Three Runs in Another Post Exceeding 10000 Words
On May 14, I got right back to sleep after getting up to pee, but after Liza woke me again by going to the litter box and after peeing again I cleaned the poop, without bothering to change again, dad got up as well and it took me a while to get back to sleep once more. And at 12:40 PM the landline rang again, and then there was some noise from the upstairs neighbor, so I once again needed some time to get back to sleep. But at least I did catch another nap before the alarm rang, at 2 PM, and I got up. And since dad had been here at the time and answered the landline, I learned that the person who kept ringing just about every day was actually looking for mother. Either way, I then had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing being half of an expired bio (organic) gluten-free brownie, with added honey, waited to see the temperature at 5 PM, which was 18°C, holding steady while I ran, and left at 5:10 PM, wearing the full running gear, though I got back to the old shoes and took some things in the pocket of my tights.
The time was 49:15.86, with sector times of 4:28.45, 5:10.38, 6:05.09, 4:38 (4:37.60), 5:13 (5:12.72), 6:02.59, 4:39 (4:38.37), 5:08 (5:07.97), 6:00 (5:59.88) and 1:52.81, making for lap times of 15:43.92, 15:53 (15:52.91) and 15:47 (15:46.22). I just wanted to stay under 50 minutes, but sector three of lap one was a bit of a concern, so I knew that I had to stay under 16 minutes on lap two as well if I wanted to make it, and that wasn’t certain after two sectors, so on sector three I had to push a little more. That was enough to make it pretty clear that I will stay under 50 minutes, assuming that there won’t be problems, but I didn’t want to risk to fail if a shoelace would get untied again, so after sector one of lap three I went for it, wanting to have a buffer of over 30 seconds, so to get under 49:30 if things would be fine. And they were and I was already safe at the end of the lap. No that this isn’t a bad time, but at that point, I was content with it.
There were serious warnings from my right knee at first, but they faded quickly and only returned on sector three of lap three, when they were also joined by some from above that ankle. And the only other notable issues that I can mention were the fact that on the first sector I slowed in order to squeeze through a roadblock and on the second sector I hesitated because I wasn’t sure which way a kid who was weaving around on a bicycle, coming from the opposite direction, was going. I might have hesitated one more time on the final straight, because of another kid, but I’m not sure if that actually caused a noticeable loss of time.
Though I say that I don’t give away money, I haven’t been giving away purchases either, and during the run I saw a busker with an electric guitar, so I went back through the park and gave him 5 RON before continuing to Carrefour, putting the two recyclables picked up on the way in the machine and then also using the voucher received for them when buying a lot of those snacks for dad, seeing that the price had decreased, without it being listed as a discount, plus an interesting snack for myself. And then it took me quite a while to find the Hervis from that mall, but when I did I saw that the 20% discount listed on the site for the gels that already had a 30% discount did apply in the store as well, so I got five, though only two lemon-flavored ones were left, so I added three orange-flavored ones… And I only realized before going to bed in the morning that I hadn’t really looked at those, doing so at that point and realizing that, while the lemon-flavored ones were the “Pro” kind, the others were the regular kind. And it is likely that they did have some more of the Pro kind, a few orange-flavored ones being in the same box as those two remaining lemon-flavored ones, but I saw that those expired much sooner and just grabbed some from the other box instead, and the price was the same, but from what I recall I got next to no effect from one of these non-Pro ones in the past, the lack of magnesium probably making all the difference, so I really messed up… But I didn’t know that at the time, not noticing it even after walking away, so I just made my way back, grabbing two more recyclables, which I put in the machine from the nearby Mega Image, without staying to cash in the voucher, and a plastic bottle without a label that I thought was the right size for the label that I still had.
I got back a little after 8 PM, though a little later I went to pay the maintenance bill. Then I cleaned the litter box, but only went to drop a bag of trash down the chute much later, after eating a banana and something sweet which I had put together, washing what was in the kitchen, and watching a TV show. And then I also did the day’s squats and dad removed the stove top and I eventually went to wash it, along with those metal supports, after which I also washed myself. And it wasn’t yet 1 AM when I was done, but then I spent some time on the computer, and when I went back to the kitchen I found that something brought by dad which I thought were chicken legs were in fact something else that I didn’t care to eat, so I ended up eating a can of fish as lunch, between 2:50 AM and 3:10 AM, and after also dealing with my bread and taking care of a few other things I ate dinner between 4:30 AM and 5:20 AM. I got in bed at 6:50 AM, after rubbing cream on my hands.
After getting woken up after dad got up, a little after 9:45 AM, I went to pee, also cleaned the litter box, and then talked to him for a while, mopped up after he knocked over Liza’s water from the living room, and after he left I set chickpeas to soak and spent some time on the computer, only finally getting back in bed just before 11:20 AM… And being unable to get back to sleep, so I eventually stopped trying, though it was a while longer until I actually got up, at 12:50 PM, getting back in bed yet again at 2:50 PM and taking a series of naps, getting right back to sleep after the first few times I woke up, including the time when I went to pee, but that no longer worked after deciding to pee again, just in case, just after 5:50 PM. I only got up a few minutes after 7 PM and it’s possible that I just sort of drifted off a few times during that time, but I wouldn’t say that I took even one more actual brief nap. Still, I decided to go out again that evening, leaving a little after 8:15 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and the cartons.
