11-VIII-2024.
Woke up late enough to know that I won't be sleepy in the afternoon. We lunched, packed the eggs (only 40) and sarma (the last four) and were about to go to Belgrade. Last few years she either gets constipated or gets the runs from it, this time the latter. I was resistant to the effect so far, that is until yesterday. This time it was „hey, light one, it got to me too“. Despite the delay, we got there on time, welcome whenever we come. Joda was riding merrily, and the jedi tricks worked, out of four slowpokes all four detoured (though, I passed one of them on the open road, then he me through Čenta, and then when I reached him again he just exited - he drove 90 on the road, and guess the same speed through the villages). The road was nearly empty, at least our side of it, the crowd being in the opposite direction. The belgrAders* visit their[ relative]s for lunch, or we're in a tourist place so we get the weekend crowds which return in the evening. I shaved another five minutes off the trip by now knowing the shortcut into the parking, without driving around the block.
Just as we were finishing the cigarette in front of the building, Lena calls... synchronicity works even on sundays. Api welcomed bellowing loudly, must have been heard down to the third floor, but stopped quickly. Lena says he's gotten well used to us.
Tanja was, of course, the mainstay. Looks well, grows nicely, holds her head, pushes her tiny legs, sucks... That sucking could be stronger, but it goes as it is. Milan is the obviously happy father, enjoys every moment of it. And so do they together, as witnessed by sheer amount of injokes which they find endearing and amusing and of which we can only guess possible origin or meaning.
The attending medical staff, of course, play their own tricks. Each one of them see to recite the unmistakeably correct procedure which is usually based on the theory which was en vogue when their professor was a medical student... One of those professor happened to be present, then went out, then returned to see whether he forgot anything, then left again. Then one of the two nurses went „is he finally gone? ... ey, close that door... now, let me tell you straight“ and then it was all diametrally opposite to whatever the prof said.
I made about sixty shots, the happy paparazzo grandfather... and in the evening did all the hundred and eighty photos of these two days.
The entertainment of the poor was postponed once more, because Go called around ten, so we had a long chat with her and Stanley and Anita. At least we saw Neša this time, because he was asleep :). He's back to the phase when he avoids the camera, thus practically invisible when awake. Stanley is messing with a Bentley, which is a real monster of a machine. He's to replace a broken transmision with a functioning second hand one. The machine is a complete chaos, it's such a jumble of guts and hoses, as if Grumf had desnged it. To access the transmission he had to take out the whole engine... and he took it out and showed us the photos. Well fuck that... And that's supposed to be some high end car.
Go's garden is growing nicely, has the hot peppers and tomatoes and artichokes, even though she planted all of that when they returned, less than two months ago. And the quilt she began to make, it's some phantasy in strong colors, and not any traditional symmetrical triangles and stripes scheme , it's a whole painting now. The ingredients in its making being software, threedy printer and a foot pedal operated sewing machine... well, that's technology.
Since we split a decent while after midnignt, I noticed that we aren't sleepy yet... so okay let's have a couple. Until three thirty... (... 119 words...)
Then on monday we slept on our own schedules... me until noon, she until eight then in the afternoon. And in the evening we finally came to that poor man's entertainment. Go, just like last time, left us a box with cookies (... 163 words...)
And, yes, Milan finally got the job he was looking for, with good prospects on yet another place but he somehow likes this one, and it seems he's had enough of passing various tests once or twice a week, so better consider the problem solved. Should start in october.
Both Days of beer and the olympiad finished yesterday. Guess the forum should liven up a little. It took four more days for the echoes and post festum comments to wash out. Though, the olympiad didn't hurt that much, there were only two topics, the general and basket, and then their evil twins, suffixed „ - shitposting“. The two general ones were more sociology than sports, and that was not the problem, it's the low tide of everything else on the forum while this lasts. Almost felt like reading the news, that's how far it got. But then the weeks (don't even know how many) before that, while football was on, that was a wasteland.
Thirteenth... got a message from the bank that the first card also arrived. Look at me going there righ away, it's a swelter outside, I endured ten minutes picking figs for rakija and swiftly ran inside. Doing mostly nothing all day. Late afternoon Linda and Sanda called, messing each other and taking turns to cry. Linda said „wish we had teleport to come to you a little“. I said „well a small one would suffice for starters, so baba could send you fresh pancakes“. „Mama also makes pancakes but not so often“. Well sure, at work most of the day, then when she gets home she needs to have some rest, get the groceries, do stuff around the house, then if there's time she may make pancakes... Though, in a few weeks when her hens start laying, she'll have to use the eggs, and pancakes are the best way to do it.
