Tests, Ears, and Issues with My Right Leg
Picking up from where I left off, since I also had to take a urine sample to the clinic and you’re supposed to take it after not peeing for eight hours, and you also shouldn’t work out at least eight hours before blood tests, I did the little exercise routine that I usually do when I get up, then got ready for the morning to some extent, and managed to pee just before 1:30 AM, after which I got in bed, at 1:40 AM. However, while I did fall asleep quickly at that point, that was no longer the case when I woke up after a while, having a lot of gas and also starting to need to pee again, so I tried to just stay in bed for quite a long time, but it was clear that I wasn’t getting anywhere, and definitely wasn’t going to be able to avoid peeing again before morning, so I eventually checked the time, saw 4:47 AM, and a couple of minutes later gave in and went to pee, hoping to at least make that the last time, so it’ll be four and a half hours until I’ll take that sample. And that did work, needing a long time to get back to sleep even after getting back in bed but then sleeping until 9 AM, when the alarm rang and I got up. And then I quickly finished getting ready, took the urine sample, cleaned the litter box, and it was past 9:40 AM when I walked out.
With the appointment scheduled for 10 AM and the clinic being 25-30 minutes away, that meant that doing that tiny exercise routine at night instead of that morning served no purpose, since I had to jog much of the way. I still grabbed a crushed recyclable that I spotted on the street, but I wasn’t going to take it with me in the clinic, so I dropped it next to a tree, where the grass was taller, when I got there, reaching the polyclinic right at 10 AM and putting on a mask… But I couldn’t quite remember which floor that particular clinic was on, couldn’t immediately see it on the board at the entrance either, so I went with what I thought I recalled and wasted some time by wandering around on the second floor before moving on to the fourth and finding it… By which point another man was inside, but when I opened the door and said who I was and that I had an appointment he was told that he should go back outside to wait, since I guess he had been taken without an appointment because I wasn’t there on time. So I felt rather bad for him, considering for a moment to offer to wait, but I just explained that I had gone to the wrong floor at first and went in, also asking whether there was any place where I could have the ultrasound covered by insurance as well and being pointed to one. And then the paperwork was done and the blood was drawn.
After that, I went to look for that other clinic that I had been pointed to, but since a couple of people were waiting when I found it and I was wearing some of the old underwear and it had slipped down, I went to the toilet to pull it back up… Only for an older woman to try to come in seconds later, and while I told her that it was occupied and rushed to do that, when I heard her ask someone else whether a man or a woman was inside and that I had entered the women’s and that was why she had knocked, I rushed out without even washing my hands, looking in surprise at the sign on the door, which depicted both men and women, so I asked whether I had entered the women’s by accident but then just walked away, unsure what that was about. And when someone from that other clinic stepped out, I asked about making an appointment and made one… But I was told that there will be a small fee to pay, even though the procedure is covered by insurance and there are many notices all over that polyclinic stating that there may be no charges whatsoever for procedures covered by insurance. So I initially accepted that, not knowing what else to do, but then I took my time to look all around, searching for other places that could do ultrasounds and taking some phone numbers listed on the doors, since most weren’t open at that hour and in a couple of cases I didn’t even dare to try… But I did try the door of the first other room that I found where ultrasounds were listed, and since I found it locked at that point but then spotted a note stating that they’ll be back in ten minutes, after a while I went back there and could go in… Only to be asked in surprise whether I wanted to make an appointment with a gynecologist, at which point I had a closer look at the door and saw that it did indeed specify gynecological ultrasounds… Which was rather embarrassing.
It was 11:05 PM when I walked out of the clinic. Then I took off the mask, retrieved that recyclable, which was still there, and made my way to Decebal, entering with everything when I had a quick look through Profi and Mega Image and then putting my things in a cabinet that didn’t lock at Penny and buying some things from there before retrieving them and arranging a little. But I had seen an interesting sweet snack among the expiring products from Profi, discounted by 70%, so I then went back there, once again entering with everything, and bought one.
