Cav's Place

Back in October, I mentioned having just learned, with some delay, about the No Music for Genocide movement, the participating artists and labels geo-blocking Israel and removing their music from there. Well, it’s also with months of delay that this evening I just learned that something called No Games for Genocide exists as well. However, rather than being a similar movement, with developers and publishers geo-blocking Israel and removing their games from there, it just asks participants to boycott as many Microsoft products as possible, in response to Microsoft providing the Israeli military with cloud and AI services. They mention intending to boycott other tech companies that are also complicit, at this point mentioning Intel and HP specifically, but for the time being it’s just Microsoft, which does seem like too little for a name like this, and in fact that stated future direction makes me say that they wrongly appropriated the name, seeing as those companies are involved in far more than gaming, which is typically not the first field you think of when you see those names. And with just ten organizations having signed so far, it doesn’t look that it’s getting anywhere anyway.
Still, it’s something, and if this approach won’t work, maybe others will pick up the banner and try to get something that’s actually similar to the No Music for Genocide campaign going for gaming. And maybe other fields will also join in, because I searched and it doesn’t seem like there are even attempts to create other centralized movements along these lines. There are various pledges and actions in other artistic fields, as well as academic ones, but they’re separate, fragmented efforts and usually with a limited scope, while something like this can actually show that there is a movement and those who are interested but may not take action on their own, or at least not publicly, to make a statement, may be encouraged to speak up. And it’s not like there’s any less need to do so, even if other current events, most notably the war with Iran that involves and was perhaps even initiated by Israel more than the US, are taking away even what little of the world’s attention might have still been turned towards the plight of Palestinians.

I’m yet to add that first part of the post that should cover the previous three runs, but tomorrow I’ll take part in a tree planting event, so I’ll just push forward for now, starting with the morning of March 9, when I woke up just after 8:40 AM, when dad got up and fed Liza, and I really had to pee, but dad had gone to the bathroom by the time I actually got up and after spending a few minutes on the computer and seeing that he was still there, I used the other bathroom. And then the other noises started as well, and while they weren’t particularly loud, getting back to sleep was out of the question and after a while I decided to read some more, until a little after 11:35 AM, at which point I hoped that the workers would still take a break at noon. And I don’t really know whether they did or not, but I did eventually manage to take another nap, though that might have also been interrupted. Either way, it was just after 1:35 PM when I woke up again, the noise actually being louder then, so while I only actually got up just before 2:30 PM, getting back to sleep was once again out of the question. And then I removed that cardboard from my window, though I didn’t open it, and a little later a guy came to peel off the strips that were on the window frames, so it was weird to have him right outside my window while I was at the computer. And when I did open the window, there was a lot of fluff on the frames, either bits left from those bands or stuff that got stuck to the glue left by them, and it was falling easily, so I had to clean it up and then quickly vacuum a part of my floor again. And then, on top of not even trying to catch a nap in the evening and making mamaliga again, I went to the toilet before going to bed, which led to getting in bed at 5:25 AM.

At least I could sleep, waking up a few times but always getting right back to sleep, and getting up a little after 3:20 PM. And then I helped dad cook, did the day’s squats, and left just before 8:50 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, picking up one more as I jogged almost all the way to the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM. I got there just before 9 PM and grabbed some products that were discounted by 90% and two pretzels for mother that had the 50% discount, then put in enough of the recyclables for the voucher to basically match the total, assuming that I won’t be charged for the bags that the oranges and bio (organic) bananas were in, and I wasn’t. Either way, that meant that I held on to a few of the recyclables.
Then I continued to Kaufland, picking up some more recyclables on the way, putting all of them in the machine when I got there, then putting the purchases in a cabinet, washing my hands, and entering the store at 9:40 PM. But I just made use of the great evening discount for two pretty small bundles of radishes and got something for dad, not finding the cheese that was on sale anymore, and I even asked about it, so the total was well below the 10 RON required to get another one of those vouchers, since I still didn’t see green onions either, and I asked about those as well. Either way, I also used the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid, then retrieved what I had in the cabinet and was still arranging everything properly as closing time approached and the guard asked whether I was almost done, so I rushed to leave before he locked the doors and finished outside, walking away just at 10:30 PM.
After grabbing two more recyclables and putting everything in a cabinet at the non-stop Mega Image, I saw piles of products with the lesser discounts, but didn’t notice any employee gathering any of them to discount them by 90%, and the one who started bagging bakery products also stopped at one point, without placing any discount labels. Yet it seems that some products had been taken to the back, a cart with a few things that had the 90% discount being brought out at one point, but there was nothing interesting there. The other people who usually wait for those products seemed to stick around, and I even heard one say that they should keep waiting, in case some more discounts will follow, but I decided that I had wasted enough time already… Though I did end up buying something, since as I waited for that cart I saw that the peanut butter of one of their store brands had a 30% discount if you used the store card, so I decided to take one more, meaning that I really shouldn’t have bought that other one in November, since it was still unopened, and I was actually thinking back then that a better deal will probably come before I’ll touch it. Either way, after retrieving what I had in the cabinet, I picked up a couple more recyclables on the way back.
I was at the door at 11:55 PM. Then I cleaned the litter box, ate a banana, selected the radish leaves, and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute. After that I put the purchases in their place, moved what dad had cooked, from the smaller pot into a jar that he was going to take to mother and from the larger one into that smaller one, and ate lunch between 1:30 AM and 2 AM. It was just after 2:10 AM when I went to wash, being done at 2:50 AM, and then I washed what was to wash and cleaned up a little in the kitchen, took one of those expired vitamin C pills, having found more of them at one point, also moved something that I had bought into a jar, and ate dinner between 4:55 AM and 5:40 AM. I got in bed at 7:05 AM.

I had been kept awake by noise for a while when I checked the time and saw 10:49 AM, but then I stayed in bed a little more even if I also needed to pee, getting up just after 11:10 AM, the frustrating thing being that it was mostly quiet after that, with just a couple more brief moments of drilling until noon and then almost completely quiet until around 12:50 PM, when the occasional drilling returned. But I wanted to go and withdraw the interest from some state bonds, so I had to get up early anyway, and even so it was past 1:35 PM when I left, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol. And since I didn’t really want to go to the Sector 3 Treasury with those and had the time, I decided to make a detour to that Kaufland and put them in the machine, even though that meant waiting for a while after some people who had multiple large bags… Only to find two more shortly after I walked away from there, so I still entered the Treasury with some, but at least those were just two small cans and not obvious. Either way, I got there at 2:15 PM, asked the guards what to do to withdraw the interest, went where they directed me, and then the employee from there actually went with me to the cash room, handing over the form and my ID, and then I signed the form and received the money… Though it was somewhat strange that I was told to sign both copies of the form and they were both kept there.
After returning to Kaufland, I put those two cans in the machine and grabbed a crushed plastic bottle which had been left there, putting it in a cabinet before getting a bundle of green onions at full price and some toilet paper and beeping dad, asking him when he called back whether he wanted some expiring bread of the kind that grandmother prefers, getting some when he said that he did if we had room for it in the freezer. Then I also used the vouchers received for the recyclables, arranged the purchases, retrieved that crushed bottle, and made my way to the Penny from Decebal, picking up a few more recyclables and a label off a crushed one and also checking that Profi and Mega Image when I got there, entering with everything both times. Then I put those found recyclables in the machine from Penny, after which I stuffed the purchases and that crushed bottle in a cabinet that didn’t lock, since none had keys, and got a few things… Only to witness quite an argument between a customer and the cashier while waiting in line, which was hardly surprising in that location. Either way, I also used the voucher received for the recyclables when my turn came, but then rushed to get out of there and only realized after stepping out that I had forgotten to retrieve my things, so I went back to do so. But I hadn’t found that fluffy flatbread that I wanted for the pizza that I meant to make that evening, so, after quickly checking another store as well, I decided to make a detour to the nearest Penny on the way back, being berated by a man when I tried to have a look in the bins that are outside the machine from there, then putting in the few recyclables picked up by then, not counting that crushed one, leaving my things in a cabinet, and then just retrieving them, still not finding that flatbread and keeping the voucher for later. And on the way back I picked up a bottle of the same size as that crushed one.
I got back for the first time just after 4:45 PM, leaving again half an hour later, after putting the purchases in their place, moving the label from that crushed bottle to the other one, since it was much easier than trying to straighten that one, also putting a label which I had picked up some time before on an old bottle of the exact same kind that we already had, and taking the plastic and metal, which I dropped off in a recycling bin on the way to the other Penny. Then I put those two recyclables and the few others picked up on the way in the machine from there and finally found one of those fluffy flatbreads. A single one, just like the previous time, but it was fine. On the other hand, I also found expiring light mozzarella of their store brand, so better and actually marginally cheaper than the one bought from Kaufland the week before, so I shouldn’t have bought that one, not that I could have known it at the time. Either way, I took one of those as well, thinking that I’ll have find another reason to use it over the coming days, then used both vouchers, the one received from the other store requiring the cashier to call someone else to approve its use. And on the way back I checked a few more stores, always entering with those purchases, and when I got to the nearby Mega Image I put the two recyclables picked up on the way in the machine and cashed in that voucher.
I’m pretty sure that it was a little after 6:45 PM when I got back for good. Then I cleaned the litter box, ate an orange, went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put the new mozzarella in the fridge, ate something sweet, did the day’s squats, eventually went to the toilet and washed, and later I did make that pizza, in two parts, eating one as lunch, between 2:20 AM and 2:50 AM, and the other as dinner, “cheating” to be able to say that I took a first bite, actually of the salad, in my room before 3 AM but nevertheless managing to finish at 3:40 AM. And then I sent some e-mails about the external blinds, after dad had gone to a few nearby places to ask for prices in recent days. And before getting in bed I took one more of those supplements for immunity that aren’t expired.

