Buy cheap, buy twice

A long time ago I heard a woman who could be ranked among lower-middle class (in Poland there are no standards of social stratification, hence such assignment was purely judgemental) claiming she “could not afford to buy cheap stuff”. At that time I thought she was showing off she could afford some decent items to make up for her inability to buy more expensive durable goods, such as more comfortable dwelling. With hindsight, I recognise the wisdom in such attitude.

The musings should begin with a question whether there is a positive correlation between price and quality. I would argue it exists, yet not really strong. If you buy expensive items, you might be let down by their poor quality, yet if you buy cheap items, it is far more likely the cost of acquiring them reflects their shoddiness. There are bargains you might chase, but laws of economics remain unwavering – products or services of high quality might be attractively priced only for a short time, then the market will drift towards equilibrium.

With age (and rising earnings) I lean towards buying more expensive durable goods and my higher disposable income is not a core reason. I like using stuff for several years, I realise such consumer habits are good for the planet, I detest producing rubbish and I generally dislike shopping, so if I buy something that serves me for many years, it saves me hassle which replacing a defective or worn-out item involves. Besides, the comfort of using quality stuff is usually higher. Such approach requires a larger initial expenditure. As I point out, I pay more up-front, but over years I do not spend more money by replacing one shoddy item with another. Quite sadly, the initial outlay is the biggest barrier for the poorer who for financial reasons are stuck in a vicious circle of buying cheap stuff: furniture which fall apart after a few years, clothes which look like rags after a few washes, etc.

One would say it is contrary to manufacturers’ interest to put out durable objects, as capitalism is driven by ongoing, never-ending demand. Bosch brand, being a symbol of quality gives lie to this. My dishwasher has never let me down over 7 years. By dint of high quality, I have come by a driller, a universal brush, a wire detector and a washing machine, all manufactured by Bosch, which since decades has been a renowned producer of reliable and durable machinery. It earns on clients recurring to buy a different product, not to replace an item they bought a few years ago.

In purely economic terms, the strategy of buying expensive items does not always make sense, especially when quality does not go together with practical properties of an item or if you are going to use an item once in a blue moon. In the latter situation, sharing economy should be the answer, nevertheless despite some progress, Poland still lacks a well-organised platform for renting / borrowing stuff (such as tools used once a year or less often).

Forward-looking optimism?

Well, not actually. I'm moving ahead, as this is a part of my nature. I soldier on, against all odds and numerous headwinds I seem to be facing.

The world we are living in does not fill with hope. The biggest empire of the old world is ruled by a lunatic. His doubtful crackdown on lousy regimes does not fill one with compassion for dictators in Venezuela or Iran, but will bring little improvement for inhabitants of those countries. The orange bastard has still too much patience for the tsar. Despite allegedly good relationships with the tsar, the US ruler has not convinced him to agree on a ceasefire under conditions reflecting the pre-invasion order. The most dreadful is the vision of the orange dumbhead warranting to conquer Greenland, triggering an immediate NATO disintegration, a scenario desired most by Kremlin. Reassuringly, the system of checks and balances in the USA works well and hence the orange guy will be effectively held back.

Russia keeps bombarding Ukraine and the vision of peace is distant. I feel awfully sorry for the Ukrainian people (especially now, as they are coping with harsh frost below –20C), but on the other hand I realise while waging a war, Russia gets weaker, while a period of peace would let the tsar's country set itself up for a war against Western Europe.

In Poland I shun the online world, as my jaw drops open at the crass stupidity of those who bloat there the most. AI has made it even worse and the least clever part of society put credence in all deepfake content they come across. The two right-wing anti-EU parties have a total support of roughly 25% in the current polls, while the democratic coalition, standing for values of the civilised world, enjoys a total support above 40%. Not a bad outcome, given how it was envisaged to fall apart in the wake of the lost presidential election and in the world drifting right.

Family-wise, my parents are getting older, a phenomenon inevitable, expected and irreversible. Their health is around the average for their age, they still basically get on with daily life on their own, mostly thanks to my father's stamina (albeit his underlying diseases are a ticking bomb). Observing their mental aging gets me down most. They no longer have a can-do attitude and perceive matters which just have to be handled as problems. Watching them sliding slowly towards senility fills me with more pessimism than coming to terms with them being less physically fit and the realisation the moments they pass away are not in a distant future.

