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Posts by SeanBM  

Joined: 10 Mar 2008 / Male ♂
Last Post: 6 Jun 2017
Threads: Total: 34 / In This Archive: 14
Posts: Total: 5781 / In This Archive: 2780
From: Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

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SeanBM   
15 Jul 2018
Off-Topic / PF - The Omnibus Edition [1502]

How the devil are you sir?

I'm grand thank you for asking.
A bit late with a reply but our grandchildren's grandchildren will see our digital footprint and know a little more about us, not just my lobster bburnt skin on a Donegal beach:)

fast disappearing under a maelstrom of anti social media apps resulting in a total lack of civilised conversation,

Transhumanism, evolution in front of our eyes.
I for one welcome our mechanised overlords !(Roko's basilisk).
The whole of human knowledge in our pocket and what we chose to do with it tells me we're not that different from the monkeys in the zoo throwing dung at each other. I wonder if our ape cousins look at us as we look at the biocybernetic evolution happening now?

Anyway I'm becoming more convinced that not only are the mountains, oceans and people conversing a simulation but that we have no real free will (I had no choice but to write that, apparently:)

And the purpose of this ruse, I hear you cry out?
"Our entire universe is probably in a tiny glass jar somewhere, placed on a shelf in an alien child's room as a science fair that got a D+".

I prefer to be happy than right anyhow, this forum taught me that.

fantasy identities of perfect people being the norm

The Olympian gods never looked so good.

And except for dodging the walking dead and having deep and meaningful exchanges with the automated self-checkout machine at biedronka, how are you?


  • This is it
SeanBM   
6 Jun 2017
Off-Topic / PF - The Omnibus Edition [1502]

I came here to check what I have missed, while I've been wasting my time in the so called "real world".

We (royal we) need an edition of this pillar of civilisation also known as the one, the only, The Omnibus Edition!
SeanBM   
6 Jun 2017
Law / I have recently been scammed in Poland. My company accounts frozen. [58]

Update,
I was summoned to court today for questioning for potential fraud!

The story so far:
Subcontractor issued a fictitious invoice demand to pay twice, I don't know how but he has proof he sent it but my company never received it, this meant that it automatically went to the bailiff i.e. the court NEVER looked at my side of the case.
The bailiff couldn't get anything, so the subcontractor has claimed I defrauded them.
Back story:
I broke the contract with the subcontractor, I had a court appointed engineer make an expertise (project) showing all the damages made by the subcontractor.

I hope this will go away now, as my side of the story will be heard by the fraud squad and should be dismissed, if the subcontractor wants to proceed with the case to claim their invoice money they will need to pay 5% of the claim and I don't really see that happening because their invoice is so fictitious and they were mainly relying on a loop hole in the Polish law.
SeanBM   
10 Jan 2015
Law / Any good business ideas - what Poland needs? [114]

I am curious, what is the percentage of home owners in Poland?

It went up after communism :)
"More than 50% of EU households owned their homes, with the highest rates of home ownership found in Romania (96%), Lithuania and Slovakia (both 89%) and Hungary (87%). The lowest percentages of home ownership were in Denmark, France and Poland (all 58%), the Netherlands (56%), Austria (52%), and Germany (46%)."

I doubt many of them will be in a buyers market somewhere like Kraków where the property prices are ridiculous compared to income.

They rent accommodation.
SeanBM   
3 Mar 2014
News / Poland free market ( EU ) [11]

taking money from people, paying interest and investing in his community business for a return

You can do that in Poland.

You can even loan people money, the interest rates are not regulated like the banks and therefore they can charge much more because they are not called 'banks' from what I've read.

bank job

Yes, England, Wales & Northern Ireland. Scotland might be different, but probably not. Optional certification. Optional trade body membership.

None at all needed?
I know that a certified estate agents has to sign off for the final contract and up until that you could be dealing with an uncertified estate agent but really, none at all?
SeanBM   
2 Mar 2014
Real Estate / Property Developer HORROR in Lodz [28]

I am assuming you signed the notarial act for your property and took full ownership even though the project was not completed.

It should be in the contract about 'habitable use', something is not right.

We only purchased the apartment after been told this protection is there to make sure the developer finishes.

What were you told?

but as for me and the recruitment companies they don't even reply!