While I had found some of the cat food that was on sale at that Penny and bought one pack, it wasn’t quite the right kind, so instead of coming straight back I then went to the nearest Penny as well, picking up a couple more recyclables but seeing that someone with a large bag was using the machine and moving along, putting everything in a cabinet that I didn’t bother to lock and finding plenty of that cat food there, along with mozzarella and some nice chicken breast among the expiring products, so I calculated the total, added one more thing, and spent almost everything I had on me, only being left with some coins. Then I retrieved my things, arranged everything, and after walking out I spotted a bottle that was the same size as that crushed one in a bin, so I grabbed it, walked a short distance away, put the label from that one on it, went back to drop that one and the other one’s label, which didn’t have the symbol, in the bin, and picked up a couple more recyclables on the way back. I meant to put them in the machine from the nearby Mega Image, but it wasn’t working just then, and while an employee was there and might have been working on it, there were other people waiting and I just moved along.
I was back a few minutes after 1 PM. Then I ate an orange and that sweet snack from Profi, put the purchases in their place, glued something that dad had broken back together, put the things that he had moved the previous morning back in their place, and put another old thermostatic valve which I found while looking for glue in the kitchen and returned that newer one to my room, so the broken one was no longer needed anywhere. During that time, I also beeped dad and talked to him a little when he called back, but he was on the metro and it was cutting out, so he said that he’ll call back when he’ll reach the family doctor, which he meant to do, to have his ribs checked out, because I was asking him to ask her some things and also perhaps see whether he could get me an appointment somewhere else for that ultrasound… But he only called back after leaving from there, and without any useful information, some of it because I hadn’t even gotten to tell him what I wanted to know and was therefore relying on that call coming while he was there. Either way, I also moved some food which he had brought from the upstairs neighbor, who said that she and her boyfriend will fast on the week before Easter and therefore won’t eat those dishes anymore, since they contained meat. And two of those dishes were chorba and I ate some of it as lunch, even if I normally don’t touch anything of the sort, because you should have more fluids after having blood taken.
Throughout that time, I still didn’t know what I wanted to do later in the evening, but I eventually decided to do the day’s squats and rush to the nearby Mega Image at half time of a match that I was watching, just to see what was left in the bakery area and put the recyclables with the deposit symbol in the machine, which was working then, though I also decided to try that one with the damaged bar code again and that still wasn’t accepted. And since I did see some things that I was interested in, I decided to hold on to the voucher and go back there after the match, towards the end of which I munched on some expired salty pretzels… But when I did go back out, there were no bakery discounts and no sign that they were going to make them, so I just cashed in the voucher, meaning that I just lost some time and it’d have been better to pick either of the other options which I had been considering, either staying in, possibly washing before the match, and then taking it easy, or doing the opposite, giving up on the second half of the match and going to Kaufland. As it was, I cleaned the litter box again and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, fixed myself another sweet thing and ate it, washed what was in the kitchen, and it was past 12:45 PM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, being relieved that there was no blood. I was done a little after 1 AM, but I only went back to the kitchen at 1:30 AM, and there were a few more things to wash at that point. But I still managed to stick to the dinner schedule, albeit after once again “cheating” a little in order to be able to say that I took a first bite in my room before 3 AM.
Moving on to April 8, I got up after the alarm rang, at noon, and had an early lunch, but there was no time to go to the toilet as well, despite feeling the need, so that was going to be a problem. But I had another doctor’s appointment, so I cleaned the litter box and left just before 2:30 PM… And something apparently almost fell on me when I walked out of the building, a worker who was holding a cable telling me to not come out through there just when I did, so I looked up with a start and he then rushed me along, and when I was a few steps away he looked like he thought that something that could have been really bad was just avoided. But I was in a hurry, so after initially walking until I got past the metro station, I jogged almost all of the rest of the way.
That meant that I reached the clinic a few minutes before 3 PM, when the appointment was scheduled, and then took a seat in front of the room that I was supposed to go to after the receptionist did her part… But I really shouldn’t have bothered to run, because the doctor was with another patient at that point and my turn only came at 3:30 PM, and I didn’t put on the mask or even use that time to read, having taken the book with me but thinking that I’ll almost certainly be called in as soon as I’ll pull it out. I did take it out at 3:15 PM, but I couldn’t focus, kept thinking that I’ll be called in and need to stop right away, and therefore only read a few pages in ten or so minutes, and when the doctor came out and told me that she’ll call me in soon I put the book away again, though a few more minutes passed before I actually was called in. But at least things moved quickly once I was inside. Even though I was there for my ears, she checked my nose first, saying that I had a deviated septum, affecting both nostrils but more notably the left one, and that it may actually cause the occasional brief ringing in my ears as well, but if it doesn’t bother me too much then it can be ignored, especially since fixing it means surgery. And then she also checked my ears, removed the wax, and said that the pain which I had felt shouldn’t return, but if it did then I should call her. And she also said that she’d like to see the results of those recent tests.
