up on some mountain to lay out in the sun. Paula and I went after the Haligovske Skaly cache in Slovakia. You can read our log on geocaching.com. Basically: beautiful but too many - way too many - flies. Paula hiked 16km round-trip, I hiked about 19.5km. She stopped at a picnic table/shelter area a bit before the cache and I went the rest of the way. By the time we got back, around 7:30pm, we were way tuckered out and a bit sunburned. Gosia, Greg and Gabby showed up around this time.
Saturday we rested. We went on a little rafting trip, ate and drank a lot and didn't do a heck of a lot else. A good day.
Sunday we parted company again and took Ania #2 back home. Glad to be back.
Today, Monday, Paula and I had to drive over to DHL's office which is inconveniently located across town. I bitched at them a bunch for making us drive over there after we explicitly told them when we'd be around so they could drop off her new laptop. They ignored those instructions and tried times when we weren't around. I'm burning her laptop in now; but so far so good. It's a big laptop but looks like a fairly good one. It's a "multimedia" laptop meaning it has speakers and a widescreen (16:9!) type screen plus some other goodies. Lots of connections via usb, wireless, bluetooth, s-video, etc. I had forgotten, though, how horrible it is to get a new machine and have to set it up - especially for someone else. Do you wipe the drive and install new? What software do you install?
This time I am letting Paula do everything. I'm sure it will be a good experience for her to deal with all the little crap that comes on a new computer.
Thursday morning we left for the mountains. Picked up cousin Ania aka Ania #2 then picked up Marcin and Ania. Got down to Szczawnica with no problems. Didn't do much Thursday; just went walking around town and got something to eat and drink. We got rained on walking back to the hotel (about 5km!) but we were in good spirits nonetheless.
Friday we parted company for the afternoon. Ania #1 and #2 went with Marcin somewhere up on some mountain to lay out in the sun. Paula and I went after the Haligovske Skaly cache in Slovakia. You can read our log on geocaching.com. Basically: beautiful but too many - way too many - flies. Paula hiked 16km round-trip, I hiked about 19.5km. She stopped at a picnic table/shelter area a bit before the cache and I went the rest of the way. By the time we got back, around 7:30pm, we were way tuckered out and a bit sunburned. Gosia, Greg and Gabby showed up around this time.
Saturday we rested. We went on a little rafting trip, ate and drank a lot and didn't do a heck of a lot else. A good day.
Sunday we parted company again and took Ania #2 back home. Glad to be back.
Today, Monday, Paula and I had to drive over to DHL's office which is inconveniently located across town. I bitched at them a bunch for making us drive over there after we explicitly told them when we'd be around so they could drop off her new laptop. They ignored those instructions and tried times when we weren't around. I'm burning her laptop in now; but so far so good. It's a big laptop but looks like a fairly good one. It's a "multimedia" laptop meaning it has speakers and a widescreen (16:9!) type screen plus some other goodies. Lots of connections via usb, wireless, bluetooth, s-video, etc. I had forgotten, though, how horrible it is to get a new machine and have to set it up - especially for someone else. Do you wipe the drive and install new? What software do you install?
This time I am letting Paula do everything. I'm sure it will be a good experience for her to deal with all the little crap that comes on a new computer.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Quickie
Met Karl-Olav, Ania and their families yesterday (Wed) so no time for blogging.
Going to the mountains with Paula, cousin Ania from Denver and a bunch of friends. Will be back Sunday.
Going to the mountains with Paula, cousin Ania from Denver and a bunch of friends. Will be back Sunday.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Fuck the Czyzyny Carrefour
This is the email I wrote them:
This is in regards to the "Hipermart" section of the Czyzyny Carrefour. I live just 500 meters away from this particular Carrefour and yet I will never shop there again. Why, you ask?
- Every single time I visit that Carrefour I spend about 10-15 minutes shopping ...and 10-15 minutes in line.
- Every time I am I am checking out I discover that one or more of my items is missing a barcode or the barcode isn't in the system so I have to stand in line like an idiot while the checkout person makes three phone calls and takes five minutes to find the barcode. Most of the time I tell them to forget it and put aside an item I was going to buy but can't because Carrefour is too damn lazy to put barcode labels on all of their products.
That's it. Just those two reasons and I assure you, you've lost a customer that you would have otherwise had for the next 30 years - because I am utterly tired of the stupid crap I have to go through each time I visit your store just so I can give you my money in exchange for your products.
As I told Paula, this isn't communist Poland and I don't have to do business with ANYONE I don't want to. I want to feel as though the people taking my money in exchange for semi-decent (occasionally good or even great) food, goods and services realizes that my money can verrrry easily go elsewhere. That's all part of the global economy, bitches. Kiss my ass or kiss my cash goodbye!
This is in regards to the "Hipermart" section of the Czyzyny Carrefour. I live just 500 meters away from this particular Carrefour and yet I will never shop there again. Why, you ask?
