Cav's Place

On February 1, I checked when I woke up to pee in the morning and, being a new month, requested The Longing from The Community Giveaway on the GOG.com forums, the key, donated by that same user who donates so much, being sent at night, so I redeemed it then, after eating. And at least that’s a game I could play on this computer, but it’s not one I can just try, or start and set aside for later, and what you get out of it is directly proportional to the amount of time you put in it, since you can just start it once and then only run it again after 400 days and find that you “completed” it, but if you actually want to play it, exploring, improving the shade’s conditions, figuring things out, then you need to put a lot of time into it, as I was reading that the shade takes 25 seconds just to walk from one side of a screen to another… And then there are all the included books as well, and I’m thinking that I could find some that would be interesting enough to read. So I want to play it, but I’ll need to schedule it very well, and should quite clearly start it after I’ll have a new computer, whenever that may be, so I won’t need to worry about the possible consequences of starting on one and continuing on another… Especially when I am still thinking of trying to switch to Linux at that time, as frightening as the prospect may be.
Getting back to February 1, in the evening I was about to microwave something dad had brought, as lunch, when the electric grill he was using threw out a lot of sparks. Good thing that nothing flammable was in front of it, and that I was there, so I turned off the power strip, but when I called him over he turned it back on, checked and said it was hot, and since there were no more sparks and the light was coming on, he left it on and went back to the living room. That made me eat there, to keep an eye on it, but nothing else happened… Because it had indeed broken, which I confirmed when I checked before leaving and found that it was cold, and while I was out dad took it apart and saw that it had visibly burned out.
Either way, I went out at 7:30 PM, also taking the paper and then needing to go back after missing the turn to the recycling bin. Then I first went to a Mega Image and got some zacusca for dad, then continued to the Carrefour and Kaufland that are next to each other, though I actually first checked a bookstore and a sports store from that mall. Then got to Carrefour, with the zacusca just in my pockets, buying what I wanted from there and one more thing I saw. And since the cashier didn’t give me 0.07 RON in change, I specifically looked around for coins and soon found two 0.05 RON ones.
Then I went to Kaufland, put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands and, since it was just after 9 PM, checked the bakery discounts. Hardly anything interesting was left, however, so I just got the last two of one product from there, and then some chocolate and soap for dad. Also looked at the potting soil, but saw that those were actually ten liter bags! There was no mention of the weight but, while not easy, it should have been possible to carry one, but it’d have required rearranging everything else and the size was in itself a problem, apparently not just for me, so I left it for another time. And since the price label for the chocolate didn’t even list the regular discount that applied then, but instead a smaller one, and the scanners don’t show any additional discount that applies if you use the store card, at the self-checkout I first just paid for those separately, to check that the additional discount applied… And somehow forgot that you need to pick up the change before the receipt is printed, being left staring at the screen and then calling the employee to help when it was saying that the receipt will be printed and it wasn’t happening, so she pointed out that I still had change to get. Then I scanned the other things, retrieved what I had in the cabinet and was back a little after 10:20 PM.