I think I know the answer.
In your profile you have written 'retard' for your occupation :)

Terrible story lostinlodz, if you give us more details about the contract and ownership we might be able to help you more.

One more thing, you are going to be very disappointed when you get a lawyer here, they do not work anything like they do in the U.K.

You must do 90% of the work and tell them what to do and they will do the 10% of the work and it takes a long time, not like the U.K. where you give it to a lawyer and they deal with it.

I have a lot of experience both with real estate here in Poland and with lawyers in various countries.

Understandably you are angry, it shows in your writing but you'll need a clear head to get out of the fix you find yourself in and there are people on here who can help.
SeanBM   
2 Mar 2014
News / Poland free market ( EU ) [11]

So why is there restrictions on opening certain business in Poland? In particular Banks and Estate Agency.

Banks are regulated in every country, I don't know about real estate agents in the U.K. but a qualification is required in Ireland.

I presume because they don't like competition :)

Crime
SeanBM   
26 Nov 2013
News / Krakow -- the third most polluted EU city, "equivalent to 2500 cigarettes a year" [9]

This is big news here and will effect the the people who can't afford it so the government will be helping people with their bills.

Fire places are supposed to be only occasionally used, like for Christmas, I don't know if that's another way of saying they don't know what to do?

Apparently it is a geographical problem, krakow is in a bowl so the pollution hangs around.

I don't notice anything but the science is sound.
SeanBM   
16 Oct 2013
Law / Landlord in Poland entitled to break in, change locks after non payment of final month's rent? [19]

You are breaking the contract InWroc, to date your LL has only threatened to do something about it.

Trust is the underlying idea of any contract.
You don't trust your LL because you think he won't return the deposit(I hope your source for this information is good).
And I suspect he does not trust you as you are not fulfilling the agreement, the idea of a deposit is to cover any cost of damages you may have done, not for the last month's rent unless you talk to him.

I strongly recommend meeting, discussing and coming to an amicable agreement as this air of suspicion and stress is not good for either of you.
SeanBM   
14 Oct 2013
Real Estate / How the Poland property market became a HUGE bubble [35]

We should have kept RWPG even at the cost of some political concessions towards Russia.Fueled by cheap Russian oil and natural resources from Syberia Eastern economies would be booming.

Like where, Ukraine is now?

I don't think it would have worked out.
SeanBM   
14 Oct 2013
Real Estate / How the Poland property market became a HUGE bubble [35]

Oh yeah? Norway and the Swiss are thriving.

So what? Should we drop the whole E.U. idea because someone else is doing well?

Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Spain and Greece are suffering greatly due to being handcuffed by the strong Euro.

That is not what messed up those countries economically, the idea of the Euro zone is different, to create a single stable currency.

Not much evidence for your assertion.

You have not read what I said and your argument is wrong.

Here is what I am saying:

1. E.U. is at peace with itself and deserves the Nobel prize for that (see above).

2. Do you remember what it was like before the E.U.? The unemployment rate and most importantly for me, there was no real freedom of movement.

The next generation are going to grow up and take the Schengen area for granted, as if it has always been there and personally I think that is brilliant.

You're in the U.S. imagine you had to get a visa to travel from state to state, imagine how stifling that would be for the people and for business.

3. Europe are a group of tiny countries, it's only a matter of time before we have to unite our economies so we can play with the big boys or be dependent on other larger economies and we'd have no real clout, no real bargaining power.

last time i checked a considerable amount of younger Poles who should be on the property ladder were actually living with their parents.

I think think this was worse before 2004.

In fact at current rates of growth then Poland could outgrow France (the median country in "Old Europe") by 3% per year and it would still take 30 years to catch up with them.

I don't get your math, so if Poland is growing more than France it doesn't really mean anything as they did not start off on the same level, Communism held Poland back.

has to be something other than cheap labor which can be readily used for manufacturing - need to be big developments in education and in the culture of investment.

I think this is what the E.U. as a whole must do, research and development all the way!

LOL back in the day nobody had a bad word to say about Poland, every mofo was convincing themselves it was the best thing since sliced bread. Myself included.

