19-VIII-2024.
The heat keeps on being horrible, did almost nothing all day, except writing Byo, which I'm doing all summer anyway. We meant to go to Peskara on bikes often, because its screwy to do by car, the amount of swimmers has long ago exceeded the parking places capacity, but it's still too hot to do so. Getting there would be so-so, but it would be too hot on the way back, and by the time we get home we'd be good for a shower right away, so rather avoid the whole hassle.
At least I washed and scrubbed the still and went to pay the bills. The one from Jeptel arrives in email, so I have to throw it onto a fleška (thumbdrive), carry to gugolj, and print there. Because on my sidedesk there's a heap again - the right speaker, telephone and a couple of heaps of papers of some importance, which I parked there during the big cleanup this spring and can't possilby remember what they were, would have to leaf through them to remember why. So it's easier to wait a couple of minutes for gugolj to liven up (had to kill the browser to get it to even recognize the thumbdrive, it's gotten really slow now) and print the page, than to carry the printer.
I meant to take a cab, but she said this is our only walk, and walking to downtown last saturday didn't hurt at all. Well yes it was okay except I knew my shirt will stick front and back by the time we got there. But, some time before 18, Linda called, bitching about some game on her tablet not working, and slamming the tablet, and yelling and fighting at Sanda, then they got into shouting at each other, to which I raised my voice and threatened to disconnect unless they stop that. Which they did for some half a minute and then they resumed, even worse. Then I disconnected.
Five minutes later, two short audio messages, which Telegram neatly records and delivers but they're always rather quiet, barely audible, and if I turn up the amp then I can't put it back exactly as before... even so, I understood she was appologizing, guess it was Linda. Okay now we called her, and it was quite different this time, she was sniffing, a tear on her face, and there was the whole comforting session, baba calmed her down nicely, specially when she pulled up the sock puppet owlie... And then the time was nigh to start walking to the frendz parti, so we parted gently.
What was this about - the twins are alone. Raja is there, awake (Violet sleeps, we rarely see her) and seven years older and with very few things in common with them, wouldn't know what to do with them. Fayes is fresh out of the mood to have Rein drive them to their place for two-three hours every afternoon, and they don't like it that she's giving them showers every time. Which actually is the simplest way to kill time, undressing, splashing, wiping, drying hairs, a whole hour goes. And she's also having another flirt with medicine, underwent some osteoporosis treatment and was two weeks ill of sideeffects, and now she seems to have developed something else on top of that. And still better than last year when she had a tiroid gland surgery, when they opened her up and found there was nothing wrong, and instead of just closing and suturing, they kept poking around for four hours until they found something to do...
So he isn't coming anymore, when Ališa finishes her shift around noon, for next four hours the kids got to manage on their own.
So in the end we went out at about the right time. We weren't more than 40m away from the house, when Borče called, saying he'll get into the car to pick Dragana, so he could pick us as well. Before we could arrange anything, the sound stopped, while the calling app kept counting the time, the call seemingly still ongoing. We continued walking and then spotted him on the roundabout by the busodrom, and he did us, and stopped right there in the intersection, so I said you can't stop there, move here beyond the zebra. So he picked us, and then her, then left us by the entrance and drove away to find a spot to park. Then his daughter called, there from the next building, to come pick the celery salad she made, so that took a couple of minutes longer while he did.
We drank, of course, the apricot (by the rule we established for this year - what we bring to her, that to him too), this time cooled. We pour and then the bottle goes into the freezer, and when the round is drunk (we guys a whole shot, girls half), he hops to get the bottle, refill to all, then back to cooling. While the rakija should be drunk at room temperature, when it's almost 30 in the room... Though, he did turn the AC on and the shirt didn't stick too much, I was okay.
On the subject of the olympiad they two took some fifteen minutes, while we two commented on them, talking amongst ourselves, as I saw they weren't listening, so that subject deflated soon. Then we moved to the advertising operation of a few days ago. She said they got her phone from that girl from IV1 (at whose daughter Go went to see what was up with her right eye), and this guy came, a really sweet good looking one, and he demonstrated the contraption, verry skillfully and elegantly, vacuumed her couches and carpets, almost invited him to come again, she's got two more rooms... Paying him was out of the question, but he didn't refuse a drink or two :). Then he said he's paid 20000 dinars for every ten phone numbers... What for, for this demonstration, because who the fuck would ever fork 3500€ for the big machine or 300 for the small one - as Borče said, for that money you can get a good car. Well I should know, did already.
