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Posts by teflcat  

Joined: 29 May 2011 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 22 Sep 2012
Threads: 5
Posts: 1,029

Displayed posts: 1034 / page 33 of 35
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teflcat   
27 Aug 2012
Law / Rights of a consumer when dealing with faulty goods in Poland? [65]

I laughed it off and chatted to the guard who spoke a little English and we talked about destinations in Ireland. I just don't let them get to me.

What bothered me was that in a huge place with umpteen checkouts it was entirely possible that one of my clients, or one of my wife's clients, or someone we knew might have seen us hauled off to the little room. We are not in the happy position of being able to laugh it off.

Isn't that usually because the same desk doubles up as a place to get the faktura from?

Yes, you're right. Didn't think of that. Apologies to Media Markt. btw about four years ago I stopped listening to RMF FM and similar because of MM's infuriatingly aggressive ads.

if you're taking Cheddar cheese in your hand luggage, take it out of your bag and have it x-rayed separately.

You have brought up a very sore point Harry. I had about 2kg of the finest mature Cheddar in my hand luggage last March at LHR, as well as two hero-size jars of Marmite. Everything was confiscated. Of course, as a gent I laughed along with the hard-pressed airport staff (gritted teeth). I wondered who the hell makes the rules, and are they that hard and fast that there's absolutely no discretion afforded to the staff. For Christ's sake, it was Cheddar and Marmite.
teflcat   
1 Sep 2012
News / Poland Parliamentary elections 2015 [1060]

The worst thing PO could do would be to act complacently. We've seen this before. PiS are good at getting their vote out on the day. PO should also focus on young voters as they often don't bother.

most undecided voters are more likely to vote PO than PIS, it is possible that PO might increase its percentage of the vote at the next election.

I think you're right, but PO is capable of blowing a lot of votes by appearing arrogant. They should act low key and calm. Let the berets threaten and bluster; one more sound thrashing at the polls might just precipitate a reformation. Poland badly needs a good opposition.
teflcat   
2 Sep 2012
News / 1.3% birth rate = Poland's slow death [221]

Why don't you come and live here, Polonius? Then you would have more of a right to criticize.

Racism is EXACTLY what Poland needs

Don't bring this racist when you come.
teflcat   
2 Sep 2012
USA, Canada / Who is better informed, the expat or the Polonia crowd? [144]

They stop being Polish? Do they really?

The OP did not imply this at all.
Look at the crap we're getting from Polonius, Kondzior, Szlachcic, Goofy, Legend, etc. today and tell me they know what life in Poland is really like.
teflcat   
2 Sep 2012
News / 1.3% birth rate = Poland's slow death [221]

Not the unchanging Poland of rosy-cheeked maidens and gallant hussars squeezing their own twarog in simple (but somehow noble) hovels and singing merry folk songs in the snow after a morning in church. But then again, that doesn't exist now, does it?

No, nor did it ever, except perhaps in the minds of romantics with Polish roots. A bit like the Boston Irish but without the humour.

backwards habits prevalent in Polska B, the EU is pouring billions of Euros in subsidies to make the progress they have never achieved alone.

I live in what, unfortunately, is called Poland B, and I simply do not see the same backward rural hopelessness that you seem to. My area is coming along very well, thank you.

btw way Polonius. What's all this Poland's slow death? You really are a drag.
teflcat   
2 Sep 2012
Law / Required Documents for Buying a Used Car in Poland [17]

When you register your car, you need to hand in your old license plates, which means the car cannot be driven on public roads.

Two and three cars ago, if you know what I mean, I was given temporary plates and a temporary registration document, so my driving was uninterrupted. The last time I did it, I got the new plates immediately, and just had to wait two weeks for the new registration document.
teflcat   
2 Sep 2012
USA, Canada / Who is better informed, the expat or the Polonia crowd? [144]

It's interesting that this thread has been up for four days and has only 12 posts, including this one. Not a single one has come from the usual Pol-Am crowd who think they know what they are talking about when they tell us what Poland should be like. Their contributions are often romantic rants about a Poland that never existed, filled with absurd ideas about, e.g. Poland leaving the EU.

Come on guys, answer the question. What do you know that I don't? I came here twelve years ago and have worked hard, contributed to Polish society in several ways, paid my taxes (all of them) and gained citizenship. When I hear the American or British grandsons of Poles pontificating, it really p1sses me off. Especially when I'm told that I have no right to contribute an opinion.

The most vociferous Pol-Ams on this forum know nothing about day-to-day life in Poland.
End of rant.
teflcat   
2 Sep 2012
Life / Mishmash facts about Poland and Poles [124]

A lucky guy has won 31 million PLN in lottery today.

Good luck to him. I only hope that his priest doesn't find out where he lives. My second hope is that his priest doesn't run a radio station.
teflcat   
2 Sep 2012
News / 1.3% birth rate = Poland's slow death [221]

99.9999% of mankind are leeching fleas living off the blood and achievements of people like me. Without my kind, you would not have a private bathroom, much less heat and electricity.

