01-XI-2023.
Twonyninth. Went to garden in the afternoon. She said she was done with tobacco picking, to which I just laughed, „when you see how much of it is there and how good it is, you'll start picking on the spot“, and so it occurred. We forgot to bring cigarettes along, but I have there, in some spectacles holster, some spare tobacco and cigarette paper from who knows how many years ago, so she found a couple of dried leaves of both sorts, chopping board and the good knife which wasn't stolen, so she sliced them and we rolled that. Was good.
I finally got into removing the soil from the heap from 2016, which I mostly neglected last few years, and will probably never finish, but at least I was doing something and it does look a bit better than before. On the way back we didn't call the brzožder ahead to have ready pljeske waiting for us, just in case we manage to get into the Svetofor shop, and look, we made it. We got half a cart of groceries and some of them were master shots. A kilo of little chocolates for 500 dinjas was a big hit with the kids, the mortadela we found same as that zeroeth time, took even macaroni (some with eggs and some with „egg add-on“, i.e. powdered eggs) so in due time there will be šlingeraji (v. house dictionary), a heap of spices, some salami and pressed neck, and some like cheese. Which turned out to be halfvegetable cheese, skimmed milk and the fat was replaced with palm oil. At least it wasn't margarine, and in mouth it's closer to real cheese than the trash that everyone sells, at least doesn't stick to the knife and there's something to dig teeth into.
Thertyfirst. Finished scraping the soot off the salon windows, and most of the sweeping. And, furthermore, swapped the handles - the mop got the new wooden one, and its handle went to Neša's brush (which still can stand upright on its bristles, which was not just a thing unseen for me, but actually considered impossible, until he once did itt by accident, in 2013). And then Mića announced he'd come take a look and estimate the work.
Zdravko came, said he's got a sudden hole in the schedule, so if coming right away is okay... Can come within fifteen minutes. Okay... just time enough to lunch (the excellent pork fish čorba, and musaka of swiss chards from the garde). We split one bolivian [hot pepper] lengthwise, and got properly burned - her ears were itching inside, my scalp began sweating, just as it should be. And he did come right after that. Finding: excellent pass, the stoppers did melt, but only the part protruding from the pipe, the thread was intact. Took the ones in future kitchen off, to replace with valves, which he turned downwards, to serve as faucets while the other majstors work, so they don't have to haul water for their needs. Asked me to get him the photos of ten years ago.
First. Found the time to clean up, almost to the end. The bucket where I gathered the dust is now almost full and quite heavy, I'll see how to take it out. Some time after lunch the landline rings, the guy addresses me by nickname... it's Eči. Says Dženk's mom died, funeral tomorow on the new cemetery, he arrives this afternoon. Says he barely dug out my phone, because of course Vanji has my old mobile number and we didn't talk since. Himself won't be here, he's in Subotica and then goes to Hungary for nine days, referee on a ping pong tournament.
Eh, Dženk's mom... had the history played out differently, we wouldn't have been made, some others would. Allegedly my dad was with her for a while. Which we know didn't last, thus we are in this timeline.
Mića came in the morning to stake out the situation, and told me to dig out the photos from 2013. To see what he put where, and then at 16 when he came, as announced, with two more guys, they started working and stayed until at least 19:30. I showed him the shots, and voila, the first one he found was of his then drawing. Whoooaaa, that's what I need... and started divining what's what right there. The cleaning I did, I didn't, they chiseled the walls like there's no tomorrow. Where an outlet or box melted and the cable ends charred, they moved it for about one box's width up, to get to the sane part of the cable. On the streetside wall, at least the part where it burned, they will have to replace a lot, the cables must be done for even under the mortar.
On one of the beams there was a mysterious ball, which made us wonder for a while, and now one of the guys found two more, above the roof window jamb in the kitchen, says that's hornet's nests. I told him the story with the wasps since 13-IX-2014. (actually 28-VIII-2016.), says that was hornets doing away with wasps. And we never saw one hornet. Didn't go up there much, though, not then.
Second november, and twenty eight more to come.
Mića came as he said, with one more guy (none of the yesterday's) and worked for a while, don't know how long, as we left at 12:30 for the cemetery. First we visited hours, laid flowers. Yesterday was the catholic day of the dead, we saw there were fresh flowers there, can see by style which was laid by the missus, she didn't even remove the cellophane.
Of the known gang, interestingly, just Mongol and Eči's missus. Dženk is holding well, though he's quite unusual, as he grew some chin and underchin, and personalized himself into a black suit and necktie, we failed to recognize him at first, until he moved his face. A priestless funeral, reasons for which soon were revealed, when he read the eulogy (obviously self-composed) and said that his mom fulfilled her wish at a later age by graduating the russian language, though she never worked with it. There was a tough interval near the end of the reading, when his throat tightened, but he paused and then pushed through to the end of it.
The daća was in Elmont. He went around everybody and talked with them a little. Turned out that my attempt of making a phone call and left a voicemail was actually received, but the sound was so broken that they understood nothing, just recognized my voice. We spoke as much as we managed in these two hours. Mongol asked for something in hungarian, actually both of us, and she eventually remembered, just like I knew she would, the word for bicycle spokes (küllő). He wants to buy the special little wrench to straighten his wheels, and goes across overmorrow. Turns out he speaks it, even better than I do. He's still working, sitting in the shop alone. During the corona, the state was sort of helping with one hand, while with the other it was introducing such restrictions that the pants fell by themselves. Nobody knew how long will that last, nor what it will look like the next day, so he fired all workers. Now that it's over, nobody wants to go back to work, so he continued on his own.
