Cav's Place

On August 5, after getting up to pee a little after 9:20 AM but then managing another brief nap before 9:50 AM, when dad got up and Liza went to the litter box and I was woken up again, I ended up deciding to go to the Treasury and withdraw the interest from some state bonds, since it was available as of that day, even if it meant sticking to four hours of sleep at best when I could have slept more after dad left. So I took it easy, shaved as well, and left at 1:50 PM, with just a flimsy bag that I cared to use for recyclables, since I didn’t mean to look for any… But I ended up filling that bag on the way, so I left it outside the Treasury when I got there, just before 2:15 PM, hoping that I’ll still find it after withdrawing that interest. And I did, and I even added another recyclable picked up from the bin from the room where the money are handed out. And then there was one more before reaching the machine from that Kaufland, where I put all of them in.
After washing my hands, I had a look in the store, just meaning to perhaps get some mozzarella and have a look at the expiring and spoiling products… But I ended up staying there for quite a while, getting a few such products at first, including some cakes, but then seeing an employee bring stacks of crates of spoiling products that he discounted by 80%, so I waited around him and took many more things until he seemed done and I selected everything I could be interested in. I accidentally scanned the full price of one expiring product at the self-checkout, needing to call over an employee to remove it, but everything else went well… Including the fact that among the expiring products I had found a croissant that was squashed and already expired, actually since August 2, so I just kept it in the bag, without anybody saying anything. At Mega Image there are messages that if you find an expired product you’re entitled to a new one for free, but I recall at least one moment at Kaufland when the employee just took away a product that was already expired, saying that it couldn’t be sold anymore, so I didn’t say anything and just took it, in case it’d still be usable.
After taking quite some time to arrange the purchases, I went to those three stores from Decebal that are close to each other, once again filling that flimsy bag with recyclables, plus one carton, by the time I got there. But I entered Profi first, with everything, looking at the expiring and spoiling products but then just walking out and continuing to Penny, where I put the recyclables in the machine and the bags in a cabinet that didn’t lock, entering with the backpack and getting cat food and some canned fish, also using the voucher received for the recyclables. And then I retrieved my things from the cabinet, arranged the new purchases, and continued to that Mega Image, putting the bags into two cabinets that I didn’t lock, entering with the backpack, and buying some expiring sour cream and bio (organic) milk, both being at half price even if the milk expired that day and the sour cream the following one, so in those “good” locations they might have been discounted by 90%, or would have been if closing time approached, at least. But I took them like that, also grabbed a recyclable which had been left next to the machine from there, and then returned to Profi, grabbing another recyclable from the bin from the entrance and then buying those squashes, which were still there, without being charged for the bag that they were in and handing in those two recyclables, the deposit being deducted from the total, since there’s no machine in that location… And the cashier had been sitting on a bench in front of the store and had seen me taking that one from the bin. And she didn’t seem to care to give me a receipt and I didn’t ask for it. Either way, I grabbed some more recyclables on the way back.
It was just after 6:05 PM when I got back for the first time, with almost 18 kg… And then I noticed that my t-shirt was dirty on the back, and if at first I thought that it was just dirt from the backpack, transferred because of my sweat, I then realized that the bag of plums and apricots, which had a lot of holes for air in it, had been pressed against my back and the huge bio (organic) plums, which I had also added into it, and one of the apricots had gotten squashed, which was quite a pity in itself. So I tried to quickly rinse some of that juice off the t-shirt and backpack, hanging them both to dry and then putting the purchases in their place, eating what was still usable out of two of those bio (organic) plums and one of the cakes and drinking some of that bio (organic) milk, and eventually putting that t-shirt back on and leaving again a few minutes before 8:30 PM, with all of the recyclables with the deposit symbol, dad having brought plenty again, plus the paper and cardboard, which I dropped off in a recycling bin, at which point I grabbed a carton.
I was going to the nearest Penny, but before getting there a guy who was drinking a beer stopped me, moving to keep standing in my way when I tried to get around him while the several other people who were in front of that building, apparently having a family gathering, seemed amused, and when he finished the beer he shoved the bottle in one of my bags, saying that 0.50 RON is 0.50 RON and then letting me keep going, shouting after I had taken a few steps that he liked beauty and he liked men. So I turned around and said that it was good for him, and then kept going, mentally adding half of that amount to what I mean to give away and putting all of those recyclables in the machine from Penny, which even accepted one of those which hadn’t been accepted before. The other two still weren’t accepted, however, and after taking the label off a crushed recyclable which had been left there, I initially threw one of them in the bin before entering the store with the other and just cashing in the voucher. But, a little after walking away, I realized that I wanted to try that one at Carrefour as well, so I went back and retrieved it.
I finally gave up on that recyclable for good and left it in the bin after the machine from Carrefour didn’t accept it either, but at least it accepted the two I had grabbed on the way, including one which had been crushed and which I had struggled to straighten to some extent. And, while that other one still wasn’t accepted either, I kept it and entered the store with it, mainly looking for the watermelons that had a good regular discount until that evening… But they were utterly huge, I didn’t think that I could even carry one, and someone even said that they exceeded the maximum weight of the scales and couldn’t be bought for that reason, so I gave up on that idea and just bought a piece of some processed meat product, at half price, and some frozen peas, using the voucher received for those recyclables when I paid… And also taking a recyclable found in the store, which had a sticker on it, so I guess somebody had entered with it and then left it there. And on the way back I grabbed a few more recyclables and also checked the nearby Mega Image, entering with everything, spending quite some time looking for the ingredients of a new bakery product before finally finding them in those papers that are there, but then just buying another one, with the 50% evening discount. That one which I had checked was more interesting, but there were four in the bag.
I got back for good a few minutes after 10:30 PM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop some trash down the chute, put the few new purchases in their place, ate some nicer bagels while spending some time on the computer, and it was just after 12:40 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. I was done at 1:35 AM, and then I rearranged some things in the fridge, fixed something that I ate as lunch, on and off, between 2:55 AM and 3:55 AM, and I ate dinner between 4:50 AM and 5:30 AM. I got in bed at 7:05 AM.

I got up to six and a half hours of sleep with just one interruption, when I got up to pee and then got right back to sleep, but after that I started drifting in and out. I was probably mostly asleep for another hour or so, but then I’d say I only caught a couple of very brief naps over the next half an hour, after which I was fully awake, though I took it easy and only got up a couple of minutes after 4:30 PM. So I got at least seven hours of sleep, which would be more or less fine in itself, the only issue being how interrupted the last part was, but I really should have taken advantage of being alone that day to recover some of that serious sleep debt that I had and apparently I just couldn’t. And I wanted to also clean my room a little that day, and change the sheets and flip over the mattress as well, but then I saw an e-mail from dad saying that the plan changed and the next day he’ll just come in the evening instead of both of them in the afternoon, so I moved that plan for said next day. On the other hand, at night explorer.exe once again crashed while I had Edge open, though not immediately after opening it. But I didn’t reboot again. And I had to go to the toilet even before dinner, but instead of at least going right after eating, I played Heartlight until I should have started getting ready for bed, so I went to the toilet after that and ended up getting in bed at 6 AM.

I once again got some six and a half hours of sleep with a single brief interruption, when I got up to pee and then got right back to sleep, the difference being that the moment came about an hour earlier. And then I caught a few more naps, though they were short, and at one point that pain that radiates from my back also appeared, though I immediately got in the position that makes it go away and it didn’t even get to be bad. Either way, when it seemed that I was pretty much fully awake for a while, I decided to get up, doing so at 3:25 PM. And then I did clean my room, just over a month after the previous time, and I also quickly vacuumed most of the hallway and in the bathrooms, and turned the mattress around, since I had moved the bed a little in order to vacuum around the walls and it was much easier to do that at that point. I left changing the sheets and turning over the mattress for the following day, however.

Dad had said that people were going to come over at 10 AM, one of them with a truck, and help him take a lot of things to grandmother’s, so the plan was to rush out if I’ll wake up when he’ll get up… But Liza seemed to just wait for me to fall asleep and go to the litter box, scraping around no less than four times, with brief pauses between them, until I angrily walked out of my room, at 6:15 AM, and she ran away from there. So I changed and cleaned the litter box, then changed back, set my phone to charge, since the battery was running low and I didn’t want it to start beeping, and got back in bed. But there’s the beep that announces that it’s fully charged, and that came just before 8:30 AM and woke me again, so I peed one more time and then managed to catch another nap until dad got up and I got woken up yet again. And, while I initially thought that I still had some time, since it was 9:15 AM when I got up, dad said that everybody was going to be here in no more than half an hour, and minutes later the guy with the truck called to say that he was a couple of minutes away, so I quickly changed, grabbed an expired bar and ate it, and it wasn’t even 9:30 AM when I left, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and using the back exit, since I saw a truck parked right in front of the building’s front door when I went down the stairs and assumed that it was that guy. And that also meant that I couldn’t rush back up to grab the store cards after realizing that I had forgotten them, and the plan was to go to Penny and look for things that required the store card in order to be discounted, so I could only hope that, if I’ll find something, somebody’ll let me use theirs.
Since I passed by that Profi where I was told that vouchers couldn’t be cashed in, I entered and asked whether that had changed, but the same cashier was there and she remembered me, saying that she had told me before that it wasn’t possible, and when I said that I doubted that was legal she said that it had nothing to do with the law, but with the fact that the software was still an old version that didn’t allow that option. So I once again left angrily, noticing just as I turned away that there was a large sign with a slogan saying that you could recycle however you wanted, for either a voucher or cash, but not stopping to point it out. And checking that Penny and the one from Titan proved to be a waste of time as well, so I just put the recyclables in a cabinet, without locking, and then retrieved them.
Admittedly, I did need to waste that time, dad calling to let me know that they had left while I was in Penny Titan, but after once again putting the recyclables in a cabinet that I didn’t lock and then retrieving them after checking that Mega Image as well, I decided against coming straight back, going to Carrefour instead. And, after washing my hands, I ended up putting my things, which by then included some more recyclables and a carton, in a cabinet there as well, since the machine didn’t work. But I entered the store just as a lot of expiring products were being brought, including chicken breast, which was just what I was looking for, so I took some of that, along with other things, at half price. And I also saw somebody putting unusually large samples out and not caring to stay to engage those taking them, so I was among those who moved in. I also showed interest, sticking around and reading the ingredients of the actual products that were for sale, but in the end I took and ate two pieces of cozonac, two small pretzels, and maybe one piece of each of the other things, though I meant to avoid one and might have taken two pieces of another. The issue was that my hands weren’t clean, so I used napkins to take those things, but I did accidentally touch at least two things with my hand, and there was also an odd aftertaste at the end. Either way, after retrieving my things and arranging the purchases, I grabbed a few more recyclables on the way back and put almost all of them in the machine from the nearby Mega Image, being left with two when it reported that it was full and buying an expiring sandwich for dad and some more spoiling squashes for mother and cashing in the voucher received for those recyclables.
I got back a few minutes before 1:30 PM, and after cleaning the litter box again I went to stuff a small bag of trash into the full chute and grabbed another bag of recyclables from there, going back to throw away the bag after taking the recyclables in. And then I put the purchases in their place, ate a few plums and a yogurt with cereals, flipped over the mattress and changed the sheets, started the washing machine on a load of laundry, went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, took one of those supplements for immunity which expired back in October, since the way my throat felt was concerning, took the rack to my room and hung the laundry to dry, unfortunately having to leave that stained t-shirt in the bathroom, since the stain was untouched even though I had tried to wash it a little and even pour stain remover on the area before putting it in the machine, and finally crawled back in bed for a nap… Which ended after what were probably some 40 minutes of sleep, when Liza once again started scraping around in the litter box. But at least that time she just did her business and moved on, and I could catch another brief nap or two, probably getting the total to about an hour. And then I ate an orange and cooked, munching on part of a large bag of corn puffs at one point, and also dealt with my bread, eating lunch, with the rest of that bag of corn puffs instead of bread, between 1:30 AM and 1:55 AM, but still managing to finish dinner at 3:40 AM, despite only “cheating” in order to be able to say that I took a first bite in my room before 3 AM and actually starting to eat it at 3:20 AM. And after dinner I sent an e-mail about the issue with that Profi to the company managing the deposit return scheme. And then I did the day’s squats as well, since I hadn’t until then.

