Wesolych Świąt - Happy Xstmas

I believe this is like 13th or 14th Christmas I spend in USA ...

Not a big thing of course but see I am Polish so one would think I am "miserable" during Christmas in foreign land. This is a time of increase number of suicides ... people who are truly miserable somehow can't get enough alcohol or drugs to get through the Christmas season and before you know it, they are the new members of the exclusive morgue club.

So any chance I will be? Well, not. Sorry to disappoint you my dear insurance company (if I do end my life by myself, you would not have to pay that 100,000 dollars in life insurance and keep all the monthly payments ... [it is kind of weird to think that there is at least one entity - insurance company - that would be happy if you committed a suicide :-)])

I never forget how worry my mother and I guess sister too were during my first Christmas season abroad ... they called and sounded very concerned. They did not know how lucky I was to meet good American family who, in addition to giving me employment, which in the end gave me a realistic chance to make it here, gave me warm family feeling and opportunity to be around people who cared about me as a human being.

Good think they did not think of themselves as “better”, even though they had about literally 1 million times the income I had and even their dogs came from better blood than I did ... You know, they did sort of the same thing if some would indeed actually invite the beggar Romanians from the Central Railroad station in Poland to the Christmas Eve meal ("Wigilia") ... instead of just nicely and comfortably leaving empty dish … And by the way, we will see the American family this Christmas again. They became good friends of ours …

But times change, poor people - me - become a bit less poor and suddenly instead of just worrying about some people to spend the Christmas with, people are worrying about the quality of the season celebrations ... Maslow truly was correct in his theories.

This Christmas we will spend with my friend Darryl and his wife Masha from Ukraine with their kids ... and we will speak English and talk about Jesus’ birthday, as even though I think Jesus was just a man (good one) I do not want to stop the Christians from enjoying their holidays and want to introduce my kids to this concept.

We will talk about families, Christmas traditions, Mikolaj (Santa Clause), love will be in the air, we will talk to my mother on the phone ... we make a fire in the chimney, play some Christmas carols on the piano or listen to some on the radio ... Maria will cook some good Ukrainian meals, including her version of “goląbki” (cabbage rolls with beef and rice inside them), Juli will cook fish (although not carp) and pierogi (and not by hand but even the ‘good Polish wives’ do not do pierogies by hand anymore .. got “lazy I guess?:-)) Kids will play with Elizabeth and her little brother, Darryl’s and Maria’s kids.

It will be nice, and maybe they will ask about Christmas in Poland under communism, like those people who gave me warm family Christmas during my first years in USA ... I remember their stories of their own experiences in communist Poland during their trips there (They are rich people, some were there on business travels). They were very surprised that people were stealing toilet paper from trains when they traveled in Poland … (I did not tell them it was most likely my mother and her friends who stole it ... they would not understand ... just like most young people in Poland already forgot what life under communism was ....) Would any normal person steal toilet paper? Just because I lived in not normal country for 35 years does not mean somehow those who did not are 'worse' than me ... and close minded.

There is a sea of interesting things to get to know about Christmas in USA. In contrary to stereotypes about Americans simply only shopping during the holiday season, one should note that they cook special cookies sometimes keeping doe for days and following special rules, making ginger houses and having special times when the kids are allowed to pick the candies form it, leaving letter and milk and cookies to Santa by the chimney ... as he is of course tired of bringing the gifts (and of course Santa writes back to the kids ....which they can witness themselves next day by reading what he wrote on the paper), self-criticism of their shopping attitudes and openness to find out about any other tradition they can pick and carry during Christmas, even if that will be just one Christmas) They go to church, they eat special dinner, they look for the first star … and of course there are “special department lunches” and Christmas Work Parties.

So Merry Christmas, as my boss today said during our "special department lunch" in near by restaurant. I guess everyone knew that the official name of the lunch was just “politically correct” as many did not hesitates with greetings "Marry Christmas so and so" ... but then again, this is my work, somewhat liberal ... can't speak for the entire country ... the size of Europe and part of Asia combined ... I guess we would not want to be called for Honokaa Party if it just happened that our boss was a Jew ... and then again, the way it is respects whoever does not want to participate but people inside may choose the greetings the way they want … that’s what happens in diverse country where not 99% of the people are white, catholic and lived behind a wall for the last 35 years with little ability or permission to travel and stick the nose out of their environment.

But the best are the parties. This is not the time of my students years when I was poor and my English was poorer. This is time of free drinks and lots of fun with food and during mingling among the people. This is a sort of a skill that I learned the hard way through my 14 years in USA. People like comfort. Foreign things, be it people or someone speaking of controversial topics make them uncomfortable. People do not like change nor being force to feel uncomfortable against their will. You may be lucky to meet “cultural” person on some party and bush this and that with that person for a few hours … But guess what, unless he/she is really “cultural” (translation for other people “weird” or “geek”) even that person gets tired of that after a while during the same party.

Mingling and “finding” yourself is not something natural and some people, of the same nationality, never learn and are never comfortable. Nothing wrong with that! Just you should know it ain’t the crowd that is the obstacle.

And what a crowd it was during Juli's work Christmas party

Shhh, don’t tell Juli, there are some hot girls working for my wife’s company!... and they drink like Polish people!!! (Actually I already told her and said that if we would ever get a divorce, I have some new candidates … to which she responded with a sad face …sign I should not “joke” anymore.)