Work-wise, I think I'm getting ahead in the new role, but ask myself what it is for. If I don't raise a family and spending money does not give me particular joy, what is the point in earning more money? I will accumulate savings, hoping one day they will come in handy, but with little conviction there is a justification for chasing higher wages.

Health-wise I realise I have reached the age range when my conduct (nutrition, physical exercise, lifestyle, hours of doing sport per week) determines my health when I grow older. So far the spine is the only long-lasting predicament and I need to take preventive steps to keep it in reasonably condition, but I keep in mind what my orthopaedist once told me, namely it is not a questions whether my ailment recurs, but when and how badly it hits me.

My involvement in charity has worn me down. If downsides prevail over upsides, one needs to think over whether, regardless of benefits for the disadvantaged, such energy drain makes sense. As of now, I have not resolved whether to carry on with the Paczka next year, but with each next day I tilt towards giving up on it.

Relationship-wise, my attitude of being deprived of hope and belief that regardless of my efforts, mating attempts will get me nowhere, is disturbing. I may try to elaborate on this in some time, but my observations of single women in their 30s approach to romantic relationships can be summarised with one question reflecting their mindsets: “why do I need a man at all?” Full stop. Maybe with time and new chapter in online dating opened my I will change my mind. Whatever the fate brings, right-on is the approach to do my bit, as only interesting people are (sexually) attractive.

2026 will be a year of looking for a meaning in life. At some stage, humans choose among different ways of drowning out the feeling of emptiness. Until recently the most popular one was raising a family which consumed money and time, took away a lot of free time and set long-term milestones humans aimed at. With lifestyle shift in place, pursuit of hobbies, travelling, doing sports, indulging in pleasures and many other ways of increasing one’s dopamine levels have grown in popularity, but they still have a common denominator – they let forget about the overwhelming existential hollow.

Is my mindset depicted above as sign of relapsing depression? I hazard a guess it does not qualify as a mental disorder. It is a natural reaction to a chain of mostly bitter experiences which have come down on me in recent months. As an intelligent human being, I emotionally respond to them. My drive and self-esteem are in order and I retain the ability to cherish joyful moments, despite being overcome by long-term dejection. No need to take medications to get to grips with it. Time will either heal it or bring what I need to reconcile with I have no impact on.

Roll on spring! Warmth and longer days will do their bit in lifting me up.

Not a winter (wonderland) we have got used to

One of the goals of my annual winter timelines, written since 2010/11 season, is keeping track of day-to-day weather changes in one of two periods of a year most affected by climate changes. The sixteenth one is hence in the making. Winters generally tend to be warmer, wetter, with more rainfall and less snow. But as the atmosphere gets warmer, the risk of extreme events rises. As some regions of the world are facing unprecedented for this time of year heat (such is the case for most of the USA since around Christmas), others must counterbalance this with periods of abnormal cold.

Temperature-wise, we have been far from record-breaking chill. In the first days of January temperatures were close to long-term average for the period. Just recently it got markedly colder, yet even with temperature decreasing to –15.4C yesterday morning, Warszawa Okęcie weather station readouts have barely hits their 5-year lows (–20.6C was measured here on 18 January 2021) and are still well above twenty-first century records (–27.1C on 23 January 2006) or low officially reported in post-war period (–30.7C on 8 January 1987).

Snow-wise, after a series of snow-sparse winters, recent conditions are what we are no longer accustomed to. One must also say precipitation of 50 centimetres daily as reported in several places across northern Poland are not what we capable of combating. Such amounts of snowfalls have statistically been witnessed around twice in a century and were not, unlike some claim, typical several decades ago. In Warsaw snow cover got higher than 40 centimetres only three times after 1951:
- in 1970: between 22 February and 5 March (the 1969/70 winter was all-in-all the harshest in post-war history of Poland),
- in 1979: between 6 January and 8 January, between 18 January and 20 January, then between 30 January and 27 February,
- in 2010: between 13 February and 19 February.

This year, hitting such mark is not particularly likely. The snow fallen in late December and early January has already subsided, brining snow cover below 20 centimetres. The current forecasts suggest we may count on some snow top-up, but in a few days it will begin to melt. I keep fingers crossed for a thaw setting in.

