Lean times...

How come during the first wave of the crisis (I still assume economic misery lasting since 2008 would only ease, not cease) Poland was a “green island” on the map of Europe, while these days, although Polish economy does not, and predictably will not, contract, there are several CEE countries that outpace Poland in terms of GDP growth. How come? In my view there are two factors that contribute to relative frailty of the Polish economy. First is the strength of the Polish currency, the other is dwindling consumer confidence.

The former can be easily quantified and its impact on growth can be explicated with referring to currency regimes. Currencies of countries severely hit by the economic woes in late 2008 and 2009 were pegged to EUR (Baltic States), or these countries had just adopted the single currency (Slovakia). Polish zloty was then allowed to float and speculators betting against our currency sold it off  to levels which considerably boosted competitiveness of Polish exports and decreased demand on foreign products. Today PLN is fairly valued against other currencies and so Poland cannot fully benefit from advantages of cheap domestic currency.

The latter is less measurable (although you can always work out several indices or ratios to quantify optimism among consumers or entrepreneurs), it is more about collective state of mind and expectations. In 2009 Poles would rush to the shops as if economic slowdown was just a newspaper headline. Retail sales were rising, not soaring, but most Poles stayed optimistic about the future.

These days confidence is shrinking. Consumer feel much more insecure about the future and their salaries in real terms have dropped, while basic costs of living keep going up. Whenever we spend more to meet our basic needs (dwelling maintenance, food) and our income does not rise, we are forced to save on something else. And so we cut back expenses on culture, entertainment, going out, holidays, cars, etc. Plus when we feel insecure about the future, especially about the terms of our employment, we tend to put aside money for a rainy day. This is all visible around…

Just over the recent week Gazeta Wyborcza published two pieces on this trend. The first says fear of being fired is worse than joblessness. From the economic point of view it is better to have the job, than to be out on the limb, but from psychological point of view, the former state, combined with insecurity about tomorrow appears more crippling. Once you are jobless, your situation seems controllable. When, just like me, you have a job, but at the back of your head you have the thought that each day you go to work might be your last day there (I’m still better off because I have a generous severance pay guaranteed!), it is much more crippling emotionally. How can you plan anything? How can you decide to take out a loan if your repayment capacity might be jeopardised? How can you spend more, if a natural reaction in such situation is building a cash buffer? A human needs some stability, while today’s economy cannot offer it.

The second article dwells on general trend on the labour market – employment is falling, salary hikes are frozen, employees hold down the job, and, fearing of losing the job, expend less. This has severe implications for the total economy and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: consumers spend less, aggregate demand falls, producers put out less, needs fewer staff, lay off, those laid-off buy less and so the vicious circle keeps turning. Private consumption is the propeller of GDP and drop in it, compounded by limitations in offsetting it by other components of GDP (private investment, government spending, net exports), is quickly reflected in economic growth statistics. Also the current disinflation, despite its unsustainable character (1.7% y/y inflation in January was caused by temporarily cheaper fuels and drop in natural gas rates for households – do not cut interest rates so rashly!), is also the aftermath of lower consumer spending.

Skimping on every step is not just a figment of panicking journalists’ imagination. I can see it around, but not everyone is cutting down on splurging money. Fewer people buy coffee in the morning in our canteen (5 PLN per mug each day, giving it up leaves 100 PLN in your pocket each month), more prepare instant coffee, paid by the employer. I find it harder to find company for a lunch, as more people bring food from home. If they decide to eat out, they prefer our subsidised canteen to more expensive eateries in the vicinity of our office. Prices above 15 PLN for main course (without a soup) are prohibitive for Poles all ranking among 5% best-earning ones. Many decide to eat only a soup… They see merits of shoes bought in Deichmann or CCC, when choosing their holiday destinations, they seek cheaper places. Polish countryside is again an option, with agro-tourism being far less costly than mountain or seaside posh resorts. If abroad, Bulgaria, Hungary and Albania are all the rage, offering much cheaper accommodation that Mediterranean countries. Colleagues who have returned from winter holidays say lodgings and borrowing skis are much cheaper and despite this there are fewer tourists. Zakopane was all desolated as prices of rooms and in restaurants were far too steep (50 PLN for a lunch for one person is a daylight robbery indeed!). Going to a cinema – not more often than once a month, to a theatre – once in a quarter – restraints on spending on culture are quite typical. Car or public transport – the latter quite often wins. Traffic density and number of cars covered by snow for an extended period are respectively: lower and higher this winter. Traffic jams are not as bad as they use to be... No wonder if many people have given up on their cars.

Maybe what are just observing is just the farewell to credit-fuelled growth and onset of era of frugality. Number of new mortgages granted by banks in 2013 might be record-low, this will surely have implications for the property market, i.e. accelerate process of adjusting prices to purchasing power of buyers. There is one more time bomb ticking and I have not heard anyone’s concern about it in Poland – there is a property bubble swelling in Switzerland and the country’s central bank might be likely to raise interest rates. This might in turn hit mortgage debtors in Poland with their liabilities denominated in CHF, as amount of monthly instalment is much more sensitive to interest rate than to exchange rate. I am not envisaging spectacular bankruptcies of distressed borrowers, bad debts will not soar. Instead “home-owners” will be bending over backwards to make ends meet and avoid foreclosures even harder and this will also decrease private consumption.

The upbeat part of the post is, again, that property prices should be heading down…

Four years on!

Few bloggers can boast about such quite long track record. Despite being short of time and other adverse circumstances I’m soldiering and don’t plan to give it up. To mark the anniversary, a short list of several out of over 300 posts that deserve to be remembered. I’m not judging they are my best, nor claim they are outstanding, but think are the ones worth reverting to.

