Law / Rights of a consumer when dealing with faulty goods in Poland? [65]

Out of interest, which chain is it?

Neither Media Saturn or Euro RTV have good reputations.

Genealogy / Is Czarnecki Really A Polish Or Actually A Sephardic Jewish Surname? [110]


Spot on


Much more mundane than an interesting fantasy.

Genealogy / Is Czarnecki Really A Polish Or Actually A Sephardic Jewish Surname? [110]


I think we can say that we've established they don't. Nor are they Spanish place names?

Genealogy / Is Czarnecki Really A Polish Or Actually A Sephardic Jewish Surname? [110]


On what linguistic grounds? None, since you are indeed fantasising about all this.

They are not Spanish names and there is no reason to think they are.

Genealogy / Is Czarnecki Really A Polish Or Actually A Sephardic Jewish Surname? [110]


Exactly. It seems in fact that this is the real problem.

Genealogy / Is Czarnecki Really A Polish Or Actually A Sephardic Jewish Surname? [110]


No. The only problem is that this is absolute nonsense. We've established beyond any reasonable doubt that there's no suggestion that these names are polonised Spanish words.

Genealogy / Is Czarnecki Really A Polish Or Actually A Sephardic Jewish Surname? [110]


Nothing whatsoever suggests that this is the case here.

Genealogy / Is Czarnecki Really A Polish Or Actually A Sephardic Jewish Surname? [110]

Indeed. It's about a rather wild claim that Czarnecki, Czerwiński etc are in fact Spanish.

Maybe black is white and white is black?

Genealogy / Is Czarnecki Really A Polish Or Actually A Sephardic Jewish Surname? [110]


That is one of the strangest things I've read here. It's either trolling or something far more disturbed.

Czerwiński as a name suggests the ancient town of Czerwińsk nad Wisła. Not 'dozens of places named Czerwinski in Spain' !

Genealogy / Is Czarnecki Really A Polish Or Actually A Sephardic Jewish Surname? [110]

Who? Surely you aren't basing your theory from one sentence on a dodgy website written by an obscure about.com writer who thinks that 'there are dozens of places named Czarnecki in Spain' and therefore doesn't know what she's writing about?

Or more pertinently, if that's all you can actually find, why start a thread here?

Some more sources that there are 'dozens of places named Czarnecki in Spain' or admit your theory is wrong.

Genealogy / Is Czarnecki Really A Polish Or Actually A Sephardic Jewish Surname? [110]

What? That doesn't make sense. Czarny means black but has nothing to do with Spain. Plenty of people whose names Derive from White, Green etc. Nothing to do with Spain either, and not a 'polonised' form of anything Spanish.

Anyway, apart from one sentence on a dodgy website, what makes you think there are 'dozens of places in Spain' called Czarnecki.

Genealogy / Is Czarnecki Really A Polish Or Actually A Sephardic Jewish Surname? [110]


Which actually says nothing. Czarnecki is not, repeat not, the name of 'dozens of places in Spain'. Nor is it a surname with Spanish connections.

Real Estate / Buying a restaurant in Poland? [13]


Fishy.

Genealogy / Is Czarnecki Really A Polish Or Actually A Sephardic Jewish Surname? [110]


Perhaps you can provide a map reference for one of the so-called 'dozens'?

The meaning of the name is obvious RO anyone who speaks Polish.

Food / Where to buy British mature Cheddar Cheese and salted butter in Poland? [289]

I suppose if you could buy it daily you wouldn't miss it. We all miss different things. A Filipino friend in Poland misses dog and I know a Pole in Japan who misses milk that's gone off. Both foods have their fans but most outsiders consider them horrible.

Real gravy by the way doesn't come from a packet ;-)

Life / Free Poland Health Care - Paying minimal to no Zus [105]


Yes.

Life / Is it McPoland? [63]

I went there yesterday for the first time in ages after reading this thread (the branch on the corner of Marszałkowska and Świętokrzyszka).