During the party, I was introduced to a girl from England ... Eva I think? She has been all over the place because her parents moved. She lived in South Africa, South USA [which may as well be a different country from north USA], Canada, and Europe. She did not even have much of an accent (and, yes, as I was saying there are lots of hot girls in Juli's work ... :-))

It was nice to talk to her because she understood ... we both agree how rich our lives are thanks to the diversity of lives we have seen and been introduced to ... we may not "belong" to any 100% but it is that not belonging that makes us happy ... no, more than that, makes us strong and appreciative of the opportunity to be able to be "outside" of things and to see things through a perspective of environment, culture, structure, etc. and not being blinded by being "inside" things ...

That's I guess why I see things in much broader light and from broader prospective - Carp (fish) is now a fish of necessity for mostly poor Polish people in addition to being Christmas meal tradition ... and good breakfast ... peasant culture tradition where breakfast was important to gain strength for physical work in the field ... Your country tradition, in other words, is nothing but just one of many, product of its own environment, culture and often semi-temporary culture that resulted from semi-temp historic times ... Most likely in 50 years, people in Poland will look at carp the same way American do ... as a "bottom feeder" ... far down the line of fish worthy of dinner plate.

But ironically, it just makes you appreciate the carp even more ... but you life will not end nor you have to be unhappy if you do not get to eat one this Christmas...

Merry Christmas

WOW, I sure write a lot …
Tell you a secret, my biggest challenge in school is to shorten the papers I write!

Smile. It is Xstmas

Trip. USA - Poland - France. (Polski)

USA - Poland - France

www.shamick.com/index.htm

Odwiedziny Przemka z Rodzina

Zabawa

Polska Wersja - http://gaworskipolak.blogspot.com/2008/02/usa-polska-francja-listopad-2007.html

>>>>>Friday, Piatek 9 XI, 2007 <<<<<

http://gaworskipolak.blogspot.com/2008/02/usa-polska-francja-listopad-2007.html

OK, we are in Charlotte ... Iza & Malina liked the trip but Iza was already impatient towards the end of only 50 min flight. It is now 5.27 pm ... nice airport here ... we are going to eat something and on 7:04 a flight to Frankfurt is leaving ... Airbus.

>>>>>Saturday 10 XI, 2007 <<<<<

8 hours of across Atlantic ... we slept some ... 4 hours me ... Frankfurt is a horrible airport ... crowded, hot and confusing ... but we made it, Karolina picked us up. Now we are going to the play ground ... then to dinner ... we are so glad to finally be here in Poland. A bit tired ... Karolina has Internet ... OK, going to help with the kids ... they are tired too ...

Iza slept the whole time in Restaurant "Chlopskie Jadlo" ... but we had Barszczyk, Golabki and of course Polish Beer Zywiec ... Taxi in and Taxi out ... I start to like Warsaw ... and so does Juli. First day and so far so good ... We paid $75.75 plus $2,27 Foreign Transaction Fee
Times of cheap Poland is over.

>>>>>Sunday 11 XI, 2007 <<<<<

Maybe it is 3rd time the charm. This is our 2nd trip and everything is going almost perfect. The train was great!!!!!!!!! 1st class ... it took 5 hours but we did not notice ... we set, laugh, played with the kids, ate food and drank coffee brought from the near-by restaurant wagon, look through the window ... until it got dark ... which hided the snow on the ground that we saw in Poznan. Mother and father picked us up ... 1.5 hours to Ostrzeszow. Father, me and Iza together ... 1.5 hours Polish made Iza very scared and she asked "where is mommy ... sister ...daddy ... stop talking" :-)

>>>>>Monday 12 XI, 2007 <<<<<

Today on Monday Ciocia Henia & Artur visited ... it was great! Artur will visit us soon ... Tadek called, we talked 30 minutes ... he could not make it ... it was one of my greatest conversations ... I really like him. We then made a little snow man, kids helped ... Iza was without pants ... they still walk bare foot in the house to the despair of Babcia ... we took a walk later ... it was good, bought some beer at the end and "warm ice cream" earlier but one thing that now I noticed so much was CO2 in the air, it is dark at 5 o'clock ... smoke all around, it gets noticeable and it is smelly, almost hard to breathe .... USA should fight Global Warming here ... would make a bigger difference

>>>>>Tuesday, 13 XI, 2007 <<<<<

Today we went shopping. It is crazy now in Poland. People make so little but prices like in Europe (and also more expensive then in USA We went to Antonin to little castle for ice creams. We had good time there.

>>>>>Wednesday, 14 XI, 2007 <<<<<

We went to visit my father in his place. It was very nice.

>>>>>Thursday, 15 XI, 2007 <<<<<

We went to the flee market in the morning. It was a bit cold but it was fun although the kids had to go back earlier. After dinner we went to inside playground where kids played. The same evening we stopped by Castorama and Carefour. Yes, as far as shopping, Poland is definitively in Europe … funny however how people’s shopping baskets are only covered on the bottom ….

>>>> Friday, 6 XI, 2007 <<<<<

We went to the cemetery and visited abandoned property where my mother’s parents used to live. It was cold. Later on we packed.

>>>>>Saturday, 17 XI, 2007 <<<<<

We are at the airport in Poznan. We got here “only” after 3 hours in the car … despite the fact it is only 120 km or so but in Poland there are no highways so you can’t really drive like in a normal country …

FRANCE

Bienvenue au France!!!!! With sunshine! Nice. We rented a car and went to Lille. We found Ville De ASCE with no problems. Jean and Michele welcomed us with a dinner. Laurence and Stephen were there two with their 3 kids.

