Cav's Place

To continue from where I left off, on the evening of November 30 I jogged to Kaufland, but still picked up two recyclables and put them in the machine before washing my hands and entering the store just before 8:05 PM. After getting some olives, I noticed a good evening discount for some sausages, so I got quite a lot, for dad, along with some expiring chicken parts, also for him. And since there was a 25% discount for one of their store brands, I got a bunch of biscuits and some sour cream, not finding other things that I’d have wanted… And I also grabbed two small bags of bagels of that same brand, and before the closing announcement I managed to find three onions that didn’t look as bad as the rest, since they had a good evening discount. But then I spent a lot of time in line, just two of the self-checkouts that accept cash working and those using them having problems or being slow, but I turned that in my favor by realizing that all of the employees would be in a hurry to leave by the time my turn finally came, being among the last, and nobody’d care to look, so after first checking one of the products of that store brand, to confirm that the 25% discount applied, I simply kept those bagels and the onions in the bag, so I made up for the recyclables “eaten” by the machines from Kaufland. And then I just threw everything else back on top of them in the bag and finally walked out at 8:50 PM, so 20 minutes after closing time.
Next, I went to Carrefour, picking up two more recyclables, putting them in the machine, putting my things in a cabinet, and wandering around the store for quite a while, wanting to leave close to closing time, so I won’t have to wait for the 90% discounts to be made at that Mega Image. So I first cashed in the voucher received for the recyclables, then just got two more things for dad and added a mere handful of beans, to be able to use the voucher received for previous purchases. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged everything.
Well, waiting until almost 10 PM proved a bad choice when I grabbed some more recyclables before leaving that mall, and left one more that I saw but couldn’t readily reach, only to get to that Mega Image just after 10 PM, so the machine was already off for the evening. So I put those recyclables and the bag with some of the purchases in a cabinet, entered with the backpack, where I had the rest, waited for the employees to finish placing the 90% discount labels, and got some mozzarella, some imported licensed chips, and some ready-to-eat salad. And then I waited until 10:30 PM, wondering whether they may still increase the discount for the bakery products after all, even if at a later time, but when there was no sign of that and they remained at 50%, I just bought those other things, then retrieved what I had in the cabinet, added the new purchases in the backpack, and grabbed some more recyclables on the way back. Unfortunately, the last one was a glass bottle that I wanted to put in the bag and missed, and the bottom shattered, so I put the part that remained whole back in the bin.
It was close to 11:15 PM when I got back. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, I think grabbing two more recyclables from the garbage room, posted the initial form of that day’s post, ate a small citrus fruit, not sure exactly what, put the purchases in their place, which also involved rearranging a number of things in the freezer, so the sausages and the chicken parts would fit, after dad split and bagged them, and ate lunch. It was 2:05 AM when I finally went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, being done exactly one hour later. And then I saw that the candies that are in a bowl in the fridge were sticky, so I changed the bowl and washed them, with the obvious exception of those that are packaged in cardboard, and ate what I could of one that was melting there and one more after that. And then I had a lot to wash in the kitchen, cleaned up a little as well, and used one of the ready-to-eat salads, being surprised to find that nothing seemed spoiled but obviously washing what was there quite thoroughly, which took a while. So I ate dinner between 5:30 AM and 6 AM, realizing during that time that I hadn’t properly commented out the notes for the rest of November 26 from what I had posted before midnight and doing so then. And I got in bed at 7:15 AM.

Since it’s the National Day, we were hoping that the workers would have December 1 off, but we were woken up by them talking loudly right outside our windows when dad said it wasn’t even 8 AM yet, so I had barely fallen asleep, and then they started working right here. It actually sounded like they were working right at the windows, so I was panicking again and stayed curled up under the blanket until they seemed to move away, at 8:15 AM, by which time I had heard Liza going to the litter box three times, so I got up to clean it but just saw one spot where she had peed, so I don’t know what she did there, but I guess that she was at least as panicked as I was, and possibly more. Either way, I also peed, noticing that dad had gone right back to sleep, and after a while I also managed to fall asleep again, even if some work was obviously being done in this area, but not at the windows anymore. And when I woke up again, at 12:20 PM, dad said that they had finally put the EPS on the outside of our balcony, though the work he had done on the inside meant that there was foam and even a harder substance spilling on the outside, so the question is how well they did their job, and when dad looked he said that there were some gaps. But he was leaving then, so I waited for him to walk out and then, at 12:50 PM, I got back in bed, though that meant that I missed most of the workers’ break and moments later I heard them talking again. Still, I managed to catch another nap, being woken up again at 1:50 PM, when the noise was worse, and probably catching a couple more very brief naps even after that, until the really loud drilling started, frightening me again and making me stay under the blanket until it stopped, the good thing being that it didn’t last long. I was up for good a few minutes after 3 PM.