At least I could sleep the next day, getting up to pee multiple times but always getting right back to sleep until late in the afternoon, when I suddenly found myself needing to do the other thing as well. But I had gotten a total of some eight hours by then, and napped for probably another half an hour or so after that as well, until dad called and woke me up again, a little after 4 PM, to say that they won’t be coming that day after all. So I tried to get back in bed after that, but while I only got up for good at 5:05 PM, I couldn’t get back to sleep. But the more concerning thing was that my digestive system was definitely dealing with something, since late in the evening I had to rush to the bathroom again, and what came out was mostly fluid. So I took a Smecta while working on dinner, but things started bubbling around in my abdomen again as I ate. And explorer.exe crashed again when I had Edge open, but I didn’t bother to reboot that time either. On the other hand, before going to bed I finished Heartlight.

Between things bubbling around in my abdomen and various noises, most of them made by Liza, on the morning of August 10 I was kept awake until past 6:30 AM, since that was when I decided to pee again, and it took a while longer before I finally fell asleep. And I got up to pee twice more after that, before dad got back and woke me up again, at 10:50 AM. So I changed, cleaned the litter box, made the tea, and stayed up until he left, only changing back into pajamas and getting back in bed at 12:45 AM, meaning that I only added about another hour of sleep before the alarm rang, at 2 PM, and I got up for good, the plan being to run a half marathon distance, despite all of the issues, the digestive ones remaining concerning, since something still didn’t feel right. So I had the usual stuff, once again the apple and the yogurt being bio (organic), though the apple was imported and the yogurt had just expired, and the sweet thing still consisting of two of those nicer but expired biscuits, with added honey. And what I left in the toilet was still really soft, albeit no longer fluid, so I took another Smecta while drinking most of the tea. I left a little after 4:20 PM, wearing the full running gear, still with the t-shirt from this year’s half marathon, and one armband. The reported temperature was about 31°C, and about 32°C when I finished.
The time was 1:47:52, with sector times of 4:25, 5:04, 5:59, 4:33, 5:12, 6:01, 4:38, 5:20, 6:09, 4:43, 5:23, 6:22, 4:50, 5:27, 6:28, 4:54, 5:34, 6:25, 2:01, 6:22 and 2:02, making for lap times of 15:28.42, 15:46.00, 16:07 (16:06.85), 16:28, 16:45 and 16:53, plus 10:25 for the final portion. So I didn’t look at the exact sector times, but after seeing that I stayed under 15:30 on the first lap, I made a point of checking the exact lap times while they were displayed, so for the first three laps. But I was still wondering whether I’ll even finish and thought that staying under 1:50 would be great, so I expected to get much slower and staying clearly under 16 minutes on lap two as well was required to try to build a little buffer. And I managed that, but it was still very early in the run, and that concerning sector two of lap three and the way I felt by the end of the lap seemed to prove that it’ll get a lot worse… Yet at the same time I was starting to wonder whether I might just squeeze under 1:48 after all, realizing that I just needed to gain a few seconds compared to targets of 16:30, 16:45, 17:00 and 10:30, and on lap four I gained just a little bit. But I needed more, and on lap five I had to push towards the end to even just hit that target, so things didn’t look good. Still, I just about kept the loss of time in check on the first two sectors of lap six, and then I pushed more on the last one, gaining enough to actually afford that 10:30 on the last portion… Only to go over two minutes on its first sector and once again worry that I’ll fail. So I really went for it on the next sector, wanting to afford about 2:05 on the last one, managing that and then getting myself to the end. So I was three minutes slower than the previous time, but much better than I thought I’d be under those circumstances and quite pleased.
The expected pressing need first appeared on sector two of lap two, fading after that but returning with a vengeance, and cramps, on the long straight of sector two of lap three. But it was probably gas that rearranged itself, as it then went away again, and while it reappeared at the end of the long straight of sector two of lap four, it was fainter and brief, and the occasional moments when I felt it again after that weren’t that concerning anymore. On the other hand, I first felt a little lightheaded on sector two of lap two, while from sector three of lap three I started feeling more out of it, and I think that was also when my hands started tingling. And on sector three of lap five my legs were also getting heavy and burning, and the numbness was going up my arms, albeit faintly. And by the end it was creeping into my abdomen as well.
At least the park was pretty clear during the first part of the run, the first notable problem caused by people only appearing on the long straight of sector two of lap five, when I hesitated because of a kid on a bicycle who was coming from the opposite direction. Then, on sector one of lap six, I hesitated and slowed twice because of a little girl and her mother, and I did so once more on the following sector, when another little girl on a tricycle cut me off, suddenly appearing as I was going around another girl and her mother… Unless those two were actually the same ones, since I remember wondering about it at the time. Either way, at the end of that lap was the one moment when I briefly stopped, when another girl, I think on roller skates, cut me off.

I was so exhausted that I had to be careful while walking back, sometimes finding that I wasn’t walking straight and needing to pay attention to breathing. But I also picked up a recyclable and checked the nearby Mega Image. And after getting back I changed and left again a little before 7:15 PM, without the headphones and taking “my” recyclables with the deposit symbol and only a part of those from my parents. And I picked up a few more on the way to the nearest Penny, putting all of them in the machine except the one picked up on the way back from the park, which wasn’t accepted and which I entered with. And after buying a watermelon and a couple of other things, also using the voucher received for the recyclables, I realized that I had dropped the bag with that recyclable while trying to pick a watermelon and had forgotten it there, so I set the purchases down and dashed back to retrieve it, using the entrance gate to walk back out when a kid walked in. And then I struggled to make my way back, having to carry that large watermelon in my arms leading to needing to stop multiple times.
I got back for good just after 8:05 PM, having carried almost 13.5 kg, and I barely had 45 kg. Then I drank the rest of the expired bio (organic) milk, ate a bag of peanuts that was also expired, getting some 950 calories just from that, and a sweet pastry that I already had, put the purchases in their place, though dealing with the watermelon took a while, did the day’s squats, fixed something that I ate as lunch, also ate plenty of watermelon, and then went to the bathroom, to use the toilet, things being solid again, and wash. And then I fixed something similar to what I had made for lunch and ate it as dinner, along with a salad, sticking to the schedule, in the sense of finishing at 3:40 AM, though it was almost 3:15 AM when I started eating, after just “cheating” in order to be say that I took a first bite in my room before 3 AM. And then I made another tea and took it to my room and used cream on my feet.

I was wondering whether I’ll manage to sleep at all, but I caught a few naps, though they were pretty short, so I got a total of some two hours of sleep, I’d say, before Liza woke me again by going to the litter box, a little after 9:10 AM, and I decided to change and then read for a while, until some time after dad also got up. And then I cleaned the litter box, exchanged a few words with him, washed a few things in the kitchen, and got on the computer, only changing back into pajamas and returning to bed at 11:40 AM. At least I then got four hours of sleep before getting up to pee, but after that I just managed another brief nap and then remained in bed for a long time, only getting up for good when it was past 5:15 PM, but despite being so awfully exhausted I kept finding myself fully awake again whenever I started to drift off. Either way, I then did the day’s squats, and just before 8:50 PM I went out again, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
I grabbed a few more recyclables and a carton on the way to Carrefour, though one recyclable was crushed and trying to use a stick to straighten it didn’t work, so I put the rest in the machine and then that one and two others which weren’t accepted either in a cabinet. And then I just cashed in the voucher and bought a cabbage, not finding the thing for dad which I had actually gone there for. And, after retrieving those recyclables, I continued to Kaufland with the cabbage in one hand and put everything in a cabinet, being unable to try the machines from there as well since they weren’t working, and I was rushing anyway. So I washed my hands and it was past 10:05 PM when I entered the store, not seeing anything interesting among the few things left in the bakery area or among the fruits and vegetables, though an employee was just moving two tall stacks of crates away, so much had been cleared by them, not bought by customers. Either way, at least I found two small pieces of processed meat products that had deep discounts, getting them for dad, mainly so going there won’t be a complete waste of time. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged a little, walked out right at 10:30 PM, and also checked that Mega Image, putting everything in a cabinet that didn’t lock and getting a few bakery products with the 50% discount before retrieving my things from the cabinet and grabbing some more recyclables and a carton on the way back. And I checked the nearby Mega Image as well, leaving my things next to the door and then just retrieving them.
I got back at 11:30 PM. Then, after cleaning the litter box and going to drop a bag of trash down the chute, I helped dad with something, which took quite a while. And then I straightened that recyclable, put the few purchases in their place, moved what dad had cooked into a jar and another pot, washed what was in the kitchen and cleaned up a little, ate lunch between 2 AM and 2:30 AM, and it was almost 2:50 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and shower with water that was below body temperature. I was done a little after 3:20 AM, and then I swept a little in the kitchen as well, rearranged some things in the fridge, moved something which I had split into two jars some time ago into a single one, and finally ate dinner between 4:55 AM and 5:40 AM. I got in bed at 7:05 AM.