- Every single time I visit that Carrefour I spend about 10-15 minutes shopping ...and 10-15 minutes in line.
- Every time I am I am checking out I discover that one or more of my items is missing a barcode or the barcode isn't in the system so I have to stand in line like an idiot while the checkout person makes three phone calls and takes five minutes to find the barcode. Most of the time I tell them to forget it and put aside an item I was going to buy but can't because Carrefour is too damn lazy to put barcode labels on all of their products.
That's it. Just those two reasons and I assure you, you've lost a customer that you would have otherwise had for the next 30 years - because I am utterly tired of the stupid crap I have to go through each time I visit your store just so I can give you my money in exchange for your products.
As I told Paula, this isn't communist Poland and I don't have to do business with ANYONE I don't want to. I want to feel as though the people taking my money in exchange for semi-decent (occasionally good or even great) food, goods and services realizes that my money can verrrry easily go elsewhere. That's all part of the global economy, bitches. Kiss my ass or kiss my cash goodbye!
Monday, June 4, 2007
Another day
Met Paula's cousin, Ania, from Colorado. She's visiting for three weeks. Seems pretty nice. The three of us met Piotr from the UMP at Fabryka Pizza. We had a good conversation and I picked up a few useful tips.
Afterwards the three of us went to Galaria Krakowska and Ania bought some clothes cause LOT had lost her suitcase(s). I bought a new pair of pants. Paula got some underwear and socks, of which she already has so many pair that she could go a month without doing that laundry.
Today my one class/student cancelled so I'm at home, theoretically cleaning.
Oh and yesterday I also got Wheetabix at an imported foods store. They're awesome.
Afterwards the three of us went to Galaria Krakowska and Ania bought some clothes cause LOT had lost her suitcase(s). I bought a new pair of pants. Paula got some underwear and socks, of which she already has so many pair that she could go a month without doing that laundry.
Today my one class/student cancelled so I'm at home, theoretically cleaning.
Oh and yesterday I also got Wheetabix at an imported foods store. They're awesome.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Lazy weekend
Playing Travian, reading now the first HP book.
We went over to Dominika's and sat around talking with her and Agata all evening. A very good time. Paula drank too much and she's hung over now. I'm fine, despite having drank the same amount.
We went over to Dominika's and sat around talking with her and Agata all evening. A very good time. Paula drank too much and she's hung over now. I'm fine, despite having drank the same amount.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
More stuff
Just finished reading the Half-Blood Prince for the 2nd time, I believe. Paula and I are both looking forward to the film for Order of the Phoenix and the next book in July.
Not much else to say, really. We didn't do shit today since it rained most of the morning and early afternoon - pissing, really. Travian and tv and such.
Not much else to say, really. We didn't do shit today since it rained most of the morning and early afternoon - pissing, really. Travian and tv and such.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Some stuff of course
Occasionally I get the urge to tell someone about this. Then I realize I don't really want anyone to know about it. I kind of like being anonymous in a crowd. Visible if you look, invisible if you don't. Paula knows about it but she didn't seem overly curious.
Speaking of my beloved wife, she is going to buy an IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad Z60m laptop - almost definitely. It's a pretty good deal at 3900 PLN for a 2ghz, 1gb ram, 100gb HD, fancy graphics and big screen. Her dad is transferring her the money to get it now and we'll have him fully paid-back by August. She's excited about it.
And speaking of buying things: my old pendrive ...err what's the name of it? Oh yes, Simpletech. Anyway it's finally starting to go belly-up. The last few times I've plugged it in I've had to unplug it slightly to get the laptop to see it. I got the Simpletech SD card reader/pendrive back at Benchmade, so that would have been... sometime in late 2004 I think. Autumn 2004. So it's lasted two and a half years; pretty good considering it's been on my keychain the entire time. So Paula bought me a new one from Kingston! Nice. BTW, how come Google saw that on Amazon.co.uk but when I specifically searched Kingston's site Google didn't see it? Web page authors are idiots.
We watched the Bond film, "The World is Not Enough" last night. I love how Denise Richards, of all people, is a nuclear physicist. The Bond girls are hot, though so WTF.
Gonna back up the ol' pendrive and continue screwing around.
Speaking of my beloved wife, she is going to buy an IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad Z60m laptop - almost definitely. It's a pretty good deal at 3900 PLN for a 2ghz, 1gb ram, 100gb HD, fancy graphics and big screen. Her dad is transferring her the money to get it now and we'll have him fully paid-back by August. She's excited about it.
And speaking of buying things: my old pendrive ...err what's the name of it? Oh yes, Simpletech. Anyway it's finally starting to go belly-up. The last few times I've plugged it in I've had to unplug it slightly to get the laptop to see it. I got the Simpletech SD card reader/pendrive back at Benchmade, so that would have been... sometime in late 2004 I think. Autumn 2004. So it's lasted two and a half years; pretty good considering it's been on my keychain the entire time. So Paula bought me a new one from Kingston! Nice. BTW, how come Google saw that on Amazon.co.uk but when I specifically searched Kingston's site Google didn't see it? Web page authors are idiots.
