The flat - half year into...

Yesterday I deliberately (and without regret) missed the opportunity to celebrate half-anniversary of purchasing the flat. Having spent most of the Saturday running errands related to furnishing it, I did not even drop in on there (caught up today). After six months being continuously busy handling the endless restoration, the sound of the word remont makes me feel queasy.

In the purchase-related euphoria I have definitely underestimated the scope of works. Before stepping inside as an owner, I had planned something more than redecoration, with major refurbishments to be done in kitchen, hall, bathroom and toilet. As the day after the purchase I checked the technical condition of windows (and decided to order new ones), the list of things to be done once, but properly and for years began to grow longer and longer. The redecoration turned into a makeover, which actually was indispensable to a neglected 20-year-old dwelling. With hindsight, I believe a few works more could have been done as well.

The time frame for the venture has definitely been underestimated, I missed it by a long shot and my horizon of 3 months was extended to slightly more than 6 months. The major cause was the first crew of builders which had been postponing the onset of their works week by week, until I my father found new craftsmen (fortunately, they came in mere 3 weeks later). The remont has been a valuable lesson of patience.

Budget-wise, I have not summed up all expenses yet, however if I overshoot my target of 1,500 PLN per sqm, the overrun will not break the bank (annual bonus arrives in March).

Actually everyone who has had their dwelling refurbished experienced has learnt that:

- Murphy’s law works well on construction front (for the sake of caring about your mental health, worth distinguishing those mishaps you could have prevented, had you been more familiar with technical issues from those for which you should not blame yourself),

- nearly all builders and other professionals are a different breed (oblivious of concepts such as reliability, diligence, deadline, agreement).

While talking to people who have endured their remont a few years ago, most sympathise with me and recall their traumatic time. Mine actually has not been so ghastly thanks to involvement of my father who has spent hundreds of hours overseeing the process – otherwise I would have to seriously consider hiring somebody who would look after it.

Today, while at the scene, I forgot to take any snaps but:

- kitchen furniture have been partly installed (originally due to be completed by 8 February), besides a table and two chairs are the only missing elements,

- hall awaits wardrobes (due in the first week of March),

- bathroom is generally ready, but lacks a washing machine (a matter of a few days between an order and a delivery so I have been putting this purchase back for a few weeks now) and cabinet (due to arrive on Wednesday),

- toilet also awaits, but a cupboard,

- bedroom furniture to be delivered on Wednesday (hopefully) and the wardrobe to be put in along with the one in the hall,

- living room furniture have been ordered, but should arrive in late March.

Besides, several minor things still need to be done… I due course

Another set of remont musings after I move in. Sick and tired, but elated will I be then, by then just striving to carry it through.

10 years challenge

Today, 10 years ago (is this quaint form which I heard and read several times in use by native speakers correct – in Polish dziś, dziesięć lat temu sounds at best clumsily?) I posted on the blog for the first time. Few bloggers soldier on for so long, few bloggers do not run out of determination to write. As the Internet is full of #10yearschallenge comparisons, I will not spare the effort to come up with some salient ones, yet without any photo documentation.

In February 2009 I was a 21-year-old student of Warsaw School of Economics. I moved to a different role two years later; today I work at a bank controlled by one of bigger financial groups in Europe (fortunately not repolonised), striving to keep a low profile and remain anonymous.

Despite coming of age, I have not raised my own family yet. In the meantime the family I hail from has gone less populous after deceases of my paternal grandparents.

I set up the blog slightly more than a month after a break-up with a girlfriend. Today, my tenure of being single lasts 7 months (and despite keeping up appearances, it still feels traumatic).

In 2009 and for several years later I lived with my parents, then rented two flats, finally I purchased my own one and after overcoming all tribulations (cards stacked against me several times on the remont front) I should move in to my dwelling in March.

Politics-wise… Ten years ago Poland was under the rule of Platforma Obywatelska, the president was late Lech Kaczyński. Today his twin brother keeps a tight rein on Poland and will refuse to give in. The autumnal election will be the battle for the future of Poland.

Economy-wise… 10 years ago the world was in the doldrums of the economic crisis, with stock markets hitting many years’ low and Polish currency being the weakest in 21st century. Today several developed economies are facing threats of recession, while Poland again resists economic contraction, however for different reasons than a decade ago.

