Driving skills honed

I have regularly driven a car since 2011, covered probably around 150,000 kilometres since then, have not caused a collision (may it stay so, I had one, but was not a culprit) nor an accident. With such track record I could claim to be a skilful driver, but I keep in mind complacency comes before the fall. I keep my smugness at bay and every time I sit behind the wheel I make myself realise I might have an accident before I reach my destination and do my best to avert it.

Given the precautions I take and humility I strive to foster, I was delighted to learn my company had paid for a defensive driving course to all company car drivers. On top, I took part in a corporate competition and won a participation in another training, on a racing track. The prize has been probably the most precious one won in my lifetime, saving me some PLN 1,000 I could have paid for such event.

The defensive driving course was obligatory to all active users of the corporate fleet, consisting of whopping 1,300 vehicles, which are involved in 20 accidents (defined as resulting in at least one casualty spending at least 7 days in a hospital) yearly. My employer aims to reduce the number of such accidents to zero by 2025 – a commendable initiative for which I keep fingers crossed, yet I believe doable only by means of decreasing the number of cars in use (which would truly help the planet).

The defensive driving training was split into two sessions – during the theoretical one we analysed case studies of actual accidents and complex situations in road traffic and refreshed our knowledge of recent (imprecise) changes in the highway code.

During the practice sessions we drove around town, instructed how to do it more smoothly, predictably and safely. Needless to say one of the goals was to decrease the fuel consumption and the company cars’ wear and tear.

The second training, on a racing track was far more exciting. During the theoretical part we had truly practical exercises in first aid (commendable) and improved our skills of controlling a car in extreme situations (a waterlogged track was as slippery as thick slush) – we slalomed past obstacles, passed them by to return to the original lane or slid along a curve, trying not to lose traction.

The exercises were meant not only to teach us how to control a vehicle in dire circumstances. Our instructors showed us repeatedly a difference in speed of mere five kilometres per hour might make a tremendous difference in terms of avoiding an accident. Speed kills, you must not forget it! We were also confronted with the fear of falling into a skid or losing control over the car, however outside the public road, where nobody’s life nor health was at peril.

I hope I never have to make use of what I learnt, but if the worst come to the worst, I suppose, I would be more likely to keep a cool head.

Early June, southern Poland

Good to be home after spending over a week in different venues in the hilly southern part of my homeland. First five days in Wisła; the timing of our stay was not haphazard. We turned up to my girlfriend’s second home to take part in the third “Granatowe Góry” – JerzyPilch Festival, a series of (mostly) open-air lectures, discussion panels, workshops and concerts. Despite not being a culture freak, I picked out thought-provoking events from a rich agenda (usually four events taking place at the same time) and appreciated them.

As I dwell on his works and biography, I discover Mr Pilch as a controversial and enthralling figure. He appeared in the spotlight late, in the early 1990s, after turning 35. Written-word-wise, he could boast a superb skill of building long-drawn-out, complex sentences, in which no word is useless and which do not let a reader lose track of the thread. He deftly and humorously painted ordinary events and spiced ordinary places with magic. On the other hand, he was an outright sexist and misogynist. His most renowned book, “Pod mocnym aniołem” being a brutal record of how low an alcohol addict can stoop, has been an inspiration for a film of the same title. As a male, he had several more of less fleeting relationships with women. Towards the end of his life, he married a poet quite probably younger than me, who stayed with him until the end of his days (in which Parkinson disease kept him company). Currently I presume the widow has an affair with Jerzy Baczyński, chief editor of “Polityka” weekly.

I must say I have little understanding for romantic relationships with age gap higher than a generation (in the aforementioned example the age difference is roughly 40 years). I could not even imagine myself, aged 35, going out with a woman aged 25. Folks claim if a younger woman falls in love (if it is indeed love) with a much older man, money has to be in stake. In Pilch’s case, this could not have been the case, as he never earned a lot and quickly parted with his income. Besides, as an alcoholic, he lacked some of the crucial makings of a reliable life companion.

Customarily, the festival attendees were also my girlfriend’s parents, which involved living under one roof with them for five days and nights (we slept in a living room). With hindsight, I was over-optimistic with respect to how smoothly we would get on with one another. The stay went without spats, but being positioned as a guest in a place I am familiar with and where I make myself at home was a kind of uncomfortable. The unease was felt with my girlfriend’s parents, who had an intruder in the flat in which her father grew up.

