Cav's Place

On January 3, I had lunch after waking up and was taking it rather easy, meaning to first go to the nearby branch of my bank to get the new card, since the old one was expiring, and thinking that it was open until 6 PM, but luckily dad went out earlier and when I told him I might be gone by the time he’ll be back and why he said it was open until 5 PM, and I checked and saw that it was true. So I gave up on the idea to also take the plastic and metal and the things I take to Kaufland and rushed out, since even so it was close to 4:50 PM when I left, jogging and getting there in five minutes. Then I said why I was there and the guy asked if I used their app as if it was just part of the procedure, assuming that I did, being very surprised when I said I didn’t. Even after I showed him my phone, he just said that in that case I should have it enabled for the moment when I’ll get another phone, but I said I had no interest in a smartphone and mostly use mine as a clock, hardly ever even speaking on it. And then, after he gave me the card, he also asked if I had a shopping card, adding that it would help a lot when I said I didn’t, but I just said I don’t really use cards anyway and left before he could move to the next item, if there was one.
After activating the new card at the ATM outside, I had quick looks at decorations in two little stores from that area and also checked a Mega Image I passed by on the way, then reached that location of the Library, meaning to return the book I had taken on December 8. I had kept it until then because dad had said that he also wanted to read it, but he apparently just went through the foreword, saying he had no time to read more, and it was due back on January 5, even that only being because they had been on vacation… And, unfortunately for me, they still were. I recalled that the vacation ended on January 2 and hadn’t checked before leaving, so I got there and once again found the place closed, the vacation also including January 3. So I just continued on my way to Obor, and when I reached that area I checked a Profi, but the cabbage wasn’t that cheap anymore, then had a look and saw that the new confectionery from there finally displayed the name and it was the one I had found on-line and not the one I had been told when I asked, and I also had a quick look through that Mega Image.
Then I went to that mall and, after having a look in a bookstore, into Carrefour, checking the expiring and spoiling things and first grabbing a bag of spoiling oranges, since all but a few seemed all right. The bag was torn, however, and one orange was close to it in that cart, so I weighed them together and saw ten grams less than the listed weight of the bag, so that orange had probably fallen from it but the scales used when the label was placed had added those ten grams. But the weight still being less than the listed one gave me an excuse to look again in the cart, finding another loose orange and getting that as well, then walking away, trying to check the others and carefully replacing the worst one with that loose one through the tear. Then I threw that bad one back in the cart and weighed the bag again, seeing some 50 grams more than the listed weight but hoping it won’t be noticed and justifying it by telling myself that, while most probably unintentionally, they had tried to cheat me first. In addition, oranges sold in Carrefour since late December were recalled on January 6, controls prompted by information that they were in fact from Turkey despite being labeled as from Greece finding pesticide residue far above the limits, but the list of stores which had sold those didn’t include the one from Obor, so maybe they were fine after all. Either way, I also got some of those vegetarian burgers for dad and something that was discounted as if it was expiring even though it wasn’t for myself. Also meant to add a pack of gum from the other area where expiring products are in that location, also for dad, but the discount label on it wouldn’t scan, it was the last one of that kind that was there and there was no price label on the shelf either, so when the cashier asked me to bring her either another one or the label, I rushed there but had nothing to bring, so I had to give up on it.
Kaufland was next and after putting my things in a cabinet and washing my hands I found that lemons were even cheaper than they had been, and while the large majority either had a thick peel or were spoiling, I still found some more decent ones to get. Also got some very discounted bundles of radishes, and after digging a fair bit through the pile I also managed to find some decent red onions that also had a good discount. Then, after grabbing something from the expiring products area as well, I walked past the bakery area the second time right after 8 PM and was surprised to see that the evening discounts also applied to bread, which hadn’t been the case in that location before, and several of those I get from there were left, so I put on gloves and got five. Meant to get four at first, but the paper bag I tried to put them in tore, so I carefully moved them to another and then added the fifth. Then I got two more things from that area and also found an expiring bread for dad, and after having another look around I made my way to the self-checkout, which had no issues with the bakery products but asked me to place all four bundles of radishes on the scales after I already had. But the employee was watching, came right away to ask what was going on and logged on to override the error.
