24-X-2025.
On nineteenth I slept in the usual disorder, got up by half three, because I lied down at 22. I breakfast three times a year, and this set itself up to be such a day. The breakfast of champions, eventually at four (the coffee held me until then), homemade bread (excellent, even better than before) and homemade pašteta and nothing else.
And then she made another round of bread, even better, must be that as yeast ages it also ripens, and the mufljuzi (v. house dictionary)... the life.
In the chicken coop the situation finally settled down, ever since the young hens started laying. There are small eggs, there are oversized, probably with two yolks.
On thwentythird, the mathematicians meet in the afternoon. She went in the morning to check out that Svetofor, well, they won't be seeing us. Maybe for some small stuuff, what fits into a tote, else I won't bother to park, thank you nicely. Actually, to differ from the first two, which are a bit out of congested areas - one at the north exit, one in the former lumberyard hangar by the cargo railway station - this one is very close to the novogradnja (25. maj from 1970 and the part two from 1980), Lidl, Roda, furniture and car salons, busodrome... while stuck behind the hardware store, with exit jutting out on its driveway. Well, it's a disastrophy - outside there's no parking space, and inside they made a labyringh, there's no veering off the path, can't cross toward what you just saw, can't go back to what you missed, there's only one way from entrance to the cash register, must go all the way if you mean to get out. Ciao goodbye, I saw that only once, in the Idhea, in 2014, and they never saw me again. Find some other mice for your trials. (I wrote this on burundi, as a short retell for the honest Burundians)
While she was shopping, I once more tried to call I.Z., the due must be dued, and got the rewinder again. It seems I was simply lucky last two years. Well, nothing then...
Took some like nap after lunch, both asleep and yet not, dreaming of watching myself dreaming, aha and who's the watcher, well it's me, so you're aware, ergo awake... well yes, not really asleep. But okay, I did stretch my back, relaxed, then washed the van's windshield, and then, after more coffee and cigs, hit the road. To a gas station first, topped it up. It's been exactly a year since the last time, just 15 liters then, for what's the use of čorba in the van, but it's a whole another story now, NIS is under Trump's sanctions, Vučić is under hundred problems, the scum is rocking, and nobody knows how we'll do in a month or two. And this is a 75 liter reserve in, as the name tells, rezervoar (reservoir). Called Borče from the pump, to tell Kaja to start walking to the park, a block away from her last year's pickup location, to simplify my maneuvering, this is on the short way to his new address. He, of course, calculated that the trip to Novi is 45 minutes, not counting on arrival during rush hour, so I took off 15 minutes earlier, but he didn't know, so Kaja wasn't ready, and we still had to pick his kum in a village along the way. At least Staša and Dušanka were already there. I took the opportunity to visit his restroom (because I poured the fuel, doesn't matter that it's not water, still inspires), he showed us his part of the house quickly, they shipshaped it nicely. And he said he still had another majstor the day before, there were still things to do.
Later Dušanka asked how did I know to thread my way through Novi so neatly... Well, looked up the map ahead and memorized what's where. I actually know the grounds by heart, I lived the whole third year on Petrovaradin, this was more to memorize the layout of intersections, they were redone. We arrived at 17:15, even found a parking slot... Exactly those 15 minutes I added and which then turned out to be wasted. And Kaja said she finished the makeup on only one eye, well never mind, told her I couldn't tell which one.
And then it turned out that we were among the first to arrive, guess only Cica, the organizer (and former wife of an assistant of ours, now a retired professor) and a couple of her friends arrived before we did. It took a hefty half an hour until the others gathered. The atmosphere was just right, I made shots left and right. The chubby girl who asked my name by the end of last year's [event], I saw I gained another fan, well, this year she progressed a lot. But then, two-three of her closer friends, I think between two and five generations after ours, impressed me even more this time. The surprise of the year was Z.H. from Subotica, who arrived by train (!). Well there's a brave man... though, in that vein, there are crazier among us, who rode a šinobus. Nobody recognized him, me included, because he came in a disguise: without moustache and spectacles. And he also said „I recognized two or three, and of the others, when they tell me their names, I still don't know who they were“.