Liza woke me by going to the litter box at one point, but I was barely aware of it, getting back to sleep pretty much instantly. Yet it wasn’t even 10:25 AM when dad got up and fed her, waking me again, at which point I changed, cleaned the litter box, and then got on the computer for a while, changing back to pajamas and getting back in bed at 11:40 AM. And it took me a while to get back to sleep, and I still woke up a couple of time after that, though at least I got back to sleep right away, until almost 4:20 PM, when I went to pee, after which I just sort of drifted in and out, so I caught at least a couple more naps by the time I got up for good, a little after 5:40 PM, but I couldn’t say how much more sleep I got during that time.

On the morning of August 13, I had a hard time falling asleep, and just when I was about to, or might have just drifted off, dad woke up coughing and went to the bathroom and also spat crap out. And the next time I was about to fall asleep, Liza started meowing. And then it seemed like my chances of sleeping were gone, so after trying for a while longer I cut my losses and read for close to an hour, getting back under the blanket just after 7:35 AM. And it still took me quite a while to fall asleep, but I eventually did, and then I did so right away after getting up to pee at one point. But at 10:40 AM I was woken up again as dad was getting ready to leave, so I stood around until he did, getting back in bed just before 11 AM, but setting the alarm to ring at noon, and since it once again took me a while to fall asleep, I just caught another pretty short nap. But I some more interest from state bonds became available that day, so I left at 2 PM to withdraw it, also taking the recyclables with the deposit symbol and grabbing some more, plus at least one carton, on the way to the Sector 3 Treasury.
After adding the bag with the recyclables and carton in the large backpack, I walked in just before 2:25 PM, withdrawing the money and then grabbing a couple more recyclables on the way to Kaufland, being left with two after using the machine, which became three by the time I put them and that large backpack in a cabinet. And then I washed my hands and bought what I had gone there for and some other things, needing to call over an employee to override the error when one of the spoiling kohlrabies wasn’t accepted by the self-checkout machine and then also using the voucher received for the recyclables. And then I initially left the purchases on that table where you can arrange them and dashed to retrieve what I had in the cabinet, to be able to put the heavier things in that backpack. And after washing my hands one more time I made my way to Decebal, entering with everything when I quickly checked that Profi, then putting the two recyclables picked up on the way in the machine from Penny, which didn’t accept those other two either, putting the bags in a cabinet that didn’t lock, entering with the large backpack, and getting some onions and an expiring mozzarella, also using the voucher received for the recyclables. And then I retrieved the bags from the cabinet and put them in one from that Mega Image, once again entering with the backpack and buying another expiring bio (organic) yogurt, at half price. Then I retrieved the bags, grabbed some more recyclables, left just the bag where I had some purchases on the cabinets while I checked this Carrefour Express, then put those new recyclables in the machine from the nearby Mega Image, those other two still not being accepted. And I left the bags next to the door while I bought an expiring sandwich for dad, at half price, using the voucher received for the recyclables to cover the entire amount and then retrieving the bags. And along the way I had added something to the cartons as well.
I got back a few minutes before 6 PM, with over 14 kg… And there was no hot water, and when I checked the site I saw that there was some scheduled work, so I knew that it won’t get any better and, after cleaning the litter box, putting most of the purchases in their place, and eating what was still usable out of a spoiling orange and an almond snack, I went to the bathroom, wasting some time on the toilet and then showering with cold water, at least managing to do so before the pressure dropped as well. So I only did the day’s squats after that, to warm up a little, then put the rest of the purchases in their place, ate lunch, with some expired bagels instead of bread, and late in the evening I managed to nap for about half an hour or so. And the spike in visits which had started a few days before, most probably caused by some scraper or AI that appears to use a different IP for each visit, led to new records for recorded visits and visitors, 245 each, though the latter is quite obviously false… And in fact nearly all of it is quite clearly false, since it’s not a matter of actual people visiting. But I’ll consider these to be the new records anyway.

After getting right back to sleep after the two times I got up to pee, I think I even caught another very brief nap after Liza woke me by going to the litter box, before waking up again as dad was getting ready to leave, a little after 11:20 AM. And then I changed, cleaned the litter box, went to the toilet after dad left, and then spent some more time on the computer, so it was past 1:30 PM when I changed changing back into pajamas and got back in bed… And I was either about to fall asleep or had just done so when I got woken up by a scam call, so I then needed some more time to actually get back to sleep. And if I initially only stayed asleep for a little over an hour before getting up to pee again, that was actually more than what followed, since after that I kept waking up at shorter intervals, even if I also kept getting back to sleep quickly. Still, by the time I got up for good, close to 5:45 PM, I must have gotten a total of seven and a half hours, perhaps even up to eight. And in the evening I spent almost another hour in bed, adding half an hour or so of sleep.

The following day, I went to pee and got right back to sleep after the first two times I woke up, but on the latter occasion I only got a few minutes before the fridge started again and cracked as the temperature changed, waking me once more, at which point I decided to check something on the computer, only getting back in bed after half an hour. And after the next time I woke up I decided to read for quite a while, continuing to do so after another nap, since I wanted to finish the book that day… Which I did in the evening, and then I also wrote the quick review, though I didn’t finish it before midnight, so I initially posted an incomplete form and edited it in order to add the rest a little later. And part of the reason for that was that something seemed to have messed up on my computer, though in the end I don’t know if it messed up or I did without realizing it, the latter option obviously being preferred.

On August 16, I got right back to sleep after getting up to pee a little after 7 AM, but when I got woken up again as dad was getting ready to leave, just after 9:20 AM, I changed and got up to clean the litter box, and then I stayed on the computer until dad left, changing back and returning to bed just after 10:10 AM. But then I could sleep well, getting right back to it after the one time I got up to pee again and only getting up for good just after 3:40 PM. And then I ate lunch, posted something, and left at 6:40 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
The first destination was a Profi Super, since those are supposed to have all the products and I saw that the brand of mosquito spray that mom asked me to look for was discounted at Profi, but on the way there I also had a look in that one where I can’t cash in the voucher received for recyclables. But this smaller store didn’t seem to have any bug sprays, and the larger one had a good price for the regular size, but none of the larger size, so I just looked around for a while, having entered with the recyclables, and then I made my way to Kaufland.
After getting there, I put the recyclables, which by then included some more picked up on the way and yet more which had been left around there, in the machine. Since some weren’t accepted and I thought that some of them should be, and around the machine I had also found a crushed bottle which had the symbol and one of the same size that didn’t, I then moved that label to that other bottle and put that in as well, and also tried those remaining recyclables at the other machine, one of them being accepted, so I ended up with two more vouchers. And then I put the remaining recyclables in a cabinet, washed my hands and face, since when I had removed the cap from one of the found Coca Cola bottles that wasn’t quite empty I got sprayed a little, and it was almost 8:05 PM when I entered the store, getting a few cheap buns at half price and a bread that had no evening discount but had a regular discount those days. And then I made use of evening discounts for a bundle of green onions and some packaged radishes. I had initially taken a handful of Moldovan plums as well, but they were pretty bad and, after making my way to the self-checkout after the closing announcement, I ended up leaving them there, though that meant that I couldn’t use the larger voucher, so I used the other two and cashed in that one.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet, I continued to Carrefour, managing to put two of the recyclables which hadn’t been accepted at Kaufland in the machine from there and then going to the information desk to cash in two which hadn’t been accepted there either. And then I put my things in a cabinet and bought some things for my parents and two of those really nice high-protein yogurts for myself… And as I was looking for something else for mother, a guy asked whether I knew English and then talked awfully quickly, saying that he was from Ukraine and won’t ask me for money but just for some food… Which was awfully similar to what happened in January of 2025. Either way, once I figured out what he wanted, I turned my back and asked him to not beg in there. On the other hand, I also meant to get another watermelon, since they were particularly cheap, but they were also particularly large and few of them seemed good, so I eventually gave up on the regular ones… And then also on the bio (organic) ones, though the price those had those days had made me interested and I had initially picked one. Either way, at the end I added an expiring product, at half price, and then I also used the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet and arranging things a little, I grabbed a couple more recyclables, washed my hands again, and continued to that Mega Image, wanting to lock the cabinet that I put my things in but finding that the lock only worked when the door was open, so I even asked the guard if it was going to work and, after asking whether I had put in a coin and I showed him, he said that they’re just messed up. So I left it unlocked, took two bakery products that had the 50% evening discount, and once the cart was brought I added a whole lot of products that had the 90% discount… Which included something that was similar to what I had bought at half price from Carrefour, and there was one more of those things there, so I shouldn’t have bought that one, not that I could have known that.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet and walking out, I spread everything on a bench and arranged the purchases, most of them going in the large backpack. But when I passed by that non-stop Shop & Go on the way back, I decided to have a look at the watermelons from there as well, since those also had a nice discount until that day and they looked promising when I glanced at them from the window. And I did find one that seemed good, so I bought it, entering with everything but leaving the bags around the watermelons until I made the purchase, and then struggling to carry that watermelon in my hands until I reached a bench and could once again spread everything out and add it at the bottom of the large backpack, rearranging everything else around it. And a guy was sitting on a nearby bench as I did that and, while he looked like he might have been stoned, he also seemed homeless, and the behavior might have been due to some mental illness, so I left one of the products purchased with the 90% discount, which I had actually bought just in case I’ll find a homeless person to give it to, next to him before walking away. And then I grabbed a few more recyclables and a carton, and also checked the nearby Mega Image, leaving the bags close to the door, entering with the backpack, and buying one more thing that had a regular discount those days before retrieving the bags.
I was at the door at 11:45 PM, having carried almost 16 kg. And then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, ate an orange, moved something into a jar for dad, put the purchases in their place, and it was 1:35 AM when I went to take a shower that, just like last August, was with actual cold water, since what came out of the hot water pipe might have had just a few degrees more because those pipes are insulated, but it had very low pressure and was rather brown. I was done a little after 1:50 AM, and then I did the day’s squats, to warm up a little, put together something sweet and ate it, took another one of those immunity supplements expired in October, washed what was in the kitchen, dealt with my bread, and ate dinner between 4:20 AM and 5 AM. And that likely bot traffic took the new records to 516 pageviews and 509 visits and visitors. Either way, I got in bed at 6:50 AM, after noticing what’s quite clearly another bug bite on my leg and putting some medicinal alcohol on it… And feeling something in my chest.