Then she had to suffer a small speech from me, on why advertising is evil, how it destroys every channel of communication it encroaches etc etc, so that was done and over with, end of story, moving on. Then he brought two bottles with some loza, one dyed with finely chopped oak wood, the other with raisins. Ah that's like they do with cherries, and then the crazy part is when you eat those cherries, it kicks better than if you drank the amount. Which we wanted to try on the spot, but how to fish them out. Then he brought a length of wire, the kind used for soldering, and they took turns in trying to angle some out, but no luck with that. So he brought out a funnel and an empty bottle, so he poured the rakija in it, and then shook a few raisins into everyone's plates, then poured the rakija back. Made a lot of shots of the whole operation, with my phone, and in the end I was too lazy to close the shooter app, counting on it suspending itself when the phone sleeps, and if it stiffs the phone, I don't really care. Which turned out so, except the phone didn't crash, the app kept the camera active and used up all the power the phone had, down to zero. There was a good shot of Dragana bites the first raisin and shakes away in some brrrr grimmace, but won't put that here, the face expression being the point of it. Tried a couple myself, not bad at all.
We guys have our backs to the terrace, and so Dragana noticed how he, every time he walks to the bathroom and has to go behind my back, snags the curtain with his ass, what a big ass you got. He retorted that her ass is actually bigger than his... and that's where more fun ensued. We were at wine already, actually my dear had a nikšićko black [beer], Dragana and I white (hers had a two-third majority over water, mine rigged the elections and had 100% of seats) and Borče had some roze, but very thin on color. We announced this section of the evnening to be dedicated to assometry, and if we didn't quite feel it by hand, I took a with estimate, and she won in the width - her ass is an inch or two wider, but he won in all other dimensions. She didn't remember to elevate her foot on time, and her ankle was properly swollen, so we split around one.
When we got home, we drank one more, not to cut the good atmosphere prematurely. The sample of Dragana's perfume on her wrist smelled quite well, but „it's not you, it's her“.
I got up as early as at nine. Recharged the phone, got the photos from it, posted them, emailed the link. Around 13:30 there's an esemess from Dragana, „I was so invested in fishing that I didn't even noticed that you were taking pictures“.
Late in the afternoon we entertained Linda and Sanda for an hour and a quarter, they were bored so we at least helped them kill some time until mama comes. And they helped us the same...
On twonysecond I got up at some unseeming time, early in the morning, and finally went downtown to pick up my new card. Could have done so as early as on monday, but it was too hot, and it seems the other kitten died somewhere in the garage or basement, and the reek still hasn't dispersed. There's not point in looking for it, we could spend hours rummaging through the krtlog without finding it, and we have no gas masks... Thanks to the technique practiced back then in Walmart, to run between the house chemicals aisle, I can suspend breathing for long enough - to take the bike, needle my way through the garage, unlock, open, get out, close, may breathe now. There was a slight breeze, just right for a ride.
The chicks in the bank, ahem... Not one of them a beauty, but if I have to wait that long, and the space isn't partitioned, the current style is to have it all in the open, not even the stalls have glass, well, what can one do, but look at what's shown. They seem to be doing just fine, each is nicely made up, with style, and each has a few angles from which she looks nice. Luckily, the process didn't last too long.
On the way back I swung by Lidl, to see if they got maggi spice, or meat cans (not fish!). Nope, ain'got none. Left empty-handed. Well, they've gone down too, I used to leave ten thou at a time there.
And then it was midnight, and I was 69. No big deal, feels like 56... neither here nor there. We didn't do anything special during the evening, I moved the barbells a bit to tighten up the belly, I've gone lax and even if I could ignore that I find the extra as a nuisance, it was her who suggested the weights. One should listen to the wife at times. Finally finished watching „The watch“, a bit contemporarized Prače (Pratchett, nicknamed properly), it's got power it's got electric guitars, no engines running on čorba, all of it in a wokenized layout - don't mind the many actors in color, Prače never mentioned their tan shades, but to have Vetinari played by a woman and Cheery by a male, a bit overboard. And the Putlocker started freezing in the evenings last few days, seems I'm on some european server. If it was an american server, this would occur around midnight, when they come from work.
It took me a long while again to begin sleeping, as it happens now regularly on odd days, when we don't drink. It's a bit awkward, not that I'm jittery, tossing and turning, it's more that I observe myself from an ambush, watching me dreaming and saying to myself „well this was a good one“ and of course I realize I wasn't asleep as long as I'm appraising the dream, therefore I could just get up right now but then nevermind, I'll be asleep in a minute. And then I heard her getting up around half five, and then some time later some movement in front of me, ah yes, the rays of sun through the cherry make shadowplay on the wall, there's that breeze again, then... I eventually get to sleep and wake around noon, on such nights. This time it was half eleven, when I heard my phone, all the way from my desk, Bajlo called to congratulate me. I called him back in the afternoon, and we started making plans for the next parastos, and to coordinate with IV4. He did poll the gang, and they all said they won't mind either seventh or fourteenth of september, all the same to them, so okay, I'll see with Gavra. Dialed him but didn't get him, so I sent him a message to let me know when will they, and if he doesn't, we take seventh. Ever since he and Ildika are the org committee, they do it later, so we can safely take the seventh.