Society-wise… In early 2009 I did not know the word smartphone, which revolutionised not only technology (cell phone, computer, camera, video camera, clock, dictaphone, organiser, radio, mp3 player, calculator, torch, map crammed into a tiny device) but also marked a negative change in interhuman communication – made people stare at their smartphones instead of talking to one another. Sadly…

For the sake of statistics, most often viewed posts of the decade are:

1. Black swan theory, inadvertently published exactly two days before the theoretically unimaginable disaster.

2. Freaks of the dicts – linguistic puzzles were one of my passions around that time. I believe once the remont is over I will need to take the trouble to refresh my English, whose command has definitely seen better days (using it every day at work, yet reading far too little, which has negative impact on vocabulary resources – lose it or use it! Err… oddly enough, I observe the same has happened to my Polish)

3. Oscar and lady in pink – a review of a poignant book, reminds my remont-related quandaries appear miniscule when confronted with an innocent child passing away slowly.

4. Pushed around, ridiculed, degraded – an analysis of part of current ruling party’s electorate. Moherowe berety are no longer a hard-core voters of PiS, yet my to-do-list should contain a study into who the mindset of most avid believers of the first property developer in Poland.

5. The banker’s role from bank employee’s perspective – a response to a post written by a fellow long-distance blogger whose tenure will always be nearly two years longer than mine. Michael, thank you for inspiration and for being the only one from the Polish-English blogosphere, thriving in 2009-2011 and then waning, who has not dropped off.

There was a time when I was planning to give up on blogging on the 10th anniversary. Today, despite headwinds, I am determined to keep it up, however in a while I will need to abandon the predictable formula of one post each Sunday and bring in some element of irregularity.

Perfectionism

“To strive for perfection” is a phrase I have frequently used on this blog, in several contexts, however each time it has had a positive purport.

On Thursday morning on my way to work I was listening to a radio and learnt 7 February was a worldwide festival of perfectionism. A query to the most popular search engine has not confirmed that piece of information, but even if the światowy dzień perfekcjonizmu was just another figment of journalists’ imagination (or fake news, something I detest), it has prompted me to rethink whether endless striving for perfection is at all times positive.

Whatever you indulge in, do it with restraint. Endless pursuit of excellence is another example of obsession, a perilous one. If on every step you try your hardest to do things perfectly, your existence stands a chance to be turned into veritable hell. Perfectionism slowly kills not only the one afflicted with it, but also people around them. A perfectionist boss is a pest to their subordinates, a perfectionist spouse or parent incessantly infuriates their relatives.

Perfectionism in imperfect world, where most people display couldn’t-care-less approach makes one’s life a string of frustrations and disappointments, since the surrounding world constantly fails to fall into line with a perfectionist’s expectations.

Personally, I am also perfectionism-stricken, albeit I believe to a moderate extent. Over time life has taught me to ease up, just not to go crazy. I also control myself not to formulate exorbitant expectations towards other people. On the other hand, my current manager is much tougher perfectionist than me and we get along… perfectly.

I envy easy-going people, whose lives are free of quandaries I can create in my head. People not fond of neatness, tidiness, orderliness seem happier than me. On the other hand, I realise while I might fight my drawbacks, attempts to turn myself into a different man even if they did not go in vain, they would not make me happy. Only being oneself, living according to one’s values may assure happiness.

On the remont front, the builders have finished their job yesterday. More on the recent tribulations soon. The end is near, but the home straight is a sort of windy and bumpy...

K-towers tapes – questions left unanswered

Much uproar in the public discourse after the unveiling of recordings on which nadczłowiek* Kaczyński was talking about eventually aborted office development plans. Interpretations of what can be heard on the tapes (takes a while if you want to listen to the entire bundle of recordings, since the basic file shared by Gazeta Wyborcza has a duration of one hours and eight minutes) vary drastically. My thoughts to share are on the sidelines of the debate, since I am trying to look at the entire scheme from a banker’s perspective and discern intricacies an ordinary commentator would overlook.

1. No one has bothered to comment on how an office rental could fetch a return of 30%. I infer Kaczynski and his relatives meant ROE (return on equity = own funds invested) generated by a leveraged (financed with a third-party loan) investment. In reality rental of office space in Warsaw generates yield around 7% yearly.