After getting in bed at 5:20 AM, on December 2 I was woken up by loud drilling at 8:40 AM, though after going to pee I eventually managed to catch a couple of brief naps, seeing 10:25 AM the next time I looked. And at that point I checked my e-mail and saw that I had a reply stating that my new ID card was actually ready to be picked up! Since I hadn’t received any notification and the site still stated that it wasn’t ready, I had sent an e-mail to ask about it on November 24, receiving a reply on November 27 stating that it had been printed and advising me to ask the office where I had submitted the request whether it had actually arrived there, and I did that the following day, the first reply asking for some personal information, and after sending it the second only came that morning. So I decided to go that day, before going to the Library to return the books, but at first I crawled right back in bed and tried to get a little more sleep, the noise level seeming to just about allow it, but I couldn’t manage it, a long time passing before catching what must have been the briefest nap, probably followed by a second one that couldn’t have been much longer before I got up, a few minutes before noon, so instead of using the workers’ break to sleep a little more, I used it to go to the kitchen while being less anxious about them being outside the window… Only to take a little too long, so a guy did walk right past twice while I was still there. But at least I could then eat lunch before leaving, at 2 PM, with a small bag of trash that I dropped down the chute and the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
I knew that I was going to pass by a Mega Image and a Penny on the way, so I held on to the recyclables until I reached that Mega Image and then put them, with the exception of that one that still wasn’t accepted, in the machine from there, ending up with two vouchers since the machine timed out at one point. And, after cashing in the vouchers, I saw that the Profi that’s also in that area doesn’t have a machine, the message on the entrance stating that they take recyclables manually, so I went there and recovered the deposit for that remaining one as well. And then I continued on my way, reaching the place that I had to pick up my new ID card from a little after 2:35 PM and walking away, with the new one, a little before 2:45 PM, seeing October 31 printed on it, so if it really was printed then and could have been picked up a week later, as I had been told, I should have even been able to buy those state bonds under my own name, not to mention register for the tree planting event on November 29.
Either way, I then wasted a fair bit of time at my bank’s branch from that area, since there’s one right across the road and I went there to update my information, yet their system apparently didn’t work, so after being told that they heard that there may be problems with the new cards but it didn’t usually happen for them, they tried scanning it on different scanners, then probably exchanged some messages about the matter, and eventually one came to say that they had made a scan in order to have the information but there seems to be a problem with the system, so I could try another branch but it probably still won’t work and they’ll call me when it’ll be sorted out.
It was almost 3:10 PM when I walked away from there and to Carrefour Unirii, putting the few recyclables picked up on the way in the machine from there, though I wasn’t surprised when the one I grabbed from a number of glass bottles that were behind some containers from that area wasn’t accepted, and when I walked away from the machine I noticed several more recyclables in a cart and, while the rest might not have worked, there were a couple of those oddly-shaped bottles among them and I was pretty sure that those would eventually be accepted at Carrefour, but a cleaner walked up to that cart just when I was looking in it and I stepped away, letting him get them. And then I entered the store and grabbed some lettuces and broccoli that were among the expiring products, the lettuces being two wrapped together for half of the price of one, so basically at a 75% discount from a price that already had a regular discount those days. But after having a look at the lettuces and deciding on one of the bundles, I went to the toilet, leaving the bag where I still had all of those products on the bench from that hallway… Only for the guard to point me to the exit when I tried to walk back past the checkouts, saying that I had products in the bag when I said that I was heading back in the store, so I told him that I had gone to the toilet and hadn’t paid for them and some other guys came to tell me to either pay or leave products before I go there, not caring when I said that I had left them on that bench… So I guess that I could have just followed his instructions and walked away with the unpaid products before he figured it out, but I just walked back in, checked the bags of broccoli and just kept one of those as well, and also used the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid, obviously without charging myself for the bag that the broccoli was in.
Then I took the metro, having dad’s card, and went to the Library, the machine seeming to be rebooting after an error when I got there, so I waited a little even if the guard seemed to indicate that I could just leave the books, but eventually did just that when the other guy came and told me to do so while he tried to get the machine to work again. And then I got back on the metro and went to Kaufland Basarab, picking up one more recyclable and putting it in the machine from there, entering with those purchases from Carrefour, and getting two expiring products and two of those cheap yogurts, which were once again slightly cheaper. I might have looked into a few more things, but I pretty much only had what I had gained from the recyclables on me and that only left me with some coins. And then I arranged the purchases and took the metro back.
I was back at 6:30 PM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put the purchases in their place, ate an apple, a pretty large piece of brownie, some candies and a small bag of chips, timed the day’s squats, doing them in 1:56, and talked to mother for quite a while, since she was here, so it was definitely past 12:30 AM when I went to the bathroom, but I’m not sure whether it was only a couple of minutes later or somewhat more than that. Either way, I used the toilet and washed, being done at 1:35 AM, and then I washed what was in the kitchen and used the worse lettuce leaves for the salad, eating dinner between 3:30 AM and 4 AM.

While I got up to pee at 8:05 AM, I then got right back to sleep and stayed asleep until 10:40 AM, when I was woken up by awfully loud drilling and considered getting up for a while and then perhaps trying to catch another nap later… But that drilling didn’t last long, so I decided to stay in bed, yet I couldn’t get back to sleep until it started again. The level of noise varied after that, but I just caught a few very brief and agitated naps, only being mostly asleep as 1 PM approached, that being when I had set the alarm to ring. I was definitely dreaming that it was 12:40 PM before waking up, checking, and seeing that I had been quite accurate, since it was 12:37 PM, then caught another brief nap before checking once more and seeing 12:49 PM, and then I was definitely asleep again when the alarm rang, though I then took it easy and it was almost 1:15 PM when I actually got out of bed… And the annoying thing was that the work seemed over, and after the loud voices also stopped there was about half an hour when it was almost completely quiet, after which there were only pretty faint noises, so doing a part of the preparation earlier and then catching another nap at that point would have really been the right choice. But, as it was, I then had the usual stuff, with another bio (organic) apple, though the yogurt was a high-protein one, even if it had expired on November 27, and left at 3:40 PM, wearing the full running gear and that thing that goes on my neck. The reported temperature was 9°C, holding steady.
The time was 48:54.17, with sector times of 4:14.77, 5:18.21, 6:08 (6:07.97), 4:38 (4:37.19), 5:13.34, 6:00.29, 4:30 (4:29.96), 5:04 (5:03.69), 5:54.47 and 1:55 (1:54.28), making for lap times of 15:40.95, 15:51 (15:50.82) and 15:28.12. Since I was still paying for pushing so hard last week, I wasn’t going to do that again and didn’t really aim to stay under 48 minutes, so after a first sector that was all right I did mean to take it just a little slower… But when I saw just how slow the second sector had been, I realized that if I won’t recover the lost time on the third, even staying under 50 minutes was far from certain, not to mention 49. And I didn’t just fail to recover that time, but sector one of lap two was along those same lines, making me worry that I may go over 16 minutes on that lap, which would have definitely put staying under 50 minutes in serious doubt. So I gradually pushed a little more, and at the end of the lap it seemed like I was looking at getting under 49:30. But I felt that I might just be able to recover enough to squeeze under 49 minutes after all, so I went for it, being certain that I won’t be safe at the end of the lap and would need a good final sector to make it but being surprised when I saw that I had done just enough over the course of the lap after all, so I could approach the final sector more carefully, which was actually a good idea that day. Of course, close to 49 minutes is a bad time in itself, but I guess I’ll have to be content with it at this point.
What does make it worse is that once again there were hardly any notable issues to speak of, and there actually were pretty few people, leading to a less than usual amount of weaving and going the long way around. The only notable loss of time was at the start of sector two of lap three, when I stopped for a couple of seconds, to have a better look at the stopwatch. But I might have also lost a little on the final straight, which was really wet for some reason, and since I could afford to take it easy, I did so. As for physical issues, there was just a certain pressing need that I felt on sectors two and three of lap one, fading after that and only returning, faintly, on sector two of lap three.