In the afternoon some of the telebaggers called, and I told them to update their database, because they'll find my number blacklisted there, I've put it there, and they're breaking the law by calling me, now let's not pull out any lawyers, let's stay on smaller calibre, goodbye, slammed the headset. I have two phones in reserve, so even if I smash one, no damage.
(... 116 words...)
On sixteenth, when she went out to push the garbage can, it's a trashday, she saw one of our kittens driven over. So of five Džimi's and four Zelena's, three each left. Actually correction, one of Džimi's has also vanished, so it's now only the one that looks like Suši (Sushi, Nina's cat), tabby on top and white below, and one of the black-n-whites. At least none died of illness, as used to happen before. Each year, each litter of kittens would have heavy rheume in the eyes, which we tried to cure in several ways, which succeeded at some times, sometimes it did not. We tried chamomille, hloramfenikol, pork lard... and all of them worked to an extent and then a few days later it would revert to the same old. Now since we have this chlorine dioxyde, a few drops in their other water tray (plastic, from meat packaging), [they are] all healthy. At least something grows properly this year, good crop, as the rest... green beans have wilted, gave up, all dry; the bolivian hot peppers grow and bear fruit but the habanero is only growing and discarding its blossoms. Watering doesn't help. From the garden we at least get the tobacco and some tomatoes. Fruit [bears] weakly, plums ripen slowly and the crop is incomparable to that of, say, 2014. Fourth week without a drop of rain, and it's a scorcher.
Afternoon, mobile rings. Some girlie, with the high pitched voice of Srem, what they preferred for singing vojvodinian songs in the fifties, the spitting image of that sound, offers some presentation, some air filter, her colleague would come to do that, just needs to know we'll be at home. Just when I meant to tell her to fuck off in long jumps, she said she got my number from Dragana... okay if it's from her, well, the kid sounded very convincing and had some magic in her voice. I mean, I can't stand high pitched voices, and if I was able to withstand this for almost three minutes, that must be it. Of course, as soon as the call ended it passed, and she also had a few words to chide me. Called to cancel, can't connect, my phone kept reporting no connection, well, sent a message „don't come, still, advertising is evil.“. The points you'd score, and thus money, for what you're doing, well, it's an evil job you took to, and for the lack of honest work, don't blame me. Reminded me of the two cases in 1999 when it happened twice that someone convinced me on the phone to take something, which ended both times with cancellation within thirty minutes.
And Dragana is due to listen to some story on the subject...
Eighteenth. Distilled another kettle of brandy, after lunch. It doesn't matter that it's 34° outside. It means a lot that we got everything down pat, so the sitting by the still is now reduced to ten minutes to get it started, some fifteen minutes when it's about to start dripping (to which we arrived two drops late today...), fifteen more minutes when it's time to cut it, and some ten in the end when it's done and needs to be shut and brandy poured into the cask. Then half an hour more to empty the leftovrers, wash and scrub the kettle, which can be done later. Having started this batch at around 15:05, I meant to do this last thing after dinner, but then Lena called, first once shortly - she thought she'd get Tanja to sleep, but no, the little one would have none of it. Then she called again, and then Nina joined and we talked in the communal chat all the way to 19:30, when it's almost dark.
Tanja is getting nicely rounded in these seven days, her arms and legs are nicely taut, no more extra skin, and even has a bit under her chin. And the hair is more prominent now, born, naturally, a blonde, just like all of us. Nina's job is gradually turning out to be a dream job. Their boss made an inventory of all their shit, which apps do they have out there and on which server each runs and to which databases each hooks, and then had them all read it, and then sent out a quiz. Those who got at least 25% of stuff right got a 10$ gift visa card (so valid anywhere), then gradually to those over 70% - Nina, of course, in that bunch, who got 50$. She's our lucky one, she's the only winner of lotteries etc among us, she won a trip to Tara, and the pizza for naming an emisija (v. 15-III-1997.), and is still positive on the scratch lottery, and on top of all of it got the green card on the visa lottery...
And a bit later Borče called, the frendz parti is tomorrow.
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* from some old TV show, where an older lady called her children so, with that southern emphasis shift to the later syllables, when her children come to visit from Belgrade; now generally applies to any folks who were born out of town and have parents there. When spoken with a regular accent, means just Belgraders regardless of origin.
Mentions: 15-III-1997., Alan Ford, Anita Jennifer Berger (Anita), Api, Dragana Vitas (Dragana), emisija, frendz parti, Gorana Sredljević (Go), Jelena Sredljević (Lena), Joda, Linda Sredljevich Aquilla (Linda), Mališa Borkovski (Borče), Milan Nastić, Nenad Berger (Neša), Nevena Sredljević (Nina), Sanda Sredljević Aquilla (Sanda), sarma, Stanley Berger, Tanja Nastić, in serbian
13-VIII-2024 - 1-X-2025