We watched the Bond film, "The World is Not Enough" last night. I love how Denise Richards, of all people, is a nuclear physicist. The Bond girls are hot, though so WTF.
Gonna back up the ol' pendrive and continue screwing around.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
The New Justice Team
So I found out why last week's ASEC lesson was canceled: two of their employees were killed in a hit-and-run, basically. Some maniac (read: typical Polish driver) had been illegally overtaking up a hill and the two employees were on the other side, in their car. They crest the hill and this maniac is doing about 180 KPH (115 mph) in a 90 KPH zone. The employee and his fiancee serve to the right to avoid this guy, they bounce off the semi truck next to them, go into the oncoming lane, hit a Toyota Avensis (and break that guy's arm) and then slam into a tree and ...died.
The maniac, BTW, got away.
I would love to deliver personal punishment to all of these people who break the law without regard for the lives they put at risk, shorten, drastically change or end. I talked to one of my ASEC students today about it and he agreed with me that the only way to quickly and resonably change the situation is my idea that we raise all the fines immediately and channel that money back into the police force to give them all raises and encourage them to continue giving absurdly high fines. Link it with insurance rates. Seize cars, suspend licenses, give jail time. I'm spreading the word. I haven't started riding around with a crowbar in the car, but I'm very close to it. If the police and politicians won't stop these people ...someone has to. It's our duty as good citizens.
In other news: I stopped by the immigration/visa office and checked on my visa. Things are moving at the speed of evolution, perhaps even plate techtonics ...and the "decision" should be ready tomorrow, perhaps monday. The card will be ready 4-5 weeks after that.
I'd bitch more about the time it takes for stupid crap like this to be done especially when I've already got a card and JUST went through this process so why do they have to check with the border guards and cops and everyone else less than two months after they checked before ...but places like the US are even worse, although that is down to terrorism-induced pussyness and keepin' out the riff-raff. The riff-raff natually keep out of Poland so it's not really a problem and therefore I don't know why they have to pretend that this is the promised land.
Weather's still good. It cooled down a lot yesterday and was about 20-22 today. Lots of clouds, yay!
Looking forward to the weekend.
The maniac, BTW, got away.
I would love to deliver personal punishment to all of these people who break the law without regard for the lives they put at risk, shorten, drastically change or end. I talked to one of my ASEC students today about it and he agreed with me that the only way to quickly and resonably change the situation is my idea that we raise all the fines immediately and channel that money back into the police force to give them all raises and encourage them to continue giving absurdly high fines. Link it with insurance rates. Seize cars, suspend licenses, give jail time. I'm spreading the word. I haven't started riding around with a crowbar in the car, but I'm very close to it. If the police and politicians won't stop these people ...someone has to. It's our duty as good citizens.
In other news: I stopped by the immigration/visa office and checked on my visa. Things are moving at the speed of evolution, perhaps even plate techtonics ...and the "decision" should be ready tomorrow, perhaps monday. The card will be ready 4-5 weeks after that.
I'd bitch more about the time it takes for stupid crap like this to be done especially when I've already got a card and JUST went through this process so why do they have to check with the border guards and cops and everyone else less than two months after they checked before ...but places like the US are even worse, although that is down to terrorism-induced pussyness and keepin' out the riff-raff. The riff-raff natually keep out of Poland so it's not really a problem and therefore I don't know why they have to pretend that this is the promised land.
Weather's still good. It cooled down a lot yesterday and was about 20-22 today. Lots of clouds, yay!
Looking forward to the weekend.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Same ol.
It was blisteringly hot yesterday, as it has been recently but today we have a true respite. It's 23C in the flat and about 18C outside. Not too bad.
I had a good chat with Kate, one of my two evening students. We went over that day's car/driving stupidity, politics, etc. I wish the other student had made more of an effort to join in but she rarely talks unless I really prompt her to.
Moving on ...I expect better than filth like this from Deutsche Welle.
I challenge anyone to go to Yahoo or any other crappy search engine and see if you can find the following:
It's trendy to carefully inspect a horse-as-a-present in the mouth but that doesn't mean it isn't stupid. If there's a better search engine out there ...wait, no, there isn't.
Well that's about it. As usual I need to take my bath and hit the road pretty soon. English to be taught and so on.
Oh last thing. There was a crappy article by the NY Times about traveling to Krakow. Their copy editor or fact-checker must be on holiday too or suddenly the money in my US account is worth a LOT more since they claim the exchange rate is nearly 1 USD to 9 PLN.
That article is stupid because: Wow, someone found all the trendy places. Yes, please, I want to be deafended by the same crappy music at every place I visit. Also, can I stay in an overpriced hotel or sleep over a drunk college student in a hostel and pay $50/night for that? What, you've got a list of those very places?! Great. I think Val was paying about $33/night for a single room, single bed with shared bathroom and it was right on Florianska for god's sakes. Do some research, NY Times!
