What’s new in the neighbourhood

A yet another photo round-up to keep record of what is going around between the housing estates on the south-western edge of Natolin and the Las Kabacki forest. The big recreational area, called Park Cichociemnych has been undergoing a makeover for some half a year, only the progress of the change is more than sluggish.

On Friday I somehow managed to knock off before 6:00 p.m. (nasty two weeks at work left behind) and stroll through the green areas around with the camera. I first scrambled up Górka Kazurka, partly serving as a track for downhill bicycle riders. Here, I look south from the top of it, towards Las Kabacki. Note the absence of leaves on many trees. In recent years we got used to warm Aprils, while in 2021 and 2022 temperatures have been well below long-term average (more on it in a week).

I walked a few steps, turned around to snap the blocks by ul. Kazury and ul. Pileckiego. Actually not a worthwhile sight, but I wanted to grab a comparative view of the spot against…

Another photo (credits to Anna Soboniak) taken in July 1997. Old blocks of flat have been insulated, new ones put up in early 2000s. One day I will try to take a series of photos for comparison to the historical ones which can be found at Ursynów.org – an excellent page I recommend.

West of Górka Kazurka I see the current progress of works was about digging up the grass, fencing off some areas and laying groundwork for new pavements and cycling paths. The area will get some concrete, but I concede the terrain here was too bumpy to be accessible to elderly, disabled and cyclists on city bikes.

The snap to the right essentially elucidates why I’m love with my neighbourhood. I am half a mile from home and it feels like wild forest area several kilometres from the heart of Warsaw. But wait, I am just a mile away from the nearest underground station!

Here comes the new development, a dog playground, relocated from the area west of Górka Kazurka, closer to the forest. I have not idea whether the facility has been completed, but definitely it is not accessible to residents, with entry gates protected by chains and padlocks. In the background, the technical track of the Warsaw underground.

Another leisure spot transferred from near Górka Kazurka is the picnic shelter, now located in the middle of the birch coppice. Brushing aside cosiness of the place and presence of mosquitos in the summer, a bonfire here might end op nastily… I had been there in late March and can’t report any progress of works.

The shot give the essence of now the modernisation of the park goes on. Dug up grass, heaps of gravel and soil, randomly fenced off land – mess all around. I slightly envy the homeowners from the green blocks by ul. Pileckiego whose living room windows and balconies have a view to the green area – they beat my living room view on Las Kabacki.

Further north, I can run across an Astaldi builders base which used to be a technical facility for the S2 tunnel construction site. The tunnel was opened in December 2021, all finishing works have been done, but the base has not been wound down to restore the green area. I want the containers to be taken away and the concrete to be ripped up. I hold out for a meadow back here!

Through a hole in a fence I can snap how the facility looks like. Lots of rubble scattered, machinery all around. The ugly wasteland should be a green area. I have shortly investigated the reasons why the land has not been cleared up and found only one article which says (financially ailing) Astaldi is about to move out by the end of this year.

S7 expressway – construction update

Those awaiting the annual winter timeline have to carry on patiently until 1 May 2022. Looking at the weather in April 2022, I have resolved to include the statistics for the entire month in my records. Besides, where is a little chance for the last gasp of winter in the coming days.

But last Thursday, when temperature topped above +21C, I made the most of the blast of spring, knocked off at 4:00 p.m. and cycled south of Warsaw to inspect the progress of S7 construction, on so-called section A, between Warszawa Południe and Lesznowola junctions.

The road is scheduled to be opened for traffic in October 2022 and judging by the current progress of works, the deadline is within reach. To the right – the first stop, a on service road (closed for traffic) running parallel to the expressway, south of ul. Baletowa. Sound barriers (ugly, grey concrete) are up, grass has been sown (or laid) on the slopes of viaducts carrying S7.

The first junction south of Warszawa Południe, i.e. Zamienie has been opened for the local traffic some time ago. Sadly, the new roads are anything, but cyclist-friendly and motorists do not give a damn about the 40 kmph speed limit. Hence I illegally trespassed into slip roads, to see how the works were going (and indeed builders toiled away).

