When the love runs out

Musings inspired by an article published this month in one of issues of “Polityka” weekly. Needless to say economic and technological progress has changed interhuman relationships. Economic independence of women which emerged in the 20^th century (unthinkable for millennia before), development of modern forms of communication and several other phenomena have much reshaped the social order which had been in place for ages.

Marriage is no longer a social institution entered more out of reason rather than love, thanks to which living through a life together was easier than on one’s own. Somebody unwilling to raise a family is no longer stigmatised. Individuality and selfishness (i.e. holding one’s own independence, passions and choices superior to give and take being an essential part of any romantic relationship) have taken over.

The article mentions several trends which are plain to see, yet seem rarely explored. Mating rituals in the era of constant lack of time and unlimited possibilities offered by technology have changed and I openly assess they have evolved in the wrong direction. Before dating applications have reached the status of tools to meet new people, one (usually a man) had to take some effort to attract attention of a woman, to ask her out, keep a conversation going during a date.

Online methods of communication take all the burdens off involved parties and let cease a conversation or cut somebody dead at any time. Mismatches are much more frequent than matches and are a natural part of selection – one has to miss several times before they hit, yet dealing with them requires courage and manners. Some time ago one had to stand face to face with somebody and announce them they want to break up.

Today we have several pathological ways of handling interhuman relationships, such as ghosting, which is devastating for one’s psyche (I have been a victim thereof in friendships and romantic relationships, even before smartphones set in, so I can acknowledge it is one of the most painful types of rejection a human can experience). Other practices I have witnessed, yet just upon exploring the topic have learnt they had become widespread enough to be named, are cushioning and benching. Probably there are other forms of playing games in which emotions of persons involved have no value, yet I do fancy exploring them now. Regardless of personal circumstances (which make me vulnerable to them), such practises fill me with disgust (I am too straightforward to feel comfortable playing wicked games).

Getting involved in a romantic relationship involves taking risks, putting trust, sacrificing some part of individuality, relinquishing selfishness, but also coping with uncertainty which is indispensable at early stages of most relationships (at least it had always been like this in my life). People today lack courage and communication skills (these deficiencies afflict both females and males) and this leads to many wasted chances and solitude. Sad, and it cannot be helped.

Tinder

After turning 32, when one spends most of the time getting about between home and the office, going to the same place and meeting the same friends, chances to find a life companion are far smaller than in university times. You can participate in several events (trips, workshops, lectures), yet people go there, rightly, to do specific things, not too look for a partner. Women who I tried to talk to on a street were always scared, seeming not to be pleased with unsolicited contact. While if you set up your profile on the most popular dating application you agree to be approached by potential partners.

I had been sceptical for many months prior to installing the application, having heard from people who use it, Tinder is a swamp, but also heard of people whose friends had met loves of their lives thanks to it. But it is unfair to shape your view on the application, relying only on other people’s experiences.

I created my profile last Sunday, on 9 February. Facebook kindly reminded me of me ex-girlfriend’s birthday (I no longer follow her, but have not unfriended her, we have not talked since completing formalities after the break-up). It was done on the spur of the moment, with the thought that it is better to regret doing something than to regret not doing it.

My first observations after the first week of swiping approximately 99% of profiles left (I aim to be quite selective and not waste time on dead-end dating) are bitter-sweet. I have narrowed down my search criteria to women aged between 28 and 35, located (the application reads its users’ smartphones’ locations) in the circle of 30 kilometres.

It took me less than 10 minutes to find a (female) workmate from a neighbouring department. Later on, I found more than 10 women I know, however I need to underline all of them are single.

Setting up a profile on Tinder is a great exercise in self-advertising, which anyway is a common denominator of all social media activities. On Tinder, unlike on Linkedin, your goal is to attract attention of your potential partner (not defining what such partnership would consist in), not a headhunter. As a down-to-earth, regular lad, I do not fall for most advertisements, yet have taken the trouble to think out mine (to maximise incidences of being swiped right).

The profiles on Tinder do not smack a vanity fair as the ones on Instagram (not having an account there), yet the dating application ranks second in this respect and does not take my fancy. Frankly speaking many profile have simply shied me away.

Browsing profiles of women is akin to walking around a huge shop with lots of stuff on shelves, yet little decent items to pick from. Yet on the other hand, if you are selective, on average out of plenty of candidates you can pick somebody whose profile appealed to you at first sight.

