15-X-2021.

On seventh took Nina to Belgrade somewhat earlier, to get her implants done. We didn't visit Lena as they were closing the purchase of the apartment at exactly that time. I talked with her a bit while they moved from notaroš (they say notar in Belgrade, i.e. notary public, officially it's javni beležnik) to the bank. She's investing her 100.000€ savings and he's adding some 20.000 plus the 100.000€ loan he's taking. The 60K we gave them is for running expenses and remodeling. The hag who is selling insists on keeping the postbox access for a couple of months and them taking over the internet contract with Telekom for the remaining few months. She'll get hollow nose up to the eyes*, she got paid and now has 240K€ from which to pay what she owes. This is already the third apartment she sold, and she's buying two or three more in Belgrade-on-water, so the payment shouldn't be too hard to her.

The takeover is on sunday, when she takes the furniture. Mr Micubiši has moved out already.

It got cold suddenly these days, drizzle and wind, true november. I had my usual coffee at „Arkadije“, and just when I was moving to the car, to sit and read that book, I noticed I was passing by the dentist's. I dropped in just to say where I'll be so she wouldn't be looking for me in the cafe, but the clerk girl there said „it'll be now, done in five minutes“. So two implants done in half an hour, and they reserved one and a half, Justin Case being everyone's friend. We moved a block down the street where she had it scanned in 3d, quality check. By the time we were crossing the bridge on our way home, she got a message from the dentist, he's got the scan via email, saw it, „came out excellent, all okay“.

On eight in Springfield it was kind of strange, our girls now mentoring younger kids. We got used to them being the youngest and smallest. The others' parents talked shop while eating, about customers who all want extra work but don't want to pay so. Gradually it became clear that at least two of them work in the company owned by Zvezdana. Small is the town.

On 9th Lena called, said they got the keys, handover complete, the fuckoff in re mailbox and telekom was delivered, but of course they promised to hold the hag's mail, if any arrives. The furniture gone, no trace of the Japanese guy. I keep saying hag while having an impression she's younger than we are, on just a hunch.

On eleventh, the party at Borko's, the 56th frendz parti. It was raining, and I had my light Kompako shoes, luckily she had the deep ones, allegedly for dry weather but actually waterproof. True, my old reflexes reactivated and I saw exactly where it's shallow enough for my soles or even washed off, but some two corners before the end, in a sidestreet, where the walkway is periphery-like, everyone paved their own part in whichever style and quality they liked, of different heights, widths and quality, the gutter drains done differently, with frequent cracks at exactly that place. Luckily that's when she walked first, because in some dark part she stepped into a puddle almost ankle deep at one of such places, where the drain sank. And her foot remained dry, mine wouldn't.

I expected that Dragana would get relaxed and done** at least some, and perhaps she did, as she and Borko have, after the third brandy, drunk two liters of roze, but the net effect of it was that she told an extensive story about her last director, of the school where she last worked, and the bother that he became for attempting to be in her company at each ekskurzija or whichever travel they happened to be on. Not that the story was boring, but they never let me talk for so long... There was a cute moment when she was (again) telling how she had lodgings at the same family for seven semesters, where they petted and pampered her and called her Đorđe***, coffee in bed and her boots shined, and then we somehow moved to our history of lodging - the episode with the wolf (november 1976), then the forester when Borko was our roommate for a couple of months, then the next year when we lived in a slightly remodeled shed, and how she spent three years in an even less remodeled shed (the tap was outside, ours was at least inside, but her walls were pressed clay, far easier to heat), the outhouse in the yard... What a face Dragana made then, she suddenly felt so sorry or ashame of having had it so good... and then it somehow turned out that we had better time for less money.

We split around one thirty, our cabbie came quickly.

On fourteenth took Nina to remove the threads, which was even faster, so we sat at Lena's for a coffee. Milan was asleep, they went to sleep at three, having zbinged the Squid games, about which the opinions on burundi were quite divided. Had a programmers' chat, the three of us, specially about those wild west years of DBA, with literally introducing computers to people who never saw them before. I made a thorough set of shots of the kitchen and living room, the places which will soon vanish are my weakness. The apartment will be there, of course, but it will be something else, with and for other people, it won't be it.

Of course, I made a shot of the crossing where I often wait when I leave Nina at the dentist, and made an autopatch (of just two shots). Joda has the big windscreen, with excellent view. It also developed some nasty sound, which I noticed on the trip to Sokobanja, and now it got worse. In the morning, as I went to buy a headlight bulb and check the tires, I noticed that the rear left disk is all groovy, like a vinyl record. Aha, that's it, you get to see a majstor tomorrow.

