The BEST Guide to POLAND
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Posts by Krakman  

Joined: 4 Oct 2009 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 4 May 2013
Threads: Total: 4 / Live: 3 / Archived: 1
Posts: Total: 58 / Live: 25 / Archived: 33

Displayed posts: 28
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Krakman   
4 Oct 2009
Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

Not sure I hate anything, but I dislike the following.

Imported goods are high priced, but this is balanced out by locally produced goods which are very reasonable.

The Winters are extremely cold

The one thing that really gripes me more than anything else, is a road type problem (surprise)..My problem is that when driving into an establishment (garage, supermarket, fast food place, etc) there are directional signs everywhere to lead you in, but then trying to get out is another story, usually taking 10 minutes to find the way out. I suppose they don't want customers to leave once in. Is this just me??
Krakman   
10 Oct 2009
Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

Most of the older houses (particularly away from cities) are of rather poor construction, which forces people to build the visually impressive, but lacking in quality "plastic" type houses. There's nothing wrong with them, but I don't think they quite have the charm of traditionally built quality houses.

Lack of consumer protection and the general ill treatment of customers by businesses, with only IKEA showing any kind of customer good will. No it isn’t a non Polish company thing, as Tesco’s are a bunch of c**** too. Excuse that, but really hate their ‘we make the law’ policies.

The "I'm not in business to make money" line, followed by the shock, horror, 'i've just been shot/poisoned/attacked' look, after hearing "you won't mind paying me more money then?".
Krakman   
8 Feb 2010
Life / Why so many Poles use a second hands clothes? [110]

It would be an absolute waste to not use some of these clothes which can be found second hand, as 80% of the time when speaking about high tier makes, the garments have been worn no more than a few times and professionally cleaned (most are dry clean only). Taking into account the resources and labour expended to create these clothes, it's only right that they're used to their full extent. Speaking of famous people dressing oddly, how about Colin Farrell's informal look. I don't think I'll be bidding for his used clothes anytime soon, lol.
Krakman   
28 Feb 2010
Real Estate / Shared property ownership in Poland, what are your rights? [11]

Just looking for a bit of advice regarding shared property ownership, which I believe is called ‘wspolwasnosc’.

Let’s take an imaginary situation where 4 people each own 25% of an apartment. This situation isn’t just verbal, but a written contract stamped by a Notariusz.

What are the legal rights of each owner?? Can a 25% owner sell their share without the permission of the other owners? Can a share holder stop a non share holder staying in the flat? Can a share holder demand rent if someone is living there?

I realise specific circumstances probably alter the answers, but I would be grateful if someone could shed some light on the above with general answers.

Many thanks
Krakman   
28 Feb 2010
Real Estate / Shared property ownership in Poland, what are your rights? [11]

Thanks for taking the time to reply inkrakow and Terri..

Do you have a flat/flats which form your percentage?

Unfortunately, just 1 small (high value) flat, which is divided amongst 4 people.

If you mean 'visiting' then I guess not. But if you mean signing a contract and renting the apartment to a third party, then no.

At what stage would it be classed as visiting and just plain taking the biscuit. I suppose a 'visit' could last for years.

Of course - each share holder is entitled to 25% of the rent less their share of any costs.

If the person living there is a non rent paying visitor (there on the premise of being a shareholders' friend), then can anything be done, if another shareholder disagrees..
Krakman   
28 Feb 2010
Real Estate / Shared property ownership in Poland, what are your rights? [11]

I was thinking something along the same lines!!...I'm actually only a 3rd party here, as the actual shareholder is my friend. Certainly if it comes to it, would 4 or 5 people be up for a 3 day bender in Krakow all expenses paid, the only requirements being that you act offensive to any human you come into contact with whilst in the flat :) Btw my friend does have a key, although I think the external door has had the locks changed recently.