At least the article was positive although it did note upon the pervasive hand-wringing church and church-goers who bemoan the drunk British people here. Funny enough, there is an advert - everywhere - about three of Krakow's cultural icons sitting on a bench in the Rynek with massive hangovers. There's been an outcry about this cause it sends a bad image to all of the drunk pensioners, students, politicians and frankly everyone. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt, folks.
I had a good chat with Kate, one of my two evening students. We went over that day's car/driving stupidity, politics, etc. I wish the other student had made more of an effort to join in but she rarely talks unless I really prompt her to.
Moving on ...I expect better than filth like this from Deutsche Welle.
- Oooh, they use cookies! Isn't that naughty?! ...So 1999. Cookies are actually the unique ID that is referenced next.
- Oooh, they record your IP, a "a series of numbers that uniquely identifies the connecting device." Umm, no it doesn't. It's not unique, most of them are shared between hundreds or thousands of customers per "unique IP". Those that aren't are often recycled (DHCP).
- This is really about some German dork's worries about Google's planned acquisition of Doubleclick, a company so shitty that, as the article says, reaches up to 85% of the internet population due to the plethoric spew of their crappy advertising.
I challenge anyone to go to Yahoo or any other crappy search engine and see if you can find the following:
- A blog talking about all of these concerns and more.
- A privacy policy that's actually readable and very clear about what information they're gathering.
- When Yahoo, Microsoft or anyone else will destroy the record(s) of your visit. Google will do it anywhere between 18-24 months.
It's trendy to carefully inspect a horse-as-a-present in the mouth but that doesn't mean it isn't stupid. If there's a better search engine out there ...wait, no, there isn't.
Well that's about it. As usual I need to take my bath and hit the road pretty soon. English to be taught and so on.
Oh last thing. There was a crappy article by the NY Times about traveling to Krakow. Their copy editor or fact-checker must be on holiday too or suddenly the money in my US account is worth a LOT more since they claim the exchange rate is nearly 1 USD to 9 PLN.
That article is stupid because: Wow, someone found all the trendy places. Yes, please, I want to be deafended by the same crappy music at every place I visit. Also, can I stay in an overpriced hotel or sleep over a drunk college student in a hostel and pay $50/night for that? What, you've got a list of those very places?! Great. I think Val was paying about $33/night for a single room, single bed with shared bathroom and it was right on Florianska for god's sakes. Do some research, NY Times!
At least the article was positive although it did note upon the pervasive hand-wringing church and church-goers who bemoan the drunk British people here. Funny enough, there is an advert - everywhere - about three of Krakow's cultural icons sitting on a bench in the Rynek with massive hangovers. There's been an outcry about this cause it sends a bad image to all of the drunk pensioners, students, politicians and frankly everyone. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt, folks.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Vigilante justice
In my experience, Polish drivers aren't necessarily the worst drivers nor are they the definition of unsafe. Insane, rude, inconsiderate ...yes, ok. Also maybe unsafe. Yes, definitely unsafe. But not necessarily bad drivers.
A bad driver is someone who didn't realize they were going to cause an accident or someone who didn't know they were breaking the law even though even an eel would have realized it's completely illegal to turn left out of that lane.
No, Polish drivers are simply rude. A product of the MTV, I-only-care-about-me-so-fuck-you generation? Well, I don't think so. MTV is more of a recent phenominon here and, in fact, people in government are just now picking up on how one of the Teletubbies might be a homo. So they're a bit behind the times in the TV department. They're not bad drivers: they know they are going to cut you off. They know it's illegal to turn there. They know the light was red. ...They just don't care.
So, what going on here? Why is this the way it is? Well, I'm glad I put those questions in your mouth because it just so happens that I think I have the answers. I wish it was something like MTV because that'd be easy. No, I'm afraid there are lots and lots of reasons why things have gotten as bad as they are and it sure as hell ain't the Teletubbies' fault.
There are many reasons.
1. Not enough cops.
2. Cops can be bribed for less than the fines.
3. Fines are behind the times.
4. Cops openly ask for bribes.
5. Cops don't have enough oversight in order to prevent bribes.
6. Cops aren't paid well enough in order to help prevent the need for bribes.
7. Due to the above six items, people flaunt the law, knowing that they probably won't be caught and if they are they can probably bribe a cop. The odds are good that acting like a dick will pay off.
8. Other motorists take it in stride, strangely enough.
9. Unlike Britain and perhaps the US, most everyone else has not mastered the art of queuing. Note that this is not being patient. It is queuing which is something entirely different.
10. There are speed cameras but I've never seen one flash, nor has anyone else. Ergo, they aren't used and are thus mostly ignored.
11. There is a culture of blame: it's not the speed, alcohol, unsafe driving, talking on the phone, or lack of a seatbelt that killed my boy, it's that tree that jumped out into the road!
