Cav's Place

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On the morning of April 13, Liza woke me just before 9 AM by going to the litter box, and after going to pee I decided to change out of my pajamas, clean it, and then change back. But then noise started coming from upstairs, heavy things being moved, loud voices, possibly cleaning, after a while dad got up as well, and I couldn’t get back to sleep. I might have managed it just before dad left, but hearing the key in the door startled me awake again, and when I checked the time I saw 10:46 AM. At least I could get back to sleep after that, after peeing one more time, getting up to do so again just after 1 PM and then sleeping for just about another hour. But I once again wanted to go out and wasn’t sure where, so it was almost 2:25 PM when I got up, and then I made something of an egg salad, albeit without green onions, since I had none. And then I took the plastic and metal, and some glass… And saw that dad had moved the small bag of trash but once again forgot to take it, so I left it there as well, in case I’ll clean the litter box again after I’ll get back, walking out at 4:20 PM but realizing right after locking the door that I hadn’t taken the store card for Mega Image, so I went back in to grab it.
After dropping off the regular recyclables in a bin on the way, I entered Carrefour with the few with the deposit symbol picked up by then and bought an expiring product for mother and the one apple circle that was also at half price. Then I added something to the recyclables and put everything in a cabinet at Kaufland, washed my hands, entered the store at 5:20 PM, and saw discounts of 80% for many bakery products, and some interesting ones were left, so I grabbed two sweet pastries, the five cheap buns that were left and had that same discount, and a bread, even if its shape made it difficult to deal with. And then I added some things for dad, calculating the total so it’ll be just over 10 RON, because there was once again no trace of green onions and that day I decided to ask for another one of those vouchers, doing so after paying and receiving it right away.
Since the closing time was 7 PM for Mega Image, after retrieving my things and arranging everything I went to the one from that area, putting everything in a cabinet and looking for anything that was discounted by 90%. But I went to the regular area for expiring products, where they used to put them in that location, forgetting that they had started bringing them in a cart there as well, so when I thought that there were none and went to the bakery area I found the cart there, but someone had a full basket and only a few things were left in it. There was a basket as well, full of packaged salads, but I didn’t take any of those, just getting the three breads that were still in the cart and one sweet pastry from the bakery area, that being at half price and wrongly labeled, the discount label being switched with another sweet pastry, so I switched them around, dropping each into the other bag without actually touching them… And then I had to wait for a long time, the cashier messing things up for the person who had bought all of those products discounted by 90% and then seeming unable to fix them and calling the other one over as well, so everyone had to wait.
That still left me needing some vegetables, since I was almost out, and preferably some green onions as well, since there were none at that Mega Image either, and I had seen plenty of carrots among the spoiling products from Carrefour, and they had green onions as well, so after retrieving my things and adding the new purchases I went back there, adding something more to the recyclables and ending up putting everything in a cabinet from Hervis, since that Carrefour still has none and I didn’t want to enter with everything. I also pretended to have a look at a few running shoes, to justify being there, but then went to Carrefour and picked a bag of carrots that were once again among the spoiling products mainly because they weren’t whole, plus a bundle of green onions and some cheese which had just appeared among the expiring products, also at half price, by the time I passed by that spot again on my way to the self-checkouts. I obviously didn’t charge myself for the bag that the carrots were in, and then I left the new purchases just outside of Hervis, on the floor, retrieved what I had in the cabinet, and then took quite some time to arrange everything, because when I was about to put the backpack on I noticed that it was wet, realizing that the expiring cheese had leaked and taking everything back out and figuring out how to rearrange in order to put it in a bag while making sure that there was nothing else in it that it shouldn’t leak on, since a corner of the bag that it was in was completely torn. And while I was struggling with that my phone gave a low battery warning, so it only lasted for five days, but I was saying that I probably hadn’t fully charged it the previous time. So I turned off the music as I walked away, and on the way back I added something more to the recyclables.
I was back a little after 7:30 PM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put the purchases in their place, talked to dad a little, ate one of the sweet pastries from Kaufland, did the day’s squats, and rushed to use the toilet and wash between two matches, not quite making it but at least finishing before anything truly notable took place in the second. And after midnight, when I checked and saw that it had turned off, I plugged the phone in to charge, deciding to put it through another 24-hour cycle and unplugging it and plugging it back in a couple of times over that period, to see that it was actually charging. But, to return to that night, I ate an apple, washed what was in the kitchen, including a couple of pots, made mamaliga, and took an expired vitamin C pill before starting to eat… And when I took the receipts out of the jacket, I realized that I had somehow lost the first one from Carrefour, so it’s a really good thing that I didn’t enter the store with everything when I went back there, because it’d have been just the products bought from there the first time around that I wouldn’t have had a receipt for.

After Liza woke me just after 9:20 AM by going to the litter box, I peed and got back to sleep, but when I woke up again just before 10 AM, after dad did, I changed and went to clean the litter box… Only for my hand to slip into the bag, right in what was in it, when I was done and meant to switch it to the other hand, so I then spent quite some time washing and disinfecting my hands. And after peeing again and exchanging a few words with dad I got on the computer for a while, properly writing what was still commented out from the previous personal post and editing it in order to add all of that. And then I played some Morrowind and got back in bed at 12:45 PM, after peeing one more time and changing back into my pajamas… Only to hear the computer fans spinning up multiple times and see a lot of disk activity, so I turned the monitor back on to check what was going on, seeing that it had updated Microsoft Defender, followed by a definitions update. But at least I could get back to sleep after that, which also happened after getting up to pee again, but after it happened yet again, a little after 4 PM, it didn’t quite work anymore, so I drifted in and out, took some naps, and then was fully awake for a while before finally getting up, just before 6 PM. And then I backed up the system, for the first time since January… And when I later went to the toilet I saw an invasion of ants again, apparently once again coming out of the wall, around the door to dad’s bedroom, so I used some bug spray under the carpet, there and on that small piece of hallway, also under the rag that’s around the bottom of the heating pipes in that small piece of hallway, and a little in my room as well, just in case.