2. The mythical one billion three hundred million. I have not worked out so far whether this was the amount of loan to be disbursed by Pekao S.A. or the entire construction budget. The question is valid since the Polish Finance Services watchdog a few years ago has brought into force Recommendation S, a set of strict guidelines pertaining to commercial property lending (observance of which has been strictly controlled by the regulator since then), in line with which a bank can finance up to 75% of (net-of-VAT) investment costs. Here I see only two possible outcomes:

A/ Srebrna venture has 25% equity, i.e. at least 300 million PLN, which according to my best knowledge goes well above the market value of plot of land. This gives rise to another question, namely how Srebrna had come into possession of so much money.

B/ State-controlled bank Pekao S.A. would finance 100% of the project budget and be in breach of Recommendation S, however the regulator (with Marek Chrzanowski in charge of it) would connive at it.

3. The terms of conditions of the deal were described by the press as very loose. I have not read the source article in Wyborcza (or skimped to pay for subscription), only its summary in Onet, which sadly was compiled by a journalist not up to the task. I can tell you if I recommended a loan for a start-up, for preparatory works with bullet repayment and interest capitalised rather than paid in regular intervals, I would be handed a cardboard box and fired. Since the inception of my adventure with banking industry, I have always avowed, unless pressed by unemployment, I would never, ever consider taking up a job with a state-controlled bank. And I proudly hold with it!

In recent weeks one scandal afflicting ruling party prominent politicians chases another. Seemingly PiS is teflon-coated and support in polls has not dwindled markedly. The situation resembles the course of events which kicked in the previous government out of power in 2014-2015. It all had begun with tapes whose importance had been shrugged off and then president Komorowski who had been told to have to run over a nun while inebriated behind the wheel to lose the election, actually lost it. The history may repeat, while the European parliament election in May will serve as a gauge.

* nadczłowiek = literally more than a human, the word I have coined to describe the stance of himself Jarosław Kaczyński had demonstrated over recent months.

Remont – home straight

A first report from the battlefield in 2019 after weeks of keeping curious readers in suspense. A lot has been done since then (glass half-full), but still a plenty of finishing works ahead (glass half-empty).

The kitchen is ready for assembly of ordered furniture. The initial assembly date was 23 January, but getting behind schedule is inevitable on the front. The dishwasher awaits installation along with kitchen furniture. A fridge and gas oven are due to be delivered the day after tomorrow. This is the only room thoroughly cleaned up.

Walls in the bedroom have been painted and floor panels will be laid next week. Pieces of furniture have been ordered (with lead time of 3-4 weeks they are due to arrive in mid-February). After the flooring panels get into place, wardrobe measurements might be taken.

Condition of the living room is akin to the bedroom, however I have not chosen furniture so far, though the concept has been in my head for a while. Furnishing this room is least urgent to inhabit the flat.

The toilet needs some fittings, including the most crucial ones, i.e. a washbasin and water flushing buttons. Still some work to be put in before the toilet can be used comfortably ;-)

In the bathroom, compared to how it looked out in mid-December, tiles have been laid, however much is to be done – shower booth, washbasin and several minor stuff need to be installed. But everything in due course.

The hall has thus become a clutter room, although the mass of stuff kept in the flat is targeted to be decreased if new pieces of equipment are to be brought in. Measurements of the wardrobe will mobilise to tidy up the place.

With so many tribulations along the way (recently unexpected goings on have been frequent), I don’t feel like envisaging the date of moving in…

Sound of silence

The day after the funeral, when the mourning is formally over, though we have still not shaken off the distress, I am publishing translation of a note I posted on my profile on facebook hours after the decease of Mr Adamowicz. May my jumbled (I was stirred by emotions while writing it and with hindsight even it Polish some passages sound clumsy) thoughts on that tragic event be saved here posterity.

Beyond all doubt the public discourse in Poland is filled with evil emotions, manipulations, contempt, at worst with hatred. It is no secret as a society we are divided as never before (once again I was a prophet of doom), while the major divide line is the stance towards the ruling part and its vision of the world. Civilised, mentally healthy people like you and me may detest Mr Tusk, Mr Kaczynski, Mr Schetyna, Mr Brudzinski, Mr Petru, Mr Kukiz or any other politician. We may disapproved of them, if they irritate us, we may take to the streets to voice our protest, we may exercise the right to show our displeasure, but nobody will be harmed. Depending on the side of the divide line we are on, we may read either Gazeta Wyborcza or Gazeta Polska, watch TVN24 or TVPiS, to reinforce our views and pass judgements when the time to cast ballots comes.