>>>>>Sunday, 18 XI, 2007 <<<<<

We met with Lars and Amira. It was so great despite the bad and sad news how our “adventure” with CDNetPlay.com broke many friendships and destroyed or at least hurt people (including financially) ...

Then we went back to Laurence and Stephan house and later had great pizza. Boy, the French pizza is 100 times better than the staff we eat in USA! And that was “chain” pizza! My French is not so bad … I can communicate OK. I surprised myself.

>>>>> Monday, 19 XI, 2007 <<<<<

Finally we decided to call the doctor for Juli who is really sick since a week or so … he came to the house. How nice, and even without any insurance (as far as the country France sees it) we paid ONLY around $50 … That would be at least 100 times that much in USA and doubtful that one could get home visit. We wanted to go to the beach (to Belgium) but instead we went to the mall … bought a few nice foods, kids played … it was good to relax a bit. In the evening we had a great dinner. Jean and I picked up great big platters with see food (fruit de mere) and it was really good. Polish women (first name Balbina) was also invited to the Dinner. Juli and her have actually similar jobs.

>>>>>Tuesday, 20 XI, 2007 <<<<<

In the morning (well, after 10 am) we went to visit kindergarten where Stephan and Laurence kids are going. It was great. Kids were there for 1.5 hours and will correspond with this place in the future. The kids (with the teachers of course) made a big banner “Welcome” which they put on the windows. Malina were not that impressed with them and wanted to play in little toy-kitchen all the time but Iza participated and draw with them. All kids drawings were put together and made a little book which the kids gave Malina and Iza as gift.

Right after it, making my wife extremely angry, I insisted on going to the beach, to Belgium even though it started to rain … big time. But this is me being “Polish” and thinking it is somewhat cool for the kids to say “I was in Belgium” … hopefully they help me for it one day (maybe? Yes I know I am naïve)

Even before the trip to the beach, we had to pack really quickly and went to another family Juli knows, Gaston and Claudine

We had a nice diner in the evening. All kinds of wine, cheese … can’t get more French than that! It was great!

>>>>>Wednesday, 21 XI, 2007 <<<<<

Change of plants. We were to go to Paris today (that’s why the hurry to the beach in Belgium) but there is a strike going there so we will stay one extra day here. We are going to IKEA soon … we used to go there while we lived in France and “dream” of our house one day and how we will decorate it. It used to make us sad not to be able to have a house and our live …. IKEA is more than a store to us, it is something of a nostalgia. Before IKEA we visited Isabella’s place.

In the evening, Cecile called from Paris. We will not go there at all except for Friday to fly from it. It is a mess, people are “killing” each other to get to the metro. Only ¼ of trains are going …

>>>> Thursday, 22 XI, 2007 <<<<<

+8 degrees C. Sunny. Kids are starting to complain and are “missing our yellow house”
The fact that we are not going to Paris makes me a little said because kids won’t see (at the minimum) Eifel tower … of well, they will see it next time. We also saved some money on hotels (although Juli had a heck of time cancelling that hotel and not being charged)

Malina and I went downtown and had a good time. After lunch, we all went to IKEA while Juli and Gaston went to Auchan and Carefour to buy a few more things for USA (alcohol among others) I used IKEA free internet connection to catch up on blogs, emails and my school.

>>>>>Friday, 23 XI, 2007 <<<<<

We got lucky. Juli changed easily our last flight from Chicago do Lexington and not like we were to go from Chicago to Cincinnati. And we will fly earlier from Chicago!

We had no major problems in Paris except that we forgot (!) that you can’t have liquids in the carry-on and almost lost 2, 3 good bottles of wine. But the people let Juli go back and recheck the language.

We got to Lexington around 22.00. That one last language was not here but the airline brought it home next day. Malina felt asleep in Chicago and slept the entire last hour on the plane, in the car – Juli’s father picked us up – and slept till the “morning” … 4.30 in the morning that is …

Another jet lag … oh well, that is normal. It was a good trip (bit long and bit tired of living on suitcases)

Our dog was waiting for us at home. It is good to be home in our yellow house again.

Trip Cost

• USA Airways (all flights except one) – 3,422.76
• WingCentral (Poznan – Paris[Beauve]) - $200
• Train (1^st class) - $150
• Credit Cards Travel Expenses - $191 (including conversion fees)
• Bank Card Expenses (Debit) -$539 (including conversion fees)
• Car Rental – Avis – 5 days - $600 (400 Euros)

Total (at minimum) = $5,102.76

Mother and Dieter. Thank you very much for your financial substantial help! We appreicate it very much! We hope to visit you more often thanks to that financial help!

Malina Iza Famous Quotes. Updated 6/24

My kids say things that are profound (or simply funny). It is time to start to archive some of those before we forget ....

