Cav's Place

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.

Those people finally came to install those things in the holes in the walls on February 23, so dad woke me at 9:55 AM and they were done less than an hour later, but they installed it in my room over the insulation, which dad tried to start removing just then, and what we were trying to ask them and what they were answering were different things, so we couldn’t understand each other over the matter and I now have a couple of small holes there, not that it makes much of a difference. And they left quite a mess, so I then vacuumed to a fair extent in the three rooms and also in the kitchen and some parts of the hallway, though I didn’t take the opportunity to also clean my room, or even vacuum properly all over my floor. And after installing that thing in my room the guy asked for rags or towels, and then for mine, which was on the back of my chair, but dad brought him another and he stuffed it in the hole, on the outside, since they’ll only install the outer cover after everything’s done, so he’d have done that with my towel if we’d have given it to him! On the other hand, after they left I noticed that my bug net was removed, and I don’t think that the guy removed it when he went out through my window, so the other workers had probably done that two days earlier and I hadn’t even noticed it the day before, when I opened the window for a while before leaving! Either way, at least I caught a nap in the evening, and then I made mamaliga again, took one more of those supplements for immunity that aren’t expired, and caught up on some sleep, waking up to pee plenty of times, and apparently biting my tongue hard on the first such occasion, but always getting right back to sleep until the last time, at 3:55 PM, when workers seemed to be nearby and I just stayed in bed until it got quiet, getting up a few minutes after 5 PM.

Since I’m skipping the runs and a couple of other days that aren’t yet written, I’ll now get to February 26, when dad got up and woke me with some loud noise not long after I had gone to bed, and it’s possible that he woke me again before leaving, but I was so exhausted that I just fell right back to sleep. On the other hand, after getting up to pee a little before 10:25 AM, I decided to finally read some more of the book, doing so until a few minutes after 11 AM and seeing that I was getting through less than one page every two minutes. Either way, I then got back to sleep, and if the noise made by the workers or that dog woke me again, I fell asleep again so quickly that I barely realized it… Until my phone gave a low battery warning, a little after 2:10 PM, and after plugging it in to charge it seemed that I wasn’t quite exhausted enough to still get back to sleep despite the noise. But I was too exhausted to get up, so I just stayed there, maybe briefly drifting off a few times, until the phone beeped to indicate that it was fully charged, a little after 3:15 PM, and I got up.
Otherwise, dad had said that he was going to get back around 3:30-4 PM and then could help me cook, so I meant to get things ready and then let him at least check the pot while I read some more. However, it was past 7 PM when he actually got back, and he brought food, some of it supposedly for me, though it was ordered and therefore I couldn’t know just what was in it, while he wanted to use the grill for what he had bought for himself. And then he also had to get ready for the following day. And I couldn’t put off cooking, my phone number being about to expire, so I had to go out the following day, plus that I had done the tedious part already and couldn’t just put those ingredients away as they were. So, on top of doing all of the cooking on my own, I also had that grill to wash, both before and after he used it. And then I also tried to help him search for something that he couldn’t find, only wasting some more time, because I couldn’t find it either. So my plan went out the window and I barely managed to read a little more that evening.
On top of all of that, he had left a lot of food for Liza in the morning, which he wanted to throw away when he saw that she hadn’t touched it since then, so we both got angry and snapped at each other, and when I put it into something else, to give it to some other cats, he immediately sat right in it! He had been hovering right over my shoulder, telling Liza that he was just about to give her something else, I left that old food on the seat while I went to the sink to wash her plate, and as soon as I stepped away I heard a crunch and saw that he had sat down right there, and when I snapped at him he said that he hadn’t noticed that I had left it there. Well, what the fuck else would I have done with it when I hadn’t moved from there when I took it off the plate? Not that it wasn’t in a pretty sizable plastic thing, right in front of his eyes. Either way, after he changed his pants we sort of pretended that nothing happened, as usual, so I was left fuming silently, knowing that saying or doing anything would just result in further angry responses without changing anything.

