Cav's Place

Full disclosure: I received this book through a giveaway on The StoryGraph. This has in no way influenced the opinions expressed in this review.

I must say that The Ordinary Bruja is a book of very different parts, so if I’m to start with the good I must skip well ahead, the parts where it shines being those that take place under the hill. There are some more good moments here and there and the writing shows promise all along, but that’s where it actually delivers. One reason is probably that the fantasy elements can run loose there, no longer being confined in any way by the contemporary setting, but the differences go well beyond what may be explained by that, so it may also be a matter of more attention being paid to those chapters, and maybe of the author feeling more comfortable depicting a powerful, collected, determined Marisol who’s fighting back and fulfiling the mission thrust upon her.

It takes a while to get there, however, and the earlier parts may be somewhat difficult to get through. The fact that it’s a pretty light read overall helps with that, and being a coming of age story that’s very well anchored in the present times, including characters glued to their smartphones and the way in which social networks are currently used, or misused, it’ll probably work better for a teen or young adult audience. But it may hit too close to home for some, perhaps most notably in the parts about bullying, and I was starting to feel awkward wondering when, or whether, all of that will be over and done with, modern settings being something that I’d much rather stay away from in general.
Admittedly, that may be a matter of preference, and perhaps of having some years, or maybe even a decade or two, too many, but I don’t think that can also explain the issues I have with Marisol’s denial phase. True, I remember taking issue with how strongly some characters denied the supernatural elements despite the evidence the few other times I read urban fantasy, but here the denial of magic is mixed with the denial of feelings and both are just overdone, drag on too long, are emphasized too much… The later lasts even longer but nevertheless lacks the impact it should have, and then makes for such a missed opportunity for emotionally charged moments that was simply ignored, while in case of the former an additional issue is the overblown persistence of the magic against it, when something like this should probably develop more gradually and subtly.
Then again, there’s simply too much magic and it’s too visible, too obviously powerful, for such a contemporary, realistic setting. Considering the quality of the parts where it can truly be unfettered, it makes some sense, but it requires a strange kind of suspension of disbelief, especially when the few minor characters that happen to be mentioned and the general public that you have to assume exists don’t seem to take note. That may be explained to some extent by the fact that what’s meant to be a series spanning generations begins with the end of the story, which is actually specified in the afterword, but when you just read this book, which is the only one that exists anyway, it’s quite jarring.
Actually, speaking of the fact that the following books in the planned series are apparently supposed to go back and depict what happened before, how things got to this point, it strikes me as the sort of thing to do when readers are already sufficiently invested to desire the details, to want to know just how things happened when they already know what happened and the final outcome. And, to put it bluntly, I’m not. And I don’t see how many could be after a single book, and a relatively light one at that, at least if we’re talking about being interested in the story and the action in itself and not of any mental links one may make.
On that note, I recognize that the use of Spanglish makes sense in that setting and for those characters, and most probably also for the primary target audience, who’ll find many more aspects to relate to as well, but for someone who doesn’t directly relate to the main character for personal and quite specific reasons, it just makes some things incomprehensible because of one crucial flaw: There are no translations. Or, all right, sometimes the translation appears right after the bit that’s in Spanish, but often it doesn’t, and sometimes it may even be difficult to tell, so I quickly gave up. I could have probably figured out most of it if I tried, and anything else would have just required copying the word or phrase into a translator, but the reasonable thing to do, if the author cared for readers who are outside that target niche, would have been to add footnotes to translate each of those bits. So, if she didn’t, I decided that I won’t either.
And, to finish with some odds and ends, it was rather strange to see that “playlist” at the end, but I did look up all of the songs, finding a few that were pretty nice, but plenty that I couldn’t even get myself to listen to for more than a matter of seconds, so I guess it’s another matter of different tastes. And seeing one listed out of position and another appearing before the chapter number and title instead of after makes me think that the section was added in a hurry, since the editing is otherwise very good… Or nearly so, which actually made it stand out when I spotted something, like using “condensation” instead of condescension, a “Kiar” instead of Kia, and maybe a spot where a “them” may probably indicate changing the idea mid-sentence.

While it doesn’t look like it if you read the above, I focus on the negatives, but the truth is that The Ordinary Bruja shows promise and has some parts that can really pull you in. But it’s quite obviously mainly meant for a specific target audience, for people who can directly relate to the main character, though a wider range of teens and young adults may possibly also get more from it, even if certain issues that are brought up may hit too close to home. For the rest of us, it can be read relatively easily, in a detached manner, with a focus on the parts that take place under the hill and a few other better moments, though small changes like the addition of footnotes for the Spanglish would be needed. The contrasting issues of the overdone denial phase and the magic that is too obvious for a contemporary setting would be harder to fix, however.

