Cav's Place

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

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

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

Rating: 3/5

After initially finding it probable that Romania will once again fail to have any team in the Final Four of the EHF Women’s Champions’ League, last month I restated that assessment but also hoped to be proven wrong. And today I was, CSM Bucharest finally finding a way past Esbjerg, after having met and lost to them in this stage of the competition in 2022, 2023 and 2025. And they had also lost, albeit by a single goal and away, in the first leg. But today they simply trashed Esbjerg, winning by ten goals a match that started with them leading 6-0 before Esbjerg scored the first goal, and during which they never seemed to be in any danger of failing to qualify.
On the other hand, Brest proved to be far too much for Gloria Bistrita, who lost by six goals, away, after having also lost by one in the first leg, at home. Admittedly, during the first half they looked good, leading most of the time, often by two goals and a couple of times even by three. But things changed towards the end of that first half, which finished with Brest leading by one goal, and in the second half Gloria just collapsed, never giving any impression that they could recover.
Still, the last time we’ve had a team in the Final Four was in 2018, so CSM qualifying, especially when it was against their “nightmare” from recent seasons, is already something. It does feel rather weird to have it happen in the first season without Cristina Neagu, but let’s not turn that into a reason for complaints and just look at what’s ahead, the draw being tomorrow. Admittedly, since all other favorites, so also including Gyor and Metz, qualified as well, my impression is that CSM is the weakest of the four and fourth place is the most likely. But maybe they’ll prove me wrong once again and at least make it into the final.

Since I’m still yet to write the parts about either of the tree planting events that I took part in this spring, I’ll start this post from April 19, so the day after the second, when the upstairs neighbor’s dogs woke me just after 2 PM, though I guess that was when I was rested enough to be able to wake up, since I don’t know anything before then, so I slept for some eight and a half hours straight. And I didn’t need to pee even then, so I remained in bed until just before 4:50 PM, though I only caught a few more brief naps during that time, otherwise just sort of drifting in and out, and I was fully awake for a while before getting up. And then I decided to go out again that evening, at least to put the recyclables with the deposit symbol in a machine from Kaufland, to make it easier to make use of that period when the deposit was doubled and also get back earlier, since Kaufland closes earlier on Sunday. So I did the day’s squats and left just before 7:20 PM, deciding to go to the one from Vitan because there are four machines there. There are four at Obor as well, and dad had gotten back and given me the metro card, but if I went to Obor I was going to want to also go to Carrefour after Kaufland closes and I wanted to get back earlier.
Well, going to Obor definitely couldn’t have been any worse, because after picking up a few more recyclables on the way, finding a cart with the coin still in it in the parking lot, and struggling to take it to others even though the wheels seemed mostly stuck, I was just connecting it to those others and retrieving the coin when an older man walked up to me, saw the bags with recyclables, and said that the machines were turned off and he had been the last one to use them. And that was indeed the case, the gates being pulled down and a message being posted stating that the machines were out of order. And I saw an employee emptying the garbage bins in front of the entrance and asked him whether there was any chance for them to be started again that day and he said no, explaining that the recyclables aren’t picked up over the weekend and more people obviously bring them then, so their storage area fills up and they have to stop the machines until Monday. So I had to leave the recyclables in a cabinet, then washed my hands and entered the store just before 8 PM, deciding to get a sweet pastry, discounted by 75%, from the bakery area, after asking the employee which kind it was and being told that it was the one with apple, though it didn’t smell like it and she said that the one next to it was the same, though that one quite clearly smelled like cheese and that’s all I can go on for those things, all three kinds looking the same on the outside. Either way, I then grabbed a spoiling large cucumber, discounted by 80%, and made use of good evening discounts for some bananas and red onions, trusting what was listed even though the scales printed the full price, making my way to the self-checkouts when the closing announcement came, and then waiting in a long line.
