Cav's Place

After making and eating mamaliga at night, on the morning of May 7 I initially got up to pee every hour, and after that interval started to increase the reasons for waking up were dad leaving, the landline ringing again, and one of Liza’s “concerts”. This last one was at 12:20 PM, and then I guess I only woke again at the end of a sleep cycle, once again needing to pee, since that happened right at 2 PM and then just before 3:40 PM, which was when I decided to get up, though it was a few minutes before 4 PM when I actually did. Since when I had mentioned the landline ringing to dad the day before, he said that it might have been someone looking for him but, basically, not to answer, and I wondered whether I might have entered that phone number at a contest but after having a quick look on the computer realized that it was pretty certain that I hadn’t, I disconnected that phone when it rang again that morning, only reconnecting it after getting up. On the other hand, a serious concern was that the hot water had been off until then, and while when I got on the computer in the morning I saw on the site that it was supposed to be fixed at 3 PM, that had changed to 6:30 PM by then, so I really hoped that I won’t have to heat water again at night, since that was the last day before the half marathon when I could go out late in the evening, and I was also going to pick up the race kit. So I had lunch, took the first part of the supplements, including that one for immunity, went to the toilet, did the day’s squats, and it was past 6:30 PM when I left, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
I put those recyclables in the machine from the non-stop Mega Image that’s close to the metro station, which even accepted the pretty crushed one picked up on the way after a few tries, and then I threw away the bag used to carry them, cashed in the voucher, and continued on my way, using the opportunity to at least walk that part of the half marathon’s route and picking up some more recyclables and just one carton. I found an entire bag of milk cartons in one place, but since just that machine from the Mega Image that’s next to Tei accepts those and I obviously couldn’t go to pick up the race kit with them, I had to leave them there. And since I couldn’t go there with recyclables either, I put them in the machine from the Mega Image that’s close to Constitution Square, though by then I was rushing, so I didn’t stay to also cash in the voucher.
It was past 7:45 PM when I entered Constitution Square even so, and the schedule stated that picking up race kits was possible until 8 PM. But there were no lines, at most one person being before me, so I quickly got everything, being relatively content when I checked what was in the bag, even had a quick look at some of the gels and bars sold there, and before walking away I went to the information area and asked what were they going to do about that part of the route which I had seen was blocked by the work done there, on the side of the fountains that was supposed to be used around the 20 km mark… Only for the guy to say that he didn’t make the route to know, but that if we’ll end up using the same side then it’s not like it’ll be used both ways at the same time… Which was obviously wrong, so I pointed out that those finishing in one hour or so will reach 20 km well before those finishing in three will reach 11 km and he admitted that, but still said that “it’ll be fine”. So I only got a real answer on my own, after walking out of there just before 8 PM, returning to that Mega Image and having a quick look in the store before cashing in the voucher received earlier, and then walking past that area again and seeing 20 km marked on one side and 11 km on the other side of that part of the road that was still open, so on the same side of the fountains.
Since I had grabbed some more recyclables by the time I reached Carrefour Unirii, I put them in the machine, then put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands… And I was surprised to see bakery discounts, though they were of only 30%, so I’m thinking that they had started making them at 8:30 PM, since I got there around 8:45 PM and they were just about done. But I didn’t care to get anything with such a low discount, so I went back down, took my time to select two bundles of green onions, since those were two for the price of one, added an expiring gluten-free brownie, even if it was imported, since it was discounted by 70% and I was curious, used the voucher received for the recyclables at the self-checkout, and then retrieved what I had in the cabinet. And on the way to Kaufland Popa Nan I grabbed a few more recyclables, one of them being somewhat crushed, and checked another Mega Image, putting my things in a cabinet and retrieving them after having a look through the store, seeing that the bakery discounts of 50% were already made, and also looking through the catalog.
After putting those recyclables in the machine from Kaufland, needing to stick a finger in that rather crushed one in order to straighten it enough to be accepted, I put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands again, entered the store a few minutes past 10 PM… And saw piles of green onions that looked great and were discounted by 90%! So it was really frustrating that I had bought those from Carrefour, but how could I have known that I was going to find something like this after usually not finding any green onions in Kaufland in the evening for so long, or at most finding a few bundles left only because they hadn’t been discounted that day. But I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity, so I grabbed eight bundles from there as well, plus the last two remaining bundles of radishes and a lettuce, that great discount applying to these as well. And there was a nice evening discount for red cabbage as well, and it was also supposedly Romanian, so I took one of those too. On the other hand, none of the products which had been discounted were left in the bakery area, and they also seemed to be out of the nice yogurt that had a nice discount if you activated it, which I had done on-line. Either way, I also used the voucher received for the recyclables and was just about to finish using the self-checkout when the closing announcement came. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged everything.
While I had plenty of those cheap yogurts, so there was something to fall back to if I won’t find something else, I wanted a nice yogurt to eat before the race and not finding any of that one at Kaufland made me check three more Mega Image locations on the way back, hoping to find something among the expiring products. So I put the bags in a cabinet at the first one, in two cabinets that I didn’t lock, the door of one of them not even closing properly because it was too small for that bag, at the non-stop one that’s close to the metro station, and left them next to the door at the nearby one, entering with the backpack each time… And finally finding something just at this nearby one. It wasn’t what I’d have wanted, having 10% fat and just 4.5% protein, but it was bio (organic) and “creamy”, and the 50% discount meant that it had the same price as that other one would have had at Kaufland, so I bought one. And otherwise, I grabbed a few more recyclables and a carton and used a drinking fountain to wash my hands a little more.
I got back at 11:25 PM. Then I showed dad what was in the race kit and talked to him a little, just put that expiring yogurt in the fridge, cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, realized that I had forgotten something that I had meant to add in that bag and went back to drop that down the chute as well, ate what was still usable out of a spoiling orange and a sweet pastry that I already had, and since there was hot water and I also wanted to watch something, a little before 12:40 PM I rushed to wash, being done at 1:05 AM. Then I ate what was still good from a spoiling apple as well, washed what was in the kitchen, put the rest of the purchases, as well as the things from the race kit, in their place, used the worse leaves from the salad and plenty of green onion tops for the salad, and finally ate dinner between 5:05 AM and 5:45 AM, putting some of that recently expired bio (organic) peanut butter on all of the bread. I got in bed at 7:05 AM, after rubbing cream on my hands and feet.

Despite being woken up by Liza scraping in the litter box for minutes, by the landline ringing again, and several times by drilling or other such noises, I always got back to sleep quickly, so I’d say that, by the time I got up for good, just after 2:50 PM, I had gotten a total of at least six and a half hours of sleep, if not close to seven, though the quality left a lot to be desired. And before going to bed in the morning I used cream on my hands and feet again.

On the morning of May 9, after waking up for the first time, just before 8:30 AM, as dad was about to leave, I remained pretty much awake for well over half an hour, in part because of the noise made by the workers who seemed to finish taking down the scaffolding that was between the parts of the building, behind the bathrooms. But then I slept for some three hours before getting up to pee again, got right back to sleep after that, and woke up again at 2:15 PM, by which point I had gotten a total of some seven and a half hours. Even though it was quiet, it was harder to sleep after that, or at least harder to stay asleep, so I alternated between being asleep and awake a number of times, but I wasn’t awake for all that long when I finally got up, at 4:44 PM, so I should have gotten a total of some nine hours of sleep.
In the evening, I set the carrots to boil before finishing what I posted that day and the water boiled away before I went back to the kitchen. It’d have probably been fine if I’d have done so right after posting, but I also checked the links and then tried to see when was the last time I walked to the metro station, realizing that I was taking too long and giving up before finding that it was way back in 2017, but by then it was already too late, at least for my tea kettle, which I had used and got badly burned, though at least the carrots were quite fine. Either way, I ate dinner, putting some of that expired bio (organic) peanut butter on gluten-free bread, between 1:50 AM and 2:15 AM. And then I got ready for the morning, putting the number on the t-shirt, getting most of the burn off the kettle before making the tea, putting that bio (organic) yogurt in a bowl, along with the cereals and almonds, getting rid of the bad parts from an apple, cutting it in half, and putting it back in the fridge as well, taking a pill against gas, shaving, and putting napkins, a Smecta Go, a vial of liquid magnesium and an expired high protein chocolate bar in the pocket of my tights. I got in bed at 4:10 AM… But it was hard to fall asleep, and I didn’t even stay asleep after I eventually did, waking up at some point, and I’m not even certain that I had just managed to fall asleep again before the alarm rang, at 6 AM.
Either way, after getting up I ate the apple and the yogurt with cereals and almonds, actually left something in the toilet, though it felt like there was more there, also ate the last of the cozonac, with added honey, took another pill against gas, a regular Smecta, putting it in the tea I drank, and the first part of the day’s supplements, taking what was left, as in one pill of iron and one of that one for joints, with me, and left a little after 7:45 AM, wearing the full running gear and one armband. The temperature was supposed to be about 15-16°C at the start time of 9 AM and 17-18°C at 11 AM.
The unpleasant part was that it was raining lightly. And, as I said, I walked to the metro, apparently for the first time since 2017, using one trip from that found metro card. And, while the metro came right away, it then stopped in the tunnel for a while, some of the lights turning off and the conductor only announcing that there had been a technical problem after it got moving again. But then I could switch, the other one coming pretty quickly as well, so at 8:15 AM I was getting off at Izvor… And when I got back to the surface I found that the rain had worsened.
I must have reached Constitution Square somewhere between 8:20 and 8:25 AM, though I didn’t actually check then. Then I had a quick look around, not seeing anything that was readily given away, or at least nothing that I cared and dared to try to get, so after doing just a few stretching moves on my own, I put my jacket and phone in the backpack, took shelter in a tent while trying to tie the rope straps the way I usually do but eventually having to give up when I just couldn’t seem to manage it, and at 8:40 AM I went to hand it in at the wardrobe, taking the remaining supplements after doing so. And then I went to the toilets that are closer to the starting area, standing in line there, then peeing and washing my hands, and then making my way to the sector meant for those aiming to finish in less than 1:45, which was once again listed as 1:20:00-1:44:59… But after initially remaining pretty much where I was as I ate that expired chocolate bar, I saw that it wasn’t hard to follow others and keep advancing, so I did that, ending up unexpectedly close to the line by the time the start was given, about a minute late.

