Cav's Place

In the early hours of November 4, I saw a cockroach on the kitchen counter. I managed to kill it, but I don’t know whether it had fallen from above or crawled up from the bread drawer, and it was a problem either way. And while eating dinner I noticed that no visits were reported on November 3. Then I got in bed at 5:20 AM and got up when the alarm rang, at 1:30 PM, that spot in the right side of my throat still hurting, after having started to do so after eating. But the plan was to run, so I had the usual stuff, with the yogurt being an expired regular one and the apple being another one of those huge but spoiling Gala ones, though I had less to remove from it than I thought, so what was left was still the size of two regular apples. And the sweet thing once again consisted of two nicer biscuits, with added honey. Then I put on the full running gear, sticking to that same t-shirt from the marathon of 2023, and left a few minutes after 4 PM, waiting to see what the reported temperature was at 4 PM and seeing that it was 14°C, and it dropped to 12-13°C by the time I finished. It felt a little chilly on the way, and when a guy who walked past me after I entered the park asked if I wasn’t cold, I told him that I won’t be while running.
The time was 48:30.85, with sector times of 4:15.66, 5:05 (5:04.41), 5:51.28, 4:25.53, 5:02 (5:01.13), 7:04.62, 4:21.19, 4:55 (4:54.72), 5:45.25 and 1:47.06, making for lap times of 15:11.35, 16:31.28 and 15:01.16. I once again aimed to stay under 48 minutes and knew that there had been moments when I had slowed down a little on the first sector, so that time seemed good enough, and after the second sector I just wanted to stay a little under six minutes on the third, to squeeze under that 15:20 that’s the lap target for 48 minutes on the first lap and keep more in reserve for later… But I was faster than I thought on sector three of lap one, so things looked pretty good, at least if I only wanted to just squeeze under 48 minutes, and that remained the case after two sectors of lap two… But then I lost around 1:25 because of a shoelace on sector three of lap two, since 1:21 passed between bending down and standing back up, and that made me certain that I won’t even manage to get under 49 minutes. But I pushed hard as soon as I started running again and continued to do so on lap three, recovering as much as I could, with the exception of another couple of seconds lost on sector three of lap three, when I briefly stopped in order to see the time better, so after sector one of lap three I thought that I actually had a chance to at least stay under 49 minutes, and that became almost certain after the following sector, as long as there won’t be any more problems. And after the end of the lap I wondered whether I still had enough left to manage a great final sector and even squeeze under 48:30, and while that wasn’t the case, at least I didn’t go over that time either, if you just look at the seconds. So this is a pretty bad time in itself, but the actual running time was most probably just over 47 minutes… Not that I’d have pushed that hard without that problem.
My heart felt a little weird a couple of times even on the way to the park, and that feeling returned a number of times over the course of lap one and sector one of lap two, which was worrying, though it then seemed to go away and there were no other physical problems. And there were no notable problems caused by people either, the lane once again most probably being the main reason why I occasionally had to weave and go the long way around. But, of course, the main problem was on sector three of lap two, when I noticed that my right shoelace was untied and when I stopped and pulled on it, I ended up with two knots, so the shoelaces were knotted together and one of them also had a knot on it, and while just pulling hard on such a knotted shoelace usually unties the knot, I couldn’t risk it at that point, since if that doesn’t work, the knot gets that much tighter and harder to untie and my fingers were cold and stiff, so I struggled to untie it for quite a while, which led to that huge loss of time.