Since the machine from the nearest Penny didn’t accept that plastic bottle which I had placed that label on and one other one, I put those and the cartons in a cabinet that I didn’t lock and got mozzarella and one other thing, also using the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, stopped at a table after stepping out to put the purchases in a small bag, and then picked up more cartons and recyclables on the way to the Mega Image that’s next to Tei, putting all but one of the cartons, which wasn’t accepted and which I then dropped in a bin, in that machine from there, splitting them on two vouchers, to make it easier to use them. And then I tried that recyclable which hadn’t been accepted at Penny at that machine from there where you can put more in at once, but when that spat it out as well I walked away, not risking to also try the one on which I had placed that label. So I put the recyclables picked up after reaching Penny in the machine from Kaufland, but that didn’t accept those two either, and by then I had found another bottle without a label which I had moved that label to, thinking that it’d be more likely to be accepted. So after walking away from the machine I had a closer look at that label… And found that it was for a product of an unusual size, so it didn’t match that bottle after all, and it’ll be difficult to find a matching one, but I still kept the label, throwing away that bottle, as well as the first one I had placed it on. But as I was looking at that label, two men wearing some uniforms with something about fire on them, though it wasn’t firefighter, walked past me and one turned to tell me to not put that in anymore, though I couldn’t quite understand what he said before that.
Either way, after putting my things in a cabinet and washing my hands, I entered the store a few minutes before 9:30 PM and had just made my way to the bakery area when evening discounts of 75% were announced and I found just the two flatbreads that I wanted for the sort of pizza that I planned to make that night and added a few mini baguettes that I planned to use as bread. And then I dug through lettuces and made use of the great evening discount for two particularly large ones, added two bundles of radishes as well, those also having a nice evening discount, got some sliced olives, asking for a small quantity and the employee putting them in a bag that I wasn’t charged for instead of one of those plastic containers that they do charge for, and decided to also grab one can of the cat food that was among the expiring products before waiting for 10:15 PM, just in case any discounts would increase, which wasn’t the case, and then making my way to the self-checkouts. And, unsurprisingly, the machine didn’t accept those lettuces, so I had to call over the employee to override the error. And then I also used the voucher received for the recyclables, and as I walked away another guy was asking the employee whether she could exchange a bill for him or just get him 0.02 RON, so he won’t receive a pile of coins as change, and I had grabbed a few 0.01 RON coins, so I dropped two into his machine before walking away, retrieving what I had in the cabinet, arranging the purchases, washing my hands again, and walking out a little before 10:30 PM.
After grabbing one more recyclable on the way to the Mega Image that closes at 11 PM, putting my things in a cabinet that I didn’t lock and then just retrieving them after a quick look, I grabbed one more recyclable that I realized had something other than what was on the label inside it, and that seemed so suspicious that I initially dropped it back. But then I realized that I had touched it anyway, so I grabbed it again and emptied the contents, hoping that it was beer, which did seem to be the case, judging by the smell. And that meant that washing my hands again before leaving Kaufland had been quite pointless, since I went back to the non-stop Mega Image after that, putting my things in a cabinet that I did lock that time and getting a few bakery products, taking my time to decide, once again pointing out to the cashier that there were two pieces in a bag that only had the discount label for one, and then using both of those vouchers received for the cartons. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet… But there were cartons left on top of that machine, which was obviously off at that hour, and those actually included that one which I had dropped in a bin, so I left that one there but took the rest. And on the way back I added to the recyclables.
I got back at 11:40 PM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, talked to dad a little, put the purchases in their place, ate a sweet pastry and an orange, and it was 1:25 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, being done just under an hour later. But then I washed what was in the kitchen, including that small tray, cleaned up a little as well, changed the water for the chickpeas one more time, and made something that looked somewhat less like a pizza than what I intended but was good enough. I made it in two parts, the idea being to eat one as lunch and another as dinner, but while I started eating the first half of the first part at 4:30 AM, I only finished it at 5:45 AM, when I was just about done with the second and the salad, so I put the second half next to the two halves of the second part and ate that as dinner, between 6 AM and 6:40 AM. But I added something that really hardened, and I sure felt it in my teeth at first, before learning to be more careful, and then my front teeth felt more chipped than they had been… Either way, I got in bed at 7:20 AM.
I woke up because of noise made by dad a few minutes before 11 AM, at which point I also felt a bad itch on my left leg and saw a swelling there that probably indicated a bite, possibly from a spider. Either way, after going to pee, exchanging a few words with dad and getting the poop from the litter box, after he left I read for quite a while, only getting back under the blanket at 12:45 PM and getting up again just before 3:55 PM, though after waking up a little after 3 PM I only caught a couple of agitated naps, dreaming that a wasp had burrowed in my ear definitely not helping.