I’ll now skip past the race and what I did after it, before walking away from Constitution Square, and say that I did so just before 12:55 PM, with some gathered recyclables. And I only grabbed one more as I approached Carrefour Unirii, and then yet another out of those which had been left in front of the exit, where the machines are, seeing more there but not daring to have a good look at them since those who take care of the machines were paying close attention. So I just took my place in line, dad calling while I was waiting, and I ended up using a machine that couldn’t have accepted glass bottles at the time, since that crate had filled and the guy took it out and restarted the machine before walking away to empty it. So a woman who was also there had a look at what those of us who were waiting had and told us to only use that machine if we didn’t have glass, and that we should unscrew the caps from plastic bottles before putting them in. Either way, I had no glass, so for me it was no problem, and I could put everything in, including a somewhat crushed can which had been left on the machine and which I grabbed and straightened enough to get it to be accepted as well. And just after walking away I grabbed another recyclable and a carton.
After putting my things in a cabinet, I took a couple of expiring products and hid them before going to pee and wash my hands. Then I retrieved those products and beeped dad twice, but he only called back after I had already left the store, so I went with what I thought he’d want, just getting one for him and putting back the other. I had also taken something for mother that I thought was two for the price of one, but at the self-checkout I saw that there was actually only a 50% discount for the second product, so I called over an employee to remove those things. And the value of the voucher received for the recyclables was higher than the price of what I bought for dad, so I couldn’t use it when I paid, and then I forgot to cash it in, ending up keeping it for another time.
On the way back I saw piles of non-refrigerated expiring products in the Profi from Decebal, buying some that were discounted by 70%, and seeing that the receipt listed the store as Mega Image, so I guess that the takeover was completed in the formal sense. Either way, I then grabbed another recyclable, put everything in a cabinet that didn’t lock from that Penny, and spent almost all I had left on some bottles of a thicker kind of tomato juice and a bag of expiring chicken legs. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged things a little, and grabbed more recyclables on the way back.
I got back for the first time a few minutes before 4 PM, with almost 14.5 kg. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop what I gathered down the chute, picking up another recyclable from the garbage room, after which I put all of the things I had brought in their place… And filled the toilet. And then I ate a bag of peanuts, getting some 950 calories just from that, changed, leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 7:20 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
I picked up some more recyclables on the way to Kaufland, and I also took the labels off two crushed ones… Or at least I think I took both of those then, though it’s possible that I had already taken one before getting back for the first time. Either way, what I hope was just water dripped on me from the second crushed bottle after I picked it up, but I also found a bottle of the right size for one of the labels, placing it on it and having it accepted by the machine along with all but one of the rest. And then I washed my hands, dashing to the women’s for soap, and entered the store, with the remaining recyclable and label, a little before 8 PM, finding the bakery area almost cleared, though I could get two sweet pastries for mother that were discounted by at 50%. And then I figured out just what to get in order for the total to be just marginally over the amount needed for the voucher that doubled the value of those received for recyclables and used during their recent campaign. And it worked, so I then cashed in the one received that evening, the closing announcement coming just when I was done. But the purchases were both heavy and large, so I struggled to drag myself away from the machine and went through the gate when the guy who used the machine after me scanned his receipt to open it, since it’d have been really difficult to find a way to scan mine while holding on to everything.
After struggling to arrange most of the purchases in the large backpack and the rest in a bag, I made my way to the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, getting there at 8:55 PM and leaving everything next to that payment machine. But there was no sign of the cart with the products that would have been discounted by 90%, though that regular seemed to have found or been given one, or at least I think she did, though I didn’t actually look closely enough to confirm that it was discounted by 90%. Either way, after the labels with the 50% evening discount were placed on the bakery products, I saw the employee who was handling the discounts take several discounted products out from under the counter and hand them to someone, possibly another employee who wasn’t on shift at the time, and then she came to the self-checkouts with a basket of her own filled with such products, so it didn’t seem like she had left anything for regular customers, though I didn’t actually ask. But at least I got three sweet pastries. And on the way back I had quick looks in Profi, Carrefour Express, and the nearby Mega Image, entering with everything and then just walking back out in the first and the last, while at Carrefour Express I left the bag with purchases on the cabinets and retrieved it after trying to put that recyclable which had been rejected earlier in the machine from there as well, still without any luck. I also grabbed a couple more recyclables on the way, but I didn’t care to put those in if that one didn’t work.
I was back for good just after 9:45 PM, with over 21.5 kg. And dad had taken something out of the litter box, putting what he had gathered in a bag, but he told me to put back the clean sand if I thought that he had gathered any, which he obviously had, so I tried to do that, but had more to gather from the litter box anyway, so I then did that, though I left that bag there. Then I put the purchases in their place, and at 10:40 PM I went to wash, being done a little after 11:25 PM and then rushing to post something, even if it the post wasn’t quite complete at 11:59 PM, so I edited it to fix things minutes later. And after spending a little more time on the computer, I made myself something to eat as lunch, on and off, starting to eat around 2 AM and finishing at 3 AM. As for dinner, I ate it between 4:05 AM and 4:55 AM, after which I put cream on my hands and feet and actually got in bed at the usual time. And I caught up on sleep, being woken up a few times between 11:40 AM and 12:35 AM by drilling but napping even between those moments, and while as of some point I started alternating between being asleep and awake and had been awake for a while by the time I got up, close to 5:45 PM, I should have gotten a total of some ten hours of sleep.

Moving on to the early hours of May 12, I was making mamaliga when another piece of enamel from the bottom of the cast iron pot shattered with a pop, so I was worried about something having happened on the inside as well and poured the contents of the pot into two bowls and tried to scrape enough of what was stuck on the bottom to check, being relieved when everything seemed fine and I could pour back what was in those bowls and continue. And since that guy was going to come in the afternoon and continue working on the bug nets and I wanted to go out before he did, I initially set the alarm to ring at 1 PM. However, while I could get right back to sleep after getting up to pee for the first time and also after Liza woke me by going to the litter box, I could no longer do so at all after getting woken up again, a little before 9 AM, when dad got up and fed Liza, and peeing again and exchanging a few words with him. There were the noises he made while getting ready to leave, then Liza’s “concert” after he did, also the landline ringing again, and at some point noise started coming from above once again. I might have just drifted off for a little while at some point, but when I got woken up again by some drilling, a little after 11:30 AM, and it looked like I still wasn’t able to get back to sleep, I eventually decided to go to the toilet, the annoying thing being that it was quiet while I was there. But at least that was done, so after having moved the alarm to 2 PM before going, I then moved it to 2:30 PM, and eventually managed to get a few more naps, though they were still interrupted… And after being woken up at 2:05 PM by another one of those bad dreams that seemed very “real”, I decided to get up and turn off the alarm.
After cleaning the litter box and doing the day’s squats I finished taking the supplements, since starting a day early meant that I had a day left after the half marathon and I had decided to just take one pill of iron and the one for joints the day before and the rest, plus one more of those for immunity, at that point. And then dad called to say that the guy was going to come later, so I read a little, but as time passed and dad wasn’t getting back I got increasingly worried, both about him and about that guy coming while I was still here and alone, eventually stepping out to drop a bag of trash down the chute and leave two cooking oil bottles next to it… Only for dad to walk up the stairs just then, so I came back to wash my hands, we exchanged a few words, and I finally left just before 5 PM, with a few recyclables with the deposit symbol and a label that also had the symbol.
I had seen that a kind of cat food, mainly for mother’s cats, was two for the price of one at Carrefour Market, though not at the hypermarkets, and there are two of them on either side of a farmers’ market that’s not far, so I went there, picking up a couple more recyclables on the way, putting all of them in the machine from the first one, getting what cat food of that kind I found there, which was less than a box, plus two cans of something else for dad, which I noticed were also two for the price of one, and then using the voucher received for those recyclables as well as the one which I had forgotten to cash in at Carrefour Unirii after the half marathon. And then I continued to the other one, putting those purchases in a cabinet that didn’t lock and finding more than two full boxes of that cat food, so I got all of that as well, after which I retrieved the previous purchases, put everything in a bag, and after stepping outside I took my time to get as much of that cat food as I could in the backpack. And since I hadn’t been there in years, I then had very quick looks in a few of the stores that are in or around that farmers’ market before making my way back to Penny Titan, putting everything in a cabinet that once again didn’t lock and getting what I wanted from there, plus some expiring chicken legs. And dad called just after I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, to say that the guy had left, so I came right back, picking up a few more recyclables and a carton.
I was back for the first time a little before 8 PM. And then dad told me of the new plan for the bug nets, which he had made with that guy. I disagreed with it, but even if they weren’t installed yet, they were already built according to that idea, and they’re not for my window, so I just moved along, putting the purchases in their place, eating lunch, and finally leaving again when it was almost 9:40 PM, with the recyclables and labels with the deposit symbol, since I had picked up one more label during the first trip. And I had seen a bottle in the garbage room that didn’t have the symbol but was the correct size for that second label, and it was still there when I had another look, so I grabbed it and at some point on the way I took off its label and put that one on it, obviously needing to walk slowly while doing that but otherwise jogging much of the way to Kaufland, though I still picked up some more recyclables.
After putting all of the recyclables in the machine, that one also being accepted, albeit after several attempts, I washed my hands particularly thoroughly, since I usually make a point of not looking when I pass by hospitals, and that one in particular, so I won’t be tempted to grab something from spots that are more risky, but when I took off that bottle’s label I was passing the bin that’s next to the bus stop that’s at the gate to the hospital, so I threw that label in it and when I saw a recyclable there, I took it. Either way, it was a few minutes past 10 PM when I entered the store, and the bakery discounts were of 75% but hardly anything other than buns and some breads were left, so I took several buns and one bread, then added two lettuces that had a great evening discount, looked around the store, and when I found nothing else I went back to the bakery area and added two more buns, even if my hands were no longer clean at that point and one also looked quite banged up. And I was at the self-checkout when the closing announcement came and had all of the buns in a single bag, which the machine wouldn’t initially accept… Until I dropped it a little harder on the scales, which made it accept it for one moment but then say that I had picked a product off the scales, and I couldn’t sort it out, so I eventually had to call over the employee to override the error. And then I also cashed in the voucher received for the recyclables and went to the scales that are outside the checkout area to get some labels to hold the bags closed, at which point I also weighed the bag with the buns and saw that it had six grams less than the total weight that the buns should have had, so I guess that machine wanted to be very accurate.
After spotting a cart with the coin in it in the parking lot and struggling to take it to others that I could connect it to and retrieve the coin, since the wheels seemed mostly stuck, it was almost 10:45 PM when I actually walked away… And then I also jogged part of the way to the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, so I was there at 10:50 PM, entering with everything and finding some products that were discounted by 90%, most of them having something else listed on the discount labels, though the prices seemed correct. Still, I took one of those that had the correct label and a plain bread for dad, since that was discounted by 70% at that hour, and then continued to the non-stop one, putting my things in a cabinet that didn’t lock, and getting two bakery products that had the 50% discount. The discount label listed just one, but I pointed out to the cashier that there were two, and I also used the voucher received for cartons that I still had, but when the cashier, who had apparently just filed a complaint with the police and was closing the register after the person who was behind me, seemed to make a point of thanking me for coming and asking me to visit them again without handing me the receipt, I didn’t ask or wait for it, just going to retrieve what I had in the cabinet and then making my way back, grabbing some more recyclables… Including one from a bin that contained more, but after I picked up that one I saw a woman stopping at a nearby bench and looking in my direction, so I walked away, had a very quick look in the nearby Mega Image, and by the time I got back there both the woman and the rest of those recyclables were gone.
I got back just after 11:45 PM. Then I put the purchases in their place, washed what was in the kitchen, made tea, since I hadn’t that day, ate an orange and put together something sweet and ate that as well, and it was 1:45 AM when I went to wash. I was done at 2:30 AM, but then I spent some time on the computer, so it was 3 AM when I got back to the kitchen… And at some point I saw and squashed another strange bug there, so I guess things had on again gotten in while the windows were open and still without nets. Either way, I also searched for an appropriate bag and arranged that food for mother’s cats in it, used the worse leaves of the lettuces, and finally ate dinner between 5:40 AM and 6:30 AM, with some ten minutes spent gathering what was stuck on the plate. I got in bed at 7:15 AM, somewhat concerned after having sneezed several times during the day and having a rather odd feeling in my chest as well.