Many women found there are simply nice and should enjoy interest of males. The question which instantly pops up is why they are still single. Ample reasons might be guessed:
- too little exposure to men in everyday situations to find a suitable candidate,
- men being afraid of being turned down by attractive women,

- women having exorbitant expectations vast majority of men cannot live up to,

- problems ‘with self’ of both women and men resulting in inability to build a healthy relationship (the sad sign of our times).

What has finally prompted me to install Tinder was a rational calculation. If I had not done it, in some time I would nearly certainly be stuck where I was on 9 February. As I have done it, at best I might experience something good, at worst I can be back at square one (same place as if I had not installed). All this with proper reserve and with no big emotional commitment nor hopes. As psychologists point out, Tinder might intensify the feeling or being solitary and rejected.

One year and seven months after the break-up I can confess just recently I have got over it (i.e. stop reminiscing the past, since I have never had doubt the decision had been right). I realise what my value as a human and as a male is, between people I frequently a misfit or misunderstood and will not risk a mismatch just to fill the void. I will not give up in trying to find a woman who fits me, yet not at any price.

Defiance

If the was a ranking of Poles’ most infuriating traits, I would place defiance on top of it. Looking at misbehaviours of many of my compatriots, I surmise they do silly things not only out of their selfishness, but to spite others and to manifest their ill-construed freedom.

I am a member of Obywatele Ursynowa group on facebook. The community has now more than 20,000 members and is an online arena of clashes. Pedestrians, cyclist and drivers clash. Dog-owners and turd-hunters clash. Around the New Year’s Eve firework-aficionados clashed with defenders of fearful pets. And so on and so forth.

The set-up of each quarrel is similar. Representatives of one band make their points, then representatives of the opposite band come up with their counterpoints which leads to online fights in which, apart from insults and lack of openness to someone else’s standpoint, I observe examples of sticking to one’s liberties stubbornly.

Fireworks zealots underline their right to celebrate New Year’s Eve (and Day). Pet-defenders underline right of animals to survive the night without tranquilizers. The latter group are occasionally supported by those who (rightly) remind the sound of cracking fireworks is bothersome for infants, elderly and mentally disabled people, as well as contributes to fires and injuries. The fireworks zealots remain deaf and blind to reasoning of their opponents and end up banning fireworks detracts from their personal liberty. Note then next each year, despite more frequent appeals to shun shooting fireworks, the cannonades are getting only louder. I fear the appeals are counter-productive, I mean, if a Pole is asked to refrain from doing something, they will do it with more intensity, out of pure defiance.

Similar examples of what f**ks me up are:

- drivers’ claims no one should take away their liberty of sitting in oversized cars in traffic jams, taking short-distance journeys, or to park wherever they need, especially when they occupy pavements or damage green areas,

- owners of old houses who burn rubbish or whatever cheap stuff in their furnaces, who claim mandatory switching to more environment-friendly method of heating their dwellings deprives them of doing what they want in their houses,

- people dumping rubbish or not cleaning their dogs’ turds, claiming no one would instruct them what to do in a public space,

- cyclists who ride like lunatics on pedestrian areas or use a road when there is a cycling path running parallel to it, claiming it is their choice where to cycle,

- party participants who claim playing music loud or screaming their lungs out at night is what they are entitled to as part of having fun.

and many, many others.

The common denominator of all stances described above is doing socially undesirable things at the expense of others. One’s own liberty ends with encroaching on fellow men’s freedoms and rights, including the right to breathe in clean air, to live in clean environment, to feel safe, to have rest at night, etc.

A decent and sensitive human should mind whether to make full use of what is (sometimes mistakenly) considered to be a liberty. A self-containment in all spheres, namely not necessarily doing what you want to not indulging in what brings you joy, but might make others worse-off is what I praise and advocate.

Between late autumn and pre-spring

Hard to write a winter timeline, when traces of winter are sparse. The weather since many weeks has been dull and seemingly the time has stopped in late November. For me November has lasted at least three months this… autumn?

First snow was recorded in Warsaw on Wednesday, 29 January 2020, thus breaking by 5 days the previous record of the latest first snow set in 2007. But thirteen years ago the first snow melted over more than a week later and in the meantime temperature dropped to –12C. This year the snow lingered on the ground for a few hours (despite positive temperature) and melted overnight. First snow is usually a shy snow… but in January?