Now I’ll once again leave the part about the rest of the day to be added later and skip to the fact that it was almost 9:50 PM when I got back. Then I fixed something sweet and ate it, and then dad removed the stove top and I washed it, between going to the toilet and washing myself. It was past 1:40 AM when I was done with all of that, and then I washed what was in the kitchen and made pizza, eating it, as a combined lunch and dinner, between 5 AM and 6:15 AM, and getting in bed at 7:20 AM. And then I could sleep until close to 12:40 PM, when I was woken up by some brief drilling, and was probably mostly asleep after that as well, even if that sleep was in the form of a series of naps broken up by occasional louder noises. I was awake for a while before getting up, but I only did so a little after 4:15 PM. On the other hand, my throat was really sore, and I while I initially hoped that it was only because of the hard crust of that pizza, I’m having serious doubts about that.

My throat continued to be sore the following day, when I got up a little after 1:30 PM, though I had been awake for about an hour at that point. And there was still no reply to the e-mail I had sent to my bank after having my card held by the machine, so I wanted to go back to that branch and shaved… And then I went to the kitchen right when a worker was outside that window, after they had been right outside mine until then. But at least I have the cardboard covering my window, even if there are a few small gaps, but in the kitchen he obviously saw me there.
Either way, I went out a little after 3:15 PM, reaching the branch of the bank where my card had ended up being held by the ATM just over ten minutes later, after picking up a recyclable on the way… And then waiting there for over half an hour, also because the two people who came after me went ahead as soon as an employee became available, and then the woman also walked out for quite a while, coming back with some cookies for the employee who helped them. And there were two others, a woman and her mother, who had been waiting even before I got there, so they went to the other employee when she became available and I had to wait for those two to be done. But at least I recovered my card, and the employee also confirmed that my information had been updated, and then she offered to reset the PIN but I said that I thought that I remembered it and wanted to try it, so she advised me to just try once and use it contactless, so it won’t get caught again if I’ll get it wrong one more time, and I did just that, at the ATM that’s inside, confirming that I had remembered it correctly. And then I had quick looks in that Mega Image and the nearby one and grabbed another recyclable on the way and two more for the garbage room.
I was back for the first time a few minutes after 4:30 PM, and then I cleaned the litter box and went to somehow shove a bag of trash down the overflowing chute. Later, I did the day’s squats, ate lunch, and went out again at 8:50 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and those other things that I take to Kaufland. So I went there first, putting the recyclables, including one picked up on the way, in the machine, and the other things in what may be the proper bin, before continuing to Carrefour, picking up three more recyclables from that mall, and putting them in the machine from there.
I just got an expiring bio (organic) yogurt from Carrefour, but waited close to 20 minutes in line for it, several people waiting at each self-checkout, and some of those joining the lines as closing time approached staring pretty much in shock, and occasionally taking pictures. So the store had closed by the time I was done, but at least I used the voucher received for the recyclables. And then I jogged to Kaufland, putting that yogurt in a cabinet, going to the toilet, entering the store close to 10:10 PM, and making use of good evening discounts for a nicer lettuce and two huge parsnip roots, though the label printed by the scales listed the full price for the latter and none of the price checkers seemed to do anything if I tried to scan either of those products. Either way, I also got two expiring breads, with a 50% discount, and three pieces of processed meat products that were among the expiring ones, with a 75% discount, all of these for dad, and three of those small yogurts for myself, waiting in line at the self-checkouts at closing time… And then I noticed that the label for those parsnip roots had fallen off, so I used the scales from there to get another one, which at least listed the correct price, and also used the voucher received for the recyclables. And then I retrieved that yogurt, walked out at 10:40 PM, and rushed to that Mega Image, putting my things in a cabinet and grabbing a bun and three sweet pastries, including one of those apple circles, even if the discount remained at 50%. And the bakery area was pretty much full, and when I reached the checkout the cashier said that she should have made that bet, making me wonder whether they had been wondering whether anybody’d buy any of those products if the discount got reduced so much, and I commented that it was a great time while those discounts were of 90%. Either way, I then retrieved my things, went to a bench to arrange everything, and grabbed some more recyclables on the way back.
I got back at 11:30 PM. Then I once again cleaned the litter box and went to somehow shove what I had gathered down the chute, put the purchases in their place, ate that apple circle, and went to wash when it was close to 1:25 AM. I was done at 2:15 AM, but then I spent some time on the computer, only getting back in the kitchen at 2:40 AM. And, after taking a pill, even if it was expired since May, I ate dinner between 4:20 AM and 5:05 AM and got in bed at 6:35 AM.