- Iza in the car "Daddy, you know what, poptars are close to my heart"
- Cacada - bug making lots of noise every 17 years - was making noise in our front yard tree. On one Saturday, the noise stopped. Malina said "Maybe they are here only on school days"?
- In the car on the way home from school, Iza is asking her sister for candy [they were sharing and Iza already ate hers] to which Malina responds "Iza, I can't give you any candy, my hands our sore"
- "Iza, it is not about winning, not about having fun, it is about trying longer ..."
- "Daddy, Do you know why I like Lexington? Because I can understand what people say here"
- To her dallies while playing ... "Anybody who died long time ago, raise your hand ..."
- On airport in Chicago ... "I think I am allergic to walking"
- "Sister, we can't go to the Eiffel tower because there are lots of strangers there and they are going to be there for a long time ..."
- "Don't go there sister ... the darkness is going to get you"
- In Poland in the car, during eating vanilla ice creams, "Sister, you can't say 'vanilla' very good because you spoke too much Polish ..."
- "I can't speak French, but I can sign it very well ... " (Happy Birthday in French)
- "Daddy, go to work and take some money, we need to buy the beautiful princess ... " (in famous store where they cried as if I was killing them because I refused to buy overprices princess)
- Iza falls what seems like all the time and most of the time she laughs about it, but this one time she felt and Maya was close to her. Maya may have touched her with her tail. Iza started to cry and said "Mommy, Maya was trying to kill me ..."
- I am not really good on closing my eyes ... (in response to repeating attempts to make Malina sleep)

Quotes I like. Ungoing ... (Polski)

Because "Shaminisms" are way overrated ...
Polska Wersja - http://gaworskipolak.blogspot.com/2008/02/cytaty-jakie-lubie.html

• I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious. - Albert Einstein
  
• Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence, he is just using his memory. - Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519.
• What luck for the rulers, that men do not think. - Adolf Hitler
• God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically.- Albert Einstein
• He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed. - Albert Einstein
• May the conscience and the common sense of the peoples be awakened, so that we may reach a new stage in the life of nations, where people will look back on war as an incomprehensible aberration of their forefathers! - Albert Einstein
• How can it be that mathematics, being after all a product of human thought which is independent of experience, is so admirably appropriate to the objects of reality? Is human reason, then, without experience, merely by taking thought, able to fathom the properties of real things - Albert Einstein
• The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer - Albert Einstein
  
• Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind. - Albert Einstein
  
• "I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land." - Jon Steward
• Life is a long lesson in humility. - James M. Barrie
• "Knowledge and timber shouldn't be much used till they are seasoned." Oliver Wendell Holmes
• Religious war is like children fighting over who has the strongest imaginary friend - www.cafepress.com
• "Timelines are dangerous. What we need is a 'horizon'- a withdrawal strategy named after something that no matter how long you head towards it, you never quite reach it. " 08/08/2008 Jon Steward

"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man." Heraclitus

Classy Halloween

It isn’t an oxymoron to have classy Halloween. Indeed, one can classy almost anything including life style. But “Classy Halloween” in here is sadly just a play on word. Classy means “In Class” or “With Class”, to be surrounded by 4 walls, 20-30 students and teacher who is trying desperately to make the topics interesting enough to make me forget that I am missing great time with my daughters.

Miss ‘M’ wants to be a Cat but as far as I know she does not have the costume. Beside she has a strap throat so she will have to have limited participation. Miss ‘I’ wants to be ‘the same every Halloween’, as criticized by Miss M often, … yes, you guessed it … Princess. And she does have the many costumes for that purpose. In any case, after the candies start floating, none of this will matter and the sugar rush will keep them awake long after I roll home at last in the shadows of the bright moon.

But don’t let me paint myself as a victim here. In addition to being school which is my choice, I do have to say that the Halloween for me just feels OK but it seems to miss something … the next day.

Being from 100% catholic country, The All Saint Days is uniquely absent in the place where I live in USA. My wife tells me in France some people also practice this day and so do some people in USA. But from what I see, it is far from what I remember from Poland … cemeteries full of candles, the smell of burning candles and whatever else kids put in them after dark …

One of these days I take my kids to Poland on November 1st so they can see it … if it is still going to be there, that is.

Just in ... one of the students came into class ... she is an angle and has hallo above her head. The teacher also put a hat on her head. Not sure what she is supposed to be but it fits her well ...

When in Rom, do as Romans.
Still, I miss the smell of the candles ...

Did God have choice? Updated

What really interests me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the world.

Polska Wersja http://gaworskipolak.blogspot.com/2008/02/czy-bog-mial-wybor.html
Had She? If she did, it means she is independent of the fruit of her creation. If it didn't, she can not be omni powerful, by definition.

Such as simple question, but what a depth. If you answer yes, it means that She has absolute control, which means she could have stopped Holocaust and Tsunami, but she chose not to. If she did not have a choice, then she isn't omni powerful, one is wasting the time to pray for "safety, prosperity, health" etc.

Good luck with answering the dilemma above, and you waste your time looking for any discussion about the answer to this dilemma in any church on this one of billion of trillions of rocks that She created. All you end up at the end is "God knows better" ... or something really stupid like "Collective Punishment" of God ... as some ultra right Christians would claim ... "God sent Tsunami because those people turn away from God" ...

Go figure, apparently God is such a monster that instead of flipping his thumb and making all the people who turned from him drop dead, he just choses to kill all ... and he can't find a better way but do an earthquake ...to accomplish her 'objectives'. But oh well, that is kind of his "historic" approach right, after all he also destroyed Sonoma the same way ... Does anyone actually believe there were no 1 or 2 years old babies in Sonoma? How can a baby be a "sinner"?!!!!!

PS. You may have noticed I always refer to God as She. It is not a feminist approach or anything like that. I am just tired of "Old Birded Man sitting on the cloud" ... Why does God have to be a Man?!

So see you can get closer to God by reading quote from Einstein, then from going to church every Sunday ...