After waking up at 8:30 AM because the dermatitis between my legs was acting up and going to wash that area a little in the sink after peeing, the noise made by the workers also returned, and they even placed the windowsills at our bathrooms, so while I was mostly asleep until 10:40 AM, when I went to pee again, that sleep was probably rather agitated, and after that I had a hard time getting back to sleep at all, so I was drifting in and out and catching occasional brief naps, and the noise was getting louder as time passed, so just before 12:30 PM I gave up and got up. And then I started a load of laundry, hanging the clothes to dry when the machine was done, and spent a good four hours, if not a little more than that, peeling and grating most of the parsnip roots which I had bought for dad, since he was just leaving them there, before crawling back in bed in the afternoon, when it was quiet again… Only for dad to call a little after 7:05 PM, so after I had gotten a little over an hour of sleep, supposedly just to let me know that he was getting back in case I wanted to go out and needed the metro card, even though I had told him repeatedly, including shortly before he left that afternoon, that I was going to run the next day and plant trees on Saturday and therefore meant to rest that day and on Friday. So that was it with the sleep…
On the other hand, late in the evening I tried to time the squats while watching the match, but the time was off the screen when I was done, and while I looked at the kitchen clock until it returned and deducted those seconds, I may still be a second or two off, and that’s a real problem because I almost certainly managed a new record, since I seem to have done them in an incredible 1:47 while the previous record, from 2021, was 1:51 and I don’t see how I could have been off by at least four seconds. And this means that the best time will remain uncertain, because even in the highly unlikely case that I’ll ever beat this time, I’d need to beat it by quite a lot to be absolutely certain that I have a new record, and that’s impossible either way you look at it.

Moving on to April 16, I got up to pee three times, and between the first two I was also woken up by noise made by the workers, and possibly by dad as well. But I always got right back to sleep, and I seem to have slept through dad leaving and any other noise that came after peeing the second time, though after the third time I just took a little nap, since that third time was at 1:20 PM and then I woke up again just seconds before the alarm rang, at 2 PM. Either way, I then got up and, after cleaning the litter box, I had the usual stuff, though I decided to eat an apple with large spoiled areas instead of one of those set aside to eat before runs and despite removing all of that I still felt an odd taste, maybe like it was fermenting. But I just ate all of it, and the sweet thing consisted of a slice of cozonac, with added honey. I left a little after 4:40 PM, wearing the full running gear, sticking to the better shoes. The reported temperature was 20-21°C, holding steady.
The time was 1:18:15, with sector times of 4:21.67, 5:09 (5:08.90), 5:57.35, 4:34 (4:33.97), 5:00 (4:59.53), 5:53.53, 4:33 (4:32.06), 5:09.16, 6:01.81, 4:36 (4:35.37), 5:14.38, 6:08, 4:36, 5:09 and 5:55, making for lap times of 15:27.92, 15:27.03, 15:43.03, 15:58 and 15:40. While still hoping to get back under 1:18, I was feeling exhausted from the beginning and the realistic target seemed to be to stay under 1:20, the first lap seeming all right. Sector one of lap two wasn’t that good, but the following sector definitely made up for it and despite thinking that I had exhausted myself too quickly sector three showed that I hadn’t, and the lap was actually almost a second faster than the first, if you look at the exact time. That made me wonder whether squeezing under 1:19 was possible, and while it seemed unlikely I wanted to try it, and after lap three I decided to try staying under 16 minutes on each lap as well, and hoping to also get under 1:18:30. That required pushing somewhat more than what my body seemed to want on lap four, but the result was doing just enough, so I was thinking that I really had to manage to get under 1:18:30… But that did require gaining a few more seconds on lap five and I wasn’t exactly feeling like I could, and when the first sector’s time was the same as the previous lap’s first sector despite trying to push all the way, I was starting to think that I was going to fail by just a few seconds. But I didn’t want that to be because I didn’t give everything, so I did, pushing even harder and doing enough on sector two to feel that I was almost safe, and then really giving everything on the last sector and finishing with a very safe margin. It’s still over 1:18, but it’s the best time over this distance since September and I’m content with it, especially considering how tired I felt and the issues with the knee.
It was pretty crowded, resulting in plenty of weaving and going the long way around, and things looked bad when on the first sector’s long straight I hesitated and maybe even stopped for just an instant when I had to pass between a kid and his father, on bicycles, with the kid riding unsteadily on the lane. And a similar pair, if not even the same one, since I was focused on the kid the first time and on the father the second time, so I can’t say, made me briefly stop at the end of sector two of lap three, under the bridge. And then there were a few other moments on laps four and five, but the specifics slipped out of my mind by the time I wrote down any notes. I know that I briefly stopped when a kid almost ran into my legs and I’m pretty certain that it was on a sector two, but saying that it was on lap five is little more than a guess, so it might have been on lap four. And there might have been a hesitation later on that same sector and I’m quite sure that another moment was on the following sector, so on sector three, but I’d again be guessing if I’d say that it was on lap five and not four. And there was a roadblock that I had to slow in order to get through on a sector one, and probably on the other lap than those mentioned above, since I don’t think that one of those laps had something on every sector, but I’m not even completely sure of that.
Otherwise, there were some windy moments, but on the other hand when there was no wind and I wasn’t in the shade either, there were moments when I was starting to overheat a little. But what I had to deal with all along were some warnings from a spot in my left calf muscle, though they weren’t that bad, and those from the right knee only started on sector two of lap four, being quite serious for a while but then seeming to lessen on the last two sectors. Other than that, I felt just about done as I tried to sprint on the long straight of sector two of lap two, needing to take it easier well before the end of the straight and thinking that from then on it was just a matter of getting to the end, but then I saw that sector’s time and realized why, and it wasn’t too bad after that, at least not until the last sector, when I really was feeling quite out of it. And my nose was really irritated after the run, and that knee and, to some extent, my legs in general weren’t exactly happy.

