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Posts by Olaf  

Joined: 29 Oct 2009 / Male ♂
Last Post: 31 May 2013
Threads: Total: 6 / Live: 1 / Archived: 5
Posts: Total: 955 / Live: 199 / Archived: 756
From: Kraków
Interests: Heating up some controversial topics?

Displayed posts: 200 / page 1 of 7
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Olaf   
31 May 2013
USA, Canada / Should I move to Poland? (dual citizen of Canada and Poland) [22]

Hi,
You wrote you have Polish citizenship. That means that you are not foreigner to Poland. That answers questions 1 & 2. Poles do not need a work permit to work in Poland, also education is free, except of course private schools or weekend courses. It might take some time to find work, what are you looing for specifically?
Olaf   
23 May 2013
Real Estate / Best area in Krakow to live? [43]

The more centre the better, right?
Stare Miasto, Kazimierz, anywhere in 1.5 km radius I guess.
Olaf   
23 May 2013
Law / Where to obtain license plate in Poland? How long it takes? [24]

Hi. Normally it is required to return the number plates when deregistering a car. However you can drive to home country and register the car there and if they don't ask you for both PL plates then...still you should return them but I guess no one will issue an international arrest warrant over you...
Olaf   
18 Apr 2013
Law / Civil law court case in Poland - can a witness be forced to attend? [10]

Well then, if this person would have to come all the way to Poland for that - I doubt he or she would do that. And they are in the UK so such "invitations" from a foreign court are not binding. Personally if I had to translate the letter and then buy a ticket, take a personal day or two and get on a plane to come to some court hearing far away - well, I have far better things to do it. The court also would need a sworn court translator etc. and this is avoided if possible.
Olaf   
17 Apr 2013
Law / Civil law court case in Poland - can a witness be forced to attend? [10]

Like in any other country - yes.
However there is a summon which is compulsory and there is a information letter that you can show up being involved somehow in the case. It is always written in the letter.

And if the summoned withess doesn't come and has no solid excuse then they can face a fine and be escorten by the police to the court.
Olaf   
5 Feb 2013
Travel / Hard Candy - Krakow, Poland - reviews? [131]

caught by 2 Russian gilrs

- for this obvious trick it'd be safe to pay for the first drink to check the price (or ask for the drinks card).
Olaf   
31 Oct 2012
Life / Blasphemy not OK in Poland! [54]

Liked that?
But please remember that atheism is a non-prophet organization;)


  • jez.jpg
Olaf   
31 Oct 2012
Life / Blasphemy not OK in Poland! [54]

commit blasphemy as many times a day as I can. I regularly insult peoples' gods.

I do hope I met your expectations then:


  • jeeezzz.jpg
Olaf   
10 Apr 2012
Work / Poland Work Permit / Study Visa Processing Times [191]

Hahahahahahaha :)

Laugh as much as you want, but:

I guess you dont have much experience with Poland's bureaucracy.

Mate, I have been doing this for living. If I were

to go in person.

everytime I had a question to ask I'd be out of business or never at home. Calling and sometimes mailing - if you are sending documents (once you started some procedure is enough and worked for me) is really ok.

Try dealing with the Urzad Skarbowy

I do it on a regular basis.

or PIP

Yep.

youll be surprised how many different answers you can get from the same question

This is very true. Another truth is also, HOW you ask.

PIP is the best though

My experiences are better with Voivode office. They even call me back, which I'd rather not expect...

Its always better to go in person.

If you have time to run around offices - sure. But I don't. So I call or email. I always get responses. And when I was in the middle of getting sth done it happened that they even recognized me by my voice. Maybe you are not experienced with gov't offices.
Olaf   
3 Apr 2012
Work / Poland Work Permit / Study Visa Processing Times [191]

No need to go anywhere, an email or phone might be enough. Or have it done by a representative if you don't know the language and procedures are blurry for you. Depending on your particular situation and details it can last 3-5 weeks, and also without your presence...
Olaf   
17 Feb 2012
Life / Doughnut [Pączki] Day... in Poland [70]

Johnny - you practically violated the custom of eating donuts! Go and have one (or 5) now to cleanse your soul of this terrible sin.
Donuts are essence and foundation. They keep the economy going, they create feeling of unity in the society, satisfy the herding instinct by standing in long lines to buy donuts. They are the sole basis of a healthy diet (?!) and solution to 65% of problems of humanity...