I was done at 3:40 PM, but it took me a few minutes to make sure that I hadn’t left anything behind and get my headphones back on. And then, since that clinic’s close to Obor, I went there, getting some paper towels and some popcorn from Auchan and some spoiling apples from the farmers’ market, saying that I wanted quite a lot from that pile and having the person who was at that stall bring some less spoiled ones over when I pretty much ran out of usable ones that I could pick from there, and when the weight was pretty close to 4 kg she asked whether she could take it to that, actually taking it to almost 4.2 kg when I agreed but charging me for 4 kg. And then I continued to Carrefour as well, peeing and washing my hands, putting the purchases in a cabinet, and finding some more of those gluten-free breads among the expiring products, so I took one even if it’s sliced and expensive even at half price, and then added some snacks for dad and one more thing, also using a voucher received for previous purchases when I paid.
The problem was that, despite not listening to anything while waiting at that clinic, my phone’s battery ran out quickly while I was out, and even though I noticed it after entering Carrefour and turned the music back off, it still gave a low battery warning by the time I walked out of there, once again after a week, and dad had said that he might be able to get back in time to give me the metro card, so I beeped him once I got outside and hoped to be able to talk when he’ll call back. And I was, but it didn’t help, because he said that he might be able to be at the metro station in 40 minutes when I was going to get back here on foot faster than that, and then it’d be too late to also go to Unirii, as originally planned, and the phone being likely to turn off and the weight of the apples made walking the entire planned route a bad idea. So I gave up on that part of the plan and got back, picking up some recyclables on the way.
I got back for the first time just before 6:25 PM. Then I set the phone to charge, ending up leaving it plugged in for about an hour and a half and seeing that the bar was full when I unplugged it, but that happens before the battery is really full and I didn’t check first to see whether it displayed the message that it was full, so I’m thinking that it wasn’t, since it shouldn’t finish charging that quickly. Either way, I also put the purchases in their place, went to the toilet, which was yet another reason why I decided to come back, and peeled and cleaned some potatoes and washed a tray for dad. That meant that I was already in a hurry when I walked out again, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, but things got worse when I realized that I had forgotten the backpack, where I had almost all of the bags as well, so I came back for it, and since it was getting chilly I decided to use the opportunity to also put on the sweater, actually leaving when it was almost 8:20 PM.
I jogged to Carrefour, picked up one more recyclable… And then only wasted a little more time that I didn’t have by going to the machine, since one was off and the guy waiting in front of the other one said that it wasn’t working and he’d been waiting for a while despite being told that someone would come and sort it out. So I entered the store with the recyclables and got a couple of expiring products and some carrots that were among the spoiling products, also at half price, because they weren’t whole, though otherwise they were just fine. And when I weighed that bag, since it was badly torn, I found that it weighed a fair bit more than what was listed, and after getting back I saw a huge and whole carrot among the pieces, so I’m thinking that somebody had added it in there for some reason, and it’s a good thing that the machines from Carrefour don’t check the weight. Either way, I obviously didn’t charge myself for that bag, nor for the plastic box that the olives were in.
After quickly arranging the purchases, I jogged to Dristor, since I had dad’s card, so I took the metro for one stop and then kept jogging to Supeco. Then I put the recyclables, including the couple more which I had grabbed on the way, in the machine from there, though the one that had a rather damaged bar code wasn’t accepted and I left it there, along with the bag used to carry them, which had gotten too dirty. And then I got what I had gone there for, meaning that I shouldn’t have bought that one which I had managed to find in a Mega Image on February 25, not that I’d have had any way to know that there’d be a better price, plus that I thought that I was going to need it by now, though that’s yet to happen. Either way, I also added a couple of expiring products, at half price, and would have also taken a small pack of biscuits which were also there, but when the cashier tried to scan them the machine refused, and when she had a closer look she said that the discount had expired on April 4 and I left them there, though I was thinking that the discount had probably expired because the biscuits did, and they might have given them to me instead of probably throwing them away. But I didn’t say anything, just taking some time to arrange the purchases and then jogging back to the metro station, finding some more recyclables.