I picked up a few recyclables on the way back. Then I ate a banana and an apple circle, put some snacks in the remaining half a liter of milk and ate that as well, helped dad a little as he took measurements for the bug nets, did the day’s squats, changed, leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 9:22 or 9:23 PM, with the regular recyclables, those with the deposit symbol, two cartons, and those other things that I take to Kaufland, dropping off the regular recyclables in a bin and then going to the Mega Image that’s next to Tei to try putting the cartons in the machine that appeared in that location and which should grant the deposit for such things, even if it’s not paid when purchasing them at this point. And they were accepted, though in case of the milk carton I obviously had to peel the discount sticker off the regular bar code first, so I kept that voucher and continued to Kaufland, picking up a few more recyclables and then putting them in the machine, splitting them on two vouchers.
After washing my hands, using the room for disabled people, and putting those other things in what may be the proper bin, it was several minutes after 10 PM when I entered the store, and the closing time had returned to 10:30 PM, so I was rushing. But at the bakery area I found several nice buns that I was going to use as bread, discounted by 75%, so I took all of them before returning to the fruits and vegetables, checking the spoiling ones and getting some broccoli for mother and a bag of Mandarin oranges, and also taking a few bananas that had a great evening discount, three from some which had been left next to that area and one more that I happened to notice in the boxes that had been taken away from the regular spot and left on the main aisle, what was left in there otherwise being unusable. And I also made use of the nice evening discount for radishes and grabbed two bundles, plus a large bag of cat litter, at full price, since we really needed some. And then I reached a self-checkout right when the closing announcement was made, but it didn’t accept those buns as the correct product, so I had to call over the employee to override the error, and then I needed her again when one of the heads of broccoli wasn’t accepted, the machine reporting that the discount label in question had already been used, so after she logged back on but got the same message I gave up on it, though at least the other two worked. On the other hand, I decided to leave that bag of Mandarin oranges there after all. And the 30% discount for bananas which I had activated on-line before leaving didn’t apply, so I guess that it only applied if the regular discount was less than that, and I shrugged it off, using both of the vouchers received for the recyclables when I paid and then arranging the purchases.
I then went straight back to that non-stop Mega Image, picking up another recyclable and putting it and the cat litter in a cabinet that didn’t lock, the key not turning fully in the lock, and I didn’t bother to try another, just leaving my things there, entering with the backpack and the bag where I had those buns, and taking a sweet pastry for mother that had the 50% discount, to use that voucher received earlier. The cashier didn’t seem to care to give me the receipt and I didn’t ask for it, just retrieving my things and then struggling to get back, carrying that cat litter being quite an issue. Either way, I also grabbed a few more recyclables, plus a carton, though I left another one that seemed far more likely to be accepted.
I was at the door at 11:45 PM, having carried almost 16 kg. Then I cleaned the litter box again and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put the purchases in their place… And then noticed something scurrying away when I moved my running shoes, and it seemed like a large spider, though I couldn’t be certain. But I used some bug spray under the shoe cabinet, where it had gone, and since I also killed some pretty large flying insect in the kitchen I wondered what else had gotten in while dad had the windows open, since I gathered that he had measured and checked multiple times. And then I noticed a wet area on my running t-shirt, but when I rubbed my hands on it, it seemed greasy, so I tried to quickly wash at least that area in the sink, wondering what that was. Either way, it was almost 12:55 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. I was done at 1:45 AM, and then I washed and cleaned up a little in the kitchen, selected the radish leaves and used what I could from them, also used the worse leaves from a huge lettuce brought by dad, ending up making too much salad, ate lunch, on and off, between 3:15 AM and 5 AM, and finally ate dinner between 5:30 AM and 6:10 AM. And dad had to get up very early, and Liza also did, so after taking one of those expired vitamin C pills I cleaned the litter box yet again after she went, and then rubbed cream on both hands and feet before going to bed, at 7:15 AM. And my right knee was really complaining, plus that while washing I once again noticed that deep, dull pain in an area of my head, though it didn’t seem to be quite in the exact same spot as before.

If I slept through dad leaving and got right back to sleep after the first time I got up to pee, after the second time, at 1:20 PM, it didn’t work anymore. There were a few more naps, but they were brief, and otherwise I mostly drifted in and out, and later even experienced that pain that radiates from my back, though at least I immediately moved into the position that makes it go away and it worked, and I think I even took another brief nap. But then I remained awake for a while, finally giving up and getting up right at 4 PM. And I didn’t get back in bed in the evening, and as I was on the toilet I saw ants again, larger ones, in the bathroom, so I sprayed that area as well and we’re keeping that door closed now. But at least I managed to eat dinner earlier, between 1:15 AM and 2:10 AM, and then I shaved before getting ready for the morning, when I’m going to plant trees again, which is also why I’m posting this now, to have something as the week’s first post. I’m so exhausted that I even felt like I was about to faint a few times, plus that my legs are still complaining, but I’ll see how it’ll go… And whether I’ll manage to at least catch a nap first, since now I’m getting in bed, I guess at 4:15 AM.