I was woken up at 8:10 AM by loud drilling, but after going to pee I guess that I managed to get back to sleep, since I only recall waking up again around 10:30 AM and just before 1 PM. But that sleep was agitated and probably also interrupted, so it might have been in the form of a series of naps, I really don’t know. It did feel like I had gotten a better nap before waking up just before 1 PM, however, so the workers had probably taken their break at the usual time, but after that the drilling was on and off and I probably wasn’t quite exhausted enough to fall asleep in spite of it anymore, so I kept hoping that I could get some more sleep but pretty much only wasted some two more hours, only finally getting out of bed a few minutes after 3 PM… And when I went to the kitchen I found that one of the glass jars had been knocked down from bag that’s under the kitchen seat and shattered, so there were shards around there and I gathered them and vacuumed, but I was worried about Liza. And when dad got back he said that he hadn’t knocked anything down and Liza must have done it herself, which I found hard to believe at the time but which, if true, would mean that she’d have been even more likely to get hurt. But it didn’t seem like it, at least as far as I could tell.
On the other hand, I received replies to those e-mails, but two only asked for a phone number, or for me to call them. So there were two actual replies, and while one had a price estimate that pretty much matched two of the three that dad had checked, the other mentioned a value that was almost 50% higher, so I crossed them out. And then, after dad got back and I told him about it, he got aggressive and said that he won’t trust something found on a site, wants to get it from one of those he can talk to and who are nearby, and if I want something else I should pay for it, and if and when it’ll be certain that they hadn’t tricked us in any way he’ll pay me back. And he also came back about half an hour after I had crawled in bed again, so I had only caught a brief nap, and while some time later I tried to nap some more, I couldn’t, probably also because I kept thinking about the matter, so I stayed in bed for about another hour but didn’t sleep any more… And dad also let me know that the workers were going to come early in the morning and finally finish our balcony, on the inside, so my chances of sleeping were even lower. But at least he had gotten the papers so I could have some tests done and also have my ears checked, since he had gone to the family doctor for himself and mother that morning.

Getting to the early hours of March 13, at least I had green onions for the salad… But dad had said that the workers were going to come in the morning and finish the balcony, supposedly as early as possible, because he had to leave shortly after noon, so I wondered whether I’ll be kept awake during the sprint qualifying and end up watching it live despite not meaning to. Not that it wasn’t likely that those working on the elevator would keep me awake anyway. Yet neither happened, so the fact that I had scheduled the session to be recorded proved to be a good choice and I just woke up a couple of times, once to pee, before 10:50 AM or so, when the workers finally came and, after peeing once more, I got on the computer to watch the recording, since I wasn’t going to get back to sleep anyway. And I sped up that recording, so I was done and back in bed at 11:30 AM, but some more time passed until the workers left, and then dad got ready to leave, and it was only after he left that I managed to get back to sleep, taking a few more interrupted and agitated naps, with weird dreams, especially since after 1 PM the loud drilling returned. But the alarm was set to ring at 2 PM, so I got up after it did, then had the usual stuff, using some more of those expired baked and salted almonds, while for the sweet thing I added honey on a bar which had also expired. I left at 4:25 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 15-16°C, and about 2°C less when I finished, though it felt oddly chilly on the way to the park, at least in the shade.
The time was 1:49:51, with sector times of 4:31, 5:16, 6:09, 4:35, 5:12, 6:05, 4:39, 5:22, 6:06, 4:41, 5:25, 6:20, 4:52, 5:33, 6:15, 5:10, 6:48, 6:29, 2:00, 6:24 and 1:59, making for lap times of 15:56, 15:52, 16:07, 16:26, 16:40 and 18:27, plus 10:23 on the final portion. I was aiming to at least stay under 1:48, but while the first sector wasn’t that bad, the second made me wonder whether I won’t go over 16 minutes even on the first lap, which I couldn’t afford, so I tried to avoid that and just managed it. But that wasn’t good enough, so I had to push a little more on lap two, even if it was way too early, and the resulting slightly better time gave me hope. And then I wondered whether I could somehow keep the average below 16 minutes per lap after lap three, so after losing time on the first two sectors I once again pushed more on the third and managed it. That still meant that I needed an average of 16:30 on the next three laps, which was a highly unlikely time on the last one, plus 10:30 on the last portion, so when I got noticeably slower on lap four and only just managed to cover it in less than that 16:30, things looked bad. And when I was already over the target, albeit by just one second, after lap five, it meant that I really had to give everything well before the end.
Well, that all ended when my right shoelace had other plans, and stopping to retie it on sector one of lap six meant that I was realistically looking at 1:48:30, even if at first I still had this crazy hope that I might just somehow recover that lost time. But when on the next sector it got untied again and also knotted and I lost way more time, it was clear that I could only aim to squeeze under 1:50, and it also led to needing to stop to see the time on the next three sectors, so at least once more than planned. So I did all I could and managed to stay under 1:50, but it was so disappointing, especially when the time lost on lap six just about added up to the difference to 1:48, and if I’d have seen that I needed just a few more seconds I’d have found them somehow. Not that just squeezing under 1:48 wouldn’t have still been a poor time, of course.
There was a little warning from my right knee right away, but the real reason for concern came on sector three of lap two, when there was a serious jab, either from my right hip or my lower back, and I was more careful with how I moved that leg after that. But from the start of lap four there were more jabs, and the fact that a certain pressing need was also starting to appear only made things worse, and probably the way I moved that leg led to warnings from its muscles as well later on. But those jabs eventually went away and I managed everything else. On the other hand, there were a fair amount of people, leading to plenty of weaving and going the long way around, a number of hesitations, and roadblocks that led to a brief stop on sector three of lap three and slowing to a walk for a couple of seconds just before the end of lap five. And I also stopped three times in order to see the time, for a few seconds on sector three of lap six and briefly on sectors one and two of the final portion. But the huge loss of time was caused by my right shoelace coming undone, so I stopped for some 25 seconds right after the start of lap six, but then it happened again on that lap’s second sector, and I actually noticed it right on the long straight, and at that point one side was also knotted and my hands were even stiffer, so I lost well over a minute, probably around 1:20 or so, though I didn’t look at the time when I stopped to really know.

I picked up a recyclable on the way back… And when I tried to unlock the door, it seemed that I couldn’t, so I struggled for a while, getting increasingly worried that I was locked out, but it’s a good thing that I didn’t push hard enough to break the key, or even the lock, before finally trying to turn it in the other direction more than once and seeing that it worked, which led to realizing that I had apparently locked it the other way around compared to how we usually do. And after getting in I suddenly realized that my nose was really irritated, though it got better after a while. Either way, I then ate the last bio (organic) banana that I still had, did the day’s squats, also ate some expired bio (organic) fruit puree and something sweet, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and it was past 8:50 PM when I left again, with a couple of recyclables with the deposit symbol and dad’s metro card, since he just got back as I was about to leave.
After taking the metro to Obor, I put those recyclables in the machine and it was almost 9:20 PM when I entered Carrefour, grabbing two sweet pastries that had the 50% discount and then trying to beep dad to ask whether he wanted an expiring product… Only to see that SIM card error again, so I turned the phone off and then back on, which fixed it for the moment and I could beep him and when he called back he said that he did want it, so I got that as well, and then I also added a nicer bun before just managing to reach the last self-checkout that accepted cash while an employee was helping another customer use it, and that allowed me to use it as well after she was done, without charging myself for the box that dad’s product was in and also using the voucher received for the recyclables, though the employee who was closing those checkouts was right behind me and looking rather impatient.
It was past 9:50 PM when I entered Kaufland, with everything… And I saw huge bakery discounts, up to 85%, which I haven’t seen in Kaufland in a very long time, and while the employee from that area was already clearing away some of the remaining products, I grabbed a bun that was similar to the one I got from Carrefour and only a little over a third of the price, so I really shouldn’t have bought that one… And I probably should have looked for things that I could use instead of bread as well, even getting more of those buns for that purpose, but I didn’t think about it at the time, getting one of the breads that just had a regular discount instead, struggling for a while to use the tongs that I also used for that bun for it, which were most probably way dirtier than my hands anyway. Either way, I was picking some potatoes, since they had a good evening discount, when it was announced that the store had closed at 10 PM, so I looked in surprise at the employee who was right next to me, also picking through the potatoes, and asked her to confirm that the closing time was actually 10:30 PM, which she did. So I then picked some of those Moldovan grapes as well, the discount being of only 50%, but at least that was printed properly by the scales, while on the other hand the full price was printed for the potatoes… And that was apparently not the only thing wrong with that label, since when I tried to scan it at the self-checkout it was listed as an unknown product, so I used the scales from there to print another label, which also listed the discounted price, and which worked. And then, after checking the total, I decided to leave behind one of the three cheap yogurts which I had also grabbed.
Even if the closing announcement, as in the proper one, had been made while I was using the machine, I then left the purchases on that area meant for arranging them and went to quickly wash my hands, albeit just with water, since the soap dispensers weren’t working at the men’s and I didn’t try any of the other rooms. But then I didn’t stay there to arrange the purchases as well, going outside and using one of the tables to do that. And then I picked up a few more recyclables and took the metro back.
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, grabbing a few more recyclables from the garbage room… And when I took out the purchases I found that the sugar syrup from what I had gotten for dad had spilled in my backpack, on everything and also soaking the blanket on the kitchen seat, since I had placed the backpack there, so I had to clean everything, also washing my backpack a little and that area of that blanket. Either way, I then put some of the purchases in their place, ate lunch between 12:50 AM and 1:25 AM, and went to wash at 1:35 AM, being done just before 2:20 AM. Then I put the remaining purchases in their place, dealt with my bread, took another one of those immunity supplements, and ate dinner between 4:30 AM and 5:25 AM, with the last several minutes spent gathering what was stuck on the plate. I got in bed at 7:05 AM, after rubbing cream on my hands and feet.

I first woke up just after 11 AM, as dad was getting ready to leave, but after checking the time I got right back to sleep. However, some time later the upstairs neighbor started cleaning and the vacuum cleaner and the other noises, which after a while seemed to include dragging or knocking various things around, kept waking me, so I just kept drifting in and out for hours, though a few of the naps were probably longer… And then I heard what sounded like heavy glass bottles being knocked down, and while things kept being knocked around upstairs as well, I went to the kitchen to check and saw Liza next to the pile of bottles fallen from that bag that’s under the kitchen seat, which had been torn apart, so I guess that she had indeed done it the previous time as well, though that’s been there for years and she never seemed to bother with it before. But at least nothing had shattered and she ran away when she saw me, so I just closed the kitchen door and got back in bed for a while, though I didn’t get back to sleep and finally got up at 5:05 PM… And then I spent about an hour rearranging what was there, between a new, much sturdier, bag and the cardboard box that was also there.
I was hoping to sleep more the following day, but I kept waking up. The first two times was because I had to pee, around 7:05 AM and 8:25 AM or so, so it seemed to be at the end of each sleep cycle. The next time was a little faster, a few minutes after 9:30 AM, and then the naps became really short, roughly around 15 minutes or so, give or take, even though there was no noise and I didn’t need to pee again. At least I kept getting back to sleep almost right away, but that changed after dad got up, so after waking up again a little after 11:10 PM I checked to see that the race was recorded properly and then got back in bed, but I just wasted an hour without being able to get back to sleep, so at 12:15 PM, after dad left, I got up and watched the recording of the race, speeding it up, and then played some more Final Fantasy III, getting back in bed again at 2:05 PM… But that dog had just started yapping, so the upstairs neighbor had probably gone out, and it was a very long time before I managed to fall asleep again… And a few minutes after 4 PM I woke up again, at which point I set the alarm to ring at 5 PM, for ski jumping, and managed to take another nap, though I was awake again for a little while when the alarm rang.
When I went to the kitchen and wanted to add a jar in that bag that’s under the kitchen seat, I was worried that if I just pushed it in there it was going to fall if Liza would get there again, so I pulled out the bag… Which led to plenty of the plastic bottles falling over, and I couldn’t shove them back in, so I eventually took all of them out, which led to doing something to my back again. But I still finished the job, then put the cooking oil bottles into two bags and left them for dad to throw away, deciding that I wasn’t going to keep them anymore, and put the rest back in their place. And that evening I somehow managed to write the review for Chains of Satinav, so now I reviewed everything finished in 2025… Though I still lack reviews for the three “proper” games finished in 2024.