After having a quick look in the nearby Mega Image on the way back, I ate a banana and a slice of the cake which I had bought for myself two weeks earlier, since I had placed most of it, cut into slices, in the freezer, taking that slice out after getting up, to let it thaw. I also did the day’s squats, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 6:50 PM, with the recyclables, and also with those with the deposit symbol, and I picked up one more of those just after walking out of the building… But I did so without the backpack, where I also had the empty bags, and I only realized that when I was almost at the recycling bin where I wanted to drop off the regular recyclables, so I did that, then came back and grabbed the backpack, actually leaving a few minutes after 7 PM.
I didn’t want to use the recycling machine from Penny Titan unless I found something to buy, but I couldn’t have done it anyway, since it was out of order, so I put the recyclables in a cabinet and retrieved them after just having a quick look in the store. Then I continued to Supeco, and while that recycling machine wasn’t working either when I got there, the person who was waiting to use it said that she had told someone, and in fact someone was just coming and she quickly sorted things out, so I could put everything in, and then I also dug around and put in some more recyclables with the deposit symbol which had been left there, which included three of those oddly shaped bottles, which required many attempts before being accepted. But they eventually were, and I ended up with a second voucher. Then I went in and got what I wanted, being pleasantly surprised when I saw that the price of the chicken legs was lower than what I had seen on-line, and the price for those is printed on each bag, since it’s per kilogram and the weight obviously varies… But at the checkout I was told a total that was higher than what I had calculated, and when I asked why I found that the chicken legs did have the price per kilogram that was listed on-line after all. However, with the lower price clearly printed on them, I insisted to be offered that price, and the cashier did so, though when I said that I had prepared the exact amount she said that if I’d have done so, I’d have given her 0.03 RON more. I should have actually given her 0.02 RON more, since she had deducted 1.10 RON instead of 1.11 RON, but I did have some 0.01 RON coins, so I told her that I could give her that as well and did so after arranging the purchases a little, though I then just walked away without even looking to see whether she reacted in any way.
On the way to Kaufland, I checked a small Profi, putting my things in a cabinet that didn’t lock and then retrieving them, and grabbed two more recyclables with the deposit symbol, but since two people with a lot of them were using the recycling machine from Kaufland, I gave up after waiting for a little while and put everything in a cabinet, then peed and washed my hands and entered the store just before 9:10 PM. Then I scanned some labels from the bakery area multiple times, but those that didn’t have evening discounts listed really weren’t discounted, so I initially just got the one cheap bun of the kind that had a regular discount those days that was left. Then I meant to take some lettuce, taking my time to select one and holding on to it for a while, but I eventually gave up on that idea, the evening discount being way too low. On the other hand, I got some cheese that seemed to have an unannounced discount and the olives that I was looking for, though the employee, who also told a coworker who started chatting with her while she was serving me that her throat continued to be terribly sore, entered something with a much higher price instead, but I noticed the problem as I started to walk away and told her, and she apologized and printed the correct label. That included the charge for the box, but at least it’s fair in that situation. And then, as I kept hovering around the fruits and vegetables, especially since two employees kept working in that area and I saw them scan some price labels a few times, at some point I left the olives and the cheese in a crate and only realized it after quite a while, being relieved to still find them there.
While there were no new or increased discounts for fruits and vegetables, and those that existed were too low to interest me, bakery discounts of 55% were announced around 9:45 PM and an employee came to place new discount labels… But the actual discounts printed on them were still of 50%, the only difference being that a few products which hadn’t been discounted before got added to the list at that point. And she also placed a discount label for the regular buns, and when I told her that I had scanned the regular label moments before and there had been no evening discount, she said that it’ll show up in a little while, and when I scanned that discount label I did see the price listed on it. However, I didn’t actually look at the specific kind of bun that was listed there, trusting that she had placed the label correctly, putting that first bun which I had grabbed back and taking two of those plain ones instead, without a glove, even if my hands were no longer clean at that point… Yet when I entered the plain buns at the self-checkout, they still showed up at the full price, so I called for an employee… Only to be ignored by the one who was in that area, so I shrugged it off and just entered those buns as the slightly better kind instead, which were already sold out when I got there but which did have the 50% discount, so it’s possible that the bakery employee had placed the wrong label there. But that label had been there and she had even told me that they should be discounted, so I considered it to be their problem. And I was just retrieving my things when the closing announcement came, though I then took my time to arrange the purchases, leaving by the emergency exit a few minutes after 10 PM, after which I picked up one more recyclable with the deposit symbol from the parking lot and put all three of them in the recycling machine, keeping the voucher for another time.
On the way back, I checked that bigger Profi, putting my things in a cabinet, picking up a bag of spoiling carrots and asking about the price of the eggs sold by piece, since it wasn’t listed… And the first employee didn’t know it either, listing a few possible values between 0.80 RON and 0.90 RON and then asking two others, who quickly listed values between 0.60 RON and 0.95 RON and then said that it was probably something around 0.80 RON but that I’ll see the exact value at checkout. So I went to one of the self-checkouts, even if they only accept cards, and checked the price there, seeing that it was actually 0.99 RON, higher than anything mentioned by the employees. Then I just left the machine like that, since I didn’t seem to be able to cancel that selection, and went to the regular checkout with the carrots, the cashier also charging me for the bag that they were in, the price being higher than what you’re charged elsewhere for such bags, and she also rounded the change as far down as possible, giving me 0.09 RON less. But I had found a 0.10 RON coin in the other Profi, so I let it be, then retrieved my things, added that bag in the backpack and removed the bag with the cheese and olives from it. And then I also entered that non-stop Mega Image, putting my things in a cabinet, getting a regular bread for dad, seeing as that’s discounted by 70% at that hour, and then retrieving everything. And I picked up one more recyclable with the deposit symbol when I was almost back here.
I got back a little after 11:15 PM, then cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute. And then, since the cheese was really soft and falling apart on the sides, I tried to wash it a little, and as I was doing that a larger piece fell in the sink, and I just picked it back up, washed it a little more and put it in the box, over the rest… And then I just piled on the smaller pieces as well, without washing them, since it was impossible, and those were the ones that would have likely needed washing the most, so I really shouldn’t have bothered to wash the rest of it either. But I did, and then I put the purchases in their place, with the exception of dad’s bread and my carrots, and ate lunch. And it was 1 AM when I went to wash, being done a little after 1:40 AM. Then I washed what was in the kitchen and also sliced dad’s bread, which was a little harder to do because, seeing as I hadn’t washed my hands before picking it up in the store, I had microwaved it first. Either way, I ate dinner between 3:50 AM and 4:20 AM, and got in bed at 5:20 AM.