Picking up from where I left off, since I also had to take a urine sample to the clinic and you’re supposed to take it after not peeing for eight hours, and you also shouldn’t work out at least eight hours before blood tests, I did the little exercise routine that I usually do when I get up, then got ready for the morning to some extent, and managed to pee just before 1:30 AM, after which I got in bed, at 1:40 AM. However, while I did fall asleep quickly at that point, that was no longer the case when I woke up after a while, having a lot of gas and also starting to need to pee again, so I tried to just stay in bed for quite a long time, but it was clear that I wasn’t getting anywhere, and definitely wasn’t going to be able to avoid peeing again before morning, so I eventually checked the time, saw 4:47 AM, and a couple of minutes later gave in and went to pee, hoping to at least make that the last time, so it’ll be four and a half hours until I’ll take that sample. And that did work, needing a long time to get back to sleep even after getting back in bed but then sleeping until 9 AM, when the alarm rang and I got up. And then I quickly finished getting ready, took the urine sample, cleaned the litter box, and it was past 9:40 AM when I walked out.
With the appointment scheduled for 10 AM and the clinic being 25-30 minutes away, that meant that doing that tiny exercise routine at night instead of that morning served no purpose, since I had to jog much of the way. I still grabbed a crushed recyclable that I spotted on the street, but I wasn’t going to take it with me in the clinic, so I dropped it next to a tree, where the grass was taller, when I got there, reaching the polyclinic right at 10 AM and putting on a mask… But I couldn’t quite remember which floor that particular clinic was on, couldn’t immediately see it on the board at the entrance either, so I went with what I thought I recalled and wasted some time by wandering around on the second floor before moving on to the fourth and finding it… By which point another man was inside, but when I opened the door and said who I was and that I had an appointment he was told that he should go back outside to wait, since I guess he had been taken without an appointment because I wasn’t there on time. So I felt rather bad for him, considering for a moment to offer to wait, but I just explained that I had gone to the wrong floor at first and went in, also asking whether there was any place where I could have the ultrasound covered by insurance as well and being pointed to one. And then the paperwork was done and the blood was drawn.
After that, I went to look for that other clinic that I had been pointed to, but since a couple of people were waiting when I found it and I was wearing some of the old underwear and it had slipped down, I went to the toilet to pull it back up… Only for an older woman to try to come in seconds later, and while I told her that it was occupied and rushed to do that, when I heard her ask someone else whether a man or a woman was inside and that I had entered the women’s and that was why she had knocked, I rushed out without even washing my hands, looking in surprise at the sign on the door, which depicted both men and women, so I asked whether I had entered the women’s by accident but then just walked away, unsure what that was about. And when someone from that other clinic stepped out, I asked about making an appointment and made one… But I was told that there will be a small fee to pay, even though the procedure is covered by insurance and there are many notices all over that polyclinic stating that there may be no charges whatsoever for procedures covered by insurance. So I initially accepted that, not knowing what else to do, but then I took my time to look all around, searching for other places that could do ultrasounds and taking some phone numbers listed on the doors, since most weren’t open at that hour and in a couple of cases I didn’t even dare to try… But I did try the door of the first other room that I found where ultrasounds were listed, and since I found it locked at that point but then spotted a note stating that they’ll be back in ten minutes, after a while I went back there and could go in… Only to be asked in surprise whether I wanted to make an appointment with a gynecologist, at which point I had a closer look at the door and saw that it did indeed specify gynecological ultrasounds… Which was rather embarrassing.
It was 11:05 PM when I walked out of the clinic. Then I took off the mask, retrieved that recyclable, which was still there, and made my way to Decebal, entering with everything when I had a quick look through Profi and Mega Image and then putting my things in a cabinet that didn’t lock at Penny and buying some things from there before retrieving them and arranging a little. But I had seen an interesting sweet snack among the expiring products from Profi, discounted by 70%, so I then went back there, once again entering with everything, and bought one.
While I had found some of the cat food that was on sale at that Penny and bought one pack, it wasn’t quite the right kind, so instead of coming straight back I then went to the nearest Penny as well, picking up a couple more recyclables but seeing that someone with a large bag was using the machine and moving along, putting everything in a cabinet that I didn’t bother to lock and finding plenty of that cat food there, along with mozzarella and some nice chicken breast among the expiring products, so I calculated the total, added one more thing, and spent almost everything I had on me, only being left with some coins. Then I retrieved my things, arranged everything, and after walking out I spotted a bottle that was the same size as that crushed one in a bin, so I grabbed it, walked a short distance away, put the label from that one on it, went back to drop that one and the other one’s label, which didn’t have the symbol, in the bin, and picked up a couple more recyclables on the way back. I meant to put them in the machine from the nearby Mega Image, but it wasn’t working just then, and while an employee was there and might have been working on it, there were other people waiting and I just moved along.
I was back a few minutes after 1 PM. Then I ate an orange and that sweet snack from Profi, put the purchases in their place, glued something that dad had broken back together, put the things that he had moved the previous morning back in their place, and put another old thermostatic valve which I found while looking for glue in the kitchen and returned that newer one to my room, so the broken one was no longer needed anywhere. During that time, I also beeped dad and talked to him a little when he called back, but he was on the metro and it was cutting out, so he said that he’ll call back when he’ll reach the family doctor, which he meant to do, to have his ribs checked out, because I was asking him to ask her some things and also perhaps see whether he could get me an appointment somewhere else for that ultrasound… But he only called back after leaving from there, and without any useful information, some of it because I hadn’t even gotten to tell him what I wanted to know and was therefore relying on that call coming while he was there. Either way, I also moved some food which he had brought from the upstairs neighbor, who said that she and her boyfriend will fast on the week before Easter and therefore won’t eat those dishes anymore, since they contained meat. And two of those dishes were chorba and I ate some of it as lunch, even if I normally don’t touch anything of the sort, because you should have more fluids after having blood taken.
Throughout that time, I still didn’t know what I wanted to do later in the evening, but I eventually decided to do the day’s squats and rush to the nearby Mega Image at half time of a match that I was watching, just to see what was left in the bakery area and put the recyclables with the deposit symbol in the machine, which was working then, though I also decided to try that one with the damaged bar code again and that still wasn’t accepted. And since I did see some things that I was interested in, I decided to hold on to the voucher and go back there after the match, towards the end of which I munched on some expired salty pretzels… But when I did go back out, there were no bakery discounts and no sign that they were going to make them, so I just cashed in the voucher, meaning that I just lost some time and it’d have been better to pick either of the other options which I had been considering, either staying in, possibly washing before the match, and then taking it easy, or doing the opposite, giving up on the second half of the match and going to Kaufland. As it was, I cleaned the litter box again and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, fixed myself another sweet thing and ate it, washed what was in the kitchen, and it was past 12:45 PM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, being relieved that there was no blood. I was done a little after 1 AM, but I only went back to the kitchen at 1:30 AM, and there were a few more things to wash at that point. But I still managed to stick to the dinner schedule, albeit after once again “cheating” a little in order to be able to say that I took a first bite in my room before 3 AM.