Moving on to the morning of February 27, after getting in bed at 5:20 AM, it wasn’t even 8:15 AM when I was woken by drilling. But it only lasted a few seconds, so I went to pee and then got right back to sleep, and while I was woken up at least a couple more times over the next four hours, I got back to sleep so quickly that I’m not even certain that I was fully awake. But then I guess that I wasn’t so utterly exhausted anymore, and the workers were clearly in this area, so while the noise wasn’t that bad in itself, it was enough to keep me awake and I just sort of drifted in and out, perhaps catching a few very brief naps, before 2:20 PM, when the alarm rang and I got up to watch ski jumping. And shortly after it finished, the workers put back the pieces of insulation which had been removed by those who had installed those things in the holes in the walls and it’s a good thing that I was right here then, because in my room they were pushing that thing inside, so I rushed to tell the guy about it and pushed it back, after which he seemed to do the job properly. I also checked in dad’s bedroom, another guy working there, but there that thing had been pushed in very little and I could just press on it to get it back in place, after which it seemed fine, so I didn’t need to talk to that guy as well. Not that the whole thing hadn’t already messed me up a little on a day when I had to interact with people again, so I tried to prepare myself for that, and after doing the day’s squats, eating lunch, cleaning the litter box, and gathering my clothes from the rack, I left a few minutes before 8:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, a small bag of trash that I dropped down the chute, and that cat food, minus what was left on dad’s pants.
I grabbed a recyclable on the way to Mega Mall, but didn’t see the cats that I expected to see on that route, so I still had that cat food when I reached my provider’s store and waited for quite a while before charging the credit, without receiving a receipt but the change including a commemorative coin which had apparently been released in 2016 but which I didn’t have any of so far. And then I saw that Carrefour had once again removed all cabinets from that location, so I went to put the recyclables in the machine and then took the two that weren’t accepted to the information desk, getting the deposit for those as well before entering the store with that cat food and thinking that it was going to be very awkward if a guard would want to see what I had in the bag. But I found some expiring products to get, at half price, including beer for dad, and the employee approved the sale of beer from the computer, so I then also used the voucher received for the recyclables and arranged the purchases in the backpack.
After grabbing a few more recyclables, I put them in the machine from Kaufland and then just put that cat food in a cabinet, entering with the backpack and making use of great evening discounts for red onions, red potatoes, and a couple of bananas, plus a handful of those Moldovan grapes, even if they just had a 50% evening discount. And then I grabbed an expiring product for myself, even if it only had a 30% discount, and one for dad, with a great discount… After which I waited for quite a long time in line, the people using the three machines that accepted cash having a lot of products and taking their time, so the closing announcement came while I was still waiting. And after my turn finally came and I saw the total I decided to dash back to the non-refrigerated expiring products, which are close to the checkouts, and grab one more of those for dad, after which I also used the voucher received for the recyclables, retrieved that cat food from the cabinet, and walked out at 10:40 PM.
After putting the bags into a cabinet that I didn’t lock at that Mega Image and entering with the backpack, I got a nice expiring oat bar, at half price, and then retrieved my things, went to that bench, took too long to arrange everything for too little real benefit, and decided to check the non-stop one that’s next to the metro station, hoping to find some interesting discounted bakery products there, or at least some bread for dad. But I had also considered going to the one from Iancului, which I thought closed at midnight, and doing so would have been no worse, since checking that other one proved to be a complete waste of time, and I used a route on which I didn’t even see any recyclables, so by the time I got there I just had the pretty crushed one which I had spotted shortly after leaving the other Mega Image and a label that also had the deposit symbol, and then I put the bags and my gloves in a cabinet, entered with the backpack, and just retrieved everything after seeing that the bakery area was completely cleared and the couple of remaining expiring products weren’t interesting. But at least I grabbed a few recyclables on the way back. And, while I didn’t see cats in the spot where I expected to see them on the way back from there either, I wasn’t going to come back with that cat food, so I just left it there anyway, next to the little shelters built for them, where they might have been huddling, considering the temperature. I did finally see a cat a little later and actually considered rushing back to grab that food and bring it, but it dashed into a yard, so I kept going.
I got back just after 12:05 AM. Then I cleaned the litter box again and went to drop what I had gathered down the chute, talked to dad a little, ate a banana, put the purchases in their place, and went to wash at 1:45 AM. I was done a little before 2:25 AM, and then I washed what was in the kitchen, straightened that rather crushed recyclable, saw that a spot on the vitamin C pill that I meant to take looked odd but just scraped it off and took it anyway, and ate dinner between 4:35 AM and 5:20 AM. I got in bed at 6:55 AM, after rubbing cream on my hands and feet.