At least I caught up on sleep, even if it didn’t seem like it at first, since I fell asleep quickly but at 7:45 AM I was woken up by Liza going to the litter box after dad got up, so I changed back into my day clothes while waiting for him to be done in the bathroom, then went to pee again, just in case, and cleaned the litter box before changing into my pajamas again, getting back in bed… And basically waiting for him to leave, which happened just before 8:30 AM, since I could only get back to sleep some time after that. But then there were no other noises that actually kept me awake, and even though after a certain point I kept waking up on my own, the naps getting ever shorter and basically alternating between being asleep and awake, I always did get right back to sleep and only got up for good a few minutes before 5:30 PM.

Not being a social person, I’ve never been keen on social networks, the only one I was actually active on was Facebook, and I stopped any visible activity there as well close to six and a half years ago, when the network that I was in shut down. But I’ve seen some excitement about eYou recently and even applied for a spot, but I didn’t actually look into any of the details in the least, assuming that nothing relevant would be revealed until I’ll either actually be invited as an “early believer” or it’ll launch properly, so it was quite an unpleasant surprise when I did receive that invite, but it only included links to download the app. So I thought that I must be missing something and sent a support message asking how to actually use it on a PC, in a browser, as a site.
Well, the reply only came two days ago, so after the public launch, and seeing as I was focusing on the half marathon, which I ran today, I didn’t read it right away, but when I finally did I saw that, after apologizing for the late reply, they simply said that it’s true, an actual site is supposedly planned at some point, but eYou is currently only available as an app. And the message ended by stating that they hope I can still enjoy it on my mobile device.
Well, no, I can’t, and either way I wouldn’t. I mean, I thought the whole point was to be something different from the networks based in the US or China and hand control over to the users, while on the other hand the whole point of having mobile apps, and of the entire smartphone ecosystem, instead of plain sites and PCs, is to switch over control from the user to the app maker, getting more information about the user and higher access to their activities and decide and control just how they can use the features. So are the developers just more wolves in sheep’s clothing or are they really that misguided and don’t see what this really means and does? But, perhaps more importantly, are those who show excitement about eYou and may even persuade others to give it a try in on it, fooled into it, or also terribly misguided?

In the early hours of April 26, using several of the worse leaves of lettuce and not rushing as much as I should have meant that, despite once again “cheating” to be able to say that I took a first bite in my room before 3 AM, it was close to 3:30 AM when I actually started to eat and 3:45 AM when I finished. And then I wrote what ended up being the two paragraphs about the issues I had during that week’s run properly, since I had left that part in the form of rough notes in what I had posted just before midnight. But then it took a long time to fall asleep, and while that was no longer the case after I got up to pee at one point, it happened again after getting woken up as dad was starting to get ready to leave, and I had probably just managed it when I woke up yet again when he put the key in the door, so I then decided to read for a while before managing to get some more sleep, and another nap after getting up to pee again. I got up for good after the alarm rang, at 4:55 PM, since I wanted to watch handball, and by then I had gotten a total that was probably around seven and a half hours or so of sleep, albeit split into several parts, so at least I didn’t add to my sleep debt, but I didn’t recover anything either. And dad got back well before 7 PM, despite having said that he was going to be back around 9 PM, and apparently called me just after 6 PM, while I was in the kitchen and watching the match, without also trying the landline when I didn’t hear, so even though I had told him, repeatedly and in detail, about the cat food that was on sale at Penny, he ended up buying a box of that kind that he won’t give Liza because she doesn’t wolf it down right away, claiming that he didn’t know and blaming me for it, of course.

The next morning, Liza once again woke me by going to the litter box, albeit around 10:15 AM, and while I just peed and got back in bed, dad also got up soon after that and then kept making noise, in good part because he tried to feed her some of that food he had bought, saw that she didn’t wolf it down right away, and then moved it into something else, I hope to take it to some cats that are outside, and took all of it out of the box from the fridge, just leaving the other kind there and feeding her some of it. And when he left, a little before 11:30 AM, and I went to see what all that clinking and crinkling and scraping had been about, I also found a note telling me to leave that food out, stop filling that box with it, because she doesn’t like it so he’ll eventually take it to other cats, in time. And if getting back to sleep after having been kept awake for all that time would have been difficult anyway, getting annoyed by that made it clear that it was pointless to even try right away, so I only got back in bed at 1 PM, managing a series of brief naps. I don’t think that I was awake for long between them, so I’d say that I slept the large majority of the time until just after 3:15 PM, when I decided to get up again, but with that sleep being broken into several short parts, it probably didn’t do that much good either. And then my nose, throat and chest started feeling like I was coming down with something, which was awfully concerning. On the other hand, I realized that the previous day I had forgotten to start taking the supplements that I meant to take until the race, but at least I started taking them then. And late in the evening I got back in bed and napped for what was most probably close to but not quite an hour, and then I shaved as well.

After once again putting peanut butter on all of the bread in the early hours of April 28, I set the alarm to ring at 2 PM… But then I kept being woken up. I got right back to sleep the first two times, when I got up to pee and when dad left, but things changed at 9:40 AM, when loud drilling started. After a while the noise got slightly less loud and there were some pauses as well, so I could get some more sleep, but it was obviously interrupted and agitated, and I also kept having to pee, usually quite a lot, almost each time I woke up. And at one point there was a cramp as well, in my left calf, the spot continuing to hurt after I got up. And what was annoying was that it was basically quiet after that. Either way, I then had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing consisting of another slice of cozonac, with added honey, cleaned the litter box, took the first part of the supplements for the day, and it was almost 4:45 PM when I left, wearing the full running gear, still with the better shoes, and one armband, and with some things in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was 19-20°C, holding steady.
The time was 1:48:20, with sector times of 4:28, 5:10, 6:09, 4:40, 5:11, either 6:12 or 6:02, either 4:33 or 4:43, most probably 5:18, 6:17, 4:50, 5:24, 6:19, 4:53, 5:33, 6:28, 4:55, 5:29, 6:26, 1:55, 6:11 and 1:59, making for lap times of 15:47, either 16:03 or 15:53, either 16:08 or 16:18, 16:33, 16:54 and 16:50, plus 10:05 for the final portion. The thing is that I never had any doubt about the times while running, only realizing when I wrote them down after getting back that I was missing ten seconds and had no idea whether those should be added to sector three of lap two or sector one of lap three. There’s also a tiny chance that they’re from sector two of lap three, but I really doubt it, so I’ll focus on those two sectors, because I was wondering whether I’ll stay under 16 minutes on lap two and was surprised by that sector three that seemed less slow than that of lap one and a lap that was apparently exactly what was needed for the average for the first two laps to be that 15:50 that’d be the target for them if I’d go for 1:48. But, not counting the unlikely case of the problem being with sector two of lap three, by the end of sector one of lap three I was obviously assuming a time of 31:50 after two laps, not 31:40. So was that correct, meaning 6:12 on sector three of lap two and 4:33 on sector one of lap three, or did I confuse the 50 seconds from that average with those from the total time at that point and it was actually 6:02 and 4:43? Losing a little time on the long straight of sector one of lap two, which may explain that sector being slower than that of lap three, while really not feeling like I had pushed on sector three of lap two and being particularly surprised when I thought that I had covered it in 6:02, makes me edge towards the first scenario, so I’ll go with it, but with serious question marks, since I really don’t know.
Either way, running a half marathon distance so soon after the previous time made me wonder whether I’ll even stay under 1:50, but the first two sectors were pretty promising… Only for the third to be noticeably worse than I thought it’d be, getting my hopes back down. So I was wondering whether I’ll even cover lap two in less than 16 minutes, which I thought was what I needed in order to keep having a chance to stay under 1:50, and thinking that I actually ended up covering it in 15:53 really got my hopes back up. That adds wishful thinking as another reason to go for that first scenario described above, since admitting that I had already gone over 16 minutes per lap would have made me worry again, but as it was, I started thinking of 1:49, even if keeping the loss of time in check seemed unlikely. And I’m certain that I had 47:58 after three laps, putting me over the target for 1:48, which I hoped to stick to at least until then in order to allow myself to lose more later. And after falling even more behind that target after lap four, the main goal was once again to at least make sure that I’ll stay under 1:50, hoping to at least stay under 17 minutes on lap five in order to be able to lose more after that. Only after managing that did I think of getting under 1:49 again, pushing more on lap six in order to make it even with 10:30 on the final portion. But when I saw that I had actually been a little less slow on lap six than on lap five I really went for it, hoping to somehow squeeze under 1:48:30 as well, and in the end I managed it by a very safe margin. And, while the time would be disappointing in itself, being less than a minute slower than the previous time when the runs were only days apart was quite nice.
There were warnings from my right knee and a little pain in that spot of my left calf muscle from the beginning, and later there were a few jabs in both hips, plus an overall feeling that I was running out of leg parts that I could make more use of in order to spare others. But I managed all of that, and the pain that I occasionally felt in the lower right side of my abdomen for a part of the run eventually seemed to go away for good. On the other hand, a certain pressing need first appeared on sector two of lap four, fading before returning on sector two of lap five, though it was never a serious issue. And the fact that my hands started to go numb towards the end of lap five obviously didn’t mean that I was as exhausted as I feared, looking at the times. My nose was once again irritated at the end, but that was to be expected.
Otherwise, there were some windy areas, and that contributed to the first notable problem caused by people, which was in fact a potentially dangerous moment. It was on the long straight of sector one of lap two, when I was catching up to another runner but trying to use her to shield myself from the headwind as much as possible, so I tried to make myself smaller and stay behind her until the last moment, then meant to dash around her… Only to find myself facing a cyclist coming from the opposite direction, who had just swerved onto the lane in order to get around other people, so I hesitated for an instant and then just managed to duck back behind that runner until the cyclist went past us. Other than that, on sector two of lap three I weaved my way through a couple of consecutive roadblocks and slowed as a result, while on the long straight of sector one of lap four there were three groups of three people, one behind the other, coming from the opposite direction, and the first two cleared the way in opposite sides, but the third had no time to do so after they could finally see me, resulting in a wall of people that made me hesitate and then have to pick my way past. There were smaller issues on sector one and two of lap five, and maybe also at some point on lap six, but I might have gotten away without a notable loss of time. However, on sector two of the final portion I hesitated twice, the first time being right at the start of it, when two other runners stopped right in front of me just after I came down the stairs, and the second time I believe because of two cyclists, the second coming just as I meant to use the space that the first had passed through, if I remember correctly.

