A minor earthquake. We were just sitting and drinking the Metaxa that Brata brought from Greece. I said "this is good stuff, I have a feeling that my monitor is rocking". Then Milka said "god fuck you, so does mine and I didn't drink... and the chandelier too... fuck, it's an earthquake".
By that time it abated. Still, felt just fine.
Few days later, second wave (7 Merkali or 5,6 Richter in Temišvar), Sale comes and says "folks, what an earthquake it was last night", and a few of us jump in with "not that we're bragging, but yeah...".
Around that time we simmered the hotel "Lepenski vir", on lower Danube, in Donji Milanovac. The negotiations were lengthy, and I don't quite remember who was there on first visit or how we got connected to them. The second visit it was Rade and I, carrying one machine to demo what we have and scout what we need to know to write a hotel app (which I wanted to do two years ago - see september 1989.). Posting roadsigns being totally unserbian, and map you read peasant you ask, somewhere in Požarevac or thereabouts we took a wrong turn and got into some narrow forest roads between two or three nowheres, still heading in the right general direction, we finally got there, though a couple of hours later than planned. Passed an area where everything was called Zvižd (zviždati - to whistle, quite confusing) - the shop, the tavern, the kiosk, the peasant's cooperative. Well whistled it I have through your mom, couldn't you post a roadsign somewhere sometimes? At some point, behind a curve, I ran into fresh stonefall - the whole area has many unsecured cuts into the cliffs, so any better storm may roll a few stones down the slope, and it takes some time until they are removed. I just had the time to pick the path of least damage, riding over one head-sized piece somewhat to the right, knowing that the engine is a bit more to the left so that I don't hit the oil pan. It hit a spot on the floor in front of the right seat, and I saw Rade's knees jump half a meter. Later we stomped the dent flat, the steel in yugo isn't that strong.
Someone whispered to us a friendly advice to keep away from the luxurious bimbo which is always next to the director, that's his mistress and he's quite posessive of her. And then while we were there she stuck with us, which we tried to evade with little success. The communication was awkward at best, mostly weak.
Later we heard that she was his wife and that he gave her the task to sound us out, who are we and what we have.
We were still measuring each other out, the DBA and the hotel, and it gradually grew into a larger project, the machines were moved back and forth, and soon, around mid-july, Radoje and I went there as project architects (projektant, in house speak) to see the details and what do they really need. Somewhere in Kovačica or Kovin the left side of the road was taken up by a column of tanks, doing perhaps 60kmh, and probably destroying the shoulder on that side. I was doing 60-70 and suddenly the fifth tank away from me blocks its right tracks and butts out into my side of the road. Luckily, I had the time to brake to almost full stop, when the guy started to right it the whole column, I'd say about 30 tanks, moved on. The battles in Slavonia were beginning.
Once at the hotel, we got a guy who was a fresh hire, to handle IT stuff, fresh graduate from something in Rijeka or Zagreb, and now with this shit happening his mother stayed in Rijeka and they could barely manage a phone call from time to time. Of course he doesn't know jack about how a hotel works, which doesn't stop him from having a strong opinion about everything... Don't even remember whether we stayed overnight, I guess we had to, it's about five hours' drive. Whatever, the guy will visit us.