Rating: 3/5

While I didn’t feel bad for any of the teams that didn’t pass the group stage at this World Cup, things definitely changed in the round of 32 and I felt really sorry for Croatia when they lost to Portugal, even more so since I can’t stand Cristiano Ronaldo, and for Senegal when they lost to Belgium despite really deserving the win and Belgium doing next to nothing until close to the end of the normal time. And I also found myself rather disappointed when Cote d’Ivoire lost to Norway, and somewhat torn when DR Congo lost to England, the issue there going past football and being that DR Congo is hardly a country you’d want to support, considering how things stand over there. And, on the other hand, I did cheer for Paraguay when they got past Germany on penalties, and was quite pleased when Morocco got past Netherlands, also on penalties, though the difference there is that I wouldn’t consider Morocco underdogs anymore. But Cabo Verde definitely were the very definition of the term all along, and they had already surpassed all expectations from their very first match, when they held Spain to a 0-0 draw, then did far better by getting through that group from second place, and tonight they should have really earned everyone’s respect, despite ultimately losing 3-2 to Argentina, after extra time.
Admittedly, I’d have felt bad for Messi to get kicked out as well, especially since this is almost certainly his last World Cup, but I didn’t even consider the possibility at the start of the match, and after that first goal I was sure that from then on it was just a matter of whether Argentina still cared to play and score more or the match was going to turn into one of those boring ones between a team that’s unwilling and one that’s unable to do much of anything, and that Cabo Verde had little real reason to change anything because losing only by 1-0, or even by 2-0, to Argentina would have still been a reason for pride. But then they drew level and that all changed, and I started paying more attention to just how they played, how calm and collected they were, how they never seemed to act in desperation, how they never cleared balls just to get rid of them. And taking the match to extra time seemed like a coronation for their efforts, so the fact that Argentina scored after just two minutes didn’t change my impression in any way… Only for them to not only get back on the offensive, but actually draw level a second time, and thanks to an amazing goal as well. And that made me actually consider Messi being eliminated so early as a realistic possibility, so I’d have felt bad for someone either way it went. But I’d have been glad if Cabo Verde would have somehow made it, while Argentina eventually scoring again, even if the ball came off a defender and what’d have happened otherwise being far from certain, and just managing to withstand Cabo Verde’s attacks until then end, just feels normal if I look at it from their side.
Now I guess I’m just left with Paraguay as an underdog to cheer for in the last 16, though I really don’t see how they could have any chance against France, so this may be pretty much it. I mean, there is Argentina’s next opponent, Egypt, but I can’t really see myself getting behind them in that manner. And, past that, Morocco is in a far better position against Canada than they were against Netherlands, possibly even being favorites, and while Mexico may also be seen as having pretty poor chances against England, they’re at a different level and not a team you can get behind in that manner and for such reasons. So maybe there will be matches that will be nice to watch in themselves, between two teams that will play well, but unless Paraguay will produce such a massive shock, this seems to be pretty much it when it comes to having real reasons to get behind such underdogs. Not that I won’t support Morocco if they’ll end up playing against France in the next round, but, again, I wouldn’t exactly call Morocco underdogs anymore.

Back in 2023, I was saying that football should learn from how handball handles playing time. And I still fully stand by that statement and think that it’s the proper way to do it. But I must admit that the rule changes meant to reduce time wasting implemented at this World Cup are working out really well, clearly increasing the actual playing time while reducing the amount of added time… At least so far, since players may start to find loopholes, and some have already done so, but the improvement is massive when the ball has to get back in play quickly, substitutions can no longer drag on and, I’d say most notably, players need a very good reason to request medical assistance, seeing as they’ll need to stay out of play for a while after doing so. I’d still favor the idea of play not being stopped for substitutions, which would really force players to run out, but the impact and the “mechanics” of substitutions in football may make that difficult, at least at the moment.
And then there are also the changes to increase the power of VAR, adding more things that can be reviewed, and the improved systems are making the checks much, much faster as well, all of these being absolute positives, with no caveats, so my only problem with VAR remains the very fact that limits do exist and it’s not a “challenge” system, where the coach and/or possibly the team captain have a certain number of “challenges”, which when brought up will require the referee to watch the replays of whatever moment generated the challenged decision and only get used up if proven wrong. Admittedly, there have been experiments with this, but there were still limits and those experiments don’t seem to have been continued.
The one unpleasant new rule are the “hydration breaks” that are, very clearly, ad breaks introduced primarily for the benefit, and probably at the pressure, of American TV stations which are used to such a system for sports and unwilling to deal with long stretches of time without ad breaks, the existing rule that stated that cooling breaks had to be permitted during each half when the temperature was truly high being enough if hydration was the actual purpose. And the fact that these breaks are also used by the teams as technical time-outs makes the new rules that state that other moments of stoppage time can’t be used in such a manner seem weird. But what I see as a huge missed opportunity is the fact that time isn’t actually stopped during these breaks, which therefore result in a “default” three minutes of added time for each half, any actual added time being added on top of that. I mean, those are obvious breaks and if there was a moment to introduce the concept of actually stopping time in football, they were the perfect opportunity. And time should obviously also be stopped during VAR checks or when the medical team is on the field, so it won’t still fall on the referee to take those moments into account and lead to questions about the amount of added time, especially when teams need it… Like it was in this morning’s Algeria – Austria match. Then again, I for one have serious questions about that match, despite the apparently dramatic ending. But that’s an entirely different matter.
Getting back to the point of this post, there are some questionable elements and there is still room for improvement in case of the rest, but these changes actually seem to go in the right direction for once and actually work out really well in practice, so I’m hoping to see them implemented as general rules of the sport as soon as possible, preferably from the start of the 2026-2027 season. This doesn’t mean that FIFA isn’t still rotten to the core, of course, and that can be seen in so many ways, but in case of these particular elements, they’re getting it right and I have to recognize the fact.