The following day I once again got woken up by noise made by dad, getting up at 8:25 AM to pee and exchange a few words with him and since I had gotten back to bed but was still awake when he left, at 8:55 AM, I read some more, only getting back under the blanket when it was past 10:20 AM, the strange thing being that at one point, as I was reading, I felt that a spot around my right ankle was sore, and a small area did look a little irritated and continued to bother me after that. But at least I fell asleep quickly at that point, yet after being woken up at 1:40 PM by what I think was some brief and rather distant drilling and peeing once more, I’m not even sure that I had fallen asleep again by 2:10 PM, when dad got back and I got up, getting back to sleep again being quite unlikely. I did take another nap late in the evening, however, getting some two more hours of sleep and getting up again right at 1 AM… But a little after getting in bed dad said that he had sent me an interview to transcribe, so after getting up I quickly looked for an AI to help, ending up going to the kitchen close to 1:20 AM and “cheating” in order to say that I took a first bite in my room before 3 AM but actually starting to eat dinner a couple of minutes before 3:30 AM and, despite wolfing it down faster than even, it was still 3:45 AM when I finished. And then I spent just about an hour arranging and correcting that AI’s output.
That late nap was probably why it initially took me a long time to get to sleep on the morning of May 18, but it was fine after I did. I still woke up several times, twice to pee, twice because of noise made by dad, and a number of other times for no particular reason that I could identify, but always got back to sleep pretty much right away, until the alarm rang, at 2 PM, and I got up. It was really windy, but since that guy was going to come and do some more work on the bug nets the following morning and the forecast listed rain for the rest of the week, I had to run that day, so I then had the usual stuff, returning to those expired nicer biscuits, with added honey, as the sweet thing, waited to see the temperature at 5 PM, which was 22-23°C, holding steady, and left at 5:10 PM, wearing the full running gear, but with nothing on my head, so I won’t have to hold on to the cap.
The time was 1:19:15, with sector times of 4:34, 5:12, 5:57, 4:26, 4:57, 6:00, 4:36, 5:16, 6:06, 4:45, 5:18, 6:15, 4:45, 5:20 and 5:48, making for lap times of 15:43, 15:23, 15:58, 16:18 and 15:53. I wasn’t sure whether to go for 16 km or stick to ten one more time, but by the time I walked out I had pretty much decided on 16, and then that slow first sector really settled it. And it also made me think that I could only aim to stay under 1:22, and decide that there was no point in looking at any exact times. But sector three of lap one gave me some hope of something better, and “racing” another runner led to good times on sectors one and, in particular, two of lap two, making me think that I should have looked at the exact times as well. But, more importantly, it seemed that if I could just squeeze under 16 minutes on lap three, I should manage to stay under 1:20 after all. And the first two sectors of lap three were only off that pace by one second each, so I was pretty sure that I’ll be able to recover that time on sector three and did so. And then it was a matter of keeping the loss of time in check, which went well enough on lap four and the first two sectors on lap five to make me quite certain if 1:19:45, even if I had pushed harder on lap five in order to manage that. But I had been feeling better and better as I went along, so I wondered whether I might somehow squeeze under 1:19:30 as well, really gave everything on the last sector… And was really surprised to see that really good time on it. Anything over 1:18 remains a poor time, of course, but being minutes better than expected nevertheless makes me content with this.
While there were some gusts to fight, the wind was also way less of a problem than I feared. The right knee bothered me most of the time, however, getting better after the first two sectors but doing so again from sector three of lap two and continuing to the end. But the only other specific physical issue was a slight pressing need that I think appeared from sector two or three of lap four, and it wasn’t a notable problem either way. On the other hand, there was that moment when another runner overtook me on the long straight of sector one of lap two, I tried to stay close behind him, and soon enough he started slowing, only pushing again when I got alongside him. But he didn’t last long, getting back ahead the first two times, but he was breathing heavily when I caught up for the third time, before the long straight of sector two of lap two, so at that point I went ahead and he couldn’t answer anymore, but he kept me pushing over the course of that sector, which resulted in that great time.
However, there were quite a few problems caused by people, and dogs, starting on the first sector, when I slammed into a guy, or more exactly into his backpack, since he was about to walk across the lane but noticed me and froze after I had committed to go through the spot that I assumed he’ll walk away from. And on the next sector I hesitated twice, the second time being on the long straight, trying to figure out which way kids on things with wheels, I forgot exactly what, were going. And on sector three of lap two I hesitated because of a dog that was about to cut across the lane, while on sector two of lap three I slowed twice because of roadblocks, the second time for a few seconds. Another roadblock might have caused me to slow a little at the end of sector two of lap four, though I might have gotten away with that. And on the last sector I just managed to avoid a woman and her kid who cut across the lane. Which leaves the moment when I stopped for an instant because of a dog stopping right in front of me, which I assume was on sector two of lap five, probably even on the long straight. But I say that because of that sector’s time and because at the end of sector two of lap four I knew that there had been an issue on it but found that I couldn’t remember what and doubt that I’d have forgotten something like that so quickly. So it’s an educated guess, and it means that there was some other issue on sector two of lap four as well.