12. There is a cultural inferiority complex: Like most drivers everywhere, Poles want to be Master and Commander. Death Before Yielding and First Off the Line are all to often the mottos of young and, lets face it, male drivers in small, underpowered cars. They assume that by acting like a dick that they are somehow more in control of everything and thus better than their European counterparts. This also explains the profusion of somewhat elderly Mercedes and BMW's that populate the roads.
I propose:
1. Raising all the fines by 1000%. This would make the average fine well in excess of the average person's monthly salary. We're trying to make it unaffordable to be a dick and to give cops a living wage. Also, this will pay for a raise for cops.
2. Video cameras in all police cars that are on 100% of the time while an officer is on duty and are randomly checked. We're trying to curb corruption here.
3. Ticket quotas for at least two years but ONLY after number one and two have been implemented for awhile. Once cops are honest quotas can be enforced without fear of abuse but there will always be the courts to balance out this power.
4. Colour the speed cameras flourescent yellow and orange and give them a tolerance of 3 km/hr. Then put some damn film in the cameras. Use these inconjunction with fast courts and/or incontestable cases.
5. Fire all uncooperative, corrupt or lazy cops.
6. One year suspension of licenses for 2-times-in-2-months offenders. Five year suspension of licenses if the offender offends once within one year of getting their license back. Lifetime suspension if once within one year after that. The standard 1000% fines (roughly 2,000 - 10,000 PLN per offense) would also apply.
7. One year suspension of license of anyone that causes an accident. Fine: 25,000 PLN. Immediate 50% payment or liquidation of home/property to cover the fine.
8. Five year suspension of license when anyone is caught drunk driving. Fine: 50,000 PLN. Immediate 50% payment or liquidation of home/property to cover the fine.
9. Lifetime suspension of license when anyone causes an accident while drunk driving. Fine: 500,000 PLN and immediate 50% payment. Immediate 50% payment or liquidation of home/property to cover the fine.
10. Driving while your license is suspended: 5 years jail time with no chance of suspended sentence or early parole. Lifetime driving ban. 1 million PLN fine and 800 hours of roadside cleanup (approximately 2 years of weekends).
Draconian? Severe? Why yes, it is. The response is proprortional to the situation. It is PROPORTIONAL. Only through crushingly unbelievable punishment - or threat thereof - can we curb these anti-social behaviors. How do I know I'm right?
Norway.
Do these fines work? They sure do. Having spent nearly a week driving in Western and Eastern Norway at a variety of times and on a variety of roads I can attest that the following are fact:
1. Drivers rarely, if ever, speed. The typical speeding excess is between 5-7 km/hr.
2. Drivers don't tailgate (it's unsafe driving, a ticketable offense).
3. Drivers rarely overtake.
4. There are quite a few cops around.
5. There are even more speed cameras around.
6. Norwegians are well aware of the penalities and the common response is, "We can not afford to speed."
A bad driver is someone who didn't realize they were going to cause an accident or someone who didn't know they were breaking the law even though even an eel would have realized it's completely illegal to turn left out of that lane.
No, Polish drivers are simply rude. A product of the MTV, I-only-care-about-me-so-fuck-you generation? Well, I don't think so. MTV is more of a recent phenominon here and, in fact, people in government are just now picking up on how one of the Teletubbies might be a homo. So they're a bit behind the times in the TV department. They're not bad drivers: they know they are going to cut you off. They know it's illegal to turn there. They know the light was red. ...They just don't care.
So, what going on here? Why is this the way it is? Well, I'm glad I put those questions in your mouth because it just so happens that I think I have the answers. I wish it was something like MTV because that'd be easy. No, I'm afraid there are lots and lots of reasons why things have gotten as bad as they are and it sure as hell ain't the Teletubbies' fault.
There are many reasons.
1. Not enough cops.
2. Cops can be bribed for less than the fines.
3. Fines are behind the times.
4. Cops openly ask for bribes.
5. Cops don't have enough oversight in order to prevent bribes.
6. Cops aren't paid well enough in order to help prevent the need for bribes.
7. Due to the above six items, people flaunt the law, knowing that they probably won't be caught and if they are they can probably bribe a cop. The odds are good that acting like a dick will pay off.
8. Other motorists take it in stride, strangely enough.
9. Unlike Britain and perhaps the US, most everyone else has not mastered the art of queuing. Note that this is not being patient. It is queuing which is something entirely different.
10. There are speed cameras but I've never seen one flash, nor has anyone else. Ergo, they aren't used and are thus mostly ignored.
11. There is a culture of blame: it's not the speed, alcohol, unsafe driving, talking on the phone, or lack of a seatbelt that killed my boy, it's that tree that jumped out into the road!