I was only woken up at 12:05 PM, by what sounded like metal being cut nearby, but I didn’t even need to pee, the noise didn’t last long, and I could then get back to sleep, even if for what ended up being a few naps separated by a couple of brief periods of being awake, until I woke up yet again, saw that it was a little after 3:50 PM, and decided to get up. And that night I made mamaliga and, despite trying to “cheat” in order to be able to say that I started eating in my room before 3 AM and taking some bites in the kitchen, I only actually started eating in my room at 3:20 AM and finished at 3:55 AM. And then I had a hard time falling asleep, in part because, after having gotten better over the course of the day, my throat was bothering me again. And I also kept having to pee after the mamaliga, so I got up to do that for the first time at 6:15 AM, without having fallen asleep yet, and some more time passed until I finally did.

At least I could get right back to sleep after the following times when I got up to pee… Until 11:30 AM, when I went again after dad left and right when I got back in bed some scraping sounds started coming from upstairs, there was some occasional banging as well, and at one point there were even a few seconds of drilling, so it was once again hard to get back to sleep. I eventually did, but the naps were rather agitated and more interrupted than they had been until then. Either way, I got up after the alarm rang, at 2:50 PM, to watch the race, and it was just after 5:15 PM when I went out.
I went to vote first, and my new ID card caused problems there as well, the person who handled it saying that it was only the second one that did so that day, but it worked when she entered the information manually. And then, since they no longer place stickers on these new cards and I had taken the old one as well, with just one small space left on the back of it, I asked the guy who had the list that I was in to put a sticker on that one, though he wouldn’t put it in that spot, initially trying to put it over the oldest one and when I pointed him to that spot he put it over the sticker that was above it, so I then peeled it off and put it in that spot myself, though the annoying thing was that it came off with a part of that old sticker that a part of it had been placed on.
After that, I went to Penny Titan, picking up a few recyclables and putting them in the machine… And realizing that I had forgotten to take another one of those vouchers from their coins campaign, so the fact that I found those packs of cat food there was frustrating, because it’s a pretty rare opportunity to use those vouchers and I didn’t want to get any without using one, so I just got two expiring yogurts and one piece of that cat food of their store brand, since that’s also discounted, to use that voucher without needing to cash it in. And then I rushed to Carrefour as well, entering with those purchases and getting a juice for dad, though it was a little bit more expensive than when I had checked the price for it in the other location two days earlier, plus two sweet pastries and some oranges that were among the expiring or spoiling products and a red cabbage, once again waiting for a while at the self-checkout because the two girls who were using it when I got there apparently had some problems that an employee had to sort out. But at least the next couple was done quickly and they left the pile of coins that were in the tray there, so I took them. And then I arranged the purchases and jogged back, picking up one recyclable from there and two more when I entered the building.
I was back just after 7:10 PM, so I missed the start of the handball match. Either way, I then cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put the purchases in their place, helped dad finally bring my external blinds in, ate one of the oranges and one of those sweet pastries, vacuumed the mess made by those blinds, did 200 squats, since I had kept putting them off the previous day until I forgot to do them at all, and I did them in the kitchen and in the clothes worn outside, and then I also ate lunch. And tonight I’ll finally be moving my desk back, after having pointlessly kept it in this uncomfortable position all this time, because it would seem that those who’ll drill the holes for those fans are likely to come tomorrow, so we want it to be very clear that they absolutely can’t drill the hole on this side of the room. On the other hand, I’ve been having a foul taste in my mouth which only got worse today, and it’s still there now.

Some rule changes that are supposedly “designed to stop governments and third parties from disproportionately promoting songs to influence voters” were apparently enough to stop even a vote about banning Israel from Eurovision 2026, the EBU doing everything to push through their double standards by connecting the two issues and holding a single vote, those in favor of the changes therefore also voting against a vote on the ban. So, with 738 in favor, 264 against and 120 abstentions, the motion easily passed and, while Russia and Belarus remain banned, and rightly so, Israel will continue to be allowed to take part in the contest despite the far worse atrocities committed. That may be because the prevailing view remains that Israel can do no wrong or because Palestinians aren’t seen as, for lack of a better term, sufficiently human, though it’s most probably a mixture of both, and either way that issue affects much more important matters and it’s not, in itself, the topic of this post, which is just about the Eurovision Song Contest.
At least four countries, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and, most importantly, Spain, which is one of the Big Five, have announced that they’ll boycott the 2026 edition because of this decision, and it seems that Iceland and Belgium are considering it as well, even if Iceland seems to have been among the countries who voted in favor of the motion. On the other hand, three countries, all from my part of the world, one of them actually being Romania and the other two being Moldova and Bulgaria, announced that they’ll return, which strikes me as a particularly rotten move, doubly so in Romania’s case, since on top of the Israel issue, and the fact that Romania does recognize the Palestinian state, TVR has skipped the last two editions citing budget constraints but now they’ll return despite the country being hit with austerity policies and people having to seriously tighten their belts.
Either way, Spain’s withdrawal should have done some damage, but the Austrian organizers of next year’s edition have already stated that they’ll cover the additional expenses to ensure that “the show will not suffer in any way”. And, on that note, I must say that it’s particularly unfortunate that this edition will take place there, and I’m not even sure if it’s the second worst possible host country or it is, in fact, an even worse choice than Germany would have been, looking at things from the point of view of having any chance to stop giving Israel a free pass for anything and everything. So, if no other big names will somehow decide to grow a spine at least in this matter, which is a minor one that nevertheless holds a fair bit of symbolic significance, I don’t see how anything could change.
As for me, I guess I’ll stick to my personal boycott next year as well. That was easy for the past two years, with the contest not even being on TV here and its presence in the news being greatly reduced as a result, while things will be somewhat different next year, if Romania will actually participate again, but that may actually make 2026 the first year when I’ll “properly” boycott the event over the Israel matter. And, if FalastinVision will continue to be held, I guess I’ll once again replace my usual ESC post or posts with one about that.

