11-X-2026.
Wensday to saturday removed, by bits, the gear left behind after making rakija. I scrubbed the still (partly by sponge sandpaper (why sandpaper when it contains no paper at all?), some with wirebrush on a drill). The tabarka (condenser) still there, on sunday as well. Along the way, back when we were still distilling it, I moved the firewood in the basement so the valves of the heating be accessible, and then she cleaned up after me, and washed the mush barrels and stashed them into the basement.
Other than that, nothing much, we went nowhere, not to town nor to protests, just once to Mere, ran out of water. She makes crepes now twice a week, to use up the excess milk and a few eggs. The cats won't eat the soured friday's milk on a monday anymore, which didn't really get too bad but just doesn't feel right in the coffee. Still good for pancakes. Got pangasius and hake so we ate fish for three days... and then thawed the last of the last week's sarma (ha! here I found a case when two meanings of 'last' clash against each other in a sentence). She cooks excellently but the cabbage was overfermented, and the bacon's skin somehow doesn't have the taste, they invented some kind of advanced marinade, and that's not it anymore. Whatever was wrong with just plain brine? Just like they advanced the bread to the point when we stopped eating it.
At least, on fourth try, I solved the thing in the mrz pludger. I took a bit longer to shape up the question to make it short and precise enough. And I looked into what Gugao's AI replied. Well, the question was in english and it replied in serbian, including the comments in the code. And it was near perfect, except it indented with spaces instead of tabs, but okay, it didn't go too deep so making it orderly wasn't much of a problem And I got it working fast enought, with a couple of extra goodies - first, the screen savior doesn't react to these two hotkeys (the Pause start/stop, Insert for next song), so if I use them while the screen is dark, it doesn't refresh. Um, not quite so, but it works in some situations. Never mind, I like it and it works. Forgot what was the other goodie.
Talked with Nina on saturday, generally things are okay, saw all the kids. Raja has visible moustache already :). Of Violet we couldn't decide whether she's already taller than [her] mom, soon will be if not yet. Sanda and Linda, amazingly, made no drama. Nina has a boyfriend, a majstor, does all masonry and utility (except he dislikes roofs (rooves?)), currently unemployed. Actually, works at home, his dad's or uncle's, they had some damage which they are fixing themselves, and when they're done the insurance should pay for it.
Zdravko I called eventually on sunday, before departing, didn't pick up. Later he said he was asleep, well so you should, what's a sunday for. Rain, finally! Haven't seen it for months. Real fall soaker, barely a drizzle but keeps on whole day. If it would keep on for a couple of weeks, the year would even out as an ordinary draught.
When we arrived, both Filip and Tanja were awake. A bit of cough, both, she even runs a light fever, just enough to not feel like going anywhere. But she ate a full plate of baba's soup (from the concentrate stock we brought last time). Lena had to check whether Filip's head really resembles mine, so she parked our heads next to each other, and then she and Milan assessed the shapes, and agreed that he indeed is same as me, in the head. I exploited the opportunity to shoot a few selfies, while we were positioned like that. And I keep seeing more and more what I noticed on the photos since day one - he too will have baba's pretty nose :).
Then we took Tanja to the groceery, they two bought a few things, I stayed outside. She's out of source, even asked baba to carry her on the way there (deda wouldn't endure ten meters, maybe if I carried her on [my] shoulders, but don't know whether she'd know the proper posture), which she did almost half of the way. Her mood was much better in the return. Then she ate half of a pack of plazma biscuits, sitting on the potty and dipping them into milk. Then I shot another couple of selfies, what with her feet on my face :).
One new[s?] - Velinka is pregnant and recently solo... Which we heard by accident, the new book (gift from Lena's kuma) is from her production, and seeing she was mentioned, there.