I thought I would cycle through rural areas of Zamienie, along terraced houses, but soon I ran across this estate of block of flats. I hold the view if one decides to move to the distant outskirts of a city, one trades drawbacks of living in a block of flat for other drawbacks and for merit of living in a house with a garden. Asking prices of flats on Zielone Zamienie housing estate begin from 6,865 zlotys per square metre.

I thought underground garages have become a standard in new, civilised developments. Car are parked underground (with all benefits of convenience and protection from the elements of weather), while spaces around buildings are green areas which serve as leisure spaces for residences. Not in Zielone Zamienie premises – here the greenery had to give way to concrete car parks which surround the buildings from all sides.

Yes, it was supposed to be about the S7 construction, but instead of heading towards a viaduct above S7, my curiosity told me to cycle down ul. Pionowa in Nowa Wola. A yet another example of an estate built in the middle of nowhere. I hope at least the local dwellers have a grocery shop in the area. Do not ask where the nearest public transport stop is (I believe the correct answer is “around 2 miles / 3 kilometres from there”).

A short stopover in my trip (31 kilometres being the longest ride this year) by a pond in Nowa Wola. Behind it, a classic volunteer firemen’s station (remiza Ochotniczej Straży Pożarnej), with a classic watch tower. The rural area has its charm, felt most a warm spring late afternoon.

Having pedalled south, I (again illegally) got into a viaduct which will one day carry Droga Wojewódzka 721 dual carriageway over the S7. Good they have built a full junction, a pity is will be useless for years ahead. Here, looking south, S7 approaching Lesznowola junction. The progress of works indicates opening the section in October is utterly doable.

A snap looking north, from basically the same spot. The junction with DW 721 has taken shape and after the S7 is opened, will become a monument of dismal coordination of public tenders in Poland.

The last shot comes from a viaduct carrying a new road between Zamienie and Zgorzała or Nowa Wola. Needless to say, I trespassed the area illegally. Except for looking at the expressway and the service road, note the cranes in Zamienie which turn the village into a town with tens of blocks of flats and the grey detached house west of S7. Who the hell has decided to settle down so close to the noise and fumes from the fast traffic?

S7 will not give me much improvement. It may offer an alternative to ul. Puławska if I drive to my parents (no traffic lights along the way mean driving at a steady speed and lower fuel consumption if I drive at reasonable 90 – 100 kmph). To Kraków I go by train, trips to other places in Poland are infrequent (no more than 3 times a year). I hope once S7 takes the strain from ul. Puławska, public transport is finally given priority on it (after opening the tunnel beneath Ursynów as part of S2 expressway and setting up bus lanes in Dolinka Służewiecka, traffic jams on the latter and not worse than with one lane for passenger cars more, but without the tunnel).

Pandemic diary – weeks 107 & 108

Monday, 28 March 2022
Isolation, quarantine and mask-wearing obligation indoors (except for health care outposts) are lifted. In my opinion, it is too early to say the pandemic is over and COVID-19 should be treated like a flu, especially if countries which have followed that strategy are paying the price.

Tuesday, 29 March 2022
I visit Lidl in the morning and the shopping mall in Janki in the evening. Around one-fourth of people, including me, continue to wear masks. It takes quite little effort, but gives reasonable protection – until the level of new infections declines to three digits per day, I will carry on covering my mouth and nose in public indoor spaces.

Wednesday, 30 March 2022
The number of hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients in Poland drops below 5,000, for the first time since 24 October 2021.

Thursday, 31 March 2022
The customary (and the last) month-end report of the sluggish pace of vaccinations in Poland.

1. Vaccine uptake in age groups

2. Vaccination status in the entire population of Poland

Friday, 1 April 2022
On 5 March 2022 I predicted the total number of detected cases in Poland today would reach 6,000,000. I got it wrong by 33,030 cases. With poorer access to tests and the epidemic officially called off by politicians I refrain from predicting when the seventh million is reached.
The 7-day average of new infections in Poland falls below 5,000, for the first time since 25 October 2021.