Wasn't it the same all over? I mean the one good thing about the economic crises in Ireland is that I don't have to listen to idiots telling me how much they thought their property increased in value this week....
SeanBM   
12 Oct 2013
Real Estate / How the Poland property market became a HUGE bubble [35]

A business proposition in terms of expanding the EU's financial global muscle so they can compete with other super powers such as the US, Russia and other new emerging Asian powers is one thing

I believe this will eventually benefit all E.U. countries for that exact reason just because it was beneficial for the original six does not necessarily mean it is not a symbiotic relationship and driven by everybody's self interest (which I think is a better reason than any pretense of altruism).

pricing the average Pole out of the housing market

I'm not exactly sure what you mean could you elaborate?
Comparatively very few foreigners live here so speculators are not the real issue now and most first time buyers in any country can't buy in the major cities for supply and demand reasons.

which is a fundamental necessity for happy living is completely another cup of tea.

I am not going to argue the elusiveness of happiness but first time average Polish people can afford to get on the property ladder in the urban areas but I hate (and I do not use that word lightly) that both parents must work (I feel like I am getting off topic here but it needed a mention).

Polish people have, for their recent history, not trusted the system (and banks) because of their history and it was totally impossible before the E.U. for the average Pole to buy anything with such high unemployment (45% in some urban areas).

I fail to see how the property explosion witnessed in Poland can be a positive thing for the EU or indeed for the average Polish person.

The first casualty of War is Truth.

The average anywho was never given a second thought. it's a business.
Armani, Christian Dior, Gucci, Versace don't think about the possible "positive effect" their business has on the manufacturers and distributors, it's all about the consumer. (I recommend No Logo en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Logo)

So far I believe it is better for us E.U. members to be together than not to be.

I was shocked and indignant at the Nobel Peace Prize Awarded To The European Union for 2012 (listen to the sighs of objection the second it is announced and how he explains it).

I believe that mutually beneficial business is the way forward for peace.

youtube.com/watch?v=pOQqBZul1J4

We (the Poles) have been colonized

we in the East needed West to colonize us.

I don't know what time it is where you are in the U.S.A but it's a Saturday night there too and I am not looking for a fight as I find this particular topic interesting.

But calling it a colonisation is wrong on practically every level and really does not help me understand the situation but your input is good because I see the E.U. in some ways very much like the U.S.

Hopefully we too will have federal law and state law, so that our people can better express their democratic opinions (state law) while combating organised crime (federal law or a better INTERPOL?).
SeanBM   
12 Oct 2013
Real Estate / How the Poland property market became a HUGE bubble [35]

Who needed who again?

It was

EU expansion

Just to clarify, I am very much for the E.U.....so far.

Altruism?

As I said, it was not altruism, so you are definitely arguing with the wrong person.

Accidentally I just finished listening to R.Kapuscinski "Szachinszach" audio book (it's on YT)

He was a writter, perhaps you can remember which book you listened to and what valid points it made on the topic?
SeanBM   
12 Oct 2013
Real Estate / How the Poland property market became a HUGE bubble [35]

Looking back the property explosion in Poland was absolutely absured and still is.

Poland was economically held back because of communism, the point of the E.U. was to make all the countries economically similar so that the Inner Six could expand their economic territory as a long term strategy and have more consumers to sell their products to.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_Six

People often talk about the benefit to the accession countries but we must remember that it was them who needed us to join.

If you look at it as a business strategy (which everyone should), you can only sell to people who have money, it was not altruistism which people seem to be lead to believe.
SeanBM   
11 Oct 2013
Real Estate / How the Poland property market became a HUGE bubble [35]

The main Factor is the 2004 enlargement of the European Union to include Poland, it pretty much changed everything.

Confidence in the country skyrocketed, I came over a few years before 2004, I just came from Ireland and it was obvious to me that Poland was going to go through the same metamorphosis.

Two million Polish people emigrated and were sending billions back with the idea to buy property because they had the romantic idea of returning some day (I say romantic because most didn't).

Here is a great website showing the motorways and the year in which they were built.
stadiony.klszarak.org/scc_a_s.swf

In 2004, Poland received €435 million1 from the EU in structural funding, while in 2007 the figure was more than €3.1 billion and a further budget of €347 billion for 2007-13.

It became a fantastic place to invest, labour was comparatively cheap highly educated, willing and able, it's a superb geographic location (in times of peace), with emigration the unemployment rate went down and wages went up and with the E.U 'safety net' it was booming.

Also speculators were licking their lips.