Moving on to April 8, I got up after the alarm rang, at noon, and had an early lunch, but there was no time to go to the toilet as well, despite feeling the need, so that was going to be a problem. But I had another doctor’s appointment, so I cleaned the litter box and left just before 2:30 PM… And something apparently almost fell on me when I walked out of the building, a worker who was holding a cable telling me to not come out through there just when I did, so I looked up with a start and he then rushed me along, and when I was a few steps away he looked like he thought that something that could have been really bad was just avoided. But I was in a hurry, so after initially walking until I got past the metro station, I jogged almost all of the rest of the way.
That meant that I reached the clinic a few minutes before 3 PM, when the appointment was scheduled, and then took a seat in front of the room that I was supposed to go to after the receptionist did her part… But I really shouldn’t have bothered to run, because the doctor was with another patient at that point and my turn only came at 3:30 PM, and I didn’t put on the mask or even use that time to read, having taken the book with me but thinking that I’ll almost certainly be called in as soon as I’ll pull it out. I did take it out at 3:15 PM, but I couldn’t focus, kept thinking that I’ll be called in and need to stop right away, and therefore only read a few pages in ten or so minutes, and when the doctor came out and told me that she’ll call me in soon I put the book away again, though a few more minutes passed before I actually was called in. But at least things moved quickly once I was inside. Even though I was there for my ears, she checked my nose first, saying that I had a deviated septum, affecting both nostrils but more notably the left one, and that it may actually cause the occasional brief ringing in my ears as well, but if it doesn’t bother me too much then it can be ignored, especially since fixing it means surgery. And then she also checked my ears, removed the wax, and said that the pain which I had felt shouldn’t return, but if it did then I should call her. And she also said that she’d like to see the results of those recent tests.
I was done at 3:40 PM, but it took me a few minutes to make sure that I hadn’t left anything behind and get my headphones back on. And then, since that clinic’s close to Obor, I went there, getting some paper towels and some popcorn from Auchan and some spoiling apples from the farmers’ market, saying that I wanted quite a lot from that pile and having the person who was at that stall bring some less spoiled ones over when I pretty much ran out of usable ones that I could pick from there, and when the weight was pretty close to 4 kg she asked whether she could take it to that, actually taking it to almost 4.2 kg when I agreed but charging me for 4 kg. And then I continued to Carrefour as well, peeing and washing my hands, putting the purchases in a cabinet, and finding some more of those gluten-free breads among the expiring products, so I took one even if it’s sliced and expensive even at half price, and then added some snacks for dad and one more thing, also using a voucher received for previous purchases when I paid.
The problem was that, despite not listening to anything while waiting at that clinic, my phone’s battery ran out quickly while I was out, and even though I noticed it after entering Carrefour and turned the music back off, it still gave a low battery warning by the time I walked out of there, once again after a week, and dad had said that he might be able to get back in time to give me the metro card, so I beeped him once I got outside and hoped to be able to talk when he’ll call back. And I was, but it didn’t help, because he said that he might be able to be at the metro station in 40 minutes when I was going to get back here on foot faster than that, and then it’d be too late to also go to Unirii, as originally planned, and the phone being likely to turn off and the weight of the apples made walking the entire planned route a bad idea. So I gave up on that part of the plan and got back, picking up some recyclables on the way.
I got back for the first time just before 6:25 PM. Then I set the phone to charge, ending up leaving it plugged in for about an hour and a half and seeing that the bar was full when I unplugged it, but that happens before the battery is really full and I didn’t check first to see whether it displayed the message that it was full, so I’m thinking that it wasn’t, since it shouldn’t finish charging that quickly. Either way, I also put the purchases in their place, went to the toilet, which was yet another reason why I decided to come back, and peeled and cleaned some potatoes and washed a tray for dad. That meant that I was already in a hurry when I walked out again, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, but things got worse when I realized that I had forgotten the backpack, where I had almost all of the bags as well, so I came back for it, and since it was getting chilly I decided to use the opportunity to also put on the sweater, actually leaving when it was almost 8:20 PM.
I jogged to Carrefour, picked up one more recyclable… And then only wasted a little more time that I didn’t have by going to the machine, since one was off and the guy waiting in front of the other one said that it wasn’t working and he’d been waiting for a while despite being told that someone would come and sort it out. So I entered the store with the recyclables and got a couple of expiring products and some carrots that were among the spoiling products, also at half price, because they weren’t whole, though otherwise they were just fine. And when I weighed that bag, since it was badly torn, I found that it weighed a fair bit more than what was listed, and after getting back I saw a huge and whole carrot among the pieces, so I’m thinking that somebody had added it in there for some reason, and it’s a good thing that the machines from Carrefour don’t check the weight. Either way, I obviously didn’t charge myself for that bag, nor for the plastic box that the olives were in.
After quickly arranging the purchases, I jogged to Dristor, since I had dad’s card, so I took the metro for one stop and then kept jogging to Supeco. Then I put the recyclables, including the couple more which I had grabbed on the way, in the machine from there, though the one that had a rather damaged bar code wasn’t accepted and I left it there, along with the bag used to carry them, which had gotten too dirty. And then I got what I had gone there for, meaning that I shouldn’t have bought that one which I had managed to find in a Mega Image on February 25, not that I’d have had any way to know that there’d be a better price, plus that I thought that I was going to need it by now, though that’s yet to happen. Either way, I also added a couple of expiring products, at half price, and would have also taken a small pack of biscuits which were also there, but when the cashier tried to scan them the machine refused, and when she had a closer look she said that the discount had expired on April 4 and I left them there, though I was thinking that the discount had probably expired because the biscuits did, and they might have given them to me instead of probably throwing them away. But I didn’t say anything, just taking some time to arrange the purchases and then jogging back to the metro station, finding some more recyclables.
After taking the metro for two more stops, I didn’t care to jog anymore as I made my way to Kaufland, since it closed at 11 PM, so I only briefly did so at one point. And I found one more recyclable, then put them in the machine from there, after which I put my things in a cabinet, peed and washed my hands, and entered the store at 10:30 PM… But the only evening discount in the bakery area was for the plain bread, and none of that was left. And those for fruits and vegetables were few, so I just took a small lettuce, to at least have something, even if the discount wasn’t that great, and the few scattered radishes that should have made up one bundle. And dad had asked me to get some cheese, even if the price was a little higher than what it usually is when it’s discounted, so I asked for two of the four pieces that were left, the other two looking rather bad… Only to then see many pieces among the shrink-wrapped products from that area. But I just kept those two, and then grabbed a number of other things that had regular discounts and were on my list, plus a few more of those cheap yogurts, being at the self-checkout when the closing announcement came, checking the total before scanning the last few products, then adding those as well, and using the voucher received for the recyclables. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, walked out through the emergency exit, and arranged everything.
It was almost 11:10 PM when I walked away, grabbing another recyclable on the way to that non-stop Mega Image, putting it and the bag with some of the purchases in a cabinet, and walking in with the backpack, but I thought that it was too late to still find products discounted by 90%… Yet there were still plenty in the cart, and nobody was there at the time, though that woman who works at another location came while I was looking and we exchanged a few words, at which point she confirmed that there are no 90% discounts where she works, and said that such policies differ according to the area that each location is in. Either way, I grabbed a few things from there, then beeped dad and when he called back I asked whether he wanted some soup, getting both when he told me to… Only to then read the ingredients and see that they included sour cream, and the point would have been to take them to my grandmother, who was still fasting, so I let him know and put them back. And then I wandered around the store for a while, being warned at one point by an employee that I had to buy those discounted products before midnight. But there was no danger of taking that long, and then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, added the new purchases, and considering giving one away if I’ll see a homeless person on the way back. But I didn’t, so I kept it, and picked up a few more recyclables.
I was back a few minutes before 12:30 AM, having carried close to 12 kg. And I was surprised by how well I was hearing after having the wax removed, so many sounds that I hadn’t been noticing. But that was also distracting, and what was worse was that something was squeaking quite loudly every so often, and I thought that it was the elevator, which was finally working again after the whole thing was replaced. Either way, I eventually put the purchases in their place, sorted and arranged the apples, ate one and half of the sweetened cereals from Supeco, washed what was in the kitchen and cleaned up a little, moved something that seemed to be spoiling into a bowl, microwaved it a little, hoping to delay the process, and then put it back in the jar, and it was 3:10 AM when I finally went to wash. I was done a little after 3:40 AM, and then I also used the worse leaves from that lettuce, eating dinner between 5:10 AM and 5:40 AM. I got in bed at 7:30 AM, after waiting for Liza to do something in the litter box after dad got up, at 7 AM, only for her to go right after I thought that she wasn’t going to and changed into my pajamas. And I’d rather not clean the litter box while wearing those, so I then changed back, cleaned it, and then changed again.