After taking the metro for two more stops, I didn’t care to jog anymore as I made my way to Kaufland, since it closed at 11 PM, so I only briefly did so at one point. And I found one more recyclable, then put them in the machine from there, after which I put my things in a cabinet, peed and washed my hands, and entered the store at 10:30 PM… But the only evening discount in the bakery area was for the plain bread, and none of that was left. And those for fruits and vegetables were few, so I just took a small lettuce, to at least have something, even if the discount wasn’t that great, and the few scattered radishes that should have made up one bundle. And dad had asked me to get some cheese, even if the price was a little higher than what it usually is when it’s discounted, so I asked for two of the four pieces that were left, the other two looking rather bad… Only to then see many pieces among the shrink-wrapped products from that area. But I just kept those two, and then grabbed a number of other things that had regular discounts and were on my list, plus a few more of those cheap yogurts, being at the self-checkout when the closing announcement came, checking the total before scanning the last few products, then adding those as well, and using the voucher received for the recyclables. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, walked out through the emergency exit, and arranged everything.
It was almost 11:10 PM when I walked away, grabbing another recyclable on the way to that non-stop Mega Image, putting it and the bag with some of the purchases in a cabinet, and walking in with the backpack, but I thought that it was too late to still find products discounted by 90%… Yet there were still plenty in the cart, and nobody was there at the time, though that woman who works at another location came while I was looking and we exchanged a few words, at which point she confirmed that there are no 90% discounts where she works, and said that such policies differ according to the area that each location is in. Either way, I grabbed a few things from there, then beeped dad and when he called back I asked whether he wanted some soup, getting both when he told me to… Only to then read the ingredients and see that they included sour cream, and the point would have been to take them to my grandmother, who was still fasting, so I let him know and put them back. And then I wandered around the store for a while, being warned at one point by an employee that I had to buy those discounted products before midnight. But there was no danger of taking that long, and then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, added the new purchases, and considering giving one away if I’ll see a homeless person on the way back. But I didn’t, so I kept it, and picked up a few more recyclables.
I was back a few minutes before 12:30 AM, having carried close to 12 kg. And I was surprised by how well I was hearing after having the wax removed, so many sounds that I hadn’t been noticing. But that was also distracting, and what was worse was that something was squeaking quite loudly every so often, and I thought that it was the elevator, which was finally working again after the whole thing was replaced. Either way, I eventually put the purchases in their place, sorted and arranged the apples, ate one and half of the sweetened cereals from Supeco, washed what was in the kitchen and cleaned up a little, moved something that seemed to be spoiling into a bowl, microwaved it a little, hoping to delay the process, and then put it back in the jar, and it was 3:10 AM when I finally went to wash. I was done a little after 3:40 AM, and then I also used the worse leaves from that lettuce, eating dinner between 5:10 AM and 5:40 AM. I got in bed at 7:30 AM, after waiting for Liza to do something in the litter box after dad got up, at 7 AM, only for her to go right after I thought that she wasn’t going to and changed into my pajamas. And I’d rather not clean the litter box while wearing those, so I then changed back, cleaned it, and then changed again.
I got up to pee a few times, but always got right back to sleep until around 3:15 PM, when I realized that I probably won’t get more sleep but nevertheless got back in bed again and pretty much wasted time, since it was 4:35 PM when I got up but if I caught any other nap during that time, it couldn’t have lasted more than mere moments. Either way, not long after that the squeaking stopped, so I guess that whatever was causing it had been fixed. Otherwise, I checked and saw that my test results were ready, so I downloaded them, the issues being the usual ones, anemia and poor general immunity. And I also finished the book, later wrote the quick review, and late in the evening I tried to nap a little more… Only to be woken up not long after managing to fall asleep by some banging from upstairs, and while at first it seemed that I might have a chance to fall asleep again, a little later there was the sound of something falling or being thrown down, possibly outside, and I got up with a start, after which I wasted another half an hour or so in bed but any more sleep was out of the question.