Then I retrieved my things, arranged them a little and went back to Carrefour, first having another look through the bags of spoiling bananas and picking one that seemed quite fine. The main reason I went back, however, was that the first time around I had noticed that the eggs sold by piece were still discounted, so I spent some minutes checking the whole pile and selecting the ones with an expiration date that was farthest away out of those with code one and the one bio (organic) one I could find, then putting a few of those with code one back, to be left with the number I wanted. Had also meant to grab some of the expiring bread I had seen the first time around, for dad, but they were already clearing away that area at that point and those I wanted weren’t there anymore, so I have no idea whether others bought them or they just took them away. On the other hand, had noticed discounted slippers as well and I need to replace mine, but it’s a good thing I forgot to go back for them, since that way I was left with the bills I found myself needing the next morning.
After retrieving my things from the cabinet and arranging them a little, I saw it was 9:35 PM, so maybe I’d have had the time to get back to the first Mega Image I had checked and see whether I’d still find the expiring bread I had spotted there, to get that for dad instead, but on the one hand I knew there won’t be room for it in the freezer, considering how much I had bought for myself, and on the other I just had a chance to get back before he’ll leave and thought that he might want a banana, so I rushed, got back at 10:20 PM and just managed to catch him, and he did take a banana. Then I put some of the purchases away, had the one banana that seemed bad only to find that it was actually just fine, only the peel looking bad, also had the sweet pastry I had bought, and then showered. After that, I put some more things away and made an onion salad, starting to eat dinner at 3:45 AM and getting in bed at 5:20 AM. However, that night was the first when I managed to no longer count and arrange the slices of bread, and it seems that I can continue to control that aspect of my OCD since then.

After checking before going to bed and seeing that the order of cat food I had made on December 31, to be able to make use of the discount code I had, was likely to be delivered that day, I was woken up just after 8:30 AM by the SMS confirming that. So I went to pee and washed what dad had left in the kitchen… And hadn’t even managed to get back to sleep when the delivery guy called, at 9:12 AM, saying he was a couple of minutes away, even though I had requested the delivery to be after 2 PM and later saw that the store had in fact written 4 PM on the label. But he was there and I was awake, so I rushed to change, grabbed the money, relieved that dad had been able to leave the 30 RON I needed to add to the smaller bills I had left in order to have the exact amount, and received the packages at 9:15 AM… Yes, packages, because they had again used two separate boxes, filling them with a lot of paper, even though I had just added a small amount of food for Liza and there’d have easily been room for it in the larger box, alongside the boxes of cans for Micky.
After opening the boxes and putting the food away, I tried to get back to sleep, but it was probably almost 11 AM when I finally managed it, and I again had a bit of a headache while I was lying there… Which headache returned when I spent a few more hours in bed in the evening, only napping a little bit, being even edgier than usual because the priest was supposed to come that evening and I didn’t want to be caught out of my room at that time. Not that he even came then, and when dad eventually called he was told that people had started turning him away around 8 PM, saying it was late, and he had decided to stop and return to the building two days later.
Otherwise, that evening I started The Destiny Knight. Then, at night, I went to the kitchen at 1:15 AM, cleaned what I had to clean and had to figure out where a bad stench was coming from, eventually finding that dad had heated some baked fish, placed the paper it had been in and the bones in the cat food bag we keep in the kitchen for such a purpose, since it can be sealed, but left the bag open. Then I could finally get to what I had to do for myself and only started eating dinner at 3:50 AM.