On February 8, I had the alarm wake me at 2:30 PM and left a bit after 4:30 PM, with dad’s large backpack and two sturdier bags, since I was taking the stacked paper to that recycling center I had seen offered a little more for it when I got lost on the way to withdraw the money for the state bonds. I was worried that it might close at 5 PM, since I hadn’t checked that, and thought that it was going to take me an hour to get there, with 20 kg of paper on top of the weight of what I had on me, but that backpack’s great, so with 12 kg in it and the rest balanced between the bags, I just kept going, feeling no need to make stops, and was there in 35 minutes. That’d have still been a little late if it would have closed at 5 PM, but that wasn’t the case, and those working there were also younger and nicer than I expected. They also seemed a bit surprised that I had weighed the paper, after I said that I had 20 kg, and after putting it on their scale I saw that I in fact had 20.7 kg, which I guess was the result of adding a few more things I realized were still around after weighing what I had initially thought was everything the previous evening and seeing 20.1 kg. Either way, I received the 5 RON I should have received for 20 kg and walked away, hesitantly at first, since I was looking for a sign listing the hours and didn’t see any, and couldn’t get myself to ask.
Then I went to Carrefour Unirii, mainly looking for cheap eggs again, but there were none sold by piece anymore, and also none of the cheap flour dad had asked me to get, though at least I found one of the breads I can get from there left unsliced. The price had increased, but I was completely out and didn’t know what I’ll find later, so I wanted to make sure I’ll have something and it was a good thing I did. Then, after getting a couple more things, I walked out… And again got turned around when trying to look for the slightly shorter way from there to Unirii Boulevard, losing some minutes as a result. That always happens, there’s just something about those roads that makes me certain that I must not go in what would be the right direction, not even trying to make a point of remembering, of memorizing, seeming to work. And the right way implies just going straight through, not on the street, but it seems that I just can’t get myself to do that.
Either way, a little later I made the small detour to a Library location, to get The Blind Owl, seeing on Goodreads that Sandra had read it making me interested. The librarian asked whether I had been to that location before and I couldn’t quite recall, saying that I might have been there once, years before, but wasn’t sure, though that was in fact correct. Either way, after I handed her the pass she said that it had expired and I had to renew it, but then just gave me the form to sign and said she’ll fill in the information if it’s the same. I wasn’t sure that my ID card was the same, however, though it should have been obvious, the date when it was issued being on it, and she pointed that out when I mentioned it, but we nevertheless checked to confirm. And she only asked for the certificate after that, after having allowed me to just walk in without asking at first, and even then barely glanced at it when I showed it to her… And probably had the same reaction she’d have had if I wouldn’t have had one, asking me to stay in front of the desk while she went to get the book, so while I’d have actually wanted to have a look at what was available, maybe while she was filling in that form, I had to stick to just looking at what was in that area… Which was mostly good fantasy, actually. Either way, as I was putting the book in the backpack she also asked about my job and I quickly gave the information that’s correct on paper, then left… And when I checked at night I found that renewing the pass had reset my password on the site, only figuring out that I should try the default one after many attempts, thinking I had forgotten it and trying a few different variants.
Back to the evening, next I went to Penny and found what I wanted, getting two of the last four bags of frozen green beans and two of the last three cans of sprats, which I found hidden at the back of the shelf, on top of boxes of other cans. Also saw potting soil at a price that worked out to a similar amount per liter as the one from Kaufland, but the bags were of only four liters and I had that backpack, which would have allowed me to easily carry one of those large ones, so I decided against getting one from there.
Things became rather unpleasant after that, however, since there was a single cashier, the line was barely moving, an employee also apparently had two large orders to check out, and on top of that he saw a woman with a child in line, behind me, and told her to come ahead, just assuming that she’ll be allowed to reach him, also getting past the woman who was ahead of me, and only adding that she could keep going if those farther ahead will let her after she did so. But she couldn’t get the pram around the carts, so she asked if she could go behind that checkout and hand over the purchases that way, and when she was allowed to do so the quite large woman who was behind me came right next to me. I tried to place myself so I’ll protect my spot in line without saying anything and she didn’t advance farther, but eventually spoke out against that woman being allowed to jump ahead, so at least someone did, since it had definitely bothered me as well but I just sighed and waited. But that woman speaking out led to quite an argument with that guy, the fact that they knew each other quickly becoming obvious, and while I wasn’t paying attention at first and didn’t quite hear whether he insulted her for being a Gypsy or just told her to go to another store if she’s unhappy without an insult, she retaliated by insulting him, calling him a drug addict and other things, and also said that he came to ask the leaders of their community to find his stolen bicycle and they had quite an exchange about that as well. The other guard came at one point, while that was going on, but then she just turned around and walked away again, not even saying anything.
Unfortunately, it was just when another person had finally been checked out and I could advance another step that another checkout finally opened, the lane for it being the one I had just stepped past, so those behind me, starting with that large woman, went there immediately while I had to continue waiting. And when the cashier was finally done with those two large orders as well, she started explaining to the woman who was ahead, and to me as well, looking back and forth between us and taking even longer as a result, that she was new, had only been there for a month, so it was normal for her to be slow. I told her I hadn’t said anything, but she was obviously stressed out and felt the need to explain. And then she also said she had no 0.50 RON coins to give me as change, and I should have received 0.55 RON in coins, but after I asked what was I supposed to do then, wondering whether I should unlock the cabinet and give her the one I used for that, she found one, and I took one of the 0.05 RON ones that were scattered on the counter in order to actually get the correct change. Also saw a store card there and said that somebody forgot it, but she said that it had been there for two hours.
Since I mentioned the scattered 0.05 RON coins, it seemed that somebody had dropped quite a number of them in that area, since on top of those on the counter, there had also been one in front of the cabinets when I went in and I had grabbed it right in front of the guard, who might have muttered something then, though I didn’t pay attention, and there were three more just outside, which I saw and grabbed when I finally left and stopped there in order to arrange the purchases, wanting to put everything except the bread in the backpack. My belt buckle probably jabbed my abdomen while I was doing that, however, right in that lower right side which had been bothering me, and while that made me realize that the dull pain and pressure I had been feeling in that area for weeks had actually rather gone away, at that moment I felt a sharp pain. It stopped after I quickly sat up and the spot only bothered me a little bit for a while longer, but it gave me another reason to worry at the time.
Either way, I then went to the Carrefour from the park, finding that flour there and getting a few more things, including two of the three remaining 1 kg bags of frozen yellow beans, which were cheaper than the green ones from Penny. Hadn’t expected those to still be at that price and also still available, so I probably shouldn’t have bought those green ones, but dad had just cooked some that day, so at least there was room in the freezer for all of them. And I’ll also mention that after checking out I realized that I had forgotten to check the price of potting soil there, so I added the purchases to what I already had in the cabinet and went back in, which proved to just be a waste of time, since they had several kinds but all of them far more expensive, with the exception of one kind that would have been only somewhat more expensive but was out of stock. So I went back out, retrieved my things and took my time to put as much as possible in the backpack and the rest in a bag, or actually in two, since I had a plastic one inside a sturdier one.
Then I also went to Kaufland, piling everything in one of the larger cabinets and then wanting to wash my hands and needing to make do just with water, since there was no soap… And also no disinfectant in the dispenser. And bakery discounts of 75% were just announced, so I went straight there, but some others had also gathered, not much was left and I just grabbed a baguette, and then went this way and that with it in my hand, looking for one of those long paper bags, at which point the employee warned me of “the microbe”, though she seemed rather amused. Then I checked for other evening discounts, but there was nothing interesting, so I got what I wanted to get from there and also an expiring bread for dad, which was the only one in that area. Also looked for potting soil, but again found a single, torn bag, and no employee in that area, so I gave up again and made my way to the self-checkout… Which refused to accept that the expiring bread was the correct product, and the employee who came when I called had to try a number of times until it finally worked even though she had logged on, which made her comment that she’d rather stay at the regular checkouts instead of fighting the machines. But at least there was still time, the announcement that the store was going to close in five minutes only coming after I had retrieved my things and took my time to arrange everything again.
It was close to 10:30 PM when I got back, having carried almost 19 kg, including everything, so I had left with much more, since I probably had a total of around 25 kg or so at that point. The water was still quite cold, however, and when I checked the site I saw that it was listed as being below parameters until 11:30 PM, which would normally mean that the problem was known to last all day and there was no hope of it actually getting fixed before morning, so I put a pot on the stove while putting things in the fridge and freezer, then went to the toilet, just getting a tiny bit out. That made it about 11:30 PM when I tried to wash my head with the water as it was, bent over the side of the bathtub… And found that the water was actually getting warm enough to be acceptable for a quick shower, so I turned off the stove and showered normally, albeit very quickly, even managing to eat something sweet before midnight. Then I did something else I had to do, then got back to the kitchen and, after first having an orange, it was 1:10 AM when I had a “lunch” consisting of a can of sardines, which I finished in ten minutes. And then I still just managed to stick to the new schedule for dinner.