Our algebra assistant, a regular at these gatherings, says Paja went a bit bonkers, and while not really watching television, he keeps following the wrong stuff, and has almost went full ćaci. And he's easy to get mad, as soon as someone disagrees with him he becomes very loud, and there you are around a table in a tavern, it's really not a thing to do there, it even occurred that someone from another table came to complain, „what are you doing here, we came to dine here, not to listen to your screaming“. And he goes „I'm not screaming, I'm shouting!“. Eh.
Before we got to that story, I sat at their table, right across him, and he goes right there „where are you, Sredljević, legend“. „What do I know, I never thought I was a specially good student“. „Well you were excellent you guys, even then, true intellectuals“. There's a praise, even fifty years later.
Ljilja Kandić also appeared. She was a strange one back then while we were students. We even did her Fortran homework a couple of times back then. An university kid, her father was a prof at one of the neighboring facs, which was then a hindrance, you prepend a „dr“ in front of a surname beginning with a „Ka“*, results in a nasty nickname. She was so, somewhat absent or nose-in-the-air, seemed like not noticing us much. And it turns I confused her with I.G. (who looks the same as last year, save for even weirder outfit), because now their profiles became similar, hair almost the same, salt'n'peppered ball, and I sat next to her, then changed my mind, and eventually around 21:30 realized who she was. The compliment was reciprocated, she couldn't, even after several reminders, remember who I was :). The big Danka, though, repeated what she said two years ago, just in more words, how I came then across, with the hair and beard, as someone out of this world, who just dropped by in passing... And I repeated my „that's because I had a regular girlfriend and wasn't hitting on y'all“.
Soon then the tambourers appeared, the first shot with them is around 21:50, which is when I started taking even more smoke breaks outside. The day was rather warm, what I carried the jacket and Kompako shoes (in case it's too cold on the way back to drive barefoot) became ridiculously redundant, it was even stuffy inside. Although they opened a few windows in the corner, the tavern is on the Danube bank. A few times I smoked outside, despite smoking was okay inside (Dušanka lit first), just to air myself. I knit this seven piece autopatch, aiming at the štrand across, and had lots of trouble the next day, as Hugin went bonkers, trying probably to align those light reflections on the water, devil would know, I had to pair up the adjacent shots by hand, just like twenty years ago. But made it in the end, just barely.
The tambourers didn't gain much bread at our table, but the veterans, those of '53 and '54 (and that chubby and them two blondes) gathered them around theirs. That's when I had about enough - despite the atmosphere here being far better than across in the Army home, at least didn't echo and the upwards flash worked swimmingly, but it was still noisy and stuffy. I ordered a coffee for the road and soon signaled mine to move, driver's prerogative... And turned out I was at home a nick before midnight, as I expected I would be.
Drive back went faster, no congestion nor waiting at the lights. When this guy disembarked at his village, I wouldn't be bothered to drive back, I'm already turned towards Zrenjanin and a kilometer deep inside the village, is it okay to just continue? Borče said it was „why not, this is Maršala Tita [street], just go straight“. Well fuckya, THIS is your main street? My street in Klincaid looks better, despite the blacktop being just as narrow, can't have two vehicles pass, one has to pull over. And this is at least two kilometers long.
Since Tisa we were followed by some drizzle, well, finally some. Got home nicely, parked... and then, with dunja, recounted what I heard and whom I saw.
On friday I meant to visit Optima and get the headlights polished (2000 dinars each), but by the time I did the photos, I forgot [to]. And they turned out really well, even got praise from I.G., „True hand, may it serve you long and well!“.