Since I already wrote about the January 5 run in the post about the best run times at the start of the year, I’ll skip that and say that after the run I went out again, at 5:05 PM, jogging to that Library location to finally return that book that was due that day. Just walked quickly for the first half of the way back, but then I realized I had to jog again and did so, being back a few minutes before 6 PM, as planned. Then I had an orange and a tiramisu dad had brought, though I’m not fond of those, then finally crapped and had a shower with water that was mostly cold. After having been mostly cold the day before, the site had first stated that it was supposed to get back to normal at noon, then at 3:30 PM, and it had seemed warm enough when I left, and even while washing dishes in the kitchen after getting back, but then it was mostly cold in the bathtub and seemed to be getting worse as time passed. But at least I dealt with a number of domestic matters, and then made mamaliga after dad left. Got in bed at 5:25 AM.

On January 6, I couldn’t get back to sleep after the second time I woke up to pee, around 8 AM, and also washed what dad had left in the kitchen. Tossed and turned and eventually got on the computer just before 9:45 AM. Just over two hours later I went to pee again and tried to get back to sleep, eventually managing it and finally getting up again a little after 3 PM, though I had been waking up before that as well. And since I didn’t want to be caught in the kitchen when the priest was going to come, I had lunch soon after getting up.
Got back in bed in the evening, napping a bit at first, but then the noise made by the cats and dad meant that there were no more chances of that, so I just stayed there, curled up and messed up. Felt about to shit myself at one point, but waited a little and then when I went to the toilet I just wasted time, nothing coming out. And when dad wanted to say something when I came out I just told him to leave me alone and got back in bed, staying there until I went to the kitchen, a bit after 1 AM… At which point I saw that he had tried to wash some things, of course not doing it properly and putting them next to what I had washed, creating puddles by leaving them to dry all over, or making a mess in other ways, so I had to get to work on fixing that. Either way, I started eating dinner at 3:30 AM and got in bed again at 5:30 AM, but I was really messed up. And something around or behind my left ball had been occasionally hurting all day, the feeling not being an unfamiliar one and possibly being caused by the hemorrhoids, especially after struggling to crap before leaving for the previous day’s run, but it was concerning and, while that’s on the right side, it might have been an early sign of the just about constant dull pain I started feeling later in my abdomen, and which continues.

On January 7, I went out at 7:30 PM, again having dad’s large backpack and also taking the recyclables, which I dropped off in a bin on the way, and what I take to Kaufland. But I first went to the Carrefour from the park, just getting cabbage. Then I went to that newer Kaufland, but on the way quickly checked Profi and bought some beets for myself and some frozen vegetables for dad from Penny. Had also meant to look for the teas that were on sale at Penny, but after deciding to leave the other things I had meant to look at for later, thinking I’ll come back if I’ll find the cat litter in that Kaufland, I forgot about those… And didn’t return either.
As I rushed to Kaufland with the bag with the purchases in one hand and the backpack with the cabbage in the other, there was a sudden burning sensation in my right foot after I crossed the road, and while I quickly walked it off at the time, at one point when I woke up the following morning that area was hurting, and it took a couple more days until it stopped giving occasional warnings. Either way, I again found a Lidl cart in Kaufland’s parking lot and that time around I did take it back in order to retrieve the coin, then went to Kaufland, put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands, checked for cat litter right away… And found none. And there was no time to lose if I wanted to be able to also get to that other location, being just after 9 PM, so I went right back out, retrieved my things and rushed, washing my hands again after I reached that other location and put my things in a cabinet. The announcement that the store was going to close in 20 minutes came right after I walked in, but the worse problem was that there was no cat litter there either, so I quickly grabbed a few bakery products, discounted by 75%, plus two black radishes and a number of carrots I didn’t really take the time to select, since those had good evening discounts, rushed to the self-checkout, which fortunately caused no problems, and quickly retrieved my things from the cabinet, hearing the announcement that the store was going to close in five minutes as I was doing that. That gave me just enough time to rush to the nearby pet shop, grab a bag of cat litter and purchase it two minutes before closing.