In my opinion the economic crises happened at a good time for Poland, if it didn't happen when it did, it would have went down the same road as Ireland (remember Tusk's words "we are the new Ireland" unsurprisingly he doesn't say that anymore.

There is no doubt in my mind that Poland would have eventually made all these advancements by herself but the E.U. was the catalyst and with that momentum catapulted Poland forward with the knock on effect of the huge price increases we all saw.
SeanBM   
9 Oct 2013
Travel / Vegetarian places to eat in Krakow [30]

There are a few places in Krakow.

This may be of interest to you: Vegetarian places to eat in Krakow.

I don't know Lublin so well but a quick google search and google.pl/search?q=lublin+Vegetarian+Restaurants
SeanBM   
9 Oct 2013
Travel / Recommendations for Krakow and Myślenice [80]

If you like dinosaurs and a day out with the kids, I recommend Dinozator
dinozatorland.pl

In expensive and great fun 52 kilometers West of Krakow.

DinoZatorland
ul. Parkowa 7
32 - 640 Zator, woj. małopolskie

There is also a Greek mythological lake and a huge insect park (the insects are huge, not the park;) but I did not go to either of them although I heard good things.
SeanBM   
9 Oct 2013
Real Estate / Renovating a house in janikowo.... [30]

. I looking at this more as an investment than a family home.

You want other

You may think people are being negative but if you think about it logically it doesn't make much sense.

You think people in another country spending your money renovating a chicken coop and then you have to wait until a lady is dead before it is yours is really a good investment?

How much money are you going to spend on making this chicken coop habitable? do you even have a quote?

Let's say you do it, you work in Scotland and have a house in Poland so you will have to let it out especially during the winter or you would have to pay bills and maintenance for a house that you do not live in (winters are much

colder here) so you let her family stay there, are you going to throw them out when you come over, do you think that will go down well?

I wish you all the best but you could just accept the gift and do nothing.
SeanBM   
4 Oct 2013
Life / Lifestyle in Poland - what should we prepare for? [10]

can anyone tell me some things about the daily Polish life and what we should prepare in advance?

If your husband is Vietnamese, he should have a visa to legally work here.
Perhaps his employer could help him, if he does not already have one.

Then he will need to get a P.E.S.E.L number.

I am wondering if I should buy him an ipad mini or an iphone as a means of communication when we are apart.

I recommend Skype, it's free to download onto your computer or smart phone and calls are free between two computers or smart phones with the downloaded software.

There are other cheap ways of contacting each other too.

what is more common currency between U.S dollar and Euro?

Just to clarify, Poland has the Polish Zloty.
SeanBM   
30 Sep 2013
Life / Does teetotalism even exist in Poland? [10]

simply interested in the general sentiment towards teetotalism [or abstinence from alcohol] in Poland: does it even exist?

I know people a bit older who became teetotalers as a passive way of defying communism.

During communist times the idea was promoted by the church that if you wanted change you had to be sober.

I think there might have been a notion that the communist system wanted to keep people drunk and therefore easy to control.

There were rumors of a plan for a vodka pipeline from Russia.

A quick google search and I came across this:

Demonstrating that vodka does not recognise political borders, Kesminas has produced a detailed "Dipsomanic" map of Lithuania and the surrounding regions of Belarus, Russia, Poland and Latvia, disclosing the location of the vodka pipeline network, the regions of distribution, the converted clandestine distilleries and the buildings that receive and distribute the contraband.

In association with the London-based architectural-visualisation studio HayesDavidson, Kesminas has prepared a photo-documentary suite of vodka pipeline situations. These 23 photographs reveal the illegal pipelines-to-oblivion in diverse Lithuanian locations.

SeanBM   
27 Sep 2013
News / Quality of Life Index Poland 4th on a list of 10 European nations [18]

Quality of Life Index Poland 4th on a list of 10 European nations

Which other countries were in the index? Edit* I got the countries.

Just seems a bit random and they don't state which countries.

The same index says the UK is the worst place to live in.

Switch Gas & Electricity News: Quality of life index

I agree that Poland is a great place to live but I disagree as to the reasons they list.

The retirement age in Poland is male 65 female 60 2013.

They state it is cheaper but don't take average wages into consideration, which is very misleading at best.

Anyway, Poland is a great place to live but this index is just random stuff that should not lead anyone to any real conclusions.