Moving on to the early hours of March 16, I still had some green onions, so I used them in the salad, and then I could sleep, waking up a few times but always getting back to sleep quickly, and my back also getting better, until the alarm rang, at 2 PM, and I got up. Then I had the usual stuff, the almonds being raw ones, and getting back to two of those expired nicer biscuits, with added honey, as the sweet thing. I left at 4:25 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 13°C, dropping to 11-12°C by the time I finished.
The time was 1:21:42, with sector times of 4:26.26, 5:16 (5:15.75), 6:07.00, 4:45.37, 5:25 (5:24.97), 6:12.53, 4:43.10, 5:15 (5:14.62), 6:31.38, 4:44 (4:43.47), 5:28 (5:27.96), 6:20, 4:48, 5:31 and 6:11, making for lap times of 15:49.01, 16:22.87, 16:29.10, 16:32 and 16:30. I was thinking of aiming to stay under 1:22, but calculating 16 minutes for lap one and then slowing by 15 seconds per lap added up to 1:22:30, so that was the initial realistic target. But after two sectors I wondered whether I could squeeze under 15:50 on the first lap, so I pushed a little on sector three and managed it, which led to wondering whether I could shave five more seconds compared to those initial target times on each of the other laps and get under 1:22 after all… Only for that to seem impossible right after sector one of lap two, and by the end of the lap I had lost most of what I had gained on the first lap and even 1:22:30 was in doubt. And then that right shoelace got loose yet again, on sector two of lap three, so I stopped right after I finished the sector and retied it, losing almost 25 seconds at the start of sector three and thinking that the realistic target became squeezing under 1:23. But I went for it on that sector, recovering enough time to make staying under 1:22 seem possible again. And I did enough on lap four to feel good about my chances, and after sector one of lap five it seemed that I just had to avoid any other major loss of time to make it. But on sector two it seemed like that shoelace was getting loose again, and I really couldn’t afford that, so I didn’t even really look at it, meaning to just keep going, giving everything on the last sector and keeping it up even if it did get completely untied shortly before the end, only probably losing a little time on the last few steps, which were rather awkward because I didn’t want to risk tripping right there.
I managed to snap my back to some extent before starting, and while there was some pain radiating in my chest during the first lap, it faded after that. And the slight pressing need that already appeared by the end of the lap also faded, and while there were later moments when it returned, it was never notable. And what seemed like my heart giving a couple of warnings, I think towards the end of lap four, quickly passed as well. But by the end of sector two of lap four I was getting some warnings from my left ankle, which was soon joined by the left side of that heel, and then, over the course of lap five, maybe because of how I was stepping, by other parts of that leg as well. But things got worse on the last sector, as I was really pushing, when the pain that appeared above that ankle felt like the beginning of a stress fracture. Otherwise, on sector one of lap five I stopped for an instant when another runner was coming from the opposite direction and only the lane was free, and he was faster and also had his eyes on his phone, so I had to make sure we won’t slam into each other. But the major loss of time was on sector three of lap three, since my right shoelace once again came loose towards the end of the previous sector, so I finished that one and then stopped to retie it, losing almost 25 seconds, though I then went for it on the rest of that sector. And towards the end of sector two of lap five it seemed that it was coming loose again, but I didn’t even want to really look anymore, and when a little before the end of the run it got completely untied and I felt it, I just did my best to keep running, only the last few steps being rather awkward, and slower, without risking to sort of jump there, so I might have lost a little there.

After grabbing a recyclable on the way back, I cleaned the litter box but left the bag of trash for dad to take out when he’ll get back, then did the day’s squats, ate an apple circle and lunch, changed, leaving the running t-shirt on, and it was almost 8:45 PM when I left again, taking that swollen battery one more time, as well as the recyclables with the deposit symbol, and picking up a few more on the way to Supeco… And that pain in my left leg quite definitely felt like the beginning of a stress fracture. But I just had to deal with it, so when I got there I put the recyclables in the machine, with the exception of one that I’m quite sure had been brought by dad, which I realized after many attempts didn’t actually have the deposit symbol, so I eventually left it in the bin. And then I entered the store just before 9:30 PM, got what I wanted from there and an expiring product for dad, also used the voucher received for the recyclables, and walked out a little after 9:50 PM. And on the way back I grabbed some more recyclables and checked two Mega Image locations, putting my things in a cabinet that I didn’t lock at the one from Titan and retrieving them after just buying a little garlic and entering the nearby one with everything and then walking right back out. At the one from Titan there were a few uninteresting bakery products that were discounted, but plenty weren’t, and while I was there an employee started throwing them in a large bag, while at the nearby one no bakery discounts seemed to have been made.
It was almost 10:55 PM when I got back… Realizing that I had once again forgotten to drop off that swollen battery. Either way, I then cleaned the litter box yet again and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put the few purchases in their place, which took a while because I completely rearranged the munchies from my room when I added something there, ate an orange and a bag of those peanut snacks, and went to wash at 12:50 AM. It was past 1:35 AM when I was done, and then I took another one of those immunity supplements and ended up spending quite some time on the computer, only getting back to the kitchen at 2:05 AM. And then I washed what was to wash, also mixed the things from two jars into a single one, and ate dinner between 4:10 AM and 4:45 AM, after which I decided to reply and give my phone number to the two firms which I had contacted about external blinds and had asked for it, despite really dreading the prospect of being called, played some more Final Fantasy III, rubbed cream on my feet, and got in bed at 6:45 AM.

After getting right back to sleep the couple of other times I had woken up before, when loud drilling woke me again at 10 AM, I went to pee and then played some more Final Fantasy III, getting back in bed at 11 AM, when it seemed quiet again… But the noise soon returned, and even if it wasn’t that loud anymore it took me a long time to get back to sleep, or more exactly to a few pretty short naps, since I still woke up a few more times, and I was awake for a while again when I decided to get up, a little after 3 PM. And then I exchanged a couple of e-mails with one of those two firms, which no longer insisted on calling, but the price estimate was too high. But during the evening I did another search and at night I sent e-mails to three other firms. Otherwise, my phone gave a low battery warning in the evening, turning off at night, so the new battery lasted less than ten days between charges… And in fact not even that, because I had set it to charge briefly just before going back out the previous evening.
On top of having to keep waking up to pee after making and eating mamaliga at night, there was noise as well, but at least during the morning I got right back to sleep each time. However, when I woke up again a little after 12:20 PM, I decided to try calling a clinic and see whether I could schedule the blood tests, since I had decided to finally get the regular stuff checked up again and dad had gotten what was needed from the family doctor and their site stated that appointments are done between 11:30 AM and 12:30 AM. Yet when there was no answer despite calling twice, I meant to give up and try to get back to bed… Only for the phone to ring moments after I had hung up, the clinic calling back, so I scheduled the tests on the first available date, April 6. That made the other appointment that dad had scheduled on April 8 without consulting me be even worse than it was on its own, but I’ll see what will be done about that later. Plus that I still had the ultrasound to schedule, so I checked some sites and tried to call and e-mail a couple of other clinics, but they only did that with payment, so I left that for another time as well. And two of those three firms which I had e-mailed at night had replied, but with price estimates that were among the highest, so I dismissed them. And, while I got back in bed at 2 PM, the moments of occasional loud drilling and hammering continued, so I sometimes drifted in and out, but I doubt that I got any more actual sleep before getting up again, just after 3:40 PM. And just as I was doing the day’s squats, a worker came outside my window to pull the plastic protection off the windowsill, so I stopped and continued a little later. And in the evening I tried to get some more sleep, but stayed in bed for some two hours and 40 minutes and probably slept less than one hour.

At least I could sleep in the morning, waking up a number of times but getting right back to sleep until some point in the afternoon, since I was awake for quite a long time before finally getting up at 4:40 PM. Then I ate lunch, shaved, once again after a long time… And then saw an e-mail from dad, asking why my phone was off, though it wasn’t, didn’t give that SIM card error, and showed that it was in the network and had signal. And when I tried to call the landline, it worked. But when I tried to call it from the landline, it didn’t, which made me think that the firm which I had given my phone number to and hadn’t contacted me since then in any way might have faced the same problem. So I then took out the SIM card and put it back in, after which I could call it from the landline, the question being how long it’ll be before the problem will reappear, and having it after spending some money to replace the battery isn’t nice.
Either way, I went out a few minutes after 7:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and that swollen battery, which I finally dropped off in a battery recycling bin from Park Lake. Then I put the recyclables in the machine, but I had one more of those small oddly-shaped bottles and it was “eaten”, which used to only happen at Kaufland, so I ended up having something to recover from Carrefour as well. But at least I found some bakery products with the 50% discount among the expiring ones, and some sticky tape that was also at half price, the total being enough to use the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid. And then I grabbed two more recyclables from that mall and jogged most of the way back, though I still picked up one more recyclable and then put them in the machine from the nearby Mega Image, keeping the voucher for later.
It was past 8:35 PM when I got back. Then I cleaned the litter box, put the purchases in their place, and did the day’s squats, in a nice 1:56, since I timed them despite still wearing the street clothes. And then I munched on something towards the end of a match, before going out again a little after 10:35 PM… And getting back ten minutes later, since I found some sweet pastries that had the 50% discount at the nearby Mega Image and while I’d have wanted something else as well, I didn’t care to risk potentially wasting time by checking other locations, so I also used that voucher from earlier and, after picking up one more recyclable, came right back, thinking to have a more normal night. But, after seeing a weird insect scurrying on the kitchen floor and managing to squash it, it was almost 12:20 AM when I finally went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, and just over an hour later when I was done. And, while I had washed the other things earlier, I still had a tray and a pan which had been used by dad to wash. And then, after eating some citrus fruit and taking one more of those expired vitamin C pills, I “cheated” to be able to say that I took a first bite of dinner in my room before 3 AM, but it was almost 3:20 AM when I actually started eating and I didn’t rush quite that much, ending up finishing at 3:45 AM. But then I went to bed at the usual time and could sleep reasonably well, though I was woken up a few times and might not have gotten to sleep quite right away on a couple of those occasions, and I was awake for quite some time by the time I got up, just before 4:10 PM.