After all of that, when I woke up to pee, at 8 AM, I found that dad had left a lot to wash and clean in the kitchen after coming back in the morning, taking me 25 minutes to deal with everything. And then I realized how bloated I was and pressed on the right side of my abdomen and it sounded like it was just full of fluid, so I stayed on my back, in bed, and tried pressing in various ways and spots, to see what the results would be, and after quite some time it seemed better, and getting increasingly so as time passed, and by the time I actually got up, after plenty of farting and peeing a couple more times, there were just a couple of spots, right at the bottom of my abdomen, that still sounded like that. But I again had the impression of having fluid there after lunch… And then, after spending some time in bed late in the evening, including napping for maybe some 20 minutes after midnight, I had beets to bake and carrots to peel and boil, so I failed to stick to that new schedule, only starting to eat dinner at 3:25 AM and finishing at 4:15 AM, which I’m quite sure doesn’t help.
It was also on February 9 when dad called and my phone reported that it couldn’t register the SIM, like it used to do before being replaced. As far as I recall, that’s the first time it happened since then, and it’s yet to happen again, but it was just over a month after even the extended warranty expired, if it just continued instead of being replaced with a regular two-year warranty starting when I received the replacement, so I guess it was to be expected… Though I also wonder whether it might be some delayed effect of it falling out of the jacket’s pocket, just under two months before.

After starting it on the evening of February 9, I managed to finish The Blind Owl on February 11, a little before midnight, though I wrote the quick review after eating at night, and only translated it the following afternoon, so the version on Goodreads will be in both languages, as is my rule when I read something in Romanian.