While I got right back to sleep after getting up to pee at one point and slept through dad getting up and leaving, I had been mostly awake for a while when I decided to pee one more time, just in case, at 1:25 PM… And I saw that dad had left a voucher from Carrefour which that neighbor had left in a bag she had given him on the kitchen table, along with a note saying that he had talked to her on the phone and she said that she didn’t want it back, and the deadline for using it was March 1, which led to just tossing and turning after I got back in bed, wondering what to do, since I wasn’t going to let it go to waste but it felt completely wrong to use it for us, plus that I didn’t feel like going back out that day and I wanted to watch the following day’s matches, so that’d have been a problem too. So I didn’t get back to sleep, eventually getting up a little before 2:25 PM, sending dad an e-mail about the issue, doing the day’s squats, and leaving at 4:40 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, wearing a mask again, for the only time during this period… And after seeing that my phone’s battery was so swollen that the back cover was off! But at first I thought that it was slipping out of the case, and when I saw that the cover was actually coming off I just meant to put it back, only realizing what was going on when it wouldn’t quite work, at which point I briefly took out the battery and put it back in… And then, despite being concerned, I put the phone in my pocket normally and left.
After taking the metro to Obor, since I had dad’s metro card, I went to Auchan, picked up a recyclable which had for some reason been left in the bin that’s next to the machine and then put all of them in, and got more cat food, also using the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid. Then I arranged the purchases and continued to Carrefour, picking up a few more recyclables and putting them in the machine from there… And then I picked up one more, putting it and the purchases in a cabinet and getting one of the bottles of wine that the voucher that I wanted to use was obtained for and which was actually discounted those days, so dad could take it to that neighbor, so most of the voucher would still be used for her benefit, and a bag of cat litter, so the remaining amount became a discount for that. That meant that an employee had to come to approve the sale of the wine, but then some other bar code accidentally scanned when I was trying to scan that voucher, so he had to come again and there was a misunderstanding between us, since I also had the voucher received for the recyclables. But the matter was eventually sorted out and I could use both vouchers. And then I retrieved and arranged my things and took the metro back, also picking up another recyclable and trying to have a look at the cats that I had left that food for, yet I still couldn’t see any of them and the plastic thing that the food had been in had also been taken away.
I got back at 6:40 PM, then cleaned the litter box, ate a citrus fruit, either a clementine or a Mandarin orange, put the purchases in their place, and after dad got back I sent a message to the power company, since he hadn’t even done that, much less actually switch to the better offer that I had been telling him about and which was expiring that day… Not that it seemed to do any good, so it was probably too late. Either way, just before 10:10 PM I went out again, without the mask, first having a look in the nearby Mega Image but seeing that they hadn’t made bakery discounts… But I also didn’t see dad’s car, so after looking around, thinking that he might have parked it in a different spot, I rushed back up to tell him about it, learning that he had left it at mother’s but hadn’t bothered to tell me. So I then went back out and jogged to the Mega Image from Mihai Bravu, seeing bakery discounts and getting a few things. And then I jogged to the non-stop one as well, putting those purchases in a cabinet that I didn’t lock and getting an apple circle that also had the 50% discount… And just as I was about to cross the road, the power went out in the entire area, including on the streets, so I started to pretty much run back, and dad sending me and SMS to let me know about it but not sending another one when the power was restored didn’t help. But I saw lights turning back on… Only to turn off again a little later. But this second failure was brief, and they were on again when I reached the building, and there were a few minutes left before 11 PM, so I had another look in the nearby Mega Image, but just from the door, seeing that they hadn’t made bakery discounts at all that evening.
I was back for good just before 11 PM, and while my computer was still on, dad’s, which had been fixed after having once again stopped working, wasn’t, despite being plugged into the old UPS, but the data cable isn’t connected and, while I tried to have a look after eating that apple circle, I couldn’t figure out what had happened, and he had been taking a bath, so he didn’t know either. So I eventually had to leave it for another time, and after putting my phone in a pot, to be safe, it was just about 12:25 AM when I went to wash. I was done a little after 1 AM, but then I spent quite some time looking for replacement batteries from stores that I could pick one up from, so I won’t spend almost as much on shipping as on the battery and risk being left with something useless if it somehow won’t work. And after getting back to the kitchen I had to clean up a little and wash some things, eating lunch between 2:45 AM and 3:10 AM, taking one more of those supplements for immunity that aren’t expired, and eating dinner between 4:40 AM and 5:20 AM. I got in bed at 6:55 AM again, after rubbing cream on my hands.