I got up to pee a few times, but always got right back to sleep until around 3:15 PM, when I realized that I probably won’t get more sleep but nevertheless got back in bed again and pretty much wasted time, since it was 4:35 PM when I got up but if I caught any other nap during that time, it couldn’t have lasted more than mere moments. Either way, not long after that the squeaking stopped, so I guess that whatever was causing it had been fixed. Otherwise, I checked and saw that my test results were ready, so I downloaded them, the issues being the usual ones, anemia and poor general immunity. And I also finished the book, later wrote the quick review, and late in the evening I tried to nap a little more… Only to be woken up not long after managing to fall asleep by some banging from upstairs, and while at first it seemed that I might have a chance to fall asleep again, a little later there was the sound of something falling or being thrown down, possibly outside, and I got up with a start, after which I wasted another half an hour or so in bed but any more sleep was out of the question.

For the dinner eaten in the early hours of April 10, I opened a jar of peanut butter and used half of that gluten-free bread, doing a better job of slicing the slices into much thinner ones. And before going to bed I found that I could floss behind that tooth where I have a crown, and very easily too, after being unable to get anything in there for over a week, if not more like two, so I hope it means that whatever had gotten in there finally came out and not that a piece broke off. On the other hand, the alarm was set to ring at 2 PM, but dad woke me just before 11:50 AM by calling, needing a phone number that was on a piece of paper from the living room, and while I had gotten right back to sleep the couple of times I had woken up before that, it was harder at that point, and the dreams were stranger after I did and I woke up at least one more time, and probably more than that. But at least I still slept most of the time until the alarm rang and I got up, after which I had the usual stuff, with half of the almonds being the last of those expired baked and salted ones, and for the sweet thing I added honey on the other expired but nice oat bar which had been in that pack opened two weeks earlier, though I rather burned it while trying to warm it in the microwave. Either way, I also drank most of the tea and left a few minutes after 4:30 PM, wearing the full running gear, once again switching to the better shoes. The reported temperature was 11°C, dropping to 10°C by the time I finished.
The time was 1:47:45, with sector times of 4:34, 5:13, 6:02, 4:37, 5:12, 6:01, 4:39, 5:15, 6:09, 4:51, 5:22, 6:14, 4:51, 5:27, 6:20, 4:51, 5:26, 6:22, 1:57, 6:23 and 1:59, making for lap times of 15:49, 15:50, 16:03, 16:27, 16:38 and 16:39, plus 10:19 for the final portion. I had an idea to push from the beginning and see what I’ll manage, but it was immediately obvious that I couldn’t, so I thought that the realistic target was to get under 1:48… Only for the first sector’s time to put that in serious doubt and make me wonder whether I’ll even cover the first lap in less than 16 minutes, pushing on sector three in order to make sure of it. That led to thinking that I’ll struggle to even stay under 1:50, but pushing on sector three of lap two as well and managing to cover the lap in almost the same time as the first gave me some hope, and a similar strategy that led to only going a few seconds over 16 minutes on lap three made me wonder about 1:48 again, aiming for 16:25, 16:40 and 16:55 on the next three laps and 10:15 on the final portion… Only for sector one of lap four to show just had much I had pushed on the previous sector, and sector two continued that trend, making me once again have to push on sector three in order to at least limit the damage, doing just enough to keep the same targets from then on. And on lap five I was on target and apparently found a pace that I could sustain for a while, being only marginally slower on lap six. That meant that even 10:30 on the final portion would be just fine, but I was exhausted and my right leg really bothered me, so I had to do my best every step of the way, though covering the first sector in less than two minutes did make me feel that I was pretty safe, at least as long as there won’t be any serious problems.
Well, there was a bit of a scare towards the end of the following sector, but I managed to deal with it and kept going, and despite thinking all along that I was unlikely to get under two minutes on the last sector, at the start of it I hoped for the 1:58 that’d allow me to squeeze under 1:47:45 as well, so I really gave everything and at the end I even sort of jumped, stretched a leg forward, and pressed the button while it was still in the air… But it wasn’t quite enough, obtaining that time but not squeezing under it. I was safely under 1:48, however, and while that means being just about two minutes slower than two weeks before, I was content with that, and actually quite pleased with how I managed the issues, and the run as a whole, in order to achieve it.
Even if there were a fair number of people, especially early on, and the long straight of the first sector was quite crowded and a roadblock made me hesitate and break the attempted sprint, I realized right away that I didn’t actually have as much as one sprint in me, so there was no chance to recover if I’ll drop behind the target times. But things got even worse by the end of lap three, the fact that a certain need also appeared then being less of a concern, especially since it faded soon after that, only returning at the end, but the serious warnings given by my right knee being quite an issue, since it wasn’t just that they didn’t fade away, but at times they got even worse, past the level of mere warnings. And later, I think at the end of lap five, that calf muscle joined the knee, and by the end of lap six that hip also became a problem. Both ankles were also giving some warnings around that time, but those were fainter, and while I do have to think about that spot on the left leg, that seemed to be a far lesser problem at that point. And it was the right hip that gave me that scare towards the end of sector two of the final portion, with a really painful jab and the feeling that the leg was about to go out from under me for a moment. But I managed to hold it together and the issue didn’t repeat itself, so I made it to the end.
Otherwise, on top of that issue from the first sector and plenty of weaving and going the long way around in general, I also lost a little time on the long straight of sector one of lap three, when a dog that was about to cut me off before being pulled back made me hesitate and broke that attempt at a sprint, however poor it was. And another dog, off the leash and looking rather lost, almost ran into me and made me briefly stop on sector two of lap five, and there was another moment on that sector when I might have hesitated a little, when I overtook another runner and some people were walking across the lane just then, so I wasn’t sure whether they were going to cut me off. But I want to add that I saw that dog again later and it was close to someone who had another one, likely of the same breed, on a leash, so I guess that it wasn’t lost after all, or at least not anymore. Either way, there was another small issue at the start of the final sector, as I was going up the stairs, when I slowed a little and might have hesitated, twice, because other people were coming down on that same side before making a little room for me just before I reached them. And I’ll also add that it was probably on lap six, I think on sector two, though it’s possible that it was on sector three, when I felt a first drop, with a few more coming on the final portion, almost reaching a light drizzle as I was on the final straight.