What I had to put up with were… rituals (as a person afflicted with mild Asperger syndrome I detest them) and the fact the life revolved around eating. I confess I eat to deliver nutrients to my body, minding healthiness of my diet, but do not take much pleasure in consumption. Participating frequently in rituals related to eating or drinking was a misery to me, a waste of time, energy and money (not mine, yet any). I have recently realised I am not fond of celebrating. I realise why it is important to people and for social reasons I take part in celebrations, but do not cherish them as most people do.

As we were leaving for Bieszczady, I felt a deep relief. The weather during the Corpus Christi weekend was not quite fine (lots of rainfall), but made the most of clement mornings and early afternoons wandering past Połoniny, at times above clouds and relaxed indoors during afternoons. On our way back we made a stopover in Lublin, my first ever visit to the city and hopefully not the last one.

London, weekend

Back from my first-ever (surprised) foray to an English-speaking country. I flew there for 3 days during the past weekend, to visit my girlfriend’s friends and… make the most of the presence there sight-seeing wise.

The plane tickets (British Airways) were the most expensive out of all I have purchased in my lifetime. A return ticket without checked luggage set me back almost PLN 900 (had we not been forced to conform to our hosts’ availability, I could have saved some PLN 200, let’s face it, flying has to be expensive, to discourage some people from frequent air travels or to make people pay for their carbon footprint.

As mentioned, we did not have to pay for the accommodation directly, however at the expense of enduring my girlfriend’s friends’ numerous attempts to kill us with kindness and withstanding the central heating turned on when temperature outside was +20C.

We got around the city mostly on foot, as short-distance public transport rides are a bit of pricey (although the GBP 2.70 per single ride within Zone 1 did not seem a fortune). We also experienced the longest queuing in our lifetimes – almost two hours of wait to behold the jewels exhibition in the Tower of London.

The weather was more than fine, given we popped in to the UK’s capital. Not a single raindrop has fallen during our stay, and most of the time skies were clear. Temperature topped close to +20C on each day. To the right – a view from the Tower Bridge walkway on Thames and Canary Wharf in the distance.

The Mall between the Trafalgar Square and the Buckingham Palace resemble Parisian Champs-Elysees, except for they are shorter and… closed for traffic, a big upside of the venue. When it comes to traffic, its density in the central London zone, with entry conditioned upon paying a GBP 15 congestion charge has taken me aback.

A wall past the boulevard opposite to the Houses of Parliament commemorates the UK citizen whose life have been taken away by COVID-19, a symbolic spot Poland still lacks. The death toll of 226,196 is quite up-to-date, since the last update on Covid Worldometer gives the figure of 225,324 as of 23 March 2023.

The Trafalgar Square was the noisiest venue in the entire city, with droves of protesters screaming out what they hold out for through megaphones. We got away from there possibly quickly. Due to time scarcity, we also did not pay a visit to the National Gallery visible in the distance.

The swathes of green areas open to everyone are one of few upsides of the central London. The Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens through which I strolled on Sunday morning are a beautiful area central Warsaw sadly lacks (although Pole Mokotowskie and Park Skaryszewski are splendid anyway).

The Shard, completed in 2012, to my surprise is exactly as tall as Varso Tower in central Warsaw (both have a height of 310 metres). The skyscraper overlooks the morose City of London. Back in pre-COVID times, when Michael visited London regularly, he aptly described the city as “drab”. I find this epithet profoundly accurate; a pity the Polish language lacks a word conveying exactly the same meaning.

London is also the most expensive city I have ever visited. The entry prices to sights other than museums seemed justified by the heritage of past centuries and costs their upkeep and as a sightseeing freak I have made a deliberate choice to fork out money. But the stomach-filling bills in anything, but fancy bars / pubs in central London were paid through the nose.

While confronted with the prices, I was curious to compare them against earnings in the capital of the UK. I learnt an average (or median, if my memory does not serve me right) after-tax salary in London is GBP 30,000 yearly (or GBP 2,500 per month). Unless prices of basic goods are lower in the suburbs than in central London, this allows to eke out a living, but is definitely insufficient to lead a comfortable life.

Two full days were far too short for a proper sightseeing, yet given the fact I cannot be sure I ever return there, I decided to make the most of the trip. Needless to say, I spent Monday working from home, just ticking over, to have a bit of rest after the intensive weekend.