I am not one of those fond of proper winter. I do not feel sorry for motorists (including myself, as roads are salted too well in comparison to slippery pavements), but this is a nuisance for people having to move about in general, pedestrians (who again, appear to be second-class citizens), all workers doing their jobs in the open air, elderly and disabled people often stuck at home due to the weather. I also feel sorry for those who cannot afford to heat their dwellings properly and to protect themselves from frostbites recourse to lousy incineration inputs. Many folks do so and you need no sensor to deteck awful air quality. On Friday I ran some 30 metres to catch a bus and I could feel the smell of hells knows what shit burnts in my lungs. Costs and inconvenience of harsh winter is hence borne by everyone, while few benefit or cherish it. On the other hand, harsh conditions shape tough people, so let’s cope with winter with fortitude!

Besides, once snow ceases to fall and sun brightens up short days, winter has its charm. Snaps dated 5 January 2026, from my first, post-flu short amble.

To the right, ul. Moczydłowska, serving mostly as a pedestrian precinct running towards Las Kabacki. Such standard of keeping non-major roads is absolutely sufficient. Other local roads kept in similar standard, with no salt in use.

The cabbage field between ul. Perkalowa and ul. Ziemska is a fascinating phenomenon. If sold for zillions, it could accommodate an estate of splendid terraced or semi-detached houses. But a local farmer prefers to grow vegetables here (note the spot is less than 15 minutes on foot from Metro Natolin).

The Kazurka hill was not chock full of children sliding down. Note benches and other objects downhill are covered with hay to prevent deadly incidents. I felt like scrambling up the hill, yet such effort could thwart my post-flu recovery.

The track running to Warsaw underground depot seems to have been out of use in early January, with snow trampled by walkers only. I still await the moment I catch a railcar on the infrequently used track.

The Oczko wodne Moczydełko pond has frozen over and is capped with snow. I would not hazard, however walking on it. Three days after the last thaw and with no double-digit frost since then, stepping on its icy surface seemed premature.

Out on another field, a man-made snowman, with eyes fallen off below nose. Plenty of other snow crafting works of art were erected in Ursynów during early days of the month, yet I felt still too weak to venture for a longer walk. Hope I catch up soon.

Down with flu

As a teenager and then as an adult I used to fall ill very seldom. Since joining the current employer, I took a sick leave once, in September 2024, owing to serious problems with spine, but all sparse infections I have had were mild enough to work from home. Even my COVID-19, contracted stupidly on a housewarming party, was a mild, though uncanny cold with no complications thereafter.

If the are familiar with previous post, you are most likely aware the fourth quarter of 2025 was a kind of tiresome for me. From the 20 December each night I slept between 8 and 10 hours, vs. long-term optimum of 7 hours sufficient for my body to regenerate. It was desperately calling for rest and regeneration and I did not resist it. But long-term fatigue might have played havoc with my immune system as well.

I a rush of the last quarter of 2025 I have not taken a vaccination against flu, a mistake I am not going to repeat, especially since medical plan paid by my employer offers large supply of doses available at any centre, at any time slot. But for several years, despite being exposed to people infected with flu, I would never come down with it. I had such vaccine once, in 2022.

On 22 December my father went to the hospital in Piaseczno to pick up his medical examination results. He claimed he had waited 15 minutes or so in a corridor full of coughing people. Most likely the story began there. My father was the first to be laid down to bed, complaining about fever, shivers and other symptoms on a Christmas day. He has come out of it relatively quickly, most likely with high body temperature he has combatted the illness fast, but remains weak until now.

My mother felt off-colour on 26 December. On that day it occurred to me except for buying medicines for parents, I should drop in on my dwelling to pick up infection combo tests. I tested my father and the indication was clear – influenza A. My mother got knocked down by the illness. On 27 December I ordered her a telemedicine appointment and she got prescribed anti-flu pills. I drove to town in the evening to get the prescribed medicines despite not feeling particularly well.

On 28 December I returned home, pottered about and thought I would get off it lightly. No such luck. Next two days I felt unwell, yet not tragically, but worked from bed.