After what must have been the briefest nap, I found myself awake again and with that strange feeling in my body that made it hard to get back to sleep, but after I finally did I could really get some rest, only getting up to pee twice, getting back to sleep quickly both times, and only getting out of bed at 4:55 PM, though I had been awake for quite a while by then, and the last dream I had messed me up a fair bit. Either way, I then ordered a replacement battery, from the same store that I bought the case from, even if it’s far and the battery’s more expensive than others that I found, even by more than 50% compared to the cheapest ones. But it was listed as actually in stock and they offer more information, so it seemed more trustworthy. On the other hand, I gave up on the idea of making mamaliga again that evening, and since calendar winter was over I also stopped taking any supplements… And then the noise made by the workers made it really hard to sleep, waking me up at 8:20 AM or so and then only allowing agitated naps, so I only got out of bed a couple of minutes after 4 PM but I have no idea how much sleep I got, and the quality of it was bad anyway. But at least it meant that I was awake when that store called to confirm that the battery was in stock and I could pick it up.

After going back to the kitchen at 1:10 AM, having to continue washing and cleaning after dad cooked, and ending up eating dinner between 3:40 AM and 4:20 AM, the plan to also shave in the early hours of March 3 went out the window, since I ended up going to bed at 5:20 AM even so. That made me set the alarm to ring at 1 PM, to have time to do that before leaving to pick up that battery… But my body picked just that day to “clean the plumbing”, which hadn’t happened in a long time, waking me at 7:15 AM, if not even before that, and after peeing and cleaning up a little, I hadn’t managed to get back to sleep by the time the workers started to arrive, and then they worked right in this area, including actually painting around my window, and that neighbor’s dogs were also going crazy because of it, so there was no chance to get back to sleep and eventually, just before 8:40 AM, I got up and shaved. And then I spent some time on the computer as well, only getting back in bed at 9:25 AM, after moving the alarm to 2 PM… But the noise was impossible to sleep through, so just before 9:50 AM I decided to read a little, and after dad got up I exchanged a few words with him and sorted out a few things, getting back in bed yet again just before 10:30 AM, when it seemed quieter.
Despite the continued occasional noises, including what sounded like things falling right outside my window, and some even banging against it, after a while I did manage to get back to sleep, even if it was in the form of brief and agitated naps, broken for a longer time just after 12:15 PM, when my phone gave a low battery warning, so I set the stopwatch to ring as well, after figuring out how, and it must have been half an hour or so before I got back to napping, getting up to pee yet again somewhere around 1:45 PM, after which I’m not sure if I had just gotten back to sleep or not by the time the alarms rang, the phone’s battery emptying as it did so… Not that I needed any alarms, since some loud drilling started right at that very moment.
After turning the phone back on a few times, to drain the battery just a little more fully before removing it, I made sure that Liza ate what dad had left her, some men that I heard were supposedly inspectors walking around this area and at one point bringing a worker to cover the area around the thing that was placed in the hole in my room’s wall somewhat better, on the outside. Either way, I then had lunch and did 200 squats, to at least make up for the fact that I hadn’t done them the previous two days and leave just that day’s for a later time. And just as I was rushing to leave, dad sent an e-mail to let me know that they were five minutes away, since he was bringing mother. So I waited, but when those five minutes became more than 20, just before 4:25 PM I walked out, also taking the phone’s charger and the empty battery, with the contacts covered, as well as the recyclables with the deposit symbol. And when I got outside I saw that my parents seemed to just finish getting what they had brought out of the car, so I waited for them to cross the road and then got the metro card from dad, which made the day a whole lot easier.
After grabbing a few more recyclables, I knew that there was a Mega Image near the metro station that I had to get off at, so I put them in the machine from there and cashed in the voucher before walking to the store that I had to pick up the battery from, getting there just before 5:25 PM, putting the new battery in the phone, and seeing that it worked… Though in the picture on the site it said that it was made in Hungary while on the actual battery it said China, as expected. And when I wanted to have another look at it after walking out, I couldn’t remove it anymore, so I struggled for a while, then had a quick look in another store, and eventually decided to walk to Victory Square and take the metro from there. But on the way, after having one of my gloves fall out of the jacket’s pocket as I crossed a road and then rushing back to retrieve it when I realized it, I took a picture of a store’s name and noticed that it was saved in the phone’s tiny memory, and that it wasn’t detecting the memory card, so I had to open it again and put more effort into removing the battery, managing it and pushing the memory card back in fully.