Since I need a first post of the week and the one about this year’s Dream Trek is only in the form of rough notes and will probably stay that way for a long time while I still have old odds and ends that are properly written and not posted, I’ll make use of it and cover September of 2024, starting with September 1, when I did the day’s squats, ate lunch, and left a few minutes after 8 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, which I put in the machine from Kaufland, and after I was done I spotted two more in that area and one of them was accepted, so I put that in, washed my hands, and entered the store at 8:40 PM, with the other. Then, after grabbing two plain breads for dad, with the 50% evening discount, I went back to the vegetables right at 8:45 PM and saw that some prices were changing just then, including the one for red cabbage, and even though the price was still higher than I’d have liked, I took a small one, then dug through the onions from one area, even though that discount wasn’t particularly great either, and took a few, but when I went to the other area where there were onions and moved one of the crates aside, I saw an unopened sack, cut it open with my key, left most of the first ones there, and got some from that sack instead, since they seemed better. And before hearing the closing announcement I also grabbed and a handful of potatoes, those actually having a good evening discount. Then I rushed to weigh those vegetables and went to the self-checkout.
Well, out of the three that accepted cash, one was used by employees and another was basically blocked by a woman with two kids and an overflowing cart, and the kids also kept touching things and creating errors, so she had to call an employee every few products, and only the information desk employee seemed to be handling things and she was also chatting with others, wandering off all the time. And if I stood in line in the proper place, an older woman went right around me to get behind the person using the remaining machine, so I then moved as well, to at least stand behind her, but then another one walked right past me to talk to her and then remained there, and a younger guy also appeared next to her a little later, and when the first one finished and I muttered that she had cut ahead, she asked in surprise whether I had been there already, but I just rather angrily told her to go ahead and the guy told her to hurry up, to let me use the machine faster, but she had none of it, swatted him aside and wanted to do things her way. But by then the guy who was using the machine which had been used by employees, and who seemed to have a slightly different uniform and a lanyard, was almost done, though he seemed confused about a pack of radishes, staring for a long time at the list of vegetables, so I told him that he had to scan that and he did, then he finished and I could use that machine, cashing in the first voucher received for the recyclables and then using the one received for that last one when I paid, the time printed on the receipt being 9:18 PM, so I had waited in line for a quarter of an hour… And I still took a moment, when I got to the “turtle”, to arrange the purchases a little.
Since I picked up two more recyclables on the way to that Carrefour, I decided to go to that machine as well, picking up one more recyclable before reaching the parking lot, but one side of the machine wasn’t working at all and the woman who was using the other said that it only accepted glass, just like the previous time, so I gave up, put those recyclables and the bag with the other purchases in a cabinet, and entered the store a little before 9:30 PM, with the bag that hangs from my neck, with dad’s bread in it. Then, after taking a bag of spoiling beets, I managed to find a watermelon that seemed quite good among all of those that quite clearly weren’t, but I still needed something else in order to be able to use the voucher received when I had purchased those deodorants for dad, but I had a couple of options in mind and eventually got something else for him.
Well, the problem once again seemed to be with the self-checkout machines, since most of those that should accept cash had signs stating that they didn’t, leaving only two that actually did, and an older woman with an overflowing cart and who clearly didn’t have nearly enough money and was trying to select what to actually buy was using one, so that just left one. But at least those who were ahead of me were done quickly enough, and they also left quite a pile of coins in the tray, and when I noticed that an employee was right behind me when my turn came I positioned myself so she won’t be able to reach over and take them and otherwise tried to ignore her, and I obviously didn’t charge myself for the bag that those beets were in… Only to accidentally select paying with cash right away, at which point I asked her what to do in order to be able to use that voucher first. But she told me to just select that option instead, so I did so and it worked, without an employee being needed to do anything. So I could use that voucher, and then I used those coins which had been left to cover the entire remaining amount and still had some more left, which I pocketed. That employee might have given me a hard stare as I did so, but I definitely ignored that, then I arranged the purchases just enough to be able to carry them to the cabinet, arranging everything properly after retrieving what I had there, so I was still doing that when the closing announcement came. And, just before reaching the exit from that mall, I walked by a place that asked for donations of books and other materials for children from rural areas, so after stepping out I went back in to take a couple of pictures, to let dad know as well, and after walking out again I arranged the purchases a little more.
I then also went to that Mega Image, putting the recyclables and the watermelon in a cabinet, entering with the bag that hangs from my neck and the backpack, where I had everything else, and getting a bread for dad and some olives, both being discounted by 90%. And the cashier, who was that one who usually seemed bothered by people who came before closing time to look for those 90% discounts, asked through the headset whether any more of those olives were available, so I told her that there were, and when a coworker came to say that she thought that she wanted black olives, not green, she said that she’ll take some of those too, if those were the ones that were discounted… And then she asked me whether they were too salty, so I obviously told her that I didn’t know, but also mentioned that I for one prefer green olives. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and added the new purchases in the bags, but after walking out I stopped again and tried to find a way to place the watermelon so the olives would stay on top of it.
It was hard to carry that watermelon, however, and I had to stop and switch hands several times, and at one such moment it did roll over, so the box of olives fell off it and some of the brine and oil seeped out… And I’m not sure if that didn’t actually happen when I was trying to dig that egg dye back out, since at one point I spotted some egg dye on the sidewalk, apparently dropped by someone, and if I initially threw it in that bag, next to the watermelon, moments later I changed my mind and decided to set it back down, yet it had ended up under the watermelon, so I had to dig around for it. Either way, I also found a couple more recyclables on the way back… And there was a nice moment as well, a couple meeting or reuniting, since the guy had a backpack and bags and the woman threw herself at him and they kissed passionately just as I was about to pass by them, and then I walked either a little ahead of them or a little behind them for quite a while, since I was walking faster but kept stopping to switch hands, and during that time I noticed that they were talking in English. They suddenly vanished at one point, when they were a little farther ahead of me, since I had stopped for a little longer, and I wasn’t looking right at them, so I’m not sure whether they had entered a building or had stopped on a bench that was completely in the dark and I walked past them without noticing, but the whole thing was just nice. Bittersweet too, but still nice.
I got back at 11:10 PM, with about 14.5 kg. Then I edited the last paragraph of the part that I posted then of that day’s post and finished the old watermelon, with what was left of some snacks brought by dad, after which I spread out the purchases, took almost all of my clothes from the balcony, and went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and shower, at 1:05 AM. I was worried at first, since the hot water had returned the previous day but it seemed to remain cold at that point, and I ended up washing my head with it like that, but the temperature eventually increased, so the rest of that shower was more comfortable and I was done at 1:55 AM. Then I put the purchases in their place, washed what I had left in the sink, and ate dinner between 3:35 AM and 4:05 AM. I got in bed at 5:45 AM, after putting some cream on my feet, since I hadn’t done that at all after the long practice run.