The plan for sunday was to lunch and go, but Lena said she wants to cook so we better start off a bit earlier. Us having just returned to physical clock, the day was 25 hours [long], we did so successfully, took off just as usual but officially an hour earlier. Got everything on time, just couldn't approach the place where I usually park, the Pupin boulevard being repaved. This side wasn't destroyed for the 20th september parade, but regardless, if they did one side, why not the other, when was the baron a cheepskate. We parked by the same building where we usually do, just behind its other end... Except that's the longest building on all of the Balkan, and this piece is 280m [long], plus 50m to the other side of the street.
Tanja was awake already, Api took care, merry, nimble... We brought more toys, of the put-together kind, which she loves to take apart, and manages at times to put some parts together too, and the last ball-on-a-rubber-string, from back then on Divčibare. I brought the flash, it having worked nicely on thursday, and knit quite a series.
The grub was actually really excellent, Milan loves the pohovan'd, the green peas and salad were also excellent, even the dessert. The latter was incredible combination of something like compot or cooked apples, frozen fruit, biscuits and plain vanilla icecream. Surprise at every corner... I got the leftovers of that (except icecream, still good without) which I finished the next day. After lunch I was slightly inclined to cat a nap (or was it 'nap a cat'?), but then we decided to take Tanja for a walk, and lo, I wasx suddenly discinclined. Another drizzle began, on and off, nothing horrible, the long building acts as an eave for most of its length. She found her whistle, still hanging on the stroller, and this time even managed to roll the tiny ball in it. On the way back she spotted the playground, and of course we had to shoe her, take her out of the stroller, and she made her round - mostly the see-saws. The longest she stayed on a wooden (!) staircase in one of the passages through the building, she had to go up and down four times. Experienced grandparents, we didn't even try to drag her elsewhere. Must be done four times, that's how it's learned.
I executed the catnap just pro forma, almost faked it, don't know whether I sank at all, a placebo. Then a coffee and scram home... with lower speed, fuckit I didn't polish the headlights. I turned on the foglights while there was rain, didn't help much, and it wasn't quite dark yet. And tthen I didn't need the headlights much, the congestion kept coming from the other direction, so I always saw where the road was. In Mere we bought potatoes, sour [aka mineral, water], flour, fish (frozen), got home. Did the photos right away, but didn't post them, except the video of the fourth descent down the stairs. The first [of the month] us soon, then I'll [do] all of it together.
Talked with our Seattlians in the evening. Most time went on instructions to develop yeast, what how when. By wensday Go already baked her first loaf. She didn't nick it deep enough, so it burst on the side, but then her trick of baking it in the silicon mold succeeded famously, the bottom of the loaf has a good pattern, may pass for a winter [tyre]. Stanley again explained to me all the ins and outs about headlight polishing and why a firm outer coating, yoovee resistant, is important, also as a mechanical protection, which I then repeated to Sanja in Optima on tuesday, when I finally drove the Joda to get it done. No, they don't have the coating, but then maybe they have it in the shop, she'll talk with Dule, may be a well selling gimmick. The cabbie kept driving around, through narrower streets, smartly avoiding the shortcuts with manholes sticking out and nasty speed bumps. And the headlights, yes, almost like new.
For lunch, pizza of the new dough, thinner yet firmer than before, with rose petals of warmth (i.e. a chopped bolivian [hot pepper]), and another one the next day. In the afternoon, our tour of the graveyards for the year. All the same as before, and we routinely grab a nice end-of-october day for it.
Spoke with Lena again at the usual time, Tanja was in her regular good mood until the last five minutes, when she became sleepy and irritable.
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* drkati - to masturbate
Mentions: 25. maj, Api, burundi, čorba, Gorana Sredljević (Go), Gradivoj Sredljević, homemade, house dictionary, Jelena Sredljević (Lena), Joda, Klincaid, kum, majstor, Mališa Borkovski (Borče), Milan Nastić, Novi Sad, novogradnja, Paja Ćurčić, pašteta, pohovano, Stanley Berger, Stanoje Serdarević (Staša), šinobus, Tanja Nastić, in serbian
24-X-2025 - 7-IV-2026