I took delight in watching snowflakes whirling in the air, but having walked out of the office, I found myself in soaked shoes in a slippery slush, which diminished my spurt of winter-joy. For some reason nobody bothered to clear pavements out of slush. Pedestrians again appeared to be second-class citizens in the capital of Poland.

I cherished the snow for… its colour. White surfaces reflect light thanks to which days when snow lingers are brighter. The brightness was definitely missing in the time of year when days are the shortest. The brightness was what I have been yearning for.

Temperature-wise, the current winter (defined as December, January and February) stands the chance to be the warmest ever. Combined average temperature of December 2019 and January 2020 was +2.9C. If February’s mean temperature exceeds +1.1C in 2020 (which judging by long-term forecasts is likely), the 1989/90 winter with average temperature of +2.3C will become the second warmest.

The foregone conclusion is that current weather is the best proof of the global warming. Indeed, it is, but I would argue whether is can be named the aftermath thereof. If you dissect weather pattern day after day, you will see that unlike in previous anomalously warm winters there were periods of extraordinary warmth interspersed with episodes of regular, though not harsh winter. This winter, except for 3 spells of high, yet not record-breaking temperatures (15 December 2019 – 22 December 2019, 7 January 2020 – 15 January 2020, 31 January 2020 – ???) has seen fairly stable weather with temperatures somewhat above long-term average and never dropping below it.

The lack of even temporary negative deviations from long-term mean cannot be put down to global warming, but there are two other causes of it.

Firstly, the strong positive North Atlantic Oscillation (which sadly has not brought as much precipitation as it usually does). Most of the times, air from the west was blown in over Poland and further east and north. Positive deviations from mean temperature, far bigger than in Poland have been observed in southern Scandinavia, in Baltic countries and in western Russia. Masses of arctic or Siberian air have not had a chance to trespass onto Poland.

Secondly, the polar vortex, which since November 2019 has been holding up well, with strength the biggest since 40 years. This means cold air is kept in the North Pole, where temperatures for several weeks have been below average and beyond the polar circle (except for sea shores of course) – keeping track of weather measurements in northern Scandinavia I saw repeatedly temperature dropping below –30C in North Sweden and Finland. Historically, when the polar vortex was weak and winters in Europe were harsh, temperature in Greenland, Iceland or far beyond the polar circle was well above average. The polar vortex is slowly disintegrating, but effects of the process might be visible in late February or early March.

The two phenomena combined are responsible for the weather pattern this winter. I lack knowledge to determine to what extent they are impacted by the ongoing climate change, but holding the accursed global warming responsible for lack of winter in 2019/20 in Warsaw is an example of jumping to conclusions. NAO+ and polar vortex are the actual culprits.

No major change in the weather is expected in mid-term though. Yesterday saw the climax of the mid-winter short heat wave. Day-time high was +11.6C. The situation is not unprecedented, since it was already warmer in early February. Record-highest temperatures measured in Warsaw in the first decade on February were: +13.4C on 3 February 2002, +13.1C on 5 February 2004, +11.8C on 6 February 2000.

Next week another episode of winter with some snow is expected, then temperatures are to revert to above-average values. Most models estimate average temperature in February should run between +2.5C and +3.5C, but some indicate second half of February and first half of March will be the only period this winter with temperatures close to long-term means.

Still, three records of mild winter stand a chance to be broken:

1. the lowest number of days with snow cover: 15 days set during 1988/89 winter (22 November 1988 – 24 November 1988, 4 December 1988, 8 December 1988 – 11 December 1988, 15 December 1988 – 18 December 1988, 21 December 1988, 8 January 1989, 2 April 1989),

2. the lowest maximum snow cover measured over any entire winter: 4 centimetres accumulated on any day during 2007/08 winter (measured on 7 January 2008, on 18 February 2008 and on 27 March 2008),

3. the highest minimum temperature measured over any entire winter: –8.0C measured on 17 February 1975.

Greenwashing

Opening disclaimer: I write it as a driver and a car-owner.

The very term appearing in the title of the post has been coined more than a decade ago, yet I, shame to confess it, ran across it in early December 2019. Back then, while browsing LinkedIn I found a post by my employer’s fleet manager, in which he had boasted of handing over to staff another batch of hybrid Toyotas (to replace petrol-fuelled vehicles manufactured between 2015 and 2017).