After grabbing just one more recyclable before reaching that metro station, I took the metro to Obor and decided to check that Penny first, entering with that recyclable and then just walking back out, also seeing that the evening discounts were listed as starting at 8 PM in that location. And then, after beeping dad and asking whether they wanted anything when he called back, being told that they didn’t, I went to Auchan, putting that recyclable in the machine, along with another one which had for some reason been left in the bin that’s there, and buying another pack of cat food and what I counted as four small packs of biscuits for dad, so that was what I entered at the self-checkout and paid, also using the voucher received for those recyclables. However, when I reached Carrefour and put those purchases and the gloves in a cabinet, I found that I actually had five of those packs, and I have no idea how, because I was sure that I had counted them when I had taken them off the shelf. Either way, I decided to leave one aside and give it to a homeless person, entering the store when it wasn’t even 7:50 PM, so I had a lot of time to waste while waiting for the evening bakery discounts to be made. Admittedly, they started making them around 8:30 PM, but it was taking time, so I just kept wandering around, getting a bag of spoiling bio (organic) Mandarin oranges that were expensive even at half price for myself and a couple of things for my parents. But eventually being able to get four of those apple circles made it worth that time, and I got two breads as well.
After retrieving my things and arranging everything to some extent, I grabbed another recyclable, put it in the machine from Kaufland, then put everything in a cabinet from there, peed and washed my hands, and entered the store a little after 9:35 PM. And I beeped dad again after seeing some expiring products that I thought they might be interested in, but I had walked away from the first one before doing so, thinking that he wouldn’t be interested and eventually deciding to ask just in case, and by the time I got back there after he said that he actually was, it was gone. Either way, I then also made use of a good evening discount for carrots and of a decent one for some more of those Moldovan grapes, that time buying them for mother, and grabbed two pretzels as well, also for mother, since they were at half price, plenty of bakery products having discounts there that evening. I was at the self-checkout when the closing announcement came, the machine asking for an employee after I tried to scan an expiring product twice instead of each of them separately, since I had two identical ones, the employee who eventually came telling me that it won’t work like that for those products and sorting out the issue. And then I also used the voucher received for that recyclable when I paid, went to wash my hands again… And when I reached the cabinet where I had my things, I saw a 5 RON bill in it! And I didn’t think that I could have dropped it there without noticing it, which was proven true after I counted what I had, so somebody had slipped a bill into the cabinet, I guess over the top of the door! So I obviously couldn’t refuse it, which I’d have done if they’d have tried to actually give it to me, and the only thing left to do was to mentally add half of that value to what I mean to give away at some point.
After arranging everything, it was close to 10:40 PM when I walked out, and then I picked up a few more recyclables and checked that Mega Image that closes at midnight, putting everything else into a cabinet, entering with the backpack, and seeing that the bakery discounts were made even if it wasn’t quite 11 PM yet, so I got a bag of cheap buns and a sweet pastry for mother, plus a nice yogurt and a spoiling cabbage for myself, even if they were all only discounted by 50%. But at least I wasn’t charged for the bag that the cabbage was in. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged the new purchases, and rushed to the metro station, though I still picked up a few more recyclables. And I guess I rushed just enough, a metro that might have even been the last one going in this direction coming seconds after I reached the station. And after getting off here I checked the non-stop Mega Image as well, giving that small pack of biscuits to a homeless man, then leaving the bags next to the cabinets, once again entering with the backpack, and getting one more of those sweet pastries for mother, the cashier having to ask a coworker to print another discount label, because that one wouldn’t scan. And then I retrieved my things and grabbed a couple more recyclables on the way back.
I got back just after 11:45 PM, with just over 13 kg. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, exchanged a few words with dad, talked to mother for quite a while, and after she went to bed I put most of the purchases in their place, rearranging things in the fridge, and also removed the worst parts of that cabbage, to see just how usable it was. It was a few minutes before 2 AM when I went to shower, with water that was below body temperature, and 2:20 AM when I was done. And then I had plenty to wash and clean in the kitchen, ate one of those bio (organic) Mandarin oranges and one of the apple circles, put the remaining purchases in their place, arranged a few more things for my parents to take in the morning, dealt with one of my breads, used some of that cabbage for the salad, took one more of those immunity supplements that aren’t expired, and ate dinner between 5:40 AM and 6:20 AM. I got in bed at 7:15 AM.