For the dinner eaten in the early hours of April 10, I opened a jar of peanut butter and used half of that gluten-free bread, doing a better job of slicing the slices into much thinner ones. And before going to bed I found that I could floss behind that tooth where I have a crown, and very easily too, after being unable to get anything in there for over a week, if not more like two, so I hope it means that whatever had gotten in there finally came out and not that a piece broke off. On the other hand, the alarm was set to ring at 2 PM, but dad woke me just before 11:50 AM by calling, needing a phone number that was on a piece of paper from the living room, and while I had gotten right back to sleep the couple of times I had woken up before that, it was harder at that point, and the dreams were stranger after I did and I woke up at least one more time, and probably more than that. But at least I still slept most of the time until the alarm rang and I got up, after which I had the usual stuff, with half of the almonds being the last of those expired baked and salted ones, and for the sweet thing I added honey on the other expired but nice oat bar which had been in that pack opened two weeks earlier, though I rather burned it while trying to warm it in the microwave. Either way, I also drank most of the tea and left a few minutes after 4:30 PM, wearing the full running gear, once again switching to the better shoes. The reported temperature was 11°C, dropping to 10°C by the time I finished.
The time was 1:47:45, with sector times of 4:34, 5:13, 6:02, 4:37, 5:12, 6:01, 4:39, 5:15, 6:09, 4:51, 5:22, 6:14, 4:51, 5:27, 6:20, 4:51, 5:26, 6:22, 1:57, 6:23 and 1:59, making for lap times of 15:49, 15:50, 16:03, 16:27, 16:38 and 16:39, plus 10:19 for the final portion. I had an idea to push from the beginning and see what I’ll manage, but it was immediately obvious that I couldn’t, so I thought that the realistic target was to get under 1:48… Only for the first sector’s time to put that in serious doubt and make me wonder whether I’ll even cover the first lap in less than 16 minutes, pushing on sector three in order to make sure of it. That led to thinking that I’ll struggle to even stay under 1:50, but pushing on sector three of lap two as well and managing to cover the lap in almost the same time as the first gave me some hope, and a similar strategy that led to only going a few seconds over 16 minutes on lap three made me wonder about 1:48 again, aiming for 16:25, 16:40 and 16:55 on the next three laps and 10:15 on the final portion… Only for sector one of lap four to show just had much I had pushed on the previous sector, and sector two continued that trend, making me once again have to push on sector three in order to at least limit the damage, doing just enough to keep the same targets from then on. And on lap five I was on target and apparently found a pace that I could sustain for a while, being only marginally slower on lap six. That meant that even 10:30 on the final portion would be just fine, but I was exhausted and my right leg really bothered me, so I had to do my best every step of the way, though covering the first sector in less than two minutes did make me feel that I was pretty safe, at least as long as there won’t be any serious problems.
Well, there was a bit of a scare towards the end of the following sector, but I managed to deal with it and kept going, and despite thinking all along that I was unlikely to get under two minutes on the last sector, at the start of it I hoped for the 1:58 that’d allow me to squeeze under 1:47:45 as well, so I really gave everything and at the end I even sort of jumped, stretched a leg forward, and pressed the button while it was still in the air… But it wasn’t quite enough, obtaining that time but not squeezing under it. I was safely under 1:48, however, and while that means being just about two minutes slower than two weeks before, I was content with that, and actually quite pleased with how I managed the issues, and the run as a whole, in order to achieve it.
Even if there were a fair number of people, especially early on, and the long straight of the first sector was quite crowded and a roadblock made me hesitate and break the attempted sprint, I realized right away that I didn’t actually have as much as one sprint in me, so there was no chance to recover if I’ll drop behind the target times. But things got even worse by the end of lap three, the fact that a certain need also appeared then being less of a concern, especially since it faded soon after that, only returning at the end, but the serious warnings given by my right knee being quite an issue, since it wasn’t just that they didn’t fade away, but at times they got even worse, past the level of mere warnings. And later, I think at the end of lap five, that calf muscle joined the knee, and by the end of lap six that hip also became a problem. Both ankles were also giving some warnings around that time, but those were fainter, and while I do have to think about that spot on the left leg, that seemed to be a far lesser problem at that point. And it was the right hip that gave me that scare towards the end of sector two of the final portion, with a really painful jab and the feeling that the leg was about to go out from under me for a moment. But I managed to hold it together and the issue didn’t repeat itself, so I made it to the end.