Regardless of automobile’s industry’s efforts and despite countless marketing campaigns, there is no such thing an environment-friendly car. You will not circumvent laws of physics, hence the bigger a car, the more energy you need to set it in motion.

Don’t also think if you buy a hybrid or an electric car, you will save the planet. The graphic to the right from the European Parliament’s webpage (I trust if has not been bought off by a lobby of carmakers) dated March 2019 shows the total carbon dioxide emission during a vehicle’s lifetime (sadly, they do not define how the lifetime is calculated). The chart informs that in a country which fully relies on carbon in electricity generation (such as Poland), an electric car is all in all more harmful to the environment than a car with a traditional combustion engine.

If you believe a hybrid car is a remedy, I will let you down. Manufacturing and recycling (but not maintenance) of a car with batteries is more environment-detrimental than of a traditional vehicle. The energy to charge batteries is not delivered from outside, but is generated in a regular combustion engine, which apart from propelling the vehicle must work to charge batteries. This leads to efficiencies during in-town driving when the batteries support the traditional engine when a car accelerates, so a hybrid Corolla consumes between 5 and 6 litres of petrol per 100 kilometres in town. This is 30% less than my car would do, but the consumption figures are comparable to small city cars running on petrol only. The bigger problem is that you should use a car around town as little as possible. On a motorway, at the speed of 140 kmph, the hybrid Corolla consumes over 10 litres per 100 kilometres, some 25% more than my car. The car loses its edge where use of it is justifiable.

Plug-in hybrids and electric cars in Poland rely on electricity generated from coal (with PiS government doing little to accelerate switching into alternative energy sources). Abroad, with more environmental-friendly energy mix, the lifetime carbon footprint is lower than of a traditional vehicle, yet one needs to bear in mind the distribution of the footprint. At the exhaust pipes there are no fumes, but the batteries are produced and will be probably recycled (the problem will grow big in a decade of so when electric and hybrid cars produced today will begin to reach the end of their lives) in other countries where harm to the environment will be concentrated.

Modern traditional cars are not faultless. The automobile industry cares about its profits and passing more and more stringent emission tests. To comply with norms, it comes up with several tricks to declare possibly lowest carbon dioxide emission, the infamous Wieśwagen dieselgate scandal being the most glaring example. Particulate filters, found in every diesel engines manufactured over the last 2 decades, and in most petrol engines produced recently, do retain soot (then turning into ash) before it leaves an exhaust pipe, but as ash accumulates in a filter, it slowly clogs up. The process of self-cleaning the filter consists in burning out ash. A vehicle does it when its engine is warm, at revolutions above 2,000 rpm and at steady, rather high speed. Do you believe emission of harmful particles during the process of burning out ash remnants is low??? Do you believe the ash is burnt out during standardised WLTP measurements?

What can you do to reduce your carbon footprint? Drive less!

Start from reducing to those absolutely necessary around-town journeys, where you can rely on public transport and there because of traffic density, emission per kilometre is the highest and time savings are the lowest.

Cut down (unless absolutely justified by your health) on short-distance trips. Firstly, a cold engine during first seconds after being started up emits multiple time more fumes than after it warms up. Secondly, a vehicle’s wear-and-tear disproportionally accelerates on short distances. Thirdly, walking or cycling is healthier!

If you need to go somewhere by car, try doing this when traffic is sparse. Vehicles cause less air contamination when they are driven at steady speed, without frequent stops and accelerations. Many such trips can be taken over the working week after 8 p.m. or on Saturday mornings when traffic jams are not a plague.

Change the style of driving. Eco-driving is safer and reduces emission by approximately 20% vs. normal driving and by 40% or more in comparison to aggressive (but not making a journey faster) driving. Do it wisely, i.e. do not use the highest gear at too low revolutions and do not upshift too early – this might save fuel in short-time, but will decrease the life or engine and other components.

Look after your car! Production and recycling stand for 20-25% of a vehicle’s lifetime carbon dioxide emission, so keeping your car in good condition as long as possible will be better to environment than replacing it with a new one whose exhaust-located footprint is slightly lower (carmakers will try to persuade this assertion is untrue).

Take passengers or become another driver’s passenger. A passenger car carrying 4 persons emits only 5% more carbon dioxide per passenger than a train (in Poland running on electricity produced from coal).