In Seattle same old same old, Go gets whatever she imagines. Of the old chenille yarn, half inch thick, she wove a blanket using just fingers, in all colors, sixteen skeins in it, Stanley enchanted, loves it. It's heavy, he says, three and a half kilos, it falls all over you, no upturned edges with chill breeze underneath. Neša did another standalone haircut (the same wee machine they had back in Richmond, 2002 or thereabouts, which outlived seven others), so Go had to smooth it out. Žolt's car shop is barely moving, Stanley said he made barely 500$ for the week, so one car he started working on in the shop he brought home to finish, so Žolt won't be taking 40% of all of it. It's his customer anyway (and he loses some of those when they call Žolt's number, he counts them as his). And he made some 7000$ on parts, on the side.
There was a small roundoff error of apricot in the bottle. I suggested the tutifruti as next, but she didn't like the idea, recently she refuses it more and more adamantly, says leave it for the gang, don't want it... so we tried the second cask of this year's cherry. Well, it's up to snuff, we stayed until after four.
Finally replaced the rest of the still - the fireplace, tabarka, small tools. Exchanged a few messages with V.G. to see about the fall gathering of mathematicians, she said soon, be a little patient. On tuesday we continued with the cherry, this time on empty stomach, without the half shot of preceding [one]. Well, now the bit of apricot in it is perceptible. We drank less this time, but I slept more confused.
Thursday, 15th. Finally went for the supplies - hen fodder, cigarette paper, a tarp to cover the chicken coop (but no, that won't do it, it's a catwalk, the OSB boards or sheet metal would do better), paid the bills, dropped by the pharmacy for ernafil refill. Well to their mother's cunt, it's the state pharmacy aka Janković, 4000 for the quantity which costs 2400 at Benu in Roda. But okay, paid the tuition and saved 3km drive (um, no, there's twice the number of pills in the same box, so this is actually cheaper). We made another batch of noodles, didn't help much, we have 80 eggs again.
Friday, exactly at noon Zdravko called, coming right away. Right on time, I barely had the time to clear my sleepy eyes (and had no other eyes at hand). And he came and right at the door „hello professor, students are winning!“ „winning truly“ (in church-slavonic, „vaistinu“, imitating the chrismas greeting ritual). Asked him later how did he know that he may and should greet me like that, replied „cmon, we know each other for a hundred years, there's no chance that you're a brainpulp or godforbid a ćaci“.
The malfunction was in the four-pronged valve (the black thing on the top of the picture; the old one was brass), it held exacly ten years, actually less, it started leaking in the summer. It's a bored ball in a two-part housing, and the housing split somewhere and began peeing out. He went to buy another while we lunched, pork fish čorba and yesterday's lasagna. She remember how they had lasagna in Mafinia of Greg and his wife... said she'd never had ordered one there, it was all greenery and young cheese, not a grain of meat.
It took him a while, I thought he went home to lunch, but nope, it took that long to find someone who had the valve in the shop, nobody keeps stock, they all order it for tomorrow. I need it now, by tomorrow I'd have it anyway, got one now or no? Well, imagine us when we had the twins here, couldn't find to buy two of anything anywhere. He charged me for the valve alone, with a wee rounding up. We turned it on right away, may the floor warm up, I was beginning to notice when walking barefoot that the temperature is not the same as when not. By morning it was 21,6 degrees, with the floor just a couple degrees cooler than my soles, just right. We meant to do our tour of the cemeteries, it's the time of the year, but nope, slight rain, just enough to make the two older cemeteries slippery. The new one is neat, with properly paved paths everywhere... don't understand why are the old one such a mess.
But we got up really early, I around seven and she soon after me. By nine we finished whatever we do before lunch, so let's go. First to Mere, need something for the cats and us too, then to the new cemetery nearby... And I used their app which runs on the big tablet by the entrance, found where the colleague lies (the „didn't I say not to have smokes in the zbornica“ guy). Bought flowers, took them to the tombstone, then walked to that guy's... Um, I misremembered, he didn't die at the age of 71, rather 77. So I'll have to keep smoking and stay healthy for six more years, well okay, live and see.
Then on, by way of the heating/power plant and KuPro (is there anything still operational, apart from, since recently, Luxol?). In the place where there once was the Kolonija šećerana (few people, frequently mentioned here, grew up there), few of the houses are still standing, will they be torn down, what will they do with them. The wall which was hiding them is now down, and they're almost surrounded with the new wings of the pharmaceutical plant (i.e. factory, not a medicinal plant), which lately started expanding. While it was workers' property, i.e. they owned the stock, a hundred dirty tricks was played to fuck it down, it's all bad and will never be profitable... And now that they've solved that somehow, probably by yet another murky scheme, there's a huge new space in ten shades of gray sheet metal.