Saturday, 2 April 2022
The Polish Ministry of Health changes reporting methodology. Data on antigen testing and hospitalisations will be reported in weekly intervals. For some time new infections and deaths will be reported daily. Officially the pandemic draws to a close, but does the virus know it?

Sunday, 3 April 2022
Thanks to restricted access to testing, new infections in Poland drop by 84% week-on-week. Jaw drops open.

Monday, 4 April 2022
My workmates from the sales team went on an off-site integration event last week. Two-third have tested positive for COVID-19. Was the minister wrong, when claiming the pandemic was over?

Tuesday, 5 April 2022
The 7-day average of new infections in Poland falls below 3,000, for the first time since 19 October 2021.

Wednesday, 6 April 2022
Vaccinations for adults are not just against COVID-19. Today I got voluntarily a self-paid shot of Boostrix Polio vaccine.

Thursday, 7 April 2022
The 7-day average of new infections in Poland falls below 2,000, for the first time since 13 October 2021. Given Poland actually nearly ceased to carry out testing, hospitalisations reported weekly and excess deaths might become the only measure of the (bygone) pandemic.

Friday, 8 April 2022
The 7-day average number of deaths in Poland declines below 50. Good news!

Saturday, 9 April 2022
While in Poland COVID-19 has been called off, worth noting there are countries in Europe which have seen all-time high of new infections in the second half of March:
- Finland on 16 March,
- Austria, on 18 March,
- Germany, on 24 March,
- Cyprus on 30 March.

Love-life-wise catch-up

I think I last wrote a post dealing with my relationship only in January 2021, after my ex-girlfriend and I broke up for the first time, but not for good. Since then we had our ups and downs, with next “reversed” break-ups in June and August. We endured better and worse days, but it all was going downhill since that time. Eventually, in mid-December we consensually resolved to give it a rest. Prospects were anything, but bright, the burden to carry on our backs was too heavy for both of us.

I did not feel the need to mention it on the blog at that time. The end of the relationship was not a shock, but was a bit of relief. The year-end period at work was busy, Szlachetna Paczka final weekend was just past; I needed to cool down. I knew the break-up was a matter of time and began getting over it well ahead of the actual goodbye. Thus the transition into being a “single” was astonishingly smooth.

More than three months have passed since that moment and believe I can examine the reasons why the relationship had fallen apart. We both talked about it and even agreed it was just meant to fall apart.

My ex-girlfriend for many months before the break-up lacked the feeling of certainty. It held her back from making a step forward, i.e. agreeing to live with me under one roof. When in October I asked her how she would react if I popped a question, she said she would turn it down.

Her lack of conviction towards the relationship with me manifested itself in moodiness, emotional instability and treating me on a verge of emotional violence, something I confess to have put up with for too long.

Before she starts over something new with someone else, she will need to learn that a compromise is essential in a relationship. Sadly, she did not accept me entirely the way I was, but tried to model me on her image of an ideal man.

Given such bitter circumstances, no wonder I got over it reasonably quickly. As we were breaking up, we agreed we would remain friends. Since none of us hurt badly nor harmed the other one, this seemed reasonable, yet I was doing it against myself, as I do not believe in life after love. Time has partly proven me right. A month ago during a casual conversation all of a sudden we both began to dig up the dirt from the past and ended up exchanging grudges against each other.

More than two weeks ago, while volunteering to aid Ukrainians I accidentally met a girl (a fellow volunteer). I thought for a while I would stay emotionally hollow. It has not worked out and I was rejected in a nasty way, but merely finding out there are such righteous, sensitive and kind-hearted people is spirit-lifting.  Hadn't I tried, I would have attained nothing, but with the outcome at least I will not wonder would would have been if...

The moment I met her coincided with a return to Tinder, which is a more shitty area than it was two years ago. More on this in some time. So far no points scored in the application.