Closing disclaimer: I have written it all with a sense of sadness. I draw pleasure from driving. Behind the wheel I get relaxed and because I need to focus on driving all worries and kept far away from my mind. Yet I need to see further than the end of my nose and mind the future of the planet more than my personal whims.

Bieguni - book review

Conspiracy theorists claim Nobel prizes are awarded to influence political choices. No matter how much truth those assertions contain, the recent Nobel prize in literature granted to the Polish writer, Olga Tokarczuk, has not been a gift to the ruling party four days ahead of the parliamentary election.

The most prestigious honour a writer can receive has sparked off interest in Mrs Tokarczuk’s books. Shelves in bookshops ran empty, publishing houses rushed to place orders to printing companies, e-queues in libraries got longer. This spurt has of course affected just part of the better educated part of the nation.

Before I set out to it (I had planned to wait out the period of the biggest demand), I received the best known book of the accoladed writer, Bieguni, as one of my birthday gifts.

It was one of 3 books I read during the nine-day-long Christmas break (three days off, nine days away from the office). I had envisaged a tough read, rather slow and requiring concentration to grasp, as Noble prize winners are not hailed as producers of literature for masses. Unexpectedly, the book with its natural flow and lightness was easy to follow, yet involved some mindfulness and ability of reading between the lines. Maybe for such reason minister Glinski could not make it to back cover of any of Mrs Tokarczuk’s books despite trying (not) hard (enough).

The book has no unified plot, yet it is a jumble of several threads (in such respect akin to a blog devoid of posting dates), drifting around a leitmotiv of travel. Characters and sub-plots are sets in different epochs and venues, come from different walks of life, some refer to actual events, some are purely fictional. The only element that brings them together is involvement in some sort of motion. The very title might be somewhat misleading, since the tribe of Bieguni does not appear even once on the pages of the book, yet their belief that motion can ward off evil serves as inspiration for the entire work.

The writer contrasts herself (she travelled as lot and visited places on several continents during her life) with her parents (who holidayed once a year, planned their journeys carefully and found them stressful). I find such contrast in people around. There are ones who cannot stay in one place for a long period, if they tried, they would suffocate (travelling is a sense of their life) and there are others who prefer to stay in one place and just visit occasionally some holiday or business destinations.

I belong the to the latter group. The settled lifestyle I have chosen, being attached to the place I feel is home gives me feelings of comfort and security. I do travel from time to time, my trips are longer or shorter, but all taken not to search for something new, but to visit new places and then return home. I could not live today here, tomorrow there, in a month somewhere else, unlike other people could not live chained to one location.

The reflections upon the book reminded me of an article on people who had not ventured beyond Warsaw for the last two decades, published in Gazeta Wyborcza several years ago, today available free of charge. From a perspective of somebody who travels around Poland several times a year and visited 8 countries over the last 3 years, a fascinating read.

Cooking workshop

Frankly speaking, I am not fond of pottering about in the kitchen. I have learnt to do several basic and few more sophisticated meals after moving out from my parents, yet unless a lust for cooking comes over me (what happens once in a blue moon) I confine to a repertoire of simple and tested lunch sets, which I strive to broaden anyway. I cook lunches to take them to work for 3 reasons. Firstly, I lack time to eat out (it takes an hour, far too long given my dreadful workload). Secondly, I detest packaged lunches sold by people roaming around office buildings (such food contains lots of preservatives and other abhorrent chemistry). Thirdly, this sends a signal to the surrounding world I am self-sufficient and can take care of myself.

A voucher to a workshop in a Spanish cuisine was one of my birthday gifts and has proven to be the most inspiring one. Shortly after obtaining it I signed up for the first possible Saturday workshop, held yesterday.

The venue in which the workshop was run smacked of post-industrial climate. Located in the southern, least prime part of Mordor, not easily reachable by public transport, mixes climate of socialist factory district with modernity. Fortunately, I was there for just one afternoon.

Most participants also had received vouchers as gifts. Out of 16 people, 7 were two families that came together, on top some couples (including two gays) and some singles. Seems that trend of bestowing your relatives and friends with experiences rather than material stuff intensifies. A sign of times. If you wish to make such gift to somebody, a good idea is to hand it to your near and dear person or pass the hat round to decrease the cost per person, since experiences do not rank among inexpensive gifts.