I started jogging on the way back, but gave up after crossing the street, and also had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image. And then I cleaned the litter box, but ate a banana and some pancakes before going to drop the bag of trash down the chute. And since as far as I knew that guy was going to come in the morning, I then went to wash, thinking that if I went out again in the evening I basically won’t get to sleep at all by the time he’ll come… Only for dad to call after I was done and had started making mamaliga and say that the guy had just called him to say that he won’t be able to come the following morning and will instead come on the one after that, and even earlier. And it was too late to go out then, so that was that, and the only other things to say about the evening are that at some point I did the day’s squats and before going to bed I used cream on my feet.
After getting right back to sleep after the first two times I got up to pee, after waking up again when dad did, and Liza also went to the litter box, I changed, cleaned the litter box, and then read until some time after dad left, so it was past 11:45 AM when I got back under the blanket, after changing back into my pajamas. But I had told dad to call and let me know whether he’ll find some cheese at Kaufland and he did that just before 12:25 PM, waking me up again but at least saying that he could find some, and while we’d normally buy more when it’s on sale, it was enough to say that I won’t also go out that day and get back to bed… Only for the effects of the mamaliga to make themselves really known after that, so I had to keep getting up to pee. But at least I always got right back to sleep, until just before 3:30 PM, by which time I should have gotten a total of some seven hours and decided to try to get up… But I ended up staying in bed for a while longer, and obviously napping some more as well, since it was past 4:50 PM when I actually did get up and I definitely hadn’t been awake for that long.
On the other hand, I hardly caught any sleep before that guy came the following morning, waking up with a start moments after initially falling asleep and then just sort of drifting off a couple more times, but probably not even getting an actual nap before dad got up, and around 7:30 AM I did as well, at first just to pee, but after getting back in bed for a few minutes I changed, cleaned the litter box after Liza used it, and then got on the computer. And after that guy left I talked to dad a little, learning that nothing had been installed, the plan for the nets from the bathrooms having changed to match the one for the kitchen and other bedroom, which I still disagreed with, so dad was going to actually install all of them… And he had also picked up a used plastic bag which had fallen on the floor and put it on the clean dishes from the rack, saying that he didn’t know where it had been from, so I obviously had to wash everything that was in the rack. And then I got back on the computer, only getting back in bed at 11:15 AM… Only for noise to start moments later, so it was hard to get back to sleep and if I did at all while that lasted, it must have consisted of a few brief and agitated naps. But it eventually stopped and, while I still woke up a few times after that, I got right back to sleep each time and got a total of some five hours, maybe five and a half or so if you add those brief and agitated naps, until I got up, at 6:35 PM.
It was even worse on May 21, when I got right back to sleep after getting up to pee for the first time, but then it got harder and harder to do so, being kept awake for a while after dad got up and kept coughing while talking to someone, then after getting up to pee again ending up remaining awake until after he left, so for close to an hour, during which time I also changed and cleaned the litter box before changing back into the pajamas, and then I kept being woken up, be it by noise or dreams, managing to get back to sleep relatively quickly for a while but just getting pretty brief and agitated naps, and eventually the dermatitis also stated acting up and it once again seemed that I won’t be able to get back to sleep, so a little after 2 PM I got on the computer. However, at 2:40 PM I decided to make another attempt to get some more sleep despite the occasional noise, probably catching a couple more brief naps before finally getting up for good close to 3:55 PM, after a total of some five hours, if even that, of poor sleep. Still, after eating lunch and doing the day’s squats, I left at 7:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and the cartons… And a pigeon egg, which dad had found outside the bathroom window, since he still hadn’t placed that net there, and which I had decided against trying to eat, so I cracked it and left it for the cats that are around the nearby Mega Image, placing it in front of the little shelter made there, though I didn’t actually see cats around at the time.
On the way to Carrefour I grabbed some more recyclables, a label from one that had been cut up, and a carton… But the machine wasn’t working, so I put everything in a cabinet, washed my hands, and then spent quite some time in the store, getting most of what I wanted, though they were already out of a couple of things. However, when I scanned the two bags of garlic at the self-checkout, at first it displayed a discount that was only half of the price of one, so I rushed back to take a picture of the sign stating that they were two for the price of one and then returned to continue scanning. But there was no need to call an employee, because the rest of the discount applied at the end, so it was definitely weird, but worked correctly after all. And I didn’t charge myself for the box that the olives were placed in, even if they hadn’t been already packaged.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet and arranging everything, I continued straight to Kaufland, since it was too late to make a detour to the non-stop Mega Image first, so I ended up just carrying those cartons around. And that was also the case for those two recyclables which still weren’t accepted at Kaufland, but at least I could put the rest, including the few more picked up on the way, in the machine from there, splitting them on two vouchers. And then I put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands again, and entered the store a little after 9:50 PM, when few bakery products were left. But I could get something to use as bread and a few other things, and then I added three lettuces, with a great evening discount, and two of those cheap yogurts. The self-checkout machine didn’t accept the bag where I had most of the bakery products and someone else, possibly in a higher position, was the first to have a look, calling over the employee from that area to log on and override the error after confirming that the products were correct, and she also manually entered the lettuces at that point. Then I used one of the vouchers received for the recyclables, being done just after the closing announcement, but as I picked up the products one of the yogurts got scanned again and I stepped aside, waiting for the employee to notice and clear it in order to be able to cash in the other voucher without actually calling her over. And it was fortunate that when she did, she asked what happened and just rushed to take care of the issue, because when I went back to the machine I noticed that I had forgotten the coins received as change, so I grabbed them when I cashed in that other voucher. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged a little, and walked away just before 10:40 PM.