Remember that. Go and have at least one.
Olaf   
17 Feb 2012
Life / Doughnut [Pączki] Day... in Poland [70]

We have a winnah! You, sir, are an inspiration.

Thank you, thank you all for the support. I'd like to thank also my coach, my team, my family and all the supporters and donut suppliers.... ;))
Olaf   
20 Jan 2012
News / Poland fines singer for bashing Bible [159]

Richfilth

Is calling someone homosexual insulting? If they're not, they're not, but I'd rather be accused of being gay than Catholic.

Hahah, that's a good insight! Made me think.
Olaf   
4 Jan 2012
Law / Car registration in Poland (bought a car from Holland on a temporary license) [25]

Hi Harry;)

To your first comment: Not that much hassle. IF there's a EU citizen then they register their stay and then prolong reg. of address to maximum time and that's all. No need to prolong anything every year.

If not EU citizen, then if visa was necessary then karta pobytu is issued for the same time, it can be longer than a year.

It's more about registered address that matters for the department that registers your car. You can do a lot by writing statements too.
I will give you an example from my experience. Last week I registered my car in a different place than my main registered address. It seems impossible to 4 out of 5 officers that I asked for information before doing so, then I wrote a statement that I live and work in Krakow and therefore I want my car to be registered here, so that I don't have to take days off work and drive very far to my previous department of vehicle registration to do stupid things that could be done over the Internet. I attached this to registration forms and that was all. It took 10 minutes in Krakow office! Sometimes ther is a long waiting line but to save my time and not stand in lines I went there during lunch time. And now I have new KR (something) registration plates. I have to learn my new plate numbers:)

To your second comment:
You are thinking about only one option here. I used the other many times because it doesn't require owners presence and you don't even fill in anything. I meant a registration by youself, and having a proper contract YOU have the rights to the apartment stated in the contract, therefore you can - and should - be registered. I've done it many times actually. There is also on another in which you smartly move the obligation to register from you to local authorities.

Why make it difficult for yourself when there are more simple ways.
Olaf   
4 Jan 2012
Law / Car registration in Poland (bought a car from Holland on a temporary license) [25]

where can i check if I am obliged to pay excise and VAT as I am not Polish?

The source is treasury offices - Urzad Skarbowy for VAT and Urzad Celny for excise tax.

Best you can do is to get an agent who would do all that for you, for not big fee. Why bother yourself.

but must be updated every three months and needs the landlord's permission.

Not really - foreigners should formalize their stay: registering address is just the first step, then there's registration of stay or residence card (for non-EU citizens). Having one of them will allow you to register address for more than 3 months. No need to go there every 3 months.

And you don't need a permission to register address - you should show rights to your rented (owned) apartment - which is e.g. a rental contract and it's done. There are at least two ways to do it.
Olaf   
5 Dec 2011
Life / Polish water safe to drink? [50]

Exactly, common sense goes a longer way also here:)

they bottle and sell it as Arctic; we drink it for free.

Hah! Good one! I will consider moving close to a brewery then;)
Olaf   
5 Dec 2011
Life / Polish water safe to drink? [50]

True, but it's unlikely to be contaminated.

Just as tap water. It's controlled and tested. And I would never drink e.g. Kropla Beskidu, or former Bonaqa but would not have doubts to drink most tap water. Never got sick after tap water.

Er...and you doubt him/her? Why would he/she lie to you?

Often it's just some unbiased prejudice that "tpa water isn't safe". It used to be like that but it was many years ago.

What the hell would you know about the tap water in Gdańsk?