Such workshop is one of such forms of meet-ups where people come, interact and go. I have just noticed all the friendships I have made in life are with people whom I had met repeatably, i.e. mostly at school or at work. I attended several courses and though relationships with some people met there lasted longer than those courses, none of them has survived until today.

The teacher was a seasoned cook, communicative and eager to share her passion with participants, yet for no apparent reason underlining too often she did not eat meat, but had to deal with it during the workshop (the Spanish cuisine is meat-rich). I wonder why she hadn’t given it up or just stuck to the vegan version…

The duration of the workshop turned out to be nearly five hours. For somebody not really fond of cooking and spending in the kitchen just as much time as absolutely necessary, this was a bit tiresome, though fun. Such form of pastime activity is about fun, experiments, learning and tasting something new. My homework to be done is to cook what I have learnt to my friends who sponsored my attendance.

Truth be told, I am not a fan of the Spanish cuisine. Some of the ingredients I like (olives), some I dislike (their meat), yet their dishes seem too stodgy (my stomach gently reminds me of it today), not to mention their nutrition habits over the day which totally do not square with mine (I consume a satiating breakfast, thnn fill up with a lunch and then eat little or nothing in the evening, to wake up longing for another huge breakfast.

POW - early 2020 update

Eight months after the recent major photo round-up and nearly three months after posting most recent snaps, time to spend most of a short, a yet bright day to catch up with progress of works on POW construction site west of Vistula.

The weather looked out perfect as seen from a warm interior. In fact, temperature today creeped barely above zero, while outside, unless you took shelter from the chilly wind, it felt like almost -10C. Fortunately, I have not decided to put up for sale my thermal long johns and vest, purchased before the trip beyond the polar circle and today they proved useful, albeit I felt kind of overheated when marching briskly through areas shielded from wind and lit by sunrays.

The morning part of the trip commenced around 10 a.m., after I returned from the swimming pool. Having donned the thermal underwear (and regular outerwear) I jumped into 504 bus, rode 3 stops, alit it and rambled towards the southern end of ul. Indiry Gandhi. At the corner of ul. Pileckiego and ul. Indiry Gandhi I passed what 2 weeks ago had most probably been a Christmas-tree stall. Today the sellers were long gone, unsold trees remained. I wondered whether they had been chopped down legally. Felt sorry for the trees, unlike plastic substitutes, they would not decompose after 400 years, yet each year too few Xmas trees are sold in pots and then replanted.

Having mused about trees, I reached the spot were a new intersection of ul. Indiry Gandhi and ul. Płaskowieckiej should be built. The construction crews so far were focusing on re-laying underground installations. Without the intersection, junction Ursynów Zachód will be rendered useless.

I crossed ul. Płaskowickiej and scrambled up an earth mound in the shrubs. The viaduct in the distance on the afore-mentioned junction will carry eastbound traffic onto Ursynów and should bring relief to ever-clogged ul. Puławska. I had decided not to drive several kilometres to capture the sight of S2 roads slipping into the tunnels from the current end of the road. Not worth burning so much fuel for one photo.

Ul. Płaskowickiej will need to be broadened ahead of the link with the expressway; works on it have commenced, for no apparent reason bringing the westbound lanes close to windows of blocks built here in 2006-2007 when plans of the POW had been publicly available. No need to feel regret for dwellers.

I turned around and snapped the pavement and the cycling path along ul. Płaskowickiej behind the construction site fence. These are first elements of the pre-construction landscape restored. Although the very road is to be opened in late 2021, system of roads in Ursynów is to be back in pre-construction shape in August 2020.

The photo to the right has been taken from a pavement by ul. Pileckiego, south of ul. Płaskowickiej. One can spot the southern lanes of ul. Płaskowickiej (turned into a single carriageway 2 years ago) and original ul. Pileckiego rebuilt. The land above the POW tunnel is to be developed into a park, with lots of greenery and amenities to locals.

East of ul. Stryjeńskich there was little to boast about, at least above the ground. Nevertheless, I could not resist to snap the construction site fence next to intersection of ul. Płaskowickiej and al. KEN. It instantly brought to mind… the Berlin wall. Ursynów indeed has been divided by that construction for a while and once it is finished I will need to get accustomed to Ursynów not blotted by metal fences, mud and building machinery.