The very first serious post – in the middle of option crisis in Poland

The first post on linguistic puzzles – first of many

The timeline of Polish history after 1989, but before its defining moment which ensued 10 months later.

At the end of this trifling post – an appeal for support to Paula Pruska, young Polish blogger, who documented her fight against the cancer, lost on 31 August 2011…

A look at pathologies of Polish banking from before the times when I immersed to it – as a 3rd year student with no job, no income and little assets I was offered a huge loan…

The shift from socialism to free-market economy – who was better-off,who worse-off.

Taxation and justice – part 1 and part 2

My take on martial law in Poland – hasn’t changed since then

Why I don’t commend pursuing loose monetary policy – a recommended read less than two weeks after fourth consecutive interest rate cut in Poland

What’s to blame for the crisis – Lack of fear or other factors?

Black swan theory – posted two days before Smolensk crash – what a coincidence…

A hilarious attempt to write a letter of application in English – one of many lost battles betweens Poles and the most often used foreign language in Poland.

How end justifies the means – after three years I look at how PiS and its followers have no scruples to harness any method to attain their political goals – this will never change…

The whole series of posts on the story of 1,000 PLN I lent to my classmate who turned out to be a compulsive gambler – I haven’t recovered the money, but it’s nothing compared to him, up-and-coming lawyer expelled from university, doing a sentence for unpaid debts and after a few suicide attempts…

Probably the most controversial post on Smolensk crash – number of comments proves this best!

Winter timelines – 2010/11 and 2011/12, another one pending

A comprehensive description of workings of Polish pension system, written in time when it was one of the most topical issues – part 1 and part 2

Memories of 9 April 2010 and 10 April 2010 – for posterity…

The last post on studying at my university – foreign language teaching evaluation

On taking risks – indispensable in our lives

A gloomy picture of farewell to the ruthless corporate world – this year my company is going to lay off 600 employees, or over 10% of its staff. Here we go again!

My last year’s examination of conscience – helped me understand a lot and realise how many mistakes I had made…

A conversation between my guardian angel and me – over four months have gone by, I have broken away, but still there are days when I have to chase away ghosts of the past… And here is when it began. Over a year wasted?

Corpo-life in a nutshell – a wry look at absurdities of corporate capitalism and similarities between it and the communism.

On top of this, I’d add all reviews of films and books – it never hurts to have a dose of culture here…

Anything you’d add to the list, enjoyed most, etc.? My foregone conclusion is that since the inception of full-time job quality of my blogging has gone down - less time for writing, less time for reflections, less inspiration...

Me – the odd one…

I haven’t planned to mark the second anniversary of submerging into corporate world, neither here, nor at work, but it somehow coincided with the first… kind of crisis. It’s not a pure burnout, nor anything akin. I’m still highly motivated, my work gives me a lot of pleasure and satisfaction and still offers a lot of challenges. It’s about people I’m surrounded by.

Overwhelming majority of my colleagues are staid, several years older people who’ve set up families – are married and most have offspring. For many months I hadn’t minded it. I would get along with them and still do so, unlike many of my friends from university who couldn’t imagine working with people not of their age. I hadn’t mind it, but with time it sank in to me I’m a different breed. It’s not just boiling down to the fact I’m 25 and most of them are in their 30’s, but this age difference is a why and wherefore I don’t fit in.

I was aware of some sort of generation gap long before, but I first realised the depth of gulf between us early last month when one of my colleagues returned from maternity leave. Our team went down to our canteen for a coffee and to have a chat. The conversation, predictably, revolved around early stages of parenthood, I sat with all the young and slightly older parents and silently gobbled an ice-cream (eating cold Big Milk once a week superbly fends off germs from throat in the winter, recommended second breakfast) and for the first time I felt actually alienated. I felt like standing up and walking away, but for sake of civility I listened to them with feigned interest in things which won’t be familiar to me for a while.

From that very moment I inadvertently looked for ways to escape their company in moments when we were not focused strictly on work-related stuff. I have workmates below 30s at different departments, so I decided to spend most of my lunch / coffee breaks with them, much to my fellow colleagues chagrin (I don’t understand why they find it so aberrant I seek company of my peers).

Since then some of their habits I used to perceive as minor shortcomings, began to wind me up. The ‘dirty mug pride’ is at the top of their list. Whenever I see them coming to our desk where we have a kettle, coffee jar and milk with mugs or cups not washed after coffee sipped on the previous day it makes me want to puke and I have to hold back not to snatch it and shatter it on their held-up-high heads. At the end of the day before I leave, no matter how much I hurry and no matter how exhausted I am, I have to go to the kitchen and wash my mug. My parents taught me at home that whenever I use any dish, after I finish I should wash and keep it clean, for sake of hygiene. I don’t feel comfortable with dirt, they do.

This somehow contradicts with how toffee-nosed they are. When talking about holiday voyages, they claim they don’t accept accommodation below four-star standard. Everything below this substandard and they deserve something more. The same goes about business trips. I don’t mind staying in an economy-class two-star hotel. I only need a clean bed linen, a clean bathroom, a closet spacious enough for my suits and shirts and a decent breakfast. Why the hell my colleagues think they deserve a better standard? Are they made of higher-quality clay?

This is all a matter of klasa – you have it or not, you won’t learn it, nor acquire it. Good taste and good manners can be easily recognised – whenever they are rehearsed, they are unnatural. You might finish a good university, get a prestigious job, grow into wealth, learn foreign languages, but if you lack klasa, your image will always lack that missing piece. It all comes out in a way you treat people, how you mark your social status, how you use foreign languages, your reliability and attitude to work, etc. A well-mannered person will never treat anyone with superiority, will not raise their voice, keep cool head, be self-confident (this reflect their lack of inferiority complex), never show off their wealth, will learn foreign languages continuously and improve their command, instead of confining to just getting by in communication. Klasa is about modesty and proper balance between self-confidence and self-effacement.

