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Posts by szarlotka  

Joined: 20 Feb 2007 / Male ♂
Last Post: 20 Oct 2017
Threads: Total: 8 / In This Archive: 7
Posts: Total: 2,206 / In This Archive: 1,417
From: UK
Speaks Polish?: Nie
Interests: Skiing, mountains, music, reading, taking the mickey and terrapins

Displayed posts: 1424 / page 47 of 48
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szarlotka   
27 Feb 2007
History / Are there sports invented by Poles? [16]

entertainment.howstuffworks.com/boomerang4.htm

Here is the link to the article. Must have shown signs of being shaped by hand.
szarlotka   
27 Feb 2007
History / Are there sports invented by Poles? [16]

Yes true, but it's a curved stick to increase the areodynamics and stability in flight. Most of the original boomerangs were in fact non returning. As people got lazier ........
szarlotka   
27 Feb 2007
History / Are there sports invented by Poles? [16]

Not strictly speaking a sport but a little known fact:

The oldest known non-returning boomerang, an artifact found in Poland, dates from about 20,000 years ago.

I suppose it might have been a test of skill as well as for hunting. Anyway it should upset the Aussies no end.
szarlotka   
27 Feb 2007
UK, Ireland / English food - unhealthy? [52]

Could be a water retention problem. I used to have the same problem but having adjusted my habits to go to the loo after every second pint the problem has gone away.:)

Being serious it could merit some medical advice which I am eminently unsuited to provide
szarlotka   
26 Feb 2007
UK, Ireland / English food - unhealthy? [52]

There are far too many artificial additives and supplements in super market. pre-prepared food in the UK. Two years ago my family stopped buying these foods. Within weeks we had more energy, felt less tired and started to lose weight back to our normal levels. From now on it's only fresh food for us. We won't buy even vegtables from super markets any more. We get them from local markets.

Now if I could only give up beer I would be really slim and healthy (but very, very boring).
szarlotka   
26 Feb 2007
Law / Advice on investment of $40,000 in the Warsaw area [30]

and need to know what is worth getting in to

Cinammon, Foksal 19 and a few other clubs :)

Forget property in Warsaw with $40k. My apartment cost double that 5 years ago (and it's not even that big)
szarlotka   
26 Feb 2007
UK, Ireland / The un-acceptable side of new entrant countries coming to the UK [56]

Really?

I stand corrected. However, if you take into account the prospective funding required for an ageing popoulation in terms of pensions and services, the size of the problem continues to grow without any clear strategy for resolution. Add to that the relatively low interest costs currently needed to service the debt then this country has a problem IMHO.
szarlotka   
26 Feb 2007
UK, Ireland / The un-acceptable side of new entrant countries coming to the UK [56]

I will see many responses to this, that will say I am wrong, but if anyone knows even a little about economics then they will at least understand what I am trying to say.

I fully agree Annia. And it is not just debt for individuals. Our current borrowing asa nation is through the roof. So much for the 'prudence' of our government. The levle of the National Debt is the highest for over 40 years. The bubble will burst for the UK economy very soon
szarlotka   
26 Feb 2007
UK, Ireland / The un-acceptable side of new entrant countries coming to the UK [56]

As a brit I would absolutley LOVE it if immigrants had no hand outs. My point was that many do and that the Poles and other A8 people do not. Much of the resentment against immigrants to the UK from us locals comes from their being given housing, welfare benefits and access to our overloaded health and education services often at the expense of our own people. That is why most of us welcome the Poles because you tend to work hard, pay taxes and take no welfare benefits (at least until they have worked here for 12 months)

We are a soft touch for economic migrants thanks to our open door immigration policy introduced (without ever being in an election manifesto) by our wonderful current government
szarlotka   
26 Feb 2007
History / Secret Society/Secret Police in Poland [47]

I would love to talk about the good old SB but I have to check to see if I can find my name on the Wildstein List first
szarlotka   
26 Feb 2007
Life / Non-verbal communication of Polish people? [10]

it is the elderly are the worst at shoving and HITTING! whats with that

Could be a hangover from when they had to queue for the basics of life in the bad old Communist days. After a while you get used to it and start to actively participate. When I had to queue to pay my telephone bill I got really adept at the local customs. As an ex blind side flanker I found the old skills were really useful. :)
szarlotka   
26 Feb 2007
Life / Non-verbal communication of Polish people? [10]

awful beer.

Steady on, that's fighting talk. There are some very good English beers although I am forced to admit that the generally available lager type stuff is pretty awful.
szarlotka   
25 Feb 2007
UK, Ireland / The un-acceptable side of new entrant countries coming to the UK [56]

I read the article and found nothing wrong with it.

The article was interesting in that nothing in the detail backed up the headline that Poles (and others from the A8 countries) were going back home en masse. Of course it is possible to find people who have had problems since arriving in the UK. We have homeless people too. The problem for Poles is that they have no access to the welfare state benefits when things go wrong - unlike economic migrants from non EU countries who often can sponge off the state. Just another catchy headline with limited intellectual content to the body of the story. I remember when the Sunday Times was a well written and balanced newspaper. Pre Rupert Murdoch times, sigh.
szarlotka   
23 Feb 2007
Polonia / Germans: Do Poles like them or dislike them? [217]

Yeh its about time we changed the words. We only have half an aircraft carrier, two battered frigates and a fleet of rowing boats nicked from Hyde Park.

Rule Britannia, Brritannia rules The Serpentine.

Or

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the holy George W Bush
On England’s pleasant pastrure seen?