After having a quick look in the nearby Mega Image on the way back, I cleaned the litter box, did the day’s squats, ate lunch, drank a recently expired smoothie, changed, leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 8:50 PM, taking the recyclables with the deposit symbol and struggling to jog almost all the way to the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, though the right knee didn’t make it easy. However, I had a quick look in that Profi first, asking about egg dye but not seeing the color that we still needed and having a look at the expiring products but deciding to just think about the oranges that I saw, not wanting to lose any more time… But it apparently wouldn’t have mattered, because I reached that Mega Image a couple of minutes after 9 PM and the cart had already been emptied, just one bread that I wasn’t interested in being left, and while other customers with plenty of products which had been discounted by 90% were in line, that one who tends to always be there at that hour was already arranging her purchases, so I’m thinking that if I wouldn’t have stopped at Profi I’d have gotten even more frustrated, because it seems that they had brought out that cart right at 9 PM, if not even slightly earlier, that evening and without that stop I’d have probably walked in just in time to see the others grab everything before I could reach it. Either way, after having a look around, I decided against getting anything from the bakery area, thinking that I had a chance to find something better elsewhere, and didn’t put the recyclables in the machine either.
Since someone else was using the machine when I reached Penny and I only wanted to check the expiring products, thinking that I was likely to not find anything to get from there either, I walked in with the recyclables, but the guard came after me to ask why was I walking in with a bag, asking why didn’t I put them in the machine when I told him what I had in it and then telling me to leave it at the entrance when I explained. So I handed it to him to put it there and had a look, finding some “light” mozzarella among the expiring products, so I really shouldn’t have bought that other one a few days earlier, since it had expired for a while and I was yet to do anything with it. Either way, I added one more thing as well, to get to a round total, and that was something else that I shouldn’t have bought then, since the product was on sale during the previous period only for it to continue to be on sale, at an even lower price, after that period was over. Not that I could have known either of these things back then.
I didn’t get a receipt, but a single cashier had to deal with an increasingly restless and annoyed crowd, so I shrugged it off, put the purchases in the backpack, and continued to Carrefour, entering through the parking lot and trying to put the recyclables, including what I had picked up on the way, in the machine… Only for it to say that there was no container for either cans or PET bottles after the first few, so I put in the glass bottles and entered the store with the rest, and with the backpack, asking about egg dye but only finding red and just buying cooking oil, though I also picked up an empty recyclable which had been left among the expiring products. And I also used the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid.
After picking up a few more recyclables, I put them in the machine from Kaufland, though I also picked up one which had been left there and wasn’t accepted. Then I put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands, and entered the store at 10:35 PM, finding only a few things left in the bakery area, but those included two cheap buns that were discounted by 60%, so I took those, then made use of an evening discount for some bananas, found just the egg dye that we were looking for, and added a few other things. I was using the self-checkout when the closing announcement came, but something that seemed to be at half price, according to the label from the shelf, scanned at full price, so I asked an employee to come and take those things off, and I also decided to leave an expiring product there. Then I used the voucher received for the recyclables, retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged everything, and decided to check that Mega Image as well, just in case they had changed their hours and closed later that day. But they didn’t, so it was already closed and I just wasted a little time. And then some more time passed as I went to one of those benches and arranged everything properly.
In spite of that, I had a chance to reach another Mega Image before midnight, and since I hadn’t seen anything interesting in this one that’s nearby when I had checked it after the run, plus that often they don’t make bakery discounts anyway, I decided to risk it and go to the non-stop one that’s close to the metro station, rushing but still picking up some recyclables, then putting the bags in a cabinet that I didn’t lock, entering with the backpack, and seeing the bakery area just about full of products that had the 50%, plus regular bread that’s discounted by 70% between 8 PM and midnight. That’s not bagged, however, and I couldn’t find gloves, so after picking up a bag with two bakery products I struggled to get two breads in a bag without touching them too much, though I still did a few times, and then I managed to buy those things a little before midnight, when the discounts would have expired. Then I retrieved my things and added something more to the recyclables on the way back.
It was almost 12:15 AM when I got back, with over 12 kg. Then I ate a banana, cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put the purchases in their place, washed what was in the kitchen, fixed and ate something sweet, and rushed to wash at 2:20 AM, being done just before 2:55 AM and therefore being able to watch the successful end of the Artemis II mission. And then I washed a tray as well, ate some salty pretzels, took one more of those immunity supplements, and ate dinner between 5:05 AM and 5:45 AM. And my nose, or more exactly the right nostril, continued to be irritated, as it had been since the run. Either way, I got in bed at 7:15 AM, after once again being unable to floss behind that tooth, so something strange is going on.