In the early hours of November 13, I once again managed my time poorly in the kitchen and, when I tried to “cheat” and take a first bite of dinner in my room before 3 AM but still failed even so, I decided to do a couple more things and start eating at 3:10 AM… Only to once again fail to manage my time properly, so I also finished the few other things that I had left to do in the kitchen and actually started eating at 3:15 AM. But I still managed to finish at 3:40 AM. And I kept wondering what to do about the orders for Windows 10, but still didn’t decide anything, or more exactly decided to keep delaying, even though it might have meant missing out on the sale. And then I also realized that buying the NVMe with its own heatsink when the motherboard has massive heatsinks for those slots had been a bad idea, but I was nevertheless not going to return it… And I took too long looking into things and, despite meaning to go to bed at least a few minutes earlier, I ended up doing so at 5:20 AM.
By 1 PM, when the alarm rang and I got up, I had received messages that I could pick up the two remaining orders for the new computer, but the plan was to run first, and one store closes at 5:30 PM… But I still delayed a little, checking those cheap Windows 10 Pro keys again and seeing that they had gotten even cheaper, so I placed a tentative order for two, since dad had said that at that price he might be interested in one as well, but selected paying when they’ll be picked up and a location where they were supposed to arrive in two days, so we’ll have some more time to discuss it, even if that meant having a payment processing fee added.
But the plan was to run, even though it was still raining, and while most sources listed the rain as ending around 3 PM, one listed it as continuing until 5 PM, and it was chilly to begin with, the reported temperature being 5°C and not changing until evening. But I definitely couldn’t wait, so I ate another Gala apple that was starting to spoil, though it wasn’t a huge one anymore, and the high-protein yogurt received after the marathon, since it was going to expire in two days, with cereals and almonds that were a mix of the last baked ones with Himalayan salt from the old bag and some which I had taken out of a chocolate and kept for this purpose, so I won’t open a new bag of almonds just yet. And the sweet thing consisted of two regular biscuits, with added honey. And I walked out the door at 3:35 PM, with what I needed to pick up what I had ordered from that store that closes early in the pocket of my tights and wearing the training shirt, albeit without anything underneath it, that thing on my neck and the gloves, plus the jacket on the way, tied around my waist as I ran. But it was 3:40 PM when I actually walked out of the building, after taking my time to arrange everything properly.
The time was 47:39.38, with sector times of 4:18.95, 5:10 (5:09.06), 5:58.94, 4:32 (4:31.52), 5:02 (5:01.69), 5:51 (5:50.88), 4:25 (4:24.97), 4:58.03, 5:32.72 and 1:53 (1:52.62), making for lap times of 15:26.95, 15:25 (15:24.09) and 14:55.72. The target was still to stay under 48 minutes and things didn’t look good after the first two sectors, and at the end of the first lap it was even worse, after just squeezing under six minutes on sector three, so I thought that even staying under 49 minutes was far from certain and pushed harder, the time on sector one of lap two not giving me many reasons to hope for something better but the following sector being a pleasant surprise, which made me push even harder on sector three of lap two. And after the end of the lap I realized that I needed 15:15 on lap three to have a chance to just squeeze under 48 minutes after all, and while I didn’t see how I could manage that, I just put everything into it and after a pretty good sector one and an even better sector two, it looked like I might just have that chance, if sector three would match that of lap two. However, my nostrils had been tightening more and more and by the time I started that sector I was really struggling to breathe, ending up covering most of that sector while holding a nostril open with a finger, which made me certain that I was going to fail… Yet at the end of the lap I couldn’t believe the time I saw, that sector three ending up tied for the third fastest ever if you just look at the seconds, though it was actually over one second slower than the actual third fastest sector three and I don’t have the exact time for what used to be the fourth fastest one. Either way, it also meant covering another lap in less than 15 minutes, and while the final sector was just passable, it no longer mattered.
On top of probably losing a little bit of time when I took off the glove in order to press the button and then put it back on, I had to get used to check the time with the stopwatch worn over the training shirt and while also wearing the glove, and before managing to do that I ended up briefly slowing to a walk on sector two of lap one and even briefly stopping on sector one of lap two in order to see the time better. Otherwise, some occasional drops fell all along, which was probably also one reason why there weren’t many people in the park and they didn’t create any notable problems, but the lane was obviously soggy, so I avoided it as much as I could, and things got worse towards the end of sector one of lap three, when those few drops turned into a light rain, which continued while I covered the next sector… Or at least that long, since on sector three of lap three I couldn’t focus on anything other than breathing and really don’t know whether that rain continued. Not that my nostrils hadn’t been tightening even earlier, but by that point they were pretty much closing and I didn’t want to breathe through my mouth, so I ended up holding one nostril open with a finger, basically running most of that sector with a finger in my nose, and seeing as there were also a few moments, when I had pulled that finger out, when I definitely faltered because I just couldn’t get any air, I really have no idea how I obtained that time on that sector. Admittedly, I gave absolutely everything, so I then struggled up the stairs at the start of the final sector and had to push myself every step of the way to the end.

After the run, I put my jacket back on and went to pick up that order, or more exactly the three separate orders from that store, being told when I got there that they had to keep them separate because the discount would be lost if they’d add the other products to one of the orders. But that just meant getting and signing three invoices, what took them a little while being to find the HDMI to DVI adapter, and the bag it was in looked like it had been forgotten somewhere for a very long time, so while one employee was looking for that, I chatted a little with one of the others, including asking about cases that have slots for optical drives and being told that they’re very rare and that there’s no point in them and people don’t want them anymore, that guy seeming quite baffled by the question and determined to convince me that I shouldn’t want one, so after just saying that I did and already had the drive, I dropped the matter.
After getting back, I ate a banana and an expired protein bar that I still had, changed, albeit leaving the training shirt on, and left again at 7:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, so I initially went past the store that I was going to pick up the motherboard from and entered the Penny that’s next to it… But the recycling machine was once again not working, and when I asked the guard about it he said that it had just been fixed that day and then had broken down again, so I put the recyclables and my gloves in a cabinet… Only to find that it was damaged and couldn’t be locked, and it also ate my coin, the guard coming to retrieve it for me after I struggled to get it out for a while. At least the second one worked, and then I bought an expiring product and a few other things, put the purchases in a bag, retrieved my things and went to pick up the motherboard like that, with a bag of purchases and one of recyclables. And when I did receive it, I saw that the box wasn’t sealed, in fact starting to open on its own when it was handed to me, so I asked whether that’s how they normally come and was told that it is, and that the bag that the board itself is in is sealed, which seemed to be the case at a quick glance… But when I eventually took the motherboard out, I found that the bag wasn’t sealed either, plus that the box lacking a seal meant that the few other included things could be accessed. Still, I found no trace of a seal which might have been removed, and no sign of anything having been used or tampered with, so maybe that’s just how they come and you have to hope that nothing happens on the way, as strange as that may be.
To return to that evening, after putting the motherboard in the nicer bag which I had taken for that purpose, I went to Kaufland, having no time to also check Carrefour first, but picking up some more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way. And then I picked up a few more that were left around the recycling machine, and while one of those didn’t work, even if it was just like another which did work, and I just kept it, I put all of the others in… And the couple that had large bags and was using the machine when I got there, and after walking away for a moment returned with more while I was using the machine, seemed to me to be those who had picked up and tested a huge TV while I was waiting to pick up the motherboard, so I asked the woman whether they had been at that store as well, but she said that it hadn’t been them.
Either way, I then put my things in a cabinet and went to pee and wash my hands, mainly with water plus just a drop of soap that leaked out when I went back to the men’s, since there was no soap in either the men’s or the room for disabled people, and when I asked the cleaner who was in the women’s about it he said that he didn’t think they had soap anywhere. And it was a little before 9:30 PM when I entered the store and bakery discounts of 75% had been announced while I was peeing, so I went straight to the bakery area but just took a nice bun and a small baguette, nothing else that I had any interest in being left and discounted, since I scanned the labels for two products that I’d have been interested in but those had no evening discounts. Then I got a bundle of radishes, the few other evening discounts for fruits and vegetables not interesting me, and a few expiring products for my parents. And the self-checkout machine didn’t accept one of those products as the correct one, but the discount label matched the regular one and I called over an employee and she logged on to override the error, after which I weighed that product on the scales from that area and found that it had some ten grams more than what was listed and the label listed six grams deducted by the scales, so I assumed that the shrink wrap, which was much larger than necessary, probably added those additional few grams that caused the error. Either way, the closing announcement came while I was still using the machine, and then I retrieved my things, took some time to properly arrange everything, and stopped again after walking out to stuff the bag with that remaining recyclable in a pocket, which actually took a while, so it was close to 10:15 PM when I finally walked away, and on the way back I grabbed a can with the deposit symbol.
I got back just before 10:40 PM, then cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put almost all of the purchases in their place, except the radishes and an expiring product that I left for dad to deal with, did the day’s squats, and ate a bag of snacks before going to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, a few minutes before 12:30 AM. I was done a few minutes under an hour later, but I had a lot to wash and clean after dad in the kitchen, also selected the radish leaves and boiled them for the salad, and dealt with the walnut bread which I had purchased two days earlier, as well as with that baguette, so even though I ate the pizza brought by dad three days earlier as a combined lunch and dinner, I only did so between 3:55 AM and 4:30 AM. And I’ll also mention here that no visits were recorded… And when I wanted to put that walnut bread in the freezer I found that I had to rearrange the pieces in the bag in order to make it fit, but I did so while standing in front of the freezer and when the piece that I was moving slipped past the others, it fell on the floor. But I didn’t want to throw it away, and the crust was hard enough to allow me to wash it well, and then I microwaved it for quite a few minutes, after which I just cut away a little of the exposed part, where there was no crust. Of course, all of that took a while, so I ended up getting in bed at 6:15 AM.