On 30 December the fever rose, I would not sleep the whole night, so in the morning I caught a slot with a doctor, my parents’ GP. Thus on New Year’s Eve I fell officially into nationwide statistics of flu infections and got my set of pills. The GP said it would go away within 2 or 3 days, a vivid overpromise (back then and with hindsight). The last day of December was also the worst day, with all bones and joints aching, a headache, cough and runny nose, this all accompanied by fever of roughly +37.5C.

This must have been a turning point, since on 1 January I did not feel that awful, yet tremendously frail. I recalled stories from the worst 2020/21 COVID winter of people getting so tired with a walk to the toilet and back that they had to sleep it off for 12 hours. My state was nowhere as bad, but far worse than any other infection I have had at least in a decade.

On Friday and yesterday I was slowly pulling through. Most symptoms, including fever, are gone, yet I still feel terribly weak. Most likely I will be on the mend for a fortnight, before I am back in top form.

Take care of yourselves!

2025 in a nutshell

Having indulged in some well-deserved laziness (with some indispensable breaks for physical exercise), I see no reason in being particularly creative and will rather look back at the passing year, which I believe was rather tough for me.

The first days were marked by the relationship break-up coming into effect. A year past that decision I am strongly convinced it has been the best I could do and despite not being lucky to get involved in a new, reasonable relationship, averting a lifelong misery and living a bit of lonely, yet not lonesome life has been a preferable option.

Dating-wise, I have been confronted with a phenomenon which has been widely described, i.e. women in their 30s considering being a relationship as an option to be chosen only if its benefits outweigh the expense of giving up on their independence. Threshold for mating has been raised tremendously high, with my odds of raising a family drastically(?) decreasing.

Health-wise, my recovery has been sustainable, with some natural minor ups and downs. I do take care of my spine, have a catalogue of dos and don’ts with long sitting being the activity more detrimental than carrying heavy loads. I badly fear the relapse of health crisis involving an awful pain and being bedridden, as I was in September 2024, so each time I feel a pain similar to the one 16 months ago, everything recedes into the background and I focus on exercising several times a day.

2025 was not abundant in travels, for several reasons. I have not flown a plane since October 2023. I have only ventured for nearly a week into Polish mountains and then for a weekend. I miss journeys a bit, as exploring new places and being away from home cleanses mind perfectly. But on the other hand, travelling has become a religion or one of several ways of filling existential void.

Work-wise, after 15 years in banking I have suffered a burnout (it seems I did not bother to commit it to the blog), but despite this, or in attempt to break away from this, I have been promoted. Currently I am finding my way around new duties, however still trying to keep my head above water, rather than comfortably floating on the surface. Hope things shape up over the next months, however my faith will likely be put to the test by the oncoming ownership change (my employer bound to change hands in January).

Politics-wise, in the run-up to the presidential election, I was zealously following the current affairs, hoping for the best, realising the worst was more probable than the polls suggested. My worries have materialised. Although I seemed to have been prepared for Mr Nawrocki’s victory, I needed to get over it. Since then I have been somewhat withdrawn from politics, focusing on other areas of life.

Charity-wise, my sixth stint in Szlachetna Paczka might have been the last one. I have not taken this decision, but give myself half a year to mull over it. If I give up on being a volunteer, I will be confronted with reinventing myself in the last quarter of the year. I will need to focus more on myself and searching for a meaning in life, even if the reality puts paid to my plans and hopes.

In recent days when my mind was slightly turned off, I repeatedly recalled the morning of 7 November 2025 when I got paralysed. There was a moment I feared it could be my last moments alive. I had a lust of for life, but it was more about a survival instinct than realising there were things I would not do if I passed away then. I thought about be parents’ grief, my friends, unfinished things at work and at Szlachetna Paczka. Several weeks after that I realise I need to reach out for more joy in life and take care of myself. And I wish the same to you.

Szlachetna Paczka 2025 before the dust has settled

To be precise, it has not fully settled. One of families under my care stills awaits a sofa bed (delivery delayed), another one I have looked after waits for bedside lamps and a chair assembly which I will do myself. Four families' donators have buggered up and we (volunteers from Ursynów area) will need to fix up money from an "emergency fund" to meet their needs. Yesterday I belatedly purchased and delivered a shower booth for a family I picked up as a donator on 8 December. Well, the Yuletide celebration has not yet commenced.