Probably will seek some legal advice, as the visitor definitely doesn't have any legal agreement with the person living there, just on a friendly basis. I actually tried to pick a Notariusza brain over the phone, but they didn't seem too keen to divulge any information without an appointment, which is understandable.
Krakman   
11 Feb 2012
Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

Title says it all really. Hard to swallow situation, which left a sour taste!! I used to have a lot of respect for Polish policemen and their apparent common sense (at least compared to their UK comrades). This latest situation has taken that respect away. The situation was that my wife and I were pulled for no reason other than not wearing belts. This, having entered the car no more than 100 meters away from the pull site, and our destination was only 50 meters from that location!!

The young 'point to prove, I'm wearing a uniform' policeman, immediately stated his intention of fining and taking points. Never have I met a more unreasonable, rude person. Honest to his word, the mandat was produced and my wife's points were duly noted. We just looked at each other as if to say: No, he's not going take points, no way, no, smile. SHOCK HORROR, jaw drop as he jots down details on the ticket

Was this unlucky? Yes we were in the wrong, but common sense should prevail from any reasonable person. He's pulling us for not wearing seatbelts, yet letting every other tom, dick and harry drive like, well a seriously inebriated tom, dick and harry. As long as they're wearing seatbelts, who gives a f***!!
Krakman   
11 Feb 2012
Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

Why did you feel it necessary to drive 150m?

Fair point. We were shopping for heavy items and hence jumping from one shop to the next in quick succession

You mean you lose respect for people when they're doing their job?

Not when they do their job in a respectful manner. However, acting in a rude, arrogant and obnoxious way, then yes I completely lose respect.

For me, it's fair enough - I remember thinking that the police were very reasonable after getting stopped for doing 71 in a 50 - it was Sunday morning, I couldn't be arsed with the speed limit and got caught. Lesson learnt.

Very reasonable indeed. You put other motorists' lives in danger. Anybody who speeds because they can't be 'arsed' with limits, should not be driving in the first place.
Krakman   
12 Feb 2012
Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

He may have seen you not strap them on, in which cased you were totally taking the p1ss, the Police man would have been like, "they can see im standing right here".

Actually he glanced over, whilst waiting to enter a roundabout (we were on the roundabout). He must be the first policeman I have seen in poland acting in an assuming manner. Think Germany or UK and the way they just assume you have done something wrong/illegal. Reminds me of the time I was pulled in the UK for going TOO SLOW. On what basis? Because only drunk men or criminals drive slowly when they see the police!! This whilst a murder, rape, robbery and mugging were all taking place around the corner (actually that's not true, but I'm sure we all get the point). I just hope we don't see the "send the shooting squad, a teenager's just stolen a Mars bar" mentality here.
Krakman   
12 Feb 2012
Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

No they didnt assume, they knew you had broken the law and punished you accordingly.

But why were they looking in the first place?? Assumption??

Because you were a danger to other drivers?

No, because they were assuming I had done something wrong.

Or yourself.

No apparently it's only criminals or drunks (according to the policeman's assumption)

Well done, attempt to turn a simple thing like not wearing a seatbelt and try to compare it to rape ect....
You broke the law, and u knew it whilst doing it. Suck it up and accept it. You have no god given right to be let off.

Now you're assuming that I broke the law, when in actual fact I didn't break the law. Ermm are you a policeman??

100m or 100km - it really doesn't matter how far you drive, you always need to wear a seat belt. It's the law. I'm glad he fined you, solid cop. Go ahead, lose respect for a cop who does his job. You're just bitter that you got fined.

I suppose a quote like 'solid cop' indicates you're American. So, you probably think he was reasonable for not pulling out his gun and shooting me.
Krakman   
12 Feb 2012
Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

Technically the driver is at fault for allowing his/her passengers to travel without a seatbelt. I wasn't the actual driver in this case, hence the points didn't go on my licence, nor the fine in my name. I don't know is if this applies to both the front and rear of a car?? Either way, it's another example of daft laws in effect.
Krakman   
12 Feb 2012
Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

To say that seatbelts are uncomfortable thus I won't wear them was a typically Russian thing to say. :)