Daughters also congratulated me over Telegram, with the now mandatory „to all who celebrate“, because it's Go's birthday too... and Boba also chimed in. And sent a few shots as well, the house is sprouting, it's got a foundation and a slab on it and pipes in the ground. They'll be there soon.
By evening Gavra called back, and making an agreement took us whole two seconds, seventh of september is mine and they'll [do it] later, he's got some surgery upcoming. Though, Jozda is organizing some family congregation, same ilk as Bajlo's, digging up his roots and trying to call up on as many people with the same rare surname... which is okay, Gavra said, they're yours and you do what you want, but don't expect fifteen other people to adjust their schedules on your account, if you don't come you didn't come, the market is there even with one granny less. Let's do this while the weather is fair, to be able to sit out, we do have the hall inside but, dear brother, it's such an echo inside one can barely talk.
It coincided with an even day, but to achieve the coziness I suggested to go out. Into the yard. Which we gave up on immediately, because of the mosquitos. Instead we dug out the two little bike lamps, moved the batteries from a red one into a white, because during the grand cleanup I moved the spare batteries from the big mug on the shelf into a safe place which I then couldn't find. The reserve is hefty, and of course I found it five minutes later - I keep forgetting how long is the drawer in my desk, and it was far deep inside. I hung the lamp on the bottle to see where our ashtrays are, and took it off to shine on the shots when I poured, repeated this some four times. We turned off all other lights, even the one above the sink, whose switch wasn't touched for at least five years, it was always on. The only lights that remained was the one above the aquarium in the yellow room, and various leds in zmajček. There's the coziness. We concluded our dispute from two nights ago on the subject of flatearthers and life in a simulation, altogether far more constructive then the first part of it. A good entrance into the seventieth.
Speaking of years, I've introduced some changes in my playlist management. Starting with the assumption that my remaining time is finite, and that the playlist serves me and not some imaginary audience which needs to be entertained and educated (in arbitrary order), I started purging it mercilessly, erasing stuff not from the list but from the disk. Whatever I find to my dislike or annoying („going on me balls“). Lots of white blues was flushed down the river at that, specially Eric Burdon (the same bluffer as Dušan Prelević was, equally cut down to two-three songs), Mike Bloomfield, Bob Geldoff, a heap of late works by Tee Rex (while Tyrannosaurus Rex stays, that's before the commercial phase), lots of old american pop - various petty groups with fake french or italian names, Blourettes and Pruvettes, Schizelles and Garry Fluff and his Fluffsons and the like, very few of those remain.
Then I went onto riddling Bowie, of whom I'm still not quite in the clear whether he was ever a rocker or acted a rocker carreer from day one and went on building various personae for himself... He never let out a voice without knowing exactly, in advance, what effect he wanted to achieve with it. For starters, erased all of his covers of others' songs he mutilated that way. Then most of Jethro Tull from nineties onwards, and almost all of Ian Anderson's solo works. Various narodnjaci of the Bert Jansch, Horslips, Fairport Convention ilk... it's always the same, always same voices, always the same pretty ladies and knightis and whatnot, be it in english and on accoustic guitars, it's still a narodnjak. But those I erased a few years ago.
Also on the flyaway list are all songs with religious themes, wherever he talks with his imaginary friend, overlord or whomever, where the title contains angels, prayer or some such - guys, I can't possibly understand you, all of that means nothing to me, and no propaganda is welcome here, neither commercial nor political, antismoking or religious. Ciao, see you perhaps in some other life, where I sincerely hope we will again walk on different sides of the street.
Because this has changed from „let it stay on disk for later, what if I once get to like it“ to „do I want to waste the remaining time on things which annoy me“.
Mentions: Byo (Byo), čorba, Dobrivoj Gunaroši (Boba), Dragana Vitas (Dragana), frendz parti, Gavrilo Taroški (Gavra), Gorana Sredljević (Go), gugolj, Ildika , IV4, Jethro Tull, Jovan Zdanić (Jozda), Linda Sredljevich Aquilla (Linda), loza, Mališa Borkovski (Borče), maturski parastos (parastos), narodnjaci, Nenad Bajlo (Bajlo), rakija, Reinaldo Aquila (Rein), Rosanda Aquilla (Fayes), Ryu (Raja), Sanda Sredljević Aquilla (Sanda), Violet, zmajček, in serbian
20-VIII-2024 - 25-III-2026