Cav's Place

The review for Ascension to the Throne should have been the week’s first post, but doubt I’d have managed to post it in time to avoid this becoming another Sunday update, so I’m writing the personal post first and then have to hope I’ll at least finish that by the end of the week. A problem is that, with the Arcabit Antivirus trial having ended Tuesday, the last update was made then and the plan was to first post that review, since I’ll likely check a few more things in the game by the time I’ll do so, and then restore from that backup, so I won’t have to still keep the game around for a day or two after that and then get rid of it again, so I keep delaying that, and moving on to another trial, as well. Then again, there’s also the fact that I’d want to be able to get on-line during the day when I’ll restore from that backup, and dad’s on vacation these days and also quite likely has the flu, so he’s been staying home. But at least the lack of updates means there shouldn’t be another one of those failures, as it happened one more time on Sunday, and that time the RAM wasn’t full.

Since I mentioned the flu, I caught it as well, and this is very clear this time around. That little thing I had last week was just a simple cold, but this is different. Throat’s not sore, and there’s not much in nose or chest, at least so far, though some crap to cough up was the first sign, Wednesday evening, and again after I woke up the next morning. But as of Thursday evening, there’s that feeling of having a bad fever, really bad in the morning. It was somewhat less bad by the time I eventually got up, but the fever is far from breaking, and I feel exhausted and my mind’s foggy, and it feels like I’ve been beaten. Seems similar to how I felt that time when dad was away and I wonder if those things I bought and took then would work just as well now… But I can’t get myself to ask him to go, nor to go myself, especially after he suggested regular medicine after I told him, and otherwise reacted just as I expected him to, unfortunately. And I did take one regular pill Thursday evening, though not the one he suggested later, on top of getting back to natural remedies, so let’s see how this will play out. At this point it does look like that plan of running a half marathon distance next week is out of the question, especially since I meant to do it Monday or Tuesday. But there may be a chance Thursday as well, depending on how the risk of rain will change by then, and I may also just do it slowly, only aiming to stay under two hours, or switch things around and do 16 km, also slowly, leaving the half marathon distance for later.

Speaking of running, this week’s run was Tuesday, when I got up when the alarm rang, at 2:30 PM, had the usual stuff, with a piece of pumpkin pie brought by dad some time ago as something sweet, and left at 4:30 PM, when the reported temperature was 16°C and it was sunny, so I just had an undershirt under the t-shirt and nothing else. It was windy when I woke up, but the forecast stated that it was going to die down around 5 PM and that seems to be what happened, since there was still some wind when I went out but it caused few problems as I ran. There were plenty of people though, and there was a moment on the first sector when the cycling lane was full of people and a cyclist coming from the opposite direction went around them on the same side I wanted to pass them on, so I had to stay behind them and slow down a lot to let him through. Otherwise, plenty of weaving and going the long way around, including going all around on the outside in turns, but no real roadblocks except on the final sector, as I was going up the stairs and a group was taking a picture there, so I had to first climb on those things for flowers that are next to the stairs to get behind them.
The time was 47:35.40, with sector times of 4:18.62, 5:02 (5:01.49), 5:51.30, 4:23.48, 5:05 (5:04.36), 5:51.63, 4:29 (4:28.64), 4:59 (4:58.92), 5:49.29 and 1:48 (1:47.67), making for lap times of 15:11.41, 15:19.47 and 15:17 (15:16.85). After sector two of lap two, I was getting worried that I’ll be slower than the previous time I ran ten kilometers, but the next sector was fine and then I just pushed on lap three, so it wasn’t a problem. There were a few moments when my right knee and hip gave me some warnings, but that didn’t last long.