After getting right back to sleep after waking up to pee at one point, at 10:25 AM I got woken up again as dad was getting ready to leave and got up, exchanging a few words with him and then getting on the computer until he left. I got back in bed at 11:30 AM, but it took me a while to get back to sleep, and then I woke up multiple times, at decreasing intervals, and on a couple of occasions I didn’t get right back to sleep either. Still, by the time I got up for good, several minutes after 5 PM, I should have gotten a total of at least six and a half hours of sleep, and maybe even just about seven. And then I had lunch and went out again, leaving at 7:20 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
I gathered some more recyclables on the way to Auchan, and found yet more left around the machines from there, managing to put all of them in, though those which had been left there took some time and effort. And, after washing my hands, I spotted one more, so I put it in a cabinet and, after using a self-checkout to confirm that the discount that should apply for all of that brand doesn’t apply for the larger bug sprays of the kind mother asked me to look for, I bought some tea, liquid soap, and several bio (organic) eggs found among those sold by piece, since that place is the only one that I know of that still sells eggs by piece and I spent quite some time searching through several cartons for those. Unfortunately, the two whole wheat breads that were left had already been sliced, and I wonder if that’d have still been the case if I’d have gone straight to the bakery area instead of entering from the other end and taking so long to get there. Either way, I also used the voucher received for the recyclables, then arranged the purchases, retrieved that recyclable from the cabinet, and continued to that Penny, putting my things into a cabinet that didn’t lock and getting a handful of onions and some expiring chicken legs.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet and adding the new purchases, I rushed to Kaufland, though I still grabbed a few recyclables and a carton. But none of the machines from there worked, so I put everything in a cabinet, washed my hands, probably just with water, since nothing seemed to be coming out of the soap dispensers and I was in a hurry, and entered the store when it was already past 10:10 PM. And then I grabbed some bakery products, most being discounted by 60%, just one nicer bun by more, made use of good evening discounts for a few small beets and a handful of peaches, rushed to get some more of the cheese that was on sale those days, and after the closing announcement I made my way to the self-checkouts, though just before getting there I also grabbed an expiring high-protein bar that was at half price. And then I had to call over an employee when the bag with some of the bakery products wasn’t accepted, being asked to open it so she could check it without touching it, since she had been cleaning. But, after she logged on to override the error, I saw that if I’d grab one more of those high-protein bars the total would be just over the value of a voucher which I had received for doing an awfully long and detailed survey, and there were a couple more in that basket, so I dashed to grab another and then used that voucher. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, left through the emergency exit, and spread everything out on a table and arranged properly, walking away at 10:45 PM.
Before actually making my way back, I made a detour to another Profi, putting my things in a cabinet that didn’t lock, looking around for a while, and then buying an expiring product, at half price, before retrieving everything… And putting all of those things into two cabinets when I reached that non-stop Mega Image, only locking one of them, since I only had one 0.50 RON coin left. But I didn’t find anything to get from there, so I just retrieved my things and made my way back, grabbing a few more recyclables, including one that had no label but which seemed right for a label that I had, and another carton.
I got back a few minutes after midnight. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute… And noticed that what came out of the hot water pipe was clear, had normal pressure, and was even noticeably less cold than what came out of the cold water pipe, and when I checked the site I saw that it said that they were in the process of switching heating plants. So I didn’t need to rush to take another really cold shower before losing courage and took my time to put the purchases in their place and eat a peach, an orange, and a sweet pastry, so it was almost 1:45 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and shower with water that, while still well below skin temperature, was relatively tolerable for a quick shower when the ambient temperature was also all right. Either way, I was done at 2:15 AM, and then I did the day’s squats, eventually ate dinner between 4:20 AM and 5:20 AM, and got in bed at 6:50 AM. And I’ll also mention that I set the boxers which I had worn to be thrown away, these being the first ones that I’m throwing away ever since switching to boxers. On the other hand, the middle button of my mouse was double clicking really often.

I had an increasingly difficult time staying asleep after getting up to pee, not long after 10 AM, so I was still mostly asleep, but I seemed to be waking up at ever shorter intervals, though I only checked the time again at 1:47 PM, when I decided to pee again, just in case it’d help… But it didn’t, and in fact I think I only caught a few brief naps by the time I got up, several minutes after 3:30 PM, though what I dreamed during those naps and what I was thinking about while awake made it next to impossible to really know when I was awake and when I was asleep… And then I found that there was no gas, and there was an e-mail from dad saying that leaks had been found in this building and the next one and they were turned off, with somebody supposed to come and fix things the following day. So my plan of cooking something, mainly in order to make use of the bio (organic) milk which had expired, and possibly of two other expired products, went out the window. But I ended up drinking almost all of that milk instead of tea, heating it in the microwave. And in the evening I wrote the review for Heartlight and then spent another hour or so in bed, sleeping for part of it.

The original release was apparently back in 1991, for the Atari 8-bit and in Polish, with DOS and English releases following after that and a freeware release coming in 2006, but I first heard of Heartlight when it was recently added on GOG.com and the reason why it caught my attention and I decided to play it pretty quickly is that it reminded me of Supaplex but seemed much simpler, so I wondered whether I could actually finish it, which I never had any chance of doing in case of Supaplex, be it way back when I first played it or when I found it on an old HDD while living with Andra and had another go. And yes, I did finish it, and in just a week.

The thing is that Heartlight may seem too simple if you’re comparing it to something like Supaplex. It can still be played by multiple people, storing the progress of up to three players, but each level is confined to a single screen, consisting of a grid with a width of 20 and a height of 12, and it features no moving or timed elements, nothing that can be picked up and dropped off later, no special conditions like the gravity from some Supaplex levels, and the only components are three kinds of walls, one of them indestructible, rocks, bombs, grass, empty space, one-way tunnels that may go left or right but not up or down, the hearts, all of which must be collected before the exit opens, and balloons, which may be seen as the one more interesting feature, since they rise instead of falling if there’s empty space, though they don’t also slide off the edge of brick walls like rocks, hearts or bombs do. And the first half of the levels are indeed very simple, so much so that I just went through them on the first day, without really feeling that I was doing much of anything and beginning to think that it might overstay its welcome by the time I’ll finish all of the 71 levels of the GOG.com version.
Since I mentioned that, I should also say that this version has one more level added after the 70 that I gather are included in the regular freeware release, but I see that the full original game, including the English DOS version, had 64 levels, so six more were added at some point along the way, and some might have also been changed. But that’s very easy to do, all of the levels being stored in LEVELS.HL, which is a plain text file that includes the list of characters to use for each of the available elements, so anyone can add, remove or modify levels at will, that file essentially functioning as a level editor… Or a cheat mode. But no, in case you’re wondering, I didn’t make any use of it. And I also didn’t make use of the fact that you can do levels in any order you choose, just checking that the function worked and I could go back and forth but then sticking to the intended order.
Either way, things do change once you pass the halfway mark, levels suddenly requiring some thinking and/or timing. That sudden difficulty spike was quite jarring at first, but it’s actually just what’s needed to rekindle interest after so many easy levels, and when I got back to it the following day I could get through this “second tier” of levels just as well. Yet that was no longer the case after things changed again, with 15 levels to go, some of the levels from this “third tier” starting to feel too hard and yet insufficiently rewarding when completed, the one that basically requires a series of perfectly timed moves being the worst culprit. But at least that one is very brief, consisting solely of those moves, so if you fail it’ll be in mere seconds and then you can try again… Which I did too many times to count, until it finally worked, though I really couldn’t say just how. However, I’d consider that level the hurdle you need to pass to access the “fourth tier”, which begins right after it and lasts until level 70, and those levels are clearly the best, requiring a surprising amount of thinking and careful planning for something that appears to be so simple and making you feel quite clever once you figure them out. Or at least that’s how I felt when I did.
That additional GOG level added as the 71st makes for an underwhelming ending, probably belonging in the “second tier” in itself, but it’s the actual ending of the game itself that’s awfully underwhelming… Because it simply doesn’t exist. Since there is a little bit of story for the beginning, I expected something at the end as well, or at the very least some sort of signal that you did complete the game, and yet there’s absolutely nothing! You can see at the bottom that 71/71 levels are completed and the level icon is crossed out on every level, marking it as completed, but you just find yourself back at level one and that’s it, you need to manually exit to the main menu to see 71 next to your player number and be content with that, I guess.
Other than that, however, the game’s one notable problem are the sluggish controls. I didn’t look deeper into it, but I’m thinking that the character only moves on a tick, so you may react in time but find that the character doesn’t. That obviously leads to a fair amount of frustration when there are timing puzzles, especially when they’re towards the end of a level or when multiple perfectly timed moves in a row are required, as in the case of that one level that I already mentioned. Still, those timing puzzles are a relatively small part of the game as a whole, so most of the time this issue is something that you may notice but aren’t actually hindered by. And I’ll also mention that some may notice that the music just consists of one short track that repeats over and over, but I for one found that it did its job surprisingly well and never felt tedious, and you can turn it off if it does bother you.