At least I fell asleep pretty quickly, but I didn’t stay asleep for long, and after dad got up, which he had said should have been at 9 AM, I more or less remained awake. I might have briefly drifted off a few times, but I had definitely been awake for a long time when I decided to get on the computer for a while, a few minutes before 11:30 AM. I got back in bed a little after 12:20 PM, but after a few very brief and agitated naps I just wasted time before finally getting up, at 2:55 PM. And that night I started eating dinner at 3:10 AM, but still finished at 3:40 AM, and I ate that piece of walnut bread, after cleaning it some more. I considered removing the crust, which should have solved any problem almost entirely, but I didn’t.

It’s Saturday evening and, after being out Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, when I also ran, and again today, when I went out early in the morning, without sleeping, I’m yet to add anything to the two-paragraph placeholder for the second part of the post about the marathon thrown here on Sunday. But I absolutely must finish writing that post at some point, without making yet another new one to cover last year’s marathon, at least as far as the actual run goes, so I’ll have to do that at some point, even if it’ll mean adding the vast majority of a post well over a week after the initial placeholder. And I’m forcing it to be the one that goes up to the point when I crossed the finish line in one more way by making this post about the next two runs that came after it, finally writing about regular runs again and getting to the end of October. I had considered editing this at a later time in order to add the part about the rest of October 13, after the moment when I crossed the finish line, at the beginning, but I don’t see how I could have done that by the end of next week, so I’ll mess up the chronology by putting that in a post that I’ll write at some later point, and which may also include the odds and ends from the following week or so, even if I’m otherwise not writing such odds and ends posts anymore. But that’s a matter for another time, and now I should just get to those runs.

After skipping one week, I ran again on October 23, and in that day’s early hours I started eating dinner at 3:10 AM but still managed to finish at 3:40 AM. But then I tried to update Pale Moon Portable and wanted to move the existing version into a backup folder first, yet it said that the Bin folder was still in use, so I checked whether the process had been left hanging and, after finding that it wasn’t, I canceled that move attempt and then went into Bin/Palemoon and moved all of the contents, which worked. However, I then couldn’t delete Bin and couldn’t access Bin/Palemoon at all, getting an “access denied” message even when I tried to use an elevated command prompt to take ownership of the folder or reset its properties, or when I tried various other methods that I found on a quick search… And, while I was struggling with that, I accidentally deleted the User folder… So I unpacked the new version in a different folder and got in bed at 5:20 AM.
After getting up when the alarm rang, at 2:30 PM, I mounted the system image backup made almost a month before and recovered the Pale Moon User folder from there, copying it in that new folder, but I still found no way to delete or access that stuck folder. Either way, since I had the external HDD connected, I made a backup of the other files, though I didn’t make another system image backup as well, and otherwise had the usual stuff, with the apple being a huge but spoiling Gala one, so I had to remove a fair bit of it, while the sweet thing consisted of two regular biscuits, with added honey. And it was almost 5:30 PM when I left, wearing the full running gear, but obviously returning to the old running shoes, and staying with the t-shirt from the marathon of 2023, since I hadn’t washed it yet after using it for the morning run before this year’s marathon. The reported temperature was 20°C, dropping a fair bit by the time I finished, the sites that record past temperature listing 15°C at 6:30 PM, but I forgot to check what was actually reported at 7 PM, to try to make an average with the 18-19°C reported at 6 PM.
The time was 47:41.48, with sector times of 4:16.10, 5:02.85, 5:53 (5:52.96), 4:31 (4:30.44), 5:01.25, 5:47 (5:46.66), 4:27.12, 5:03 (5:02.82), 5:53.40 and 1:48 (1:47.88), making for lap times of 15:11.91, 15:19 (15:18.35) and 15:23.34. I hoped to stay under 48 minutes, but I had no idea what I’ll be able to do at that point, so the first sector’s time was something of a relief, and sector two’s time perhaps even more so, and at the end of the lap I thought that I might just have a chance. But sector one of lap two was somewhat concerning, so I pushed more after that, being pleased with the following two sectors and the lap as a whole. Yet I was far from safe, so I kept pushing, thinking that I had to give everything in order to just squeeze under 48 minutes and worrying that I may miss out by just the seconds lost while stopping in order to see the time better, only feeling relieved when I finished the lap and saw that I was quite clearly safe. And then I managed a good final sector as well.
Those stops made in order to see the time better were one on sector two of lap three and two on sector three of lap three, each lasting a couple of seconds. And on sector two of lap three my left hip also gave some warnings, but they passed. And on sector three of lap three I hesitated and might have yet again stopped, albeit for just an instant, first when a man that I was just about to pass moved in front of me and then, moments later, when a guy on a bicycle jumped down the stairs that I was just passing and couldn’t have stopped before reaching the lane, so I did my best to avoid getting hit and he also swerved hard as soon as he touched down, and while it wasn’t such a near miss as it initially seemed, it definitely was a scary moment. And there were a few moments when I had to swallow some crap from my nose, which might have slowed me for a few seconds.