My parents were supposed to wake up at 7:30 AM, but I must have fallen asleep so quickly and slept so deeply that I don’t know anything about it, only waking up at 12:15 PM and going to pee. It does seem that the workers didn’t make much noise, however. Admittedly, that should have been during their break, but they didn’t seem to be taking it, or at least not all of them did, since I heard some voices and something being dragged on the hallway, and at some later point I was woken up by what sounded like something being done at my window again, but I was only awake for mere moments, getting right back to sleep, and when I did wake up again and remained awake for quite some time before finally getting up a little before 3:55 PM, I just heard one guy occasionally shouting, sometimes prompting some barking from that dog, and some rare and faint noises that I’m not even sure were made by them.

And now I’ll skip to yesterday, when I once again expected to have a hard time sleeping when drilling woke me just after 9 AM, but I guess that I was just too exhausted, because this part of the building was painted then, yet after peeing I got right back to sleep, was only woken up again around 11:30 AM, once again got back to sleep quickly, and stayed asleep until close to 2 PM, when I spent a few minutes on the computer and set the alarm to ring at 3:30 PM, for ski jumping, though I woke up again a little before that time, probably drifted off for the briefest moment, and woke back up with seconds left, just managing to turn off the alarm before it rang. And at night I made mamaliga, “cheating” to be able to say that I took a first bite in my room before 3 AM but then thinking that I had plenty of time, even after I actually started eating at 3:10 AM, so I checked some things on-line as well and ended up finishing at 3:50 AM. And before going to bed I used cream on my feet again.
The Formula 1 qualifying meant that I wasn’t going to sleep for long, but it was barely over an hour after I got in bed when I had to get up to pee. And then I caught another brief nap before 7 AM, when the alarm rang and I got up, getting back in bed at 8:25 AM… Only for the workers to arrive moments later, and then they placed the windowsills, so there was a lot of noise and it was probably only after they were done that I could get back to sleep. But then I could sleep, and things seemed to go quiet after a while, so I occasionally woke up again, but usually got back to sleep quickly… Until my phone started giving a low battery warning, way sooner than I thought it would, though the new battery was admittedly not full when I bought it. So after that point I just took brief naps between warnings, only finally getting up just before 5:30 PM, and after the phone turned off I set it to charge. On the other hand, the pain that I’ve been feeling in my lower back, mainly towards the right side, ever since this week’s run, or perhaps more exactly ever since I went back out that evening, doesn’t seem to be going away and it’s bothering me a fair bit.

Back in December, when the European Parliament voted in favor of the My Voice, My Choice European Citizens’ Initiative, I was saying that it was little more than a declaration of intent, and a particularly unambitious one at that, since it’s the approval of the European Commission that’s actually needed. And that didn’t exactly seem likely until the last moment. But it actually came, so the measure is set to be implemented.
But, as I said, it’s a particularly unambitious one, since the demand was not for abortion to be allowed all over the European Union, in fact the Initiative even explicitly stating that it does not seek to change national laws in any way, but only for the creation of a voluntary, opt-in financial mechanism to help countries provide abortion care to women who can’t access it in their own country and choose to travel to said other countries for it. And no new financial mechanism was created for it, the implementation being set to be through the ESF+ mechanism. Admittedly, with the details of the actual implementation being set to follow, using an existing mechanism may remove a hurdle and some delays. But, even when it comes to so little, the real question remains which countries will choose to take part and when.
Admittedly, considering how narrowly it managed to gain the necessary political support, this lack of ambition was the only reason why the Initiative met with success, and why its demands were fully met, albeit through an existing mechanism, while other successful ECIs were implemented partially at best. But while some would argue that this means that this is the way to go, I’ll continue to firmly disagree. Is it better to obtain something rather than nothing at all? Maybe, for the moment. And, taken as a stage victory, it does show a sign of support in a certain direction. But what about later? What about what’s necessary? What if what is obtained is far from enough, so it doesn’t solve the problem but may appear that it does and reduce the pressure to demand and do more?
In this particular case, I’ll say again that, even if many countries, and those that border others where abortion is banned or severely restricted in particular, will opt into the mechanism, requiring women to travel abroad for a procedure that’s traumatic in itself is hardly a solution. And another serious question remains what will happen to them once they’ll return to their home countries and what they did will become known. And I’m not just referring to any potential legal repercussions, but also to other, less direct, methods that both the authorities and the society from such countries will employ to get back at them. Admittedly, enforcing abortion access all over the European Union wouldn’t prevent such non-legal repercussions either, and would generate a far stronger backlash, but that shouldn’t count against doing what’s right and necessary.