After the run, I went to the nearest Penny, starting to jog at first, but then grabbing a recyclable, seeing two cartons as well, and wanting a bag to put them in, so I won’t get that sort of stuff in the ones which I had taken with me. And since I didn’t spot any right away, I slowed to a walk and started looking, eventually thinking that I saw a usable one in a bin… Only to see that it had been used as a doggy bag, so it’s a good thing that I had picked it up carefully and only touched the outside of it before quickly dropping it back and wiping my hands with some leaves. Either way, that meant that I didn’t take those cartons, but did grab a smaller one that I spotted a little later, leaving it and that recyclable in a cabinet that I didn’t bother to lock and getting a lot of the cat food that was on sale. The old woman who was behind me in line asked how many cats I had and I found myself saying three, so including mother’s cats, even if that food was just for Liza, but I guess the answer was good enough to avoid further questions, so I then retrieved what I had in the cabinet… And ended up using one of my bags for recyclables anyway, since I grabbed plenty more on the way back, including a crushed one that I thought I’ll be able to straighten. So I could have done that from the beginning, to get those two cartons as well… Even if it was hard to carry everything even so.
After cleaning the litter box again, I ate a banana before going to drop the bag of trash down the chute. Then I changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, straightened that crushed recyclable, and it was past 9:05 PM when I left again, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and the few gathered cartons. And on the way to Kaufland I gathered more recyclables, and also stopped at that Mega Image to put the cartons in that machine. Then I put the recyclables in the machine from Kaufland, minus that one that still wasn’t accepted.
After washing my hands, I entered the store, with that remaining recyclable, just before 9:50 PM, and grabbed a few products from the bakery area before the evening discounts increased to 75%, adding some more after they did, though at that point it seemed that the one for the nicer cheap buns wasn’t changing, so I didn’t also take more of those. Then I took a basket and an entire package of sugar, which I wasn’t going to carry around in my arms. And after also adding a box of mushrooms that were among the spoiling products and discounted by 75% even though they looked quite fine and a lettuce that I was uncertain about, since it had an evening discount but was rather small and wilted, I was at the self-checkout over five minutes before closing time… And still there when the announcement was made, mainly because the QR code on the discount label for the mushrooms was twisted around and I couldn’t fix it despite wasting some time with the attempt. The numeric code was visible, however, so I called over the employee and asked whether he could enter it, yet the full price showed up when he did, so he tried to pee off that label and enter another code that was underneath it, but that other label got torn in the process, so he told me to continue with the other products until he’ll get back and walked away with the mushrooms, returning a little later and entering a code that worked properly, which is something that I’m pretty sure never happened before at Kaufland, employees just saying that a product can’t be bought if it won’t scan and the numeric code isn’t fully visible either. And that employee also entered the sugar and the code for the store card, since the picture of that QR code wouldn’t scan either. And then I saw that the discount for the cheap buns had also increased to 75% after all. On the other hand, I left that lettuce there. And then I used the voucher received for the recyclables and the 10 RON one that I still had.
After struggling to get the sugar in the large backpack, adding the mushrooms on top of it, and arranging the bakery products in a bag, it was close to 10:45 PM when I finally walked away. And then I added something to the recyclables but still managed to reach that Mega Image that closes at 11 PM in time… Only to see no bakery discounts, so I just had a quick look at the expiring products, entering with everything, and then added some more recyclables before entering the non-stop Mega Image with everything as well. However, when I saw bakery products that I could take having the 50% evening discount in that location, I went back to the cabinets and used no less than three of them for everything except the large backpack, though I didn’t lock them. Then I entered again, just with the large backpack, and took two sweet pastries and an expiring product, using two vouchers received for cartons, since I had one left from another day as well, and having the exact amount needed on top of that, which was apparently quite a relief for the cashier, who had no change to give and had been struggling to figure out how to make it so the people who were before me could pay for their purchases, so when my turn came and I gave her the 3 RON that she needed for the previous customer and had the remaining amount in coins as well, she asked for a little less. And then I retrieved my things, gathered more recyclables, plus two cartons, on the way back, and also reached the nearby Mega Image in time, since it’s closing at midnight again, initially entering with everything and just walking back out after having a quick look at the expiring products but then thinking that the expiring pancakes looked interesting and going back, leaving the bags next to the door… Only to change my mind again and just retrieve those bags and walk back out.
I was back just after midnight, with just about 17 kg. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a little trash down the chute, talked to dad a little, ate a sweet pastry, put the purchases in their place, minus the pack of sugar and the one of six boxes of cat food, which I left on a chair, and it was 1:55 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and take a bath, which was actually a bit of a bubble bath, using something sent by mother a long time ago. I was done just before 2:55 AM. Then I moved something into a jar, washed what was in the kitchen, ate the pizza slices brought by dad, which basically added up to a full pizza, as lunch, on and off, between 3:50 AM and 4:45 AM, also dealt with those buns that I was going to use as bread, took one of those cold pills expired for over a year and a half and the rest of the supplements for the day, cleaned up some things left by dad in the living room as well, and finally ate dinner between 5:20 AM and 6:20 AM, while writing notes about the day. I got in bed at 7:10 AM, after rubbing cream on my hands and feet.