Otherwise, on top of that issue from the first sector and plenty of weaving and going the long way around in general, I also lost a little time on the long straight of sector one of lap three, when a dog that was about to cut me off before being pulled back made me hesitate and broke that attempt at a sprint, however poor it was. And another dog, off the leash and looking rather lost, almost ran into me and made me briefly stop on sector two of lap five, and there was another moment on that sector when I might have hesitated a little, when I overtook another runner and some people were walking across the lane just then, so I wasn’t sure whether they were going to cut me off. But I want to add that I saw that dog again later and it was close to someone who had another one, likely of the same breed, on a leash, so I guess that it wasn’t lost after all, or at least not anymore. Either way, there was another small issue at the start of the final sector, as I was going up the stairs, when I slowed a little and might have hesitated, twice, because other people were coming down on that same side before making a little room for me just before I reached them. And I’ll also add that it was probably on lap six, I think on sector two, though it’s possible that it was on sector three, when I felt a first drop, with a few more coming on the final portion, almost reaching a light drizzle as I was on the final straight.
After having a quick look in the nearby Mega Image on the way back, I cleaned the litter box, did the day’s squats, ate lunch, drank a recently expired smoothie, changed, leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 8:50 PM, taking the recyclables with the deposit symbol and struggling to jog almost all the way to the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, though the right knee didn’t make it easy. However, I had a quick look in that Profi first, asking about egg dye but not seeing the color that we still needed and having a look at the expiring products but deciding to just think about the oranges that I saw, not wanting to lose any more time… But it apparently wouldn’t have mattered, because I reached that Mega Image a couple of minutes after 9 PM and the cart had already been emptied, just one bread that I wasn’t interested in being left, and while other customers with plenty of products which had been discounted by 90% were in line, that one who tends to always be there at that hour was already arranging her purchases, so I’m thinking that if I wouldn’t have stopped at Profi I’d have gotten even more frustrated, because it seems that they had brought out that cart right at 9 PM, if not even slightly earlier, that evening and without that stop I’d have probably walked in just in time to see the others grab everything before I could reach it. Either way, after having a look around, I decided against getting anything from the bakery area, thinking that I had a chance to find something better elsewhere, and didn’t put the recyclables in the machine either.
Since someone else was using the machine when I reached Penny and I only wanted to check the expiring products, thinking that I was likely to not find anything to get from there either, I walked in with the recyclables, but the guard came after me to ask why was I walking in with a bag, asking why didn’t I put them in the machine when I told him what I had in it and then telling me to leave it at the entrance when I explained. So I handed it to him to put it there and had a look, finding some “light” mozzarella among the expiring products, so I really shouldn’t have bought that other one a few days earlier, since it had expired for a while and I was yet to do anything with it. Either way, I added one more thing as well, to get to a round total, and that was something else that I shouldn’t have bought then, since the product was on sale during the previous period only for it to continue to be on sale, at an even lower price, after that period was over. Not that I could have known either of these things back then.
I didn’t get a receipt, but a single cashier had to deal with an increasingly restless and annoyed crowd, so I shrugged it off, put the purchases in the backpack, and continued to Carrefour, entering through the parking lot and trying to put the recyclables, including what I had picked up on the way, in the machine… Only for it to say that there was no container for either cans or PET bottles after the first few, so I put in the glass bottles and entered the store with the rest, and with the backpack, asking about egg dye but only finding red and just buying cooking oil, though I also picked up an empty recyclable which had been left among the expiring products. And I also used the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid.
After picking up a few more recyclables, I put them in the machine from Kaufland, though I also picked up one which had been left there and wasn’t accepted. Then I put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands, and entered the store at 10:35 PM, finding only a few things left in the bakery area, but those included two cheap buns that were discounted by 60%, so I took those, then made use of an evening discount for some bananas, found just the egg dye that we were looking for, and added a few other things. I was using the self-checkout when the closing announcement came, but something that seemed to be at half price, according to the label from the shelf, scanned at full price, so I asked an employee to come and take those things off, and I also decided to leave an expiring product there. Then I used the voucher received for the recyclables, retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged everything, and decided to check that Mega Image as well, just in case they had changed their hours and closed later that day. But they didn’t, so it was already closed and I just wasted a little time. And then some more time passed as I went to one of those benches and arranged everything properly.
In spite of that, I had a chance to reach another Mega Image before midnight, and since I hadn’t seen anything interesting in this one that’s nearby when I had checked it after the run, plus that often they don’t make bakery discounts anyway, I decided to risk it and go to the non-stop one that’s close to the metro station, rushing but still picking up some recyclables, then putting the bags in a cabinet that I didn’t lock, entering with the backpack, and seeing the bakery area just about full of products that had the 50%, plus regular bread that’s discounted by 70% between 8 PM and midnight. That’s not bagged, however, and I couldn’t find gloves, so after picking up a bag with two bakery products I struggled to get two breads in a bag without touching them too much, though I still did a few times, and then I managed to buy those things a little before midnight, when the discounts would have expired. Then I retrieved my things and added something more to the recyclables on the way back.