After getting back, I ate a banana and a slice of the cake which I had bought for myself two days earlier, and decided to set the computer to run a proper chkdsk on the system partition, rebooting in order to do so, and doing 200 squats as it started the check. I don’t know whether the simple reboot sorted things out or chkdsk did something, since the last time I checked I thought that it had much more to go and went to wash a pot in the kitchen, so I didn’t see whether it reported anything, but I was able to delete that stuck folder after that, and then I put that new version of Pale Moon back in the proper folder. Then I took a shower and made mamaliga. And the following day dad left me money to at least pay the previous month’s maintenance bill, so in the evening I went to do that, and then also dropped a small bag of trash down the chute, but I still didn’t go anywhere else.

The plan for the early hours of October 30 was to go to the kitchen earlier, but my mother was here again and we talked for a while, so I actually ended up going later than usual, had radish leaves to wash and boil, though I had at least selected them already, also dealt with some bread that I still hadn’t dealt with at that point, and when I got to my room I saw that some of the munchies had fallen over and they kept falling if I tried to put them back, so it took a while to figure out how to make them stay in their place again. All of that led to eating dinner between 3:40 AM and 4:30 AM, and after finishing the roes that I had left I put peanut butter on the last slices of bread. And I got in bed at 5:20 AM, after seeing a mosquito while flossing but failing to kill it.
Since the hour had changed, I set the alarm to ring at 1 PM, and even though it was 12:44 PM the last time I woke up, I decided to just get right back in bed and rest a little longer, only getting up after it rang… And soon thinking that I should have gotten up right away, since I found plenty of things to wash and arrange in the kitchen. But I took care of most of that and had the usual stuff, though the apple was another one of those huge but spoiling Gala ones and the yogurt a bio (organic) one, while the sweet thing consisted of two nicer biscuits, with added honey. I left at 3:45 PM, wearing the full running gear, sticking to the t-shirt from the marathon of 2023. The reported temperature was 18-19°C, dropping by just 1°C by the time I finished.
The time was 47:19.67, with sector times of 4:14.73, 5:09 (5:08.44), 5:58.12, 4:30.56, 4:59.03, 5:55 (5:54.41), 4:22.59, 4:50.07, 5:38 (5:37.53) and 1:44.19, making for lap times of 15:21.29, 15:24.00 and 14:50.19. I obviously hoped to still stay under 48 minutes and the first sector looked good, but the second didn’t and, while I initially thought that I’ll at least complete the first lap in less than that 15:20 that’s the target for 48 minutes, when I failed to do so things didn’t look good at all and I was quite sure that I’ll end up going well over 48 minutes. So I pushed more from the start of lap two, but sector one of lap two didn’t give me any reason to change my mind about the outcome. However, sector two of lap two was good, and after the end of the lap I knew that I needed 15:20 on lap three to have a good chance to squeeze under 48 minutes after all, so I pushed even more from the start of the lap and then really gave everything from sector two, thinking that there was no way to be safe at the end of the lap, but that I might have a chance if I’ll somehow manage to avoid losing more compared to five minutes on sector two than I’ll gain compared to six minutes on sector three… Only to find myself already safe after that outstanding sector two, assuming that I wasn’t going to go much over six minutes on sector three, and continuing to give everything led to a great sector three as well and another lap covered in less than 15 minutes… And to realizing that I should even be able to squeeze under 47:30! So I kept pushing on the final sector as well, and despite slowing on the final steps I even managed to just squeeze under 47:20!
I do have to point out that there were hardly any problems, however. The conditions were great, and while I still had to do some weaving and go the long way around, most probably once again mainly because of the lane, the only notable problem was a small one on sector three of lap three, when I hesitated and slowed because of a small dog that went straight towards me. Otherwise, there were the usual warnings from my right knee, but faint ones, and some pain in my left leg on sector one of lap two, though I couldn’t quite figure out whether it came from the knee and radiated down, from the ankle and radiated up, or from somewhere in between and radiated in both directions. But what’s important is that it didn’t last.