12. There is a cultural inferiority complex: Like most drivers everywhere, Poles want to be Master and Commander. Death Before Yielding and First Off the Line are all to often the mottos of young and, lets face it, male drivers in small, underpowered cars. They assume that by acting like a dick that they are somehow more in control of everything and thus better than their European counterparts. This also explains the profusion of somewhat elderly Mercedes and BMW's that populate the roads.
I propose:
1. Raising all the fines by 1000%. This would make the average fine well in excess of the average person's monthly salary. We're trying to make it unaffordable to be a dick and to give cops a living wage. Also, this will pay for a raise for cops.
2. Video cameras in all police cars that are on 100% of the time while an officer is on duty and are randomly checked. We're trying to curb corruption here.
3. Ticket quotas for at least two years but ONLY after number one and two have been implemented for awhile. Once cops are honest quotas can be enforced without fear of abuse but there will always be the courts to balance out this power.
4. Colour the speed cameras flourescent yellow and orange and give them a tolerance of 3 km/hr. Then put some damn film in the cameras. Use these inconjunction with fast courts and/or incontestable cases.
5. Fire all uncooperative, corrupt or lazy cops.
6. One year suspension of licenses for 2-times-in-2-months offenders. Five year suspension of licenses if the offender offends once within one year of getting their license back. Lifetime suspension if once within one year after that. The standard 1000% fines (roughly 2,000 - 10,000 PLN per offense) would also apply.
7. One year suspension of license of anyone that causes an accident. Fine: 25,000 PLN. Immediate 50% payment or liquidation of home/property to cover the fine.
8. Five year suspension of license when anyone is caught drunk driving. Fine: 50,000 PLN. Immediate 50% payment or liquidation of home/property to cover the fine.
9. Lifetime suspension of license when anyone causes an accident while drunk driving. Fine: 500,000 PLN and immediate 50% payment. Immediate 50% payment or liquidation of home/property to cover the fine.
10. Driving while your license is suspended: 5 years jail time with no chance of suspended sentence or early parole. Lifetime driving ban. 1 million PLN fine and 800 hours of roadside cleanup (approximately 2 years of weekends).
Draconian? Severe? Why yes, it is. The response is proprortional to the situation. It is PROPORTIONAL. Only through crushingly unbelievable punishment - or threat thereof - can we curb these anti-social behaviors. How do I know I'm right?
Norway.
Do these fines work? They sure do. Having spent nearly a week driving in Western and Eastern Norway at a variety of times and on a variety of roads I can attest that the following are fact:
1. Drivers rarely, if ever, speed. The typical speeding excess is between 5-7 km/hr.
2. Drivers don't tailgate (it's unsafe driving, a ticketable offense).
3. Drivers rarely overtake.
4. There are quite a few cops around.
5. There are even more speed cameras around.
6. Norwegians are well aware of the penalities and the common response is, "We can not afford to speed."
Monday, May 28, 2007
More of the same
Saw Pirates 3 yesterday. This is twice now that MultiKino has irritatingly delayed the start of a film. The showing is supposed to go at 1630. That's when the commercials start. The film didn't actually start until 1655. Of course, if you reserve seats in advance you must be there 30 minutes early. What else to do other than sit in the theatre during that time? So, they have a captive audience for a good 45 minutes. Assholes. Pirates 3 was ok BTW. The jokes are a bit stale but for a free flick it wasn't bad.
Walked around a bit before the film with Paula, gathering waypoints in osiedle Kolorowe, the neighborhood where Paula's grandma lives. I traced the buildings, added roads, a couple of POI's, building names/numbers and sent it all off to Piotr L.
We're meeting Paula's parents again for lunch pretty soon. They're going home afterwards, I think. Paula's dad has somewhat ineptly been trying to lean on Paula to change her mind so she will want to get the Toyota Yaris I would like to get. I don't know why that is that people, especially parents, think they can change their kids' minds by force. It never works or so rarely that I'm amazed at the persistence of people and their repeated attempts. Paula wants the Citroen C4 and, frankly, it's not such a bad car. Beautiful and lots of gadgets and the bottom line is it's bigger. Bigger boot, more room all around. If we get the 5 door then it's pretty practical, too. Maybe that sounds too grown up but we haul a lot of people around and I doubt they like the 3 door that much.
Time for my bath, wrapping up some clubbin' in Travian and at some point going to school and working a bit.
Walked around a bit before the film with Paula, gathering waypoints in osiedle Kolorowe, the neighborhood where Paula's grandma lives. I traced the buildings, added roads, a couple of POI's, building names/numbers and sent it all off to Piotr L.
We're meeting Paula's parents again for lunch pretty soon. They're going home afterwards, I think. Paula's dad has somewhat ineptly been trying to lean on Paula to change her mind so she will want to get the Toyota Yaris I would like to get. I don't know why that is that people, especially parents, think they can change their kids' minds by force. It never works or so rarely that I'm amazed at the persistence of people and their repeated attempts. Paula wants the Citroen C4 and, frankly, it's not such a bad car. Beautiful and lots of gadgets and the bottom line is it's bigger. Bigger boot, more room all around. If we get the 5 door then it's pretty practical, too. Maybe that sounds too grown up but we haul a lot of people around and I doubt they like the 3 door that much.