In the early hours of September 3, I went to the kitchen some ten minutes late and didn’t hurry, in fact even talking to dad a little and gathering my last remaining clothes from the balcony, so I didn’t recover that time and ended up starting to eat dinner at 3:10 AM, but I still finished at 3:40 AM. But then I got in bed at 5:50 AM, after doing something else first. And I was making a mental note of the fact that my feet were swollen again. And by 6:45 AM I was awake again, went to pee one more time and then got back on the computer until 7:20 AM, and it was past 8 AM when I actually managed to fall asleep again.
Either way, after eating lunch and doing the day’s squats, I left at 8:20 PM, with the plastic and metal, which I dropped off in a recycling bin on the way, some bottle caps which had ended up set aside a long time ago and which I finally took in order to drop off in what should have been the proper place from Penny, and the recyclables with the deposit symbol. However, when I got to the nearest Penny, I saw that the place for the bottle caps was gone, so I came back with those. And I waited for a long time for a guy with two bags of recyclables to be done, especially since for many the labels were sliding off and he had to keep trying, and eventually he was left with a handful that wouldn’t work and he slammed the bags into one of the bins, and most, if not all, of the remaining recyclables were glass bottles and I didn’t try to see whether anything was retrievable. And the guy who was after me just had three recyclables and asked whether he could go ahead, and I waved him through, albeit through gritted teeth, then put in what I had, except the one can that wasn’t accepted but including one plastic bottle which someone else had thrown in one of the bins from there while I waited, and then I just entered with that can and cashed in the voucher, so if you exclude that additional recyclable, that was a lot of wasted time. But at least I wasn’t asked to write my name and sign that voucher again.
That waste of time became even more obvious when, after finding one more recyclable on the way to Carrefour, I went to that machine as well, putting it in, though that can still wasn’t accepted and I didn’t go to the information desk with it either, so I entered the store with it, after washing my hands and checking myself a little in the bathroom mirror, since I thought that something had bitten me while I was waiting to use the machine from Penny. Then I got what I wanted, also using the voucher received for that recyclable, though I still had to use a regular checkout. And then I put the purchases in the backpack and stuffed the empty bags in my pockets.
Since I picked up a few more recyclables on the way to Kaufland as well, I put them in the machine from there, though that can still wasn’t accepted. And I also found a cart with a coin in it in the parking lot, connecting it to the others and retrieving the coin before putting the backpack in a cabinet, using the toilet, and entering the store at 10:15 PM. I had heard the announcement about bakery discounts of 75% while I was at the toilet, so I then got some bakery products, including some nice buns that I meant to use instead of bread. I also spotted some new sweet pastries, but I didn’t get any because the ingredients didn’t show up even when I tried to use a price checker to check, and while I initially took the one better cheap bun that I spotted, there was no discount label for it and when I scanned the regular one the full price showed up, so I put it back. And I didn’t see any of the cheap cheese that was supposed to be on sale, and while I looked all over and even asked an employee about something else that I was looking for, for dad, I couldn’t find that either. And only some packaged products seemed to have evening discounts when I checked the fruits and vegetables, so I took some germinated wheat, yet I saw a 90% discount listed for grapes and spotted some in one of the crates of products that two employees were stacking in one place, and they looked really good, so I just pushed the crate that was on top of that one aside and grabbed some, even if they were from Moldova. And after moving away and checking them carefully, I only threw away a few, but did also remove them from the stems, cleaning up after myself and putting what I had discarded in the trash. The scales still listed the full price, but I scanned that label and the discounted price showed up.
I was at the self-checkout when the closing announcement came, also using that voucher received for the recyclables when I paid. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged everything before washing my hands once again… And then I remembered that I wanted to grab a catalog as well, so I wondered whether the doors would open if I tried to dash back for one and was somewhat surprised that they did. Then I stopped one more time, after walking out, to add that catalog in the backpack, so it was almost 11:10 PM when I actually walked away. And I grabbed some more recyclables on the way back.
I got back when it was almost 11:45 PM, after which I ate some of the grapes and a pretty large doughnut, with added jam, put the purchases in their place, and started working on dinner while watching something, taking a break in order to shower when it was almost 2:30 AM. The water was almost cold, just gaining a few degrees as I was rinsing, and I was done in 20 minutes, finally eating dinner between 3:50 AM and 4:40 AM, though I spent the last several minutes scraping what was stuck on the plate. I got in bed at 6 AM.

On September 7, I did 200 squats, since the previous day I put them off until I forgot to do them at all, ate lunch, and left a few minutes before 7 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol. I meant to use the machine from the nearby Mega Image, but when I saw that it was in use by people with large bags, I rushed straight to Penny Titan, hoping to be able to put everything in that machine right away and also find the cat food that I still wanted to get, so I won’t have to go to Penny again later. And everything worked out, so I used the voucher received for those recyclables when I paid for that cat food, being left with just over 1 RON. Then I arranged the cat food in the backpack, grabbed another recyclable shortly after walking away, and rushed back to the park.
I was going to the park because of the concert that was at the gazebo that evening, the singer being the one I had discovered at Libraries’ Night in 2017, Alexandra Usurelu, so I had decided to just go for it and, after using one of the drinking fountains to wash my hands a little, I was reaching the gazebo at 7:40 PM, which was obviously rather late even though the concert was starting at 8 PM, since only a few seats were still empty. Not that I couldn’t stand if necessary, but I didn’t have to, taking one of those few seats, which was even close to the front. And the concert was nice enough, even if it’s still not something that I’d typically listen to, Alexandra continuing to impress me with how natural she is and how much emotion she conveys.
I was rather relying on the fact that I was going to find some recyclables left in that area after the concert, but I stood around for a little too long, putting my headphones back on, stacking one chair, and thinking to help the people who were gathering the others before giving up on that idea, and by the time I did walk away, I saw that a guy was just finishing taking everything from the trash can that was right at the entrance to that area, anything which had just been left on the ground having probably been gathered already, and then he moved on to check the other trash cans as well, so I moved along, deciding to go to Kaufland after all, despite hardly having any money, so the fact that I grabbed two recyclables on the way, putting all three in the machine from there, and also found a cart with a coin in it in the parking lot, connected it to others and took the coin, made all the difference.
After washing my hands, it wasn’t even 9:55 PM when I entered the store, with the backpack, and while the bakery discounts seemed to remain at 50% and I wasn’t interested, there were several great evening discounts for fruits and vegetables, including carrots and beets, so I shouldn’t have bought those over the previous days, not that I could have known that at the time. Either way, I got some more, plus a number of other things, the one problem being that I scratched myself a little in a crate of plums. And something rather awkward was that one of the customers who seemed to always be there to look for evening discounts let me know that the bananas had also received that 90% discount, later than the other products, and I initially said that I didn’t want any, but eventually did get one, and she passed by again after I weighed it, so I felt the need to say that I took one after all, at which point she said that I could get more, so as I hurried away I said that I hadn’t wanted any at first, but just decided to get one after all. And the scales listed the full price for that banana, but I was charged correctly at the self-checkout, and I obviously also used the voucher received for the recyclables, and I was still using the machine when the closing announcement came.
After taking a little time to arrange everything, I made my way back, grabbing a few more recyclables, including a can that was crushed and apparently cut in one place, and I initially didn’t notice that, just thinking that I should be able to straighten it, so I only saw it while doing so. At least I didn’t cut myself, but some of the liquid that was left in that can spilled through the cut and ended up on the bag with many of the purchases, and that cut made me suspicious, but it wasn’t like I could do anything about it at that point.
I got back just before 11:45 PM, straightened that can more properly, spread out the purchases, went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, washed what was in the kitchen, ate a few plums, a large doughnut, with added jam, and watermelon, and went to shower at 1:30 AM, the water temperature finally being comfortable, at least for a shower. I was done a couple of minutes after 2 AM, but I then put the purchases in their place, rearranging things in the fridge in order to make room, so it was almost 3 AM when I started working on dinner, which I ate between 3:55 AM and 4:30 AM. And dad got back from work really early, so we exchanged a few words and I showed him what I had purchased for so little money and how I had rearranged in the fridge, ending up getting in bed at 5:45 AM… And then sort of just sitting there for a while, before briefly getting back on the computer to check something, so it was 6 AM when I really got in bed.