I left everything next to the cabinets at the Mega Image that closes at 11 PM, but they were cleaning the refrigerators, with many products, those from the bottom shelves in particular, having already been taken out, so I have no idea whether any discounted products were left, since there was no way to really look for them in those piles and I just retrieved my things and continued to the non-stop Mega Image… Which was another waste of time, since I put my things into three cabinets that I didn’t lock, one of them not even closing properly because of the size of the bag, wandered around for a while, and eventually just retrieved everything and made my way back, picking up a couple more recyclables and also having a look from the door in the nearby Mega Image, seeing no bakery discounts, which seems to be the rule in that location, and deciding against entering. And that egg was probably wasted, since it was still there.
I was at the door at 11:40 PM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put what had to be refrigerated in the fridge, ate some walnut kernels, and went to wash a little after 12:15 AM, being done at 1 AM. Then I put the rest of the purchases in their place, spending quite some time dealing with the garlic, seeing that it wasn’t quite as good as I thought and arranging it according to which heads had to be used sooner, also dealt with what I was going to use as bread, washed what was in the kitchen, munched on some expired sweetened bagels while working on dinner, and ate between 4:20 AM and 5 AM. I went to bed at 5:55 AM.
I could sleep until I got up to pee, but then some noise started again, so it’s possible that it was the actual reason why I woke up then as well, and it woke me multiple times, though I always got right back to sleep until dad went out, I think at 12:10 PM. But I actually got up just before 12:50 PM and it didn’t seem like I had been awake that long, so it’s possible that I caught one more brief nap during that time, not that it makes much of a difference. And after dad got back I asked him whether he wanted something from Kaufland, and since he said that he did, and I wanted to check another Carrefour location as well, at 2:15 PM I went out, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
After entering the mall through the parking lot and putting those recyclables in the machine from Carrefour, I once again spent quite some time looking around and eventually bought a few things, also using the voucher received for the recyclables. Then I continued to Kaufland, put those purchases in a cabinet, searched for quite a while before finding what I had gone there for, added a couple of other things, and then retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged everything in the backpack. And on the way back I had a quick look in that Profi, picked up a few recyclables, including one without a label that seemed right for a label that I had but which I hadn’t taken with me, and a carton… And then heavy rain and hail suddenly started, and I had meant to check Carrefour Express as well, so I had gone that way instead of through the park and ran inside, having a quick look and then putting those recyclables in the machine and cashing in the voucher… At which point a woman asked whether I wanted some bananas, so I looked at her in surprise, asked why, and then pretty much shrugged it off, went to the door, and tried to decide whether I should just go for it or try to wait out the rain. But when I suddenly found myself looking at a bunch of bananas held out to me by that woman, who pleaded with me to take them when I refused, I initially stepped away from her and then got out of there, making my way through the rain… Which was starting to lessen by the time I got here, so I should have stayed there a little longer.
I got back at 5:05 PM. Then I took what was mostly on the hallway rather than in the litter box, dad saying that Liza had carried it away on her paws, and went to drop a tiny bag of trash down the chute, ate an orange, put together something sweet and ate that as well, put the purchases in their place, did the day’s squats, helped dad a little at one point, while he installed the bug net in the bathroom, went to use the toilet and wash, and eventually made mamaliga.
My hopes of finally catching up on some sleep the following day seemed to once again end after some five hours, at 10:55 AM, because of drilling from above. It was brief, and dad also left minutes later, but I got up and was pretty sure that trying to get right back in bed would just result in wasting time, so I didn’t until 12:55 PM, since the note from the building’s hallway states that they’ll respect the quiet hours between 1 PM and 3 PM… Only for two more brief moments of drilling to come after that, each of them just as I was falling asleep. But at least I could get back to sleep after that, getting up to pee just before 2:30 PM and then getting some more sleep, even if I alternated between being asleep and awake, until just before 4 PM, when I got up just as dad got back. But I finally did catch up on sleep the following day, getting right back to sleep after waking up to pee and when dad left and therefore pretty much sleeping until around 2:30 PM, when Liza woke me again by going to the litter box. And after peeing again at that point, I caught a few more brief naps, though I was probably mostly awake until a few minutes after 5 PM, when I decided to get up after hearing something that made me check whether the bug net from the kitchen had slid further down or even fallen. That wasn’t the case, but the problem was that dad had realized the previous evening that his plan regarding the bug nets wasn’t working, but instead of changing it, and I had suggested a way to do so while still using the larger nets that he had told that guy to make, he doubled down on it, putting even more effort and money into something that can’t possibly work. And he still wanted me to help a little, and complained that I wasn’t grateful for his efforts.