After arranging the purchases and retrieving those recyclables, I decided to go to the other Kaufland as well, even though the chances of that machine still working were very low if the situation was the same and they obviously don’t even try to service them after closing time, though the system does keep them running until 11 PM if there are no problems. And on the way I received an SMS letting me know that the external blinds were ready and they wanted to install them the next day, which was much earlier than expected and meant that I had to move the desk, which obviously implied turning off the computer just a week before what’d have been a new overall uptime record, considering the one set by the old one. But, to return to that part of the walk, I also picked up some more recyclables… And I was just trying to straighten one when a woman with a dog passed by me and I felt something grabbing my leg. The woman had already pulled the dog off me by the time I turned to look and apologized before scurrying away, but I was left wondering just what had happened, the most likely scenario seeming to be that the dog had tried to hump my leg. And at least I didn’t notice any teeth or claw marks when I had a look, so I continued to that Kaufland, starting to hope when I saw that the gate wasn’t down… But the machines were stopped, so I made my way back, grabbing some more recyclables, plus a milk carton.
I was back a few minutes after 10 PM. Then I ate a banana, cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, talked to dad about the following day, put the purchases in their place, wrote a quick post, ate lunch, and went to wash just before 1 AM. I was done a couple of minutes after 1:30 AM, and then I washed what was in the kitchen and still managed to stick to the dinner schedule, albeit by “cheating” in order to be able to say that I took a first bite in my room before 3 AM. On the other hand, the middle button of my mouse started double clicking badly again.

Since that SMS had mentioned 2 PM, albeit stating that it was just an estimate and I’ll be called about an hour before they’ll get here, I had set the alarm to ring at noon, but I was woken up at 8:07 AM by another SMS asking whether it was all right if they’ll come between 1 and 2 PM, and when I checked I also saw an e-mail sent just after it, which stated 1-3 PM. So I replied to the e-mail, saying that the initial estimate was after 2 PM and while I’ll be home earlier, I had been told that the desk and PC, which are in front of the part of the window that doesn’t open, should be moved before they’ll start working and I may not manage to do that if they’ll come earlier. And then I spent some time on the computer, also making a quick backup on the stick, and got back in bed at 8:35 AM. But it was hard to get back to sleep, and the fact that I had been feeling like I had to go to the toilet ever since washing at night and hadn’t definitely didn’t help, and I was starting to feel like something I had eaten didn’t agree with me either. Still, I did eventually get back to sleep, but it was very agitated, with dreams that made me question when I was asleep and when I was awake, so in a way it was something of a relief when the alarm rang. And then I started moving what I could without turning off the computer, and at 2 PM I sent another e-mail, saying that I hadn’t been called yet, and the guy replied to say that it should be another hour or so and then I was called and told the same by the one who was actually going to do the work, so a little later I turned off the computer and took it out of the desk, though I didn’t also move the desk.
So I couldn’t challenge the old one’s uptime record at this point, and who knows when I’ll get another chance, but at least I set a good new one for this one, 104 days, 21 hours and 33 seconds, according to the screenshot taken then and timing how long it took for it to turn off after I took it. But according to the system log, it was 104 days, 20 hours, 57 minutes and just under 44 seconds, and I realized that this should be the more accurate one, because I assume that Task Manager counts the seconds that pass for the computer’s clock, but since that gets a little ahead, as I see whenever it synchronizes, some time gets added and that difference grows over such long periods.
Either way, those guys came some time after 3 PM, but while there were two of them, I have no idea why one was here, other than to initially throw the blinds and a bag of parts on my bed. He took them off when I said that I’d prefer it if they don’t put things on the bed, but the deed was done. And then he threw his vest and as the work was being done piled up some trash on my chair… And that was basically all he did, occasionally give the guy who actually did the work some things and take what was to be thrown away. But the guy who did the work really seemed to know his business, working quickly and apparently pretty well despite also chatting, more so as time passed and dad got into a conversation with him, apparently finding a lot of common ground in terms of conspiracy theories and political opinions, so the whole discussion became more and more infuriating for me. But I tried to ignore it and stick to the matter at hand, and after he was done I started cleaning up a little while he talked to dad about the bug nets, going around the apartment, taking measurements, discussing dad’s plans for that, and at the end also giving him an estimated price… But he never mentioned the fact that we still had the remaining half of the price of the blinds to pay, so I did, showing him the contract and giving him the money, and he sent an SMS about it, but while his boss had replied to my e-mail and said that I could pay that guy and they’ll send me the receipt by e-mail, he only did that two days later.