Overall, Heartlight is an old game and its limitations and sluggish controls show it, but it also still stands up surprisingly well and is quite enjoyable if you like this sort of games. The first half of the levels being all too easy may lead to some boredom by the time you get through them, and one later level is particularly frustrating, but you can do levels in any order if you get stuck or bored and most of those from the second half are quite interesting, and the final ones particularly so, making you feel quite clever once you figure them out. And you should hold on to that feeling, because the game doesn’t even bother to let you know that you completed it after you finish everything…

I already expressed my disappointment, to put it mildly, with the direction Formula 1 is set to take in 2027 and 2028, but let’s see how Formula E will fare as of next season, since today’s race marked the end of the “current era”, using GEN3 Evo cars. The next season, set to begin in December, will feature GEN4 cars, which are supposed to be way more powerful. However, I’m thinking that GEN3 was more of an improvement when it was introduced, because GEN4 is larger and heavier and doesn’t regenerate that much more energy, so I’m thinking that those high power values will only be available relatively briefly, and the lap times won’t drop all that much. Plus that larger and heavier cars are also harder to handle, and tend to make for more difficult overtaking, especially on narrow street circuits.
Admittedly, actual circuits are making their way into the calendar, which will make a difference, but the most obvious admission of the limitations of GEN4 is the fact that double-header race weekends will no longer feature two “proper” races, but one “proper” race and a shorter sprint race, and I wonder if the “proper” races won’t be shorter than the current ones as well. And, while those shorter races will indeed show off more of the raw power of GEN4 cars, they’re going in the opposite direction when it comes to promoting electric vehicles for regular use. Not that still seeing personal vehicles as the norm isn’t a serious problem either way, but for the time being electric ones are a lesser evil, all things considered, and battery life usually tends to remain the primary concern… At least after the price.
Still, the racing itself has always been exciting in Formula E, and today’s race proved that yet again, so I hope that the larger and heavier cars won’t have a noticeable negative impact on that. And it also remains to be seen what the few team changes and, at least at this point, apparently many driver changes will bring. One thing that’s certain is that, after having taken part in every single Formula E race so far, Lucas di Grassi is retiring, and that may be considered another end of an era in itself. And Sebastien Buemi, who had also participated in all seasons, albeit missing a few races, will also be out, though in his case the problem is the fact that the more crowded Formula E season will result in more clashes with FIA WEC, where he also competes, and he obviously had to make a choice. But neither of them have been at the top for quite a while, so it’ll be noticeable in terms of names, but perhaps not that much in terms of results.

Nine years after reading The Riftwar Saga, I feared that I’ll be at a loss, remembering so few specifics that I wondered what “mind-boggling” and “audaciously ambitious” scope and setting I was referring to in the quick review for A Darkness at Sethanon. However, Daughter of the Empire takes place entirely on Kelewan and stands completely on its own… And, with the exception of one moment from the end, it might as well take place in Feudal Japan, just with some strange animals… And even stranger natives, though the cho-ja are pretty much brushed aside after that one chapter. But the worldbuilding is actually decent, albeit with a narrow focus and mainly when it comes to traditions, rituals, ceremonies, and detailed descriptions. And I also appreciated the fact that the early part of the marriage, which would have otherwise been infuriating, was largely skipped over.
On that note, Bunto ends up little more than a caricature that’s far too easy to manipulate, and Bruli is even worse. But things play too much into Mara’s hands in general, and while she does expertly make use of any shred of an opportunity, I had the feeling that the authors were more interested in finding ways that would lead her to her goals instead of the ways in which she could carve her way there. And there’s also the fact that, until the actually quite exciting part taking place towards the end, there are only a couple of other tense moments, the rest being mainly a matter of politics, of playing the Game of the Council from a distance… Which isn’t necessarily bad in itself, but just not what I expected.

Rating: 3/5

On July 23, I always got right back to sleep after waking up, also going to pee the first three times, the last of those being just after 1 PM. And that remained the case during the last hour, even if I woke up a couple more times and was once again awake and just about to check the time again when the alarm rang, at 2 PM. So I got up and had the usual stuff, both the yogurt and the apple being bio (organic). The yogurt had just expired, the almonds had done so at the end of June, and the apple was imported and had started to spoil, so I had to remove a fair part of it and it was small to begin with. And those two nicer biscuits that I once again had as the sweet thing were, of course, expired since the end of 2025, just the honey added on them being fine, since that doesn’t expire. And, after cleaning the litter box, it was 4:15 PM when I left, wearing the full running gear and one armband. The reported temperature at that point was 22°C at the station inside the city and 25°C at the other two, converging to 23-24°C in all three by the time I finished.
The time was 1:18:30, with sector times of 4:27.11, 5:03.71, 5:58 (5:57.66), 4:32.16, 5:07 (5:06.47), 5:59.37, 4:33 (4:32.97), 5:08.31, 6:09 (6:08.75), 4:40 (4:39.69), 5:19 (5:18.81), 6:07, 4:29, 5:10 and 5:49, making for lap times of 15:28.48, 15:38.00, 15:50.03, 16:06 and 15:28. I once again checked the exact times for as long as they were displayed, but what matters is that I initially wondered whether I might get under 1:18, thinking that I needed 15:20 on the first lap if I was to have any chance of that. And I was far from it, so I switched straight to wanting to at least make sure that I’ll stay under 1:20, and after a lap two that was all right from that point of view, I wanted to stay under 16 minutes on lap three as well, to be sure that I’ll have enough of a buffer in case there will be any issues. And I managed that, but sector three of lap three showed that I was tiring, and the first two sectors of lap four made it even clearer. Yet that buffer which I had built meant that I could aim to get under 1:19 if there won’t be problems, so I did, pushing more on sector three of lap four and really going for it on lap five, initially just wanting to know that I tried but doubting that I could make it until the first sector gave me real hope. And after the second I was almost certain that I’ll make it, and after really giving everything I had left on the last sector, which ended up being the fastest sector three of the day, and the lap ending up matching the first lap, I was slightly disappointed that I had exactly 1:18:30 and hadn’t managed to squeeze under that time as well, especially after possibly losing a second at the end, when I didn’t quite get the steps right. Still, it’s the best time over this distance since April.
I slowed to wait for a way through a roadblock on sector one of lap two, while on sector one of lap four, under the bridge, I got startled and hesitated when a guy jumped just as I was about to pass by him. And there were two more moments when I hesitated on the following sector, while on sector three of lap four I slowed when a pigeon couldn’t decide what to do when it saw me coming and stayed right in my way. As for physical issues, at first it felt like the corners of a nail were jabbing into the toe, but that sensation went away pretty soon, and there was no blood, and the warnings from that knee only got more notable from sector one of lap four. When a certain pressing need also appeared and became quite concerning on the following sector, I was getting worried, but at least that feeling faded after that. The knee didn’t get better, on the other hand, in fact getting worse from sector two of lap five, and everything below it also started to give warnings from that point.

After grabbing the packaging of some snacks with a code that can be entered in a contest on the way back, I ate a lot of watermelon, went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, did the day’s squats, ate lunch, in the form of some slices brought by dad that made up almost an entire pizza, also ate some of the ice cream made by mother, eventually went to pay the maintenance bill, munched on a large bag of corn puffs, and otherwise had a pretty normal evening and night, the three matches making me not go out again.

After needing some time to fall asleep, the sound of mowing coming from behind the building woke me up at some point, probably around 8:30 AM, since I stayed in bed for a while longer before checking the time, seeing 8:41 AM, and going to pee. And the noise stopped a little after that, so I wondered if it’d be like the previous time and tried to get back to sleep, but eventually the noise started again and after waiting a while longer I got up just before 9:30 AM, changed, and got on the computer, though dad also got up after a few minutes, so I eventually cleaned the litter box again before he left, and also stuffed a large load of laundry in the machine and started it. And after managing to hang everything to dry, I changed back into my pajamas and got back in bed at 1:05 PM… But I didn’t get much more sleep. I must have gotten about an hour and a half before waking up the first time, I was fully awake for well over half an hour before getting up for good, at 5:25 PM, and in the almost two hours in between I’m not even absolutely sure that I got back to sleep at all. It seems very likely that I did a few times, but only very briefly, the storm and the noises from upstairs definitely not helping. Either way, after doing the day’s squats and eating lunch, I went out at 9 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and the cartons, picking up another carton on the way to that Mega Image that’s next to Tei, trying to put that recyclable that wasn’t being accepted in the regular machine from there as well, still without success, and then putting the cartons in that machine from there that accepts those, splitting them on two vouchers.
I picked up a few more recyclables on the way to Kaufland and used two machines from there, struggling to get the first one, which kept saying that the recyclables weren’t empty, to accept a few before moving to another, which easily accepted the rest, except that one that I was still left with, so I got two vouchers from there as well. And then I put the bag with that remaining recyclable in a cabinet that didn’t lock but at least seemed to, the handle turning freely, washed my hands, entered the store just before 9:50 PM… And there’s no point in saying what I meant to buy, calculating the total in order to exceed the minimum required for the voucher received during their last campaign that doubled the deposit to apply, because it didn’t. So I was at the self-checkout when the closing announcement came and remained there for a while longer, asking for help and having an employee who was just passing by say that there had been problems with those vouchers all week and I should call their support line, which obviously wasn’t an option at that hour. And the one who tried to help asked to see my phone, but I could just show her that picture of the QR code and say that I had activated the voucher on-line. So I told her to just cancel everything and I moved over to another machine and only bought a lettuce and some beets, both having evening discounts, a pack of supposedly spoiling tomatoes that looked quite fine, and an oat bar that had a deep discount because it was crushed, not expiring, needing to enter the code for the store card, since it wouldn’t scan on that machine, and also using the vouchers received for the recyclables. And, after retrieving what I had in the cabinet, I made my way back, picking up a few more recyclables, quickly checking the Mega Image that closes at 11 PM, entering with everything, and wasting some time in the one that’s next to Tei, putting my things in a cabinet but eventually just retrieving them and walking out.
I got back at 11:45 PM and, after eating an orange and a sweet pastry, it was almost 12:55 AM when I went to wash, being done just under half an hour later. But then I spent some time on the computer and cut my toe nails, only going back to the kitchen at 1:55 AM. And then I also put the few purchases in their place and washed a few things… At which point my smaller opal plate slipped from my hands and crashed into the edge or side of the glass baking tray, which was in the sink, though neither seemed chipped or cracked. Either way, I somehow still managed to stick to the dinner schedule, even if by “cheating” in order to be able to say that I took a first bite in my room before 3 AM. And after dinner I sent a message about the problem to Kaufland.

After getting right back to sleep after waking up to pee at one point, the second time I woke up I ended up staying awake for a while before deciding to pee again, just in case, but that was just before 11 AM and it was almost 11:40 AM when I decided to stop wasting time and got on the computer, only getting back in bed at 1:15 PM. And it still took me a while before getting back to sleep, but I eventually did, waking up again I think at 3:35 PM, peeing once more, and then once again needing some time before I caught another brief nap, before dad called, at 4:13 PM, though I’m not quite certain that the call actually woke me, since I might have just woken up again on my own. Either way, I decided to get up after that.