Thanks man. I guess I must be a leech. Just so I know, what have you done exactly?
teflcat   
2 Sep 2012
USA, Canada / Who is better informed, the expat or the Polonia crowd? [144]

But that does nto mean that some expats may get converted and come to feel the rhythm of Poland, the Polish spirit and may feel choked up when they hear 'Jeszcze Polska...' at the Olympics or at midnight mass when the words 'Podnieś rękę, Boże Dziecię...' are sung by an overflow congregation.

That is not what the thread is about ffs. It's about who knows what's really going on in Poland, on the street, in the office, in the bar, even inside the church. Someone in America or someone in Poland?
teflcat   
2 Sep 2012
News / 1.3% birth rate = Poland's slow death [221]

Humans are generally ugly.

True, which is why I avoid mirrors as much as possible. Perhaps K will post a photo of his beautiful self.
teflcat   
3 Sep 2012
Life / Buying groceries in poland. Poles don't buy name-brand foods? [35]

poles don't buy name-brand foods, is that true?

Absolutely. It is impossible to find products by Heinz, Mars, Nescafe, Coca-Cola or Cadbury, to name but a few.

on yahoo answers, i read an article

Yes, the internet is a great source of reliable information.
teflcat   
4 Sep 2012
USA, Canada / Who is better informed, the expat or the Polonia crowd? [144]

nobody can pretend to know some country just by following it's mass media...

Exactly. If you were here when the plane went down in Smolensk, you'd have felt the shock and confusion on a visceral level, whether you were Polish or not.

A guy who mans the Poland desk in DC is of Irish background but knows more about Poland than you or me.

Unless he lives in Poland he definitely does not know more about Poland than me. You, maybe, but not me.
teflcat   
4 Sep 2012
Work / English qualifications to start Teaching English In Poland. Is degree of some sort needed? [123]

what will you do when someone puts you on the spot about grammar?

A four-week CELTA course is not going to prepare candidates for intricate grammar questions from students. That takes years of study and experience. CELTA is valuable in that it trains people in methodology, and, of course, you need it to get any kind of respectable job.

a lot of money to invest and then discover either I can't stand teaching or I can't do it well!

That's the risk involved, and it's good that you recognize it. Oh, and you won't do it well at first! That also takes time.
teflcat   
4 Sep 2012
Work / English qualifications to start Teaching English In Poland. Is degree of some sort needed? [123]

Modern coursebooks and their teacher's books are of great help to new teachers. Follow the lesson plans to the letter and you shouldn't go far wrong. As for teaching English in English, that's what EFL courses teach you to do. Early on in my career I taught Russian ten-year-olds. I didn't know Russian but the methodology I'd picked up from my CELTA course helped a lot.
teflcat   
4 Sep 2012
USA, Canada / Who is better informed, the expat or the Polonia crowd? [144]

Almost brings a tear to the eye. Er... you do realize that Polonia is not a real place, don't you?
One thing I want to know about starry-eyed Pol-ams. Purely hypothetical, crazily improbable situation. The USA goes to war with Europe. Poland joins her European allies against the Great Satan. Who's side are you on?
teflcat   
4 Sep 2012
USA, Canada / Who is better informed, the expat or the Polonia crowd? [144]

Of course I don't! I have a great deal of respect for the achievements of the US. Having said that the country also scares the sh1t out of me with its creationists and alien abductees, etc.
teflcat   
5 Sep 2012
USA, Canada / Who is better informed, the expat or the Polonia crowd? [144]

Later minorities would go on rampages, burn and kill and turn decent neighbourhoods into slums in no time. They looked for hand-outs and received affirmative action.

Who are you talking about, speedy? Sounds like you are referring to 'African-Americans'. If so, would you like to change the bit about

Later minorities

Forgive me if I'm wrong. Please clarify.
teflcat   
11 Sep 2012
Travel / How quickly does the sun set in Poland? [12]

I am dreading the winter already.

The nights drawing in means that the stars and planets are visible much earlier. This month Jupiter can be seen near Aldebaran (the eye of Taurus) in the late evening.

If you get up early, Venus rises four hours before the sun, and is very bright this month.
Two nights ago we had a perfectly clear sky where I live and it was great to sit out (still not too cold) and try to identify the constellations, with the majestic sweep of the Milky Way directly overhead.

Look on the bright side. No damn mosquitos or flies, no more grass to cut, and the universe to admire.
teflcat   
11 Sep 2012
History / Memos show US hushed up Soviet crime against Poland [97]

These facts, as you know, were not revealed until 1990, when the Russians officially apologized to Poland."

Thomas Gerth's quote, of course, not peterweg's.
This is the worst kind of bureaucratic bs. American and British failure to challenge Stalin in 1943 is understandable, but by 1951 there was no good reason why this atrocity couldn't have been exposed. I wonder whether it was a case of "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive".
teflcat   
11 Sep 2012
News / Who controls Gazeta Wyborcza?? [216]

She just blew me; **** was SO cash

John, what does cash mean in this context? I've tried Urban Dictionary but it didn't help.
teflcat   
11 Sep 2012
News / Exorcist monthly goes on sale in Poland [17]

steer readers onto the right path.

I wonder what that would be.
Doesn't the RC Church understand that competition is good in the long run. It will mean a slimmer, slicker business. Look at the U.S., where entrepreneurial pastors have had to learn to be more persuasive and offer more for consumers' money. The superstition business is thriving; RC Church should get real or move into other markets.