"This man's God does not have to communicate with him through intercessors, ministers, or saints, or angels, but rather, through the quietness of his own mind, the beauties of his garden, the refreshing rain, the wispering breeses through the trees, the warm touch off a loved one's hand, the innocence of the questioning look of a child. This man's God is all Nature of which he is truly a part. To talk with Him, then, is to talk with himself, and be aware that God's presence is constant. To him, this is what is known as 'prayer.'"

Vacation at last. Europe here we come!

A few more days and we are going on our 2 weeks long vacation. We cannot wait. The weather may not be as good as it could be but at least the lack of air conditioning in Europe will not bother us this time. That’s for sure.

I am excited. I am going to see my mother and she will see again her granddaughters. Love is in the air. Some say because it is not “amour” or “libe dich” then it can’t possibly be as good as "love", but oh well … that’s their problem.

So in a few days we are leaving Lexington and fly to Chicago. From there to Frankfort, Germany. Final fly will end in Warsaw where we spend a day and a half with our Polish friend Carolina. Then something that should be really exciting for the kids – 4 hours real electric train ride from Warsaw to Ostrów where their grandmother and her husband will pick us up and drive (30 minutes) to Ostrzeszow.

After week in Poland, we will fly to Lille, France and spend another week there visiting us friends. We will also visit our friends in Paris, France.

It should be fun. The picture, although not us literally of course, it really does show how tired we are and despite all the effort that it will take to go on such a trip with 5 and 3.5 years old, it should be fun nevertheless.

The only bad news is that dollar lost 40% value since 6 months ago so we are going to have to watch our wallets ....

Voting

If I was still in Poland, I would have voted over this past weekend. (And it is too dam far to Chicago) Liberal party won yesterday over “assertive foreign policy and traditional Catholic values” and “skeptical approach to the European Union”.

“Civic Platform says it will repair Poland's strained ties with Germany and other EU neighbors. It also wants strong ties with the US but Mr Tusk has vowed to withdraw 900 Polish troops from the US-led coalition force in Iraq.” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7054912.stm)

Liberal opposition to “it is my way or the highway” (sounds kind of familiar to some other little cowboy’s speeches from the past?) won and turnout was the highest recorded in Poland since communism fell in 1989.

That reminds me of my old days in Poland. That’s when I voted first and last time. I remember how annoyed my corporal was (don’t remember his name) when he had to assist “kot” (cat – that’s how they called young soldiers during basic training), the only solider who expressed willingness and desire to go and vote. I voted for Lech Walesa of course at that time. (Want to get to know how the L. Walesa happened? Watch "Strike")

Here is the only picture I have where you can see his left shoulder. Wonder what he is doing today? He wasn’t a bad person. He did what was expected from him during basic training but deep down he was good, he treated us well although I probably would have not said that a few times when I had to clean the bathroom for the 5th time at 2 a.m., and often with a toothbrush … you know, the typical basic training things.

So good luck Poland. You need the money from Germany and France, and uncle George ... well, even the conservatives do not like him anymore (and don't ask the Turks ....) so don't expect much from here. Smart move going against those who do not like Europe. And good lesson I guess that as a young new member, perhaps a bit more conciliatory tone during EU debates would be ... smarter ... and also appropriate and tactful?

Just a thought? Treat your neighbors well, live and let live?

Be Green or Die

Here is what I do to try to be green (or to save energy which means the same thing these days)

• recycle as much as I can, as provided by the city
  
• made a compost pile
  
• put plastic foil all over all windows during winter
  
• insulated duck tapes underneath the house and in the attic with a "zipped blanket" over the entrance to the attic
  
• gradually switching to cars with better MPG ... 50% there (34 MPG and 20 MPG)
  
• do not use plastic bags in groceries - takes some thousands of years for them to degrade in the land fields and some barrels of oil plus 4 litters of Arab blood per million of them produced ... (my wife was instrumental in this switch)
  
• I "smartly" use wood fireplace. It can help your heating bill ... (weekends and turn off your normal heat; install blower with fireplace as specified by manufacturer of the fireplace insert)
  
• put down the thermostat to max 67 in the winter, 64 when we go to sleep
  
• in the summer we shut windows covers to block the sun from heating up the inside
  
• in the winter, I or my wife turns the thermostat 10 degrees lower before last one goes to work in the morning ... after I come back it will take around 15 minutes to get it back to comfortable levels ...
• around 80% of our lights use energy efficient light bob
  

My heating bill in the winter was 40% lower in comparison to the previous year (based on consumption shown on the bill, not price which went up slightly, 5-15%)

It is the ECONOMY stupid!

Sincerely,
Shamick Gaworski

Dentist in Poland (before 1990)

I want to stress that this video is not supposed to serve as bashing of universal health care systems in modern countries! Note that this video portraits Communist State-Run Dental Health Care System, not Canada, France, etc. (I was once at the dentist in France and it was cheap [much cheaper than in USA] and the dental care was equivalent/same as in USA)

OK. So now that we got that straighten up (as not to give ammunition to critics of universal health care), the video is a slight exaggeration of the situation that existed in Poland before 1990. (I will not comment on today's situation as I simply do not know anymore ... it has been many years since I left Poland.)