An old woman had just entered the building when I got here, so I held the second door open for her and asked whether she wanted to lean on me when I saw that she was struggling to climb those two steps from the entrance area, but she said that she’ll just hold on to the wall and that she was used to it, so I just turned on the light when she said that she wanted to and couldn’t quite reach the switch and otherwise stood there for what must have been some two minutes, until she managed to climb those steps, after which I handed her back her bags, which she had set down, and called the elevator for her, but I really wondered how does she manage to get around on a daily basis, and apparently even go out and do her shopping, if that’s how bad her mobility is. Either way, after getting back I ate a banana, changed, though I left the running t-shirt on, and left again a couple of minutes after 6 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
I first checked the farmers’ market, but the one guy with a handful of cheap apples had turned on some awful music and threatened another seller who told him to turn it off, so I didn’t even approach him to check them out, meaning that it couldn’t have been any more of a waste of time if I’d have stopped at Penny on the way instead. But at least I then put the recyclables in the recycling machine from that Mega Image, though one of a kind that doesn’t usually cause problems required several attempts, and then I just cashed in that voucher before going to the metro station, since I had dad’s metro card again.
The day marked nine years since the Colectiv fire and I reached that square just before 7 PM and lit the candle which I had brought, but it tipped over when I placed it in the covered area and it was too hot to try to pick it back up with my hands, so I then broke off a small piece of a branch from a bush and used it to first grab the lid from there, after which I managed to take the candle as well. It fizzled out when I did that, and the wick ended up being too small, so it was hard to light it again, but I eventually managed it, and then took some pictures, though the low turnout was disappointing.
After grabbing two recyclables with the deposit symbol from a trash can from there, I walked away at 7:40 PM… But I tried to go the other way, which should have taken me to Unirii a little faster but only proved yet again that the shortest route is the one you know, since I ended up turning in the wrong direction. At least, after finally realizing that I really wasn’t where I should have been and initially going the wrong way from there as well, I turned around and went in the direction that pretty quickly got me to the Tineretului metro station, when continuing in the other direction would have meant a longer walk right back to Timpuri Noi, where I had gotten off the first time. Then again, I’d have just had to take the metro for one stop from there as well, which was what I did from Tineretului, the fact that I had the card being so fortunate, and I also picked up another recyclable with the deposit symbol from the station.
After getting off at Unirii, I went to Carrefour, put those recyclables in the recycling machine, and considered leaving right away and going somewhere else when I didn’t initially see anything interesting among the expiring products. However, after having previously noticed that the bakery discounts may even be applied before 9 PM in that location, I decided to pee and wash my hands and then see whether they’ll apply at 8:30 PM, and by the time I knew that they didn’t it was getting too late to still go somewhere else. But another reason why I had chosen to stay was that I had seen that they had made room in the expiring products area and hoped that they’ll bring more, and when I went back there I saw that they had, and the new products actually included something that I had even been sort of considering buying at full price, so I got one, along with another yogurt, plus a bag of spoiling apples, obviously without charging myself for the bag that they were in at the self-checkout, where I also used the voucher received for previous purchases as well as the one received for those recyclables. Then I arranged the purchases in the backpack and returned to the metro station, picking up some more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way there and yet more after getting off here, since I switched trains and actually got off at this stop.
After getting back, at 9:25 PM, I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put the purchases in their place, ate the protein pudding received after the marathon, and did the day’s squats. And then dad removed the stove top and at 11 PM I went to the bathroom, first using the toilet, then washing that, including the grates, and then washing myself, finally being done a little before 1:25 AM. Then I washed and cleaned some more in the kitchen and made pizza, finally eating between 5:05 AM and 6:55 AM. I got in bed at 7:35 AM, but despite falling asleep quickly at first, I couldn’t get back to sleep after getting up to pee a couple of minutes before 11 AM, and if I was drifting off I was awake again within what was probably seconds, after starting to dream about one of my fears, so while it was almost 1:30 PM when I actually got up, those first three hours of sleep were basically all I got. At least I caught a nap in the evening, but then I got in bed again at 5:20 AM.

I’ll now be picking up from where I left off, but as I already mentioned, this is initially just a placeholder, once again scheduled to be posted at 11:59 PM, since I’m once again going out in the evening. And, after getting up and doing the day’s squats, I rolled the dice for my little giveaway on the GOG.com forums, even filming the process, though I didn’t upload the videos anywhere yet… And I forgot the water for the tea on the stove while doing that, so it’s a really good thing that it didn’t spill over badly enough to put out the fire once again when it started boiling, since it was close to an hour before I went back there and realized it, so it’d have been the equivalent of a huge gas leak otherwise, despite the window being left ajar. Either way, doing that, then shaving as well, and then watching the handball match and eating lunch, with an entire large bag of corn puffs instead of bread, means I’m very hastily throwing together this placeholder, limited just to this paragraph and the following one, at half time, since I’ll need to leave right after the match.

I mentioned in the first part that my calculations started from reaching the halfway point with an official time below 1:50 and, despite failing to catch the 1:50 half marathon pacemakers, I managed to do so, having almost half a minute in hand at that point. That was very little, but it gave me a chance, if I managed to really stick to the plan from then on. And that plan required 5:30 per kilometer until 25 km, then averaging six minutes per kilometer for the next ten kilometers, most preferably staying under that time for the first five in order to be able to go over six minutes by a similar total time for the following five, then averaging 6:30 per kilometer for kilometers 36 to 40, and then seven minutes per kilometer for 41 and 42, which would have left me with a minute and a half, or close to two minutes if I also added what I had gained before reaching the halfway point, for that final portion.