I then stopped in the pet shop’s entrance area in order to try to put the purchases in the backpack, but an employee asked me to leave so he could lock the doors, so I had to continue outside… And that backpack was heavy, and there was what seemed to be a tearing sound the first time I put it back on. And the straps were too tight, so I took it off and then had to put it on again, at which point it caught my jacket’s sleeve, where I have that pocket, and it’s possible that there was a tearing sound at that point as well. Couldn’t see any damage, but it could be something small that will become noticeable later, so I can only hope that won’t be the case. Either way, in order to avoid forcing it more, I walked with the backpack in an awkward position to one of the tables outside that KFC, set it on it so I won’t have to fight its weight anymore and finally put it on properly.
I was back a little before 10:40 PM, having carried about 17 kg. Then I had a banana, the sweet pastry I had bought and lunch, finished the book and just managed to post the quick review before midnight, then checked a few more things and showered. Got back to the kitchen at almost 1:30 AM and there was much to do, so I started working on the salad at 2:40 AM, but it was just before 3 AM when I actually sat down to chop, and I started eating dinner at 4 AM, though I had been licking some things in the kitchen for a while before that. Finished eating at almost 5:15 AM, and then dad came back and we talked a little, so it was 5:40 AM when I got in bed.

Moving on to the early hours of January 11, I started eating dinner at 3:20 AM, and that was after having lunch after waking up, in the afternoon, and just about breaking down in the evening. I had been curled up in bed, crawled out to ask dad for that backpack again, but simply couldn’t get the words out once I got there and ran back. Did get back up after midnight, however, and managed to ask then, and also shaved. Either way, I got in bed at 5:20 AM.
The original plan for that day included checking three Penny locations and required leaving at 4:30 PM at the latest, but I saw little reason to check the nearby one, so it was almost 5:30 PM when I left, first going to Auchan Titan and getting some things for dad. Also meant to get one of those breads for myself, but since those are priced according to weight, I picked three and weighed them and saw the listed weight being 14 grams above the real one in all three cases, and while the bags were open and I was thinking of swapping the biggest with one of the others, which weighed ten grams less, so I’d just pay for four grams more, I wasn’t sure I could do it without being seen and, either way, I wanted to be cheated less by the store, not cheat another customer who could later end up buying the one I’d leave, which would weigh even less than the listed weight and which I’d have also touched with my unwashed hands in order to make the switch, so I just gave up on getting bread.
But my main reason for going to that area was that Penny, so I then went there, put the purchases in a cabinet and found the tea I wanted and the frozen vegetables for dad, but just a single 1 kg bag of peas seemed left, so I grabbed it. The teas confused me, however, since the catalog seemed to indicate that the discount applied if you bought any three teas of that kind, but on the shelf and on the price labels they were paired, two and two… And the employee who was in that area when I started looking had left by the time I could persuade myself to say something, so I just told the cashier that they were supposed to have a discount, so I won’t have surprises, and they did, even though those I had taken were from different pairs. And when I meant to arrange the purchases I found some instant coffee in the bag, and I have no idea whether it fell in when the cashier got something, probably cigarettes, for the next person or she or said next person put it in intentionally. But the problem was what I didn’t find, that being the store card, since I had used dad’s to get the discount for the peas, so after checking myself thoroughly I asked the cashier whether I had left it there and she said somebody had indeed left a card, so it was probably mine, or more exactly dad’s. Not that I can tell whether it was that one or not, but it most likely was, so I took it.
Only finding one of those bags of peas meant I wanted to check the second Penny location as well, so I needed to hurry. The next planned stop was the Carrefour from the park, however, for more cabbage, and while I got two large ones for dad from the pile, I wanted one more nice and smaller one for myself, so I used my keys to cut open one of the bags that were yet to be opened, taking one from there. And, after changing my mind multiple times, I eventually also bought some bio (organic) biscuits that were discounted as if they were expiring even though the date was months away, the problem being that even that halved price seemed quite outrageous for biscuits, so I doubted that the discount was real until I checked other stores after getting back that evening and saw prices that were even higher than the listed full price in Carrefour, which struck me as quite insane.