Intersting Sasha. I note you say 'was'. Is this a reference to all the old Skodas, where you had to continually get out to push the cars, hence it was a waste of time to fasten your seatbelt :)
Krakman   
13 Feb 2012
Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

Have to agree there. Apart from the odd police trap (where they set-up shop just after a badly signed 50kmh section). On the whole fair! I think it's also 21kmh above the limit before a ticket can be issued. Delph mentioned he was caught going 71kmh, so must have been spot bang on the borderline??
Krakman   
13 Feb 2012
Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

Just wish they would do something about the dreadful amount of tailgating that goes on here

Have to wholeheartdely agree. That and the nasty habit of standing on the breaks 0.01mm before a turning (hence going from 100kmh to 15kmh in a nanosecond). The mandatory flick of the indicator usually follows when the driver is 99% around the corner.
Krakman   
14 Feb 2012
Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

What confuses me is that the driving test is equal to the UK test in terms of demands

Could also be the quality of driving instructors. I have observed a few drivers and they don't seem to have a clue about correct gear changes, approach to junctions, and of course overtaking. Mybe new drivers are also influenced by the established manner of driving in Poland. We only really learn to drive after passing our tests'. I wonder if most people just learn in a bad environment.

By the way, I was thinking more about why the driver gets the punishment.

I suppose it also prevents the policeman/woman writing out 4 x zl100 fines when he/she can just write out 1 x zl400. Not to mention the 3 points, which was shocking for me. Probably yes in future I would think of the points more than the (smallish) fine.

Funnily enough I remember working around the UK with my Dad around 20 years ago (in HGV's). For some odd reason we didn't have to wear seatbelts!! My Dad was a real stickler, so it must have been law.
Krakman   
15 Feb 2012
Life / 200zl mandat and 3 points for not wearing seatbelts? [75]

Buckle up. Always. Live long and prosper.

Just had a quick look and it appears there were/are certain exceptions (applicable whilst driving HGV - heavy goods vehicles). This was obviously the case I remember. It seemed to apply to multiple deliveries within a small radius.

Not sure which I would choose: no seatbelt or a dodgily fitted DIY installation!! Probably the former.

In no way would I condone not wearing seatbelts 99.95% of the time, but believe common sense should have prevailed in my case. Let's just imagine you want to move your car 10 meters. You run outside, jump in, turn the key and move your car forward. Who in this instance would wear a belt? By law, I'm sure that would be points and a fine if caught, but most people would expect common sense to be used in this situation.
Krakman   
11 Mar 2012
Life / Television in Poland - embarrassingly bad? [44]

Can Polish television be any worse than it is? Same boring OLD presenters, blatant rip offs
(of US/UK series/shows), unbelievably biased sports commentators, talkshow hosts who think
it's witty to randomly swear (in English) about completey irrelevant points, other talkshow
hosts who find it funny to employ other unamusing foreign hosts, etc, etc. The only positive
is the nice looking women. Come to think of it, maybe it's just the men on TV I can't stand.

Maybe I'm being harsh or just don't understand the humour. Does anyone else feel this way?
Krakman   
11 Mar 2012
Life / Television in Poland - embarrassingly bad? [44]

Must be X-factor!! Million in a minute is similar after the contestant has won a few grand (zl).

What also really annoys me is the increasingly smaller pool of actors used in Polish films and series. For instance Boris Sh1ts (sic) pops up as: a WW1 general, modern criminal, comedienne, policeman, chef, killer and then for good measure he stars in a few series. This is repeated with just about every actor. How annoying to continually see the same actors (who seem to be lacking in talent). One actor I did like adamczyk (spelling) played a good part in Karol man who became pope, but then appears to have sold out to cheesy TV series. I imagine an English man with personality/reasonable looks and (crucially) the ability to speak Polish, could easily break into TV here.
Krakman   
11 Mar 2012
Life / Television in Poland - embarrassingly bad? [44]

have you seen any movie with Marcin Dorocinski,Michal Zebrowski,Mateusz Damiecki,Artur Zmijewski,Jan Wieczorkowski

Thanks Nynicki, I will research these actors and watch a few of their films.
Krakman   
12 Mar 2012
Life / Television in Poland - embarrassingly bad? [44]

And its not only the fact that television trends only reach after the US, UK and Europe, but our advertising is got to be some of the most stupidest in the world.