Either way, all of it, including those discussions with dad, was done in about an hour, maybe just a little more, and that guy even cleaned the glass of that window that doesn’t open on the outside, since he had removed it in order to install the blinds on that side and when he was done he asked for a rag and some window cleaner and wiped the worst of the dirt off it. But what truly mattered was that I finally had external blinds again and could stop putting cardboard in my windows! And then I initially turned the old computer back on a little, then used the vacuum cleaner’s blower function to quickly get what dust I could out of this one, put it back in the desk, and cleaned my room to some extent, doing less than what I normally do when I mention this, and without changing the sheets, but nevertheless doing enough to count. And blowing that dust out of the computer seems to have reduced the CPU temperatures by some 10°C, though on the other hand I once again forgot to unplug the power LED and didn’t put the monitor exactly back in its place, so it wasn’t quite aligned with the chair and keyboard. Either way, after that I made pizza, in two parts but leaving the first one for dad and eating the second, as lunch. But I had also put a load of laundry in the machine earlier, so when I should have gone back to the kitchen I hung the clothes to dry, and then there was plenty to wash and clean in the kitchen, dad having cooked some things as well, so it was past 2:30 AM when I finally started working on dinner, and then I also cleaned the litter box and made the tea for the morning, ending up eating dinner between 3:45 AM and 4:10 AM when the appointment for the ultrasound was at noon, and I didn’t take the specific pills against gas that they had told me to take either. But I did take four of those regular ones during the evening and night.

I was woken up just after 8:30 AM by the sound of a chainsaw, and when I went on the balcony to have a look it seemed that a tree had been cut down, though I couldn’t be certain. And then, a little over an hour later, I was woken up again by a pair of messages from my provider, at which point the phone gave a low battery warning as well, this time after less than a week, though it had admittedly been used more during that time, considering the tree planting event. Either way, I set it to charge and got back to sleep… And another pair of messages woke me up again, at 10:15 AM, and while I managed to get right back to sleep once more, it wasn’t for long, the alarm ringing at 10:30 AM. And then I rushed to use the toilet, drank at least half of the tea, took one more of those pills against gas, had a closer look at the external blinds and noticed that there is a small space between their frame and that of the window, especially at the top, and it seems worse for the window that opens, where there really shouldn’t be any distance, so I’ll need to use something there, and it was several minutes after 11:30 AM when I walked out. After locking the door, I considered coming back to grab the book, but I decided against it.
Well, that was a bad choice, because I jogged most of the way, reached the clinic a few minutes before noon, when I had the appointment, was told that I’ll be called in when my turn will come, and then had to wait until after 12:30 PM, and I still didn’t put on the mask despite having it with me… And I had to pay those 20 RON, as I was told when I made the appointment, though I’m quite sure that’s illegal. But at least the ultrasound went fine after that, though it took a while, so I walked out just before 1 PM, nothing particularly notable being found, though it was written that it was difficult to see some structures because of the contents of the digestive tube and gas, and that’s despite not eating anything before leaving and taking those pills…
By then, I had to pee, but I didn’t go to the toilet in the clinic, so things got rather desperate on the way back, as I picked up some recyclables and checked the Profi, Penny and Mega Image from Decebal, getting some cat food and two expiring yogurts from Penny and then entering Mega Image with them. And I wasn’t sure that I could make it back, so I went to the toilet in the gas station, after which I could take my time to look for some more recyclables and also had a quick look in another Mega Image and this Carrefour Express, entering with everything both times and finding cheaper expiring yogurts in the latter. But I already had those from Penny, plus that I still had two of those bio (organic) ones and those were already expired, so that was that.
After also grabbing a milk carton from the garbage room, it was a little after 2:05 PM when I got back. And then I put the few purchases in their place, ate an apple, that large sweet pastry from Kaufland which did prove to be with apple, and one of those bio (organic) yogurts, with cereals, put dad’s recyclables into the large backpack, arranged the rest into bags, straightening two of them, and it was several minutes after 4 PM when I left again, with all of them, including the cartons. And on the way to Kaufland I picked up a few more recyclables, and also stopped at that Mega Image and put the two milk cartons into that machine, keeping the voucher for another time. I had a third carton, but it was a very small one and I wasn’t surprised when it wasn’t accepted, so I dropped it in a bin.