On the evening of November 22, I went out when it was almost 8:40 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, picking up a few more and putting them in the machine from Carrefour. And then I bought quite a number of things, but since only half of the discount showed up right away for the first ones that should have been two for the price of one, I paid for those separately, seeing the rest of the discount applying at the end and using both of the vouchers received for previous purchases at that point and the one received for the recyclables after scanning and paying for the rest of the purchases.
After arranging everything, I rushed to Kaufland, but still picked up some more recyclables, putting them in the machine from there and picking up and keeping another which had been left there and which I thought should be accepted but wasn’t. And I added to what I have to recover from there after grabbing a crushed can which had also been left there, trying to straighten it without really managing it, and having it “eaten” by the machine. But after stepping away I noticed one more, putting that in as well, and before reaching the entrance I spotted yet another, going back to also put that in, so I ended up with three vouchers. And then, after putting my things in a cabinet, I went to pee and wash my hands, entering the store when it was past 10:05 PM and getting some beets that had an evening discount, even if it wasn’t a big one. And then I also dug through the crates of Moldovan plums, which had been set aside already, and picked a handful of those as well, the evening discount being good, before adding some cat food and using all of those vouchers received for the recyclables when I paid.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet and adding the new purchases, I went to the Mega Image that closes at 11 PM, putting the bags in a cabinet, entering with the backpack, but seeing that the only discounted bakery products that were left were buns. But they did have the pumpkins that were on sale and I found one that looked good among them, so I bought that, using the scales from there for it, before retrieving what I had in the cabinet and then leaving the plums next to a homeless man who was probably sleeping on a bench. He had piles of bags around him, so he probably didn’t need them, but at least I gave a little something away. And then I checked the non-stop Mega Image as well, once again putting the bags in a cabinet and entering with the backpack, and getting one of those pumpkins from there as well before retrieving my things and arranging a little more. And on the way back I picked up some more recyclables.
It was past 11:40 PM when I got back, with 14 kg, and after cleaning the litter box I ate a piece of baked pumpkin and added some more trash into that bag before going to drop it down the chute. Then I put the purchases in their place, fixed and ate something sweet as well, and it was almost 2 AM when I went to wash. It was past 2:40 AM when I was done, but then I spent a little time on the computer, getting back to the kitchen at 2:55 AM, and I used the rest of one of those habanero peppers and some more of that banged up cabbage bought the previous evening. On the other hand, when I took the bread that I wanted to use out of the freezer, that piece fell out of the bag and ended up on the kitchen floor. And, just like the previous times something like that happened, it’d have been easier, faster, definitely much safer, and just better in every way if I’d have cut away the crust, but instead I just washed that piece, since it was frozen and I could do it, and then microwaved it for five minutes, which made it really tasty but also really hard to slice. At least it wasn’t an issue that, after also moving the bread to another plate and getting what was stuck on the one used to microwave and slice it, I ended up eating dinner between 5:15 AM and 6:20 AM, since the race started at 6 AM and I was going to watch it anyway. So I went to bed at 7:55 AM.

I woke up the first time after dad did, going to pee and check an itchy spot that seemed to be a bug bite on my left leg and then getting right back to sleep, but just before 12:45 PM I was very roughly woken up by a bad cramp that was pretty much in the same spot as that bite. Still, after waiting out the worst of it and peeing one more time, I got back to sleep yet again, waking up again at 3:05 PM and then probably getting another brief nap before getting up a little before 3:30 PM. And that evening I just managed to finish Loyal to the Sky, though I only did so a few minutes before midnight and therefore could only post the rating in time to have something as the week’s second post, editing it the following evening to actually add the quick review. And spending that time reading despite wanting to also make mamaliga led to only actually starting to eat in my room at 3:25 AM, initially trying to wolf it down, but while I wouldn’t have been done in 15 minutes anyway, having mixed in some fish brought by dad from mother, including some of the bones, and also having once again put some of a habanero pepper in the salad, meant that I was only about halfway through it by 3:40 AM, and then I took it somewhat easier, finishing at 4:05 AM. And I got in bed at 5:20 AM. On the other hand, that night I also noticed that cold air was coming in around the window from the small bathroom as well, in multiple places.

Even though there wasn’t much noise the following day, after waking up to pee at 9:10 AM I remained awake for a long time, since dad got up just after that and then there were various other noises. With the exception of just a couple of seconds of loud drilling and a few more seconds of hammering, I’d have likely managed to sleep through the rest, but getting back to sleep was another matter. But at least I eventually did manage it, and it was much easier to do so when I happened to wake up again, with the exception of the last time, since I was awake for quite a while before finally getting up, close to 4:40 PM. And after that I checked more properly and found that cold air was coming in around the window from my room as well.