At 10 AM, I got woken up by noise which I had learned was indeed coming once again from the upstairs neighbor and decided to at least make some use of the time, getting a load of laundry in the machine. And later I cleaned the litter box again, ate lunch, did 200 squats, to make up for having skipped them the previous day, took the first part of the supplements and one of those for immunity, and since the guy who was making the bug nets was coming in the afternoon to do those for the balcony, actually wanting to do the work here, I decided to go out again… Only to find, just as I was at the door, that dad had taken away everything that was in a small basket as he rushed to clean up a little before that guy got here, and while he could hand me the store cards right away, the only issue there being that he had put those together with another one for Mega Image that he had made at some point and there was no way to really know which was which anymore, that found metro card had also been there, along with an old card for surface transit. The latter may not even be valid anymore, but I really wanted the “safety net” of that found metro card, so he started looking for it and soon found it in the paper bag, the problem being that he hadn’t just put it there, but had also crumpled it up, so he said that he was going to put it inside a book, to straighten it, but I had doubts that it’d still work.
Either way, it was close to 4:30 PM when I finally left, with a bag of trash that I dropped down the chute and the recyclables with the deposit symbol, grabbing a few more on the way to Penny Titan and putting them in the machine, minus the one which I somehow hadn’t noticed didn’t have the symbol, which I dropped in a bin. Then I got what I wanted, for dad, also used the voucher received for the recyclables, arranged the purchases a little, and picked up a few more recyclables on the way to Bebe Tei, being surprised to see a machine there as well and putting them in it.
After putting the purchases in a cabinet, I found the cloves that I had gone there for… But I had forgotten to check before leaving whether these supplements that I take were on sale, and while I was there I noticed that the one for the joints was, yet sometimes there are some small price differences between that branch and the main Tei and I didn’t want to buy some from there and then see that they’d have been slightly cheaper at Tei, so I considered beeping dad and asking him to check, but since he was probably busy with that guy, I decided to try to check on my phone… Which led to struggling for 20 minutes, at first trying various ways to deal with how poorly the site was loading, then making a couple of attempts to use Google only to be required to complete a captcha that never showed up, and finally managing to do it by using DuckDuckGo. And since I saw that the price was the same, I got two, since that was what I could afford with what I had on me, and also used the voucher received for the recyclables.
After retrieving the other purchases and taking some time to arrange everything in the backpack, I decided against continuing to either Supeco or Auchan and just check Carrefour on the way back, part of the reason why being that I was dealing with a certain pressing need… And at one point I feared that something more than just gas had slipped out, so after reaching Park Lake and putting the two recyclables picked up by then in the machine, I went to the toilet and checked, being relieved to find that it hadn’t been the case. Then I peed and washed my hands, put my things in a cabinet, and entered the store just before dad called to let me know that the guy had finally left. So I bought a few things, including a jar of mustard that was on sale for what I thought was a good price but forgetting to look for those snacks for dad and some garlic. Either way, after also using the voucher received for the recyclables, I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and grabbed a few more recyclables on the way back.
I was back for the first time just after 8 PM. Then I put what had to be put in the fridge and freezer there, spread out the other things, and had a look at the bug nets installed on the balcony… Immediately seeing all sorts of problems, the minor ones being that they’re a little loose in the frames, and wanting them tight and straight was why dad said he wanted frames instead of just fixing them directly on the wall, as I had suggested. But the serious problem is that they’re slightly torn all around the frames, and the large one has a pretty large tear that stretches top to bottom a little way away from the frame, dad saying that he picked the material so Liza won’t be able to tear them again, but it doesn’t take being bent or stretched, so when the guy stretched it and got it in the frames, that happened. I’d say that, if that guy took on the job of putting our nets into the frames he built and install them, he should have found a way to avoid this if he wanted to get paid, but dad waved it away and said that he’ll repair those areas by gluing or, as I suggested, sewing some strips over them. Either way, I then wolfed down a large bag of corn puffs and it was past 8:45 PM when I rushed out again, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, adding something to them despite jogging most of the way to the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM.
I got there a couple of minutes before 9 PM, putting the recyclables in the machine before the cart with the products that are discounted by 90% was brought. And that regular wasn’t there and the others who were don’t rush that much to grab everything, so I took some things, even if all but one that I got for my parents were imported, and at the checkout I saw that a pack of tofu, still with the 90% discount, had been left there, so I asked the cashier whether I could buy that one as well and added it to the two which I had grabbed from the cart when she confirmed it. And I also used the voucher received for the recyclables.
After arranging the purchases, I continued on my way, wanting to go to that other Carrefour as well, but when I passed by that store that’s on that route and which I had always ignored until them, I saw a sign listing a number of products that had discounts, including mustard at a much better price than the one I had bought from Carrefour, so I shouldn’t have bought that one, not that I could have known it at the time. Either way, I went in and bought two of those as well, the fact that I reached over to take the receipt and said that I wanted it seeming to surprise the cashier, who was just letting them print without even taking them to throw them in a bin or something, and the people who had been before me had ignored them as well.
After entering that mall through the parking lot, grabbing a couple more recyclables, and putting them in the machine, I entered Carrefour with the backpack, wanting to get some of those snacks for dad which I had forgotten to look for earlier… Only to find none left at the regular place on the shelf and just one discarded somewhere nearby, so I just bought that one and a little garlic, at full price, meaning to also use the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid… Only for the machine to say that it was unrecognized, and when I called over an employee she said that it wasn’t in the system yet and to keep it for another time, which I did.
It was late by then, so I rushed to Kaufland, though I still picked up another recyclable and put it in the machine from there. Then I added the new purchases in the backpack, washed my hands, and it was 10:05 PM when I entered the store, with the backpack. A kind of bread that I decided I could take had a great evening discount, so I took one, plus a couple of sweet pastries that were discounted by 50% and a few others, for mother, which were only discounted by 30%. Then I made use of a great evening discount for a lettuce, finding one which had been left by someone next to some scales and which was somewhat less small and wilted than the few left in the crate, and also added some beets and a few bananas, those having evening discounts as well. But I wasn’t sure whether I was going to take all of the bananas, so I weighed and labeled them separately, then grabbed one more thing, also for mother… And I also saw two bundles of green onions in a basket that seemed to contain things which had been recovered by employees after having been discarded by customers, so I took the better one, even if I looked for the price label and found that it was at full price. And when I passed by the bakery area again, I didn’t notice increased discounts… Only to see at the self-checkout, which I reached just after the closing announcement, that the discount for the sweet pastries which I had grabbed for myself had increased to 80%, so I should have taken all of them… And the machine didn’t accept the bag that contained those and the ones for mother, so I had to call over an employee and she logged on to override the error, and then she had to come back and do the same for the lettuce. And I did end up leaving one of the bananas there, and then I also used the voucher received for that recyclable.
After quickly arranging things a little, I continued to that Mega Image, putting the bags in a cabinet, entering with the backpack, but then just retrieving the bags and making my way back, the phone giving a low battery warning just after I walked out, so after six days. Either way, I picked up a few more recyclables and a couple of small juice cartons that I tried to drain. And when I got here I had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image, leaving the bags next to the door and entering with the backpack but seeing no bakery discounts and nothing else that was interesting, so I just retrieved the bags and walked back out.
It was close to 11:30 PM when I got back. Then I cleaned the litter box again, but wanted to eat the banana that I already had before taking the bag of trash to the garbage room, and before doing that I spread out the purchases… And noticed that those juices had dripped a little on the purchases, in particular in the bag with the bakery products and that other thing for mother, and the bakery products were in paper bags, so I took them out and threw away the bags, meaning that it was quite a while before I finally ate that banana and went to shove that bag of trash into the overflowing chute. And then I put the purchases in their place, washed what was in the kitchen, dealt with my bread, ate a sweet pastry that I already had, and it was 1:35 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. I was done just under one hour later, and after seeing that the phone had turned itself off and set it to charge, I ate dinner between 4:50 AM and 5:35 AM. I got in bed at 6:50 AM, after taking the rest of the supplements and putting cream on my hands and feet.

At least I really slept, only getting up to check the time at 3:56 PM. I remember waking up twice before then, but I don’t know why and I got right back to sleep. And I didn’t need to pee too badly even then, so I just stayed in bed, only finally getting up when it was close to 5:15 PM, even though I was basically awake during that time, at most getting one more very brief nap. And minutes later there was some brief drilling, though there hadn’t been any while I had been awake, and when I went to the kitchen I saw that the water was off, quite clearly for the work being done at the apartment above, so I went to the bathroom sink to get water for the tea. And that day I decided to also take some of that vitamin C expired so long ago, at least on days when I won’t add something else that contains that. And at night, when I went to clean up a little after dad took a bath, I noticed another invasion of ants in the bathroom, so I used bug spray there again. On the other hand, it’s getting clearer that the filling that was last replaced in December, when I was told it couldn’t last, is getting loose again, and the gum also seems rather inflamed in that area.

The following morning I was once again woken up by awfully loud drilling, just after 9:05 AM, and the noise continued for hours, but after it stopped I got some more sleep, getting the total to at least seven hours by the time I got up for good, at 5:40 PM, still feeling utterly exhausted but deciding that trying to get back to sleep one more time was a bad idea after having woken up by kicking the wall, apparently acting on what I was dreaming, and being very relieved that the big toe that took most of the impact seemed fine, even if it hurt a little. On the other hand, I spent quite some time reading, and in the evening I made mamaliga, realizing just before starting to eat that I had forgotten about the supplements and taking most of them then and the rest before going to bed. It took me a while to fall asleep, however, only finally managing it some time after 6 AM, since that was when I checked the time and decided to pee again, just in case it’d help.

After being woken up in the same manner and at almost exactly the same time, on May 2 I arranged some things in my room and then finished the book, getting back in bed at 2:10 PM, when the work in the apartment above seemed to have finally ended… Only for the cleaning to start, so there were more noises, albeit much fainter ones, so I could get some sleep, but only the first nap was longer, the total being unlikely to have reached two hours by 5 PM, when the alarm rang and I got up to watch the Formula E race. And then I made pasta and also wrote the quick review for the book.

On May 3, the first time I woke up it was because I had to pee, and then I quickly checked something on the computer, but I still got right back to sleep after that. It might have taken me a few minutes to do so again after Liza woke me again by going to the litter box, but after waking up one more time, a little after 11:30 AM, when dad got up, that I stayed awake for what must have been about an hour, since I peed again, exchanged a few words with him, and then got back in bed but was still awake a little before 12:20 AM, when he left. And then I think it was some noise from above that woke me again, a little after 2:30 PM, and while I just peed one more time and got back to sleep after that, when I got woken up again, I guess for the same reason, I ended up remaining awake for some time and eventually getting up, a few minutes before 4 PM… And then I found that the start time for the Formula 1 race had been changed and ended up giving up on the idea of going out later.
On the other hand, in the evening I made something sweet by putting some jam between biscuits and microwaving them, but since they still seemed somewhat soggy I then added a little more time, and that proved to be too long, leading to some of the jam getting partly burned and hardening on the spoon that I used to break up the biscuits, to get them to cool faster, and when I tried to scrape it off with my teeth, I heard something snap, and while a piece of that hardened jam did break off at that point, it’s possible that I also chipped some front teeth a little more. But at least I finally managed to write the post about the spring’s tree planting events, even if two paragraphs were still in the form of notes at 11:59 PM and I edited it a little later, to write those properly as well. However, at night I once again “cheated” in order to be able to say that I took a first bite of dinner in my room before 3 AM, but then opened that bio (organic) peanut butter which had expired by then, also cleaned the litter box again, and generally took it too easy, actually starting to eat when it was past 3:15 AM and finishing at 3:50 AM.

Despite waking up as my parents were getting ready to leave, since my mother had also been here, only getting back to my room after almost 40 minutes, after washing what was in the kitchen and cleaning up a little, and then picking Capital and Ideology back up and reading for just under one hour, I did get a total of some eight hours of sleep by the time I decided to get up, just before 4 PM. A reason for concern was some pain that seemed to come from my right kidney but was probably from my lower back, perhaps because of the position I had been in while reading, but it eventually went away.

Moving on to the early hours of May 5, after eating dinner between 1:20 AM and 1:55 AM and then taking the t-shirt from the half marathon of 2016 out, since I wanted to wear that one again, making the tea for the morning, and mixing the cereals and almonds into the expired and imported but really nice yogurt, having 200 grams, 8.5% protein and 2% fat, so that part will also be already done, I got in bed at 3:30 AM. And I actually fell asleep pretty quickly and either slept until the alarm rang, at 8 AM, or if I woke up at one point then I got right back to sleep, what I was dreaming making it difficult to be certain. Either way, I then ate an apple and that yogurt with cereals and almonds, with the sweet thing consisting of some cozonac, with added honey, left little more than gas in the toilet, which wasn’t that much of a concern after having filled it the previous day, took the first part of the supplements plus one of those for immunity, and left at 9:45 AM, wearing the full running gear, with that t-shirt from 2016 and the better running shoes. The reported temperature was about 18°C at 10 AM, rising to about 20°C at 11 AM.
The time was 48:05.17, with sector times of 4:09.73, 5:02 (5:01.69), 6:03 (6:02.60), 4:33.96, 5:05 (5:04.69), 5:55 (5:54.35), 4:31.12, 5:03.41, 5:55 (5:54.69) and 1:49 (1:48.93), making for lap times of 15:14.02, 15:33.00 and 15:29.22. I was wondering whether to just run ten kilometers again, for the first time since January, or turn this into the first morning run of 16 km, and if I’d have done this run a day earlier I might have preferred the second option, but as it was it seemed a little too close to the half marathon for that, so I pushed from the start and hoped to give myself a reason to just go for ten kilometers by getting back under 48 minutes. And that first sector was promising, but it was the same a year ago and then that run fell apart, so I only started to hope after sector two, considering it a given that I’ll cover the first lap in less than 15:10 and wondering whether I might even get under 15 minutes… Only to go over six minutes on sector three and fail completely. So returning under 48 minutes seemed clearly out of the question, but I still didn’t want to continue to 16 km, so I decided to settle for just staying under 49 minutes, sector one of lap two being somewhat concerning but the following two being better, and sector three making me wonder why couldn’t I have managed that on lap one as well and give myself reason to hope. But it was too late for that, so I just changed the target to 48:30, which after sector two of lap three became at least 48:20, if not 48:15, and 48:10 after the end of the lap. But that final sector was faster than expected, so I was frustratingly close to 48 minutes, making this still a poor time but the least bad one over this distance since the last decent one, in November.
The thing is that, on top of taking supplements for over a week, which should have improved things more than that, there were very few issues to speak of, and none of them notable. There were some warnings from the back of my right knee from the beginning, but they faded, that knee only bothering me again on sector three of lap three, when all parts of it were giving warnings, though it wasn’t that bad even then. And there was a moment when there was some pain that seemed to be reflected from my back, but that didn’t last either. And that was pretty much it, even the amount of weaving and going the long way around being relatively low, and the conditions being just fine.