When I reached that Kaufland, all machines were off, and one had a note stating that it was out of order. But at least the gate was up that time, and those who were waiting were looking towards the store, making me assume that somebody was supposed to come soon, and that was indeed the case, the three functional machines eventually working again, though I had to wait for a while after that as well, everyone having large bags. But my turn eventually came and I could put almost everything in, splitting dad’s recyclables from “mine” and just being left with one that wasn’t accepted despite not being among those that I had any doubts about and that small oddly-shaped bottle that I expected to be “eaten”, so I actually stepped aside without trying it at first, grabbed another recyclable that I was sure was going to be accepted but which had for some reason been dropped by someone in a bin, and when the line had cleared and I wasn’t going to hold anyone up I put that one in and then tried to use the phone to film what happens when I try that oddly-shaped one… Only for it to just be rejected repeatedly, not “eaten” as it usually happens, so after a while I gave up. And then I calculated and confirmed that, while I wasn’t quite at the maximum amount that they’re doubling the deposit for, I was close enough to not be worried that I’ll reach it in the evening.
After putting those remaining recyclables and the large backpack in a cabinet, I washed my hands, got cheese, and then looked for expiring and spoiling products, finding piles and piles, many with good discounts, so I got quite a number, including two bags of oranges that looked just fine but nevertheless had a good discount, plus the last two of those instant soups for dad that have for some reason been deeply discounted for a while. And then I used all of the vouchers received for the recyclables, retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged things a little better, and just after walking out I spotted another recyclable, so I put that into a machine as well before walking away and grabbing a few more on the way back, plus another carton.
After getting back, I put the purchases in their place, did the day’s squats, ate lunch, took one of those immunity supplements that aren’t expired, and left again at 9 PM, leaving that small oddly-shaped bottle and the carton and taking those recyclables picked up on the way back, a few more which had been emptied by dad, and that Pepsi bottle that I still thought should work. And those emptied by dad meant that I didn’t need to look for more, and he had gotten back by then and gave me his metro card, so I decided to go to Basarab and basically ran to the metro station, since that Kaufland closes at 10 PM, though I still happened to spot a recyclable on the way and grabbed it. And the metro came right away and a card was left on a seat, next to a woman, so I sat on the next seat and initially ignored it, expecting it to have no trips left. Yet when that woman got off the metro I picked it up to have a look and saw that it seemed to have four trips left and, while the machines often fail to print, that one seemed to have last been used at 8:52 PM that evening, at Obor, making it highly unlikely to have been used four more times since then… And in fact making me wonder how had it ended up on a metro that must have gotten moving from Dristor only some ten minutes later, seeing as it should have needed some seven or eight minutes to get there from Obor and just having the conductor move to the other end and switch controls would likely take more than a couple of minutes, even without any sort of break. Still, I took it, meaning to check it… Only to see that the old machines from that exit can’t be used to check the cards, so I had to leave that for later.
When I got to Kaufland’s machine, I tried that Pepsi bottle again, straightening the part of the label with the bar code as well as I could and eventually getting it to be accepted, and then I put the rest of “mine” in, getting a voucher for what was left to get to the maximum that could be obtained during that campaign. But two recyclables had been left there and while one didn’t work and I took it and kept it, the other had a discount label from Mega Image over the bar code, so after getting that first voucher I stepped aside and struggled to peel it off, eventually managing to uncover a strip of the bar code, at which point I put it in, followed by those emptied by dad, getting a second voucher.
After putting that remaining recyclable in a cabinet, I went to wash my hands, finding that gate there again and the message that access required a receipt but just pushing my way in. And after entering the store, at 9:35 PM, I went straight to the bakery area but didn’t find much left, though that didn’t have to mean that customers had almost cleared it, because the employee who was cleaning had likely taken things away, so I rushed to at least grab a couple of plain buns, at half price, before she cleared those away as well. And then I checked the expiring products, initially grabbing a mozzarella that was only discounted by 30% but had an expiration date of May 1, so I wondered why it was there, what was really wrong with it, and decided to only take it if I’ll find nothing else. And I did find more of those soups for dad, with the same low price but listed as being regular, not a discount, and I grabbed three at that point, then spent the remaining time picking some more of those Moldovan grapes, with the best evening discount I had seen in a long time. And then, after adding the last few after the closing announcement, I was surprised to see the scales attempt to guess the product, which had never happened before. But it seemed that only the approximate color was detected, considering the options that it asked me to choose from. Either way, I also dashed to have a quick look at the non-refrigerated expiring products, and then ran to grab three more of those soups, so I was able to use all three vouchers received for recyclables, so including the one left from earlier, and leave that mozzarella there.