Assassin of Mr Adamowicz by all accounts has been mentally ill, one could argue whether at the time of committing the felony he was out of his senses. The words he shouted out on stage after stabbing Mr Adamowicz seem to prove perception of the world of such people is simplified. The reasoning which drove the culprit. towards committing the crime, the causation that he had been imprisoned and tortured by Platforma Obywatelska, the why and wherefore Mr Adamowicz was meant to die, has come to his mind from the outside. Not accidental was also the choice of circumstances and venue of the crime.

Mere three days earlier the public TV had broadcasted a cartoon vilifying WOŚP. One and a half year earlier Młodzież Wszechpolska as part of a “happening” had issued a death certificate to Mr Adamowicz and several other mayors. The investigation on the happening has been discontinued. Another investigation, on nationalists who had hung portraits of European Parliament deputies is still under way, nobody has faced charges, despite the fact faces of criminals are visible on photos (prosecutors are looking for some eye witnesses in the United States). WOŚP and its commander-in-chief have repeatedly been victims of hatred, spilled by politicians of the ruling party and the allied media. Fortunately, the mud-slinging campaign has had the opposite effect and boosted donations to WOŚP.

Finally, Mr Adamowicz several times had been attacked by the media favouring his political opponents. Even on the day of his death „Wiadomości” overstepped boundaries of bad taste, by ignoring the request of Mr Adamowicz’s family and aired an abhorrent anti-PO footage.

I hope this senseless death will give food for thought to many of us, however I lack faith it has positive long-term impact on public discourse in Poland.

This year politicians will pay the bill for the last 4 years. Even if I were to crawl, to go on my knees to the police station, even if somebody was to carry me there, I will cast a ballot to fight for better Poland.

Still room for improvement

I have decided to put back publishing update on the remont front, until even bigger progress across the entire dwelling is witnessed, which I expect to come about by 27 January. Today I could only post the snaps of tiles laid in the bathroom and in the toilet. A noticeable progress, yet insufficient to assert the flat has taken its final shape.

On Wednesday I (unexpectedly) had a one-day foray in business to Kraków. After nearly a decade of working I am no longer fond of business travels, which in over 90% are a one-day tiresome trips with no time for sightseeing or enjoying the places I visit for more than one minute (this year I was lucky enough once, in Wrocław).

I got to Kraks by most convenient possible means of transport, i.e. by train. By timetable, the service between Warszawa and Kraków covers the 298-kilometre route in less than two hours and thirty minutes (beating the plane connection given boarding time and distance from the airport to the city centre), plus the station in Kraków was in the vicinity to my destination.

On my way to Kraks I sat back in a regular EIC train, with a notebook on my laps, to catch up with several minor overdue tasks. After less than an hour of the journey the carriage attendant came over to serve beverages. I asked for a coffee… Fortunately, they do not serve ready coffee or tea, but give out ingredients to passengers so that they brew it on their own. I found that peculiarity a nuisance, but on Wednesday PKP Intercity’s serving policy saved me. As the attendant was trying to hand me a mug with hot (fortunately not scalding) water, the train lurched and he spilled the water on my trousers (around my knees, not the crotch!) and the laptop. He callously uttered a simple “przepraszam” and carried on serving beverages. I was too focused on analysing how big the stain was and whether it would disappear by the time I meet the client and whether my notebook was anyhow damaged to react properly. Accidents will happen and I do not blame the attendant for harming me, such things happen, but I kick myself for not rebuking him over his disregard. My carriage was occupied in less than 50% and I doubt any of the fellow passengers noticed the incident and could react anyhow. Luckily, the water spot has left no trace on my suit trousers, nor is my company notebook damaged, but the bad taste remains…

On my way back I took a pendolino train, I lucked upon the only one in which wi-fi tests are carried out. And here, an endless gripe towards PKP Intercity for buying the overpriced no-frill trains from a foreign manufacturer (I believe Newag could have built the “premium” trains in a consortium with a more experienced partner). Why the hell they have bought tins in which mobile network signal is muffled so that normal phone conversations are disrupted and internet connection is at times too slow to use Messenger! Premium, fast trains connecting major cities in Poland should seemingly be targeted at corporate workers, some of whom like me: firstly, cannot use unprotected wi-fi networks, because firewalls or whatever other shits installed thereon protect them from doing so, secondly, have all resources to work on kept away from the hard drive so in offline mode their laptops are useless. Consequently I wasted over two hours and forty minutes in the train, as I could not work on my way to Warsaw!

