My house

This is a photo of me, Ladislav Urban, in the town of Iza in 1990. I’m out for a walk in the neighborhood of our home, which is in the background. On a leash I’ve got our family pet, a terrier, whose name was Akim. After I married for a second time, I began speculating that I could settle down permanently. But I couldn't live in a dormitory. At work they suggested that I start building a house, that they'd help me. So the director issued an order: ""He's building a house, so bring him everything that he'll need, as far as equipment is concerned."" One day a van arrived, and delivered everything from shovels, picks, nails, wire, boards to who knows what else. Basically everything. I asked the company committee, and got it officially. When I needed to order something in the workshop, I wrote up a request, that I need such and such piece of sheet metal, welded in such and such a way. They billed me for it, but as an employee I paid a lower rate.

I began to play basketball again. I started a basketball team in Komarno, and even had a hand in the creation of this regional contest for older men. About five teams participated. Pravda 20 played, they had Karol Fako, formerly an excellent hockey player, and Milos Bobocky, the director of Pravda. I myself had once played basketball for Slovan Bratislava. In Sali there was a Hydrostav plant, where a lot of our classmates worked; they got together there and formed a team. We put on tournaments, once here, another time there. Another of our classmates, Emil Kubo, worked for Vahostav. He lived in this house, where he raised ducks. He had about a hundred ducks. The cleaning ladies used to take care of them for him. When we were going to be playing in some big match, I'd say to him: ""Emil, we'll go to the match, and afterwards we'll go to the pub. You'll supply the ducks, and I'll roast them there..."" That's how it went. We became famous for putting these parties, with food and good wine. We treated everyone who came to play. We all became mutual friends.