Then I jogged back, though I also dashed into the nearby Mega Image for a quick look. Unfortunately, not long after I got back, dad got a call from mother, saying that she was not feeling well and in pain, so things were looking badly and he went there… But it wasn’t like I could have done anything about that, so after eating a banana, going to the toilet, and changing, leaving the running t-shirt on, I meant to rush to the nearest Penny… Only to think to try some recyclables which hadn’t worked before again, take them from the top of the fridge… And have one of those small juice cartons fall behind the fridge. And I didn’t know whether it was actually behind it or inside the radiator, and when I wanted to get the mirror from the bathroom and try to have a look that way, I didn’t find it there anymore, nor anywhere else. So I then tried to move the fridge, but it initially wouldn’t even budge, yet taking all of those recyclables which haven’t been accepted off it gave me a chance, so I unplugged it and struggled until I moved it just enough to be able to look behind it and see that carton there, and then I needed some more time to find a way to get it out, after which I took some more of those old recyclables, since I had taken them down anyway, along with the cartons, pushed the fridge more or less back in its place, put the remaining old recyclables back on it, plugged it back in, and finally left again just after 2:20 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, including some of those old ones, and the cartons, but without taking the headphones.
After grabbing another recyclable and the label off a crushed one on the way to this Penny, I had quite some time to wait at the machine, two people with quite a lot of recyclables being ahead of me and the machine stopping soon after I got there, though an employee quickly came to empty the containers… Apparently without replacing the one for glass, since when my turn came it said that it had no container for glass bottles. But I could put in the other “new” recyclables, plus two cans which hadn’t been accepted before, and when I walked away I saw that a recyclable had appeared in the bin and picked it up, putting all of those that I had been left with in a cabinet that I didn’t bother to lock and getting what I had gone there for, plus a jam that I decided to add. Then I also used the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid, retrieved those recyclables, and took some time to arrange the purchases… And a little later I stopped again and found a way to add the last bottle of tomato juice in the backpack as well, then continued to the Mega Image that’s next to Tei, putting the cartons in the machine from there and then seeing that the regular machine wasn’t working, but that other one that I only saw in that location, which is supposed to accept many recyclables at once, was, so I tried to use it for the first time, putting in the couple of recyclables grabbed on the way and a couple of those which hadn’t been accepted before, though the others that I tried, including a glass bottle which had been emptied by dad, were spat out.
I then decided to continue to Carrefour as well, grabbing a few more recyclables, including one without a label that was just the right kind for that one which I had grabbed earlier, so I placed it on it and then put what I had grabbed and a few more of those which hadn’t been accepted before in the machine from there, being left with three of those which hadn’t been accepted before, and one probably won’t be, since the bar code is faded. Either way, I then put my things in a cabinet that couldn’t be locked, but which for some reason had a coin left in the lock, so I took it. And then I bought what I had gone there for, plus a sweet pastry that was at half price and some garlic, since it had no price label but I checked on the scales, needing to search for it by name, since it wouldn’t show up in the menu, and found that it was discounted. But I once again forgot to look for those snacks for dad. Not that I could have carried much more with the bags I had with me, as even so, after also using the voucher received for the recyclables and the other one which I had been left with, it was a struggle to get the purchases to the cabinet and then find a way to arrange everything. But I eventually managed it, and on the way back I picked up a few more recyclables and another carton, putting those recyclables and one more of those old ones into the machine from the nearby Mega Image and then just cashing in the voucher. And then I grabbed one more recyclable before getting here.
I was back again at 5:30 PM, with close to 19 kg. Then I put the purchases in their place, set aside some things which had been on the fridge and which I decided to take to the recycling bin before putting the rest back up there, ate a small bag of corn puffs and the sweet pastry from Carrefour, and did 200 squats, after once again putting them off the day before until I forgot to do them at all. And dad called at some point during that time, saying that mother had been taken to hospital, those from the ambulance suspecting gallstones, and they had been waiting for an ultrasound for four hours at that point, since she’s in pain but they’re told that much more serious cases require attention. Either way, I left again at 8:40 PM, with the plastic and metal, which I dropped off in a recycling bin, and that last recyclable which I had picked up.
After grabbing a few more recyclables on the way, including one that someone had obviously tried to play a trick with, tearing off the label and dropping the part with the bar code inside it, so I used a stick to get it out, I realized that I had to jog the last part of the way to that Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, doing so and getting there just at 9 PM. And I managed to put the recyclables in the machine, sticking that torn bar code on that one, just before the cart with the products with the 90% discount was brought. And then I grabbed a few, being able to take my time to decide and calculate, since that regular wasn’t there, the two others who were also took their time to discuss and decide, and there were a lot of products of a couple of kinds. Those products included some oranges, and I wasn’t charged for the bag that they were in, then I used the voucher which I had been left with from that Mega Image that’s next to Tei… But I didn’t get to also cash in the one from there, the guard pulling me aside right after the cashier asked whether that was everything I was buying and I confirmed it and telling me to show her what I had in my pockets. So I did, and she even searched me, saying that she had been told that I had pocketed things and that if I’ll be found with anything I’ll be banned from the store. I told her that I could hand her my jacket if she wanted, but she was eventually satisfied, and then even apologized, and after she let me go and I stepped aside to arrange the purchases she came after me to apologize again and I mentioned that it had happened to me before, at Penny, and a guard from there even followed me outside.
Moving on, I continued to Kaufland, picking up a couple more recyclables, putting them in the machine, putting my things in a cabinet, washing my hands, and entering the store a little after 9:40 PM. I saw bakery discounts of 50% at that point and took some things that I meant to be for mother plus one more sweet pastry, though I had some doubts about it, and then looked around the store, not finding anything else to get. I passed by the bakery area again a little after 10 PM, hearing an employee mention new discounts to another and telling him to grab what he wanted before they ran out, but nothing was displayed or announced just then, so I wandered around a little longer, until there was an announcement of 75% discounts for some bakery products and I went back there to grab a couple more things, even if my hands weren’t exactly clean anymore. And I guess that I shouldn’t have taken those other products earlier, since if they’d have been left at that point they’d have probably been discounted by 75% as well, while this way the discount didn’t change, but that was that, and I didn’t put them back. So I just had two bags of bakery products when I got to the self-checkout, and the machine didn’t accept one of them, so I had to call an employee over and she checked and then logged on to override the error. And after paying, also using the voucher received for the recyclables, I weighed that bag and saw that it had only three grams more than what should have been the total weight of the products, so I’m not sure what the machine’s problem was. Either way, I then retrieved my things, arranged a little better, and walked out just after the closing announcement.
After continuing to that Mega Image and putting my things in a cabinet, I saw that some products that had the 90% discount were left and I took two, for my parents or grandmother, to also use the voucher which I had been left with from the other location… And I had just retrieved what I had in the cabinet when dad called to say that mother was going into surgery to remove her gallbladder. So I was a little shocked, but after a moment I walked out and stopped at that bench, arranging everything properly before making my way back… And it wasn’t until I grabbed one more recyclable that I realized that I had also thrown that dirty bag that I put them in into that cabinet from Kaufland and completely forgot about it when I retrieved the purchases. At least the only thing left in it was a cap used for a contest, and we have a pile of those and dad never entered any, and while finding several more recyclables in a bin would have been a problem otherwise, I also found a bag in there, containing two of them and seeming very clean, so I kept it and really filled it on the way back, also adding a carton on top of the recyclables. And when I got here I also had yet another look in the nearby Mega Image, leaving the bags next to the door, entering with the backpack, and then just retrieving the bags.
I got back for good a couple of minutes after 11:30 PM, and when I initially washed my hands, the water still seemed fine. But then Liza went to the litter box again, and when I washed my hands again after cleaning it and going to drop a bag of trash down the chute, the water temperature dropped rapidly. The site didn’t list any problem here, but in surrounding areas there are problems that are estimated to last at least until May 13! And letting the water run for a while confirmed that it was just cold, so I took out the four largest pots and started heating water on the stove, finishing putting the purchases in their place while waiting for it to boil and going to wash at 1:15 AM. Dad got back minutes later, and when I finished washing I realized that I had forgotten my towel, so I asked him to get it for me. I was done at 1:45 AM, and then I talked to him about mother, learning that the operation had apparently gone well and the surgeon had used the opportunity to look inside her abdomen and said that other organs looked fine, but it obviously adds another complication when she’s in bad shape anyway. Either way, I washed and dried those pots and eventually put them back in their place, ate lunch between 2:55 AM and 3:20 AM, made a “salad” out of a regular onion and a red one again, since I hadn’t found discounted vegetables that I cared to get that evening, and ate dinner between 5 AM and 5:40 AM. I went to bed at 7 AM… By which time the hot water had returned, which was frustrating. But more concerning was that I just realized that I had completely forgotten about walking the route of the half marathon, and there was no more time to do it.

The following day there were some brief, occasional moments of drilling, the first that woke me being at 11:05 AM. And after another nap I read for a while, then caught some more naps, later had a look on the computer as well, and I got what must have been a total of some six hours of sleep by 3:40 PM, when I was once again woken up by a few seconds of drilling and decided to get up… But I was so exhausted that I couldn’t quite get myself to move until a few more seconds of drilling spurred me into it, and it was only at 4:10 PM, when there was some more noise, that I actually did get up. And by then the landline had rang twice. On the other hand, in the evening I took a quick shower, since I clearly hadn’t washed well at night, and after dad got back and said that mother was doing just fine I made mamaliga, with quite a number of things in it, and stuffed myself. And since the few remaining expired vitamin C pills actually looked bad and dad said that he wasn’t aware of having any others around, I took another one of those immunity supplements, the plan being to keep doing that until the half marathon.