When I observe them, dwell on their mindset, a picture of a typical lemming emerges in my mind. And the word ‘lemming’ does not just refer to voting for Platforma.

By the way, once I can say I am proud of this government. It has fought over 300 billion zlotys for Poland from the EU budget for years 2014-2020. This money will have a great contribution to helping Poland catching up with western economies. I call it an immense success, much greater than the same amount negotiated by Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz government in late 2005, as conditions are much tougher than then. When everyone was focusing on cutbacks, getting that much money is a success. The other story is that the budget might be voted down by the European parliament, many members of which are reluctant to such ‘profligacy’, so the joy might be premature, but the very fact such amount of EU funds is at stake is a reason give credit to our government. Of course the main opposition party, whose leader quite recently declared keeping fingers crossed for Polish negotiating team, but on Friday silver-mouthed PiS deputy Mariusz Błaszczak announced 300 billion are a bare minimum… How much would his principal attain for Poland during late-night informal negotiations without an interpreter?

Coming back to the main thread of the post – I’ve just realised my colleagues are a by-product of culture of consumerism, or triumph of ‘having’ over ‘being’. Living beyond means to show off their status is typical for Poland’s fledging middle class. The focal point of their wealth is usually a mortgage, symbol of dream of state-of-the-art dwelling fulfilled. Not planning to take a mortgage is it least dubious. In my parents’ generation having so much money implied right away you must have come into the possession of it illicitly. For much younger people it rather invokes a question “what’s wrong with you?” What’s wrong with you that you don’t want to have your own flat right away? And I simply don’t feel like taking such burden on my back if I don’t have to (if I was renting a flat, I’d surely have a different view), for many reasons.

Firstly, property prices, despite recent considerable drop, are still steep and given their relation to disposable income, the imbalance of supply and demand, curbed mortgage lending, macroeconomic situation, dwindling consumer confidence and demographic trends, are very unlikely to go up in two or three years; the worst scenario is that they level off.

Secondly, being free of debts gives you a huge comfort – future is not full of insecurity over job stability, health, source of income.

Thirdly, it’s about pure maths. Assuming I take out a 25-years, 250,000 PLN mortgage at interest rate of 6% (=0.5% monthly) and pay it off in monthly annuities, the monthly instalment is 1,610.75 PLN, out of which around 1,250 PLN goes for interest payment, so in the first month my debt is reduced by 360.75 PLN. It means after a year of repayment my outstanding debt is less than 4,500 lower than at repayment phase inception! I could also set aside some money and from most of them prepay the loan (some rainy-day liquidity cushion must stand by). I could safely assume after a year my outstanding debt would go down by 15,000 PLN. In a year of saving and living with parents (and putting up with them) I can set aside a whole lot more and my savings earn interest on top of that.

Fourthly, there are bargains on property market and in case of urgent sale a vendor decreases asking price and can accept an even higher discount in return for cash received immediately. If you want to hunt a bargain, there will be no time to arrange a mortgage. Oh, I would’ve forgotten, the very procedure of fixing a mortgage is also expensive – upfront and other fees usually consume an equivalent of a square metre of a flat at best.

Being thrifty is not a virtue in consumerist world. None of my colleagues does what my parents were doing from the day of my birth until I was finished high school – they were setting aside small sums of money for a separate bank book, then on time deposits. For what they’d put aside and interest earned I could buy a brand-new city car, but a single zloty from that money has not been spent until now and it still works. Then I’d put aside money as a student and inherited some more money. Savings began to rise quickly as I got a full-time job. Should I be ashamed I have accumulated something instead of throwing it about? Should I, as some suggest, paint the town red each weekend and thus decrease balance of my bank account by at least a few hundred zlotys each month?

Some people say after the stint of two years at one employer, there is a need for a change. But in the respects above, transfer to another bank would mean doing the same thing with the same sort of people, so there’s no point in changing… Unless for pay-related reasons… But this is not the case now…

Got it off my chest! What a relief!

President’s death / Thaw in Warsaw

I remember my promise to review the film which appeared last Sunday in NGC. I remember and deliberately go back on it, by keeping my impressions brief and concise rather than going on about the documentary.

The film, not unsurprisingly, was a letdown for me. I expected a rather one-sided picture of the disaster, based merely on the official reports, but the outcome was more distorted than I had expected. To make it clear, I am not in favour of conspiracy theories, I accept findings of the Polish parliamentary commission which had investigated causes of the crash and realise film-makers, as in every case, based their coverage only on official reports (there were two in the case), but the bad taste remains.

The depiction of Smolensk crash should not be described as ‘biased’, the better word is ‘selective’ and, at some points, ‘distorted’. In fact, as nobody survived the impact, there is no chance to accurately present what was going on aboard before the crash, black boxes reveal only what was said in the cockpit and tell nothing about other circumstances, including mindset of the crew.

The message from the film is quite clear – Polish pilots’ errors in conjunction with bad weather and indirect pressure on them were the major cause of the crash. I believe these indeed were most likely reasons why the plane shattered before runway, but in fact circumstances were much more complex and going beyond what happened on the hapless day and analysis of other factors should not be confined to mentioning incident from August 2008 when the lead pilot was the second pilot on the plane whose lead pilot refused to touch down in Tbilisi and was expelled from the regiment for disobedience. I can only repeat questions asked by the media – why filmmakers did not bother to see photos of the airport in Smolensk, tragically run-down, lacking equipment? Why nobody mentioned flight controllers were calling somebody to take instructions what to do? Why nobody mentioned the Russian plane which nearly crashed the runway in thick fog shortly before the crash? Why co-operation between Polish and Russian investigators was depicted as exemplary? Why Russians were presented as careful and attentive if every child knows this is a departure from the truth?