On the morning of September 13, I got in bed at 5:20 AM, since the dermatitis was acting up again and I washed my balls a little while standing in front of the bathroom sink, but then I didn’t do so again when I woke up the first time, just going to pee and getting right back to bed, so I still ended up waking up scratching, a little after 11:15 AM, at which point I did have to clean the area again. Then, after getting up, around 2:10 PM or so, I did the day’s squats, selected and carefully counted another 30 RON in coins that I meant to take to Penny, shaved, ate lunch, and left at 7:35 PM, with those coins and the recyclables with the deposit symbol… And wearing the jacket, even if the rain seemed to have just stopped at that point, since the forecast listed possible isolated storms a little later, and it was about to get cooler anyway.
I found two small plastic bottles and a can at the top of a trash can, all of them with the deposit symbol but crushed, and while the bottles were easy to straighten right away, I couldn’t straighten the can, though I took it as well… And I noticed that it was also cut, so I wonder if that’s not what tends to happen if you crush a can in your hand in that manner. Either way, some codes from the caps of those bottles could also be entered in a contest, but I forgot to set them aside in order to give them to dad… And, after picking up a couple more recyclables on the way to Penny Basarabia, I found that the machine wasn’t working, so I waited for a moment when the cashier was between customers and asked what to do if I had brought coins for their campaign, and she told someone through the headset, but instead of a manager coming, it was the guard who asked for them a little later, and that time around I had placed slips of paper with the number and value of the coins from each bag and told him, and there were no problems, so after a while he came back and gave me the bills and the voucher.
I picked up some more recyclables on the way to Kaufland… But the machine wasn’t working there either, and when I stopped to drop a bottle without the symbol which I had picked up into a bag that was there and had a quick look at a couple of the recyclables that were in it, a guy from a car told me that they were good and I could take them, since they were theirs but they just left them if the machine didn’t work. However, that bag also contained a couple of large jugs and bottles of liquid detergent or something of the sort, while the couple of other recyclables which I had glanced at didn’t have the symbol, so I told him that they weren’t good, and when he insisted that they were I just said that the machine wasn’t working for me either and walked away, going to Carrefour… And being surprised by the first few people in costumes that I saw in that mall, before remembering that I had seen something on-line about Comic Con taking place those days. And at least the machine from Carrefour was working and it accepted everything except that crushed can and a bottle which had been left near it, so I just kept those two, and after walking away I spotted another bottle in that area and went back to put it in, that one being accepted, so I ended up with three vouchers, since I had split the first recyclables into two.
At that point, I decided to get back to Kaufland and see whether anything usable was, in fact, in that bag, if it’d still be there, but on the way out I saw a guy who kept yelling at the cashier from the train that little kids can ride on, eventually making her cry and call someone else to come, and while I didn’t say anything, I stuck around and was about to step between him and her after another man who had said something walked away, but at that point a guy in a suit came and started talking to him, so I walked away. And I didn’t let anyone know about it either, though just before leaving that mall I didn’t only finally see a guard, after being surprised that none were in sight while that guy was yelling, but cops as well, having apparently been called for some other reason, since they were talking to some kids and the car was outside.
Either way, that bag was still there when I got back to it, and nobody was around, so I dug through it and did find a number of recyclables with the deposit symbol, so instead of trying to stuff them in my bag I just took the other things out and took that bag. And on my way back to Carrefour I finally checked the listed closing time for that Kaufland and saw that it was 10 PM once again, which made continuing to wander around a bit of a problem, but I went back to Carrefour… And found that the machines from there wasn’t working anymore either, one of them being off and the other once again stating that no container was available, regardless of what I was trying to put in. And I didn’t want to be left with all of those recyclables, so I gave up on the idea of entering Carrefour at that point and went to that Mega Image, and while when I walked past the guard he warned me to not put glass bottles in the machine, he confirmed that it did accept the other recyclables, and it did, so I was left with the glass bottles and that crushed can, plus one more recyclable which I picked up on the way back to Kaufland, after checking the listed time to make sure that the closing time for that Mega Image was still 11 PM and leaving the bag which I had picked up in a garbage bin.
After putting the bag with the remaining recyclables in a cabinet that didn’t lock and washing my hands, I meant to just have a look in Kaufland, intending to return to Carrefour after seeing that the watermelons had no evening discount. So I got some sweet pastries, mostly for mother, who was coming over the following day, and a plain bread for dad, in case I won’t find any deeply discounted ones at that Mega Image, scanned the labels for the cheaper buns twice but confirmed that they had no evening discount, then grabbed a few other things and was about to make my way to the self-checkout when I remembered that I was out of yogurt, and when I went to grab a small one I noticed some cartons of eggs at half price, the large ones and two of the smaller ones obviously being there because plenty of the eggs were cracked, if not downright crushed. But one of the cartons of ten looked fine, and those cartons of ten could be opened, so I opened it and noticed that it was missing one egg and two others might have been slightly cracked. I wasn’t even sure of that, but I wanted to be on the safe side, so I checked the other two cartons and took that one after managing to find three eggs that looked fine and put them in it, even if they expired three days earlier than the rest from that carton… By which point it was too late to also get back to Carrefour, but I didn’t wait to see whether 10 PM really was the closing time, just going to the self-checkout at that point and being relieved that there were no problems, since I had picked up a lettuce with root that had a deep evening discount but actually consisted of two lettuces of different kinds which had been placed in the same bag, probably because both kinds had the same price and somebody wanted to leave a bag that might actually be purchased, since I saw one of each kind that looked much worse discarded in the crate.
After retrieving that bag from the cabinet, it’s possible that I was still around there at 10 PM and no closing announcement came, and there had been no announcement that closing time was approaching either, so I was wondering whether the listed schedule had been changed too soon, but I just went back to that Mega Image, putting the other bags in a cabinet and entering with the one that hangs from my neck, with the bread and those sweet pastries. But I was too early for the 90% discounts to be placed. So, after taking a bun that just had the 50% discount, I wandered around until an employee started placing those 90% discount labels and I took one of the cheaper breads as soon as she placed one on it, but then she put the other identical one down without placing that label, and after she went to the refrigerated expiring products as well I also went there and saw that she had placed wrong labels on the “creamy” yogurt, so I told her and returned to the non-refrigerated expiring products while she corrected the problem, at which point I found the 90% discount label for the other cheaper bread stuck to one of the others, so I placed it on it and took that one as well, and then also took a few of those yogurts, with the correct discount labels, and eventually the more expensive bread that was left as well. And when I went to the checkout I saw someone, who might have been the bakery employee, wearing a loose mask and coughing, which was a concern, especially after spending quite some time in that pretty small store. And the cashier asked whether I had a store card, so I handed it to her, though back then I wasn’t using the one for Mega Image. Either way, after paying for the products, I also cashed in that voucher received earlier for the recyclables. Then, after retrieving what I had in the cabinet, I went to a bench and arranged everything, and I picked up some more recyclables on the way back.
I got back at 11:20 PM, and after cleaning the litter box I went to drop just what I had taken from it down the chute. Then I straightened that can, though a crease was left just on the bar code, after which I ate one of those sweet pastries and quite a lot of watermelon, took another pill, just in case, and put most of the purchases in their place. I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, at 12:45 AM, and it was past 1:35 AM when I was done. Then I put the remaining purchases in their place, sliced the bread which I had purchased from Kaufland… And noticed that the fridge was at the maximum setting, so I turned it back down to the normal setting, but too much ice had formed on the back of it, so after eating dinner, between 3:35 AM and 4:20 AM, spending the last several minutes getting what was stuck on the plate, I had to take that ice out, since the fridge had stopped running when I had turned it back down and that entire wall of ice was sliding down.