After retrieving that remaining recyclable and washing my hands again, that time having a receipt to scan but not bothering to use soap, since I was just trying to get some of the stickiness off after digging through those grapes, I went back to the metro station… Only for dad’s card to be rejected repeatedly, and I tried a few different machines, until someone came to ask what was wrong and let me through after having a look at it. But after getting off at this station I checked it and it seemed just fine, and I also checked that found card and saw that four trips were indeed left. And I grabbed a few more recyclables as well.
It was 10:50 PM when I got back. Then I put the few purchases in their place, ate the last of the grapes that I already had and a slice of cozonac, with added honey, washed the few things that were in the kitchen, and it was just after 12:40 AM when I went to the bathroom, using the toilet and rinsing a large bag left by dad in the bathtub before washing. I was done with all of that in just over an hour, but then I spent some time on the computer, only getting back in the kitchen at 2:25 AM, and then I also added the part of something that was left in a second jar into the one containing the rest and moved something else into another jar, but licking what was left on that plastic box and that second jar made me decide that I wasn’t going to put anything on the bread that night, and then that I won’t even bother to slice the bread, ending up eating in the kitchen, between 3:55 AM and 4:15 AM. And after getting back to the computer I confirmed that my attempts to realign the monitor, keyboard and chair had been quite successful. And I also rubbed cream on my hands before getting in bed.

After a little over an hour in bed, Liza woke me by going to the litter box, and then I woke up again some two and a half hours later, but I didn’t need to pee and got right back to sleep both times. However, about half an hour after that second time, just before 9:25 AM, she went again, after dad got up, and that time I changed and got up to clean the litter box and also exchange a few words with dad, and after peeing and getting on the computer for a while, at 10:05 AM I got back in bed and read for 45 minutes. And then I waited for dad to leave, peeing again after he did… And noticing that he had taken the opened cat food from Penny, and probably wiped Liza’s plate of it, confirming after he got back that he had taken it to some cats that are outside because she didn’t wolf it down right away as she does with these other ones… Which was just the point, why I had bought some from there again, and I had told him that, plus that she had eventually eaten what he had given her in the evening, just little by little, in time, which, again, was just the point. Either way, I managed to get right back to sleep after getting in bed again… But after a while some noise started, and while I was exhausted enough to keep getting back to sleep, I was woken up multiple times, and eventually I remained awake for quite a while before getting up, a few minutes after 5 PM.

On the morning of April 23, Liza once again woke me by going to the litter box and scraping around for quite a while, so I peed, changed, cleaned it, changed back, and got back in bed. But then, at 11:20 AM, just as dad was getting ready to leave, I dreamed that I got caught in a thick spiderweb and a spider the size of my fist was scurrying around on me, so I woke up brushing myself off desperately, went to pee again, and then got on the computer to check the errors I had noticed before getting in bed had appeared in the logs the previous morning. They were saying that there was a timeout while creating a shadow copy, and when I checked I saw that some components of VSS were still “waiting for completion”, but the logs also stated that the restore point had been successfully created. And when I looked for other events around that time I saw that the system time had been synchronized and two updates had started to be downloaded, though they might not have been applicable, because nothing showed up as having actually been installed. But I guess that those things might have gotten in the way of each other and caused the issue, and when I then manually created a restore point, things seemed fine, even if when I checked after that, I saw even more components supposedly “waiting for completion”. And I’ll also mention here that the keyboard shortcut used to start Vivaldi works again, so I guess that just required a reboot, though I wonder why it had stopped working in the first place.