After putting the cabbages in the backpack and struggling for quite some time to close it, I walked out of that mall just seconds before 9 PM and rushed to the Penny next to the newer Kaufland, using two cabinets for my things and, after digging under the smaller ones, finding just that second 1 kg bag of frozen peas I wanted. Then I also rushed to that Kaufland, peed and washed my hands, found very deep bakery discounts and grabbed some buns, also got a few more onions, had no issues with the self-checkout and, before leaving the checkout area, also used the scales that are there in order to get a label that I then used to keep the bag with the buns closed. And I managed to do that just in time, the announcement that the store had closed coming as I was retrieving my things from the cabinet, so I just grabbed everything, not taking the time to arrange, since the employees were already locking the door, the guard telling me to use the emergency exit to leave and another employee opening it for me, seeing that my hands were full.
Using that exit meant that I came out right next to the benches and tables that are outside, so I took my time arranging everything. Then, after needing to make a couple of stops on the way, I was back here a little before 10:55 PM, having carried 21 kg. Then I had an orange and those biscuits and a late lunch, finished at 12:30 AM, after which I went to the toilet and showered. I got back to the kitchen just after 2 AM, it was past 2:30 AM when I started making the salad, 3:50 AM when I started eating dinner and past 5:25 AM when I finished. Since dad was again already back by then, we again talked a little and it was 5:55 AM when I got in bed.

As for January 15, I’ll start with the early hours and say that I started eating dinner at 3:30 AM, after having lunch in the evening. Then, with the weather having pushed me to delay that week’s run until then, even though it was Saturday, I got up when the alarm rang, at 1 PM, and had the usual stuff plus almonds, really getting back to the old usual stuff by having those wheat things, one with honey and another with jam, as the sweet thing. Rather burned those things in the microwave at first, however, trying to see whether I could heat them a little and also thinking that they were expired for half a year, if such a thing can expire, and ending up with a hole burned in one and that area burned on one side of the other as well. And I unfortunately also wasted 40 minutes on the toilet, being rather constipated during that period, in fact things only recently starting to get better from that point of view, and I’m not even entirely certain of that. Then again, I had crapped in the early moments of that day, before going to the kitchen at night, but felt that something was there and it wasn’t coming out. Either way, I then put on the full running gear, with some things in the pocket of my tights, but actually had another t-shirt over the running one, plus that thing around my neck and the gloves, and also wore the jacket on the way, tied around my waist as I ran. The reported temperature was 9-10°C when I left, at 3:40 PM, but it was supposed to drop to about 5°C by the time I’ll finish, since I was going for 16 km.
