24-X-2022.
At Dragana's, 83rd frendz parti. Borče arrived a bare minute ahead of us, despite all our efforts - we delayed the start, then lost time at Roda when she was buyng wine. Two Chineses were ahead of her at the cash register, and they had five eaches* of some exotic fruit, which they probably have growing in their backyard at home, if they have backyards. Here, it costs a bundle, and they marked it as apples and submitted so to the cashier. The cashier first scanned the sticker, but then noticed a barcode sticker on each fruit, so he canceled the apples and scanned that. The price went at least triple, then the Chineses refused to buy that, cancel that too. Took time. Outside, I had already finished my cigarette and was steeling myself to not go for seconds.
We brought tutifruti 21.2, with some of pear fragrance, and it went nicely. Dragana piled up a heap of appetizers - gibanica, something like štrudla with prague ham, various munchies, so she didn't hurry with the main course. Which meant that switching to wine was delayed so far, that we all had four shots before that. The talk was mostly about various faces from ruža, of whom I know perhaps two or three, but they knew most of them, and that took three quarters of an hour.
Borče's gaffe for the evening was that he insisted on playing music from his phone, which has the convincingly worst sound in the category, screeches so much that in five tries he didn't hear us telling him to tone it down at least a bit. And he played, of course, and of course again, Toše Proeski, of whom I originally had no opinion, and now he's firmly welded in the „five seconds of it would be too much“ category. At least he wasn't lecturing. I tried, as an experiment, to play „Hallo, colleague!“ by Kralj Čačka, of which about fifteen seconds could be heard, and then he started speaking over it. Okaaay.
Dragana now lifts both legs on the sidechair, and at some point I took a look - and it made itself clear why she won't wear skirts, only three quarter trousers with high boots, or long ones over the ankles with shallow shoes** - she's covering her ankles, they are swollen, not only the one that was once shattered.
We tested my phone a bit, to see why she had to call me on landline last night - aha, it's something with schemas, on full and silent it takes no calls, on quiet is responds and rings. Okay so that I know. From the pinephone forum I picked a python script to activate the geepyess a bit, and tested it on thursday. Well, within ten seconds it found me. Not exactly on Lidl's parking, but rather on busodrome's across, but that's just 40m away, not bad enough. (Later I found out that it forgets the settings on reboot - well, if I ever need its geepyess, I guess I'll remember to run the script again)
And, furthermore, this time it duly called the cab, and got an esemess telling me that it has arrived. Around one thirty.
On tuesday I distilled the quince. Three and a half stills, a full day's work, finished by dark. But managed the enlightment easily. Girls kept me company at times. Weather ideal, no wind, dry, quiet, second miholjsko summer in its best edition. We got nine and a half liters, made progress compared to year before.
On wednesday and thursday I took time to scrub the still and barrels. The still I spruced as if for sale. I hate scrubbing, but then doing it once a year I figure I better do it right, and it's not so cold to have my fingers fall off. And so the season is complete.
Thursday, after lunch, burundi reports that the Chinese are leaving. The rubber plant construction is stopped, because the cost of bringing in the materials have skyrocketed, what with war in Ukraine etc. Well well, they couldn't have known this three or six months ago? It says most of the workers have already returned to China and Vietnam, few dozen remained to clean up and winterize the site. Local portals, of course, still have no idea.
On friday we made the usual tour of the cemeteries with the girls. First the new cemetery, then the catholic, then Tomaševačko. Sanda and Linda took off their jackets almost immediately and went in sleeveless shirts, to amazement, bordering with horror, of anyone who saw them. The weather really is nice and rather warm, but still, it's the end of october... By the last cemetery's gate some guy recognized me, called me by nickname, turn's out he's the kum of Pali. Of course I didn't recognize him, he was always the guy with short black beard and glasses - now many of us wear glasses, the beard is white, not outstanding at all. And I never got his name. So, how's Pali? Much better now that he's retired, had some psychic trouble, specially while gathering paperwork to retire, as he had lots of gaps between jobs in his working staž. He's okay now, enjoying the „now there's nothing that I must“ times.
On sunday the weather was still nice, so we put Sanda and Linda on bikes and went downtown. All the same as each time, coffee and cakes at Prleski, sitting outside, no tables occupied, nobody around, saw perhaps fifty people altogether. The only curious thing was that the steel rope of the bike lock somehow got between the mudshield and the wheel, and scraped all the way, and I still managed to stay not far behind. It went much easier on the way back.
On monday at Borče's, 84th time, he had a bit of news: DBA's office space is finally sold, to the lady optician next door, where we regularly make our spectacles. There, Blaža is now one tezga short, he was the liquidating manager. So, that story is over too.
The evening went smoothly, almost boring. When we didn't expect anything special and I was actually quite ready to start countering if he starts again, it turned out really well. Because at some point he remembered how he met a pal of his (whose father I knew, we attended the magisterial studies at petefi back then) at the Lidl entrance, and how they engaged in a lengthy conversation, and how this guy plans to spend the winter on Tenerife, airfare from Pest is 90€, to Pest only 20€, that's the „low coast avio companies“, and it stays cheap once you get there, and no winter. Well no, that's Atlantic and north of Gibraltar, so it's more north than Virginia, and there is winter just not as cold as here (okay, I fucked up, it's actually that much south from Gibraltar). Then we got into making plans, even how to carry the still to make rakija there... Dragana had cramps in her belly muscles from too much laugh.
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* it was priced „per each“
** over here the shoes are divided into boots, deep shoes, shallow shoes, sneakers and various types of slippers.
Mentions: Blagoje Vrbović (Blaža), burundi, DBA, Dragana Vitas (Dragana), frendz parti, kum, Linda Sredljevich Aquilla (Linda), Mališa Borkovski (Borče), Pali Vereši, petefi, Prleski, rakija, ruža, Sanda Sredljević Aquilla (Sanda), staž, tezga, tutifruti, in serbian
4-XII-2022 - 25-III-2026