Predictably, the film, watched by over 2 million people, triggered public outcry. Most commentators think the remembrance of the Smolensk crash will be based on this film only. I doubt its influence is so huge and I doubt it can convince anyone who showed at least little interest in the accident to change their mind about the backdrop of the disaster. I have seen it and could describe it as ‘factual, yet inexcusably selective’. Now I am looking forward to seeing another film, shot by a Polish PiS-backing journalist, Anita Gargas. I will not make me change my mind, but it never hurts to see what the other side claims and, if possible, pick nits in their reasoning.

Having written all this, I discern how I have evolved over the last four years. In the first two years of blogging wallowing in such mire gave me a lot of pleasure. Two years ago I could argue with commentators on Toyah’s blog and stir up atmosphere there just for intellectual pleasure. Today I would not raise a finger to be get into discussion with them which often ended up with me being offended. For some time now, my interest in politics has been dwindling. Currently the headline-hitting issue are civil partnerships and rights of gays, lesbians and transsexual people. I must say as this does not affect me, I care little about this. I used to dream of ideal political, economic and social order. With time I turned into a typical lemming, focused on his own well-being. I care more about my work and personal life, while other issues recede in the background. My attention is centred on small stuff I have influence on and probably if no breakthrough which could have a serious impact on my daily life takes place, this is not going to change.

Turning to small things… Proper winter has given way to thaw and I decided to make use of warmer weather and picked up a habit of everyday walks from the underground to my office (distance of over three kilometres). Most people detest weather like this – not frosty, but chilly, gloomy, grey, miserable, while it lifts my spirit when it ensues after a frosty and snowy spell. 

To the right – Wednesday, dim morning. I walk westwards ul. Pańska. The building in the background is one of many on Osiedle Za Żelazną Bramą (literally: Behind the Iron Gate Estate), a cult and prestigious dwelling 30 years ago. Today – a home to ordinary people, immigrants from Far East and thousands of cockroaches, and an excellent example of economical housing concept put into practice – a 4-room flat here has an area of less than 50 square metres. Asking prices per sqm usually are between 8,000 and 9,000 and they reflect excellent location and numerous drawbacks of these flats. I would not move there.

To the right – snows have not melted yet, or water has frozen up overnight. Pedestrians have trampled a narrow path, there are lots of puddles and still it is very slippery so watch out! Despite some nuisances the stroll is still enjoyable.

To the right – an essence of Wola. Once a typically industrial district, for the past years it has been morphing into a modern, post-industrial area, with ramshackle factory buildings being torn down and giving way to new office and residential buildings springing up. My company’s office was one the first such developments, completed in 1998. These days the pace of construction around is impressive, seeing how quickly new office buildings are erected you would not dare to claim existence of economic crisis. And here, on ul. Łucka, some time will have to pass before these derelict buildings are demolished. Squalor, dirt and misery is what fills me when I saunter there. The inscription in the foreground without subtleties informs you Poland’s leading political party has reached the bottom. Will it bottom out?

On the other side of ul. Towarowa, just next to IPN head office, you can find this building, the closest to my office stronghold of the bygone times. I have never visited ‘Bargain Consignment’, but my ex-boss recently encouraged to venture for a lunch to the bar. Once I got in there, I immediately caught the climate of cheap bar from PRL times. When it gets warmer, I will have to go there with a camera and immortalise the interior. In the menu you can find typical Polish home-likemeals at inexpensive prices. The key drawback is the length of a wait for being served – not a recommendable venue for hurrying office workers then…

Humility is a virtue

Mayday’s episode on Smolensk Air Crash is due to have its world premiere today at 9 p.m. in National Geographic Channel’s Polish channel. Poles will be the first audience to see the purportedly unbiased coverage of the tragic flight and reasons behind the disaster.

The film has been hailed as prejudiced many months ago by PiS-backing Polish media, as its script is based solely on findings of two official reports on the crash, one drawn up by Russian MAK, the other prepared by the Polish parliamentary commission, run by Jerzy Miller (the series’ makers as a matter of principle rely on official reports rather than on conspiracy theories). Producers of the ‘one-sided’ film, who refused to incorporate possible causes such as blast, terrorist attack, were accused of being paid by the Russians to distort the real course of events to the audience in the world. The broader discussion on the controversial documentary is going to spark off after the broadcast (although many journalists have already seen the document during a dedicated show) and I will post my review of it next weekend (today I will not make it, over the busy week it will be impossible as well).

In the meantime I am taking the opportunity to invoke another report, authored by Japanese parliamentary panel investigating causes and aftermaths of Fukushima power plant disaster. If you recall the tragic events from March 2011, you bring to your mind pictures of cruel powers of nature which destroyed the plant. You blame the earthquake and the tsunami, while authors of the report claim this was a “man-made disaster”. If the read the BBC’s summary of the report’s findings, the picture which emerges is a sharp condemnation of Japanese culture, the nation’s shortcomings and stance of people responsible of overseeing maintenance of the plant and handling mitigating effect of the disaster. Actually the nation is pulled into pieces for its “culture of deference and reluctance to question authority”. Once negligence was covered up at the top, nobody at the bottom felt entitled to bring it to the light. The report was a bitter pill to swallow for the Japanese. They had the courage to eat the humble pie…