I tried to eat a little earlier in the early hours of March 21, but since I kept doing stuff on-line, starting at 2:30 AM didn’t help that much, since it was 3:30 AM when I finished. And then I got ready for the morning and got in bed at 4:20 AM, after only partially covering the window with that cardboard, but I couldn’t sleep at all, so a few minutes before 6 AM I turned off the alarm and got up, eating a yogurt with quite a lot of cereals and leaving at 7:10 AM, after actually wasting a little time, since I decided against trying to leave something in the toilet, so I could have stayed in bed a little longer, not that it’d have done any good. Then again, who knows, because another half an hour or so might have meant taking a brief nap, and I had that time, since even so I left too early for once, using one of the two remaining trips on a metro card found at one point, panicking for a moment when there was an error but calming down when it worked on the second try, then having the metro arrive as soon as I went down the stairs and reaching Victory Square early enough to use the toilets from the metro station to pee one more time, have quick looks in three stores from that area, and still be in that parking lot at 7:50 AM. Admittedly, the e-mail had asked us to be there at 7:45 AM, but the buses were supposed to leave at 8 AM, which is exactly what the one that I got on did.
After having decided to set Capital and Ideology aside for the time being, and that would have been too big of a book to take with me anyway, I took another one and started reading it on the bus… Which was most likely one of the reasons why I soon started feeling nauseous. But another was definitely the smell. What I identified was perfume, so it wasn’t bad in itself, but it was too powerful and might have been a mix of perfumes from multiple people, plus that the air was stifling, I guess because of the heating. Either way, I also listened to the radio most of the way, at some point I wrote my name and signed what I had to, and it was just before 9 AM when we were dropped off, though walking to the actual location took a while and it was past 9:10 AM when I reached it.
After taking the first of the day’s pictures and initially standing in the line to sign the form, I heard that those who had signed on the bus didn’t need to sign again, so I switched to the other line and took gloves and a vest, ignoring the reusable bottles, since I have plenty and had also taken one with me. I’d have also ignored those things that go on the neck if they’d have offered them again, but they didn’t. And after fiddling with the vest for quite a while, I realized that the strap that was supposed to hold it in place had been cut and didn’t try to ask for another, just making do with it as it was. Either way, after the water heated up I took and drank a cup of tea and eventually also managed to grab a small pack of biscuits, which was rather lucky, considering how few seemed to have been brought and how quickly they ran out, so I ate them even if I frowned at an ingredient. And the speeches started at 9:50 AM and lasted for 20 minutes, after which there was the group picture, so I might as well also link to the “official” pictures now that I mentioned that.
After getting to the location that the adult volunteers were assigned to, there was the presentation of the planting technique, and it was almost 10:25 AM when we could get to work, though I actually started at 10:30 AM, after grabbing a spade and finding a free spot, which required walking to the other end of a row and starting from there, since I obviously wanted to work alone and my first attempt to plant on the same row as another guy who had started to work alone, meaning to alternate parts of it with him, led to him saying that we’d better not mix things and get in each other’s way, so he clearly wanted to do everything on his own as well. But I could keep working from that other end, taking a break a few minutes after noon, after 15 trees, and going to pee, wash my hands, and take another hot tea, which was already made at that point, so not just hot water that we put teabags in. And that did help warm me up a little, since it was rather chilly, especially because of the wind, so a little after 12:15 PM I got back to work, having a harder time finding spots to plant in but eventually managing to plant five more trees before stopping again, at 12:45 PM.
After washing my hands again, I had lunch, which was once again packaged and included those same buns that contained sugar and questionable fats. And after I finished eating, I peed again, dropped off the vest and the gloves in the appropriate places, and wanted to take one of the vegetarian lunches as well, but while a few others just grabbed a box and walked away, I had a closer look and hesitated, which led to one of those who was handling that area to ask whether she could help me, and when I told her what I wanted she said that she couldn’t give me one if I had already eaten, because someone else will be left without lunch. So I gave up on that idea and just filled most of the reusable bottle with tea and drank it.
Well, dropping off the vest and gloves proved to have been a bad idea when Petruta said that the buses were going to leave at 2:30 PM, so those who wanted to return to work could do so, on the other side, where there was more left to do. And, while I did without the vest, I wasn’t going to work without gloves and went to grab a pair from that box, wondering whether I could somehow identify those that I had dropped off, but when someone who was there asked whether she could help me and I told her what I wanted, she asked the coordinator whether she could give me new ones and then did so. And then I planted five more trees, finishing just before 2 PM and then looking around and taking several discarded spades back.
After peeing again and dropping off the gloves, I saw that plenty of food was still there, moved into a single box, and glanced at it again, but I didn’t make another attempt to take any, just making my way to the buses and seeing that two were left when I got there. Neither of them was the one that I had arrived in and I said so when I was asked, but I was told that I could get in either of them, since they both went back to Bucharest, so I picked one, getting on it when it wasn’t even 2:15 PM yet… And the other one was the first to leave, the one that I got on doing so right at 2:30 PM. But at least there were quite a number of empty seats and nobody sat next to me. And I read some more on the way back, feeling much better than I had on the way there.
After being dropped off back at Victory Square just before 3:30 PM, I walked to Obor, picking up some recyclables… And fighting the wind, which was quite serious. But since I was there early enough, I bought some apples from the farmers’ market, though I couldn’t see the weight displayed on the scales and when I checked I found that it was about the weight of a small apple less than what I had been told and charged for. But a couple of apples had fallen from the bag when the seller handed it back to me and while I was pretty sure that I had grabbed them again, it’s not impossible that I missed one, and either way it’s probably a smaller issue in itself than the fact that they place those scales so the customer can’t see for themselves, and better yet actually use them on their own.
Either way, after putting the apples in the backpack, I continued to Carrefour, putting the recyclables in the machine, with the exception of one that wasn’t accepted, grabbing one which had been left there and putting that in as well, getting a second voucher, and then handing that one that wasn’t accepted at the information desk and receiving the deposit for it. And then I entered the store with the apples and just bought a nice yogurt that was on sale those days, using the voucher for the single recyclable and cashing in the other one. And then I added the yogurt in the backpack and continued to Kaufland, I think going to pee before entering the store with the backpack and buying quite a number of things, noticing when the self-checkout rejected one of the discounted pieces of processed meat products that the discount label was for a different one and asking the employee to remove it. And then I took my time to arrange everything and made my way back, grabbing some more recyclables.
It was almost 7:30 PM when I got back for the first time, so I missed most of the first half of the handball match. Either way, I had carried some 12.5 kg, and then I put most of the purchases in their place and munched on some expired nicer bagels towards the end of the match, before going out again just before 8:40 PM, taking the recyclables with the deposit symbol and putting them in the machine from the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, which I reached a couple of minutes before 9 PM. The bakery products were bagged at that point, but the cart with the products that had the 90% discount was brought before the 50% bakery discounts were made, and what was really nice but weird at the same time was that I was pretty much the only one looking in that cart, though it was quite full, so I got quite a number of things, plus one cheap bun from the bakery area, even being able to go back and get some more products that had the 90% discount and calculate the total in order to get to something that’d be very easy to pay with the exact amount, after also using the voucher received for the recyclables, assuming that I won’t be charged for the bag that the spoiling oranges were in, and I wasn’t. And when the cashier said that the total was just what I said, I said that I had strangely found myself alone at that cart and could take the time to calculate it for what I got, and he said that the regulars had been there the previous evening but there had been no such discounts then, which had probably made them skip that evening. Either way, I then continued to Penny, entering with everything and grabbing some expiring meat for dad that looked unusually good and some corn puffs, and then taking the time to arrange everything properly after walking out. I also had a very quick look in the nearby Mega Image when I got here, but just from the door, without even stepping in.
I was back for good a few minutes before 10 PM. Then I put all of the purchases in their place, ate the expiring fruit mix purchased from Mega Image and one of the apples from Obor, washed what was in the kitchen and cleaned up a little after dad had cleaned and split the expiring meat purchased from Penny, did the day’s squats, and finally went to the bathroom just after 12:40 AM, ending up wasting some more time on the toilet and washing with water that I’d have really wanted to be hotter at that point. I was done a few minutes after 1:30 AM, and then I took one more of those immunity supplements that aren’t expired and ate dinner between 4:10 AM and 5:15 AM, with some ten or so minutes spent gathering what was stuck on the plate at the end. After using cream on my hands and feet, I got in bed at 6:35 AM, so by the time I fell asleep I had been awake for just about 40 hours, during which I planted trees and walked some 13 km through the city, part of them in quite strong winds, plus what was added by the walking done at the planting location and wandering around inside stores.