The next day I was up at 10:25 AM and went out 30 minutes later, checking the nearby Mega Image for something dad had put on the list to buy and take to my mother, and then coming right back without anything, since I didn’t care to spend that much for those things even if it’d have been from his money. Then I left again at 11:15 AM and walked first to this Carrefour, getting a code for my prepaid phone card before going in. Not using it yet, but I’ll lose the number at some point next month unless I recharge, and with what’s happening with the exchange rate, I got it out of the way now… And actually spent what I should have spent, €7 plus VAT at the day’s rate being 40.05 RON while the listed price was 40.57 RON, but I gave the guy a 50 RON bill and he gave me a 10 RON one back as change, never asking for even a 0.50 RON coin or anything, and I didn’t have one anyway.
After that, went into Carrefour and got another one of those large bags of oranges, two expiring bio (organic) yogurts, two bags of cat litter and some of those things for my mother, after dad sent me an SMS while I was there to tell me to get some of their brand, since I had left a note asking about that. Have a woman to thank for not losing most of my money when I checked that message though, since they fell out of my pocket and went under a shelf without me noticing, but she did and pointed it out to me.
Put all of that in a cabinet at Kaufland and got the yogurt I wanted from there, as that two for one offer I should have found when I went to Auchan was now there. However, there weren’t packs of two yogurts, as the picture on Auchan’s site had shown back then, but you simply picked up an even number of yogurts of that kind and you got a 50% discount at checkout, so I wonder if that’d have been the case at Auchan as well, and I’d have been able to buy them for a bit less. But there was nothing like that listed there, so I’d have had no way to know, while here it was spelled out on the price label, so I knew what to do. Either way, also got a pack of those things for my mother of their brand as well, just in case, and some black radishes, and then used the self-checkout… With a guy who seemed to be unable to wait behind me. Actually he was behind the person who was behind me, but immediately asked to step forward for just a moment and set his two items down on a broken machine, then kept commenting that the machines weren’t available, that some employees were “playing” with one, though they were obviously trying to fix a problem and in the end did so, kept urging me to step forward, since I was leaving some space, so I won’t breathe down the neck of the person using a machine ahead of me… When the guy using the machine those employees had just fixed was paying, he urged me forward again and when I still didn’t move, waiting for the guy to actually finish and bag his purchases, he asked whether I really didn’t want to buy, at which point I finally told him that I don’t like being rushed, so I won’t rush others either, and he reacted with some shocked and frustrated expressions.
But I finally did my business after that, without problems, then picked up everything from the cabinet… And it took me 40 minutes to walk back here, carrying all of that, and not having a backpack to get some weight off my arms either. And I guess that was too long, since dad wasn’t here anymore when I arrived. But he had told me to buy those things, and there was no note, so I assumed he was just quickly buying something else and will be back, so I left him a note and then rushed to a nearby bakery, to get a couple of things that were on sale, one for myself and the other for him to take to my mother as well. Even ate after that, not getting on-line right away, though I did get to my room to change and noticed that I had apparently left the monitor on when I left. Either way, the point was that I fully expected him to be back, but he had actually already left, so I was left with all those things, and while the rest can be taken there later, what I bought from that bakery couldn’t be kept that long, so I ended up eating the second one as well the next day…

Took a six-hour break from writing at this point, spending most of it in bed after taking my temperature and seeing 38.3°C, which likely meant that in the morning I had around 39°C, considering how I felt. But I do need to post this tonight, so I’ll move on to Thursday, when I again had no visits recorded in either view. Woke up early again, at 10 AM, with the alarm, and went out at 11:20 AM, to attend an event at the Ministry of Economy, demanding a climate strategy, eliminating coal by 2030, coming up with a calendar to phase out other fossil fuels as well from the energy mix and reducing emissions overall. It was supposed to start at noon and I got there just on time, but I was pretty much the only one other than those from Declic, who organized it, and reporters, though another man showed up a few minutes later and then one more came as the globe was set up and we were holding the signs for some pictures. Since they knew me and this last guy, that other man seemed to really be the only participant who just decided to attend after seeing the event announced somewhere, and after approaching me at first and exchanging a few words, noticing that I was also standing aside at that time, he stood back, not actually getting involved, which makes perfect sense under the circumstances.
The problem was the wind, same as it was during the previous event they organized there that I attended, as this time they had a burning globe to set up and their initial attempt had apparently resulted in it toppling and some wires coming loose. So they were searching for a more sheltered location and weren’t allowed to set it up in the parking lot or at the entrance, eventually being allowed to place it on a tiny patch of grass in the corner of that area, the building offering a bit of shelter. After I went to get her when the others were calling for her during those discussions, Olga had already asked me to follow her to help, but in the end I didn’t help with the globe too much, the artist doing much of the work, obviously knowing what he was doing and also being taller. But then Olga handed me a banner and asked whether I wanted to hold it, and I couldn’t exactly refuse, so I ended up being the focus of the pictures, the reporters hurrying to catch something, as around 12:10 PM, before being allowed to set up the globe on the grass, they were already saying that they’ll have to leave soon, at 12:30 PM at the latest. It was also somewhat awkward when another Declic member, one I can’t say I recognized but who seemed to be coordinating this specific event, said that the banner was the wrong one, misspelled, and handed me the correct one, causing the reporters to have to start over. But at least nobody tried to ask me anything, and after asking that other guy to help and hold the lower corner, since the wind was blowing the banner away otherwise, I just stood there until they started gathering the things, as the delegation was getting ready to go inside for talks, which was scheduled to happen at 12:30 PM. The reporters left at that point, since the representative said they won’t be allowed inside, and a bit later I did as well.