It was almost 12:15 AM when I got back, with over 12 kg. Then I ate a banana, cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put the purchases in their place, washed what was in the kitchen, fixed and ate something sweet, and rushed to wash at 2:20 AM, being done just before 2:55 AM and therefore being able to watch the successful end of the Artemis II mission. And then I washed a tray as well, ate some salty pretzels, took one more of those immunity supplements, and ate dinner between 5:05 AM and 5:45 AM. And my nose, or more exactly the right nostril, continued to be irritated, as it had been since the run. Either way, I got in bed at 7:15 AM, after once again being unable to floss behind that tooth, so something strange is going on.
I woke up a little before 10 AM, after dad did, and when he clinked Liza’s plate when he fed her I went to pee and exchanged a few words with him. But then I couldn’t get back to sleep and started getting frustrated, so at 10:35 AM I got on the computer, to at least stop wasting time. Later, after dad left, I went to make a tea and eat a yogurt with cereals, and at 11:55 AM I got back in bed, drifting in and out a few times but being mostly asleep until a little after 2 PM, though it was almost 2:25 PM when I actually got up, since that was early enough to allow me to go out again that day, seeing as the stores closed at 6-7 PM, but I really couldn’t decide where. And I really had no idea what the better choice would have been when I left, at almost 4:20 PM, taking the recyclables with the deposit symbol, but I ended up going to Obor, even if it meant the longest walk and giving up on the chance of finding something interesting in a Mega Image that made discounts of 90%, since I thought that it gave me a better chance to at least find something interesting, and also have more time to look through Carrefour as well.
That knee continued to bother me, but I managed it, and I also grabbed plenty more recyclables on the way to Obor, going to Kaufland first, since it closed at 6 PM, and putting all but the two that weren’t accepted in the machine from there. Then I washed my hands, using the room for disabled people when a cleaner pointed me there when she saw me going to the men’s, and it was almost 5:10 PM when I entered the store, with those remaining recyclables, and went straight to the bakery area. But not much was left there, and the discounts were poor at that point, so I went back to the fruits and vegetables and saw a label listing a great discount for wild garlic and quite a number of bundles left in the crate that was below it. The leaves were unusually large for wild garlic and the shape wasn’t right either, but most of what was left was basically unusable and the store was crowded, so I didn’t really think about it, rushing to grab those bundles that were mostly usable and a couple of scattered leaves that were also better, replacing some of the leaves from the bundles with them. And I didn’t spare them another thought while I was there, and the self-checkout machine accepted them when I entered them as wild garlic, so it was only after I got back and took them out that I realized that what I got was actually patience dock. And I have no clue what the price of that was supposed to be, or even whether they were also deeply discounted, though considering how most looked, they definitely should have been.
Getting back to how it went in Kaufland, those Moldovan grapes had the best discount that I saw this year for them and I was picking from what scattered ones were left when a discount of up to 85% was announced for bakery products, so I rushed back. The area was almost cleared by the time I got there, my hands were no longer clean either, and I didn’t think I had the time to look for gloves, if any were even left, so I just used my left hand, which was less dirty, to grab the two small doughnuts that were left, seemed interesting, and actually had the 85% discount, and two more of those small buns, once again discounted by 60%. Then I went back to picking grapes, rushed to add some parsnip roots that also had a great discount and some of those cheap yogurts, also picked up a really nice lettuce that someone had decided to drop, meaning to at least check the price, since I could see no others or even a price label, and took my place in the long line several minutes before closing time. But only three self-checkouts from that area still accept cash, and one wasn’t working while another was used by a couple of guys who had a lot of products and didn’t seem to know what to do, so the closing announcement came as I was still waiting… And the person who used that one machine that accepted cash and was available for general use ahead of me paid by card! But I held my comments, just being relieved that my turn finally came, and then that I didn’t need to call over an employee. The fact that the lettuce only had the regular discount was unpleasant, but I just left it there after checking. And then, since the total was less than the value of the voucher received for the recyclables, I cashed it in after paying. And then I did my best to arrange the purchases quickly, walking out when it was close to 6:10 PM.
