As a geo-technical engineer I was most of the time away from the office and on the grounds so I was once sent to look at the plans of the State Farm in Murfatlar. The headquarters of the farm were housed by what once had been the manor of my parents in law from where they had been abusively evicted over the night in 1949, because they were ?greedy landowners?; they weren?t allowed to take anything from the house. It was only at a later date that I became aware that my visit had been recorded and entered into my classified file. The thing is I had never told anyone that used to be the former house of my parents in law ? I never thought it relevant for the party to know that I visited it ? and basically, those who accompanied me on the trip couldn?t possibly know that detail, and nobody knew me in Murfatlar. I couldn?t explain to myself who might have noticed that aspect and reported on it. We had long become used to that kind of atmosphere. You were sure there must be some moles around you somewhere, but you couldn?t do anything to watch your back because there was simply no way you could tell who the moles were. (A. M., 9)

MONEY

It wasn?t that bad, I tell you, and the money was all right, you were not afraid to borrow some, too. I?ll tell you something real: I bought my house in those times, and everything you see in this house I bought in ?84. In ?82 I bought my car and still had money left to buy another. Between ?80 and ?82 I paid my shares, 1800 lei a month. So the salary was 2700 lei and the share was 1800 lei, and still, I could live. On the difference of 900 lei, plus what my wife earned, we could make a living. You could afford a lot: you could afford holidays away from home, you had a place to work. If guys with connections made it better, why should I care? Everyone had his place. Everyone had a roof above their heads. So, some way or another, the social problem of the lodgings was solved. The problem of the work places was solved. The rations were OK too, the 3 or 4 kilos of edible oil a month. (22)

Just before the Revolution, I was paid 20 lei an hour. 208 hours a month, that meant 4000 lei every month. And consider the prices: 5 lei a piece of bread, 50 bani the newspaper, 1 leu the subway ticket. If two persons worked and four ate in one family, you could do all right?

But I couldn?t say it was bliss either. When you looked in the fridge and saw it was empty, it was enough to start a fight in the house! (S. C., 110)