In the early hours of May 25, I shaved after putting the beets to bake, since I hadn’t done that earlier either, finishing shaving at 1:40 AM and then having things to wash and cleaning up a little after dad in the kitchen as well, ending up to eating dinner, with some more of that expired bio (organic) peanut butter on all of the bread, between 4 AM and 4:40 AM. And, while I got in bed at the usual time, after a very brief nap I woke up with a start, with that strange feeling in the left side of my body and getting angrier by the second, mainly because of dad’s stubbornness regarding the nets. And it took me a while to be able to fall asleep again, though at least I could get back to sleep faster after waking up to pee some time later. But things got worse a little after 11 AM, after dad got up, so I got woken up by Liza scraping around in the litter box, by him clinking her plate when he fed her multiple times, then by him making other noises in the kitchen, and the last time was around 1:45 PM, when he put his phone on speaker. And the alarm was set to ring at 2 PM, so I turned it off and got up. Then I cleaned the litter box, helped him a little when he asked, since he was working on the nets again, talked to him some more about them, once again disagreeing on basically every point on the plan, and eventually had the usual stuff, sticking to two of those nicer but expired biscuits, with added honey, as the sweet thing, though the yogurt was the one received after the half marathon, having 200 grams, 10% protein and 2% fat. And after helping dad a little more and drinking most of the tea, I left at 5:10 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband, and with some things in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was 27-28°C, holding steady.
The time was 1:48:21, with sector times of 4:29, 5:13, 6:03, 4:32, 5:13, 6:09, most probably 4:43, most probably 5:20, 6:18, 4:52, 5:24, 6:19, 4:50, 5:31, 6:22, 4:57, 5:34, 6:25, 1:53, 6:18 and 1:56, making for lap times of 15:45, 15:54, 16:21, 16:35, 16:43 and 16:56, plus 10:07 for the final portion. I somehow failed to press the button at the end of sector one of lap three, so I deducted a second from what I saw when I looked and I’m pretty sure that’s correct, but I guess there is a chance that a second should be added to that sector’s time and deducted from the next one’s.
While I was hoping for something better, the realistic goal seemed to be just to stay under 1:50, so I started with a controlled pace, the first sector’s time was exactly what I was aiming for, the first lap was pretty much on target as well, and the first two sectors of lap two were also just fine. However, sector three of lap two was a little slower than I thought, so if by that point I had started thinking of 1:48, that once again became unlikely after the end of the lap. And each sector that followed made that even clearer, so I was still calculating how much I was falling behind that pace, but it became a matter of damage limitation and aiming to at least make sure that I’ll stay under 1:49. That led to pushing a little more on sector one of lap five and a time that was initially a relief… Only to become an issue when the following sectors showed that I had tired myself too much for it. But after lap five I aimed to stay under 17 minutes on lap six and hoped to just squeeze under 1:48:30, really giving everything on the final portion and managing it by a safe margin. So I was a minute and a half less slow than I initially thought I’d be, but a second slower than a month before, when that run came just four days after another one on the same distance, so it was rather disappointing.
The temperature wasn’t comfortable for such a run, but on the other hand there were some gusts to deal with, which was rather surprising, the forecast making me think that the wind won’t be an issue. And the right knee obviously bothered me again, but after being quite an issue at first, it eventually got better, and while it gave some more warnings at a later point, those faded once again after that. As for problems caused by people, I hesitated on sector two of lap two, when a girl on something with wheels, I forgot exactly what, turned in one direction and then thought that her mother wasn’t following and turned back just when her mother, who also had a dog, did follow, so their paths crossed in front of me. But on sector two of lap three I actually briefly stopped when a girl on a bicycle turned in front of me, while on sector one of lap five there were two roadblocks, the second making me briefly stop as well, while the first was on the long straight and made me slow a little and put a foot on the grass. And there was definitely something on the next sector as well, but I can’t remember what and can’t even guess what I scribbled while writing down some quick notes after the run. I can understand the rest, but in that case, I have no idea. On the other hand, in case of the last issue I do understand what I wrote, but all it says is that I had already forgotten just what had happened, not even remembering whether it was on sector two or three of lap six. I know that I was forced to go very wide on the long turn of sector three, but I doubt that was it, so it’s likely that there was a more notable issue on sector two, and possibly even on the long straight, but I can’t say more than that.
After the run, I continued to Carrefour, stopping on a bench from the park to write down the times and a few notes about the run and then getting the book I had been considering, since they had a 40% discount on all books, plus some bananas that were among the spoiling products, at half price, despite being green and looking pretty good, and after seeing others coming with discounted food even though it wasn’t even 8:30 PM yet, I went there as well and grabbed some grilled vegetables, also at half price, without charging myself for the box that those were in or for the bag that the bananas were in at the self-checkout. And after arranging the purchases I decided to continue to Auchan, grabbing a few recyclables and a paper bag to put them in and stopping at two Penny locations on the way, putting my things in a cabinet, without locking it, in both cases and just making use of the 30% evening discount for two pretzels for mother and a sweet pastry from the second one, using a glove. And then I put those recyclables in the machine from Auchan, finding one more there, pouring out the foamy and greasy liquid that was inside, but ending up leaving in there as well when the machine just wouldn’t accept it, put my things in a cabinet that I did lock, washed my hands thoroughly, and dashed in when it was already past 9:40 PM. But I still found some of those whole wheat breads, so I got two, plus tea and liquid soap, and also used the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid, being at the self checkout when the closing announcement came and walking out a few minutes after 10 PM, after arranging the purchases.