Same could be said about the Smolensk crash, this also was a typical man-made disaster. Responsibility for it is collective and many Polish national shortcomings, brought together, contributed to the fatal accident. The list can be long: overwhelming disorganisation in prime minister’s and late president’s offices, commonly tolerated laxity in following procedures, acting on reprehensible faith that “we’ll somehow make it” (jakoś to będzie, uda się), determination to carry on, despite dangerous conditions, cutting corners (bylejakość), bravura, focus on end heedless of safety procedures. Several irregularities were found in the disbanded 36th regiment of Polish military aviation (inadequate training resulting e.g. in reading the wrong altitude meter), in prime minister’s office (responsibility for organising such visits rests with them). Media, for sake of customary refraining from speaking badly about the departed, seldom mention total chaos in the president Kaczyński’s office, but this was also the case. Same can be said about Russian airport in Smolensk, run-down, lacking fixed equipment necessary to service takeoffs and touchdowns (such was moved there for prime minister’s Tusk visit 3 days earlier and taken away immediately), but I ultimately would blame the Polish organisers who did not bother to choose a safer, properly equipped airport.

I am looking forward to seeing the film. Little in its content is likely to surprise me – newspapers in Poland have written long reviews and summaries of it. I am more curious of social potential outcry regarding the account of events depicted in the film. The documentary is not going to change anything. Those who believe this was an assassination contrived by enemies of the most outstanding statesman in the history of Poland will not be convinced this was a tragic aftermath of multitude of human errors, those who put credence into official parliamentary report, will find in it nothing new; nevertheless it is worth spending two hours in front of the TV screen.

EU-funded twaddle - follow-up

Just as I promised on Sunday, I made several attempts to reach a person who heads a department (one of several in Mazovian Unit of Implementing Programmes European) which runs 'Human Capital' projects. To no avail, I was only informed all calls, to ensure my safety and satisfaction, are recorded, and was not in the luck to get through. I was surely calling during a coffee break, a second breakfast break, a lunch break, an afternoon break or during a very important meeting.

So we don't know what the attitude of rubbish-producer is.

Coincidentally, Gazeta Stołeczna ran a very similar story on errors in leaflets for foreign diplomats prepared by Warsaw Town Hall. Neither at work (due to some idiotic restrictions), nor at home (didn't feel like tampering the screen resolution settings) could I enlarge the scans, so I can't assess the correctness of the original leaflets nor the proofreader's remarks. The translator who'd sent in the dreadful piece to Stołeczna's editors, was slated in the comment thread under the article. Well, in this country everyone knows best.

PS. Good news - the exam... passed :) Nice to feel hard work bears fruits.

EU-funded twaddle in a newspaper

It has been a while (almost three years have passed by) since I last cracked down on ghastly use of English (I read it over today and found myself in stitches). Absence of the topic on PES does not directly imply the problem has disappeared. Probably after I began working for a Poland-based company in which English is used every day I simply got accustomed to Poles mangling the language and ceased to find it so appalling. But yesterday I sat back in my armchair, opened the Friday edition of Gazeta Stołeczna to find this…

I felt under my skin this announcement was noteworthy. I took a glance on it, then another one, then read it carefully, grabbed a pen, a minute later I knew I would not resist the temptation to tear it to pieces on the blog.

The heading… The man, how about replacing it with Human capital, fixed expression popular in English that often goes together with investment?

Entity name… What a peculiar word order... Implementing Programmes European. OK, in Polish you can try putting cart before the horse, in English, it is not advisable…

What the Mazovian Unit of Implementing Programmes European wants to publicly announce is squeezed into 81-word long sentence. Yes, one sentence is made up of 81 words, in line with KISS (keep it short and simple) rule. The same message could have been conveyed in 20 words I guess. But stretching it to quadrupled number for sure was meant to stress importance and erudition of the author, hence my scribble: “może k… dłuższe?”. How pompous, how turgid…

Scheduled for realisation. I have had a go at translating the Polish verb realizować twice, here and here. Third time would not be lucky. Observant readers should also note emphasis the author put on consistency – a few lines down they wrote realized. In British English you can use “s” or “z” (the former is preferred), when words end with “ise/ize”, but a good practice is to stick to one of them.

Now section 1 – Support for people … category, including:, 36 words in total. How about getting it across in merely 19 words: “Outplacement programmes for the redundant, to be made redundant or at risk of redundancy for employer-related reasons, including:”. My editorial skills fail here a bit, the to be made redundant, does not sound OK to me. Any better translation of przewidzianych do zwolnienia?

One of bullets in section 1 goes: A project participants subsidized employment with a new employer. Now finally jaw drops open. Hard to turn it around; my proposal is subsidies for employers hiring project participants – can it be any better?

Next bullet and the jaw refuses to move up. It is winter so at least I am not likely to swallow an insect. to launch economic activity sound exactly like rozpocząć działalność gospodarczą, but to start a business sounds natural… And why through using? Nine words after economic activity could be swapped for in form of.

Minimal salary – I know minimal is more similar to Polish word minimalny, but minimum has the same meaning, which should tip the scales for the former if the hapless compiler was weighing up which of the words they should use.

Within the framework, in the field of – are examples of phrases that are not purely incorrect, but in English which favours simplicity they somehow disturb natural flow of communication. Right?

Section 2 and here we go again, this could do with at least a dozen words more, as complexity or Research and analyses is still insufficient.

Januaryr? Spell-checker on?

Deadline for submission of the applications is determined by the date of submission of the application… Does it hang together at all? The intent of the author, as it later turned out, was not to write what the latest date applications can be submitted was, but… that an application is deemed to be submitted exactly when it is submitted to the Agency’s office. O terminie złożenia wniosku decyduje data złożenia wniosku. Really confused now?

Now it has been last straw, let’s speak it out straightforwardly – this announcement is a linguistic piece of shit.

localized”. Maybe it sounds dissimilar to zlokalizowany, but if there is such word in English as located, there is a likelihood that it fits better.