Dženk is not so well as he looks, because he's got a titanium hip, which plays some sounds as he walks, and he doesn't dare touch any cereals, not only because of gluten, but something else as well. Overyester he ate something pohovano and his stomach swole and the exit tightened immediately, took him all day to come off it. Said he plans to come with his wife for a summer vacation here next year, or at the time of his parastos, and then we'll talk extensively.
Jan chatted up on friday to show me his new grid, with fancy graphic headers over columns. How did you manage to replace it there, it's welded. I didn't, these are overlain containers on top of it. Aha, and you synchronize it in bound events? Yes, whenever it paints the window, I recalculate where they go. Looking at attached video, it's lagging less than painting a webpage (which I didn't believe would still happen now that I have a fast connection, but it's not up to my connection to the network, it's up to various content sources, and each takes time to deliver).
In the evening, Linda and Sanda wrote their names. Large, more drawn than written, but it's a start. With ballpoint.
Fourth. Go and Nina chatting on Telegram, and Go says that Dražen told her that Oma's house is torn down. Was it sold? Nope, that's Boba wanting to build anew. And Oma made that house for herself and by her own shape, and now that it was vacated for twelve years, there's no other way, you don't wash that, you make new. At least he's got cash. Interesting coincidence: we heard that Eči's daughter works in the same firm as he does. Graduated psychology, works in software shop.
We gave the barbecue a full treatment, I even wirebrushed the grille and removed the ash from the bottom, all of it turned out right, a real birthday lunch. She made a hen soup, not too old but still just right, with liver dumplings (I made a separate trip to Lidl for that, and they still have no instant coffee).
Fourth. Go and Nina chatting on Telegram. Go says that Dražen told her that Oma's house is torn down. Was it sold? Nope, that's Boba making room to build a new one. And Oma made that house for herself only, anyway, and now that it's vacant for a dozen years, there's no other way, you don't wash that, you make a new one. At least he's got the money. Interesting coincidence: we found out that Eči's daughter works in the same firm where he does. Graduated psychology, works in a software shop. Lena and Milan appeared just as the lunch was lain on the table, everything went as it should. They brought me a Mac :). Had a long proper chat, about work and neighbors and dogs and various cute events. They took only 150 eggs, we breathe easier now.
On one side I like the Mac, it's a machine where hundred things which just hold water on a peesee were done right. On the other side, fifty of those refuse to work until I register with someone (which is out of my question), and even then it would be lacking functionality in many areas, because of not accepting non-western characters, or the service not covering Serbia etc etc, the same old deja vu so many times. Suffices to say that it has its own maps and all the streets in our area are written in haircut latin, and there are no building silhouettes. All the free maps on linux have that, and display the names properly, even have the house numbers.
We took it upstairs, close to router, to download and reinstall the OS, and it allegedly forgot everything, but then it still reported a blututh keyboard of one Milan Nastiæ (i.e. not unicode). And the keyboard layout for both cyrilic and latinic has the Z in the bottom row, which none of the drivers since 1990 until now had. It was always a qwertz. And the system is in english only, nothing is translated.
Asked them does it take a linux, well maybe it does, we heard it's not quite easy etc etc, why don't you try it as is first. Well sure I'll do, though I don't know exactly what to do with it... Except what I'm already doing, for which I still need an OS which will not call home.
Boba called in the evening, there was a birthday to congratulate. Of course, he got me first, and curiosity won over me so I didn't pass the phone to the birthday girl right away, she wasn't around at first anyway. Anyway, they talked for quite a while, and then he found me on Telegram and sent me the demolition pictures. He found it quite curious that we got wind of the event via America. Well, unfathomable are the ways of electrons. On the last shot, which Milena shot as a selfie, they are smiling merrily. A household is launuched, happy beginning.
By tuesday (7th) Mića finished everything, we got power everywhere. And on top of it he checked, the AC works, such as it is. He tore off the bottom flap, lest the motor which may try to swing it cause any trouble. Though, we don't know what it's doing now, but then those LEDs which displayed the temperature and current action died off gradually even before this - the middle ones were off in mid-summer, and by end of september they were all dead.
Dragana messaged the death of her sister. By coincidence, the sister's late husband's surname was same as my mom's maiden name. It's a rare one and we are likely somehow related, in third or fifth knee (aka so many times removed), but that's how it goes, I never had any contact with that branch of the family, I don't know who they are. Mom would mention this or that guy as kin, but that was just a couple of times and I didn't memorize any of it.
The sister lived the last dozen of her years bed ridden, immovable. Dragana sprained her elbow tendons in one hand and then in the other, after so many times lifting her and easing her down. Only the last few years, since the husband died, they started paying various women to care of her. She wasn't able to say when will the funeral be, because the death occurred this morning, the other sister's son had just gone off to the hospital to start the paperwork - death certificate etc. It will probably be tomorrow.
Mentions: 13-IX-2014., 28-VIII-2016., čorba, daća, Dobrivoj Gunaroši (Boba), Dragana Vitas (Dragana), Dražen, Elmont, Endre Felbab (Eči), Gorana Sredljević (Go), Gradivoj Jankulov (Dženk), house dictionary, Jan Brenkelen, Jelena Sredljević (Lena), Linda Sredljevich Aquilla (Linda), majstor, maturski parastos (parastos), Mića the electrician, Milan Nastić, Milena Požarić, Nenad Berger (Neša), Nevena Sredljević (Nina), Oma, pljeska, pohovano, Sanda Sredljević Aquilla (Sanda), Vilmoš Baranji (Vanji), Zdravko Lakatoš, Žika Šašić (Mongol), in serbian
11-VI-2024 - 5-VII-2026