In the evening we talked with Go about just anything, until midnight as usual -what she printed (a bed for the barbie), what's Stanley doing (the place where he's doing his stuff now has another guy who's spreading, wants to turn it into a dealership and keeps bringing in more cars, borrowed his engine lift and didn't return it when he needed it, looks they're trying to squeeze him out, best to go solo somewhere and take his tools with him), how their rent is raised from 1600 to 1800$ now, what vaccine consequences the doctors report and then the reports vanish etc etc. Then we finished the 2,5dl of plum that was left in the bottle and lied to sleep.

In the morning I was supposed to be there at eight, but that's when I woke up. So I took Joda there after lunch (Tanja knows my voice already, after ten years I'm an old customer). They finished it the next day, prob'ly had to wait for some parts. It was done by 13:30 - whole rear left brake, the pads, the jaw, disk, bearing, 31.900 dinars. It now brakes soft and silent. Boy how that used to scratch.

On sixteenth there was a wedding down the street, just briefly, when they came to „buy“ the bride, daughter of the one who sold us the hats eleven years ago. Raja ate the spaghetti for the first time. He liked it so much that she was forced to concoct some more two days later, as he was so unhappy for the lack thereof, so okay, before he throws a fit. First he lives for years on bare chips, macncheese, ramen and chocolate, then develops an abstinence shock after just one plate.

On seventeenth took Linda and Sanda to Čankovo. I almost took the van, but nope, the two weren't in the mood, so only four of us. I thought we'll pick just three buckets of quince, but no, it's three buckets and the big laundry basket, around 65kg altogether. Garage smells so nice now...

On eighteenth took the girls to Roda, then stayed with me around its playground, while she walked over to Lidl to get the rest of groceries. Saw my cabbie from two days ago and asked him to remind me of the new joke he told me and I couldn't remember (it's a word game, untranslatable). He was waiting for his chinese guy to finish shopping, saw the guy as he came out, even shook hand with him. A jolly fellow.

The 57th frendz parti in the evening, Borko and Dragana came on time. We drank the 2019 apricot and then they switched to wine, we to beer (dark Budvar aja Budweiser [bood-vye-sser]). Everything sat just right, specially the cold kolenice (hocks), exactly as they should be. Linda and Sanda entertained Dragana for a whole hour.

We split around half two.

The weather on tuesday was just fine, so we took the girls downtown, on bikes, for a walk. When we crossed the bridge, we met Žuca by the pharmacy, she just finished transporting stuff on her bike, wanted to do that all while weather permits, and was returning home. Visit me, mandatory!

We walked our regular round, didn't even reach the square. While the girls chased the pigeons, I remembered to look for the speakers for Dragana (it's not only because I promised, but also for she praised me for always keeping my promises, now I must). Found some in third shop, right where we were sitting, but not the kind I had in mind, around 20 watts, but some tiny usb powered buckets, but fuckit, take what you find, these at least sound normal and will come handy, so that we don't listen to music from the phone's speaker, which screeches and squeals and drills the ears. Well in the same building of former Nama is the shhopping fommille (former Panda, same chinese shop)(intentionally reading it as hungarian), so when I came out she passed me her lit cigarette and they went in and practiced the fine art of staying in for as long as they can while buying next to nothing - one toy each. Then again coffee and cakes at Prleski, when it was almost bordering on cold, it being in the shade.

Regarding the Nama, the chinese shop, Gigatron (where I got the speakers) and some sports shop are all in its new wing, built in the seventies; the old one is decrepit, unused for ages, surrounded by mesh fence as pieces are falling off its façade.

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* i.e. nothing that she didn't already have. I just love such expressions.

** „to do oneself“ is a common expression for getting drunk nowadays

*** from the legendary, almost cult, translation of „Snow hare“ cartoon with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck

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Mentions: burundi, Čankovo, DBA, Dragana Vitas (Dragana), ekskurzija, frendz parti, Gorana Sredljević (Go), Jelena Sredljević (Lena), Joda, Linda Sredljevich Aquilla (Linda), majstor, Mališa Borkovski (Borko), Milan Nastić, Nevena Sredljević (Nina), Prleski, Ryu (Raja), Sanda Sredljević Aquilla (Sanda), Springfield, Stanley Berger, Zvezdana, Živana Armatović (Žuca), in serbian