What is not an exaggeration about the movie are the following
- the line in the hall of the Dentist with people keeping the order, not the dentist
- the bad equipment
- the luck of any pain killing medication during the procedure
- the "it should not hurt anymore" mentality instead of healing teeth; such things like cosmetic surgeries did not exist at all)
- the God-Dentist attitude (no choice)

So now you understand that I have absolutely no fear when going to a dentist in USA and I find it rather amusing that they offer putting me to sleep for silly things like extractions (wisdom teeth). Man, they give you so much pain medicine here that all you can feel is pressure. They ask you every minute, are you in pain?

Watch this movie and start blessing your dental health care America!

So now you understand why I have to have the below done this year. My wallet is crying big time! But what is one to do? Can't go back in time, can't we?

Nostalgic

This birthday thing must have made me a bit nostalgic. Things are changing in Poland, my native country. It is for better for a lot of people, earnings are higher (by ~300% since I have been there)

Not like that makes me want to go back for good but I am glad that for many Poland is attractive again. I will soon be here almost as long as long I lived consciously in Poland (excluding the first years where we all basically poop in diapers and cry all the time) I am not moving back to something I knew but does not exist anymore (and frankly not sure if the new thing is that much better or better at all)

Anyway, there are some things that we, the Polish people, will always remember about our old Poland. Here is a short part from a Polish comedy "Nic Smiesznego" (Nothing Funny)

And right below a picture of my mother and her house (no more) with the same super car. FYI, it is Fiat 126p, originally designed in Italy in the 1970's and very very popular in Poland. It was produced in Poland under Fiat license. Under Communism one draw a ticket that determined how long one had to wait in line for it. (You still had to have money to buy it, the wait for in addition ... sort of like Prius not so long ago)

Life is too short day

I wish so very much I could put my thoughts together like him …

But I just can’t, I am not that talented. Most Americans should be required to watch him every day and jailed if they fail to do so. Maybe we would not be so brained washed as a nation. Oh boy, instead we watch some propaganda on Faux News ... go figure.

Language defines our ideas

An Française, tout cet différent me ce net pas sel muent pacque ce la même chose me au Française ! No ! La logique, le culturel, l’espacé e différent.

(Wow, that was hard, thank God one can switch languages in World Document and check spelling)

Anyway, listen to Steven Pinker on TED who explains the very deep meaning of language, beyond just simple translations

Below it is the movie embedded in my blog



No wonder my silly buttons on the right do not work well. Language is really complex, on the deep level, it takes years to master it fully, not just grammar wise but to understand all the (cultural, social, economical) meaning behind it

Why I like my job?

I realized recently that as 37 years old person I have been attending different classes and learning different things for around 30 years now, with 2 breaks 1 or 1.5 years long.

When I was 7 I started Elementary School in Sosnie, Poland. Then, into High School but that was High School with Rail Road Specialization (idea was that it is better to have such high school education and increase chances of finding employment afterwords ... not the same as vocational school which also existed [and does] in Poland)

So in addition to Language (Polish), Math, Biology, I also learned about Electricity, Electromechanics of different parts of electrical trains (Poland train infrastructures is far superior to #1 [sarcasm for US] but then so is most civilized nations ...), etc.

I also wanted to be "cool" so I started to study music in School of Music along with my high school. I remember seeing one of my friends who played piano and all the girls gathering around him and at that time I though "mm, I want to play piano like that ..."

Music got me into US in 1993. I was in Polish Army in Orchestra thanks to Music. In USA in addition to music and learning how to march in Marching Band, which I soon realized was not going to bring any bread on the table, in my sophomore year I also started to study business, administration, economics.

Even after graduating and before graduate school I took some classes to learn more, computers, statistics, higher level of English to learn to write and read better (as you can see, I need still many more classes) (I also learned some French living in France from 1998 to 2000)

So what does this have to do with the title of this post? I like my job because I can be creative. I learned or was learning rather about lots of things but this job allows me to use a bit of everything in my work. My work does not pay as much as I could earn in private practice but it provides nice casual atmosphere and very liberal approach to hours worked, leaving work, etc. In a word, I am not a slave of a corporation. I can't afford as many things but I enjoy my days more and learned overtime to be happy with what I have and make the most of it (and if you think this is trivial and not that important, then, well ... that's your right)

The movie below made by some professor about Web 2.0 best describes not just the environment we live in, but for me it reminds me that I get to play with all this ... and incredibly, some people actually are paying me for it!

Hectic Times

... to the Library to pick up readings for PA642 ... sent to campus office for new ID ... then back 400 yards to the Library ... back to my office to put off another fire ... progress some on some projects ... then making copies ... going for another meeting ... back to the library to turn back the few hours reserved material to avoid fines ...

... next day same thing, this time bank account is a little low so I run to one place to withdraw some money, run to the library to deposit it in our bank, then to the dentist who will make 4,000 dollars this year on me ... (because I was lazy as a child and did not brush my teeth! and the communistic dental care was far from good) .... back to the pharmacy for more pain medicine .... back to the office .... oh time to go to school - Wednesday today.

... it will be 8.30 pm before I will open my car's door on the parking spot and the only good thing about going home that late is that I can pretend to be NASCAR driver and spin down the rather empty parking lot all the way down from the top floor hearing squiggling tires on all curves.

... when I get home my kids will be still awake and Iza will no doubt insist on me falling asleep with her and one of the last things she will say will be "Daddy, I don't like your school; it takes too long; I miss you"

...but it is worth it right? Another 2 years of this and I will be a secret agent in some bureaucracy in Washington? (I picked a name already "Natasha" :-)) Or will I be some bureaucrat elsewhere? Regardless, I put nice little title in front of my name ... I will therefore be a "better" person?