When I decided to play this game, it was mainly because it had “The Dark Eye” in the title and I wondered whether I’ll see any connections with Drakensang… And, while I admittedly played Drakensang back in 2010, so it’s entirely possible that I forgot elements which would be connected, I’ll just get that out of the way from the beginning and say that I personally didn’t notice any such connection. And with that game being my only other experience with the universe, I have no idea how Chains of Satinav may possibly relate to anything else and judged it entirely on its own merits.

To start with the positives, the game has some nice quality of life features. A tiny one can even be found in the configuration tool, which has a button that opens the game’s folder in the user directory, getting rid of the annoying problem of trying to figure out where the saves are stored, though a couple of other folders are created as well, so anyone who wants to clean up after uninstalling will need to track those down. But what really matters is what’s actually in the game, and perhaps the most notable helpful feature is being able to go through the inventory with the mouse wheel, which saves so much time and ensures that you don’t miss anything when you’re trying everything.
Of course, the fact that you may need to try everything is a problem, but it’s a typical one for adventure games and in case of Chains of Satinav it only appears occasionally, most puzzles being quite easy and usually being solved in a single area, and even on a single screen. And the great thing is that there doesn’t seem to be any way to end up in a loss state or softlocked, at least in my experience, so even if there may be some potentially frustrating moments, the solution is always there for you to stumble into sooner or later. And if it gets to be too much or you’d just rather not stumble around, there are hint features as well, though using them felt like cheating, so I never did. I probably should have at least done so in order to see exactly what they did and be able to comment about it, but as it is, I have to limit myself to saying that they exist, but I can’t say how useful they are or how much they may spoil the game or story.

I resisted activating hints, not to mention looking for solutions elsewhere, even when getting that key in the swamp town stumped me for quite a while. But that’s just a puzzle, what I will list as a negative when it comes to the swamp town in general being that the developers seem to have put less effort into it, leaving me with the impression that they just forced together a bunch of puzzles, and some things may seem odd, some of them perhaps because I didn’t do them in the “proper” order, but some really seeming to just be forced in there for no reason. And then there’s the last part of the game, which also seems quite rushed. However, more than anything else, it was the romance that felt awfully forced. It just doesn’t build in any way, and the outcome appears unaffected by the couple of choices that give the impression that they should affect it.
Then again, the apparent choices tend to be false in general, and rather than allowing the freedom of different approaches, the times when different solutions were possible made me feel that I was missing something. But that feeling was even more pronounced in the conversations that ended the moment you picked the correct option to advance, without offering the possibility of going through the rest of the dialogue tree. And then there are the in-game achievements as well, which I find weird in an adventure game in the first place, and which include some that are mutually exclusive if you play normally, adding to the feeling of missing out. They’re probably there in order to encourage replaying the game, but I never replay games in the first place, and I don’t see how replaying one that won’t offer anything actually new wouldn’t be simply boring for anyone.
To get back to puzzles, a very early situation where you can end up at a loss is if you get the doublet without listening in first, since in that case you can’t go back and listen later to learn what to do, though I sort of randomly happened to stumble into the solution pretty quickly. On the other hand, one puzzle that did stump me was getting rid of the eye of the beast, and I only finally managed it by just trying everything, yet I couldn’t really say whether that was my problem or an example of moon logic. But what held me up the most was something from the fairy realm, though the issue there was that I had missed an item, so I assume that activating the hint feature would have gotten me through it right away, but as it was, it took so, so long to finally notice that item, though everything else went smoothly once I did. Yet there is one thing that I really think is a problem of the game, and that’s saving Olgierd, which seems to just be random. Now, it is possible that I missed something even while following a guide, because that was the one moment when I gave in and looked up the solution, but on top of being sure that I had followed that exact conversation path on my own as well, I did so again after reading the solution and it still took a couple of tries until it finally worked.
After all of that, I’m tempted to file the fact that I’m not exactly keen on the art style under miscellaneous negatives, and this is after all a matter of preference, others may well enjoy it, and it does suit the game’s overall atmosphere. The animation, which is choppy and limited to a few frames, may be somewhat more jarring at first, and the same goes for the voice acting, but after a while I got used to both, at least in the sense of getting to more or less ignore them. But one very small thing that made me raise an eyebrow was the lack of a confirmation prompt for quitting the game. Some probably find such prompts a nuisance, but I see their use, since there can be misclicks.

I haven’t mentioned anything about the story because, at least from my point of view, it’s forgettable but it does suit the overall atmosphere and is sufficiently serviceable to get you through the game. And Chains of Satinav is a game that you can just get through, with no risk of ending up in a loss or softlock state, puzzles that are generally quite straightforward, a hint system that should be of help if you do get stuck, and a few nice quality of life features. On the other hand, a few areas seem rather rushed, the romance is awfully forced, the few apparent choices are false, the artistic aspects are things that I for one just had to get used to, and plenty of conversations, as well as some puzzles and some achievements, may leave you with the feeling that you missed something. So, if you’re looking for a good adventure game, you probably won’t find it here. But if you just want to get through one, perhaps even more so if it’s not a genre that you usually play, you might as well give it a go.

Since I’m yet to even touch the missing part from the previous post, which is in fact its most important, covering the February 19 run, it’s a good thing that I still have a personal “slot” left and can use it for something else that’s already written, namely the first of what will end up being two posts that will cover the remaining odds and ends from the winter of 2024-2025, starting on December 27, when I did the day’s squats and ate lunch, using the last piece of the bread which I had made back in March, or more exactly the last half of a piece, since I had used half of it earlier that month, and went out when it was almost 8:10 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, putting them, along with the two which I had picked up on the way, in the machine from Carrefour, the man who was using the only functioning one when I got there standing aside to allow me to do so sooner, saying that he had a lot. And they had posted a message asking people to stop taking the recyclables left in the bins, though I definitely don’t see how such a requirement may be justified. Either way, I then just cashed in that voucher, still needing to use a regular checkout in that location.
Since on the site the other Kaufland location was listed as closing at 10 PM, I meant to leave through the exit that led back to the park and go there first… But I ended up getting to the street instead and started walking in the direction of the one from Vitan before realizing it. At least I grabbed some more recyclables from there, but since I decided to stick to the original plan, I then had to go around, losing some time… And when I reached that Kaufland I saw that the closing time was listed as 11 PM there as well, so after putting those recyclables in the machine, washing my hands, hearing the announcement about bakery discounts of 50% while I did so, entering the store at 9:25 PM, and seeing that the only bakery products that I could get were three buns that I could use instead of bread, I considered walking right out and going to the other location instead… However, I grabbed those buns, to make sure that I had something, scanned a couple of labels, confirming that those products that didn’t have evening discounts listed really didn’t have them, and then decided to wait for 10 PM. And then I spotted some evening discounts on cheese and some sausages that I could get for dad, so I got some of each, along with some paper towels and some deeply discounted lemons that were among the spoiling products, and I was about to make my way to the self-checkout when I saw that those Moldovan grapes were deeply discounted and ended up deciding to stay there and pick more of them, only finally going to the self-checkout at 10:30 PM and using the voucher received for the recyclables, though there were no additional or increased discounts. And, even though it was already late, I then left the bags in that place where you can arrange the purchases and dashed to wash my hands again, since they were sticky, only walking out at 10:40 PM.
I then jogged to the other Kaufland, but my gloves were still in my pockets and one soon fell out, which I fortunately noticed, so I stopped to put them on, and at a later point I stopped once more in order to switch the bags around in my hands… And I thought that I had finally memorized the proper route, but instead of gaining a minute or so, I ended up missing a turn and losing far more, then barely managed to stay on my feet when I slipped in the other Kaufland’s parking lot, and I had just reached the top of the escalator when it was announced that the store was closing in five minutes. So I quickly put my things in a cabinet, once again tried to gain a few seconds by washing my hands in the room for disabled people but ended up losing them because there was no soap and I still had to go to the men’s room anyway, and ran in the store.
The employees from the bakery area seemed to be counting the products that were left, having removed the discount labels, but I spotted some of those nicer cheap buns among the others and asked about their price, and when the employee looked around and pointed me to the label with the regular price I said that I was going to scan it and rushed to do so, finding that they were discounted by 75%… And when I got back there she said that she needed that label in order to scan it and was wondering where it had vanished, but she seemed somewhat amused by it, not snapping at me, so I just put it back and grabbed the four buns of that kind that I saw there, waving away the larger bag which she had offered me and taking a small one to put them in instead. I only later wondered whether those buns had been recovered from somewhere else or dumped there in a way that might give me reasons for concern, since they normally tend to sell out pretty much as soon as they get discounted, but what was done was done, and I didn’t even really look to see whether anything else was available, running back to the vegetables and grabbing just a few that had deep evening discounts, the closing announcement coming while I was doing so… And those grapes had the same discount in that location as well, so it’d have been so much better if I wouldn’t have stayed in the other Kaufland for them. But all I could do at that point was rush to the self-checkouts.
Well, rushing didn’t really help, since there was no line, but I nevertheless ended up waiting, because the machine refused to accept the buns as the correct product and the one employee who could log on was scanning an old woman’s many purchases while the others just pointed me to him as I kept looking around. So I eventually wanted to see what was so wrong about their weight and used the scales from there, seeing that they had just one gram more than they should have had, which didn’t just mean that there was no reason for the machine to reject them, but also that the actual weight of the buns was probably marginally lower, since there was the paper bag as well… And as I turned away from the scales, I slipped, the floor having been washed, which I hadn’t noticed, and my shoes likely being wet as well. And that time I couldn’t stay on my feet, and while I soon started feeling a fair bit of pain, mainly from what seemed to be my backbone, it didn’t come right away, so at that point I picked myself up, brushed myself off, muttered something about a missing sign about the wet floor, and walked back to the machine which I had been using, noticing that an employee with a mop, who must have been the one who had washed the floor, was looking at me with a pretty concerned expression, but the one from the fruits and vegetables, who was making some purchases at that point, tried to make a joke of it, asking whether I had found something on the floor and then saying that it means I’ll get married that year, so I had to hurry to make it. On the other hand, another employee, who had just made her purchases when that happened, took the card from the one who could log on, who was still busy with that woman, and used it to override the error, finally allowing me to be done. And then I retrieved my things, arranged them to some extent, and walked out when it was almost 11:15 PM.
It was close to 11:45 PM when I got back, and then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put a few of the purchases in the fridge, washed what I had to wash in the kitchen, ate the last piece of baked pumpkin and a large doughnut, adding jam, and it was past 1:40 AM when I finally went to wash. I walked out of the bathroom just before 2:30 AM, but then I went back to mop up a little more, so I got to my room just after 2:30 AM and, after deciding to take care of one more thing, it was past 2:40 AM when I was finally back in the kitchen. And, after putting the remaining purchases in the fridge as well, I ate dinner between 4:15 AM and 5:05 AM, with the last several minutes spent getting what was stuck on the plate, and got in bed at 6:15 AM… And what seemed to be my backbone was really hurting, the pain that shot up when I sat on the bed making me topple over at first, and the area around my right kidney was painful as well. And, while that pain gradually faded over the next few days, I was still feeling a fair bit of it the following night, when I ended up eating dinner between 3:15 AM and 4:10 AM, after washing some things which I had left in the sink for a few days, since dad was bringing mother over before I was going to get up.