On the way back, I gathered some more recyclables and checked three Mega Image locations, putting my things into a cabinet that I didn’t lock at the first one, into two of them, also without locking, at the second, leaving them next to the door at the nearby one, and not getting anything at first. But I had seen some pears and broccoli among the spoiling products at the nearby one, so after coming up I asked dad whether I should get them for mother and he said yes, so I went back and did so, also noticing at that point that there was one more slightly spoiling pear in that basket and opening the bag to add it in even though I used an unmanned checkout to check the weight and saw that the three that already were in the bag added up to the listed weight. Either way, I also bought a cabbage, having seen that, in all locations, the price was much lower than the one listed in the catalog or even on the signs posted in front of the stores. And I wasn’t charged for the bags that the pears and broccoli were in.
I was back for good a few minutes after 11:30 PM. Then I put the purchases in their place, washed what was in the kitchen, ate a banana, seeing that they weren’t quite as good as they seemed, did the day’s squats, put jam on a large doughnut brought by dad and ate that as well, drank most of the expired apple juice which I had kept for this day, and it was almost 1:50 AM when I went to wash, being done a few minutes after 2:30 AM. And then I ate lunch, on and off, between 3:25 AM and 4:35 AM, and dinner between 5:35 AM and 6:10 AM. I got in bed at 7:05 AM.
After a brief nap, Liza woke me by going to the litter box, and while I eventually managed to get back to sleep, around 9:50 AM, if not even 9:45 AM, I woke up with contracted muscles in my left foot and eventually had to get up and try to walk it off… At which point I also realized that they were mowing the plants from the fenced area behind the building again, so I changed, took the “before” pictures, at some point cleaned the litter box, and after dad left I read for quite a while, only changing back into my pajamas and getting back in bed at 1:15 PM, after which I took a series of naps, waking up several times for no particular reason that I could identify but usually getting back to sleep quickly, though I was awake for a while before getting up for good, at 6:15 PM, at which point I saw that the guy hadn’t continued mowing after stopping during the morning.
As I feared, the mowing restarted on the morning of May 27, probably not long after 8 AM, since it had kept me awake for a while before I decided to get up to pee and saw that it was 8:23 AM. And then I read some more, getting back in bed around 8:45 AM but being kept awake for some more time, so it was probably around 9 AM when it finished. And just before 11:40 AM dad woke me by clinking Liza’s plate when he fed her, at which point I checked and saw that I had received a reply from the store and could pick up the headphones, since I had ordered some for dad and some for myself as well, finding them for very low prices and deciding to go for it and, assuming that they’ll be all right, leave the current ones as a spare. And before dad left I also cleaned the litter box again, after which I read some more, did the day’s squats, and finally left at 4:10 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, which I put in the machine from the nearby Mega Image. I took those two with me again and they were unsurprisingly still not accepted, but at least I remembered to also cash in that other voucher that I kept forgetting about when I cashed in the one received then.
Since I passed by Kaufland on the way to that store, I put the additional recyclables picked up until then, with the exception of the small oddly-shaped bottle, which I didn’t bother to try, in the machine from there before continuing on my way and getting there just before 5:10 PM, after the guard asked what was I looking for when I walked through the gate of that industrial park and pointed me in the right direction. And the guy who printed the invoice rounded all the way down to a whole number, so he asked for 0.61 RON less and I paid like that before waiting for a while before somebody paid any attention to the fact that I was at the table that I had been told to go to and brought the headphones.
After putting dad’s headphones in the backpack and walking out, I put on my new ones, noticing how high the spot where the cable splits is, to the point that it’s hard to put them on, and speaking, not to mention yawning, with them on can be an issue. And the volume is also lower. But I kept them and put the old ones in their box and in the backpack before making my way to Carrefour, picking up some more recyclables on the way and then putting them in the machine from there. Those two still weren’t accepted, but the bigger issue was that the small oddly-shaped bottle wasn’t even simply “eaten”, but the machine deducted a recyclable from what I had already put in when taking that one! So I’ll have 1 RON to recover from Carrefour at some point… But that day I just went in, put my things in a cabinet, noticed a new store that I checked out quite thoroughly, washed my hands, and wandered around Carrefour for quite a long time without buying anything. And then, since in that location there’s no option to cash in such vouchers at the self-checkouts, I wondered what would happen if I just scanned it, and when the machine said that assistance was required because the product was not recognized I went to a regular checkout, the cashier asking whether I had gone to the information desk when my turn finally came but then giving me the money, saying that it was because I had already waited in line, but it’s not how it’s done in that location.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet, I continued to that Brico Depot, entering it with everything, since I didn’t see any cabinets, and getting what I wanted. The cashier only gave the bills as change, but I shrugged off the missing 0.10 RON and walked out. And since it was too early go to straight to Kaufland, I decided to see whether that Profi that I knew was in that area and took recyclables by hand still did so, finding that it did and getting the deposit for those two that weren’t accepted by machines, though I first went to the other Profi, since there are two in that area and I couldn’t remember which was which, only getting to that one after that, entering both of them with everything and having a look at the expiring products, though I didn’t buy anything.
