Strange Hungarian Customs

[JPaganel]

I'd say this sort of thing pre-dates Communism by a good bit. The Austro-Hungarian empire is alive and well in their heads.

Have you heard of Jaroslav Gacek?

[Lotsokids]

Have you heard of Jaroslav Gacek?

No, and I couldn't find any info in English from Google either.

[JPaganel]

Have you heard of Jaroslav Gacek?

No, and I couldn't find any info in English from Google either.

That's probably because I misspelled his name. 

Sorry, it was late night here, plus it's always a tossup as to whether a foreign name is anglicized.

This guy: http://www.private-prague-guide.com/article/jaroslav-hasek/

Anyway, his most famous book is about Svejk the soldier, it takes place during WWI when the Czechs were fighting for the Austria-Hungary. What he describes is pretty much what you describe, especially in the sense the ridiculous rigid bureaucratic rules.

[Lotsokids]

I'd say this sort of thing pre-dates Communism by a good bit. The Austro-Hungarian empire is alive and well in their heads.

Interesting. Makes sense.
So blame can be shifted to "culture" and not "Communism" for much of this stuff.

[JPaganel]

Communism did create some of that, but without fertile ground it could not have flourished like it did. In Russia, that sort of stuff was described as "administrative ecstasy" by Dostoyevsky, a while before Lenin and his buddies showed up.

[Lotsokids]

Here's another one for you.

A friend owns a different "communist car" called the Lada. He has 13 inch wheels. He went to a shop to buy some aftermarket wheels, and he found some he really liked with the same bolt pattern but 14 inch diameter. They were proceeding with the sale, then they asked him what car he was putting them on. He told them, and they knew the Lada had 13 inch wheels stock. SO THEY REFUSED TO SELL THE 14 INCH WHEELS TO HIM. They would rather lose a sale than sell him wheels with a different diameter than stock.

Similar to when my friend went to buy a brown couch and blue chair, but they refused to sell them to him when he said he would put them in the same room. He had to tell them he would put them in different rooms before they sold them to him.

I really don't understand that way of doing business (or not).

[Lotsokids]

On extremely hot days, the Hungarian road crews spread sand all over the roads. Even the roundabouts! It's such a danger to bikers. I have no idea why they do this. Anyone ever seen this before or have any ideas why?

[red]

On extremely hot days, the Hungarian road crews spread sand all over the roads. Even the roundabouts! It's such a danger to bikers. I have no idea why they do this. Anyone ever seen this before or have any ideas why?

Lotsokids,

Probably to keep the oil-based "sealer" on the roadaway from oozing up and getting flung from wheels onto everything around, which includes people. 
The build-up on the undersides of cars must be serious, to motivate so much work and expense.

[oldktmdude]

On extremely hot days, the Hungarian road crews spread sand all over the roads. Even the roundabouts! It's such a danger to bikers. I have no idea why they do this. Anyone ever seen this before or have any ideas why?

This also happens in Australia on very hot days. The main place that I've seen it is on sharp curves on mountain roads. The sand stops the tar sticking to the tyres and peeling off the surface. It's usually used where there is alot of heavy vehicle movement. Bloody dangerous for motorcycle riders, especially after the temps have dropped and you're not expecting to see sand on your favourite corners!   

[Lotsokids]

Vehicle registration and insurance

I recently took the liberty of painting my Trabant RED over the original tan. Well I had to go to what I call the "Color Change Office" here in Hungary to get an official paper that says the color is now red. Well, the guy came out and took photos of everything. The car, odometer, engine code, VIN, everything. I thought it was funny, so I took a picture of him.



He found a problem. The engine code didn't match my registration paper. Everything stopped. He refused to give me the letter for the COLOR because the engine code was wrong. The engine was changed by the original owner, but they did not change it on the car's registration. They required that I get a signed letter from the original owner that they sold the engine to me. Then I had to get the engine inspected at a service shop and get a signed letter from them saying the engine was installed properly. I got this all done and will be registering it today. How ridiculous!