The next paragraph, starting with All entities may be granted – can somebody tell me what the hell they wanted to say? This is a classic example of bureaucratic drivel!

Next sentence is bolded and underlined to bring another uncanny example of word order. No comment.

Here I am running out of patience. Logos at the bottom inform me the advertisement was co-paid from EU funds. This is what zillions of money that feed EU bloated bureaucratic apparatus are spent for – let’s face it, this is, not to mince words, a load of crap.

Devastated by the content of the advertisement, I flipped the page and found… 

 
a source document in Polish, my native language. It dawned on me, everything cleared up. As usual, garbage in, garbage out. The announcement in Polish is also written in the same official puffed-up style. Load of crap in the target language is just an aftermath of load of crap in the source language.

The story behind it was also probably same as always – an inferior, mediocre clerk thought the less plain and clear the language they use, the more educated they appear. More civilised people prove their superiority by explaining complicated issues in simple words, so that everyone can grasp them. In the kingdom of Polish officialdom it goes the other way round. And then a person who is said to know English best (yes, best, meaning possibly well) in an office was told to translate it into English. It might have not been done that poorly, but the translation could have been checked by a snotty superior of the translator and “improved”. The outcome leaves an educated native speaker at least dazed.

How long before I see decent Polish to English translations? Do not think I am going to take it lying down. On Tuesday I have a day off to drive my grandfather to a doctor in the morning, but I will have a free afternoon and I will take the trouble to call the Mazovian Unit of Implementing Programmes European and tell them politely their investment in The Man fills me with anger and shame. I bet they will not understand, nor care, but such practices should not be put up with!

Got up and tried

Sometimes to understand the present, you have to go back in time.

9 June 2010, the penultimate day of my penultimate exam period at SGH, also the day when awards in the 15th edition of “Grasz o Staż” contest were handed… Four months earlier, at the beginning of the penultimate semester of my studies, I decided to change the English class group, to attend the class run by the definitely the best teacher I’ve ever had. There I met Natalia (name, as usually, changed). We talked with each other very few times, but it could be felt there was a chemistry between us. As students we last talked on 9 June 2010, just after our final exam in English; we stared at each other’s eyes and yes, I knew what I should have done then… I felt some kind of affection for her, but I didn’t care much. I was a fool at that stupid stage of my life when career was the overriding goal. I was in a hurry for the “Grasz o Staż” banquet when she asked me to tap my phone number into her handset. I keyed in the number, but didn’t bother to press the green button to have her number displayed on my phone, and then dashed off. That’s how and why we wouldn’t see each other ever after.

I began to realise how mean it was many months later, after the internship, the hectic period of combing work and studying and shake-down at the current position. I settled down at work, achieved something and began to see the light, began to recognise different values are more important than building career, finally began to regret. But soon later I met Her and drowned out my regrets, I even thought things went the right way, otherwise I’d have hurt Natalia. Then what I’d put my faith in fell into pieces and when it was crystal clear there were even no pieces to pick up, the wasted chance began to haunt me more and more often.

You can’t turn back time and make up for the wrong you’ve once done, but whenever there’s a least little chance why not try to start over?

I was down in the dumps after my 25th birthday. The sorrow was not brought about by the very moment of passing by the quarter-of-century milestone, but on account of it being accompanied by awakening ghosts of the past months, bringing back pleasant (still, with hindsight) and unpleasant memories. Could it be the time to make an attempt to raise the dead?

I’d been talking about Natalia with my colleague several times. I’d told her Natalia vanished into the air and nobody knew what she was doing (strange, isn’t it?). My colleague suggested I should go an extra mile and harness search engine to go on a more extensive lookout with several combinations of keywords. 10 minutes later I learnt Natalia works in a small accountancy firm in a building 200 metres from away from my office. Truth be told I wasn’t particularly eager to make use of that knowledge, but my colleague insisted I marched there right away and met with her.

Life without spontaneity is… well, hollow. Ten minutes later I was putting the half-baked plan into practice. The search went very smoothly. Assistant at reception desk told me where exactly her office was located and did not make any troubles to let me in. When I entered her room, Natalia was out in a kitchen for a while. She was very positively “shocked” at the sight of me. I asked her out for a coffee, we had a nice chat, she gave me her phone number, my impression was very positive, yet slightly tainted by alertness of shock Natalia was overcoming…

Over the next days her enthusiasm was fading very quickly. She was either very busy at work or, then ill (just like me), then I decided to ease up and let her accustom to my unexpected stepping-in. Her hesitation or reluctance and shyness began to put me off. I ended up spending New Year’s Eve with someone else. With her approach this relationship had to chance to develop.

On 3 January, just like over two weeks earlier, I went to her building, called her and asked to come down. After exchange of pleasantries she began to quiver and look down. I found her behaviour kind of disturbing and realising she was trying to tell me something I encouraged her to stutter it out.

Natalia: You know, I’ve been thinking about you a lot since our meeting before Christmas and… you’ve made an enormous effort to find me, so I suppose you might have some clear expectations towards me and I don’t want you to hold out much hopes…

Bartek: After not seeing you for more than two years, I could have found you being with someone else and did consider this when trying to find you, but when we met, you told me that…

N: I remember, when you asked how I was doing, my reply started with a declaration “I don’t have a boyfriend, I don’t have a fiancé, I’m not married”…

B: So actually you have somebody…?

N: Well, formally we are not together… This is… a cupboard love

B: (the whole situation seemed kind of funny to me) It sounds serious.

N: It’s a very serious feeling towards an older, mature man.

B: (I could barely help my jaw dropping open, but responded in a serious manner) Maybe it would be worthwhile to do something about it?