Either way, I then connected the phone to the computer and copied some things, during which time it also fully charged again. And since in the e-mail with the receipt for the blinds I had also been asked how they presented themselves, I mentioned that small space between their frame and the window’s and that I did feel some air getting through the holes for the cables, which may be an issue in winter, and also sent a picture to show that they didn’t seem to be quite straight, saying that it’s not an issue in itself but wondering whether it won’t increase the wear on one side, receiving a reply that said that they tend to look like that if something isn’t quite straight but it doesn’t affect their functioning.
Otherwise, I did manage to get over two hours of sleep in the evening, probably more like two and a half, depending on just how long it took me to get back to sleep after being woken up by something falling or being dropped, I believe in the apartment above. But then, after going to the toilet first, I got back in the kitchen rather late and also used too much of what was still left of that lettuce brought by dad, ending up with too much salad, and while I once again “cheated” to be able to say that I took a first bite of dinner in my room before 3 AM, it was 3:25 AM when I actually started eating, putting peanut butter on all of the bread, and 3:45 AM when I finished, despite wolfing down as fast as I could.

When I got up to pee a few minutes before 8 AM, I saw that dad was already awake… And shortly after I got back in bed, Liza went to the litter box and scraped around for quite a while, so I changed, cleaned the litter box, exchanged a few words with dad, and then changed back and got back in bed. I was worried that I’ll have a hard time getting back to sleep, since the workers had started making noise, but it actually didn’t take too long, and I only got up one more time, I think just after 12:10 PM, peeing again and then getting back to sleep once more. I did wake up again before the alarm rang, at 2 PM, but it’s actually possible that I had gotten back to sleep one more time just before it did. Either way, I then had the usual stuff, with the yogurt being an expired bio (organic) one, and the sweet thing consisted of another slice of cozonac, with added honey. And I left at 4:30 PM, wearing the full running gear, still including the better shoes. The reported temperature was 21°C, holding steady, but it was rather windy.
The time was 1:47:26, with sector times of 4:28, 5:14, 6:02, 4:38, 5:13, 6:04, 4:31, 5:17, 6:20, 4:45, 5:21, 6:17, 4:48, 5:28, 6:11, 4:53, 5:30, 6:18, 1:55, 6:16 and 1:57, making for lap times of 15:44, 15:55, 16:08, 16:23, 16:27 and 16:41, plus 10:08 for the final portion. The target was once again to stay under 1:48, though I still feared that I’ll end up closer to 1:50, especially since I felt tired from the beginning. And after the first two sectors I had to push a little more on the third, which showed, so what I gained on lap one compared to that target of 15:50, I lost on lap two, and even that required once again pushing harder on the third sector. However, another runner made me push even more on sector one of lap three, and trying to at least keep him in sight made me keep the loss of time in check on sector two, but then he got too far ahead and that effort took its toll, the time on sector three being a particularly unpleasant surprise and leading to falling behind the overall target. And the first two sectors of lap four meant that I needed a less bad sector three to recover, but I once again pushed and did exactly enough to be back on track for 1:48. And, while sector two of lap five was rather concerning, sector three was surprisingly good at that point, and I hadn’t felt like I had pushed that hard, so I started wondering about 1:47:30, that becoming the target after sector two of lap six. It was going to require really pushing all the way to the end, so that was what I did, doing just enough each sector to still think that I had a chance. It was touch and go all the way, but I made it in the end. That’s still far from a time that can give me any hope for the race, but at least I did slightly better than two weeks before. It took everything, however, and that spells trouble for Tuesday, when I plan to cover the distance again.
It was pretty crowded, leading to plenty of weaving and going the long way around, but the first notable problem was on sector one of lap three. That started with that other runner catching up to me and making me push, then overtaking me but seeming to hold back on the straight, so I overtook him again only to have to briefly stop at the boat dock, when a kid cut across the lane and the woman who was with him followed without looking. And on sector two I had to slow and squeeze past a little girl who stretched her arm out and blocked the only way through a roadblock. And I had to take a couple of steps off the path on sector three, and again on the long straight of sector one of lap four, though that time I remained on a paved area. I might have just gotten away with squeezing through a couple of roadblocks on sector two of lap four without a notable loss of time, but on sector two of lap five I went off the path and slowed to a walk for a couple of steps because a couple was coming right on the lane with their dogs on either side and the rest of the path was blocked by other people. And since I don’t think it was before that point, I’m pretty sure that it was on sector one of lap six when I hesitated twice on the long straight, first because another runner coming from the opposite direction was just checking the time and edged towards me and then because a cyclist sped past me and then slammed on the brakes, not stopping right in front of me but startling me nevertheless. And I’m not sure if I got away with everything on sector two of lap six or there was something there as well. But the last issue came at the start of the last sector, when I hesitated as I was about to go up the stairs and had to go around two women coming from the opposite direction who also went up and cut me off.