Well, even I can check it online from Krakow. There are often tests published. Here it says something about water in Gdansk being one of the best in Poland:

sng.com.pl/page.php?anim=2&page=38
tester.brita-polska.pl/gdanska-woda-pod-kontrola,artykul,51

i hope this clears out the superstitions about "contaminated" or "unhealthy" tap water. The only thing might be different taste, some people may not like it, depends on region.
Olaf   
5 Dec 2011
Life / Polish water safe to drink? [50]

Mostly tap water in Poland is safe to drink, the only thing might be diferent taste in different regions etc. due to different composition of minerals. It is always good to filter the water before drinking, but often bottled water is not better than the tap one (in some areas) so why pay and carry those bottles. That's no sense in most regions of Poland. Many people are fixating on this. When I had doubts, I contacted my local water supplier and asked for opinion and current tests results. All was fine and I can drink water from the tap in Krakow. Same was in Poznan.
Olaf   
5 Dec 2011
Life / Automobiles vs. Pedestrians in Poland [77]

Well, sometimes yes - common sense is also advised for pedestrians. I myself, being on both sides (a pedestrian and a driver) see many times a person walking straight on the road without even turning their head to see if there is a car or not.
Olaf   
5 Dec 2011
Life / Automobiles vs. Pedestrians in Poland [77]

Unfortunately such situations happen often, and also many similar (like driving through pedestrian crossing when people are walking on it). Drivers often have little imagination and even less manners. You were right in the situation you described. I found this, in Polish, but Art 26, point 4 is about your situation I think:

kodeks-drogowy.org/ruch-drogowy/ruch-pojazdow/przecinanie-sie-kie runkow-ruchu
Olaf   
16 Nov 2011
Life / If I'm agnostic, deist, atheist - can I say that to Polish people in Poland? [72]

I see very interesting thoughts here so I am replying profusely to most of them:

But as I am a merciful Christian, I will do it to you under narcosis.

That's so not Christian of you;).

Lets face facts dude, you cannot comprehend that its you who can be wrong as God's existence cannot be proved but it cannot be proved that God doesn't exist either.
You are dumb because you are unable to understand and comprehend that simple fact.

You just wrote that the chance is 50-50 or similar. I have no problem with that whatsoever. Personally, just looking around the world I think that everything points out that the chance is close to 0. You on the other hand you can believe it's 100% sure that god exists - and I have no problem with that either. I also have no problem with Harry Potter fans, I just have less to talk about with them because I like to talk about facts and certain things. It helps credibility and the reason for discussing. Religion is interesting (for me at least), that's all. But to observe and study - not to follow/believe. I would loose all perspectives if I choose to follow, and why would I do that?

I'm shocked with your answers.

I take it as a compliment. Thank you.

You claim that they're worse educated

Mostly, yes. Very often. Where is the strongest support and blind following of the RCC? Villages I think.

believe in fairy tales

And how do you call such stories? Immaculate conception, Noe's ark with all the animals, Adam & Lilith (that was actually cool!), then his second wife Eve giving start to mankind, Christ's resurection, Lazarus's resurection (for me it's a zombie thing, but hey, maybe I don't have enough faith for that), original sin, Half Blood Prince - oh, sorry wrong story, other "miracles", ten commandaments and all other things like that. It's just as believable as Voldemort's powers and shite like that.

How could you?

By the powers of mind and use of the Internet.

some spiritual faith or want to have a tradition they can relate with

Spiritualism has nothing to do with religion, it can be separate. And there are much nicer traditions too... your choice. On which I - and Johnny, or everyone can comment on. You commented on my posts too. I am not angry, even on Ironside, who lost his temper easily on me.

Isn't stereotyping a trait of uneducated and bigoted people?

I'd partially agree here, but I wasn't stereotyping - rather saying about stathistical majority. There are many exceptions too, which my views do not (or might not) not involve.

As for fairy-tales, those "fairy-tales" are sometimes needed for a psychological reasons. Imagine you talk with a terminaly ill person, would you have no heart and tell that person that there is no God and he is waiting for his ultimate end? Would you do that? If you did I'd say you're cruel person.

I already did that. If you respect this person, you say what you think, which in my case was: Grandma, I don't think there is anything more to life at all, as nothing suggests that. You are old enough to stop living in lies and false imaginations and there is never too late to start thinking instead of feeding youself with false promises and religious concerns. I hope there is no afterlife or I will be really dissapointed. We should take care of this life and not something we cannot be hoping for.