A year ago, I was saying that things were looking grim, for Ukraine and not only. And this winter in particular was definitely grim over there, with Russia destroying the energy infrastructure and using the weather to try to freeze Ukraine into submission. But, just like their previous attempts, this one also failed, and winter is almost over. Admittedly, Russians continue to make gains, but recently it seems that Ukraine has obtained some small victories as well, and the very fact that Russia continues to demand the territory that they’re yet to obtain through war in those so-called negotiations that are nothing but a show set up for Trump proves that they’re frustrated with the failure and know that military action won’t bring actual success anytime soon. That doesn’t mean that they won’t win that territory if things continue as they are, but the only way they can conquer something is to turn it into a ruined wasteland first, slowly and with losses and expenses that they won’t be able to sustain forever, meaning that they only gain the results of their destruction, not anything actually valuable, while Ukraine has the time to build new lines of defenses behind the destroyed ones, continuing to be able to hope to hold on until Russia will no longer be able to continue attacking.
Of course, Russia is working through its European allies as well, the most notable being the Hungarian regime, though it’s far from the only one that continues to collaborate with Russia and block the still feeble attempts to truly support Ukraine, not to mention strike back. And now you also have lesser but nevertheless relevant things like Russia and Belarus being allowed to compete under their own flags in the Paralympics that show that the situation is increasingly normalized in the minds of many, Russia once again edging closer to being allowed to get away with it, as it has done each time before.
What’s going to happen in the end is anyone’s guess, but despite the fact that the situation in the US is pretty much as bad as could be expected, Trump slamming a wrecking ball into everything he can, I’d actually dare to say that things don’t look quite as grim as they did a year ago. Europe seems to finally start waking up when it comes to defense, albeit very slowly and unwillingly, and the very fact that they made it through this terrible winter may give Ukraine renewed hope in the coming months, regardless of the scars they carry. But, of course, the only way to end this war, and to ensure that another won’t start as soon as Russia will recover its strength, is for them to need to recognize defeat, and while the US could swiftly ensure that, they won’t, so I’m still waiting for the moment when European support and action will be expressed as “whatever it takes” instead of “for however long it takes”. If that day will come in the near future, there is still hope for all of us, when it comes to this and many other issues. If not, so much will have been lost and sacrificed for nothing…

In the Champions’ League, things sure went well for CSM Bucharest this time around, their easy victory against Ikast coupled with Ferencvaros winning against Odense meaning that they clinched second spot and advance straight to the quarter-finals. And to think that CSM had started the season by losing against Ikast and after six rounds had only two wins and four losses, which seemed to make obtaining one of the first two spot all but impossible. But then they turned their form around, won all of the following eight matches, and some other results played in their favor as well, leading to this… The problem being that it’s almost certain that they’ll end up facing Esbjerg, who should have no problems against Podravka, and this same duel took place in the quarter-finals in 2022, 2023 and 2025 as well, CSM losing each time.
On the other hand, the final round’s results had no relevance for Gloria Bistrita, who were already certain of the fourth spot in their group and therefore of facing Ikast, the winner facing Brest in the quarter-finals. So the two Romanian teams won’t be facing each other, but while that offers a theoretical chance of both of them making it through, seeing who their opponents are set to be makes it far more probable that we’ll once again have no team in the Final Four. But, of course, it remains to be seen what will happen then, and if we’ll even have two in the quarter-finals in the first place, since Gloria is unlikely to find Ikast as easy of an opponent as CSM found them this time around.

On the other hand, in the European League we had three teams and a single one made it past the group stage, actually winning the group with one round to go, so the last round didn’t matter for them either. And what’s strange is that we’re talking of Rapid Bucharest, who’re only seventh in the national league at the moment, while Minaur Baia Mare are eighth but tied on points with them and with one match less and Corona Brasov are third, but both Minaur and Corona ended up third in their respective groups, surprisingly so in case of Minaur, who were almost qualified after four rounds but then “managed” to lose the last two matches, the first one being against Larvik, who lost all of their other matches. And now Rapid will play Viborg in the quarter-finals and it won’t be easy to get past them, so I wonder if we’ll even have one team in the Final Four here… Or in either competition, considering what I said above.