2024 comes to an end

A concise year-end summary. This time writing does not come easy to me, as I need to bring together some thoughts, cope with clashing emotions and resolve something.

2024 was a first full year of living with somebody under one roof. This is not the right moment for any stories of how we got along (or not) with each other over that period. I once signalled the relationship is not a bed of roses. Now I can assert it is full of spikes and the roses have withered.

In February I started out a new job for the same employer. I followed my ex-boss and joined his new team. Upsides: more reasonable workload, jumping back on a learning curve, slightly higher pay. Downsides: at times monotonous transactions, being tied up in corporate politics and administrative stuff. For some time I will not seek a new position inside the bank (by March 2027 I am bound by company car repayments on preferential terms, with high penalties if I terminated the contract before its maturity). I shall give myself some more time to verify if work in that team gives me sufficient self-fulfilment and satisfaction.

In early spring I got my vehicle upgraded. So far my Skoda Octavia has covered over 10,000 kilometres, almost nearly in long-distance journeys. I am generally content with the new car, despite electronics going bonkers (common glitch in contemporary cars) and some minor defects, which I need to sum up and make a warranty claim to have them fixed.

The event which has taken its toll most on me were my health problems with the lumbar spine. Being immobilised was a traumatic experience. Currently I still have some aches in my spine, but the memory of days when the pain was so acute that a walk to the toilet was a journey of a lifetime ensures I find no excuses not to exercise at least once a day.

Travel-wise, the trip to USA did not materialise due to aforementioned health problems. This was supposed to be the only major trip in 2024, so other travels were less frequent, shorter and rather local, with Czech Republic and Slovakia being the only destinations abroad.

Wishing you all guys all the best in 2025. Keep healthy and take care of yourselves!

Szlachetna Paczka - edition 2024

A thing of the past is becoming my fifth edition of Szlachetna Paczka as a volunteer. Sadly, it was the second-worst after 2020, when spreading benevolence was harshly hampered by Covid-19.

You could put it down to some sort of burnout. Ahead of the final weekend I also hatched such idea, but with hindsight I realised this has not been the case. Many things have gone wrong from scratch, with knock-on effect only worsening the final outcome.

I blame the most the leader, in charge of our area in 2024 edition. Having the experience from 2022 in mind, I refused to repeat a stint in that role and to be consistent with my decision, I strived not to be a back seat driver. Frankly speaking there has been no chemistry between us, but so was the case with all experienced volunteers. The guy lacked balls, lacked charisma, lacked drive and such spark that brings a circle of people together. 

Volunteers were not motivated properly; as a result we found far fewer families to be visited than in previous years. This year 65 families were visited and 42 onboarded (proportions from previous years: 2023 - 85/54, 2022 - 84/53, 2021 - 73/46). 

Visits to families started out with a two-week delay. Consequently, instead of 20 families published on the directory opening day, we had merely 4 to be picked by most precious donators.

Besides, there was a country-wide problem with donators, bigger than 2 years ago, but miraculously it was solved around a week before the final weekend, most likely thanks to a vivid media campaign. When the outlook was really bad, I bended over backwards to find donators, however I felt dreadfully lonesome in my endeavours.

The volunteers in our area also were not doing their best, some of them dropped off along the way. Maybe they were not properly guided or motivated, maybe our line-up was tainted by bad luck.

The final weekend did not go as smoothly as it used to over last 3 previous years. Logistics-wise, it came to a major chaos, like never before. I'm still trying to figure out what combination of factors contributed to that mess. I believe most were beyond my control, with electric lorry's battery down after 80 kilometres - it had to be replaced by a diesel-powered one with half a million kilometres on the clock... I could have planned transports with more headroom, which will be a lesson learnt for next years. But had I been a minister responsible for logistics, after such series of cock-ups, I would have been forced to hand in my resignation (in a civilised country).

The joy of delivering gifts to families wassimilar to experiences from past edition, however it was accompanied by much greater fatigue. Luckily, I got over it quite quickly. Bad memories fade quickly, but the benevolence-induced delight remains for much longer and keeps me company in the period of peace and serenity which commences now.

Park linearny - construction progress inspected

Last Monday, as I attempted to make the most of the clement weather (cloudless skies, day-time high of +7C), I ventured to the nearby construction site, where a linear park is built on areas above the Warsaw southern bypass tunnel.

The quite recent makeover of Park Cichociemnych lasted a year and a half and set a nefarious benchmark for the other restoration. Here, works commenced some three months ago and are relatively advanced, so I can hazard a guess it might become a hangout for locals in spring 2025.

According to the original concept, the park was supposed to splay out between ul. Pileckiego and ul. Rosoła, yet west of ul. Stryjeńskich the car parks where residents of ul. Kazury keep their vehicles remain intact. I would keep fingers crossed for turning them into greenery, but realise those cars would choke up other areas in the neighbourhood.

Looking east from ul. Stryjeńskich. A lot has been done, but the spot is way from completion. Plenty of workers potter about, probably also to move ahead with works, as long as autumnal weather permits.

In the middle of the area there are still large undeveloped areas ul. Płaskowickiej. Those will be most likely meadows, as lawns are out of fashion these days. Note the absence of tall trees. They could not put down roots here, as a few metres beneath the ground surface is the concrete ceiling of the aforementioned tunnel.

For children, one sees a small playground in the centre of the park, with what will become swings is currently fenced off to discourage those intent on using the unfinished amenities.

East of ul. Braci Wagów builders have their backstage spot, with mounds of soil, stones, sand and other stuff they need. The moon-like landscape brings to mind the early days of Ursynów, when the district was devoid of nearly any infrastructure.

Close to al. KEN, one can come across Miś Ursynek, a landmark symbol of the district, bringing out some associations with the cult Polish film by Stanisław Bareja. This piece is not just a decoration, it also will serve as a slide to smaller children.

As the inspector nears al. KEN, the proportion of area concreted over gets disturbingly high. This will not make this spot human-friendly on hot days. Paved areas ought to be scaled down to a bare minimum. In the distance, traces of some works under way are seen beyond al. KEN. Sadly, I lacked time to take a look out there.

The next post due in two weeks, as on next Saturday and Sunday falls the final weekend of Szlachetna Paczka.

Where is the war heading?

Two events in world politics from November have passed so far unnoticed on PES. I did not bother to comment on the victory of the narcistic redneck in the US presidential election. Then came the scheduled event, to my positive surprise, echoing in the media – 19 November 2024 was the 1,000th day of the invasion to Ukraine. Those forgetful are now reminded the operation was planned to last three days and end up in installing a puppet government in Kyiv.

Nearly three years after those days Russia controls roughly 20% of the Ukraine’s territory and is slowly progressing. Faced with an imminent power handover, the democratic administration in the US have resolved to allow Ukraine to hit military targets in Russia with weapons delivered by them. This seemed a game changer, but in fact solidifies a stall in the conflict.

Time before the redneck and his cronies takes over is running out. He intends to freeze the warfare, plausibly by leaving territories held by occupiers within their borders. For Russia it means some areas in the Kursk region would stay under Ukraine’s control. If such scenario is the most likely, Ukraine should strive to take over an even bigger territory of Russia, as this decreases odds of Russians agreeing on warfare freezing.

Shortly commenting on the Trump’s victory – I hope once he is sworn in, he will be less unpredictable than he appeared in the campaign and he will be surrounded by wise advisors holding back his silly conceptions. Besides, Europe must act now, as if it was left to its own devices, hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.