Not that doing anything else is any different, but since sticking to the rule of having two posts per week is pretty much the one thing that I haven’t given up on but writing’s just harder and harder and ever more pointless, I was seriously thinking of giving up on that idea as well this year, possibly sticking to just one post per week, if even that, and no longer caring about the personal ones being less than half of the total either. But, at least at this point, I’m thinking that I really shouldn’t do that, because it really is the one thing left in a year for which I really have no goals.
At least 2024 worked out from that point of view, achieving the actual major one of completing a marathon with an official time below four hours before turning 40. And I also finally got a new computer and started using it, even if it still feels like something improvised, the lack of security software, or even a proper backup routine, being good reasons for that, along with the uncertainty about the main NVMe, though the problem is yet to reappear after that second time. Either way, I also, however barely, managed to continue the streak of reading 12 proper books per year, and even managed to finish five games, even if 2020 remains the last year when I fully achieved the gaming goal, which would involve finishing at least four “proper” games, something that I’d just quickly get through being allowed as an optional fifth, and in 2024 there were three “proper” games and two little things that I just quickly got through at the end of the year, plus that I still haven’t gotten around to writing the reviews for those three games and I’m wondering more and more whether I ever will, things being as they are when it comes to writing. I mean, the marathon result was such a major achievement I hadn’t even started writing about that run by the end of the year, and now that I finally did, I had no chance of completing the post even one week after starting it, so I left it as just a first part and tomorrow, when I once again plan to go out, I definitely won’t be able to post more than a placeholder for the second part.
So I guess that the one thing that I can still push myself to do is just this, to still post here, and maybe this will also lead to writing those reviews, as well as those for what I’ll finish this year, and I hope that finally having a new computer will make me play more. Then again, I did feel more like playing games again in 2024 as well. And that order of books that’s already a month late should give me more to read when it’ll finally arrive, so this year’s reading list shouldn’t be an issue either. But other than those regular minor goals, I don’t have anything. I mean, that’s pretty much it with the computer, and in terms of running, I didn’t and won’t register for this year’s marathon, not wanting to put myself through that again just yet now that I achieved the goal and would be highly unlikely to do so again, and not meaning to start looking into ultramarathons quite yet. I wouldn’t even say that running one is a specific goal at this point, so I’ll just say that I’m tempted by the idea, maybe even by that of running 100 km at least before turning 50, if not even 45, but I don’t exactly have options around here, or even in the country, since I definitely wouldn’t go for trail running, and either way I don’t want to start preparing for that this year, the idea at this point being to run the marathon again in 2026, see where I stand at that point and then go from there. As for shorter runs, yes, I’m registered for the half marathon, but after completing it with an official time below 1:45 in 2022, I no longer have goals for that, as it seems unlikely that I’ll achieve such a good official time again and simply completing a half marathon, in less than two hours, because more than that would be truly embarrassing, doesn’t count for anything.
And yes, this is also something written just in order to have the week’s first post, my initial idea having been to make the year’s first “New Finds” post instead but not having enough bands to include in it right away and really not feeling like specifically looking just now, plus that when it comes to new music it’s getting harder to be certain that it’s not AI… And in fact I’ve been noticing surprisingly good AI-generated music and was wondering about actually making a post about such “acts”. But that’s a matter for another time.
To return to the lack of goals for 2025, I had been thinking about this lately, and in fact ever since I ran that marathon, and I simply have nothing. I had that target that seemed so dauntingly out of reach for several years and, after that initial feeling of accomplishment, I found that finally achieving it left me quite empty, because it wasn’t a stepping stone to something else, like the half marathon targets had been, and it’s not something that I think I can or even want to try to repeat or sustain. And I had also been thinking of getting a new computer for so many years and now that I finally have it, I must settle on it, consider this as being something final, because I’m anxious enough about it anyway and can’t allow myself to think of possible changes. And, other than those regular reading and gaming goals, and this one about the blog that I was so close to giving up on, I have nothing else. And I really don’t want to have anything else; I have no drive to do other things and really don’t want to just start looking for something. After all, I never wanted to exist in the first place, and that only changed during the periods when things were going well between us while I was living with Andra… And look what that led to…
On that note, this September 27 will mark 20 years since she left, so talk about a milestone year, only in the worst way possible… If you look at it from that point of view, it’s no wonder I’m feeling so empty. I mean, just surviving this would be an achievement in itself… Not that there’s any shred of a reason to want to, except the same one as always, that dying after suffering through life and without something happening to somehow make it be worth all of that would be terribly disappointing, to say the least… And so we just keep struggling along, adding to the pain and suffering, our own and that of others and of the world as a whole…

The year ended and I still haven’t written about the marathon other than to just mention the result that day, not even the notes are fleshed out, and even what I do have was written quite some time after the fact, so plenty of details are quite clearly gone or altered in my mind. And this was my most important run, so I have to enter damage limitation mode, push aside any ideas of doing it properly, writing it all at once or even having a good chance of editing the post in order to add everything by the end of next week, and at least start, even if with only this first section that’s little more than a placeholder, ending at the start and scheduled to be posted at 11:59 PM, because of being out for most of today. But I did manage to make a first edit in the early hours of Thursday, covering the first part of the race, ending with the paragraph about catching and being caught by the pacemakers, so getting a little past the halfway point. And that was it, because it was clear that I wasn’t going to be able to finish this by the end of the week, so in the early hours of Saturday I just added this sentence and changed the title of the post to reflect that it’s only a first part.

To start with the evening of October 12, I tried to make the salad during the national team’s match, also eating a few walnuts and a bag of nicer bagels during that time, but when the match was about to end I had only eaten a few of those bagels, so I then finished that bag, eating about half of it right after the match ended, and the salad was far from being done, and I also jabbed my palm with the knife, though at least it was the left one. And, once done, the salad yet again ended up being somewhat bigger than I meant it to be. But I also made the tea, and then ate dinner, with peanut butter on all of the bread, between 1 AM and 1:30 AM. And then I’d have wanted to take one of those pills against gas, but when I asked dad for two he only found one, which I’d have been wary of taking if I had a choice, since it’s in paper and it was in a bag that he carries around with him, but as it was, I saved it for the morning. Either way, after eating I shaved, then lit the aromatherapy lamp again and got things ready for the morning, writing the emergency information on the back of the number, seeing that the problem’s the material that’s hard to write on, pinning the number on the t-shirt while wearing it and being a little less strict about doing it just right, putting the wet wipes, garlic and Smecta Go in the pocket of my tights and the other things in the bag, just leaving the bars, gel and liquid magnesium to add in the morning, and also putting the cereals, baked almonds with Himalayan salt and raisins in dark chocolate into a bowl, so only the nice, low-fat, high-protein, “Greek” yogurt was left to add in the morning. And, after also putting some cream on my hands and feet, I got in bed at 3:40 AM, with the alarm set to ring at 6 AM.
Well, I couldn’t get to sleep. I might have dozed off for just an instant after a little while, but I’m not even sure of that, and I was definitely wide awake again within moments even if I did, and then I tossed and turned for a long time. I never checked the time, but it was long enough to get annoyed, and I continued to be awake for some time after that started to happen, so I have no idea when I finally fell asleep. But at least I did at some point, for some time, because just before the alarm rang I was awake again, my internal clock seeming to work very well from that point of view, because I barely had time to think that I should probably check the time when the alarm rang. So I then got up, ate the huge Gala apple set aside for the morning and added the yogurt into that bowl and ate that as well. Then I took the supplements, except the second pill of the iron and the one for joints, somewhat surprisingly left something in the toilet, also ate two nicer biscuits, with added honey, took that pill against gas and a Smecta, with most of the tea, and put the bars and liquid magnesium, as well as the last iron pill, in the pocket of my tights. Yes, that means I forgot the gel, though I only realized that when I needed it. Either way, I left a few minutes before 8 AM, with dad, who drove me to the metro station and then came along to insert his metro card, so I could use it to get there even though he was going to need it the rest of the day. I was wearing the full running gear, and the forecast listed about 13°C at the start time of 9 AM and about 18°C at 1 PM, when I aimed to finish.
The metro came right away and when I reached the starting area I saw that it was separated into sectors once again, with entrances on the side that were placed at the front of each sector. But, since the assigned sectors weren’t written on the numbers, the choice of which sector to enter was left completely to the runners. Either way, I was at Constitution Square a little before 8:25 AM and had a look around, only spotting apples and bananas in the Mega Image area, so I took one of each and ate the banana. Then, after taking the last iron pill, I handed off my bag at the wardrobe just after 8:40 AM, did a few quick stretching exercises while waiting in line at the toilets, peed, washed my hands at one of those portable things, and then made my way back to the starting area and initially entered sector C, for times between 3:30:00 and 3:59:59, but then went under the band separating it from sector B, for times below 3:30:00, and advanced a few steps in that sector. That put me very much out of position, but I was far from the only one and it obviously cut some seconds not only off my start time, but also off the first kilometer’s time, if not even more than that. And I ate the fruit bar while waiting for the start.