Moving on to November 25, the guys who had installed the windows were supposed to come and try to fix the problems, but they didn’t… Yet the nightmare that I’ve been having on most days, often multiple times per day, ever since the work started, became reality. I mean, it begins with workers pulling away my external blinds and then continues either with them coming in through the window and beating or torturing me, maybe stealing stuff, or with monsters or animals appearing and attacking me, and it’s all very “real” and sometimes I can’t tell that I’m dreaming and other times I realize it but either can’t wake up or, worse, I dream that I woke up, feel relieved, but after a few seconds the nightmare continues, seeming even more “real”. And that morning, at about 8:30 AM, I got woken up by what turned out to be two workers pulling away the external blinds, taking a chunk of the EPS with it, since it was still temporarily held in placed by two screws burrowed in that, and then staring at me as I startled awake. Then I jumped out of bed and went to tell dad about it, since he had just woken up and was on the toilet, and he opened his window and asked them whether they were doing some work around the windows, laughing about it and seeming content when they said that they were and dismissing the fact that I was so bothered by what had happened. So I ended up on the hallway, in front of my door, first just standing there for a while and then crouching there, I don’t know for how long, until I went to his room for a little while, when the workers seemed to have moved away from his window and to mine.
When they seemed to have gone back there I went back to my room, put a box in front of one window, tried to find something to cover the other one with as well but couldn’t, and then curled up under the blanket and stayed there until what I think was close to 1:40 PM, when they seemed to be done for good with my window, after having returned to it, and I probably even caught a few brief and agitated naps, obviously “featuring” the same nightmare… And it was another day when I didn’t open the window at all. But at least in the evening I managed to cover the other one as well, and also spent some three more hours in bed, sleeping for about two of them. But dad once again dismissed what I wanted to be done around the windows and my priorities and ideas in general about the work that we should be doing in the apartment after this, and I was increasingly panicked and whimpering and just unable to deal with anything… And I also noticed a slight prickling sensation in the tips of some of my fingers, plus in my lower left leg, and before going to bed it appeared in my lower right leg as well, though that might have been caused by how I was sitting. And I decided to take some pictures of the windows, which led to getting in bed at almost 5:25 AM.

The plan was to run on November 26, but with someone supposed to come and fix the windows in the morning and dad saying that he was going to get up at 7:40 AM, if not even earlier, because he had to move the car before 8 AM, if I caught any sleep at all by then, it must have been in the form of one or two brief naps. And after that it was probably the same, so I was awake at 10:10 AM, when the guy came and dad knocked on my door… And he was really quick, making the other windows no longer open further or close on their own even if he didn’t actually straighten them, fixing another snag with the one from the bathroom and putting some foam around the bottom of dad’s so fast that I had barely managed to change out of the pajamas and remove the cardboard that I had covered my windows with when he was done with everything else and had to come in here, sorting out my window as well in a matter of seconds. And then I did some other things, wondering whether I should just stay up or try to catch another little nap, eventually deciding on the latter, covering the windows again, even if having things on the inside meant that moisture was already gathering on them, and getting back in bed a few minutes before 11 AM, setting the alarm to ring at 11:50 AM.
Well, moments later dad got back, after having gone out for a little while, and said that the person reading the meters from the heaters was in the building and asking me to read them so he’ll hand them to her when he’ll go out again. And then he made two trips to bring some old windows from a neighbor who allowed him to take them, after mother said that she wanted to use them there, Liza meowed in between, and after a while there was some loud hammering as well, so I got up when the alarm rang, but after just wasting that time… And the frustrating thing was that the workers did take their break at noon, and dad didn’t come back again during that time, so I’d have had a chance to catch a nap during that hour. But I had decided to get up then in order to be able to watch all the ski jumping, the qualifying starting at noon and the actual competition at 4:10 PM, so I wanted to be back by then. So I then had the usual stuff, including the usual sweet thing, though the apple was another bio (organic) one, the yogurt had expired on November 21 but still seemed perfectly fine, and I replaced two of the almonds with apricot pits. And then dad got back and said that he had met the guy who had come to fix the windows and was asked whether he had taken those old ones, and when he confirmed it, also stating that the owner had given them to him and even helped him carry them, that guy said that they were “his” and he could give dad some for 150 RON a piece! So it’s a good thing that it happened after he fixed ours, since dad blew him off and I guess that a lot of bitterness resulted from that, if the workers are used to taking and selling what they remove. Either way, it was past 2:50 PM when I left, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 14-15°C, holding steady.
The time was 47:47.88, with sector times of 4:06.26, 5:28.69, 5:42 (5:41.28), 4:20 (4:19.90), 4:56.25, 5:53.22, 4:38 (4:37.47), 5:06.75, 5:45.16 and 1:53 (1:52.90), making for lap times of 15:16.23, 15:09.37 and 15:29.38. I did notice that I was unusually quick from the beginning, but was still really surprised by that time on the first sector, especially after my sprint on the long straight was somewhat broken when I had to get around the truck that was being loaded with bags of fallen leaves. However, when a shoelace got loose right at the start of sector two and I lost over 25 seconds to retie it, it seemed like I had to give up on any hope of getting back under 48 minutes. Yet I kept pushing, and for just over one full lap, between sector three of lap one and sector three of lap two, another runner made me push much harder than I’d have done on my own. That did mean that at the end of lap two I had a chance to get back under 48 minutes despite that loss of time, but I had pushed way too hard and was in a lot of pain, so I took it easier on sector one of lap three, to try to recover to some extent. That sector’s time made me fear that I was going to fail after all, so I then pushed again, and really gave everything on sector three of lap three, thinking that there was no way to be safe at the end of the lap but wanting to have a good chance to just manage it in the end… Only to notice that I was definitely safe, and while I wouldn’t say that I took it easy on the final sector, the main goal became just to get to the end. So I got back under 48 minutes for the first time in a month, the actual running time was quite close to that one, considering those 25 or so seconds lost with that shoelace, and there’s a change in the top ten times I ever obtained on the first sector.
To say a little more about that other runner, he seemed a little older than me, massive, as in large and muscular, and was running in a way that struck me as particularly inefficient, but I quickly realized that I had to push harder in order to even edge a little closer… And he probably noticed when I got behind him and pushed harder as well, edging back ahead until we passed another runner and he went on the outside while I went on the inside, ending up almost alongside him. At that point he let me ahead and fell in right behind me, staying there until I suddenly no longer heard him, maybe just a little more than one full lap after having first noticed him, and when I turned to look he was nowhere to be seen anymore.
The thing is that I had been feeling a little pain from the beginning, and while at first it was probably reflected from my back, seeming to spread in my chest and upper abdomen, as I pushed that hard it kept getting worse and seemed to come from my liver, so I tried to pay attention and breathe in when I put my left foot down, as you should in order to avoid that problem, and it seemed to help to some extent, but the pain remained bad while I kept pushing that hard, with that guy behind me, and it eventually even spread lower. Things did get noticeably better after slowing on sector one of lap three, but it was as if the total amount of pain hadn’t diminished that much, but that it was more diffuse, having spread over a larger area, getting all the way down to my butt. So I knew that I had pushed unwisely hard, but I didn’t yet know how much I was going to pay for it… Either way, focusing on dealing with that meant that I wasn’t aware of any other physical problems, and other than the issue with that truck on the long straight of sector one of lap one I don’t think that I had notable problems caused by people, or vehicles, either. But, of course, the big loss of time was on sector two of lap one, when I had to stop to retie that shoelace. And at the start of sector three of lap three I decided to stop for just an instant in order to see the time properly without struggling, thinking that I might end up losing more time otherwise, if my eyes wouldn’t focus.