On the morning of September 15, I ended up getting in bed at 5:20 AM, and after getting up to pee just after 10:45 AM, it was hard to get back to sleep, I was drifting in and out, though I was probably asleep just before 1:30 PM, when dad apparently left, since I just heard the key in the lock once and pretty much jumped up, because he had said that he was going to leave after 2 PM, when the race was starting, and I had set the alarm to ring at 1:50 PM, so I feared that I had somehow missed it. And there was obviously no way to get a little more sleep after that, so I eventually got up and turned off the alarm. Then I opened the last bag of popcorn and did my best to get the weevils out, washed it, threw away some kernels that looked the worst and left it to dry. And later, a little after 6:45 PM, after also doing the day’s squats, I went out, taking the recyclables with the deposit symbol which had been emptied by my parents and picking up one more from the garbage room.
I first went to Carrefour, and while Comic Con meant having to go around the area that’s around the stadium, at least it also meant seeing plenty of interesting characters again. And after getting to that machine I grabbed two more recyclables which had been left there and put almost everything in, though one of those two and one of those brought over by mother the previous day weren’t accepted, so I entered the store with them and searched thoroughly through the watermelons that were on sale, since most of them once again seemed quite bad, but I selected two that seemed good, so I’ll have a second option as well, and piled up a few others over them, since I wanted to check whether they had an evening discount at Kaufland before buying any. Then I cashed in not just the voucher received for recyclables that evening, but also the three left from two days earlier, went to the information desk to hand over those two recyclables which hadn’t been accepted and receive the money for them, and washed my hands before leaving that mall.
I then went to Kaufland, just getting some buns and bread. Neither had a discount label, but I scanned the regular price labels and found that they did have the 50% evening discount. But the watermelons didn’t have any discount, and after just a quick look around that area I went to the self-checkout, since I wanted to get back quite early. And the machine didn’t accept the buns as the correct product, so I had to call over an employee to override the error, then I put the purchases in the bag that hangs from my neck and rushed back to Carrefour, entering with everything, finding those watermelons still there, picking one, and buying it, so I could have just done that the first time and then at least wait to see whether any discounts would have appeared or increased in Kaufland at 8:30 PM. Either way, I then put the watermelon in the backpack and rushed back, so I really should have taken the jacket off first, since I got quite sweaty, even if I just walked quickly… And I once again went around, though when I passed by the gate to that area it didn’t seem to be guarded anymore, and Comic Con apparently ended at 7 PM, so maybe I could have passed through on the way back, but I couldn’t risk wasting even more time to try.
I got back a few minutes after 9 PM, with almost 13 kg. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to dump a bag of trash down the chute, ate a few plums and something sweet, eventually also washed the watermelon and put it in the fridge, and ate lunch while writing that day’s quick post. I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, a little after 11:45 PM, and I was done a little after 1 AM. And then, despite baking some beets for the following night, also using some lettuce for the salad, and dealing with one of my breads, I still managed to stick to the dinner schedule, albeit after “cheating” in order to be able to say that I took a first bite in my room before 3 AM.