On July 26, I heard dad coughing and think that he might have gone to the bathroom just before I got up to pee for the second time, a few minutes after 9:30 AM, so that might have actually woken me up, but he was back in the bedroom at that point… Only to get up and feed Liza just as I got back in bed, yet I think I actually managed to fall asleep again before Liza scraping around in the litter box woke me back up, just after 9:45 AM, and I changed and cleaned the litter box, getting on the computer right at 10 AM. And after dad left I took care of some things in the kitchen, changed back into the pajamas, scheduled the placeholder for the post about the Dream Trek to show up at 11:59 PM, peed again, and got back in bed at 11 AM, getting back to sleep after a little while and doing so again even faster after waking up at 12:55 PM and peeing again. But I was awake once again before the alarm rang, at 1:55 PM, and I got up to watch the Formula E race. And then I ate lunch, did the day’s squats, and went out a few minutes after 6:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
After getting cat food from Penny, entering with the recyclables and not commenting when I received 0.10 RON less as change, I put that cat food in the backpack and continued to Kaufland, where I put the recyclables, including the few more picked up by then and one which had been left there, in the machine, splitting them on two vouchers and being left with that one that still wasn’t accepted and two others picked up from there which were also rejected. And I had also grabbed a label from a crushed recyclable on the way. Either way, I then put my things in a cabinet and washed my hands, and it was almost 7:40 PM when I entered the store, making use of good evening discounts for a couple of pastries, carrots, another handful of small beets, and two yellow tomatoes that I recovered from the stack of crates of products that were already taken away by the time I got back there. And I took a bag of bio (organic) lemons as well, those also having a discount. Then I also got cheese… And when I calculated the total, I found that it was exactly 50.00 RON. But I needed at least 1 RON more to be able to try to use that voucher again, so I added three of those cheap yogurts, which also allowed me to use one of the vouchers received for the recyclables, doing so after just starting to use the self-checkout when the closing announcement came and then needing to call over an employee in order to override the error when the machine didn’t accept those sweet pastries. And she really checked them, but eventually she did override it. And, most importantly, that 50 RON voucher did apply that time.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet and arranging the purchases, I made my way to that Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, picking up another recyclable by the time I got there, a few minutes before 9 PM, putting the bags in a cabinet, entering with the backpack, and buying a product that ended up being discounted by 93%, since I had the pleasant surprise of an additional 30% discount applying at checkout, and two sweet pastries that had the 50% evening discount. And I also used that voucher which had been left in the recycling machine from the nearby Mega Image a week earlier. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, added the new purchases, and on the way back I picked up a few more recyclables and quickly checked Profi, Carrefour Express and the nearby Mega Image, trying to put that recyclable in the machine from Carrefour Express as well, still without success, but holding on to the rest, and seeing that the bakery discounts weren’t just made in the nearby Mega Image, but made so early. And at some point I grabbed a carton as well, but that was probably earlier in the evening.
I got back just after 9:45 PM, and after cleaning the litter box and going to drop what I had gathered down the chute, I grabbed a bag with several recyclables from the garbage room and told dad that a whole lot of jars that seemed to mostly contain jams were in another bag, and he said that he’d take a look at them. And I wanted to just keep the recyclables and go back to throw away the bag they had been in anyway, so I went and took those jars as well, including two from another bag and the carton of vegan “milk” expired for a week that was also in the “main” bag. And the thing is that, with the exception of a jar of pickles which had obviously been opened and which I took back there, forgetting to take that carton as well when I did so, the rest really seemed sealed and looked just fine. And they appeared to be homemade jams and pickles that may be way better than anything purchased and nice to have, and a terrible waste to throw away, and they were quite nicely arranged in bags that looked particularly clean, so as if they were left there just so someone would take them and use them. But with only a couple having any labels, no way to figure out what most contained just by looking at them, and absolutely no way to know how they had been made and what was added in them, plus that they had been in the garbage room for a while, I said that I may eat all sorts of expired things, but I don’t want to touch those… Yet dad put them on the balcony and said that he’ll ask mother to look at them as well when he’ll bring her here again and then they’ll decide what to do. Either way, I then put the purchases in their place, ate a sweet pastry and watermelon, and went to wash at 11:45 PM, being done a little after 12:20 AM and then having a pretty normal night.

I got up to pee just before 8:55 AM, and soon after that Liza went to the litter box and dad got up, but I still managed to catch another nap, only deciding to change and get up a few minutes after 10 AM. And then I cleaned the litter box, talked to dad a little, and got on the computer… And later I decided to start Daughter of the Empire, only changing back into the pajamas and getting back in bed at 1 PM. And I did get back to sleep after a little while and slept until close to 3:30 PM, but I’m not sure how much I added after that, since after a first nap that might have been longer I started drifting in and out. Either way, I got up at 5:40 PM, ate lunch, did the day’s squats, and went out again, leaving a little after 8:20 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
Even if the time was going to be tight, I wanted to go to Obor, taking that slightly shorter route that crosses through the park… Only to find the path completely removed as part of the work that’s being done there, and while I made my way to the gate anyway, I found it locked. A guard was still there, and I asked whether I could walk out anyway, but he said that I couldn’t and that the way out was to the right. Yet the only possible way to still go through seemed to be through a playground that had gates on both sides and was in use, but the gates were closed and I didn’t want to try and perhaps find that I could enter but still not exit through the other side. So I kept going, the path taking me to the route to Mega Mall, and the time lost had made it clear that I couldn’t even try to go to Obor anyway, so I went there instead, picking up some more recyclables, one of them being really crushed and twisted but also made of thin and soft plastic, so I could straighten it, albeit using a stick to do it properly. And, with Kaufland again doubling the deposit for the vouchers used between July 24 and 30, I initially just crossed through that mall and used the machine from Kaufland for most of what I had, though what wasn’t accepted before still wasn’t, one which I had picked up and which had most of the bar code apparently burned away also wasn’t, and other people being there meant that I held on to the one which I had grabbed because I thought I had a label for it, not staying there to try to place it on it. And just as I moved on to the two recyclables which I had thrown in another bag, the machines stopped, so I held on to those as well and went to put what I had been left with in a cabinet and wash my hands.
I then returned to Mega Mall and went to Carrefour, at first using a self-checkout to see whether the 30% discount for the brand of toothpaste that I use stacked in case of one product that also had a regular discount, asking the employee to cancel the transaction when I unsurprisingly saw that it didn’t. But then I bought some other things I had gone there for and rushed back to Kaufland… Only to need some time to connect a cart that had the coin in it to another, which proved quite difficult, that probably being the reason why it had been left there like that. But I eventually managed it and got the coing, and then I added the new stuff in that cabinet, washed my hands again, and entered the store at 9:55 PM. The bakery area was just about cleared, the employee cleaning the trays and only some pretzels being left, but I bought a few things, making sure that I’ll be able to at least use the voucher received that day for those recyclables, even if I was still left with one of those received the previous day. And I’m not sure if anyone noticed, but at least nobody said anything about the handful of green onion tops which I had seen left scattered in a crate and grabbed, no green onions actually being left otherwise, and the total being below 10 RON, so I couldn’t try to ask for another one of those vouchers.
While I had even retrieved my things from the cabinet before the closing announcement, it came as I was arranging everything, which took a while and was actually rather pointless, since I meant to check that Mega Image as well, and the time lost there might have cost me the chance of finding more expiring products. But I also spent time putting more recyclables in the machine, one of them working again, so I ended up with no less than four more vouchers, since after putting in those two which I hadn’t been able to put in before and another one which I found left there, I saw that placing that label on that bottle which I had grabbed for it wasn’t going to work, so I left that bottle there but stepped aside to place another label on that one with the mostly burned one, and that did work. And then I noticed two more recyclables left there which worked, ending up with a separate voucher for each. And all of that meant that it was past 10:45 PM when I finally entered that Mega Image, putting my things into two cabinets that I didn’t lock. But I still found two products that were discounted by 90% and bought them, though I didn’t wait for the receipt, just retrieving what I had in those cabinets and then stopping at a bench to arrange everything properly. And on the way back I grabbed some more recyclables, plus a label that I thought was going to be difficult to use… Only to then also find a bottle that didn’t have one and was just right for it. And over the course of the evening I had grabbed several cartons as well. And I also had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image, leaving the bags next to the door, entering with the backpack, and then just retrieving the bags on my way out.
I got back a little after 11:40 PM… And after blowing my nose in the sink after using that nose spray, I felt something that turned out to be blood on my nose, coming from that mole that I have there. And I did think that I had injured it a little a while back and felt a tiny scab on it, actually trying to make the mental effort to stop myself from picking at it, just because I didn’t want to tear it away, but I must have done it at that point… Or at least I hope it was then, after I had washed my face, maybe when I wiped it, since I later spotted a few faint traces of blood on the towel as well. But there were a few obvious drops of blood, one of them large, on the shirt, making me wonder whether it hadn’t started bleeding before I got back and I had walked around like that. But what’s more important is for it to just be a little issue and not a sign of something worse going on there. Either way, while it initially seemed like it wasn’t going to, the bleeding stopped after I used some medicinal alcohol and then pressed on that spot for a few seconds the bleeding stopped. And then I washed those spots from that shirt, put the purchases in their place, ate a sweet pastry that I already had and the coconut pieces bought from that Mega Image, and it was just before 1:15 PM when I went to wash. And, despite being done at 1:45 PM and then even spending some time on the computer, only getting back to the kitchen a few minutes after 2 AM, I still somehow managed to finish dinner at 3:40 AM, even if I only actually started eating at 3:25 AM, after “cheating” in order to be able to say that I took a first bite in my room before 3 AM.

I woke up a number of times, on one occasion also opening a new bag of dry food for Liza and on another changing and cleaning the litter box before changing back, so it took me a while to get back to bed, especially on that second occasion, but I could always get back to sleep quickly after I did, until my parents got here and I got up, a little before 1:55 PM. And in the evening I caught another nap, so the total was pretty decent, the problem being that it was once again split in so many parts.