On December 30, after eating lunch and finishing Henry Halifax and the Tutori’s Cloak, I went out a little before 7 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and those coins for Penny’s campaign, and I also had dad’s metro card, so I took the metro to Obor, noticing when I was walking out of the metro station that I had more to go than I thought to recover from that fall from Kaufland, since the pain from what I was still thinking was my backbone but probably had more to do with a muscle from that area didn’t let me take the stairs two at a time.
Either way, I first went to Auchan and put the recyclables, including one which I picked up on the way, in the machine. Then, while I didn’t find that bug spray that’s also for fleas in that location, I found bread that was discounted by 60% despite only expiring on January 2, so I got four for my parents, as well as the milk for mother, and ten of the bio (organic) eggs that I found among those sold by piece. I had placed the bread on a shelf while selecting those eggs and an employee spotted it, made a comment, and was about to take it back, so I said that it was mine and after saying that she kept finding products left like that and asking me to confirm that I was going to buy it, she brought me a cart, which I didn’t want but ended up using just to prevent any further issues. And then I also used the voucher received for the recyclables at the self-checkout, arranged the purchases a little, and continued to Penny, grabbing another recyclable on the way, putting my things in a cabinet, and telling the guard that I had brought coins for their campaign… Only to yet again be told to come back in the morning, and when I said that I couldn’t come in the morning he said that he’ll be there and waiting for me at noon or 1-2 PM, as if that wouldn’t also be morning for me, because they needed the coins but nobody was available to deal with them at that point, and in order to make the point he showed me the lines and also said that their fridges broke and they had technicians there. So I once again just carried those coins around for no reason, and only wasted time by going there, since after a quick look in the store I retrieved my things and walked away.
I picked up one more recyclable on the way to Carrefour, but the machine from there wasn’t working, so I went to the information desk to let them know, but only got told that the person who had to deal with it had probably finished their shift, and I didn’t ask whether I could just receive the money for those two recyclables directly, just putting my things in a cabinet and walking in, finding some expiring products that I ended up taking, including one for myself. And, even though it wasn’t 9 PM yet and the closing time was 11 PM that day, I then saw that they were already making the bakery discounts, but only a few breads seemed to be left, on one of the tables, and while they were bagged, they had the full price listed, so I picked up a sweet pastry that was discounted and then waited, wandering around and occasionally going back there to check. But time was passing and even those breads had been taken from that table and not put back, so I eventually asked an employee whether any bread was left and she said that the only bread was on that table, so if there’s none left there, they’re out. So I then went to the self-checkout… And that expiring product that I was getting for myself refused to scan, and after I called over an employee and the same thing happened when he tried it, I said that in that case I didn’t want it and he took it away. And after paying I turned around to have one last look at the bakery area, then tried to walk out through the nearest exit… Only to have to walk back to the one that was closest to the machine which I had used, the guard telling me to do so when the receipt wouldn’t open the other gates. Then I retrieved my things and arranged them a little, and I picked up two more recyclables on the way to the metro station.
Since I knew that Kaufland location as being bad for evening discounts, I took the metro to Dristor, arranging the eggs in a way that was safer while on the metro and then walking to this Kaufland, putting the recyclables in the machine, putting my things once again in a cabinet, peeing, seeing another recyclable on the urinal and rushing back to put that in the machine as well, then adding the gloves in that cabinet, washing my hands, entering the store at 10:25 PM… And finding that I was a little too late, the bakery area being almost cleared and a woman with a cart full of bakery products being there. A few nicer buns were left, but there was no discount label, so I scanned the regular one and found that the price was a fair bit lower than that, but more than half and not listed as being discounted in any way, and it was too high anyway, so I just got one of the one kind of buns that was left and discounted, by 50%, which I ended up using instead of bread, along with one that I already had. Then I also grabbed some fruits and vegetables that had good evening discounts and some expiring germinated wheat that was also deeply discounted and I was on my way to the self-checkouts when the closing announcement came, though I made a detour to also have a quick look at the non-refrigerated expiring products first. Then I used both of the vouchers received for those recyclables, retrieved and arranged my things, and walked away at 11:10 PM.
I got back a little after 11:35 PM, and after cleaning the litter box, going to drop a bag of trash down the chute, putting a few purchases in their place, and spreading out the rest, I rushed to shower, getting in the bathroom a couple of minutes after midnight and being done in less than 20 minutes. However, despite getting back out of my room a little before 1 AM, I ended up eating dinner between 3:45 AM and 4:35 AM, since I first talked to dad a little, then put the remaining purchases in their place, ate a clementine and slice of cozonac with some added jam, and washed what was in the sink. And after realizing just as I got in bed that I had forgotten to take something out of the freezer for dad, going to do so and then struggling a little to put some other things back after that, it was past 5:20 AM when I actually got in bed.

On January 5, after eating lunch, doing the day’s squats, cleaning the litter box, and going to drop a bag of trash down the chute, I left when it was close to 4:55 PM, with the plastic and metal, which I dropped off in a recycling bin on the way, those coins for Penny, and the recyclables with the deposit symbol, picking up two more on the way to Carrefour and putting them all in the machine from there. Then I got some tarragon for dad and some expiring ayran for mother, still needing to use a regular checkout in that location and also using the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid.
After putting the purchases in the backpack, I continued to Penny, entering with the backpack and having a quick look before asking the cashier whether someone was there to take the coins that day. And, while she initially said that there wasn’t, after I mentioned that I had been told to come back another day the previous time as well and confirmed that I had them separated, she asked a coworker to handle it and that one asked how much I had, the amount seeming to also get their attention, so she walked away and apparently notified the one responsible while I was told to wait there, the guard coming a little later and taking me to the storage room. That made me ask in surprise whether I was supposed to go in there, after he opened the gate, and the employee who rushed to meet us waved him away, took the coins, and told me to go back and wait at the checkouts, which I did. And when she got back there she handed me the three vouchers and the bills and walked away immediately, so I didn’t have time to count the money while she was still there… But when I did I noticed that she had given me 5 RON more, which definitely cleared their previous “sins”, since at that point I had less than 1 RON left to recover from them.
Since I had dad’s metro card, I then took the metro and went to the store that I meant to get a dish drying rack from, to replace our old one, picking up two more recyclables on the way there, putting them and the gloves in a cabinet, entering with the backpack, getting that dish drying rack, and then retrieving my things and walking to Kaufland, since it closed at 8 PM on Sunday. And, after putting those recyclables in the machine from there and peeing and washing my hands, it was 6:55 PM when I entered the store.
Since bakery discounts of 50% were already listed, I grabbed three of those nicer cheap buns and one of those slightly sweet buns, then scanned a few labels, confirming that they were correct, so one kind of bread that I was interested in wasn’t discounted. So, despite needing bread and having some options, I then walked away and grabbed some radishes, with a great evening discount, and I initially also took two nice parsnip roots for dad, those being discounted by 50%. And a bakery employee did come out again and I heard her talk with a coworker about increasing some discounts and mentioning that she was going to do so for the walnut bread, and what would have been my other options were gone by then, so I took one even if I scanned the label again and the discount was still 50% at that point, plus that my hands were no longer clean… But my hands became a far lesser concern a little later, since I had used a label to hold the bag with the buns closed, but didn’t do the same for the one with the bread, and I wanted to get some of the kind of yogurt that I thought was discounted, saw that it was listed at full price, took one in order to scan it… And the bread fell from my hands, coming out of the bag and ending up on the floor. So I picked it up and put it back in the bag, but meant to throw it away, yet I held on to it for the time being, while I scanned that yogurt and then tried to see whether I could find it while checking the sales on the price checker, wondering whether I was misremembering something when I couldn’t. Then again, I couldn’t find the bars that I knew were three for the price of two either, and there had been no indication of that at the shelf either, but I did take three of those, yet gave up on the yogurt, only seeing after I got back that the same deal should have applied to it.
Either way, I then went back to the bakery area and scanned some labels again, seeing that, while the discount labels hadn’t been changed, the walnut bread was discounted by 70%, so I initially took the last one that was left as well, but after weighing it and seeing that it weighed some 10% less than it should, which was just too little to allow me to split it in three, I put that one back and decided to keep the first one after all, despite having ended up on the floor. And I took one other product as well, since it was also discounted by 70% at that point and I was thinking to use it instead of regular bread if I won’t find something else at Carrefour later. And then I had a look around and saw some deeply discounted sausages that I meant to get for dad, yet no employee was there and two were at another section of that area, where there was a line, so I asked whether I should get in that line as well but was told to wait for someone to get there. So I did, and when the last people from that other line also came to the sausages and the woman asked for half of those discounted ones, I muttered that I wanted the other half… Only for her to then say that she wanted all of them. So I walked away in a huff. Then, after making my way to the self-checkouts, I first checked whether the discount applied for those bars, then scanned the other products, though I decided to leave the parsnip roots, having seen that the discount hadn’t increased. And then, after also using the voucher received for the recyclables, I meant to wash that bread right there, the crust being hard enough to allow it. But a cleaner was in front of the bathrooms, so I gave up on that idea, retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged everything, and walked out just after the closing announcement, needing to use the emergency door.
I then took the metro to Obor, watching one pulling away just when I reached the top of the stairs when I had to change, at Dristor, and having to wait for the next one. But I had the time, and after picking up a few more recyclables on the way and putting them, along with one that I found there, in the machine from that Carrefour, and also trying several glass bottles which had been left there but being unable to get the machine to accept any of them, I put my things in a cabinet and entered the store a few minutes before 9 PM. The bakery discounts had already been made at that point, but a lot of products were left, including a kind of bread that I could get, so I took two of those, an apple pastry, and a sweet pastry of another kind, and then I went to the expiring products and got a deeply discounted cozonac, a bread for dad, a nicer yogurt for myself, and a bag of spoiling apples. A problem was that I had to use a regular checkout in that location as well, the self-checkouts that also accept cash already being closed when I got there, even though it was only around 9:35 PM, but at least the cashier didn’t charge me for the bag that those spoiling apples were in. And then, after retrieving what I had in the cabinet and taking my time to arrange everything, I went back to the metro, finding the train already there when I reached the station and rushing down the stairs, the conductor probably noticing me and waiting. And I grabbed one more recyclable on my way back here.
It wasn’t even 10:20 PM when I got back, and then I once again cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put a few of the purchases in their place and spread out the rest, finished the fruit salad from mother and ate the apple pastry, and dealt with that walnut bread, washing it well and microwaving it for a total of seven minutes. After all, there were at least two occasions when some of my bread fell on the floor in front of the fridge and I ate it after washing and microwaving it for several minutes, and that area’s likely dirtier than the store’s floor, though on the other hand harmful substances may be used on the store’s floor. Either way, dad had cooked, so I also washed what was in the kitchen and cleaned a little, and it was a few minutes before 12:30 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash… And my mouth started stinging while I was there, making me wonder whether getting what had been left on the plate after microwaving that bread might be the cause, but it might have also been caused by eating the hot apple pastry after the acidic fruits from the fruit salad. Either way, I was done at 1:15 AM, but then I checked some things, only getting back to the kitchen a little after 1:30 AM. And then I put the remaining purchases in their place, with the exception of that dish drying rack, tried to use part of a huge black radish for the salad, found that a good part of it was spoiled and needed quite some time to clean that out, dealt with one of the other two breads as well, and finally ate dinner between 3:45 AM and 4:25 AM. And the following night, after dealing with the radish leaves and also with the remaining bread, I ate dinner between 3:25 AM and 4:15 AM, and then I got in bed at 5:20 AM.