My sixth edition is the first one when I am not in a relationship. The other person close to me used to be a counterbalance and kept by involvement at bay. This year I had decided to dedicate more energy to Szlachetna Paczka and now feel drained of it, yet not on account if my relationship status, but due to organisational errors made all along.

The recruitment process has been screwed up. Far too many people on managerial positions and as rank-and-file volunteers should have never found themselves in their roles. The absence of black lists (of people with negative feedback from previous editions) has definitely contributed to this.

In the very area of Ursynów we onboarded 64 families to receive aid (vs. previous record of 54) and had around 35 volunteers (10 more than in previous years on average). Quantity of staff has not translated into quality. Although we have had some outstanding newcomers, the number of insufficiently involved (or disappearing along the way) volunteers was appallingly high. Needless to say duties they had undertaken had to be taken over.

In the run-up to the final weekend there has been a massive problem of families not picked by any donators. Volumes could be spoken of reasons why it happened like this, but since there is no proof any of my theories is right, I will keep them for myself. In social media the most common notion was putting it down to some families' sky-high needs, which even if justified, are hard to be fulfilled by ordinary people (may a costly leaking roof repair serve as an example).

No reliable statistics will show how many Paczkas (neither "box" nor "parcel" renders well what a Paczka in Szlachetna context is) have eventually been prepared by the volunteers and their companions. In Ursynów area 4 out of 64 families have been picked by us. Additional time and money spent on saving families from being left out in the cold are the biggest cost hidden in joyful celebration of the recent edition.

I would hazard a guess Szlachetna Paczka is one of the most demanding forms of volunteering which can be taken up in Poland. It is not just about coping with horrific stories of o people's penury, but also about time dedicated to do it properly and having to arrange a lot on one's, frequently making extensive use of one's multiple resources.

I believe past this edition Szlachetna Paczka's relationship with donators and volunteers will be under strain and lots of effort will have to be put to rebuild them.

Will Stowarzyszenie Wiosna face criticism it ought receive? Each year it seems those in charge of the initiative are learning from mistakes made in a previous years. But once a new edition kicks off for good, it turns out history repeats itself, but the price paid by the most responsible volunteers goes up.

Early December snaps

More than preoccupied with overload at work and Szlachetna Paczka, hence not feeling like writing up a lofty essay. Instead – some snaps from the neighbourhood, taken on my way to my parents and back, by bike, yesterday.

The old house (being a remnant of the bygone Moczydło village), whose dwellers used a portable toilet put up on a backyard, is no longer inhabited. The plot of land parallel to ul. Moczydłowska most likely has been sold. I wonder if the buyer will be intent to erect here a row of terraced houses, each priced at zillions.

Ul. Leśna connecting ul. Moczydłowska to ul. Puławska is nearly empty. Despite warm, autumnal weather (+7C today, but windy), the forest was anything, but full of walkers, cyclists, nor runners.

Birch trees are the last to shed leaves. The one snapped still retained leftovers of its yellow dressing. If winds continue to blow as strongly as today, by the end of the first decade of December all leaves will be on the ground.

Fancy buying a Christmas Tree? In several spots you can already do so. I am not fond of starting celebrations early and prefer to kick off the festive season as the old tradition proscribes, i.e. on 24 December. People with small children, however, tend to decorate the Christmas trees in early December to create the atmosphere indoors. Outdoors it does not feel like Christmas at all. Judging by long-term forecasts, December 2025 stands a chance to the warmest since records began in Warsaw.

Close to my parents’ house, in Mysiadło, I come across a little flooding which makes ul. Łabędzia impassable for motor vehicles. It brings to mind the effect of downpours in early June 2010 when this very spot was under water too.

The street is waterlogged, I make it by bike, but water slightly plays havoc with brakes. This looks like waterworks breakdown. Fortunately, at my parents’ the water supply was not cut off.

On my way home I stopped over to snap the intersection of ul. Puławska and ul. Jagielska being rebuilt. Local newspapers say ul. Jagielska will be connected to the Piaseczno-bound lanes of ul. Puławska and a new set of traffic lights will be put up here. Not feeling sorry for drivers wasting their lives in traffic jams here.