Believe it or not, she understood most of it and accepted my views. What she thought for herself is her own business, but maybe I opened her eyes, or induced some amount of critical thinking...

Personally I know two married couples composed of a Catholic and an atheist, so it seems there is no problem with accepting others' views even within marriage, so tell me why you can not accept it?

Accept what? Mixed religion couples? I never commented on them. Not my business. I have that situation in my family actually and I still think it was not my issue.

Some people need a hope

But hope is something different than false promises and fake imaginary friends.

It's just unclassy and wicket.

Now I feel abused and insulted.

I think it's a feature of an intelligent person to understand sociological phenomenoms and not to draw easy conclusions.

No, I do understand it and even more, it fascinates me. However, it does not refrain me from commenting on how it looks objectively, when you keep your feet on the ground firmly.

No, it's a toll of politics mainly and religion unfortunately isn't and never been free from politics. But it's not an idea which is wrong, it's just people who made wrong use of it.

Then why the heck even use it if "people are misinterpreting it" or "misusing in politics" etc.

Treat it less literal more metaphorical.

Yes, I heard that many times. Jonah living in a whale, and Noe's all species on ark are metaphors but scenes of murder, sodomy or incest are not (or they are inconvenient so let's also treat them metaphorically?). Can you rely with your life on a book that's mostly to be treated metaphorically as you say, but no one knows which parts are to be treated like this?

Religious people not always believe in all that.

Either they are Roman Catholics or not. You cannot be accepting half that you like and the other not fully. The RCC does not allow that. And people who do that (majority I suppose) don't have an understanding and sufficient knowledge of their own (supposedly) religion. How riddiculous. The more Christians read the Bible the more of them resign or at least start having serious doubts. But most of them haven't even read it, or other sources and yet they are blindly following - those I like to ridicule (on which you complain), as there is nothing in these respects I can admire or accept. If they treat religion as so important to them then why they know so little about their own religion, let alone others, to be able to compare, know what's better or worse - in all words: to have a BROADER view.

I heard about some surveys which exposed that most Catholics in Poland don't believe in hell.

So they know nothing about their creed! They should also believe in Satan, angels, archangels, hell, miracles, etc. You have no choice to pick parts you like in Catholicism! Who and whet do you fear if there is no hell and Satan???

They believe that God is so merciful that he forgives everyone.

That's creating their own religion. Catholicism does not leave room for your own interpretations. Either you follow or you're not Catholic.
Olaf   
11 Nov 2011
Life / If I'm agnostic, deist, atheist - can I say that to Polish people in Poland? [72]

"On the other hand" ?! - You put all these genocides to people thinking differently than you? I have no word to that. Or is it that you try to balance the things I mentioned so that it doesn't look that bad?

Fairy tales ? Dude no offense but you are one dumb son of a gun :)

Hey, when you run out of arguments you do what you have to - you insult. Says more about you than me. It's like a monkey throwing it's feaces - it's still your feaces not mine.

Take care.
Olaf   
10 Nov 2011
Life / If I'm agnostic, deist, atheist - can I say that to Polish people in Poland? [72]

Is that enlightenment involves mass murder and guillotines ?:)

but seriously how can you tell that somebody is enlightened ? Is he/she glowing in the dark or what ?

Seriously? - Murders are methods and toll of religion so much more. No argument to that, sir. There are numbers behind that.

And about enlightmennt: if sb. says about angels, harry potters, jesuses, maries, demons, miracles and so on - then they were not studying carefully and prefer to stick to BELIEFS, BOGUS TRENDS and SUPERSTITIONS instead of FACTS and SCIENCE, Mr Ironhead.
Olaf   
10 Nov 2011
Life / If I'm agnostic, deist, atheist - can I say that to Polish people in Poland? [72]

Not everyone here is religious, especially the better educated.

It goes along with education and science but not entirely - I'd rather say that all enlightened people dnn't believe fairy tales - and I've seen quite a number of very simple but wise people who said that this bullshite is nothing else than other dracula stories - it depends on the region. Wielkopolska is more freed of this, while Malopolska is still in the dark ages more