On February 14 I decided to order a 2 TB external HDD after all, so I’ll again have everything backed up without worrying about space. Then I had lunch and went out a bit after 7:30 PM, going to Obor, first checking that Profi, then also Auchan, but only making the first purchase from Carrefour, a carton of expiring eggs, discounted by 75%. Then I also went to Kaufland, put the eggs in a cabinet, peed and washed my hands, then checked the bakery discounts and got a sweet pastry and a bun. After that, I again looked for cat litter but of course only found empty space, but then I got a number of vegetables that had high evening discounts, digging through in case of the red onions, since those from the crates that were on top were pretty much unusable, as were those from one of the crates that was underneath, but in the one that was under the other one they were completely different, much smaller and mostly good. Then I also got some bread for dad and a small pack of biscuits that was among the expiring things and 65% off without being expiring, because the contents were crushed, had no problems with the self-checkout and was arranging the purchases in the backpack and bags when it was announced that the store had closed. And, after getting back a little before 10:55 PM, I had an apple and the sweet pastry, went to shower some time after midnight but still got back out a little before 1 AM, and managed to stick to the new schedule for dinner.

On February 18, I went out a bit before 7:20 PM, also taking the recyclables and the things I take to Kaufland. After dropping off the recyclables in a bin, I went back a little, to just glance in a small store, looking for cheaper cabbage, but saw no vegetables there, so I continued to the Carrefour from the park, where I saw boxes of four of the cakes I could get from there at not much more than the regular price of a box of two, and just a little more than the price of two if bought individually. The label stated that they were made that day and good until February 21, but they didn’t look quite right, many having noticeably less glazing, all but one box having at least one, and at least one having two, that were at most two thirds of the normal size, some maybe even closer to half, some being a little misshapen, and there were several such boxes, so I guess they had made a bad batch and were trying to get rid of it… And I decided to “help” with that, grabbing that box that didn’t have smaller ones, in fact the only issues that I could see being that one had visibly less glazing and another had a bit less glazing and was just slightly misshapen, the other two seeming completely fine. And that also allowed me to use the 10 RON voucher I had. And then, before leaving that mall, I used an ATM from my bank’s branch from there to deposit the money I was going to need for the HDD, since I had selected to pay by card.
From there, I went to the newer Kaufland, put those things in the proper bins and the cakes in a cabinet, peed and washed my hands, but when I got to the bakery area I saw no discounts, and no bread of that kind was left at all, though at that point I’d have bought one at full price, since I was running low and again hadn’t found any unsliced one in Carrefour. But there were deeply discounted lettuces and bundles of green onions, so I first looked through them and picked a lettuce and three of those bundles, then got everything else, including the last 1.5 kg bag of cat food of this kind that was left, being on sale, and a couple of expiring things, then returned and saw that the prices for the lettuces and green onions had decreased even further, to a fifth of those already very low ones, so next to nothing, which made me grab another lettuce and also the last bundle of green onions. The cat litter had also reappeared, albeit at the regular price, the sale being over, so I got one of those as well, then used the self-checkout without problems and still had time to properly arrange everything in the bags and backpack and walk out a few minutes before 10 PM.
Got back at 10:40 PM, having just carried 15 kg, including everything. Then I had an orange, put the purchases in their place and started eating lunch just before midnight, also having one of the cakes then. That meant that it was well after midnight when I got in the shower, but I just managed to get back in the kitchen right at 1 AM and just barely still held on to the new schedule for dinner, even if I had the worst parts of the lettuces and green onions to deal with in order to make the salad.

With the first run that’s actually part of that planned series leading up to the half marathon being on February 21, the last day I’ll cover in this post is February 19, when I finally cleaned my room a little, those cakes making me want to do something to feel that I’ll deserve them. I left changing my sheets for later, however, and it was only this Sunday that I finally got around to doing that as well. But, to return to February 19, I actually kept busy all day, dad wanting to put all the dirty things he had in the machine, saying he didn’t care what will happen, resulting in most of them still being very dirty after being “washed”, many being full of cat hair and the whole pile of handkerchiefs he threw in there still having plenty of snot on them. At least none of my clothes had been in the machine, but hanging all of those to dry definitely made me feel soiled… And on top of that, I also took everything from a kitchen drawer out and then put them back in, trying to arrange them better, after dad got a set of knives and I wanted to show him those we already had, which made me also want to use the opportunity to make some sense of the mess that was there. And then I also wrote that day’s post, and after that I cooked. So it was a productive day… But I was feeling more and more depressed over the course of it…