The time was 1:21:25, with sector times of 4:23, 5:28, 6:07, 4:36, 5:16, 6:03, 4:39, 5:28, 6:16, 4:52, 5:20, 6:19, 4:48, 5:30 and 6:20, making for lap times of 15:58, 15:55, 16:23, 16:31 and 16:38. I was hoping for 1:20, but that seemed unlikely from the start and quite clearly so after that bad sector two of lap one, so at that point I was wondering whether I’ll even stay under 16 minutes on one lap, and just barely managed that on the first. That made me think that I was going to have to resign myself to target times adding up to 1:23, but recalculated after staying under 16 minutes on the second lap as well, aiming for 1:21:30 and in the end just managing that, awful as it is, being 5:09 slower than the previous time I had covered this distance. Admittedly, that was three months before, and people, combined with the work still being done, quite clearly cost me over a minute, so maybe on a clear path I’d have just managed to stay under 1:20, but that’d have taken everything…
It was, of course, really crowded, and people choosing to walk or even just stand on the running lane even when they had space around it made it even worse, so while some were worse than others I don’t think there was any sector without serious problems caused by people and there likely were some where that cost me at least ten seconds. Since even only remembering all the times when I had to briefly stop because of roadblocks would have likely been impossible, I didn’t try, but I do remember one moment, on sector two of lap four, when I heard a faster runner approaching and wanted to make way, slowing when I realized that he’d have caught me right when we’d have reached a roadblock formed by other people… Only for him to do the same and gesture for me to go ahead… Which gesture I only saw after I had already committed to let him through even if that meant stopping, which I did. But he was also determined to let me stay ahead, telling me to keep going and even pushing me a little. And while that’d have been enough to make the moment stay in my mind, another reason was that, while I didn’t get a good look, just glancing out of the corner of my eye, that other runner might have been that guy I see as the “second in command” from the Dream Trek group again. And he stayed behind me after that, and by the end of the lap I no longer heard him. But while he was still just behind me, after we squeezed through that first roadblock, two other people formed another by crossing the path in front of us, and as I squeezed through I heard him comment that it must be really hard to look behind, like it makes them choke. Either way, knowing that he was there and could be faster but had chosen to let me ahead made me push harder for the rest of that lap, and that was likely the only reason why I even managed to stay under 1:21:30.
In terms of the work being done, they seemed to be repairing the areas where the new surface had been walked on before hardening, so plenty of small areas, and a couple of longer ones, were either scraped or fenced off. And there was also a fenced off area just before the bridge on sector one, the fence ending at the bridge but then another piece of fence being placed right on the new surface under the bridge, so the narrow space and the people meant that on every lap I had to take to the grass as I approached the bridge in that place, and then I had to try to find a way through while passing under it, on one side or the other. But at least it was clear under the bridge on the other side, where it had been completely closed off the week before. And, while that area was fenced off that day and I could just look, it did seem that they had actually fixed the part of the lane that went through one of the paved areas, which had been really bad before. On the other hand, in the other paved area, where the new surface had looked even worse, though it had always been fenced off before and I couldn’t actually try it, they decided to give up, removing the new surface and putting the stones back… Which still means that the area in question is even worse than it was, since the stones weren’t put back as well as they had been, and you had to be careful in that area even before. And I’ll also mention here that, while a fenced area ended just at that stall where it’s usually crowded, on sector three, and I thought I’ll have to go behind it each time, I only did so on lap one, and only had to slow on one occasion otherwise, finding a gap the other three times.
Compared to the rest, the little time lost with the glove is irrelevant, though a couple of times I struggled a little more to get it back on. On the other hand, leaving and therefore starting ten minutes later than planned meant that it got dark too soon and I briefly stopped at the start of sector one of lap five and slowed at the start of the next sector in order to see the time better. As for physical issues, felt some pain in my left hip even on the way to the park, which stayed with me even though it was never bad. Also, as of lap four I started getting some warnings from the right knee as well, these also staying with me but not getting worse. And, while I was worried that it was going to be a problem throughout, the time just wasted on the toilet only had some consequences as of sector two of lap five, when I was pushing harder, and it wasn’t a serious problem even then. And while I clearly didn’t even try to give it everything after seeing how crowded it was, I also realized from the beginning that I was definitely back to being unable to keep sprinting from start to end on any of the long straights.
As for what I did after the run, I did check that Carrefour, but didn’t get anything, then got back and just had an orange and drank the rest of the tea, waiting for dad. He wasn’t getting back, however, so eventually I did go to the toilet, where I could finally get rid of the excess weight, then showered, and even wrote extended notes about the run before he finally did get back… Exactly when I had finished writing and had finally connected. I heard the key in the door just as I enabled the connection, and he needed to get on-line before leaving again, so I had to disconnect again right away. But he brought cake, so I had some of that before he left, then lunch, followed by dinner. There were plenty of irregular heartbeats again, after the shower, but they eventually stopped while I had dinner, though lunch hadn’t helped. And the right nostril was a little irritated too.