Then I went back to Kaufland, picking up some more recyclables on the way. Since the last one was a can that was full of cigarette butts, I took a stick and struggled to get them out, eventually managing to do that for most of them while waiting for those who were using the machine when I got there and had large bags to be done. But then everything was accepted and I put my things in a cabinet, went to pee and wash my hands thoroughly, and entered the store at 9:05 PM, once again seeing no green onions and making a mental note to reach the information desk before closing time and ask for that 10 RON voucher, considering what had happened in that location the previous time. Either way, I grabbed a few bakery products that were discounted by 50% and two pretzels for mother that were only discounted by 30%, then made use of great evening discounts for two lettuces and a bundle of lovage, added a few more things that I had actually gone there for, and then saw a whole lot of discounted processed meat products and took my time to look through them and grab quite a number for my parents, actually being pleasantly surprised when the self-checkout machine accepted all of them, though I did have to call over an employee when it said that I had picked one off the scales when I hadn’t, so she logged on to override the error. On the other hand, I had picked up one more expiring product for dad, but the QR code on the discount label was positioned in a way that wouldn’t let me scan it, and trying to tear it off and straighten it was leading to just tearing the label, so I eventually gave up and left it there. And then I used both of the vouchers received for recyclables and did reach the information desk before closing time, receiving one of those 10 RON vouchers when I asked for it.
It was actually still before closing time when I walked out, after retrieving what I had in the cabinet, but then I went to a table and took my time to arrange everything, walking away just before 10:40 PM and entering that Mega Image at 10:50 PM, with the backpack, after leaving the bags in a cabinet that I couldn’t lock because I had no 0.50 RON coin. And then I had to wait for the bakery discounts to be made before grabbing a few sweet pastries, after which I wasted more time to wait for the cart with the products that are discounted by 90% to be brought. I had actually seen an employee take a cart to that back room that only had some packaged salads and fresh spices in it, but I didn’t know whether that really was everything, so I stuck around… Only to eventually see that it really was everything, so I just bought those pastries, then retrieved my things and picked up some more recyclables on the way back, including a crushed one that I thought could be straightened.
I got back just before 12:10 AM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, picking up a carton from there, straightened that recyclable, washed what was in the kitchen, ate an orange and a sweet pastry, put the purchases in their place, saw that dad had put paper and plastic in the garbage bin and retrieved and separated what I could, and finally went to wash at 2:30 AM, once again noticing that deep, dull pain in that area on my head and being done at 3:10 AM. I ate lunch, on and off, between 4:15 AM and 5:25 AM, and dinner between 6 AM and 7 AM, with the last several minutes spent gathering what was stuck on the plate, and finally got in bed at 7:40 AM.
I hadn’t even gotten three hours of sleep when I got woken up by dad getting ready to leave, since it was 10:55 AM when I got up, after needing a few minutes before being able to really move. And then I changed, cleaned the litter box, talked to him a little, and otherwise stood around until he left, after which I got on the computer for a while, only changing back into my pajamas and getting back in bed at 12:45 PM… And just over 20 minutes later, as I was about to fall asleep, dad called to ask for some information he needed for something he had put off doing for several months, and for which the hard deadline was next year, so it’s not like he couldn’t wait a while longer after all this time, and he knew that I had to sleep. Either way, I got back in bed after telling him what he needed and initially kept alternating between being asleep and awake, the naps being very short, until I managed a slightly longer one before getting up to pee and then napping for about an hour and a half or so before going to pee again. And I was convinced that the nap that followed that was of a similar length, so after waking up again I didn’t check the time, just taking it easy and getting up after a while… After which I saw that it wasn’t even 6:25 PM, meaning that the last nap most probably hadn’t even lasted half an hour. And after going to the toilet some time after 1 AM and then using the worse lettuce leaves and what was still usable out of the last red onion which had been left there for quite some time, I ended up eating dinner between 3:40 AM and 4:15 AM and getting in bed at 5:20 AM.
Even if I got back on the computer for a few minutes after getting up to pee the first time, I got back to sleep quickly. But about an hour later I got woken up by noise made by dad and it took a while before I could catch another brief nap, which ended when I got woken up again when he left. And less than an hour after that I woke up with a stuffy nose, out of nowhere. At least I could get another nap after that, even if the dreams were weird, but when I got woken up again, just after 1:45 PM, that time by noise made by the upstairs neighbor, I decided to get up. And later I helped dad a little when he installed the bug net in the kitchen as well, so now we have all of them, though they’re irrelevant in case of crawling bugs, since there’s quite some distance between the frames and the wall, and they obviously won’t last even as they are, being on the outside. Plus that he put some bars, from top to bottom, instead of letting me patch the small tear in that one. But he insisted on making so much effort, and spending what must have been quite a lot, to stick to this bad plan, so it is what it is… And now I’m going to make mamaliga again, after what’s the second post that goes over 10000 words, though still well below the longest one.