It actually wasn't as bad as I remember. The 'bread' they use is pretty awful, but the salads were good, the fries much better than local ones and they have a coffee place at the front with decent seats. Also clean toilets which you don't usually get here and the girl serving was very polite.

McDonalds isn't perfect, but in terms of price, customer service and appearance it knocks the spots off anything the locals have ever managed to come up with. I'm not surprised people prefer it to greasy kielbasa and zapiekanka places with surly staff and dirty toilets.

Language / The Polish word for fart? [28]

This post might throw some light on the subject...

THE MEANING OF YOUR POLISH LAST NAME?

Life / Free Poland Health Care - Paying minimal to no Zus [105]

I wouldn't think he can explain it because it isn't true. The EU health card that you can get as a UK National Insurance payer only covers emergencies.

History / "Quiet Hero" a book on Polish Survivors rarely heard - by Rita Cosby [26]

A better topic would be the heroism of Ron Jeffery during the Warsaw Uprising. Now that really would make an interesting film.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Jeffery

Life / Is it McPoland? [63]

People don't start food businesses just to preserve a culture. People in Poland go to McDonalds because they want to. Nobody is forced to go, and Poland isn't stuck in some sort of time warp just to make Americans happy that the country of their ancestors is just how granny remembered it.

News / Could be in prison for 10 years for trying to bribe the Polish traffic police [39]


In Poland they tend to have very high maximum penalties and give out much smaller ones. The problem with bribery is that it is still widespread and some public officials expect it. The police in Warsaw aren't as bribable as they used to be but it still happens and out in the sticks it is normal. Any initiative to stamp out corruption is good, and high penalties are part of that at the moment.

News / Could be in prison for 10 years for trying to bribe the Polish traffic police [39]

Which of course ignores the indisputable fact that driving is propelling a ton of metal with a powerful engine in a space shared by others.

You may well choose to dangle yourself out of a high window, to chain smoke in the privacy of your own home or to have sex with a consenting adult or even just yourself. That is your choice. When on public roads it is a shared matter, and people's freedom to be safe trumps your 'freedom' to drive however you like.

News / Could be in prison for 10 years for trying to bribe the Polish traffic police [39]


Even the most experienced drivers have fatal accidents. And of course share the road with other drivers, pedestrians etc. Speed limits and other rules of the road exist for a reason. If you want to drive just how you like, buy a very large piece of land and do it there.

News / Could be in prison for 10 years for trying to bribe the Polish traffic police [39]


Yes. The going rate is 50zl by the way however it would be extremely foolish to try it in Warsaw or more and more now in other big cities. The days of being able to bribe your way out of speeding, drunk driving or other dangerous acts are increasingly over. Good thing too.

.

Travel / Is Sleeping in Car in Poland (while passing) legal? [13]

If they're ok about it, yes.

Travel / Is Sleeping in Car in Poland (while passing) legal? [13]

Yes. But choose somewhere quiet, do not do it in a paid private car park and remember that Polish winters are seriously cold.

Work / Insurance / Customer Account Specialist job salary question is Warsaw [6]

7500zl leaves a lot less after deductions are taken off, certainly well under 5000 and would work out at around the average wage for Warsaw.

The figures given in the link are net rather than gross. Taxes and National Insurance are high here.

sprawdz-zarobki.pl/warszawa/Default.aspx

Travel / My holiday, Gdansk or Kaunus, Lithuania? Help me decide! [23]

Bistro Kwadrans on Skwer Kosciuski in Gdynia is very cheap and good food. But often crowded and an odd system for ordering and collecting your meal. There are plenty of reasonable places round the Tri-City.

Law / Polish car insurance and how it compares to England [29]

A quick look at the electoral roll should exterminate whether someone is a UK resident. Also if the person is working and paying tax in the UK and isn't a Polish citizen who's brought their car over for a few months I doubt the insurance would be valid at all.