And did his Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was the White House builded here
Among those dark Satanic Mills?
szarlotka   
23 Feb 2007
UK, Ireland / Polish Thoughts on Britain and the British [273]

Can some one tell me if there is a better "definition" of a Scouser?

A warm, compassionate person from the fair port city of Liverpool with a wicked sense of humour who does not steal hub caps from cars, or car radios, or grandmothers and who is absolutely not over sensitive to jokes about the preceeding list. Oh, and they must have an intense dislike of Boris Johnson, MP.
szarlotka   
23 Feb 2007
Travel / Airline ticket sales to Warsaw increase exponentially [16]

All of the ones I mentioned do but mainly local staff. There were a few expats in administration in the firm that I worked for but mainly they had worked in the US or UK for a number of years and then transferred out. You can get away with the language deficiency more as externally, customer facing staff where you had specialist accounting, tax or management consultancy skills and were dealing with customers who in the main spoke very good English.
szarlotka   
23 Feb 2007
UK, Ireland / Polish Thoughts on Britain and the British [273]

how about the Midlands

Including the only city in the whole world where the entire population has a speech impediment !

Only joking Brummies - I was born a Scouser so have had far worse jokes than this . If anyone mentions hub caps I'm going to lose it big time :)
szarlotka   
23 Feb 2007
Travel / Airline ticket sales to Warsaw increase exponentially [16]

Do you want to send me a copy of your CV and the type of job you're looking for. I can cover off two of the other on my list for you (I will tell you which ones via return e-mail but don't wanna disclose it here)

Use johncov1802@yahoo.co.uk. I'm at work now so the filters won't let me access it here but I'll pick it up this evening
szarlotka   
23 Feb 2007
Travel / Airline ticket sales to Warsaw increase exponentially [16]

Somebody posted in my name and other anmesand even e-mailed admin to take out all my entries. Just a work related issue with a disgruntled systems administrator.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers
deloittes
KPMG
Accenture
IBM
Cisco

all have big practices/offices there with a lot of expats in them. Probably more chance with this type of company than a local Polish one. Mainly they will be looking for client facing staff rather than back office staff who they tend to employ locally but they are all worth a try.
szarlotka   
23 Feb 2007
Travel / Airline ticket sales to Warsaw increase exponentially [16]

Oh boy, have I've been dreading this. Sparky this is Globetrotter (I'm in two minds to develop schitzophrenia). It was genuine what I said originally. Some prat started some stupid posts. I have not forgotten you and I have been in contact with my ex colleague (in fact I was in warsaw for a week or so recently). He has not identified any vacancies as yet.

I worked for a large management consultancy firm. We won a large IT project in Warsaw. There were 40 of us from the UK, 20 odd from the local office and about 40 more from sub contractors. It was a project assignment rather than being based in warsaw. We were not based there permanently. Howvever, all of the big consultancies have offices there.
szarlotka   
23 Feb 2007
Travel / Airline ticket sales to Warsaw increase exponentially [16]

They were mainly males in their 20s, graduates and hell bent on partying. Seemed to get on well with the locals. 6 marriages (are't Polish weddings great) 2 long term relationships and two complete disappearances without trace. Most of them transferred to the local office of the firm I worked for, took less money but still smiled a lot !
szarlotka   
23 Feb 2007
Travel / Airline ticket sales to Warsaw increase exponentially [16]

Like any capital city, it's not representative of the country I suppose. All I know is that when I had 40 Brits working for me out there for three years about 10 of them never came back. It even merited an entry in the project risk register.
szarlotka   
23 Feb 2007
Travel / Airline ticket sales to Warsaw increase exponentially [16]

From the new warsaw Express

The majority of Warsaw’s female population
are single, according to an
Acxiom Polska poll: 56 percent of women
living in Warsaw between 20 and 40 are not
currently married. The news is surprising as
Poland is generally considered a rather
conservative and religious country, and
Warsaw hosts more men, with 89 women to
100 men in the capital.
The “average” single female in the capital
is likely to hold a B.A of M.A. degree,
pursue a career, and watch TV shows about
young and hip single women, like Ally
McBeal or Magda M., and be optimistic
about her romantic future.
Lifestyles have changed significantly, as
singles are more likely to spend money on
consumer goods and travelling, the report
says, though it would be a generalisation to
present all unmarried women as happy with
their status. Complaints about “the quality
of men” occur as often as comments that
singledom has many advantages. Although
such outward declarations are scarce, it is
claimed that one of the drivers behind the
current emigration trend is the hope of finding
a romantic partner abroad.
Social psychologist Dariusz Doliñski
suggests that being single for a long time
could result in later difficulty in entering
a relationship. It could also negatively influence
one’s self esteem, as not practising
flirting breaks the habit, thus making it
more difficult to effectively seduce possible
partners later.
szarlotka   
23 Feb 2007
UK, Ireland / Negative attitude towards Polish immigration in UK becoming stronger [90]

Great post. The age of jobs for life has long since disappeared. Continuous career development should no longer be the aim of the few but of all of us. The pace of change in the world economy and in technology is such that we have to forge out in new directions, to take some risks and not look for safe alternatives that , outside the ever growing Civil Service, no longer exist.

Your experience should be a lesson to all of us.
szarlotka   
23 Feb 2007
UK, Ireland / Negative attitude towards Polish immigration in UK becoming stronger [90]

There are Swedish girls

Of course, and Norwegian, and Polish, and Czech, and Chinese, and Thai and......it's the UK after all

I was going back a few years to my youth when Bournemouth was the main centre for English Language schools outside of London. Buuba's right though it is a really nice place to live. It's on the coast and has some great nightlife. I don't go back now very much now that my parents are both dead.