When I woke up when dad got back in the afternoon, after having gone directly to mother in the morning to take her to the hospital and discuss her test results, I learned that she was confirmed to have breast cancer, but she was scheduled for more tests the following week and was told that it’ll be some three more weeks before those results will come and they’ll decide the course of action. And, to move to much smaller things, later dad found ants in the walnuts that are on the balcony, and when I went there to look through them there were a lot and I tried to kill all of those that I saw, but he put those walnuts which he had taken in a little bag in the kitchen, which obviously resulted in ants showing up around that area after that. And when he finally did go to dump it down the chute, hours later, when I pointed out those ants, the door handle apparently came off, and since two of the three screws could easily be screwed back in, we were wondering whether it meant that somebody had taken it out and then just pushed it back in place when they failed to unlock the door that way.

On September 22, I ate lunch and left at 7:05 PM, with just a few recyclables with the deposit symbol which had been emptied by dad and a fish can that I dropped off in a recycling bin on the way, and I rushed straight to Auchan, putting those recyclables in the machine and getting water for dad, some more of that cheap sour cream, though the price had increased, the tea that I wanted and another one that I was considering, having noticed when I had checked the site that it had a discount if you used the store card, plus another one of those nice yogurts, after happening to notice that it also had a discount and was valid until after the marathon. I also found just two left of another kind of tea that I usually get, and one was rather battered, and while no discount was listed, I considered trying to buy the other one, which looked fine, and then asking for it to be removed if it wasn’t discounted, since it seemed strange for them to almost run out of the product if it actually was at the regular price. But I eventually just left it there and bought the other things, using the voucher received for the recyclables and the small amount left on the store card at the self-checkout.
After arranging everything in the large backpack, I rushed to Kaufland, quickly glancing in that Profi on the way, entering with the backpack and walking back out moments later, after seeing that they still didn’t have those mushrooms which I had been looking for. Then, after reaching Kaufland, I just left the backpack in a cabinet that didn’t lock but at least appeared that it did, since I’d have otherwise had to take everything out of the backpack and see whether the pack of water would even fit into a small cabinet on its own and it was getting late already, the closing time being 9 PM on Sunday, and after washing my hands I entered the store when it was almost 8:25 PM. And the bakery discounts had just been announced, most probably again, but they remained at 50% and when I got there I saw that no cheap buns that would be discounted were left, and the plain ones and those with sesame weren’t discounted, which I confirmed after scanning the price labels. But at least those with sesame had a regular discount, so I just took one of those, and two regular breads for dad, which did have the 50% evening discount. Then I grabbed a pack of the better mushrooms, since all of those were discounted by 90% and all the others looked bad, but that one seemed better, and dug through the Kapia peppers, which were the only vegetable that seemed to have an evening discount, and a pretty good one at that, and at 8:45 PM that discount increased further. But I just took five, then rushed to also grab a yogurt and got to the self-checkouts just before closing time, though what was strange was that there was no closing announcement, even though announcements stating that closing time was approaching had been made. Then again, it’s possible that I completely missed the announcement, if it was made after my brain pretty much shut down.
The reason for that is that, after initially moving to a machine that seemed to have been freed only for the person who had been using it to come back and say that he hadn’t finished, after I started using the next one that was actually freed an older couple stood right behind me, or at least the woman stood right behind me while the man moved around, after having complained to the employee as well, and kept commenting that people were fussing and being slow while the woman was telling him to just wait behind me because I was about to be done… And as soon as I paid and started gathering my things the man pretty much reached over me to put his things on the machine, still commenting, and my brain just shut down, so I heard the woman mention something about a receipt but didn’t “process” it, only realizing after I managed to walk away that I had taken the receipt from Auchan out of my pocket and forgot it on the machine. And by the time I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged things a little, and went back to look from the gate of the checkout area, it didn’t seem to be there anymore, so I walked away, but kept thinking that I might have forgotten other things as well, so I checked the purchases and my pockets, counted the money and calculated what I should have left, but I kept forgetting what I was doing or what I should be doing, and while the count and the calculation matched, I then realized that I had miscalculated and my brain just wasn’t working, so I eventually walked out, at 9:10 PM, and calculated and counted yet again after reaching the street, being relieved when I confirmed that everything was fine and the only loss was that receipt. And on the way back I grabbed a recyclable that a man threw in a trash can just in front of me, though that meant pulling up the garbage bag and touching some clothes which had also been thrown there.
I got back at 9:45 PM, with over 17 kg. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put the purchases in their place, with the exception of dad’s bread, ate some walnuts and a sweet pastry that I already had, and posted the placeholder for that day’s post. It was 12:15 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, and just after 1:10 AM when I was done, after which I also sliced dad’s breads, but still managed to stick to the dinner schedule, albeit by “cheating” in order to be able to say that I started eating in my room before 3 AM. And I once again took another pill as well, hoping that it would help with my nose, which continued to be awfully irritated.