Next, the yellow brick road, Elek's villa where the institute once was is now who knows what. In its yard there's a prefab object with salt bath. Don't know how profitable that is, didn't see too many cars on its parking [lot]. The next building, where obdanište was, looks nice on the outside, at least it's painted. White, not the foresters' green that once was. On the gazebo (called saletla here, which I didn't know until they made this one) in the park there's a photo session. At the gate of šećerana someone parked a new tractor, put a kid at the steering and the kid just keeps opening and closing the door.
At the old house. Gate still easy to unlock, we soaked ti with dubyadeeforty last time. We managed to pick up all the bills (the voting invitation still not there), the mailbox was stuffed but stayed closed, the snails remained short-sleeved. I have a warning for the unmowed grass, but there's no grass, just a few branches of maybe future bushes, could be the poplar sprouted them from its roots. The poplar should go, it's far bigger than it's cousins beyond the railway, and those are at least fifteen years older. It's huge.
Then to Groš, to catholic cemetery, cleaned it up a little and left flowers, then to Žitni to see about furniture cloth (aka „mebl štof“, from german „möbel Stoff“, mobilia stuff...), she wants to make curtains to close the doors to the anteroom and Johan's room, to save a little on heating, and did find something. Tried for some shoes but they didn't have what she wanted. And then lastly to this cemetery where mine are... She remembered that granma was buried left, then mom right, then dad left again. Okay, so whoever goes first gets the wall side. Um, it'll be screwy if she ends up to the left of me, might push me out like she did on 20-VI-2003....
Lena posted a video of Filip being really happy to see mom... and specially the tit :).
Finished reading the Dune prequels, those on schools and Guild. Having perfected the technique of skipping the retells it became almost not so bad. Of course, the story is riddled with holes, the buddies just keep churning and don't look back. At least they learned how to keep the action going in ten places without getting lost. Most likely they have three secretaries and quite a database with current state of the narative flow of the plot's fabula [this expression overflow is not my invention, it's actually a widespread running gag] so they somehow manage to get through it. Let's say they earned their keep. I'd rather watch something now, but on Putlocker (currently called CineBy) at least 90% of offered content is far eastern animation, in the SF-F-H genres (yup, they don't separate sword, sorcery and horror from SF, they consider them all the same). I'm waiting for new seasons of Sisterhood and Foundation, not expecting much from the rest. Tried to watch a few, even something Lucas/Disney's (good animation, almost to forget that these are no actors, except the faces appear disnified every now and then), then yet another reboot of the Stari Drek, but doesn't hold attention. You know exactly what it must have in it, and what must not. May they have not one formula but rather twenty, still know them all by heart.
The problem of excessive eggs we solve... by bits. Last evening, a three egg omelette for me (yup, can eat without bread, no problem), buried 16 today in another batch of noodles. At 1,8 kg of flour, it's 8,89 eggs per kilo. What we once used to buy in Hungary had 8 eggs per kilo as the top class of it. And our eggs are larger, I'm accustomed to an average of 70 grams per egg, and later heard that 45 is considered normal here (checked now on the net, 50 is the standard).
Mentions: 20-VI-2003., čorba, Filip Nastić, Gorana Sredljević (Go), Greg Reubenthal, Groš, Gugao, Jelena Sredljević (Lena), kum, KuPro, Linda Sredljevich Aquilla (Linda), majstor, Milan Nastić, mrz pladžer, Nenad Berger (Neša), Nevena Sredljević (Nina), obdanište, rakija, Ryu (Raja), Sanda Sredljević Aquilla (Sanda), sarma, Stanley Berger, šećerana, Tanja Nastić, tutifruti, Velinka, Violet, zbor, Zdravko Lakatoš, Žitni, in serbian
11-X-2026 - 23-X-2026