Natalia just pulled a face and flushed…

During our conversation I found it all hilarious, several minutes later I found it pitiful, at the end of that day – dreadful. Natalia is turning 27 in three weeks. How can a woman of that age live on daydreams and delusions. A woman of that age if she declares she wants to have a family and bring up children should try to build a real relationship. If she doesn’t change, she stands no chance to turn her life around. I could go on about this for several paragraphs, but this is not a place to take apart someone’s broken psyche. I simply feel sorry for her.

But I don’t take pity on myself. Didn’t care, didn’t hurt (nie zależało – nie zabolało). To be frank, it did hurt a bit, as nobody likes being turned away. I could only be better off and had nothing to lose, unlike in the previous case we are fully separated from each other (no hear since the hapless meeting), so this chapter is closed. I’m glad to have seen the end before it began. And I’m particularly happy to have done something which could have been a good material for a script of a romantic film (maybe the one with a happy ending), something spontaneous and memorable. At least I won’t revert to memories of her, won’t ask myself if it could go on a different way, won’t wonder whether there is a chance to revive it.

This illustrates a recipe for living. Make sure you do whatever is possible to seize all opportunities you might have. And don’t let a situation when you regret not doing something happen.

Got up and tried. The bubble burst, I’m not on my knees, but not feel like trying, although I know I probably should (a classmate from primary school) is chasing me up to go out together and I know if I’m not about to miss it, I should get in touch with her soon, but to be honest I totally don’t feel like trying… Unsettling? Should I let some time pass?

2012 Road construction summary

Last year has gone down in history as a year when the highest number of kilometres of new fast-traffic roads (i.e. expressway and motorway) was opened for use. In terms of road infrastructure Poland use to lag behind most EU countries, but thanks to road construction boom, largely spurred by preparations for 2012 European Football Championship, Poland has caught up. This is unlikely to repeat in my lifetime, therefore it is worthwhile to document what, where and when was opened in 2012. Hope all infrastructure zealot will find this posting useful.

Below, a concise summary, mere facts, comments seldom interspersed throughout. Each entry arranged in the same order: date / road number (A stands for motorway, S denotes expressway) / section details (length, cities connected) / optional comments.

23 May 2012 / A2 / section E of Warszawa – Łódź road, linking A2-S2-S8 junction in Konotopa to Pruszków, 5 kilometres

23 May 2012 / S8 / junction Warszawa Zachód – junction Konotopa, 2 kilometres / completed in early 2011, but closed until then, as running into nowhere.

27 May 2012 / A2 / section D of Warszawa – Łódź road, between Pruszków and Grodzisk Mazowiecki, 18 kilometres

1 June 2012 / A1 / Pyrzowice Zachód – Zabrze in Upper Silesia, 28 kilometres

1 June 2012 / S1 / junction Pyrzowice – junction Pyrzowice Lotnisko, 2 kilometres

3 June 2012 / A2 / section A and B of Warszawa – Łódź road, between Stryków and junction Skierniewice, 33 kilometres, section A had a status of passable road, with speed limit of 70 kmph and temporary closures of one of roads after Euro 2012, until 15 October 2012

3 June 2012 / S11 / Poznań Skórzewo – Poznań Zachód, 6 kilometres

4 June 2012 / S5 / Gniezno – junction Poznań Wschód, 35 kilometres

6 June 2012 / A2 / section C and part of section B of Warszawa – Łódź road, between Grodzisk Mazowiecki and junction Skierniewice, 37 kilometres / opened just two days before the Euro 2012 opening ceremony, gave the roughest ride to road builders, who worked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to make a deadline. The whole Poland kept track of their endeavours. Section C in June lacked the top layer of tarmac and had speed limit of 100 kmph set, the road was fully completed in October 2012. The section is also infamous for bankruptcies of COVEC, Chinese general contractor of sections A and C which went bust is 2011, having undercharged for the contract, trying to get foothold on the European market. The next general contractor, inexperienced in road building Dolnośląskie Surowce Skalne filed for bankruptcy in March 2012. The fact the road was completed in time is still considered one of biggest miracle of 2012.

9 June 2012 / S7 / southern bypass of Gdańsk, 18 kilometres / salvation for anyone who wants to pass by Gdańsk on the way to the seaside

13 July 2012 / S14 / Szynkielew III – Dobroń (near Łódź), 10 kilometres

1 August 2012 / S7 / Pasłęk – Miłomłyn, 37 kilometres

29 August 2012 / A2 / bypass of Mińsk Mazowiecki east of Warsaw, 21 kilometres

10 September 2012 / A4 / Rzeszów Centralny – Rzeszów Wschód, 7 kilometres

10 September 2012 / S19 / Rzeszów – Stobierna, 15 kilometres

12 September 2012 / S8 / Białystok – Stare Jeżewo / 25 kilometres

29 September 2012 / S51 / bypass of Olsztynek, 3 kilometres

2 October 2012 / S8 / bypass of Zambrów / 11 kilometres

6 October 2012 / S8 / junction Wrocław Psie Pole – Oleśnica Zachód, 22 kilometres

17 October 2012 / A1 / junction Bytom, merely a junction, not any section

17 October 2012 / S8 / Rawa Mazowiecka – Adamowice, 23 kilometres

28 October 2012 / S8 / Piotrków Trybunalski – Rawa Mazowiecka, 61 kilometres / nightmare on Gierkówka draws to a close… Only a short section (some dozen kilometres between Adamowice and Mszczonów) awaits completion

30 October 2012 / S11 / Poznań Suchy Las – Poznań Rokietnica, length unknown

8 November 2012 / S7 / Olsztynek – Nidzica, 28 kilometres / could have been opened 3 months earlier if it had not been for total lack of roadworks…

13 November 2012 / A1/ Stryków – Kowal in central Poland, 84 kilometres / opened with delay, the longest section of the motorway linking Gdańsk, Toruń, Łódź and Silesian conurbation opened in 2012, with 5 months delay.