Ursynów Wschód junction, as observed from the top of the Warsaw escarpment is not an easy object to be photographed. Still I couldn’t make out where the roads carrying the traffic east from Ursynów would run. Progress since mid-October also hard to be estimated. The last morning snap, time to walk off to a bus stop by ul. Rosoła, hop on 179 bus which zigzags through Ursynów and return home.

After a lunch and a moment of rest, time to inspect developments in Wilanów. Przyczółkowa junction seems quite advanced. Yellow footbridge still lacks balustrades. Red viaducts in the distance carry two three-land roads over ul. Przyczółkowa. Konstancin-bound traffic already on target lanes, drivers heading north still need to slow down on temporary detour.

A quirky shot, taken as I was standing on cycling path running parallel to ul. Przyczółkowa, looking west at the slip road towards Ursynów, Łódź, Poznań, Berlin, Lisbon… Tarmac has not been laid, progress of works on the viaducts unknown…

Then on to ul. Wał Zawadowski. Had cycled here several times, today I first ventured there by car and felt like an intruder (despite having not violated any rules). The bridge is also not an easy object for the camera…

The pictures do not show progress on northern bridge is lower than on the southern one, whose construction had commenced earlier. Some time ago the delay on that section was said to be the longest. Today I can bet the entire Southern Bypass of Warsaw is opened in 4Q2021 and I am quite optimistic due to forecasts of mild winter continuing in January and February 2020.

Later I drove to see the viaduct on ul. Syta. One of drawbacks of taking such trips by car is a difficulty in finding a place to park the vehicle. The photo was taken through an opened window, while I stopped and turned the emergency light on. In the distance, the bridge(s) over Vistula.

The last pic, taken in the same location, half an hour before the sunset Looking west towards Ursynów, future roads clearly visible. The very viaduct seems nearly completed. I wonder whether it shares the fate of its peer on ul. Poloneza which infuriated local residents for months between actual completion and opening for traffic.

The progress is anyway best illustrated on films shot by drones, which can be found in the relevant thread of Skyscrapercity forum.

2019 - end-year musings

As the end of the year draws near, high time for summaries and reflections spurred by the recent months.

The first quarter of the year was marked by refurbishment and furnishing the flat. Nine months after moving in, I feel well this is my place on earth. The drawback of such positive vibes associated with the dwelling will be the unease to move out of there one day.

The major event in the second quarter were exacerbating problems with the lumbar spine which ended up with a fortnight spent on intensive recovery, which, along with continuous exercising, have proven to help me pull through.

In the third quarter I had to face up to a tough challenge at work. The task was stressful, time-consuming and though worth being described on the blog, for the sake of confidentiality, I have held back on it. It was one of those things that could have killed me, but eventually have made me stronger.

In the fourth quarter I set out to fulfil my dream from last year and decided to commit much of my money, spare time and courage to help those worse off. It has paid back with good energy and has become made me yearn for more.

The entire year was marked by my growing awareness of the climate change, its severe implications and mankind’s impact on the global warming. After the hottest June since records began and after the warmest fourth quarter of the year since records began (October being the third warmest, November the second warmest and December on track to be the third warmest), one witnesses figures backing the climate change.

Every individual has responsibility to slow down this process, and just like in elections in which every vote counts, any (positive) change matters. In contemplating how one can influence the global warming I distinguish some key areas.

Firstly, how one heats one’s household. Here much needs to be done and is being done of the levels of central and local governments. The authorities need to support financially (with a carrot) those who need to replace their smog-generating incinerators with civilised furnaces running on natural gas, but also have to crack down (with a stick) on those who keep on burning rubbish and whatever cheap stuff to heat their houses.

Secondly, how one travels. The biggest detriment is caused by short-distance flying, which I have committed to shun as much as possible (though I may happen to repeat it, if I am forced to keep company to one of senior executives who do not stoop so low to take a train). The second biggest damage to air pollution is caused by short-distance car trips around town. I have nearly completely given up on driving below 10 kilometres (such is the distance to my parents’ house) and if I drive around town, my destinations are difficult to be reached by public transport (door-to-door journey several times longer) or when something heavy lands in my boot. Public transport and bicycle are a solution in over 90% of circumstances.