Off to Wisła and then to Bieszczady around the middle of the coming week, so the next write-up is due in three weeks.

S7 expressway – section between Lesznowola and Tarczyn opened

Each time when a new section of an expressway was opened for traffic in the vicinity of Warsaw, I celebrated it by driving the car to a newly opened piece of infrastructure. With the section B of S7 expressway, since 27 April 2023 accessible to motorists as “passable” with a delay of some 18 months (finishing works will continue for a year or so), I refrained from such indulgence. Sooner or later I am going to use it, but I will not take any trouble to accelerate that moment.

If I avoid unnecessary journeys by car, that one definitely ranks among them. I take pleasure in driving a vehicle (unless it comes with automatic transmission or no gearbox at all), but I realise this is not an environmentally acceptable activity, hence I hold my horses, falling back on public transport, my bicycle and my feet whenever possible. Such approach benefits not only the planet, but also my fitness and my wallet.

While spending over a week in Wisła recently, the car was parked for this entire period in the garage. We moved about to shops, to the town centre or took trips by bicycle and got on with it, despite the undulating terrain. You could say to do this we had to drive almost 400 kilometres by car and then cover the same distance on our way back to Warsaw. I refute the argument by saying if you take a dog, two bicycles, suitcases, food stocks and computers, it is a bit of nuisance to travel by train (or actually to the station, by train to Bielsko-Biała and then to Wisła).

My girlfriend thought we would need a bigger car to carry all stuff. In fact, with smart packing my Megane hatchback can carry two adults, two bicycles, two suitcases, a few smaller bags and a dog which has 1 sqm area it the boot for itself. Now try to convince me there is any practicable justification to buy a hefty SUV, if a compact car is so capacious (if you need even more space, buy an estate compact car). With respect to the environmental impact, I set tempomat at 100 kmph and my excellently reliable, 12-year-old car consumes mere six and a half litres of petrol per 100 kilometres. Not little, but given its age and kilograms on board, I believe the fuel consumption is superb anyway.

Off to London for the first time in my life next weekend. Expect a coverage in two weeks!

Doing overtime :(

Regular readers of the blog might recall some time ago I posted a write-up of numerous goings-on at work. Though things have settled down a bit, my workload remains excessive. As promised by my employer, I got my first overtime allowance for 1Q2023 (actually for February and March only). Not a large amount of money, net-of-tax a four-digit amount, with “1” to the left.

The rollercoaster carried on in early April, so I requested some overtime orders (a manager must order an employee to work overtime). In the first week of the month my request was approved, but in the week following Easter, when I had to toil away intensively for up to 12 hours a day and after knocking off I could not string a sentence together, my request was turned down. The refusal was justified by my managers by the supposed termination of exceptional circumstances which occurred in 1Q2023.

Fortunately, my jaw did not draw open for long, so without second thoughts I instantly came up with three ways out of the absurd situation. First – they keep on paying me for doing overtime. Second – they reduce my workload. Third – I reconsider my career plans. Here they were up to the task, since they offered they would like to choose between the first and the second option and revert to me with a proposal. It ended up with me being allowed to request overtime pay until the end of 2Q2023. They pledged afterwards my workload gets reasonable, a promise I put no faith in.

For the time being I am focusing on surviving by the end of 2Q2023 (no fortnight-long holidays due in late spring this year) and getting a compensation for the inconvenience of working far more than 40 hours a week.

The squabble over my overtime pay has also mobilised me to browse job advertisements for the first time since 2017 and do trying to find out what wages competitors offer. The outcome of short research was that I would find it hard to negotiate a basic salary at the par with my current one and give up on generous (above-market) bonuses (my bonus for tough 2022 was effectively my 13^th, 14^th, 15^th, 16^th and 17^th salary this year). The potential reward for much lower earnings could be potentially lower workload, possibly at the expense of handling tasks below my (pardon my lack of modesty – superb) competencies. Thus I have become a hostage of money…

The recent state of affairs has also made me reconsider priorities in life. I want the frequent sitting overtime to be a temporary measure, while in the mid-term, I prefer to renounce the overtime compensation (which will not make me much richer) and have more time for living my life, not sacrificing it to a callous corporation.

Next post in three weeks, since I am off to Wisła for the long weekend and the shortened working week.