Time for my bath, wrapping up some clubbin' in Travian and at some point going to school and working a bit.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Whatever.
Yesterday was ok. We met up with P's parents and had a pretty good time. Of course they called two or three or four times between one and two pm to wonder where the hell we were at. Having had to stand in commie food lines for hours (many hours) at a time you'd think they'd have developed some patience but that is not the case.
After lunch (the reason for 234,102 calls and rushing) I walked a bit around the neighborhood, noting addresses of buildings and keeping a tracklog and generally acting suspicious e.g. being young, holding something in my hand in a not-at-all-supicious manner and not drinking anything alcoholic. I had lots of people stare at me which is always fun. I did grab addresses of a bunch of places though, so I'll start updating the UMP Polska maps for that little neighborhood pretty soon.
Speaking of which, Piotr L. and I will probably meet up sometime during the week or perhaps next weekend. I look forward to meeting him; his involvement in the UMP has definitely spurred me on.
Travian: Goin' out clubbin. I've found it works better with at least five clubbies and fairly nearby (round trip < 50 min) and with someone who doesn't have a few guys of their own waiting around. That reminds me: Paula's dad was pissed at Ryszio and Ewa because they just got a new (used) car from Germany through a cousin or something and brought it over here. Well that's not the reason but I'll get to it. Anyway, it's a 2003 or '04 Nissan Micra. Rated against similar-ish cars it kind of ranks down at the bottom due to: small boot, not-great acceleration, 4 star NCAP (as opposed to 5), no cruise control, no alloys, no automatic or tiptronic. It's ok if you don't mind it not having any goodies and being a bit slow. I'm sure it's fairly reliable as it is Japanese... just not very exciting. It's cheaper than the Yaris but frankly not big enough to really haul two normal people around in the back plus P and I in the front and if we can't haul our friends around occasionally then we'd feel kind of stupid. So, either the Yaris or probably a C4. We'll see - Paula is set against the Yaris because she doesn't like how it looks in comparison. We're going to see P's parents soon and then Pirates 3 and my clubbies are back from out clubbin' so it's time to do it again. Or not. I'm trying to publish this goddamned blog thing and I'm encountering a "temporary error." Google, get your shiz together, please.
Since this has been stuck for like 10 minutes, I took the time to upload a screenshot of a spreadsheet of cars we are interested in or at least interested in comparing to other cars.
After lunch (the reason for 234,102 calls and rushing) I walked a bit around the neighborhood, noting addresses of buildings and keeping a tracklog and generally acting suspicious e.g. being young, holding something in my hand in a not-at-all-supicious manner and not drinking anything alcoholic. I had lots of people stare at me which is always fun. I did grab addresses of a bunch of places though, so I'll start updating the UMP Polska maps for that little neighborhood pretty soon.
Speaking of which, Piotr L. and I will probably meet up sometime during the week or perhaps next weekend. I look forward to meeting him; his involvement in the UMP has definitely spurred me on.
Travian: Goin' out clubbin. I've found it works better with at least five clubbies and fairly nearby (round trip < 50 min) and with someone who doesn't have a few guys of their own waiting around. That reminds me: Paula's dad was pissed at Ryszio and Ewa because they just got a new (used) car from Germany through a cousin or something and brought it over here. Well that's not the reason but I'll get to it. Anyway, it's a 2003 or '04 Nissan Micra. Rated against similar-ish cars it kind of ranks down at the bottom due to: small boot, not-great acceleration, 4 star NCAP (as opposed to 5), no cruise control, no alloys, no automatic or tiptronic. It's ok if you don't mind it not having any goodies and being a bit slow. I'm sure it's fairly reliable as it is Japanese... just not very exciting. It's cheaper than the Yaris but frankly not big enough to really haul two normal people around in the back plus P and I in the front and if we can't haul our friends around occasionally then we'd feel kind of stupid. So, either the Yaris or probably a C4. We'll see - Paula is set against the Yaris because she doesn't like how it looks in comparison. We're going to see P's parents soon and then Pirates 3 and my clubbies are back from out clubbin' so it's time to do it again. Or not. I'm trying to publish this goddamned blog thing and I'm encountering a "temporary error." Google, get your shiz together, please.
Since this has been stuck for like 10 minutes, I took the time to upload a screenshot of a spreadsheet of cars we are interested in or at least interested in comparing to other cars.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Still hating it.
Paula and I went out last night with a bunch of her friends. We had a pretty good time except that the bar/pub/disco (hereafter referred to as a bubsco) that we went to started playing exceedingly loud music at 2130. Why the hell does a place that serves dinner (pizza, spaghetti, etc) start playing music at 2130 so loud that you have to yell across the table to be heard? There's no such thing as a proper pub here, nor a proper disco. There are plenty of bars, though.