... just sometimes, specially when your mouth is in pain for days and when you realized this is some 20th or so year you keep on going to classes of all sorts of colors and shades ... and it is close to a 100 degrees outside and you keep on going and going, you wonder, why can't I just be stereotypically ... "lazy American" ... or maybe stereotypes are just that, stereotypes?

Sincerely,
Shamick

One’s work may be finished someday,
But one’s education never.
Alexandre Dumas, 1802-1870

Psychological Projection

Yesterday Sen. Larry Craig (Republican) was on the news. He was allegedly caught by policemen in a gay sting at some airport bathrooms. I am not sure of course that he is guilty but what strikes me in this situation is something different.

Most of us have some kind of weakness and I will focus on man here as I am one. It may be alcohol, sex (promiscuous also), drugs, laziness, obesity, nervousness along with abusive behavior towards wife and/or children, gambling, pornography, etc.

Whatever it is, most of us know this and try to control ourselves with better or worse results. Most of us, however, DO NOT preach about how all other people but me are so terrible and how sinful such activity is.

So why the Senator was so strongly voicing his concerns about Gay while only a naïve person would still think he isn’t one. I mean c'mon! Man up there will understand.

No man one pleads guilty to charge of being gay if they are not. For us man the idea of guy love is very vulgar. We, the man, we really, really like women for sex purposes. We really, really enjoy sex with women and if not for all the societal barriers and/or being in love and wanting to be treated with respect, trust, etc., we could have sex with different women every day

So when some Policemen in the bathroom would accidentally misread my signals and wrongly accused me of being gay and looking for gay sex in that place, I can tell you I would not plead guilty for this thing just to go away. I may not be a senator but I have a respectful job, family, friends, etc. I do not want to plead guilty for something I am not, for crimes that not only did not enter my mind but I would not do even if you pay me.

Why then this Senator was so avidly and openly bushing Gays before

I was watching Saturday Nigh one day and some sketch was about why so and so was so creative in his life. He, the actor that played that person on SNL was already looking a bit drugged and said "LSD is a powerful drug man, powerful drug"

Projection is a powerful thing my friend, powerful thing

In psychology, psychological projection (or projection bias) is a defense mechanism in which one attributes to others one’s own unacceptable or unwanted thoughts or/and emotions. Projection reduces anxiety by allowing the expression of the unwanted subconscious impulses/desires without letting the ego recognize them. The theory was developed by Sigmund Freud and further refined by his daughter Anna Freud, and for this reason, it is sometimes referred to as "Freudian Projection" [1][2]"

Source - Wikipedia. Maybe, however, we are all guilty of some projecting

PS. Let me clarify something here. Gay sex is not a crime! Gay people are fine and the same as others. God blesses you all! (Otherwise, take your God away from me please) To do it in public bathrooms is an "offense" just it would be between man and women. The biggest crime here is of course the hypocrisies of "Evangelical Christian so-called Values" ... maybe it is time to let people live and have sex with whoever they want and in general get the hell out of someone's life as it is none of your (dam) business?

Great success of Polish "mix"

Mix of vegetables called "Salatka" in Polish is a traditional dish that can be found on most tables of Polish people in Poland (and abroad) (Note about the picture - salatka tastes better than it looks!)

Here is receipt written by my wife (American) if you interested

Sawatka – Polish potato salad

• 5-6 medium golden potatoes, boiled, but firm, diced
• 10 Dill pickles, diced
• 8 oz. block Swiss cheese, diced
• 6 slices med-sliced ham, diced
• 16 oz. baby carrots, steamed, chopped
• 8-10 oz. frozen (cooked) or canned corn
• 8-10 oz. frozen (cooked) or canned peas
• One med to large onion, diced
• Celery, 2 stalks chopped
• 1.5 cups mayonnaise (to taste if you like it creamier)
• Fresh chopped parsley (do not use too much as it is strong and will overpower the dish, can use dried parsley)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chopped boiled eggs, optional

Boil potatoes in salted water until done, but still firm. Let cool and remove skins. Dice into about 1 inch squares or about the size of a sugar cube.

Chop pickles, onions, carrots, celery, ham and cheese and add to bowl. Add corn and peas and fresh parsley, then fold in mayo. Add salt and pepper to taste.

[add me] Cool off final product in refrigerator. You can decorate the top with thin layer of mayonnaise and create all kinds of patterns with vegetables, ex. smiley face with little pieces of carrots, eggs, etc. Be creative.

You can also experiment with all kinds of other vegetables. Use your own knowledge of vegetables taste to create "perfect salad" for your own taste.

(Keep refrigerated. It should last 6,7 days)

Where are the shamisms man?

This blog was named to be 'priceless statements of the village's genius', shamisms for short. So it is finally time to get into it. This entry will be devoted to such statements and I encourage you to submit some to me. I'll post them. This post will grow overtime.

Requirement for shamisms - they must be relatively short, the shorter the better. Think bumper stickers. Also, I will occasionally post some other nice short statements that are not mine but I subscribe to them.
(Photo: "Man, there just nothing on those 2 black & white]government-run channels available only from 5pm to 11pm. 1970-1990")

1. If Americans are as religious as they claim then the best way to fight diabetes would be to change that disease's name to gluttony
2. (same as above but shorter) God Bless Gluttony America
   
3. W
   World Worse Weak Wrecked Wacky War-of-choice-loving WIMP!
4. If only Native Indians have built the wall (My Bumper Sticker. Source: cafe express)
5. Pro-Life does not end at birth (My Bumper Sticker. Source: cafe express)
6. Annoy conservative who says "annoy liberal, work hard and be happy" by working hard AND smart, thinking, demanding fairness and justice and being happy
   
7. Don't forget to shop after Sunday's church. It makes Jesus happy to see you spending ... 2/3 of the country he blessed depends on it!
8. 1/3 of USA GDP is thanks to government activity (state and federal). Say capitalism! Great, again, no regulations!
   