I suppose the stations are probably owned by Rupert 'the hack' Murdoch. Then again you did give the world 'Neighbours' and that absolute classic 'Prisoner'. I remember, nostalgically, the closing song: 'He used to give me roses, I wish he could again'. At least that was my take on the song, could be totally wrong :)
Krakman   
12 Mar 2012
Life / Television in Poland - embarrassingly bad? [44]

Stop watching TV

There will always be a place for TV in the majority of peoples' lives, even if just for special/sporting events. The same could be said about cinema, despite being able to download most films on the day of release, we still pack out cinemas, as both the quality and experience are much better. Some of the new series, such as Boardwalk Empire or Mildred Pierce, have seriously large budgets/A grade stars and directors. These series initially air on subscription television not the internet. I'd say it's the other way around, poor people use the internet for entertainment and accept lower quality in the process. Which live sporting events (if you're a sports fan) do you watch on the internet? If the choice was there, I imagine most people would take the subscription package (be it broadcast or digital TV), money is the factor why they choose to search for a feed.
Krakman   
12 Mar 2012
Life / Television in Poland - embarrassingly bad? [44]

Peter, I can't find any reliable numbers to disprove it. Some of the biggest audiences last year were for live sports TV broadcasts. The superbowl attracted something like 110M (1/3 of the population). Very unlikely that could have been topped. I chose the Superbowl as 99.9999% of the viewers must be in America :)

I agree on series, but was more looking at special events and live sports broadcasts. It wouldn't surprise me if the olympic games' live events this year attract bigger TV audiences than online (certainly in the UK and possibly worldwide). Look at the royal wedding - approx 2.6 billion tuned in on Tv's. That's something like 40% of the world's population!! Not sure tele's dead yet ;)
Krakman   
14 Mar 2012
Life / Television in Poland - embarrassingly bad? [44]

My favorite Polish program is "Usterka", which only seems to be on in the middle of the night.

Oh I forgot about that one!! I have to agree, it's the best thing on Polish TV!! Love it when some poor unsuspecting workman is quietly going about his business, and suddenly, a couple of very fit girls casually appear wearing nothing more than towels :)

Speaking broken english is my biggest pet peeve in Polish TV

Definitely is annoying, that's for sure. I notice in adverts they're doing it regularly too. Another annoyance of mine, is when you have resident 'experts' on talent shows (Top model, you/I/we/they/his mother/father can dance/sing/cook). Generally on these shows the experts are very boisterous and loud. This behaviour changes when they have an expert guest visitor from the west, as all the resident experts seem to crawl into their shells and don't have an opinion thereafter. Almost like they accept that their opinion is inferior.
Krakman   
14 Mar 2012
Life / Television in Poland - embarrassingly bad? [44]

A very good point. It doesn't surprise me, as Polish people in general take friendship seriously. Some American shows are far too agressive in this respect, with contestants threatening to kill one another's family, etc.
Krakman   
20 Mar 2012
Life / Moving to Poland Part-Time (probably Katowice) [56]

If you're considering Kato, then why not the Kraken? It's only 1 hour away, and boasts more than Kato. Property in Kato is cheaper though, so it depends on your priorities. Personally, I would choose a nice quiet, well located, mountainous area with idyllic views and clean air. Spring and Summer are particularly nice in Poland, but you need to be in the countryside to fully appreciate the weather. This isn't everyone's cup of tea, just my own opinion.
Krakman   
24 Mar 2012
Life / Izabela? - Advice with Polish name for a girl [36]

My name is actually Katarzyna. I love it.

I like that name too!! However, I don't particularly like the all too familiar shortened version 'Kasia'. If there's a problem in Poland, it's shortening of names unnecessarily.