I continually get bills in the mail from my insurance company (in Hungary) for a car I sold over a year ago. The insurance has expired, but they keep sending me these notices. So I went to their office and asked them to remove this car as I no longer own it. They asked for the bill of sale, which I don't have. They said they could do nothing without a bill of sale PROVING that I sold the car. I told them they can continue to pay postage sending me these notices every week for the next few YEARS until I move out of Hungary. I guess I'm starting to act like an American.

[Steve_in_Florida]

Hey! Those fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror aren't STOCK!

Off with his head!

Very entertaining thread. Please keep it running...

Steve

[Dan Filetti]

Vehicle registration and insurance

I recently took the liberty of painting my Trabant RED over the original tan. Well I had to go to what I call the "Color Change Office"

He found a problem. The engine code didn't match my registration paper. Everything stopped. He refused to give me the letter for the COLOR because the engine code was wrong. The engine was changed by the original owner, but they did not change it on the car's registration. They required that I get a signed letter from the original owner that they sold the engine to me. Then I had to get the engine inspected at a service shop and get a signed letter from them saying the engine was installed properly. I got this all done and will be registering it today. How ridiculous!

I continually get bills in the mail from my insurance company (in Hungary) for a car I sold over a year ago. The insurance has expired, but they keep sending me these notices. So I went to their office and asked them to remove this car as I no longer own it. They asked for the bill of sale, which I don't have. They said they could do nothing without a bill of sale PROVING that I sold the car. I told them they can continue to pay postage sending me these notices every week for the next few YEARS until I move out of Hungary. I guess I'm starting to act like an American.

This is an excellent example of the inevitable end-state of socialism: bureaucratic paralysis!  It's also, what the dems in our country want us to be. Elections have consequences, folks.

Just my $0.02

Dan

[simi_ed]

Elections have consequences, folks.

Just my $0.02

Dan

AMEN!   

[The General]

Vehicle registration and insurance

I recently took the liberty of painting my Trabant RED over the original tan. Well I had to go to what I call the "Color Change Office"

He found a problem. The engine code didn't match my registration paper. Everything stopped. He refused to give me the letter for the COLOR because the engine code was wrong. The engine was changed by the original owner, but they did not change it on the car's registration. They required that I get a signed letter from the original owner that they sold the engine to me. Then I had to get the engine inspected at a service shop and get a signed letter from them saying the engine was installed properly. I got this all done and will be registering it today. How ridiculous!

I continually get bills in the mail from my insurance company (in Hungary) for a car I sold over a year ago. The insurance has expired, but they keep sending me these notices. So I went to their office and asked them to remove this car as I no longer own it. They asked for the bill of sale, which I don't have. They said they could do nothing without a bill of sale PROVING that I sold the car. I told them they can continue to pay postage sending me these notices every week for the next few YEARS until I move out of Hungary. I guess I'm starting to act like an American.

This is an excellent example of the inevitable end-state of socialism: bureaucratic paralysis!  It's also, what the dems in our country want us to be. Elections have consequences, folks.

Just my $0.02

Dan

(A risky counter, but here goes.)
We Aussies get ta vote today. 
A Huge majority can`t decide between the two major parties. The two leaders of the usual idioms appear to be stupid puppets and thankfully the masses are so much more informed thanks to the Internet. - Even the bias of major media owners is now obvious.--- as a result, many (imho) see clearly that the elections do not have the real consequences both our Countries` need.

Karl Marx made the power split so clear two centuries ago (without the internet) and half the world are down his preferred path. I see the other half suffering similar fates including the onset of bureaucratic paralysis, and it`s around election time our demise (and his predictions) become reluctantly vindicated.
I do question to a degree, the peaceful acceptance of the paint colour dictated by the manufacturer, verses  giving it a pink stripe and waiting for the bullets! and eventually a
However, I do envy the symbolic display of patriotism I see regularly in America, along with brilliant articulation of civil debate - it`s so lacking here.
(wtf! - time for a ride me thinks!)

[Firehawk068]

Mark,

I thought of you while taking my family for a trek up one of the Jeep trails here in Colorado.........................
Not far up the trail I spotted this...............No doubt parked and hiked up the trail, cause the way the trail was, there was no way this person would have made it any farther.........Even as robust as these cars are reported to be............



Anyway, I'm sure there are thousands of them over there..........Millions?
Just something you don't see much here in the States..........