9. What does nothing look like? (Internet)
10. Best way to promote Soccer in USA would be to establish Soccer World Series. Whoever wins then will be Champion of the World. (By default -> USA team)
11. Pride is a sin! Study the bible more carefully!
    

Hike - beginning of sheltowee

This hike will start at Pickett State Forest Tennessee and end at Peters Mountain in Daniel Boone National Forest. It is 15.6 miles end to end.

This is the beginning of http://www.sheltoweetrace.com/ Map of the location. Better (PDF) map showing 2/3 of the trail in more details - we slept at Great Meadows (but to get to State line is at least 4 miles ... which translates in 3 hours of walking)

To get to the Great Meadows was a stretch and it took from 10 o'clock in the morning till 7.30 pm ... (10 o'clock due to logistics of taking a car to the end of the hike so we all can come back to the starting point)

It was a difficult one, according to another map it was actually 17 miles and we made the 12 or so the first day.

Sincerely,
Shamick P. Gaworski

WOMEN!

9 PHRASES WOMEN USE

1. Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

2. Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

3. Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

4. Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

5. Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)

6. That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7. Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say 'You're welcome!'

8. Whatever: Is a women's way of saying F@!# YOU!

9. Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking "What's wrong?" For the woman's response refer to #3

:-)

Cumberland Lake Falls Weekend Hike

Hike organized by Sierra Club. On Friday evening we drove to the camp site close to Cumberland Falls State Resort Park where we started 14 miles trail the next morning. It poured rain Friday night making it sleepless for many.

Saturday was also rainy but all 12 of us, full of energy and good humors, were following the river for around 7 miles to finally end on a make-up shelter quite tired from rain and difficult terrain. 6 of us slept in the shelter (simple wooden construction with a roof and one wall open, nothing more than that) The rest of us got into our own tents and John, Michael, Laurence and I found a nice dry camp 100 yards to the left of the shelter. We made a fire and cooked our dinners. There was plenty of water near by and the owners of water filters were very, very popular.

It stopped raining Saturday evening. It did not rain much at all on Sunday. Rain or not, makes little difference on this trail. It is so humid that after 15 minutes everyone is wet anyway. On Sunday, after breakfast and coffee, Jessie (14) who came on the trip with his Grandfather (>60) from North Carolina, together with our co-leader Shelly, got us going again. They started fast pace . We could barely keep up. Shelly runs her own little hobby-company climbing trees with earth joy.com

Soon the group decided to split and let the younger group (~40,50) go up front and get the car that was going take the drivers back to the beginning sooner than the entire group. The terrain was getting even more difficult and we had another 7 miles to go. So Jessie, Shelly, I(37), John (>50), Laurence (>50) and Jessie's Grandfather got to the 'end' of our hike about 15 minutes earlier than the older group. I was impressed by the older group with many of them in their 60's and Larry 71 doing extremely well considering the terrain. There were also two ladies Karen and Diane, both great hikers.

So once the header group got to the dam (trail followed the river) Laurence and I hiked additional 2 miles or so to get to his car that we parked Friday night. Once we got there after an hour or so, we drove back to the dam, picked up 3 drivers and drove back to the State Park where we picked all cars and drove back to the dam. We were all done around 4.30 pm on Sunday afternoon.

We had a great time. You get to know people, you share the ups and downs, laughs, falls, poison ivy and iron plan (FYI, as I am sure you are curious, it is called "Pokrzywa" in Polish :-)) Poison ivy can hurt you later (depends if you're allergic), iron plant hurts you right when you walk through it and there is no way around them.

You have lots of time when you keep on walking. You get to know people, and you want to walk at least a few feet apart on Sunday ... there ain't any showers on the way unless you do not mind rather cold water dropping 50, 60 feet from the cliffs all the way down, almost directly on your head ...

It is beautiful and green all the way around, you can hear the water all the time and you can feel it on every inch of your body (which obviously sometimes you wish you wouldn't) We saw two turtles and some kind of wild bird.

Till the next time folks. I need to do this more often ...

Pointers for hike
1) pack light
2) use polyester or nylon everything, no cotton
3) use wool socks and good hiking shoes but also bring light sandals for evenings
4) if you do not have stove and hope for fire, bring some fire starting thing and lighter (matches do not work well specially in rainy conditions)
5) ... more you get to know when you do this, if I tell you everything, it would be no fun to laugh at the novice :-)

Shamick P. Gaworski

Tornado Shelter Finished (Updated)

Process of creating Tornado Shelter from crawling space roughly 15 feet by 8 feet and final height 6.5 feet.






Original height of crawling space 42 inches. Added 38 plus 6 or so for concrete floor. Entrance from Garage. Pictures tell the story

"Don't try this at home" :-) (Put it another way, it ain't worth it ... so much work for little storage space ... the only justification is the 'tornado shelter' but I hope I will never know if that justifies my effort in building it)

Thanks,
Shamick P. Gaworski