Not a new post in a week, as Szlachetna Paczka final weekend is due.

Becoming a manager (at work)

For many years I would think leadership was not for me. I preferred to pursue the alternative professional development path, i.e. becoming an expert in a certain area, having an independent advisory-profiled position and not having to wrangle with any subordinates.

I revised my approach in 2022 when I took over as an area leader in Szlachetna Paczka. I was in charge of 25 people, recruited by my seasoned companions or myself, found my way around it stunningly well, which was additionally backed by glowing praise towards my management style expressed in the feedback (passed on anonymously to my bosses) past the edition.

I was lucky to have reasonable and reliable people in my team and back then I realised the comfort of being a boss lies in the team you lead. Wise, reliable and communicative people can make leadership a pleasure, while the opposite type of people can turn it into a nuisance and an ordeal.

The generously employer-subsidised (until March 2027) Skoda Octavia has hindered my motivation to seek new challenges outside my current workplace, hence for a while I had been on a lookout for an opportunity window, i.e. vacancy on a managerial position. In March 2025 one of senior B-1 managers decided to quit. His departure triggered a knock-on effect which resulted in a team head vacancy to be filled.

The recruitment process was more demanding than I thought and I can boast of approaching it with carefully-thought-out plan and vision. I believe this contributed most to my nomination. I did not have to prove my hard skills, as I had been doing that for past 11 years. In a modern corporation soft skills matter most and they are examined during interviews. With hindsight I recall those checks as suitable for a senior executive rather than for an ordinary team leader.

I am looking forward to new challenges, yet with some fears at the back of my head. I slightly worry if my subordinates accept me. A crucial detail is that I am returning in a different role to the department where I worked between 2018 and 2023. On top, there is a risk some people I will be in charge of applied for the same position and were rejected. I will need to learn my team members' work style and come to terms with the fact not everybody is an anti-procrastinator, not everybody's business English is as good as mine, not everybody minds neatness of documents as I do (apologies for this one-off lack of humility). I will be forced to attend some dead-end meetings which since the onset of remote working have become a plague in corporations. Their side effect is work piling up and needed to be done overtime for which I will no longer be eligible a compensation (such is the labour code in Poland). And on top, I will need to grapple with office politics...

The new chapter officially starts tomorrow, but customarily for internal transfers, the transition from the current to the new position is actually a process spread over time. Keep fingers crossed for me.

Dom dobry - film review

I am quite fond of Wojciech Smarzowski’s films, to such extent that as a person not into a moving pictures, I reviewed four of his films here: Drogówka, Podmocnym aniołem, Wołyń and Kler.

Whenever Mr Smarzowski releases a new film, he touches upon a meaningful social problem and depicts it hitting exactly where it hurts. For many his films are too naturalistic and filthy. Many critics have claimed while shooting “Dom dobry” he had gone over the top with filth and cruelty, an approach I cannot hold with, since my sensitivity to filth and cruelty is probably below-average. Lots of people who have seen the film argue the actor who played the oppressor, Tomasz Schuchardt, I believe unknown to wider audience until now, was the least suitable for the role. When looking at him, I would argue he has a son-of-a-bitch apparition at first sight. In one of the pre-premiere interviews he revealed in had been impossible to identify with the character he had play, but someone must have done that job.

Domestic violence is a hidden problem not only in Poland. Dramas play out behind closed door in families which seem normal. Hundreds thousand of Poles, mostly women, are victims of oppressors who resort to physical, mental, economic and sexual misdeeds to bully their targets. I am immensely grateful to Mr Smarzowski for painting an accurate and merciless picture of the phenomenon.

The director must have done a lot of homework while delving on the topic before setting out to shoot the film. He shows a repeatable scheme which puts a victim into a vicious circle and then keeps it turning. It begins with upbringing in a defunct family, running away from it into the arms of at first charming tormentor who bombs their new partner with love and slowly manipulates them. Unacceptable behaviours slowly creep in and get more frequent among the good moments. Victims are usually treated like a boiled frog and refuse to try to break away from a toxic relationship for several reasons, including economic dependence, lack of family or friends to take comfort in or toxic relationship patterns learnt at home.