I woke up a little before 10 AM, after dad did, and when he clinked Liza’s plate when he fed her I went to pee and exchanged a few words with him. But then I couldn’t get back to sleep and started getting frustrated, so at 10:35 AM I got on the computer, to at least stop wasting time. Later, after dad left, I went to make a tea and eat a yogurt with cereals, and at 11:55 AM I got back in bed, drifting in and out a few times but being mostly asleep until a little after 2 PM, though it was almost 2:25 PM when I actually got up, since that was early enough to allow me to go out again that day, seeing as the stores closed at 6-7 PM, but I really couldn’t decide where. And I really had no idea what the better choice would have been when I left, at almost 4:20 PM, taking the recyclables with the deposit symbol, but I ended up going to Obor, even if it meant the longest walk and giving up on the chance of finding something interesting in a Mega Image that made discounts of 90%, since I thought that it gave me a better chance to at least find something interesting, and also have more time to look through Carrefour as well.
That knee continued to bother me, but I managed it, and I also grabbed plenty more recyclables on the way to Obor, going to Kaufland first, since it closed at 6 PM, and putting all but the two that weren’t accepted in the machine from there. Then I washed my hands, using the room for disabled people when a cleaner pointed me there when she saw me going to the men’s, and it was almost 5:10 PM when I entered the store, with those remaining recyclables, and went straight to the bakery area. But not much was left there, and the discounts were poor at that point, so I went back to the fruits and vegetables and saw a label listing a great discount for wild garlic and quite a number of bundles left in the crate that was below it. The leaves were unusually large for wild garlic and the shape wasn’t right either, but most of what was left was basically unusable and the store was crowded, so I didn’t really think about it, rushing to grab those bundles that were mostly usable and a couple of scattered leaves that were also better, replacing some of the leaves from the bundles with them. And I didn’t spare them another thought while I was there, and the self-checkout machine accepted them when I entered them as wild garlic, so it was only after I got back and took them out that I realized that what I got was actually patience dock. And I have no clue what the price of that was supposed to be, or even whether they were also deeply discounted, though considering how most looked, they definitely should have been.
Getting back to how it went in Kaufland, those Moldovan grapes had the best discount that I saw this year for them and I was picking from what scattered ones were left when a discount of up to 85% was announced for bakery products, so I rushed back. The area was almost cleared by the time I got there, my hands were no longer clean either, and I didn’t think I had the time to look for gloves, if any were even left, so I just used my left hand, which was less dirty, to grab the two small doughnuts that were left, seemed interesting, and actually had the 85% discount, and two more of those small buns, once again discounted by 60%. Then I went back to picking grapes, rushed to add some parsnip roots that also had a great discount and some of those cheap yogurts, also picked up a really nice lettuce that someone had decided to drop, meaning to at least check the price, since I could see no others or even a price label, and took my place in the long line several minutes before closing time. But only three self-checkouts from that area still accept cash, and one wasn’t working while another was used by a couple of guys who had a lot of products and didn’t seem to know what to do, so the closing announcement came as I was still waiting… And the person who used that one machine that accepted cash and was available for general use ahead of me paid by card! But I held my comments, just being relieved that my turn finally came, and then that I didn’t need to call over an employee. The fact that the lettuce only had the regular discount was unpleasant, but I just left it there after checking. And then, since the total was less than the value of the voucher received for the recyclables, I cashed it in after paying. And then I did my best to arrange the purchases quickly, walking out when it was close to 6:10 PM.
After mostly jogging to that mall, I picked up another recyclable and put all three in Carrefour’s machine, which easily accepted them. Then I washed my hands, put the purchases in a cabinet, entered the store just after 6:15 PM, saw many cartons of eggs among the expiring products, and took one of six bio (organic) ones and, after beeping dad, asking when he called back, and being told that I should, also one of ten regular ones. There was also a cart that was almost full of UHT milk there and I took one as well, plus a bread and something that I was going to use for lunch from the bakery area, everything being at half price. And then I added a little garlic, at full price but using the opportunity to recover what I lost when one of their machines “ate” a recyclable, weighing just two of the three heads. On the other hand, the discount label of what I had grabbed for lunch didn’t cover the regular bar code and that one accidentally scanned at the self-checkout, so I asked that guy who I think is the supervisor, and who was helping people at the next machine, to cancel it, but he just turned around and hit “cancel”, so I guess that some products can be canceled without logging on. But I did need his help when I tried scanning the carton of ten eggs and the machine said that an assistant will soon come, and when he came over he saw that the code wasn’t in the system, which was quite an issue when so many of those cartons were there. But he said that there won’t be more people buying them because the store was closing, peeled off the discount sticker, manually entered the product at full price, and then corrected the price. And then he also scanned the garlic for me, so I was concerned that he was going to notice that something was wrong, but he didn’t say anything, so I then also used the voucher received for those recyclables, and retrieved what I had in the cabinet.
I had initially meant to check a Mega Image as well, but there was no time to even reach one before 7 PM, when those also closed, so I stayed there to arrange the purchases, the closing announcement coming as I was walking away. And then I grabbed a few more recyclables and set them down after walking out and deciding to spread my things on a bench and arrange them differently. A foreign guy asked about those recyclables while I was doing that and I told him in English that they were mine, and then he gestured to the can that he was holding, so I assumed that it had also been somewhere around that bench and he had just picked it up and was asking whether that was also mine, so I told him that it wasn’t and waved him away. I finally walked away from there at 7:10 PM, and on the way back I grabbed some more recyclables.
I got back a few minutes before 8 PM. Then I ate some of the grapes, eventually cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, then put the remaining half of those sweetened cereals bought from Supeco in half a liter of milk and ate that as well, helped dad as we dyed those eggs that we ended up dyeing here, put the purchases in their place, did the day’s squats, and at 10:25 PM I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. I was done at 11:15 PM, then spent some time on the computer, and eventually fixed something that I ate as lunch, on and off, between 2:10 AM and 2:50 AM. I also washed what was in the kitchen, dealt with my bread, used many of those patience dock leaves for the salad, cleaned the litter box one more time, took a cold pill expired for over a year and a half, just in case it’d do any good, including for my still somewhat irritated nose, and ate dinner between 4:15 AM and 4:45 AM. Otherwise, I saw that Kaufland had put the next catalogs up on the site, and that the cheaper cheese was going to be on sale, at the usual price, and seeing as dad hadn’t touched those two pieces I shouldn’t have bought them, not that I could have known that. And another thing that I couldn’t have known is that they’re going to double what’s received for recyclables again, in the form of a voucher with the value of the vouchers used during that period, up to 50 RON, so I shouldn’t have cashed in that one. Either way, I got in bed at 6:30 AM, after once again being able to very easily floss behind that tooth and rubbing cream on both hands and feet.

Liza woke me at 12:10 PM with a “concert”, but after peeing I got right back to sleep, and the next time I woke up I barely even moved, getting back to sleep almost immediately. That changed when I woke up again, just taking some naps that were probably brief and otherwise drifting in and out, and then being awake for a while before getting up, but I have no idea how long these periods were, because I only checked the time at that point, seeing 6:23 PM. But the problem is that knee, which is bothering me a fair bit. My throat is a little sore as well, but I hope that’s because of what I had for lunch last night and not something else, though I’d have felt somewhat more at ease if I’d have put on the mask while I was in the stores yesterday, considering how crowded it was, and the thing is that I left it in the jacket, so I could have just pulled it out and done that. And I’ll also mention here that I initially posted this at 11:59 PM with a part of the section about April 8 and most of the one about yesterday in the form of notes, though I almost immediately commented out the entire section about yesterday and this paragraph, and a little later I edited the post in order to fix the section about April 8. I edited the post again in order to add the rest, in a proper form, Tuesday morning.

I wanted something light, that would be quick and easy to read, to finally start this year’s reading list, and the fact that it still took me too long to finish is not the fault of the book, The Cardinal’s Blades definitely checking those boxes. It’s a swashbuckling adventure set in an alternate history, with some fantasy elements that largely remain in the background and main characters who can fight their way out of just about anything thanks to incredible skills with sword and pistol and an even more incredible amount of luck. There is a moment when things may seem different, but then it’s made clear that hardly anything can really happen to them, no matter the odds or the situation, so you can just read along, without any concerns. And the short chapters and the sequence of the scenes also help to keep you reading.
Of course, you shouldn’t expect any depth from something like this. The setting and atmosphere are suitable but little more than just what’s necessary, the characters are stereotypical, any mysteries are solved either quickly or not at all, and there’s no room for words of wisdom or thought-provoking moments. And knowing that all encounters will be over quickly and the main characters will always come out on top means that there’s hardly any tension either. But it is rather weird that other injuries are shrugged off or healed in no time, but one particular one remains throughout the book. And the last part seems like an awfully rushed attempt to tie up all the loose ends but still finish with a cliffhanger that struck me as both unnecessary and pulled completely out of nowhere.

Rating: 3/5