After mostly jogging to that mall, I picked up another recyclable and put all three in Carrefour’s machine, which easily accepted them. Then I washed my hands, put the purchases in a cabinet, entered the store just after 6:15 PM, saw many cartons of eggs among the expiring products, and took one of six bio (organic) ones and, after beeping dad, asking when he called back, and being told that I should, also one of ten regular ones. There was also a cart that was almost full of UHT milk there and I took one as well, plus a bread and something that I was going to use for lunch from the bakery area, everything being at half price. And then I added a little garlic, at full price but using the opportunity to recover what I lost when one of their machines “ate” a recyclable, weighing just two of the three heads. On the other hand, the discount label of what I had grabbed for lunch didn’t cover the regular bar code and that one accidentally scanned at the self-checkout, so I asked that guy who I think is the supervisor, and who was helping people at the next machine, to cancel it, but he just turned around and hit “cancel”, so I guess that some products can be canceled without logging on. But I did need his help when I tried scanning the carton of ten eggs and the machine said that an assistant will soon come, and when he came over he saw that the code wasn’t in the system, which was quite an issue when so many of those cartons were there. But he said that there won’t be more people buying them because the store was closing, peeled off the discount sticker, manually entered the product at full price, and then corrected the price. And then he also scanned the garlic for me, so I was concerned that he was going to notice that something was wrong, but he didn’t say anything, so I then also used the voucher received for those recyclables, and retrieved what I had in the cabinet.
I had initially meant to check a Mega Image as well, but there was no time to even reach one before 7 PM, when those also closed, so I stayed there to arrange the purchases, the closing announcement coming as I was walking away. And then I grabbed a few more recyclables and set them down after walking out and deciding to spread my things on a bench and arrange them differently. A foreign guy asked about those recyclables while I was doing that and I told him in English that they were mine, and then he gestured to the can that he was holding, so I assumed that it had also been somewhere around that bench and he had just picked it up and was asking whether that was also mine, so I told him that it wasn’t and waved him away. I finally walked away from there at 7:10 PM, and on the way back I grabbed some more recyclables.
I got back a few minutes before 8 PM. Then I ate some of the grapes, eventually cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, then put the remaining half of those sweetened cereals bought from Supeco in half a liter of milk and ate that as well, helped dad as we dyed those eggs that we ended up dyeing here, put the purchases in their place, did the day’s squats, and at 10:25 PM I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. I was done at 11:15 PM, then spent some time on the computer, and eventually fixed something that I ate as lunch, on and off, between 2:10 AM and 2:50 AM. I also washed what was in the kitchen, dealt with my bread, used many of those patience dock leaves for the salad, cleaned the litter box one more time, took a cold pill expired for over a year and a half, just in case it’d do any good, including for my still somewhat irritated nose, and ate dinner between 4:15 AM and 4:45 AM. Otherwise, I saw that Kaufland had put the next catalogs up on the site, and that the cheaper cheese was going to be on sale, at the usual price, and seeing as dad hadn’t touched those two pieces I shouldn’t have bought them, not that I could have known that. And another thing that I couldn’t have known is that they’re going to double what’s received for recyclables again, in the form of a voucher with the value of the vouchers used during that period, up to 50 RON, so I shouldn’t have cashed in that one. Either way, I got in bed at 6:30 AM, after once again being able to very easily floss behind that tooth and rubbing cream on both hands and feet.
Liza woke me at 12:10 PM with a “concert”, but after peeing I got right back to sleep, and the next time I woke up I barely even moved, getting back to sleep almost immediately. That changed when I woke up again, just taking some naps that were probably brief and otherwise drifting in and out, and then being awake for a while before getting up, but I have no idea how long these periods were, because I only checked the time at that point, seeing 6:23 PM. But the problem is that knee, which is bothering me a fair bit. My throat is a little sore as well, but I hope that’s because of what I had for lunch last night and not something else, though I’d have felt somewhat more at ease if I’d have put on the mask while I was in the stores yesterday, considering how crowded it was, and the thing is that I left it in the jacket, so I could have just pulled it out and done that. And I’ll also mention here that I initially posted this at 11:59 PM with a part of the section about April 8 and most of the one about yesterday in the form of notes, though I almost immediately commented out the entire section about yesterday and this paragraph, and a little later I edited the post in order to fix the section about April 8. I edited the post again in order to add the rest, in a proper form, Tuesday morning.