The premiere of the film coincided with an intense time in Szlachetna Paczka. This year I have come across a few women being hosts of Warszawski Ośrodek Interwencji Kryzysowej who have run away from their violent husbands or partners and are on their way to start over. Having listened to the stories of their lives I partly relived them in a cinema. It also occurred to me I owe them watching this film if I am to be an emphatic volunteer.

To spoil as little as possible, the film has two endings. One of them is a poignant reminder not every cloud has a silver lining and an oppressed human might overstep its boundaries to fight out freedom.

A call for a slow-down

The recent weeks have been overly hectic. A combination of things going uphill in Szlachetna Paczka (and me trying to solve all oncoming problems), a pile-up of complicated transactions on the table at work and other minor stuff have been depriving me of time to get proper rest and recharge batteries.

On Thursday, 6 November I woke up before 6:00 a.m., commuted to the office, toiled away in haste, knocked off after 5:00 p.m., came back home, changed clothes and cycled to Warszawski Ośrodek Interwencji Kryzysowej (no English equivalent of such centre I would be familiar with) to have three meeting with families to be potentially taken care of as part of Szlachetna Paczka programme. I returned home shortly before 10:00 p.m. with head full of issues to be sorted out.

On Friday, 7 November the plan was to put the white shirts to the washing machine and hang them out to dry on a balcony before setting off to Ośrodek Pomocy Społecznej (council centre for social welfare) to pick up papers for Szlachetna Paczka and then to work, the to have three other charity-related meeting in the evening. Upon eating breakfast I realised the washing machine did not make any sound. I headed to the bathroom it check it out. The appliance was dead and not reacting to any methods of restarting. I had to open the washing machine, whose drum was full of water. I managed to get rid of the dirty water overflowing the bathroom, get the shirts out, wring them and put them into a bowl. As I was about to take the unwashed shirts to the balcony, I felt a strain in my back ribs, behind my chest. It virtually paralysed me. I only managed to fall over in a controlled way. I could not move for some 10 minutes, then as the pain begun to ease, I crawled to the bedroom, scrambled up to bed and weighed up pros and cons of calling an ambulance. As I was feeling better minute by minute, I did not decide to do so.

Some two hours later I felt good enough to leave home, take a 504 bus to pick up documents from Ośrodek Pomocy Społecznej, ambled to the underground station and turned up late at work. In the office, I felt unwell and gave in after two hours, took the laptop and headed home. Back in my bedroom, I ordered a telemedicine appointment, told a doctor what had happened a few hours earlier and was instructed to report to a hospital immediately. Kind of scared I called a taxi and 20 minutes later I was in an emergency ward of Medicover hospital. Long story short, I was thoroughly examined, mostly to rule out heart attack and diagnosed with a muscle crump, then given a drip with antispasmodics. After a two-hour lie-in, I was discharged and felt well enough to return home by public transport, calling on a pharmacy to buy myself painkillers.

On Saturday, 8 November I carried on with painkillers but went to the swimming pool in the evening. On Sunday, 9 November I cleaned my flat and gave up on my painkillers, as they were playing havoc with my stomach. On Monday, 10 November I was back on my bicycle. Up until now I feel well, although I do have no idea what caused the incident which took place on 7 November. I presume it was stress and haste overload, so the lesson learnt is take less on my back and slow it down. I am trying hard, but the process is slow and I stand a chance to pull it off once Szlachetna Paczka is over, i.e. in the second half of December.

With respect to the broken-down washing machine, it turned out my MPM appliance had most likely given up the ghost due to steering module defect. Such spare parts are not manufactured, nor sold as used ones and none of local technician wanted to take up the challenge of repairing the washing machine of that brand. I felt guilty of producing nearly 60 kilograms of rubbish (I hope somebody recycles parts of that washing machine), but also enjoy the comfort of using a brand-new Bosch washing machine. Before ordering it, I have made sure crucial spare parts are available and the appliance is constructed in a way which facilitates repair of nearly all imaginable defects (AI helps with such exercise and substantiates its answers). Besides, my new washing machine has been manufactured in Poland, near Łódź. Happily, my other white goods, all purchased in 1Q2019 are holding up well and I hope they will outlive substanially my washing machine which had served me for six years and eight months.