On January 7, after doing the day’s squats, needing to unclog the toilet once again, and eating lunch, I left at 8:35 PM, with a couple of recyclables with the deposit symbol and some more things that I took to Kaufland. That included some clothes and shoes that we were throwing away, but after putting those recyclables in the machine I couldn’t find the container for the clothes, so after putting the other things in what may be the proper bin I asked at the information desk… Only to be told that they no longer had that, so after going down to the parking lot and having a quick look there as well, I ended up putting that bag in a cabinet, without locking it. Then I washed my hands and entered the store when it was close to 9:10 PM, not finding anything interesting left in the bakery area but getting various vegetables, plus a handful of those Moldovan grapes, all with great evening discounts. I also grabbed a bag of lemons that was discounted by 90% because one of the three was very moldy, plus just two beets, since those had a much smaller evening discount. The scales listed higher prices for everything except the parsnip roots and I didn’t have time to check anything, rushing to the dairy area minutes before closing time… And not finding any of those cheap yogurts left. And I think that it was just after the closing announcement when I dashed back to the bakery area to grab an expiring bread for dad, and then also had a look at the non-refrigerated expiring products before getting to the self-checkout, confirming that those low prices did apply for everything and also using the voucher received for the recyclables. And then I retrieved that bag from the cabinet, took my time to arrange everything, and washed my hands again before walking out.
On the way back, I decided to check the non-stop Mega Image, walking in with the backpack but putting the other things in a cabinet, and I took a number of discounted products, including some cheese pieces that were discounted by 90%, so I took two packs, one of them for dad, even if they were imported, and one other product was also for dad. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged everything once again, and on the way back I grabbed a few recyclables.
It was almost 11:15 PM when I got back, then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, washed what was in the kitchen, put the purchases in their place, with the exception of the black radishes, ate half of the grapes and a cake which had been brought by dad, also peeling off the inner lining of the box so I could recycle the cardboard, and finally went to wash at 1:25 AM. I was done at 2:05 AM, then I put the black radishes in their place as well, and ate dinner between 3:40 AM and 4:15 AM.

On January 12, after doing what I said at the beginning of the second part of the post about the marathon, including writing the two-paragraph placeholder for that post and scheduling it to be posted at 11:59 PM, I left at 6:55 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol. The following day I learned that I should have held on to them, since Kaufland was once again, for just three days, doubling the amount offered for them, but I didn’t know that at the time, so I put them in the machine from Kaufland Popa Nan, where I decided to go to after walking out… Which was another bad choice, but I wanted to go to the Carrefour from Obor after that, with Kaufland closing at 8 PM on Sunday, and going to Kaufland Vitan would have meant a long walk, while going to the one from Pantelimon would have made me want to also check that Carrefour, which would have likely led to reaching the one from Obor too late to still find discounted bread, so I ended up deciding to check that one instead, and after washing my hands, entering the store a little before 7:30 PM, grabbing two of those nicer cheap buns and two sweet pastries, with the 50% evening discount, and scanning the label for the buns, just to be sure, I found that there were no evening discounts for fruits or vegetables… But at least that location still had some of those cheap yogurts, and that small discount still applied even though the full price was listed at the shelf, so I got two of those, also using the voucher received for the recyclables at the self-checkout. Then I put the purchases in the backpack and walked out a few minutes before 8 PM.
I then walked to Obor, putting the two recyclables which I had picked up on the way in the machine from that Carrefour, then peeing and washing my hands, and entering the store with the backpack. I initially grabbed two large expiring breads for dad, but after checking the bakery area, where the evening discounts had once again already been made before 9 PM, and taking a bread and a sweet pastry from there, I found that one nicer and three cheaper breads had appeared in that area, so I put those first two back and took all of those, along with some nicer roes, which were discounted by 75%. And, after using the voucher received for those recyclables at the self-checkout, I took my time to arrange the purchases.
I got back at 10:15 PM, then cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, washed what was in the kitchen and also cleaned a little, put the purchases in their place, ate an orange and a sweet pastry that I already had, and went to wash a little after 12:20 AM, being done a couple of minutes after 1 AM. And then I managed to stick to the dinner schedule, albeit by “cheating” a little in order to be able to say that I started eating before 3 AM, and I forgot to add seasonings in the salad and didn’t bother to take it back to the kitchen and do so when I realized it. On the other hand, while the effects of falling in Kaufland were finally wearing off, which became obvious when I could take the stairs two at a time outside the mall from Obor, before I got back to sleep after getting up to pee in the morning I had that pain that probably comes from my back and radiates through my chest and neck and even mouth, and after getting up my right foot felt somewhat numb.

On January 14, after doing the day’s squats and eating lunch, I left at 7:50 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, including most of those which hadn’t been accepted before, to try them again if the reward was going to be doubled. And I had beeped dad before leaving and he called me shortly after I walked out and we arranged to meet at Dristor metro station, since he had a few more recyclables from mother that he handed to me. Then I went to Kaufland, finding one more recyclable on the way and being surprised that there were no lines at the machines. But only those two recyclables which I had been surprised to see rejected multiple times before were finally accepted, the others which hadn’t been accepted before continuing to be rejected, and that was obviously also the case for one sent by mother which didn’t have the symbol.
After putting the remaining recyclables in a cabinet and peeing and washing my hands, I entered the store at or just after 8:45 PM, if I remember correctly. The bakery discounts, of just over 50%, had already been placed, but nothing interesting was left, and they were also out of the cat food that was on sale. But the carrots had an evening discount, so I took some, plus a couple of things for dad and some more of those cheap yogurts for myself, since they had reappeared in that location as well and still had that small discount, though I had to scan one to see that, because the price label was for an entirely different product. And then I wandered around, waiting to see whether any discounts would increase, and I also scanned the label for that walnut bread, but nothing changed, so I eventually made my way to the self-checkouts, used the voucher received for the recyclables, typed the code for dad’s digital store card, since the picture of the QR code wouldn’t scan, and after retrieving those recyclables I asked at the information desk whether anything could be done about those that weren’t accepted. And when I was told to come back the next day, because the store was closing and the guy who handles that had already left, I asked for that 10 RON voucher, because they were out of green onions… Only to once again be told that they were out of them. However, unlike on November 15, at that other location, I was asked for my name and phone number and the employee wrote them down, saying that I’ll be contacted when they’ll get more.
On the way back, I checked the non-stop Mega Image, putting my things into two cabinets and getting an expiring product. There were no cashiers when I wanted to purchase it, so I asked the guard and he called one, but the discount label wouldn’t scan and the cashier was that one who obviously has a health problem, maybe Parkinson’s or something similar, and when she struggled to peel it off and said that it wasn’t really working I offered to try and managed it, then she put it on a flat piece of paper and it worked that way, and I was surprised to see a lower price than the listed one, the product itself apparently having a discount that applied at checkout, before the 50% one. Then I retrieved my things and got back, picking up a few more recyclables, both before and after checking that Mega Image.
I got back just before 11 PM. Then I put the purchases, with the exception of the carrots, in their place, ate an apple and a sweet pastry that I already had, washed what was in the kitchen, and went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, just after 12:20 AM. I was done at 1:10 AM, and then I put the carrots in their place as well and started eating dinner at 3:10 AM, but still managed to finish at 3:40 AM.

Liza woke me in the morning, I think roughly around 11:30 AM, by throwing up, but I only found a small spot, so I kept thinking that I missed the “main” one… And then it took me a long time to get back to sleep, and I woke up again what seemed like moments after I finally did, and after I fell asleep again I was roughly woken up by a loud bang coming from outside, likely a firecracker, and after that I eventually got up. And I went out again just after 4:45 PM, taking a wheeled bag and the recyclables with the deposit symbol which I had picked up on the way back the previous evening, plus one more which had been emptied by dad, and I picked up a few more on the way to Mega Mall, where I asked about a tea at one pharmacy, being told that they didn’t have it in that location, and then put my things in a cabinet and checked Carrefour, without getting anything. And then I picked up one more recyclable and entered another pharmacy with it in my hand, not finding what I wanted from there either and then retrieving my things.
But the main reasons for going out again were to put those recyclables in the machine from Kaufland and get a little more on the last day of their campaign, which I did after waiting in line for some 20 minutes, and get two of the large bags of laundry detergent that had a great discount starting that day, so I then put the wheeled bag in a cabinet, washed my hands, just with water, since there was no soap, and entered the store… But they were already out of that detergent, and I even asked the employee from that area and he said that it sold out very quickly and couldn’t say when they’ll get more, but since the sale went on for a week, he assured me that they will get resupplied eventually. So I just grabbed some canned sardines, not finding anything else, and the self-checkout didn’t accept one of them, so I had to call over an employee to override the error, and then I used the voucher received for the recyclables. But, after scanning the receipt at the gate, I decided to use the scales from that area to see what was wrong with that can, finding that it had 12 grams more than the others, which was interesting, and I wondered whether it was the one which I had grabbed from the regular place on the shelf, which was the last one of its kind left there, the rest being at the end of a shelf, close to the entrance. Either way, since I had already scanned my receipt, scanning it again wouldn’t open the gate, so I let another customer scan his and walked out alongside him, then retrieved that bag, which I carried around for no reason, and made my way back.
After that wasted time and effort when I was going to run the following day, I got back just after 7:35 PM, then cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, ate a few plums and a sweet pastry that I already had, washed what was in the kitchen after dad had cooked, ate lunch as well, also did the day’s squats, then went to use the toilet and wash… And after I was done I got angry when I checked the bread drawer and found that dad had left a part of a bread there until it was all moldy, even though I had kept reminding him that it was older and he should eat it before the one which he had brought, and then asked whether he had really eaten all of his bread that was already out when he had asked me to take one more out of the freezer for him, which he had almost finished by then while apparently still leaving that one there. And, of course, he again blamed me, saying that if it was at the back he wasn’t going to see it, and that I had probably placed something else there and pushed it behind, even though the very fact that it was left there until it got moldy, plus that two bags with breadcrumbs in them were just thrown there at that point, not being emptied and folded, was proof that I hadn’t checked that drawer in a while.