I started the stopwatch when the announcer gave the start, but I heard the gun a few seconds earlier and that proved to have been the real start, so I had 53 seconds and a lot, almost 54 seconds, when I crossed the start line, but the real start time was almost 58 seconds, making it the second best, after the 53 seconds from 2021. Strangely, this time around it’s not listed separately in the official results, but the difference between the official time and the net time is 58 seconds at the end and at six of the eight intermediate times and 57 seconds at the other two intermediate times.
If I was going to have any chance of staying under four hours, this had to be a particularly calculated and tactical run, so I was slow at first, losing time in the crowd instead of weaving to make my way through or sprinting when there was an opening, and I ended up covering the first kilometer in 5:48. That’s one of the few times that I clearly memorized and included in my notes, but I know that the second kilometer was less slow, even if still concerning if taken on its own, and I was finally in clearer air and could obtain better times from the third kilometer. However, I missed the markers for five and six kilometers, so I never knew those times at all, but it seems likely that the fifth kilometer was the first one covered in less than five minutes, since the total time for kilometers five, six and seven was 15:17, making for an average of less than 5:06 per kilometer, and the first refreshment point was on the sixth and that climb was on the seventh. But the fastest kilometer was, somewhat unintentionally, the tenth, which I covered in 4:49. And another, and I believe the last, kilometer covered in less than five minutes was the 12th, which I covered in 4:58. On the other hand, the first time I went over six minutes was on the 31st kilometer, and it was by a lot. And I also know that I covered the 42nd kilometer in 6:31 and that final portion in 1:12. What’s unclear is whether I ever went over seven minutes per kilometer, since I seemed to do so on the 38th, I don’t recall by how much, but I didn’t see the marker on the road in the spot where the sign was, which made me think that the sign had ended up being placed some distance past the marker and it’s possible that I never went over seven minutes per kilometer after all.
To go back a little and explain why I said that I was somewhat unintentionally fastest on the tenth kilometer, I’ll say that it was a result of noticing a key falling on the road and putting in a burst of speed in order to catch up to the guy who I thought had dropped it, to let him know. It’d have obviously been nicer if I’d have picked it up and handed it to him, but I was already past it by the time I thought to do something and I wasn’t going to go back for someone else, so I just hope that he was the right guy and I didn’t make a different person go back for no reason. The fact that he asked whether it had fallen out of his pocket and then rushed back made that likely, but I was never certain.
To also get to the refreshment points, I changed my approach to them as well, in good part after exchanging a few messages with someone, so instead of making the most of each, I limited my intake, quite drastically for the first part of the race, just taking a cup of water at the first regular one, as well as at the additional ones, which were on the 23rd and 34th kilometers, where only water was offered, while at the third regular one I only took a cup of the other drink. As for the other regular ones, I took a cup of that other drink and a piece of banana, though I kept the piece of banana taken from the last refreshment point in my hand for quite a while, only eating it towards the end, since I had garlic in my mouth until then. And I also delayed eating the first bar, which I had initially planned to do at 14 km, on that short but steep climb, until the second half of the race. And that did have the desired result, preventing that pressing need from appearing, and I actually got to the end without any notable problem from that point of view, which was definitely what made all the difference, being the first condition if I was to have any chance, but it led to feeling out of energy after leaving Cismigiu Park, so even before reaching 16 km, and I was obviously slowing, since I was getting passed left and right by others and felt really out of position, and on the 17th kilometer my hands were already going numb, which was a really bad sign. But then I got my head down, accepted and adapted to how I was feeling, and eventually, as I increased my intake, things even got better for a while.
While I’m still at the first half of the race, I’ll add that my targets during that time were the pacemakers for 3:45 and the half marathon ones for 1:50. They pulled ahead early on, when I was so slow because of the crowd, but I caught the 3:45 ones on the seventh kilometer, before that climb, and then pulled ahead. On the other hand, I never caught the 1:50 ones for the half marathon. Despite something seeming to be really wrong with my right knee on the 13th kilometer, making me sort of throw that leg forward, hoping to shake off the problem and apparently managing to do so after a while, I was just about to catch those pacemakers just before that short but bad climb at 14 km, but then I fell a little behind again because of it, even if approaching it slightly differently made it feel somewhat less exhausting, and I didn’t recover that distance before the refreshment point from Cismigiu Park, where they pulled ahead even more. And then, as the effects of that reduced intake were making themselves known and I was feeling out of energy, I definitely had no hope of catching them anymore and could only watch as they pulled farther and farther ahead. However, they were faster than they needed to be, so failing to catch them didn’t also mean failing to reach the halfway point in less than 1:50, which was basically what my calculations were starting from, my official time at that point being 1:49:33. On the other hand, the 3:45 pacemakers had also been catching up by then, in fact being right behind me when I got going again after the fourth refreshment point, so I pushed to stay ahead of them until the halfway point, and then continued to do so until 22 km, only then finally pulling out that bar which I had purchased after getting the race kit, and only starting to eat it right before that first additional refreshment point, as we went past Constitution Square again, where I also took that cup of water and they overtook me.