When I checked the system logs before going to bed on the morning of July 29, I saw that explorer.exe had crashed, probably just when I had opened Edge to check Facebook, judging by the time, and that was after another application crash, for some AMD component, a day earlier, close to the same time, both for access violations. But that component had crashed in that manner before, so I shrugged it off. Yet in this case, while I hadn’t noticed anything at the time of the crash, there was a missing notification icon, so I decided to reboot and then had a look at things, ending up actually getting in bed at 5:30 AM. But I couldn’t sleep, thinking that something might actually be wrong, yet I refused to check anything again, trying to just force myself to ignore it until I finally did fall asleep. But I did check when I got up to pee, at 7:40 AM, being more relieved when there was nothing else in logs, so I quickly got back to sleep, which was also the case the next time I got up to pee. And then I only woke up again at 1:58 PM, and with the alarm being set to ring at 2 PM, I turned it off and got up, having the usual stuff, both the yogurt and the apple being bio (organic), though the apple was imported. And the sweet thing consisted of two more of those nicer biscuits that expired long ago, with more than the usual amount of added honey. And, after also drinking most of the tea, I left just before 4:25 PM, wearing the full running gear, but with the t-shirt from this year’s half marathon, since it’s a lighter color and may also allow better ventilation, and one armband. The reported temperature was 30-31°C, holding steady.
The time was 1:44:53, with sector times of 4:27, 5:05, 5:57, 4:28, 5:03, 5:52, 4:34, 5:05, 5:54, 4:35, 5:15, 6:03, 4:40, 5:15, 6:12, 4:43, 5:21, 6:12, 1:57, 6:21 and 1:54, making for lap times of 15:29, 15:23, 15:33, 15:53, 16:07 and 16:16, plus 10:12 for the final portion. While getting under 1:48 seemed to be the realistic target, I did consider the possibility of getting under 1:45, started pretty strong, and after the first two sectors I thought that covering the first lap in less than 15:30 meant that I may just have a chance. And the exact time of 15:29.92 meant that less than a tenth made me hope, probably making all the difference. And then I aimed for the same time on lap two but was actually faster. Then the target became 15:40 for lap three, and the first sector was concerning, but I pushed enough on the next two to make up for it. I wasn’t going to be able to keep that up, however, so the ideal targets were 15:50 for lap four and 16:00 for lap five, to allow for up to 16:30 on lap six and 10:15 on the final portion, yet the first two sectors of lap four weren’t promising and I couldn’t quite make up for them on the third. And sector one of lap five made also going over that lap’s target very likely, which proved to be the case. So I had to keep the loss of time well in check from then on, needing no more than 16:20 on lap six to have any chance, and that was doubtful after the first two sectors. Yet that time I did manage to do enough on the third, and while it required pushing quite a lot, I had hope, and after the first sector of the final portion even some confidence… Which almost cost me, the following sector being slower than I thought. Yet it was just enough to even allow for two minutes on the last one, and in the end it was the first time I got under 1:45 since May of 2025, when I was a second faster.
I expected the heat to affect me far worse, yet what I made more of a note of were the couple of serious gusts that I had to fight against on sector three of lap two, otherwise the wind probably being just enough to generate a little cooling effect without becoming a problem in itself. I did feel out of it at the start of lap six, even my heart giving a couple of warnings, but the feeling went away after that, and the main cause was probably the sheer effort, my legs getting heavy by the end of the lap. And in fact my hands actually started tingling even before the end of lap three, the feeling gradually going up my arms after that, though it was faint. Otherwise, some pain radiated from my back early on, I think actually on lap one, maybe on sector two, but it faded after that. And the pressing need that occasionally appeared faded quickly away each time and seemed to be mostly caused by gas. As for that knee, it just gave some occasional faint warnings.
In terms of problems caused by people, the first three laps were quite fine, the first notable problem being on sector one of lap four, when I hesitated and then slowed and went very wide because a group of kids were playing at the fountain and fanning out to avoid getting splashed. And on sector one of lap five I hesitated again after hitting a girl’s watch with my hand as I squeezed through a roadblock. And I know that there was a moment when I hesitated on sector one of lap six as well, but by the end of the run I had already forgotten the reason. And then there was the moment when I put a foot off the path, albeit on the inside of a turn, and probably also slowed a little, when a group came from the opposite direction, on scooters. I’m pretty sure that it was on what’s normally sector three and I think it was on sector three of lap six, but since sector two of the final portion is that same area, there is a chance that it might have actually been then. On the other hand, it was definitely at the end of sector two of the final portion when I wondered whether the same group had turned around when I heard multiple scooters coming from behind and probably slowed a little and held direction so I won’t get in their way, which might have cost me a little bit of time at the start of the final sector as well. And at the end of the sector I finished around the center of the gate instead of on the right, as I usually do, because a family was just entering on that side, though I couldn’t really say whether that caused me to gain or lose a little bit, or if it had any effect at all.

After grabbing two recyclables and a carton, when I got back I noticed that the left shoelace was quite loose, so I guess that it held just long enough. Either way, I then cleaned the litter box, changed, and left again at 7:20 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and a bag of trash that I dropped down the chute. And I picked up a few more recyclables and a carton on the way to Kaufland, putting the recyclables in the machine from there and splitting them on two vouchers, though those which hadn’t been accepted before were still refused and I put the bag with what I was left with in a cabinet before washing my hands and entering the store when it was past 8:05 PM. That meant that there was no way to get back at 8:30 PM, to catch all of the match, so I took it easier, grabbing a lot of deeply discounted pieces of processed meat products for my parents, adding some packaged tomatoes that were also deeply discounted even though just a few of them were spoiling, and rewarding myself with a portokalopita, which was at half price. There were a lot of them, so they might have gotten even cheaper before closing, but I couldn’t wait that long and they expired on the 31st anyway, so I made my way to the self-checkouts… And while waiting in line I turned over the box with the portokalopita again, to have another look at the label, and some of the syrup dripped on me, so after using all of the vouchers received for recyclables that I had, including those I had been left with from before, retrieving what I had in the cabinet, and arranging things a little, I quickly washed those areas of my shirt and pants. And on the way back I grabbed two more recyclables.
It was almost 9:15 PM when I got back, just in time for the end of the first half of the match, so it may be said that I caught the good part. And I ate a whole lot of watermelon and the portokalopita, put the other purchases in their place, and after the match, at 10:40 PM, I went out again, mainly to look for more recyclables, since Kaufland’s campaign was ending the following day and I still needed quite a lot. But I decided to do so while making my way to the Mega Image that’s next to Tei… And I was close to getting there when I noticed a guy lying on the street, so I went to see whether he needed help, realizing that he was drunk even though he initially denied it and said that the treatment he was on had caused his legs to stop responding. Still, I asked where he lived and when he said that it was just in the building that was a few meters away and that he’ll manage to get there if he could just stand again, I tried to lift him. But there was no way to do that, and he did say that he weighed over 90 kg, so I was pretty much at a loss, and that was when he cursed the vodka that he had drank, therefore admitting what I already knew. Yet things did get sorted out after two women got there as well and between me and one of them, we did get him up and to the building. And those women apparently also lived in the area and he recognized one, calling her by name, and while she didn’t know him, when he told them that a guy had given him a beer, so that vodka had apparently transformed, and that the alcohol had interacted with his treatment, they quite clearly knew the guy he had named and said that they’ll have a word with him.
I was feeling quite awkward about the whole thing when I reached that Mega Image and put the few recyclables and a carton picked up by then in a cabinet, but I got some supposedly spoiling Bianca peppers, plus a bread and a sweet pastry, all being at half price, without being charged for the bag that the peppers were in and using the vouchers received for cartons that I had. I wasn’t given a receipt, but I just retrieved what I had in the cabinet and went the long way around on the way back, still looking for recyclables and grabbing what I think were ten more. And I entered the building through the back, learning that it was now possible to do so, and then took the elevator to the fifth floor and checked the garbage rooms on the way down, not daring to go higher and just glancing at the one on the fourth floor as I passed by it, since that door is mostly glass and the light on the hallway was on. But I didn’t spot any more recyclables while I did so.
I got back for good a couple of minutes before 12:30 AM. And Liza used the litter box after I had taken my shoes off and locked the door, so I cleaned it but didn’t take out what I had gathered, especially since stepping out again would have made me feel compelled to also check the higher floors for recyclables. So I then did the day’s squats, between 1:20 AM and 1:35 AM I ate a “lunch” consisting of two greasy cheese pastries that I already had, and after putting the few purchases in their place, it was close to 1:55 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash… And the amount of red in the toilet seemed to greatly exceed what could be explained by the two small beets from the salad eaten the previous night, yet I didn’t actually see blood on what was at the top or on the toilet paper. Either way, I was done just before 2:50 AM, but then I got on the computer, only getting back to the kitchen at 3:20 AM. And I ate dinner between 5:05 AM and 5:35 AM and got in bed at 6:45 AM, after rather struggling to at least pee a little bit more, though at least what eventually came out looked normal.

Unsurprisingly, it was hard to fall asleep, and something that might have sounded like an alarm siren outside didn’t help, so I tried to ignore it for a long time, but just after 7:20 AM I got up to have a look and then quickly checked a couple of news sites to see whether some alert exercise, if not something more serious, was going on. But when I didn’t see anything I got back in bed, the sound stopped a little later, and eventually I managed to fall asleep, though it still took a while. And then I woke up a number of times, and while I could get back to sleep relatively quickly, I wouldn’t estimate a total of more than four and a half hours or so by 2 PM, when I got up, because it was the last day when I had to obtain and use the vouchers for Kaufland’s campaign that doubled the deposit again, and I still had to find some recyclables to get to the maximum of 50 RON. So, after cleaning the litter box, going to drop some trash down the chute, and returning to wash my hands, I left a few minutes before 4:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, not including those three that weren’t being accepted, and those other things that I take to Kaufland.
Since I still needed to find recyclables, I made a point of looking and also occasionally went off main roads on my way to Obor, until I had enough to be absolutely certain, meaning that I also had replacements for those that I wasn’t sure would be accepted. And I happened to grab two more after that point as well, and then I went straight to Kaufland and put everything that had the symbol in the machine, all of those that I was uncertain about being accepted, though I found that I had somehow grabbed two that didn’t have the symbol, so I put them in the bin as I walked away, with two vouchers, since I wanted one that was just enough to get to the total of 50 RON during this period, in case I’ll struggle to find things to buy to reach that amount. But that wasn’t an issue, so after putting the bag where I had the couple of cartons which I had also grabbed on the way in a cabinet and washing my hands, I looked for deeply discounted expired or spoiling products and grabbed quite a number, and then I also added two of those cheap yogurts and used both vouchers received for the recyclables as well as the 10 RON one that I still had.
After taking the time to arrange the purchases, I retrieved that bag from the cabinet and put it in one that didn’t lock when I reached that Penny, entering with the purchases, which were in the backpack, and getting some zacusca before retrieving that bag and going to Carrefour, grabbing another recyclable from there just before adding it along with everything else in a cabinet and buying quite a number of expiring products from there as well, all being at half price. I obviously didn’t charge myself for what two of the products were placed in, and what was interesting was that the deposit wasn’t added for one that should have had one, so I guess that the system didn’t register it as having a deposit when it was at half price. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and took some time to arrange everything, but it didn’t feel right, so after walking out of that mall I spread everything on a bench and arranged properly. And on the way back I grabbed just a couple more recyclables and a label and checked a Profi, entering with everything and buying an expiring product from there as well, though the cashier was busy with what seemed to be an order and when she didn’t seem to bother to give me a receipt I just walked away.
I got back at 9:10 PM, but after putting the purchases in their place, cleaning the litter box again, and eating watermelon, at half time of the last match of the day I went back out to check the nearby Mega Image as well, yet there were no bakery discounts and I didn’t see anything else interesting either, so I just got back, albeit after grabbing two more recyclables. And then I went to drop some trash down the chute, ate something sweet and lunch, with some expired bagels instead of bread, did the day’s squats, and it was close to 12:15 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. I was done at 1:05 AM, and then I also dealt with the bread bought the previous evening, “cheated” in order to be able to say that I took a first bite of dinner in my room before 3 AM, but it was past 3:15 AM when I actually started eating and by the time I started wolfing it down it was too late, so I finished at 3:45 AM. And I had forgotten to set a TV show to be recorded while I was out, so I stayed to watch the recorded broadcast in the morning, going to bed at 6:25 AM, after cleaning up what seemed like hair mixed with fluid instead of an actual hairball, thrown up by Liza, and rubbing cream on my hands and feet.