On January 18, I wanted to be at Kaufland when it opened, to see whether that gave me a chance to find that laundry detergent that was supposed to have such a good price, so while I spent a few moments in bed in the morning, just to mark the end of one day and the start of another, I didn’t actually go to bed and the one hour or so of sleep that I managed to get out of the over three hours spent in bed during the evening was all I got before leaving, at 6:40 AM, once again taking that wheeled bag.
I reached Kaufland Vitan minutes after it opened and finally found that detergent, that part of the shelf being full and a few more bags being in front of it, so I grabbed a hand cart, those from Kaufland being more than good enough for this, and put two bags in it and that wheeled bag on top of them. As as I was walking away from that area, an employee commented something, I believe asking why had I taken the bags off the shelf instead of taking some of those that were in front of it, but I’m not exactly sure, since I had music playing. Either way, I then also found what seemed to be the last two packs of their “light” mozzarella, which was also on sale, and took one, along with an expiring product that I also wanted to put on the pizza that I was planning to make that evening. Then the self-checkout machine said that I had picked a product off the scales after placing the second bag of detergent and having it be initially accepted, but an employee noticed before I could say anything and logged on right away to override the error, and then I also used the voucher which I had been left with two days earlier. I also tried to use the 10 RON bill which I had noticed had a torn piece, but the machine wouldn’t accept it. And, once I put the detergent in the wheeled bag, I realized that there was no way for it to zip back up with those bags in it, so after initially walking out of the checkout area with it wide open, I figured out a way to use its clasps and zippers to at least keep the flap from going all the way back and dragging on the floor and pavement. It still made an older woman stop me on the street and mean to warn me that my bag had opened, but she realized mid-sentence that it was like that on purpose and moved on.
I got back for the first time at 8:30 AM, put one of the bags of detergent next to the washing machine and left the other in the wheeled bag, left dad a note about it and also to say that I was going to Obor as well, and left again a little before 8:50 AM, after initially stepping out a few minutes earlier and then realizing that I had meant to also take the recyclables with the deposit symbol and hadn’t, so I turned around to grab those.
Since I had dad’s metro card, I took the metro to Obor, having a look through the farmers’ market before putting the recyclables in Carrefour’s machine, entering the store, and finding a whole pile of those fluffy flatbreads among the expiring products, and that was just what I was looking for, wanting one to use as base for that pizza. And I got two more things from the expiring products, one for dad and one as a “reward” for myself, and then some frozen spinach and peas, also for dad, since I had seen two days earlier, at Carrefour Unirii, that there were going to be vouchers with 20% of the value of all frozen products, among other things, those days, and that was confirmed there as well, even though that category was missing from those listed on the site.
Well, when I used a price checker, the spinach scanned at a higher price than what was listed, so I asked an employee about it, but she just used her phone to scan it, told me the higher price, mentioned that the lower one might require their app, and when I said that nothing of the sort was listed she said that she didn’t work in that area and sent me to the information desk from the store… Which was unmanned at the time, so I took a picture of that price label and then stood around until I saw another employee, who actually seemed to be checking products, and asked her about it, and she told me to ask to receive the listed price at the checkout, saying that an employee from the frozen foods will need to be called to approve the price change, and she wasn’t one. So I scanned one bag at the self-checkout and then called over an employee and told her what I had been told, and when she said that it’d be simpler if I’d have just taken a picture of the price label I showed it to her and, after initially saying that it was for a bag with a lower quantity but then realizing that it was the correct one after I pointed it out to her, she logged on and applied a discount that made the price match what was listed, scanning one bag four times, since I told her that I had four but she said that it had to be done for each of them separately. But, after also using the voucher received for those recyclables, I stopped before walking out of the checkout area and checked everything, since I was messed up after needing to interact so much, and it was a good thing that I did, because I found that I only had three bags of spinach, having no idea what happened to the fourth, though I assume that I didn’t take one back after handing it to one of the employees. So I just dashed back and took another bag before walking out.
Then, after going back to the farmers’ market and getting some apples that didn’t look too good and weren’t exactly cheap, but they were from that man that I kept meaning to get some from someday, since all of his labels state that they haven’t been sprayed with anything, and then stopping to put everything except that flatbread in the backpack, I also went to Auchan, entering with everything and getting some tea for myself and some expiring bread for dad, only realizing as I scanned it at the self-checkout that one had apparently taken some hits, some of the slices being in pieces. But I took it as it was, then arranged the purchases a little and went back to the metro.
I got back a little before 11:35 AM, put the purchases in their place, ate one of those apples which I had purchased and the expiring “reward”, then had the washing machine do a load of laundry while I washed, after which I hung those clothes to dry and then took a nap, setting the alarm to wake me for the first handball match, also starting the washing machine on a second load of laundry and making popcorn, to eat during the second match, when I also hung the second load of laundry to dry. And later, after posting that day’s post, I did make pizza, which became the combined lunch and dinner, which I ate leisurely, between 2:20 AM and 3:40 AM. One piece fell from my hand on the cloth that I put on my desk when I eat, and while that should be reasonably clean, I’d normally wash anything that falls there before eating it, but when that does happen it’s usually with something from the salad, in which case it’s pretty easy to wash, while in this case I just picked that piece back up immediately and ate it without any attempt to clean it. On the other hand, before starting to eat the pizza I also took some supplement that’s supposed to help immunity that I still had in my room, even if it was expired for almost one year. And, despite meaning to go to bed at least a little bit earlier, I decided to read a few more things on-line first and ended up getting in bed at 5:25 AM. And I’ll also mention here that no visits were recorded on January 17, 18 or 19.

After once again having no green onions and using a red one in the salad made in the early hours of February 25, I got in bed at 5:20 AM and the alarm was set to ring at 1:30 PM, but when I woke up a few minutes before that time I turned it off and got up. Then I had the usual stuff, going back to the raw almonds, and the sweet thing consisting of two more of those expired nicer biscuits, with added honey. I left at 4:25 PM, wearing the full running gear and that thing that goes on my neck. The reported temperature was 10°C, dropping to 7°C by the time I finished.
The time was 1:21:23, with sector times of 4:27.57, 5:20.04, 6:07 (6:06.93), 4:45.32, 5:20 (5:19.56), 6:12 (6:11.84), 4:43.50, 5:21 (5:20.28), 6:16.07, 4:46.15, 5:22.63, 6:18, 4:53, 5:19 and 6:14, making for lap times of 15:54.54, 16:17 (16:16.72), 16:20 (16:19.85), 16:26 and 16:26. That time I ended up memorizing the exact times for as long as they were displayed, since the light wasn’t a problem, but it did become one on lap five, so I had to stop on its first two sectors in order to check the time. And, while I hoped to do better at first, it always seemed that just squeezing under 1:22 was the realistic target, the fact that I only squeezed under 16 minutes on the first lap making that quite clear… Only for even that to become questionable when the average lap time was already over 16 minutes after the first two laps. But, even if it required pushing more than I meant to while it was still too early in the run, I didn’t get much slower after that, and after four laps I wondered whether I might even squeeze under 1:21:30. Sector one of lap five made that quite unlikely, but I wanted to at least give my best, so I then went for it, especially on the last sector, and made it by a safe margin. But, of course, that remains a really bad time, and what I lost because of the conditions is far from enough to justify it.
There were a lot of puddles, plus some remaining snow on the sides of the path, so I kept having to weave and go the long way around for those reasons. The worst puddles were still in those places on sectors one and three, and while there was a narrow area that could be used to get around the one on sector three, the way around the one on sector one involved slowing to a walk and stepping on some snow that was left next to it, and having to figure out just what to do meant that I probably lost a little more time on the first lap. On the other hand, the puddles from that paved area of sector two were manageable on their own, but on lap one I had to slow to a walk for a few seconds because a roadblock formed just as I reached that area, on lap two I had to go very wide and then just as I was about to clear that area I had to stop for quite a few seconds because of another roadblock, and I seem to recall another issue on sector two of lap three, but I can’t remember specifics and I know that a certain pressing need started to appear on that sector, so I wonder if that was the mental note and I’m wrongly thinking that there was something else as well. Either way, another person being there just then meant that I had to slow while getting around the puddle on sector three of lap one, and on sector one of lap two I briefly stopped because of a silly dance with another runner. And I really can’t seem to remember specifics after lap two, so I think that there was one more issue with that puddle on sector three, but I’m not entirely certain of it and definitely don’t remember which lap it was on if it did exist. And, while I’m quite sure that there were no such issues on lap five and lap four was also clearer, it is possible that one or two more notable issues slipped my mind.
Otherwise, I just felt exhausted that day, so I knew that it was going to be a struggle from the beginning, but the only specific physical issues were that pressing need that first appeared on sector two of lap three, which died down after a while before flaring up again later but was never a real problem, and the warnings that my right knee started to give from the start of lap four, which didn’t get worse but didn’t quite go away after that point either. And it started to get dark on lap five, when the time went past one hour and it was harder to see the seconds on my stopwatch anyway, so I stopped for a few seconds to check the time on sector one of lap five and again, but only briefly, on the next sector.