I pretty much ran back as well. Then I did 200 squats, since I was a day behind, ate lunch, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again a little after 8:35 PM, with the plastic and metal, which I dropped off in a recycling bin, and the recyclables with the deposit symbol, picking up a couple more on the way to the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM. I got there a few minutes before 9 PM and saw the bakery discount labels being placed, but decided to put the recyclables in the machine first, just being left with that one which hadn’t been accepted before either… But when I went to the bakery area, I noticed that the discounts were only of 50%, and other people were surprised as well, some not even noticing at first. So I walked away and checked the other discounted products… But somehow missed the moment when the cart with the products that did still have the 90% discount was brought, since I eventually saw such products in other people’s baskets and an empty cart. And, with those bakery discounts remaining at 50%, I just cashed in the voucher received for the recyclables.
Then I continued to Kaufland Basarabia, picking up one more recyclable and putting it in the machine. Then I put that other one that still wasn’t accepted in a cabinet that didn’t lock but at least looked like it did, washed my hands in the room for disabled people, the men’s being cleaned at that point and only a little trickle of water coming from the tap in the baby changing room, and entered the store a little after 9:40 PM, feeling really weird when I saw that a full film crew was there, probably getting everything ready in order to be able to start filming the moment the store closed. Either way, I considered getting a sweet pastry that had the 50% evening discount, but I decided against it and just made use of a good evening discount for some radishes. Then I added cat food and a couple of pieces of processed meat products that were among the expiring ones, for dad, and after wandering around until 10:15 PM but seeing no new or increased discounts, I also used the voucher received for that recyclable at the self-checkout and then retrieved that remaining one from the cabinet.
When I reached that non-stop Mega Image, I put my things in a cabinet and saw that the bakery discounts had been made, but they were once again only of 50%, so I wandered around the store and waited, my butt hurting worse while I was standing there… And I really had to waste a lot of time, since after 11 PM an employee was gathering more products that had already been discounted by 50% in a cart, but she only brought it back, with those products having been discounted by 90%, around 11:30 PM. But at least I did get some things from there… Only for the guard to bring some of those products for the cashier just when my turn was about to come and tell her that he’ll take over and let her have a look at them, and when one of my products scanned at full price he tried to tell me that the total was correct, even telling me to have a look at the display to see that everything was discounted. So I did and pointed out that product, at which point the cashier took over again and sorted it out. But she didn’t give me the receipt and was starting to check out the next person, so I reached over behind her and grabbed it, at which point she complained about it and told me to never do that again. Either way, I then retrieved what I had in the cabinet, added the new purchases, and finally walked away when it was close to 11:50 PM. One of the people who’re usually waiting for the 90% discounts was still dallying around the entrance and kept looking towards the bakery area, probably hoping for an employee to come and start increasing the discounts, but I wasn’t about to waste even more time… Though, after crossing the road, I stopped at a bench and took some time to arrange everything better. And on the way back I picked up a couple more recyclables.
I was back for good a little after 12:20 AM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute… And then I banged my head, hard, against the corner of the keyboard tray of the desk, so I cut some ice from the freezer, put it in a bag and held it in that area for a while, as I tried to help dad search for some keys that we couldn’t find at that point, though I found a spoon that I liked and he thought he had lost, as well as the other one that he wanted to use that night. And he eventually found those keys as well, albeit at a later time. Either way, after eating some baked pumpkin and putting the purchases in their place, it was close to 2:15 AM when I went to take an actual bath, noticing that I even had two small scratches in that area where I had hit my head, and one spot did swell a little despite the ice. And my butt was really bothering me and felt like something had been pushed out a little, so I actually stayed in the water for a while, eating a bag of corn puffs with powdered milk during that time. I was done a little before 3:15 AM, and then I had plenty of things to wash in the kitchen, also selected and threw away the clearly unusable radish leaves, even if I didn’t use any of the rest and therefore had no real reason to do that then, and finally ate dinner between 5:45 AM and 6:20 AM. It was past 7:05 AM when I got in bed.

I was really concerned when there were a few seconds of loud drilling in the morning, when I couldn’t have gotten more than three hours of sleep, if even that, but then there were few other louder noises that woke me and I could pretty much sleep until around 2 PM. And then, since it was still hurting badly, I spent quite a long time massaging my butthole, until I eventually decided to try sticking a finger in, hoping to somehow set things right again, since it had been quite clear when I had looked after that bath that something had been pushed out a little. And it apparently worked, the area seeming normal when I had another look and the pain immediately switching to a more familiar one, even if at a level that I hadn’t felt in a long time, so I got back in bed, though I only caught another nap or two that couldn’t have been too long until I finally got up, at 5:05 PM. And then I started reading A Life on Our Planet. And my butt hurt less and less over the course of the day, even if when I had another look, after getting up, it no longer looked quite as normal as it had the previous time. And when I rubbed that cream there before getting in bed in the morning it felt like the hemorrhoid did end up also being external and was awfully swollen, like it had to burst before things could get back to normal, though at least the rest of the area felt just fine.