Besides, the train came to Warsaw with a delay of fifteen minutes. Not a major fault, yet I bothered to keep checking punctuality of my service at Infopasażer (page was loading or refreshing for more than minute each time) and according it, my train was arriving to W-wa Centralna according to a timetable. Propaganda of success? Nobody’s perfect, but why misinforming?

Next time I will also take train if I go to Kraks, but I can’t wait to see trains as the primary vehicle of choice when travelling to all major cities in Poland. Currently Gdansk, Katowice (and the entire Górny Śląsk) are the only destinations where trains are preferable. To Szczecin and Rzeszów flights are a must, while everywhere else (predominantly to Poznań and Wrocław) I get by car, since in door-to-door travel duration, it still keeps being the fastest, though not the safest and not the most ecological…

Divided as never before

Not a reassuring post at the start of the new year, yet inspired of my observations made back in 2018. As a nation, Poles appear to be drifting apart in many realms of their lives, moot points are mushrooming, while arguments between opponents get fiercer.

The most vivid divide line which already has torn several families apart and put many friendships to the test is being pro-PiS or anti-PiS, which, if drilled down, is just a touchstone, since people on both sides of the divide line differ in terms of the vision of the world, role of family, society, religion, economy, the state. This topic has however been explored several times and probably deserves to be revisited in the election year.

Just before the Christmas Eve one of the Facebook groups I have been signed up for (Obywatele Ursynowa) was a scene of mud-slinging (the Polish language has invented a new word for worthless, but heated quarrels which is gównoburza) between advocates and opponents of shooting fireworks on New Year’s Eve and New Year’ Day. The former were standing up for tradition of celebrating the turn on the year, the latter pointed at the problem of scared animals which suffer badly that one night. In response the former accused the latter of letting animals cack on pavements and grass and not cleaning up the turds and claimed superiority of humans over animals. Not joining the dispute, which will resurface in late December again, I am against fireworks. Apart from feeling sorry for animals, I believe this is a dangerous (check the number of injuries and fires caused by them) waste of money, therefore I have been glad to learn several cities had abandoned the firework shows during city-staged celebrations.

In a week Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy will play again, for 27th time. Each year, despite the wave of hatred spilling on the event, and its commander-in-chief, WOŚP raises more and more funds for medical aids. The divide line nearly overlaps the pro-PiS / anti-PiS one. Needless to say, I will support WOŚP this year as well, more generously than before, not only to help raise money for medical equipment for children wards in hospitals across Poland, but to spite everyone who wishes to put the initiative down.

In the coming year car-ridden dumbheads will be clashing with cyclists and ecologists, vegans will keep calling meat-eaters murderers, same label as stuck to pro-choice campaigners by pro-life activists and so on and so forth. Individuals will inevitably differ between one another, but it depends on them whether they exploit those differences to enrich the society or harness them as pretext to fight enemies (i.e. those who dare to think differently). All aforementioned disputes have touched upon the limits of human autonomy (yes, the political one as well, if not the most) and where one’s freedom begins to harm others.

Tidings from the remont front next week – much progress to boast of recently!

2018 in a nutshell

A recap post, summing up what happened in anything, but uneventful year drawing to a close, written in a typical for this period frame of mind. I keep disliking the idle period between Christmas and New Year’s day when the world nearly comes to a standstill. I actually would have nothing against it being in late June, when days are long, warm and sunny, not at the darkest time of year, when greyness is underwhelming. I recall last seeing sunbeams 13 days ago, for less than half an hour, while taking a business trip south of Warsaw (I found them pesky since they were blinding me). I long for sunlight, I yearn for warmth, I hanker after weather which would lift my spirits. I need to wait out this ghastly period!

Beginning of 2018 meant starting out in a new position after being promoted. The promotion has involved being transferred to a different team and a pay rise, but my scope of duties has remained intact. Functionally, things are set to move on in 2019, since my manager has promised to assign me more decision-making power, apart from pure analytical work.

I was taking up the new role while struggling problems with mental health. Fortunately, the second set of pills, prescribed by an excellent psychiatrist, combined with the inner strength, have helped me overcome the illness which has not relapsed in next months, though conditions were conducive to it.

In February my ex-girlfriend and I rented a flat together. Sharing the daily grind had put the relationship to the test and laid bare how badly we did not fit each other. After nearly six months spent under one roof I decided to put us both out of misery and break up. I do not regret that decision.