Moving on to April 18, I got in bed at 4:15 AM and did manage to sleep until the alarm rang, which was at 6:15 AM that time around, but that meant less than two hours when I was already awfully exhausted. And when I got on the computer and tried to use the keyboard shortcut I had set to open Vivaldi, Ctrl+Alt+V, nothing happened, yet I had set it back after the last update. And removing it and trying to set it again resulted in it clearing the moment I pressed the V. It did set correctly if I just pressed V, Ctrl+Alt being set automatically, but it still didn’t work. Other shortcuts still did, even Ctrl+Alt+Shift+V, but that one just refused to, even when using the On Screen Keyboard. And I had no time to fiddle with it, so I ate a yogurt, with cereals, got dressed, deciding to wear the regular clothes that I wear outside, and left at 7:20 AM, using the last trip on the found metro card which I had also used at the previous such event, going to the toilet before walking out at Victory Square, and reaching that parking lot just before 7:50 AM.
The first surprise was seeing buses going to two different locations for tree planting events organized by this NGO, later learning that the other location was for the employees of a certain partner company. But at that point I was confused and even more hesitant to ask when I only noticed one person with a vest with that NGO’s logo and it wasn’t anyone I recall having seen before. But I eventually did ask, and she confirmed what the correct one was, so I got on it… And then we just waited, people and even the driver starting to get restless and wonder what was going on, at which point that coordinator said that she was waiting for people to sign the list… Which was unusual, since that was always done on the way, so people pointed that out and told the driver that we could get going when he asked, which finally happened when it was almost 8:20 AM, my turn to write my name and sign coming after that.
Either way, I had taken The Alchemist in the Shadows with me and started reading, without listening to anything, since there was music on the bus. And I even had some time to read without moving, because that coordinator had asked the driver to let her know when we’ll be 15 minutes from reaching the location but just when someone else said that, according to their phone, we had 14 minutes to go, we stopped at a gas station, so people could go to the toilet, and quite a few did, to the surprise of whoever was called by that coordinator, who pointed out that there were toilets at the planting location as well. Admittedly, a gas station’s toilets are much preferable to those portable ones, but it was an additional delay, and it also made it even clearer that the coordinator was most probably also a volunteer and had ended up in that position because the event had been rescheduled, having initially been scheduled for March 28 but then postponed because of the weather, and the actual coordinators were probably at the other one that took place on that same day, prioritizing their corporate partners over actual volunteers. And there was another delay after we should have been dropped off, since I noticed the sign on the dirt road but the driver didn’t, and the coordinator continued to be clueless, so we drove past it before stopping, and then the driver asked the coordinator, who called and tried to get directions. I said that I had seen that sign, but the driver said that he couldn’t drive on a dirt road and waited for the coordinator to get more information by phone even though I said that he should just drop us off in front of that road and let us walk from there, as it’s usually done. So it was past 9:30 AM when he finally did just that, after turning around… And then we had such a long way to walk that we were wondering whether we really were in the right place.
In fact, I was the first to reach the actual planting location, and it was almost 9:50 AM when I did so, people continuing to arrive for quite a long time after that. And only gloves were handed out, not even vests being available anymore. And there was still no sign of fruits, just like the previous time. At least there were more biscuits, but most were of a kind that I hadn’t seen before, and when I checked I saw that they were made for Lidl Serbia, and the ingredients seemed the same as those of those which had been available the previous time as well, so after initially taking a pack of each, I put the one of this second kind back and replaced it with another one of that kind that I at least knew, eating one pack despite still frowning at an ingredient and keeping the other, ending up giving it to dad after I got back. And I also took and drank two cups of tea. As for the speech, it started a little after 10:05 AM and was given by a guy who presented himself as a forester, none of the known members of that NGO seeming to be there at all. And while there was a group picture, none of those from that event seem to have been posted so far, but I do have the ones I took.
It wasn’t yet 10:15 AM when we could get to work, and I quickly found a spade and an available row and got to it, all but a couple of the holes being easy to dig, so I only stopped a few minutes before 12:30 PM, after 25 trees. And after going to pee and wash my hands, I had just filled most of my reusable bottle with hot water and put a teabag in it when lunch was announced, at 12:40 PM. It was once again packaged and included those same buns, and there were no tables and only a few benches, the large majority sitting on ragged blankets that were laid on the ground, but I managed to find a spot on one of those few benches, straddling it and eating like that. And there was plenty of food left when I was done and a few people were taking more, but after grabbing another bun and two salads, I once again meant to take a vegetarian meal as well but hesitated long enough for the person who was there to ask whether she could help me and then say that she couldn’t give me one if I had already eaten because someone else will be left without food. So I wandered away and ended up eating the bun, despite the questionable ingredients, and putting the salads in the backpack, ending up eating them that night. And, after drinking the tea, I refilled the bottle with hot water and put another teabag in it, keeping it for later as well.
It was 1:30 PM when I had it confirmed, by that forester, that the buses were going to leave at 3 PM and we only needed leave at 2:30 PM, to have time to reach them, so I got back to work… And decided to put music on my phone, since they weren’t playing anything on the speakers anymore. And I didn’t use the headphones, so those who were around me also heard and that seemed to prompt another guy who was also working alone nearby to chat with me for a while. But we remained mainly focused on working, and after a while I probably ignored him rather pointedly, so I managed to add seven more trees, getting the total to 32 before stopping again, a little after 2:05 PM, when I felt drops of rain and noticed that forester starting to gather things. And moments later he actually called out that we had to stop, because the buses were going to leave and rain was coming, so I took the spade and the bucket of saplings to the truck, dropped off the gloves where I was told to do so, and peed again, though there seemed to be no more water in that portable sink, so I couldn’t wash my hands anymore.
It was almost 2:15 PM when I started walking to the buses, hearing a guy say that he had two free seats in his car and could offer a ride there but just ignoring him, despite the worsening rain, so at that point he just took a woman. And since I soon started jogging, I actually stayed ahead of that car until the area which had actually been designated for parking, which was some way away from the planting location. But at that point I stepped aside to let it pass, since it was just catching up to me, and by then it was raining hard, so when the guy stopped to ask whether I wanted a ride and confirmed that he had a free seat when I asked, I got on, being dropped off when we reached the road, where the buses were waiting. And there were two of them, with the one that I had gotten there on being the second, so while the woman who had shared that ride with me said that she didn’t care which was which and dived into the first, I ran past it and got on that other one… Which was just closing that middle door at that point, so I had to push my way through. And while I had initially sat alone on the way there, that coordinator had moved to sit next to me during the drive and she was back in that seat at that point, so even though she got up to let me through, I just plopped myself down in another available seat, next to a woman, who confirmed when I asked that the seat was free but asked me to take off my jacket, since there was water pouring off it. And that coordinator said that there were 40 people on that bus when we left, just before 2:30 PM, though there had been 36 on it on the way there. Either way, I read some more on the way back, and there was once again music on the bus, so I didn’t listen to anything else.
The bus reached Victory Square just before 3:35 PM, but I had heard the coordinator ask the driver about his route after that and whether he could drop her off at Obor, so I asked whether he could drop me off there as well and stayed on, getting off just after 3:45 PM, when he stopped close to Obor. And since I was there and on that side of the road, I wanted to have a look in a confectionery store, but only saw a couple of employees there, no products and no price lists. And then I also glanced in a Mega Image before making my way to Kaufland Pantelimon, the rain catching up to me but remaining light. Either way, I picked up some recyclables and put them in the machine before putting my things in a cabinet with a lock that turned freely, so I turned it to make it appear locked and left it like that, grabbing some expiring germinated wheat, discounted by 80%, plus an expiring product for dad, discounted by 70%, and using the voucher received for the recyclables. And after retrieving my things and arranging a little, I made my way back, grabbing a few more recyclables.
I was back just before 5:30 PM, so I missed most of the first half of the first handball match… And then I saw that dad had cleaned the litter box, and also cut open the new bag instead of opening it properly, so it will likely tear when I’ll stuff paper and cardboard in it after it’ll be emptied. But the first thing I had to deal with was the last recyclable I had picked up, which had been just in front of the building, likely left by the workers, and was rather banged up and dirty and also contained some liquid, and when I poured it out in the sink from the small bathroom I saw that it was oily, so after washing the bottle a little I washed that sink, rubbing with my hands when it was clear that water alone wasn’t going to do much and then using detergent and eventually a brush, and then I thoroughly washed and disinfected my hands, not knowing what that substance had been. And that was before cleaning the litter box, since there were things in it again, and going to drop what I had gathered down the chute. And then I put what I had brought and some of my things in their place, seeing that the salads had leaked, so I had to set the backpack and some bags to dry, and ate what was still usable out of a badly spoiling apple before meaning to write some notes about the day between the two matches… Only to feel that I really had to use the toilet, so I rushed to do that, more quickly than I usually would, so I only lost the first minutes of the second match. And by the end of the first half I made popcorn, munching on it during the second half.
Even if I was so tired, I didn’t know whether I’ll find anything, and it meant losing the first part of the evening’s football match, which I also meant to watch, I decided to rush out again after that second handball match, to that Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, but dad got back as I was getting ready to leave and delayed me a little, so I left again at 8:50 PM and jogged almost all the way, just grabbing one recyclable and getting there seconds after 9 PM… Only to see just a few imported vegetables left in the cart with the products discounted by 90% and a customer with a basket full of such products, including some that I’d have clearly been interested in. And the bakery area was also mostly empty, and another customer had a basket full of products from there, with the 50% discount. But I grabbed one last sweet pastry that I rather like… And the customer who was in line in front of me gave the cashier 2 RON more and said that she was also paying for my purchase, which was 1.50 RON, just before walking away. I tried to refuse, and had the money in my hand and meant to hand them to the cashier, but he just scanned the product, handed it to me, and told me to have a nice day, just smiling and ignoring the money I was holding when I muttered that it was awkward. So I took that pastry and walked out, feeling awful and meaning to give it away to a homeless person… But I only saw a man who might have been homeless, though I’m not even certain of that, and he was smoking just then, so I didn’t want to give him anything, and I ended up carrying that paper bag around in my hand, and also picked up a couple more recyclables. And on the way back I also had a quick look in that Profi and the Carrefour Express, entering with everything and buying three expiring bio (organic) yogurts discounted by 70% from the latter, without receiving the receipt.
I got back at 9:40 PM, feeling like crap… But I put the few purchases in their place, briefly argued with dad about what he did in the morning at the litter box and with that litter bag, ate a banana, took another one of those cold pills expired for over a year and a half, did the day’s squats, and it was a little after 11:40 PM when I went to wash, being done just before 12:30 AM. Then I gathered my clothes from the rack and cut my toe nails, spending quite some time trying to sort out that one that fell off multiple times and is growing in layers stacked on top of each other, so basically in thickness instead of length. I have no idea if I did anything useful or quite the contrary, made it worse, but I tried. And it was close to 1:10 AM when I went back to the kitchen, and then it took me a long time to slice what I used instead of actual bread, since those things were hard and crumbly. But using the salad grabbed from the tree planting event meant that I still stuck to the dinner schedule. And then I also rubbed cream on my hands and feet before getting in bed.

Like The Cardinal’s Blades, The Alchemist in the Shadows is still a swashbuckling adventure set in an alternate history, with little room for depth or thought-provoking moments, and featuring stereotypical characters, the main ones being certain to make it through pretty much anything thanks to their great fighting skills and even greater luck. And Ballardieu is relegated to a background role and not as much of an annoyance anymore. On the other hand, the fantasy elements are somewhat more notable this time around, but the actual historical setting and characters are emphasized even more and described in greater detail. Yet it remains a pretty light read that you can just get through, without requiring much focus and definitely without any reason for concern regarding the outcome of any situation.
Then again, those descriptions of historical events and characters are usually rather dry information dumps that do require more attention in order to fully grasp, yet they’re not that relevant to the story and can give the impression that the author is largely showing off, so glazing over them will speed up reading without much risk of missing anything important. But what may slow reading is that, while the scenes still succeed rapidly, the previous book’s short chapters are replaced with a fixed structure where each part has four chapters, the last one being very short but the second being particularly long, and the other two also being longer than those from The Cardinal’s Blades.

Rating: 3/5