Dad had called someone to do some work on the balcony on November 28, and he had to go with him to buy some materials first, so I was woken up at 7:30 AM, just as he was about to leave, though I could just pee and then get some more sleep until he got back, with that guy. But I initially just stayed under the blanked and might have even caught another brief nap, only getting out of bed to dash to pee one more time a few minutes before 10 AM. The hemorrhoid was still painful, however, and louder noises made by the workers elsewhere in the building added to the fainter ones made by that guy, so I couldn’t get any more sleep after that, eventually getting up at 10:55 AM. But at least I slept for another two and a half hours or so in the evening. And when I used the toilet, things seemed surprisingly fine, considering how much the area still bothered me otherwise.

That remained the case, on both counts, yesterday. But I’ll also mention that I first woke up when dad left, which he said should have been around 10 AM, though I didn’t actually check. Either way, I got back to sleep almost immediately, being woken up again a few minutes before 11 AM by a few seconds of loud drilling. I went to pee at that point, just in case, but then I had a hard time getting back to sleep, being anxious because I heard workers in this area, sometimes even walking past my window. And a little later there were loud noises again, possibly from upstairs. But things eventually went quiet and I could sleep some more, waking up again just after 2:45 PM. That was it, however, since I couldn’t get back to sleep one more time despite spending another hour in bed. On the other hand, in the evening I finished A Life on Our Planet and wrote the quick review, albeit only in English despite reading the book in Romanian, so I want to also add the Romanian translation of the quick review on The StoryGraph and Goodreads.

As for today, after eating mamaliga at night, I had to pee multiple times, and while I got right back to sleep after the first time, the second time was a few minutes before 10:30 AM and I was yet to get back to sleep again when Liza went to the litter box, twice, so I got back up to clean it, so dad won’t get on my case over it again, and that pretty much chased away the sleep, as it usually happens, probably at least in part because I also thoroughly wash my face after doing that. And dad got up soon after that anyway, the little noises only making it harder to fall asleep again, though I might have just managed to drift off for what couldn’t have been more than mere moments at one point. I was definitely awake again by the time he left, but some time after that I did finally get some more sleep, getting up to pee one more time at 1:15 PM and then falling asleep again until just before 3:50 PM, the alarm which I had set to ring at that time in order to watch ski jumping ringing just as I grabbed my phone. But the ski jumping was canceled, so I stayed at the computer until the start of the race, doing the day’s squats during it and rushing out after it, at 7:45 PM. And I initially meant to edit this post to add the part about the rest of the day as well, but then I realized that, since I posted it before midnight, I’ll have to stop at that point, which would be weird, so I’ll do what I did in this post as well and leave that for the next one, though I still edited it Thursday evening in order to properly add the part about the rest of November 26, since in the initial form I skipped from the end of the run to the moment when I got back for good in the evening… Or I meant to, though I failed to comment out the rough notes about that part.

This was such a nice read overall. The first part uses key moments from Attenborough‘s professional life to portray how humans have changed the planet during one lifetime, starting from listing the population, atmospheric CO2 and remaining wild areas at the beginning of each chapter. And I was obviously very pleased with the fact that population was the first listed value, and that a chapter from part three is dedicated to the population problem. But the overall focus is on nature, on the fact that humanity’s guiding compass should be restoring the natural balance, admittedly while also taking human welfare into account, so striving to improve living standards for the poor without their environmental footprint becoming unsustainable and preserving them for the rest of us while significantly lowering it, but having the environmental impact, and the need to improve biodiversity in particular, as the main objective. And it mainly advocates for nature-based solutions and approaches, and on thriving without growing, clearly opposing the magical thinking of endless growth, including the so-called “sustainable” one, and in most cases mentioning technological “fixes” rather in passing and pointing out the potential problems and the fact that they got us into this situation and the limits of this approach will be reached, and sooner rather than later.
On the other hand, the brief second part, with the estimates about the future, may be necessary but seemed somewhat dry and unremarkable. And, while I generally wasn’t as bothered by it as I usually am, I will point out that the presented solutions are existing and soft ones, which does serve to maintain the hopeful outlook, making it clear that the only thing lacking is the will to implement them, but tends to ignore why that’s not happening, and that they may be too little, too late, considering how bad the situation already is. I was obviously particularly bothered when only soft solutions were recommended for the population problem, but I also disliked the fact that many other solutions remain within the existing economic model instead of advocating for an entirely new one.

Rating: 4/5

It’s safe to say that this book greatly exceeded my expectations, and the writing style has a fair bit to do with that. I’ve seen other reviews stating that it’s overdone and the author is showing off and thinking too highly of herself, in this and other ways, but I disagree and will say that the writing is worthy of something that would stand much higher on the totem pole of creative writing than a memoir. And I also disagree with those complaining that she was too young for a memoir and say that the book was aided by the freshness of the memories and being written at a time when she was still searching and having more questions than answers, becoming even more honest and personal as a result.
Past that, there are so many good, thought-provoking musings on too many topics to list. I do need to point out one, or more exactly the entire part about the Israel-Palestine conflict, which remains so relevant and accurate that it might as well have been written now and not almost 20 years ago, but I gave up on my initial intention of listing more when I realized that I’d need to write a book of my own to comment on them… And anyone trying to give proper answers to the good questions contained in the discussion guide that’s included at the end may well be on their way to do just that.
Admittedly, while the general issues presented in them obviously remain, multiple chapters detail a specific period and type of US protests that may be less relevant elsewhere and now, though they remain interesting for those who are curious about certain aspects, even the quite dry San Francisco chapter revealing a fair bit about organizing such movements. I wasn’t keen on the Fort Benning chapter either, having plenty to comment about the musings it started from and then finding it rather meandering, but that’s probably another result of the author honestly presenting her personal journey, including the crossroads she found herself at while writing the book.

Rating: 4/5