On the morning of September 24, I went to bed at 5:20 AM, and after getting up I noticed that my nose was somewhat better, though it still bothered me a fair bit. And, after the first key showed up as having already been used, the second one worked, so I also received Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, after having requested it a few days earlier on The Community Giveaway on the GOG.com forums, since it’s one of the games that was given away to Amazon Prime subscribers, so plenty of keys received by those who either already have the game or don’t care for it were available and people didn’t actually purchase them. But the plan was to go out, so after having eaten lunch and done 200 squats, to be at least one day ahead before the series of three runs in five days, I left at 7:45 PM, with a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol.
After putting those recyclables in the machine from Carrefour, I found two bags of apples among the spoiling products and picked them up, and after helping a woman use the scales I added just enough garlic to be able to use the voucher received for previous purchases, so I first cashed in the one received for the recyclables and then did that, without charging myself for the bags that those apples had been in. But one odd thing was that, after scanning the products, the self-checkout machine asked me to make sure that I had done so correctly and played a video of me moving them from one side to the other. But I had done that after scanning all of them first, so I counted the products, with obvious gestures, then caught the eye of the employee who was there, and when I saw her carefully approach and have a look without actually coming next to me I told her that I had noticed that message and said that I had no idea what made the machine warn me, and she agreed that those were the products and made a small comment about machines before turning away. And the total was just 0.01 RON more than the amount on that voucher, but when I selected cash after using it and put in that one coin, the machine gave it back to me and released the receipt. Then I put the purchases in the backpack and grabbed another recyclable from that mall and three more that were close to the machine from Kaufland, eventually managing to make it accept all of them, though that took quite a number of tries.
I entered Kaufland with the backpack and saw that there were no green onions, but I initially went straight to the bakery area and got some products that had the 50% evening discount, some of them after using a price checker to check the ingredients. Those buns with sesame still only had the regular discount, which I confirmed after scanning the label, so I didn’t get any, but I really should have gotten more of one of the sweet pastries, since those had a regular discount of 45% and that made me think that it was the evening discount, so I just took one and didn’t check. Either way, I then spotted one box of expiring germinated wheat and grabbed it, added some cucumbers that had something of an evening discount, asked the employee from that area about green onions and he said that they didn’t have any left at that hour, even when I pointed out that they guarantee that they’re always in stock, and then went to the information desk to ask about receiving the 10 RON voucher that they offer if you don’t find one of those products that are guaranteed to be in stock at any hour, being told that I needed to have a receipt first. I knew that, after having read the terms and conditions, but I had also read that they’ll check whether the product isn’t available in storage, and she didn’t say anything about that, so I made my way to the self-checkout area and stood in line.
I actually checked the time when I got in line, seeing that it was 9:50 PM, and a man who got behind me in line, with a cart full of bakery products, asked about the time and then kept complaining that he’ll miss the bus and had to be done quickly. During that time, I did notice that another guy had slid himself next to me, but he had few products and I didn’t say anything, yet that man did and they exchanged a few words, and when one checkout that accepted cash seemed about to be freed, that man just pushed through between me and that other guy… Only to find that the person who had been using the machine that he was going to wasn’t actually done. But the one using the next one was done seconds later, at which point that other guy waved me ahead, so I got there before that man, who complained that I had gone ahead of him, then started complaining to the employee about the lack of manned checkouts, how long it was taking, and the fact that she wasn’t helping him, saying that he didn’t know how to use a machine, and when she kept telling him to be patient and take his bakery products out of the bags he started pestering me to help him, which I refused, actually saying that it was because of his attitude. And when he complained to the employee that I was taking too long I said that I was curious to see how long it’ll take him. But I was just paying at the time, after having also used that voucher received for the recyclables, and then I went to the information desk and received that 10 RON voucher, the employee just entering my receipt in the system, without asking for anything to be checked.
The closing announcement came as I was arranging the purchases, but I know that I was just receiving that 10 RON voucher at 9:59 PM, since another man was just entering the store at that point, the employee told him that they were about to close, and I checked the time. So less than ten minutes passed between getting in line and receiving that voucher, meaning that I couldn’t have been using the self-checkout machine for more than a couple of minutes, yet that man complained that I had taken too long… And just as I had finished arranging the products, that other guy also walked past and we started laughing, and I said that the other man would probably still be there at 10:30 PM… And it might have been a better, or at least a more amusing, use of my time to stay there and watch, because checking that Mega Image proved to be a waste of time, so I just put my things in a cabinet and then retrieved them and made my way back. And my nose was definitely better while I was out, but the problem was that on the way back I was starting to notice some soreness in my throat.
I got back a little after 10:45 PM. Then I took out the purchases, put the germinated wheat in the fridge, and ate one of the apples, thinking that I had taken out all of the bad parts but noticing a weird taste in one spot, after which my stomach started bothering me. Either way, I then cleaned the litter box and went to dump a bag of trash down the chute, after which I also put the garlic, apples and cucumbers in their place, and it was almost 12:10 AM when I went to the bathroom, being done three quarters of an hour later, after feeling that I had to use the toilet before washing but noticing that it was in fact mostly gas. But I had plenty of things to wash in the kitchen, and I also peeled and boiled a few more carrots, so I started eating dinner at 3:15 AM, but I still finished at 3:40 AM. And my stomach settled while I was making the salad, possibly helped by the fact that I also used some olives and sucked on the pits during that time. However, while my throat also felt better while eating, by the time I got in bed it was bothering me again, and by the time I got up it was definitely sore, so in the evening I also made some soup, albeit without chicken, along with the planned pasta, and took some more things as well, hoping to get over whatever it was right away. And I did 200 more squats, since the forecast made me decide to start the series of three runs in five days on September 27, as much as I wouldn’t want to do anything that day.

The first three parts of the book consist of rather dry history mainly focused on economic inequality and some related aspects and implications, generally showing that, while the specifics differed, things were always awful. The exception were some elements that reached levels that could justify some hope between 1950 and 1980, but those have started to gradually decline since then. The different trajectories may make the parts about India and China, and possibly also the brief ones about other parts of Asia, somewhat interesting, but not by that much. And I was unpleasantly surprised to see the author defend the private property of businesses in the part about Communism. On the other hand, it was nice to see him recognizing the merits of the criticism of electoral democracy coming from China.
Things started changing in the last chapter of part three, which also mentions a little about the environment, though it otherwise mostly consists of complaints about the lack of public or even gathered information and mixes data with speculation. And then you have part four, which is presented as containing the proposed solutions but which rambles for a long time about elections, mainly focusing on the social differences between voters and current political debates, with a first section that details a proposed plan to change some aspects of the European Union jarringly shoved in between. Still, more proposed solutions are finally presented towards the end, and they’re not without merit, though plenty are overly technical and may be rather hard to follow, the overreliance on notes, which on quite a number of pages exceed the “normal” text in size, only making it worse. But the main issue is that all of the proposals are reforms within the current system, and while the author claims that some may seem radical, they’re really not, stopping way too short. In the brief section about carbon taxes there is a mention that actual limits and bans might be better, but otherwise no such limits are suggested and the proposals tend to be confined to changes to taxation, plus some more “democratic” control.

Rating: 3/5