29 November 2012 / A4 / Szarów – Tarnów Północ, 57 kilometres / some section are fully completed, on other traffic runs on one road, while the other is being finished, full completion scheduled for spring 2013.

30 November 2012 / A1 / Mszana Dolna – Czech border, 11 kilometres

30 November 2012 / S8 / Oleśnica Wschód – Syców, 25 kilometres / this time prime minister Donald Tusk and infrastructure minister Sławomir Nowak turned up to cut the ribbon and boast about impressive achievement of recent road construction programme. According to government’s plans, Piotrków Trybunalski and Syców should be linked by S8 expressway by the end of 2012.

This adds up to 624 kilometres, slightly less than 700 kilometres GDAKA blows through its own trumpet (put it down to rounding the figures up), yet still a lot. When making this summary, do not forget about the dark side of construction boom, which contributed to bankruptcies of many companies, their subcontractors and suppliers and sent many into serious financial distress.

Key roads awaiting completion are: A4 motorway, all sections from Tarnów to Ukrainian border, missing section of A1 between Toruń and Kowal, forsaken by bankrupt PBG-run consortium and southern bypass of Warsaw which is bound to be opened with more than 1-year delay.

Source: Polish pages on each road in Wikipedia. If you happen to spot any factual error, do not hesitate to let me know promptly.

End-year thanks to my Guardian Angel

If every time you touch heaven you find out there's nothing to grab and you fall back to earth, if every time you plunge into hell you find out instead of drowning in the abyss you bounce back and return to earth, it probably signifies a human's place is on earth.

I owe big thanks to my Guardian Angel who kept me company over the whole year and has not let me run into troubles though opportunities were ample. This was a year when for the first time since roughly setting up this blog I was touching heaven and then, to strike the balance, I was sending myself to the darkest depths of hell. Needless to say such trips are dicey as both when you fly too close to the sun and when you are licked by infernal flames you risk being burnt. Therefore I thank my Angel for not letting me kiss the sun and for lifting me up from caverns of hell.

The Angel is a metaphor, albeit last year’s ups and downs have made me believe in the existence of a supernatural creature that keeps tabs on every man. Now the mystery to be unravelled is the extent to which Guardian Angels interfere in humans’ fates. If you look at the magnitude of miseries which afflict representatives of mankind every day, no wonder you seriously doubt in the powers of shields Angels use to protect people. I discern it and thank once again, as I was lucky to have been looked after by a very patient and wise Guardian Angel and to have got off lightly from situations when my common sense was turned off.

How much joy your life gives you is roughly equal to optimism towards life you display. There is always the option to focus on the dark, yet indispensable, side of life. In November a stupid song made me realise some feelings are natural and sometimes not feeling pain would be a reason to worry. “Where there is a flame, someone’s bound to get burnt” – if so, burning at some stage of that affection was inevitable. When making a summary of 2012 I could highlight the bitter experiences; there were some, probably more than in previous years, but they happened because I felt much more than in previous years. For sake of waking up from a long-lasting spiritual numbness I deem 2012 to have been a particularly great year. Not everything turned out the way I had wanted, but every time when confronted with adversities, I emerged stronger and never lost heart. Sometimes to cope better with emotions I did turn on the ‘numb’ mode, but these were always temporary moves aimed at relieving psyche.

Maybe this is the way how we should handle life. Every time bad fate slaps your face, instead of hitting it back, give it a kiss. For those of you who have lived through some sort of severe suffering, this may sound ridiculous, but try to treat every hardship, every calamity, every blow as a chance, and as a lesson. The worst you can do is letting the pain knock you down. Such stance means letting bad luck or bad people triumph. How about spiting them? Whenever adversity hits you, put a smile on your face.

Some two weeks ago I left my car for the whole day in the open air, exposed to freezing snow and rain and in the evening I found my vehicle covered by a layer of ice and frozen snow. Try opening any door in such conditions… I beheld it and burst out laughing. After all I was facing a challenge!

Disasters strike you when you don’t take precautions to avert them. In early December I had sprayed door seals with silicon and packed a hammer and screwdriver into my briefcase. Armed in these tools I broke the ice with a smile on my face, which brought back to life central locking system and allowed me to open the door without problems. The engine, despite dampness which could have played havoc with electrics and motor starter, cranked up without a murmur, then it was all downhill. Seemingly a small trouble, but depending on your attitude and how prudent you are, it can knock you down or toughen you up.

As this year ends I think I’m richer as I’ve learnt to look adversities in their eyes. Never turn your eyes away, when your enemy sizes you up. Look at the bright side of life, there’s always such one, but it sometimes takes some effort to discern it. May the new year bring all of you many cheerful days, may troubles stay away from you, may your Guardian Angels be as merciful for you in 2013 as mine was for me in 2012. And don’t be afraid of changes in your life. Any change, although it involves taking risks, should be treated as a chance for a better life. And remember, it could always get worse...

Technical announcements:

1. Apologies for lack of posting a week ago. I was down with flu and decided to stay in bed to overcome the illness once and for good, unlike other people who get up, go to work and spread germs (we have an epidemic of flu in Poland). The strategy proved successful!

2. Next week – road construction summary – let’s look what roads were opened in Poland in 2012

3. Any hints on the direction in which the blog should drift – for aforementioned reasons posts on economy of politics have become infrequent here, while I began to focus on myself and turned the blog into a form of personal diary for posterity, against my intent at inception of blogging…