Paula of course felt crappy today. I feel fine.
We've been playing Travian all morning and watching Stawka większa niż życie aka "More at Stake Than Life". It's an old Polish series about a secret double agent guy. The commies made it so our current government decided to tell the public TV station that they couldn't play it any more. Yay for idiot governments and state-owned TV. Also yay for privately-owned TV station TVN that bought it and started airing it again because it's a very popular show.
Soon we will be seeing Paula's parents and hanging out with them a bunch. It's Mother's Day so they are visiting Krakow grandma for the whole weekend. We'll see Pirates of the Carribean 3 tomorrow afternoon with them. Belchatow grandma came too, so I'm sure I will hear about how I don't speak Polish very well yet despite the fact that even if I did I have no idea what she would want to talk to me about other than to berate Paula and I for one thing or another ...in Polish. Not much incentive to learn, I'm afraid.
Paula's mom just dropped off a ton of food and told us we have to be there sometime after 1 pm which I assume means 1:01 or something closer.
Paula of course felt crappy today. I feel fine.
We've been playing Travian all morning and watching Stawka większa niż życie aka "More at Stake Than Life". It's an old Polish series about a secret double agent guy. The commies made it so our current government decided to tell the public TV station that they couldn't play it any more. Yay for idiot governments and state-owned TV. Also yay for privately-owned TV station TVN that bought it and started airing it again because it's a very popular show.
Soon we will be seeing Paula's parents and hanging out with them a bunch. It's Mother's Day so they are visiting Krakow grandma for the whole weekend. We'll see Pirates of the Carribean 3 tomorrow afternoon with them. Belchatow grandma came too, so I'm sure I will hear about how I don't speak Polish very well yet despite the fact that even if I did I have no idea what she would want to talk to me about other than to berate Paula and I for one thing or another ...in Polish. Not much incentive to learn, I'm afraid.
Paula's mom just dropped off a ton of food and told us we have to be there sometime after 1 pm which I assume means 1:01 or something closer.
Friday, May 25, 2007
I don't want to do this. I hate it.
No one gives - or ought to give - a shit about what I do every day. I'm not a celebrity or even a vaguely interesting person. I assume I'm like everyone else. However, everyone has a blog it seems and somehow they write in them constantly.
I've tried blogging many times but this time is different: I will write every day that I have internet access. So, damn near every day. My goal is to write down all the inane garbage that crosses my mind, anything that I do, interesting or more likely not. I will do this for one year and then hopefully no one will have read it and proved me right so I can quit it.
So, today.
I contemplated converting to Judaism in order to wear the cool hats and piss off Paula's grandma in Belchatow. I don't think I'm serious though because only the Reformed jews are tolerant and flexible enough for me and because I doubt I could find kosher or approved meat here.
BTW, here is Krakow, Poland. More about that later.
I showed up for work at 0825. I sat out on the step in front of the Orange store, next to the entrance to our building because I don't have keys to open the building and must wait for the receptionist to show up. I assume I looked like a very trendy homeless person with my laptop struggling to maintain a wireless connection. I chatted with geocachers on IRC and played with Travian.
My 0900 student once again failed to show up. I don't know why he bothers taking English classes because when he does show up he is too thick to figure it all out. Surely he would be better off in a proper class with other people but wanted individual lessons.
My 1030 student did show up. That class was fine.
It's now 1345 and I am doing this. Later I will go out drinking with Paula, my wife, and hopefully she will stop at three or four beers rather than five or six because Paula's parents are coming in to town tomorrow and we need to spend some time with them and it won't be fun if she's as hungover as a wolverine.
I've tried blogging many times but this time is different: I will write every day that I have internet access. So, damn near every day. My goal is to write down all the inane garbage that crosses my mind, anything that I do, interesting or more likely not. I will do this for one year and then hopefully no one will have read it and proved me right so I can quit it.
So, today.
I contemplated converting to Judaism in order to wear the cool hats and piss off Paula's grandma in Belchatow. I don't think I'm serious though because only the Reformed jews are tolerant and flexible enough for me and because I doubt I could find kosher or approved meat here.
BTW, here is Krakow, Poland. More about that later.
I showed up for work at 0825. I sat out on the step in front of the Orange store, next to the entrance to our building because I don't have keys to open the building and must wait for the receptionist to show up. I assume I looked like a very trendy homeless person with my laptop struggling to maintain a wireless connection. I chatted with geocachers on IRC and played with Travian.
My 0900 student once again failed to show up. I don't know why he bothers taking English classes because when he does show up he is too thick to figure it all out. Surely he would be better off in a proper class with other people but wanted individual lessons.
My 1030 student did show up. That class was fine.
It's now 1345 and I am doing this. Later I will go out drinking with Paula, my wife, and hopefully she will stop at three or four beers rather than five or six because Paula's parents are coming in to town tomorrow and we need to spend some time with them and it won't be fun if she's as hungover as a wolverine.
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