Thirdly, by one’s choices as a consumer. Here the 5R rule applies. Think before you buy an item and consider whether you really need it. Once you buy something, take care of it and use for as long as possible. Replace when an item wears down, not when your get bored of it and hanker after something brand new. Cut down on use of disposable items. Be sensitive to how stuff is packaged. I can proudly say my one-person household produces these day one 35-litre bag of litter per 3 days. Besides, I get along with life without material whims.

Fourthly, what one eats. Next year will be the time on cutting back on meat consumption, though with no intension of becoming a vegetarian.

Fifthly, be aware with making choices and mind the greenwashing. The best example of greenwashing observed by me in 2019 was my own employer, taking pride in replacing its entire fleet with hybrid Toyotas (each to be replaced by a brand-new one after mere two years of 60,000 kilometres). I have driven those cars and travelled on board of them as a passenger around town and I am more than disillusioned. Brushing driving impressions (I honestly dislike it) aside, I am deeply dissatisfied with its economics. Fuel consumption (I am writing now about hybrid Corolla sedan with 1.8 engine) of around 5 – 6 litres per 100 km in town (as much as a frugal, small petrol-run car would do and compares to my car with would consume 8 litres per 100 km) and above litres per 100 km on motorway (tempomat set at 140 kmph) which is far more than my car, which would gulp also around 8 litres at such speed, has little to do with stopping smog!

The hybrid vehicles are good for people who drive a lot around town as part of their profession (taxi drivers, couriers delivering parcels or whatever else, cable TV guys, etc). Other car users should rather be encouraged not to use cars around town rather than switching into cars which have their batteries charged from fume-producing engines. After doing a research I would not buy a hybrid car with my driving profile. Firstly, they have no advantage (to put it bluntly, perform inferiorly) in long-distance trips (2/3 of my yearly mileage), secondly they do not endure well frequent periods of sitting idle for a few days (my car generally sits in the garage over the working week).

Summing up, next year I see myself following the guidelines helping me preserve the planet, yet reasonably, without going into extremes, meaning not giving up on effects of technological progress at any price.

Wintry Christmas? No such luck!

Each single advertisement and each (with some exceptions) film whose plot plays out in Christmas period is set in a scenery of bright, snowy, often sunny winter. This has little do with actual weather…

But shapes our expectations…

 …which hardly stand confrontation with the reality.

 I have taken the trouble to find out how many of Christmas Eves between 1951 and 2019 (69 years, with firm forecasts of late autumnal weather I can fairly add this year’s Christmas Eve to the sample) when reliable and precise weather measurements have been taken and are publicly available were wintery. I define winter (hereinafter proper winter) as day-time high below 0C and at least 1 centimetre of snow lying on the ground. Out of 68 Christmas Eves, only on 13 (1953, 1956, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1986, 1990, 2001, 2002, 2003), i.e. less than one in five Christmas Eves one could enjoy proper winter in Warsaw.

I have also collected detailed data for my lifetime and have broken them down into 4 categories, taking into account combinations of two features of winter conditions: sub-zero temperature and snow. I define:

- snowy as at least 1 centimetre of snow lying on the ground,

- frosty as day-time high below 0C,

- thaw and frost-free as day-time high equal to or higher than 0C,

- melting snow as at least centimetre of snow lying on the ground, but disappearing on account of positive temperature,

- without snow and snow-free as no snow falling or lying on the ground or sleet or snow falling, yet melting instantly or soon after reaching the ground.

Snowy and frosty (i.e. proper winter): 1990, 2001, 2002, 2003.

Thaw, melting snow: 2010, 2012.

Frosty, without snow: 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2007.

Frost-free, snow-free: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

In my lifetime, 4 out of 33 Christmas Eves brought proper winter, the last one was witnessed 16 years ago (and was third subsequent one).

Interestingly, in my childhood quite common were frosty (frequently with double-digit negative temperatures) yet snow-free Christmas Eves.

In 2010 and 2012 the weather was particularly cruel, as Christmas thaws were just interludes in cold and snowy Decembers.

This year’s December is the seventh warmer-than average December in a row. Until today there was no snow, nor sleet in Warsaw, nor a day with maximum temperature below 0C, so my annual winter timeline has not been launched. The coming days are to bring colder and gloomier weather, with rain showers, typical for late autumn. Some of long-term forecasts hint at odds of a sleet or melting snow in the last days of December, yet I believe we will wait for the onset of proper winter until January.