2018 was a year when I changed places of residence three times. The temporary dwelling, found after a two-week search turned out to be a truly dejecting place, yet in less than three weeks after renting that flat, I purchased my own one, in need of all-out renovation. The remont has now entered the final phase and next weeks are bound to be busy with lots of stuff to be co-ordinated and handled if I am to move in by the end of February. In the meantime I will have to win the battle against my soring spine (same problems as in 2016 and the same set of daily exercises to overcome them).

Becoming a fully-fledged resident of Ursynów (not only being property-owner and registered there, but also living there) will coincide with the 10th anniversary of blogging. A few months ago I considered giving up on blogging on that occasion. Today I suppose with more free time available and living in an inspiring and spirit-lifting place I stand a chance of returning to top form as blogger and write with a huge dose of inspiration, as large as enjoyed in 2009 or 2010.

Scratching beneath the surface

18 October 2018, three days before the local election. The councillors of Warsaw unanimously pass a 98% discount on payments for conversion of perpetual usufruct into ownership.

A word of explanation for those unfamiliar with an odd concept of użytkowanie wieczyste (which have been taught to translate as perpetual usufruct) which traces back to 1945 when large areas of land were nationalised to facilitate post-war reconstruction of Polish cities from ruins, but in fact also to deprive private owners of their wealth. In this lame form of land lease the central or a local government is the owner of lands and leases them (for 99 years) to its users who own buildings erected thereon. The Polish government has decided to bring this preposterous legal formula to an end. With the beginning of 2019 the perpetual usufruct is transformed automatically into regular land ownership (leave off now several aspects of the mess caused by yet another law enacted in haste), however the current land lessees will have to pay for the conversion for 20 years. For lands owned by the central government, a discount scheme has been passed, allowing land lessees to benefit from 60% discount if they settle the conversion charge in 2019. Discount schemes pertaining to lands held by local governments have been left at their discretion.

I had thought the resolution passed on 18 October would remain a pre-election move, especially since I had been misinformed the 98% discount would apply to conversions finalised before the end of 2018. Just recently I checked the resolution had been referring to the new law on perpetual usufruct transformation (in effect since 1 January 2019). So no wonder when the newly elected councillors tried to back down on the resolution, uproar was inevitable. The new mayor of Warsaw, Mr Trzaskowski gave in quickly and on 20 December 2018 the 98% discount was reinstated during an additional city council session.

I plead to be positively affected by the resolution, as it will save me more than PLN 10,000 on the conversion charge applicable to my share in plot of land belonging to my flat and garage. Despite personal one-off benefits I strive to see further than the end of my nose. By voting for a much larger discount, Warsaw has deprived itself of stream of income, money which is necessary to develop Warsaw and make it an even more inhabitant-friendly capital. Actually with a scheme under which a regular payment for 2019 is 5% of the entire conversion charge, while if the discount is applied, it declines to 2%, it makes no sense not to pay for 20 years in advance.

The form of giving up on income and giving out money does not take my fancy. Although I opt for a lean government, some expenditures need to be borne by it and I am aware lower proceeds translate into higher deficit and higher taxes in the future. Why should I and other owners of properties built on lands owned by city of Warsaw be better off than those whose buildings are erected on state treasury’s lands or those who are full land-owners? The selective gift s a manifestation of populism, something I disapprove of!

On the other hand, reinstatement of 98% discount was a call to PiS government bring down the discounts applicable to lands owned by the state treasury. Politics-wise this was a shrewd move. Few people realise it, but the intention of PiS was not to get rid of pesky perpetual usufruct, but to garner loads of money from the conversion charge (anyone with a bit of money would make use of 60% discount which anyway means inflows to the government budget 8 times higher than annual land lease payment) to buy off voters. Now, PiS is in a fix since whatever it does, it will be worse off. Either it loses voters convinced for a little while by the opposition who outpaced PiS in throwing about money, or it loses a broad stream of money to be spent before the parliamentary election. The opposition in turn, has lost its credibility, as their electorate do not expect them to race against PiS in terms of throwing the government budget out of balance, but to lift Poland from the mess PiS has plungedit into.

But now, let’s enjoy three days of rest from politics and other nasty stuff. May the atmosphere be friendly and remember to take exercise. Long walks should be due instead of sitting by tables or staring at TV!