Other than that, there were windy areas, the worst being on laps three and four, and in fact it was right on the long straight of sector one of lap three when it was particularly bad, which probably explains why that guy held back and let me get ahead again despite being clearly faster otherwise. As for physical issues, there was a warning from the back of the right knee right after I started running, but then it went away and that knee was quite fine, more warnings coming from the left calf muscle for much of the run, though those weren’t much of an issue either. I was rather concerned that I was exhausting myself completely when my hands started to go numb as early as sector one of lap four, and on the next sector a slight pressing need also started to make itself known, but it never became a notable issue. I was really exhausted by the end, however, in fact feeling quite out of it for the last two sectors.

After picking up a recyclable on the way back, I ate a banana, cleaned the litter box again, did 200 squats, after putting them off the previous day until I forgot to do them at all, put two kinds of jam and the tomato sauce left by dad in a fish can on a huge doughnut and ate that as well, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and it was almost 8:50 PM when I left again, taking the recyclables with the deposit symbol and picking up one more that had the symbol and a few that didn’t on the way to the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, since I mostly jogged and didn’t take time to really look. And I grabbed another juice carton as well.
I got there right at 9 PM, but that was just in time to see that regular grab most of the products that were discounted by 90%. But I managed to snatch one thing, and when I got back I noticed that it wasn’t even expiring, the date being April 28, so I’m not sure why it had been discounted like that. Either way, I took a bag with two bakery products as well, with the 50% discount, put the recyclables in the machine, being left with that one that still wasn’t accepted and those without the symbol, and then waited around for a while, because that regular was using a self-checkout but had asked the guard to come over and help her, which was taking quite some time, so I was wondering whether she’ll give up on something, even if at a glance from the distance it didn’t seem like anything particularly interesting had been there. But she eventually seemed to buy everything, so I just bought those products and then cashed in the voucher. And then I picked up another recyclable on the way to Penny, putting it in the machine, which didn’t accept that other one either, dropping those without the symbol in the bin, and then putting my things in a cabinet and buying some cat food of another kind, also using the voucher received for that recyclable before retrieving what I had in the cabinet and arranging a little.
I picked up some more recyclables on the way to Kaufland, putting them in the machine from there, just that one still not being accepted. Then I put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands in the room for disabled people, the men’s being closed, and entered the store just before 10 PM, seeing low bakery discounts, and that plenty of bakery products had no evening discounts at all. Those discounts only improved, to 50%, after 10:15 PM, by which time I had made use of other evening discounts to grab a particularly large lettuce, even if it didn’t look too good, and a few bananas, trying to only use my left hand, so when I saw those better bakery discounts I grabbed two buns, which I eventually decided to use as bread, and a few sweet pastries, having doubts when the listed ingredients for one of those which I had decided against getting before seemed fine again but nevertheless taking one as well. And then I saw a whole pile of packaged vegetables that were discounted by 90%, and while the celery and parsley roots were listed as being imported, the carrots and onions were supposedly Romanian, and I just wanted the carrots for myself, so I grabbed several packs. And then I made use of another evening discount for just a few red potatoes and added two beets, even if those only had a regular discount, if you used the store card. And a few minutes before closing time I rushed to check the expiring products as well and saw a lot of vegan falafel that was deeply discounted, so I grabbed one, even if it was imported, without taking the time to fully read the label, so I wrongly thought that it was ready to eat. Either way, I reached the self-checkout after the closing announcement and eventually left one of those packs of vegetables there, then used the voucher received for the recyclables.