I think I slept for up to five of the first six hours after getting in bed, even though that was the second time I got up to pee, and I had also been woken up by an SMS by my provider in between. But then I started waking up more often, so I’m not sure that I even slept for half of the next three hours, until I checked the time and went to pee again, and while it was almost 5:20 PM, so almost two hours later, when I actually got up, I only added a few more brief naps during that time. So let’s say that I did get at least seven hours, but seven and a half is unlikely and I really don’t see how it could have been more than that, and after the first five, or maybe six at best, the quality of that sleep was poor.

After making and eating mamaliga at night, the following morning I had to keep getting up to pee, but after the first three times I got right back to sleep. However, a few minutes after 11 AM I woke up for the fourth time and it wasn’t because I really had to pee again, and while I went anyway, just in case, and then could once again get right back to sleep, staying asleep proved more of a problem, so I woke up a few more times before deciding to pee once more and have a quick look on the computer, at 1:20 PM. And after that I was mostly awake, though I still caught a few brief naps by the time I actually got up, several minutes past 3:30 PM.

Dad being back again meant that on the morning of August 2 I only slept until I got up to pee, a couple of minutes before 9:30 AM, since he got up soon after that and, despite staying in bed until 10:35 AM, I didn’t get back to sleep, so I got up at that point, and after he left I got on the computer, only returning to bed at 12:40 PM… But the fact that Liza had just had another “concert”, so long after dad had left, was a sign of things to come, so I did get back to sleep right away, but she woke me with yet another one at 2:20 PM and then again just after 4 PM, and this last time it seemed too late to try to get back to sleep once more, so I eventually got up for good, just after 4:20 PM. And then I installed and started Heartlight, while later in the evening I shaved my head… But then explorer.exe crashed again, and that time I knew it was when I had opened Edge, and it had updated. But it hadn’t updated the previous time, so I decided to run memory diagnostics, even if the issue is clearly a software one, just to confirm that there was nothing there, which I did. And then I also ran chkdsk on the system partition, albeit in read-only mode, and a sfc /verifyonly that reported a bunch of warnings that state that some folders are owned twice or have their security set twice, which I see is common and harmless, and supposedly that it repaired the shortcut to OneDrive, which I shouldn’t have had in the first place, and which it shouldn’t have done when I told it to only verify. But at least it didn’t seem to find anything else, so I was still left wondering what was going on, and why had it suddenly started happening a few days earlier.

Dad woke up even earlier on August 3, so I got woken up at 8:25 AM and decided to at least make some use of the time, making the tea at that point. And after he left I had a quick look on the computer and then read for an hour, only getting back under the sheet at 10:45 AM. But, despite managing to get to sleep quickly at that point, at 11:45 AM I was roughly woken up by loud drilling, so I peed again and, even if the drilling ended quickly, I got back on the computer for a while, since I still heard occasional small noises that indicated that some work was continuing, so I worried that it’ll return… Which, of course, happened as soon as I did get back in bed, a little after 12:05 PM. But it only lasted for a few seconds, and that seemed to be the end of it, so I could get back to sleep, and when I woke up again at 1:50 PM I decided that every minute mattered and got right back to bed after checking the time, even managing to get back to sleep for a moment before the alarm rang, at 2 PM, and I got up. And then I had the usual stuff, the yogurt and apple once again being bio (organic), albeit imported in case of the apple, and the sweet thing still consisting of two of those nicer but expired biscuits. And, after also drinking most of the tea, I left just before 4:10 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband, still with the t-shirt from this year’s half marathon and with the slip of paper with the emergency information in the pocket of my tights, just in case. The reported temperature was 33°C, holding steady.
The time was 1:19:22, with sector times of 4:25.01, 5:07.22, 5:52.16, 4:29.00, 5:05 (5:04.87), 5:59 (5:58.79), 4:35 (4:34.96), 5:12.44, 6:06.34, 4:41 (4:40.29), 5:18.71, 6:23, 4:47, 5:23 and 6:00, making for lap times of 15:24.39, 15:33 (15:32.66), 15:53.74, 16:22 and 16:10. So I once again checked the exact times for as long as they were displayed, but the realistic target seemed to just be to stay under 1:20 and I didn’t read much into the first lap, or in fact even the second, thinking that the heat will make me much slower later. So the target for lap three was just to stay under 16 minutes, which I managed, while for lap four it was 16:20, which I didn’t, the time on sector three being particularly concerning, and making getting under 1:19, which I had started wondering about after the previous sector, all but impossible. And sector one of lap five made it absolutely certain that it couldn’t happen, so I settled for staying under 1:19:30 and even that required pushing, and really giving everything I had left on the last sector.
On sector two of lap one I slowed and stepped off the path to get around a group of kids on scooters who had stopped because one of them had fallen. On sector two of lap two I was already starting to feel out of it, and a pressing need appeared on the next sector, coming and going after that but always remaining faint. On sector two of lap four I briefly stopped and then just squeezed around some kids who had stopped their bicycles across the path, while on that sector’s long straight I hesitated because a dog cut across in front of me, the fact that it was off the leash at least meaning that I didn’t have to avoid that as well. On the other hand, by the end of the lap the warnings from that knee, which had been barely noticeable until then, made themselves known and radiated down the leg as well, though they remained faint enough to not be an issue. Otherwise, on the long straight of sector one of lap five I hesitated and probably broke the attempted sprint when a kid on a bicycle edged towards me as we approached each other. And by the end of the next sector my hands started tingling, while after that long turn on the last sector I suddenly felt my legs starting to burn.

After grabbing a recyclable on the way back, I ate something sweet and drank a lemonade which I had purchased and kept for this day, even if it had expired, did the day’s squats, ate lunch as well, changed, and left again a few minutes after 9 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and the cartons. And that machine from that Mega Image stopped when I had two left and nobody seemed about to look into it right away, so I held on to those, but I could put in the rest, splitting them on two vouchers. And then I also tried those three recyclables that aren’t being accepted at both regular machines from there, which rejected them as well, but at least I found a couple of recyclables left there which were rather crushed but which I thought I could straighten well enough, and one more that had no label but which was of the right size for a label that I had, so I put it on it. And all of those were accepted by the machine from Kaufland, which also accepted all of the other recyclables with the exception of those three, which I still held on to. And since I spotted another recyclable before entering, I went back to put that in as well, getting a second voucher.
After putting the remaining recyclables and cartons in a cabinet and washing my hands, at the men’s and in the room for disabled people but just with water, since there was no soap in either place, I entered the store at 9:55 PM and made use of good evening discounts for a few buns that I mean to use as bread before some runs and one other bakery product. But there didn’t seem to be evening discounts for fruits and vegetables, or at least none for anything I cared to look at, though there were a few crates of spoiling that were deeply discounted, so I grabbed two of those large cucumbers from there. And before going to the self-checkout I returned to the bakery area and took another bun as well, even if my hands were no longer clean. And then, after having to call over an employee to override the error when the machine didn’t accept the bag with the bakery products, I used that voucher received for a single recyclable when I paid, cashed in the other one, and had just retrieved what I had in the cabinet and was putting those few purchases in the backpack when the closing announcement came.
On the way back, I checked three Mega Image locations, always entering with everything and just getting some spoiling squashes for mother from that one that’s next to Tei, without being charged for the bag that they were in and using one of the vouchers received for cartons when I paid. But a strange thing was that, while that one that accepts more recyclables and the one for cartons were off, as machines from Mega Image are after 10 PM, the regular machine from there was still on at that hour, and I made another attempt with those recyclables that aren’t being accepted, though they obviously weren’t accepted then either. Either way, I grabbed a few more recyclables after walking away from there.
I got back a little after 11:40 PM, and after cleaning the litter box and going to drop what I had gathered down the chute, I ate watermelon, put the few purchases in their place, and talked to dad a little. It was just after 1:20 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, being done just over an hour later. And then I spent a little time on the computer, ate a nicer, albeit small and expired, snack, dealt with those buns that I could use as bread before some runs, washed what was in the kitchen, made a big salad, and finally ate dinner between 5:15 AM and 6:05 AM. I got in bed at 7:05 AM, after using cream on my feet.

I got woken up a little after 9:30 AM, when dad got up and fed Liza, and then I got on the computer, staying there for quite some time even after dad left and only getting back in bed at 11:55 AM. And I slept until 3:10 PM, when dad got back and I got up for good, feeling so utterly exhausted that I could barely stand. I did take a little nap late in the evening, but it only lasted half an hour or so. And then, after “cheating” to take a first bite of dinner in my room just before 3 AM, it was past 3:15 AM when I really started eating but I initially kept checking things on-line, so I ended up finishing at 3:45 AM. And before going to bed I used cream on my feet again.