The wind had picked up even more at that point, and rain was coming as well, but I managed to get to the metro station before it did, getting off at Unirii and checking out that Mega Image first, though I didn’t get anything. When I got back outside, it was wet, but didn’t seem to be raining just then, as I walked to that Carrefour and got a few things, including some more bread. Asked for half a kilogram and the woman who was there first fumbled with the gloves, then cut 890 grams, asking if that was fine, and when I said it’s hardly half a kilogram she said she was asking me if the size was all right, since she doesn’t know how much it’d weigh. So I told her to take some of it off, and at that point she dropped the knife, asked her coworkers whether they had another, and when they said they didn’t she went with that one in the back, returning after a bit, wiping it on a rag which she just threw on some boxes, so I have no idea how clean that was in the end. And then I paid at the checkouts that are upstairs, but that exit just goes to the parking lot, a sign telling pedestrians to use the one downstairs, but I had my products already, so I wasn’t sure what to do, the guard asking what I was searching for when he saw me looking around in confusion. But then he asked whether I had the receipt and told me to just go downstairs with it, and when I did so the other guard who was there just had a quick look on the receipt and in my bags and let me go. It really was raining by then though, and even harder by the time I reached the metro station here, so the walk back wasn’t exactly comfortable.

I already said how I felt after that, but another thing that happened that night was that I got The Quest Deluxe Edition from The Community Giveaway on the GOG.com forums. I did that before going to bed at night, so when it was already February 28, but I had asked for it before going to bed the night before and received the message with the code during the day. And at least the donor wasn’t that same guy this time around, so it felt a little bit less embarrassing. This edition isn’t on MobyGames yet though, so I also added it that night, though I was rushing and don’t think I included all the links in the notes, and now I’m rushing even more, so I’m not checking.

Otherwise, the timed squats during this period were just 2:17 on February 23 and 2:16 the following day. On the other hand, on February 22 I finished The Way of Kings, then wrote the quick review in a file at night and just made a couple of small edits before posting it the next day. And on February 24 I finished Ascension to the Throne, which is why I mean to post the review this week as well, though at this point that’s starting to seem less likely and I may end up with just a quick Sunday update as the week’s second post, just to be able to say I have one. But, to return to finishing the game, I first did it with the weak army I had, just managing it after dying in the final battle the night before and then reloading the save from before all four of them when I tried again, but then I also wanted to see what was possible, so I went all around Airath to use the altars and open the chests, then went back to Oganthar to get a great army, and finished it one more time, that final series of battles becoming a joke at that point. Took a series of screenshots, the first three showing the army and character, with the effects of the rings also shown, as I went through those battles the first time, without using the skill points received in between, while the last two show the army and the character at the end of the second attempt, when I did use all skill points at the end, after the last battle, and had also used them after the first one, though not also after the third, when I had gained another level. The last image also shows the gold I had at the end of this final attempt, but considering the army purchased, I should have had more the first time, but I didn’t take a screenshot of that. Managed to submit the screenshots taken while playing on MobyGames while dad was in bed for a while in the evening.