What was unpleasant was that I worked up the courage to ask for another one of those 10 RON vouchers, since they had once again been out of green onions, but when I went to the information desk, a guy was there and signing something and he was obviously higher up, since he told the others that they couldn’t hand out those vouchers after closing time, even though that’s probably when I got most of them before. Either way, I then retrieved what I had in the cabinet, walked out through the emergency exit, and took my time to arrange everything, walking away at 10:45 PM.
After putting my things into two cabinets that didn’t lock when I reached that non-stop Mega Image, it was a few minutes before 11 PM when I walked in… But it was a long time before the cart with the products that were discounted by 90% was brought out, after employees went to the back and picked what they wanted and also restocked some shelves, one of them finally acting like he had just remembered something when he walked out of there empty-handed and saw those two regulars still waiting, finally bringing it out when it must have been almost 11:30 PM. And I added a few things from there to the small and rather wilted bundle of green onions which I had grabbed by then, wanting to make sure that I had one for Tuesday and thinking that it should at least be at half price, according to the sign. I’ll admit that I might not have read that sign that carefully, but I asked the cashier to confirm that it was at half price and she did, and I had apparently miscalculated the total, so nothing seemed wrong at the time and I saw no reason to actually check the receipt, just retrieving my things, arranging everything, and picking up some more recyclables on the way back.
It was just after 12:15 AM when I got back. Then I cleaned the litter box one more time and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, drank a drinkable yogurt, put the purchases in their place… And at some point I checked the receipt from that Mega Image and saw that I had actually paid full price for those green onions, despite the hour and their state, so I meant to send a message to complain, but then I looked it up and saw that the discount apparently only applies between 7 PM and 10 PM, not between 7 PM and closing time, or between 7 PM and midnight in case of non-stop locations, even though the included vegetables obviously don’t get any fresher later. So, in case that piece of information is also included on the sign, I guess that it was my fault for not reading properly, though it still seems hard to believe that I missed something like that. But, to return to last night, it was close to 2:10 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, and a few minutes after 3 AM when I was done. And then I washed what was in the kitchen, fixed something to eat as lunch and did so, on and off, between 4:35 AM and 5:30 AM, dealt with what I was going to use as bread, also used what little was usable out of a few of the worse leaves of that lettuce, took another one of those immunity supplements, and ate dinner between 5:55 AM and 7 AM. After rubbing cream on my feet, I got in bed at 7:30 AM.

Well, at 9:05 AM I got woken up by dad, feeding Liza and getting ready to leave, and after going to pee, just in case, and exchanging a few words with him, I couldn’t get back to sleep, so just before 10:15 AM I finally cut my losses and got on the computer, only getting back in bed at 12:20 PM. And at least I managed to get back to sleep, but it wasn’t quite immediately, some time later I woke up again for a little while, and I was once again awake for a bit when I decided to get up, a little after 4:05 PM, so after a total of only some four hours of sleep, four and a half at the very best. And later I added another hour or so, but I’m, unsurprisingly, just crushed.

It was good news that the European Citizens’ Initiative demanding the full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement recently gained the required number of signatures, but this is usually a long process and the results are uncertain, yet now the chances of things actually moving in that direction more rapidly may just increase a whole lot, because on Tuesday Spain will formally propose the termination of the agreement. And, while such a move coming from Spain isn’t exactly surprising, things seem to be shifting in the EU as a whole, especially now that the regime will change in Hungary and they’ll probably stop blocking proposals to sanction Israel.
Of course, however major such a measure would be, it’d still be far too little and far, far too late for so many Palestinians, both in Gaza and in the West Bank, who have been suffering and dying for so long, because of the war but also because of the settlement policy and settler violence, which are problems that have existed long before the war and which Israel continues to pursue with impunity. But now there are more attacks in other regions as well, and while those in power, with few exceptions, have proven time and time again that they consider Palestinians less than human and unworthy of attention, not to mention protection, and it’s difficult to argue against attacking the Iranian regime, there is collateral damage in that war as well, and then there’s also the situation in Lebanon. And, while those who don’t care for Palestinians aren’t particularly likely to care that much more for Iranians or Lebanese, it’s all adding up and maybe, just maybe, someday it’ll be enough. And maybe, just maybe, some from those regions will still be alive when that happens…