After getting back, I cleaned the litter box, ate a sweet pastry and some walnuts, washed and cleaned up a little after dad in the kitchen, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left when it was almost 8:50 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol. Those included several heavy glass bottles that made it difficult to jog to the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, but I did my best and managed to get there just after 9 PM. And with a lot of products discounted by 90% being set aside by the employees and nothing interesting among what was left for customers, I just got two sweet pastries for mother, with the 50% discount, and managed to put in dad’s recyclables, which included those glass bottles, before the machine stopped. And then I bought those sweet pastries and cashed in the voucher.
After putting the remaining recyclables in the machine from Kaufland when I got there and grabbing two which had been left there and which weren’t accepted, I put my things in a cabinet and I think that it was a little before 9:50 PM when I entered the store. There was a great evening discount for bananas, and while someone was just taking the better ones, I still managed to select some after that person walked away. And then I also grabbed some spoiling potatoes with a great discount, some onions, just making use of the regular discount in that case, and two expiring products that also had great discounts and two of those cheap yogurts. And as I had one last look before closing time, I saw an employee placing discount labels on more fruits and asked about the oranges, but he said that he was making those discounts for himself, so I made my way to the self-checkout and was still using the machine when the closing announcement came… And those potatoes wouldn’t scan, and when I looked for the employee from that area she said that those won’t work, confirming it when I asked whether somebody else had also tried them earlier. So I had to leave them there, using the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid, then retrieving what I had in the cabinet and going outside to use one of those tables and arrange everything, finally walking away at 10:45 PM.
After picking up a couple more recyclables, I entered that non-stop Mega Image with everything and was surprised to see some bakery products being bagged, since that location seemed to have stopped making bakery discounts since those had switched back from 90% to 50%, and while only some bakery products were bagged, those were indeed discounted by 50% before the cart with the products that were discounted by 90% was brought out. And that cart had been overflowing when it had been taken to the back, but employees got the first pick again and pretty few products were left when it was finally brought out, around 11:30 PM. However, I was the only person waiting for it, and just one other person came to have a look seconds later, so I could really take my time, reading ingredients, choosing what looked best and making up my mind. So I took a few things from there, along with some imported whole wheat spaghetti that was discounted by 50% and one more thing that had a regular discount those days, being relieved when I managed to find one thrown over some other similar products, after having found none left in the other location and seeing that the place where those products should have been was empty in that location as well. And then I arranged everything and on the way back I gave one of those products which had been discounted by 90% to a homeless person and picked up a couple more recyclables.
It was close to 12:25 PM when I got back. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, picking up another recyclable from the garbage room, after which I put the purchases in their place. I went to wash a couple of minutes after 1:30 AM, being done close to 2:20 AM, but then I took care of a few other things before getting back in the kitchen, there were a few things to wash as well, and just taking occasional bites meant that I started eating lunch at 3:25 AM but was only half done when I finished working on dinner, staying in the kitchen a little longer in order to finish the rest, which I did at 5:05 AM. And I also took one more of those supplements for immunity that aren’t expired, and ate dinner between 5:10 AM and 5:40 AM, while writing some notes about the day. I got in bed at 7:10 AM, after rubbing cream on both hands and feet.

Since I still didn’t have green onions, I used a small red one that was starting to sprout in the salad made in the early hours of March 5. Then I set the alarm to ring at 2 PM, but the noise made by the workers made sleeping quite a problem after the first couple of hours. Still, I wouldn’t say that I was actually kept awake that long, but that I kept being woken up, since I usually managed to get back to sleep rather quickly, so the total amount of sleep wasn’t that bad, but the quality of it was. It is possible that the last couple of hours were uninterrupted, however, or at least I don’t recall being woken up again after dad left, even if I don’t see how I could have slept through it if the noise was the same as what I heard after the alarm rang and I got up. Either way, I then had the usual stuff, though the yogurt was a nice one with 8% protein and 2% fat. I put raw almonds in it, still keeping some of the other ones for a later time, and the sweet thing once again consisted of two of those nicer but expired biscuits, with added honey… And a guy was working right at the kitchen window when I ate those, but I couldn’t wait for him to finish and go away, plus that they also worked at my window, so I didn’t remove the cardboard before leaving, at 4:15 PM, after just taking a few sips of tea, since it was still too hot, and wearing the full running gear and that thing that goes on my neck. The reported temperature was 14-15°C, and 13-14°C when I finished.
The time was 1:19:21, with sector times of 4:17.82, 5:06 (5:05.72), 6:00 (5:59.91), 4:37.44, 5:10 (5:09.68), 6:00.10, 4:37.22, 5:16 (5:15.47), 6:07.21, 4:42.13, 5:24 (5:23.94), 6:08, 4:41, 5:18 and 5:58, making for lap times of 15:23.45, 15:47.22, 16:00 (15:59.90), 16:14 and 15:57. I once again have the exact times for as long as they were displayed and there were no problems with the light later either, which might have made a little difference. But I really wanted to push, going from it from the beginning, and while by sector three of lap one I was clearly tiring and couldn’t keep it up anymore, I just barely squeezed under six minutes on that sector, if you look at the exact time, and the lap was the best one in two and a half months. Pushing so early did show on sector one of lap two, which was poor, but then I didn’t just cover the lap in well under 16 minutes, but even managed to just squeeze under that time on lap three as well, if you look at the exact time. And, while that had been the target all along, it was only at that point that I actually thought that I could get back under 1:20… Only for the first two sectors of lap four to put that in serious doubt, so I pushed harder from sector three of lap four, doing enough to make me think that I had a good chance again. And over the course of lap five the realistic target seemed to be 1:19:45, 1:19:30 seeming impossible, but at the start of the last sector I wondered whether I could manage that as well and really gave everything, that sector ending up being the best sector three of the day and enough for a very safe margin. Not that this isn’t still a pretty bad time, but at least it’s not particularly bad anymore.
The thing is that there were no notable problems, and at most an average amount of weaving and going the long way around, if even that. My right knee started giving some warnings quite early, I think from sector two of lap two, though it’s also possible that it was actually lap three, but those only got worse on sector two of lap five, when I was pushing, at which point they were joined by a few faint ones from the left knee and a certain pressing need also returned, after having first appeared on what I think was lap three but then gone away quickly. But nothing got past the level of a warning, and there was nothing else to speak of.

I picked up a few recyclables on the way back, but one was a Pepsi bottle that still had a little in it and had been left in front of the door from the garbage area of the other part of the building, and even though even 6 PM had just passed, not just 5 PM, a couple of guys who were working at the elevator were right in front of my door when I went up, so I decided to leave that bottle in the garbage room from here, though they must have seen me do it. Either way, I was just holding the other two when I got here and asked whether I could go in, and they removed what they had piled up in front of the door. And they left soon after that, so after cleaning the litter box I went to retrieve that bottle, which was still there, though I didn’t also take the bag of trash. And then I saw that the bug net had been moved away from my window again, so I went out through the kitchen window, being careful to avoid touching any part of the wall, since the area was freshly painted, and put it back, though later dad said that it may well get lost or taken by someone else if left outside while they’re painting, so I eventually brought it inside, meaning to only put it there again while I’ll have the window open. Otherwise, I ate a banana and lunch, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 8:45 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and the old phone battery.
I picked up one more recyclable as I rushed to the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, getting there a couple of minutes before 9 PM and putting in the recyclables before the cart with the products that are discounted by 90% was brought. And there were plenty of products in it, many of them identical, but the two women who were also waiting for that cart snatched almost everything with great speed. Still, I could get one thing for myself and two for dad, but after beeping him and asking him about them when he called back, I put back the one that he didn’t want, just buying the other two and then cashing in the voucher received for the recyclables, the cashier throwing away the receipt and just handing me the money for that voucher, and I didn’t ask her to retrieve it from the bin.
I picked up a few more recyclables on the way to Carrefour, entering through the parking lot, and with everything, and beeping dad again, to ask whether he wanted frozen beans, getting two bags after he said that he did. And then I quickly arranged the purchases and continued to Kaufland, putting those recyclables in the machine but then spotting one more and going back to put that in as well before putting my things in a cabinet and entering the store. I know that it wasn’t yet 10 PM at that point, but whether it was only a couple of minutes earlier or a little more, I can’t recall. Either way, I saw bakery discounts there as well and meant to get a sweet pastry, initially trying to grab it with those tongs and then taking a glove, but then I read the ingredients and saw that they had changed from what I remembered, including something that I didn’t want, so I put it back and just got some cheese and an expiring mozzarella, and made use of an evening discount for some more of those Moldovan grapes. And I also grabbed an empty recyclable which had been left inside the store before going to the self-checkout and using the vouchers received for the recyclables as well as that 10 RON one that I still had when I paid, and still being at the machine when the closing announcement came.
After retrieving and quickly arranging my things and washing my hands, I walked out just after 10:35 PM, grabbed one more recyclable, and put my things in a cabinet when I reached that Mega Image, just buying two pretzels for mother that had the 50% discount, then retrieving everything again and going to that bench to arrange a little more. And I grabbed a few more recyclables on the way back… But just as I got in front of the building I realized that I still had that swollen battery, having forgotten to look for one of those recycling bins for batteries and drop it in there.
I was at the door at 11:30 PM. Then I put the purchases in their place, which also meant rearranging some things in the freezer, talked to dad a little, did the day’s squats, put jam inside a large doughnut and ate it, and went to wash a couple of minutes before 1:30 AM. I was done at 2:10 AM, and then I washed what was in the kitchen, moved something into a jar, dealt with my remaining bread, and took another Nurofen expired since May, since I had felt some occasional jabs since morning that initially seemed to actually be in the left side of my head, which was very concerning, but over the course of the evening they once again seemed to more clearly originate in that ear, and that pill seemed to once again pretty much sort out the problem for the moment. On the other hand, I was feeling some pain in my lower back, mainly towards the right, and that didn’t go away, still bothering me even now. Either way, after finally taking a first bite of dinner in my room at 4:45 AM, I realized that I had forgotten to put seasonings in the salad, so I went back to the kitchen to do that, and eventually finished eating 5:40 AM. I got in bed at 7 AM, after rubbing cream on both hands and feet.

While I initially posted this without the part about February 19, which was left to add later, I will also add a part about today, or in fact starting with last evening, when dad cleaned the litter box while I was in my room, obviously taking out too much, and I obviously lost it when I noticed, before going to the kitchen at night, so after slamming and kicking and yelling for a while I went back to my room and only actually went to the kitchen a couple of minutes before 2 AM, wondering why did it feel so cold… And seeing that dad had also cut away more of the foam around the windows, which made me even angrier. But I had to eat, so I eventually did so between 3:40 AM and 4:15 AM, and after getting in bed I just took a very brief nap before the alarm rang, at 6 PM, for the race, so it can be said that I only really went to bed after it, at 7:40 AM… But the workers once again started arriving soon after that, even though it was Sunday, and they worked in this area in the morning, albeit mainly around the bathroom windows, so I just caught a few brief and agitated naps until after dad left, which should have been around 11 AM. But then I could finally sleep, getting up at 4 PM, when the alarm rang again, for ski jumping.