Cav's Place

Despite meaning to go to bed earlier, in particular because of the back pain, on the morning of October 15 it was again 5:20 AM when I did, and it was hard to find a comfortable position. And that continued to be the case after waking up to pee, just after 10:45 AM, and after two naps that likely lasted mere seconds I had probably just fallen asleep more properly when the alarm rang, at noon, and I got up. And then I even did the day’s squats, after putting them off the day before until I no longer did them at all, considering the back, which continued to be a real problem.
But the plan was to go out, and I did so at 1:35 PM, taking some trash, which I threw in a bin. I had dad’s metro card, which had somehow even started to work again, so I used the metro to get to Obor. Then I had a quick look at apples in the farmers’ market, keeping one place in mind, briefly checked that bookstore as well, and then went to Carrefour, grabbing some expiring or spoiling products and the juice for my mother and grandmother. Soft drinks were one of the categories of products that they were giving those vouchers for those days, but I wasn’t sure whether those particular juices were also included, so I asked an employee who was stocking that area… Only for him to say that he didn’t know. So I went to the one functional self-checkout that accepts cash, an employee again working on the other one, and entered the juice separately. I accidentally entered it as two of the same kind before remembering that they had different flavors, but since it was the same brand and the same price, I left it like that, checked that the voucher was indeed listed on the receipt, and then scanned the other products.
When I passed through the farmers’ market again, I bought some apples from that place which I had kept in mind, then took some time to arrange the purchases in the backpack and bag, got some pastries from a place that’s outside of that shopping center and then entered, to also go to Auchan. I initially intended to get some more things from there, but when I saw a sign announcing that 5% of the value will be returned on the store card for all purchases the following day, in addition to any other deals, I decided to just get some cabbage for dad that day, putting the other purchases in a cabinet. The cashier rounded the change as far down as she possibly could, by 0.09 RON, but I didn’t say anything, just moving on to also have a quick look at used pants, since dad had mentioned that he wanted some pants as well. Then I retrieved my things from the cabinet, had a quick look at the press shop from there, not seeing the newspaper from the previous day that has that TV schedule supplement that my grandmother wants and which dad had forgotten to buy and not managing to get myself to ask, and then I returned to the metro station.
I got off at Romana Square, wanting to get one of those carrot and orange cakes, but that place was closed, and continuing to that other one was another waste of time, since I didn’t see anything left that I’d have wanted. So, after also having a look at the sweets from a Turkish place, I returned to the metro station and went to Unirii, using the exit that I recalled had newspaper stands around it. But they weren’t there anymore, so I just had a quick look at another place selling Turkish sweets and one selling pastries, then went to that Carrefour, putting my things in a cabinet but not buying anything from there either. However, I left my things in that cabinet while having a look at that place that’s selling sweets which had reappeared, on the opposite side of that area, and at the newspaper stand that’s close to it, though I still didn’t get anything else. And then I entered that shopping center to pee and wash my hands before finally returning to retrieve my things from that cabinet, getting back to the metro station… And seeing a foreign guy who was struggling with the pass, at which point I just found myself telling him in English that he was putting it into the machine the wrong way and putting it in correctly for him even if he hadn’t actually asked me to do so.
I then went to Carrefour Orhideea, and the cabinets from there are locked with keys given by the guards, but I couldn’t even open any of the doors because there were no handles! So I asked the guard what to do and he told me to just put my things on top of the cabinets, and plenty of other bags were there, so I had no choice but to add mine next to them, leaving them in the open. Then I got one of those breads that I get from Carrefour, since it was on sale, but it was much smaller than what I find at other locations, so I checked the weight, seeing that it was just about right after all, so it was denser, not lighter, and that seems to be how it’s made in that location. Either way, I also grabbed some mustard and chocolate eggs with good ingredients from the expiring products area, both being very deeply discounted even though the chocolate eggs weren’t going to expire for several more months. Then, since the machines from that location only accepted cards at that point, I had to use a regular checkout, after which I retrieved my things, checked to make sure that everything was still there, added the new purchases and rearranged. However, after finally finding that newspaper as well, after asking at that press shop from there, I took quite a long time to rearrange what I had in my backpack yet again, to make it easier to carry and stop digging into my back. And then, after counting what I had left, I ended up being convinced that I had lost 2 RON, so I went back to search for them and eventually considered them lost… Before remembering that I had spent them on those apples from the farmers’ market.
I needed to use a large cabinet when I got to that Kaufland, and the first one that I tried didn’t lock, so I had to move everything to another one. Then I had a look at that confectionery, seeing that the price of that meringue cake had increased, after which I washed my hands, grabbed two expiring products for dad from Kaufland, had no problems with the self-checkout, bought one of those cakes from that confectionery after all, retrieved everything from the cabinet, took my time to rearrange yet again and went to the metro station.
I got off at this station, but I didn’t come straight back here, instead making a detour to the larger Mega Image, using two cabinets for the other bags and entering with the backpack and the bag hanging from my neck, and getting a bunch of snacks, all but one of them for dad. And at least that cashier rounded down the amount she asked for, by 0.05 RON. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and once again took some time to rearrange, needing to somehow make room for those snacks.
I got back a couple of minutes before 9:30 PM, having carried a total of 18 kg. Then I put some of the purchases in their place, ate an apple and the cake, and went to the toilet and to shower when it was almost 11:15 PM, being done at 12:05 AM. But I hadn’t eaten lunch yet, so I started doing so at 12:45 AM, having a can of sprats and that bag of snacks, and it took me half an hour because I also calculated what I had spent and wrote some notes while eating. And then I had quite a lot to clean after dad, and also picked the parts that were actually good from the lettuce leaves that he meant to throw away, also needing to wash them thoroughly before making my salad from them, since he had placed them on the other side of the sink, with a few other things mixed among them. And I also dealt with my bread and had a part of it for dinner, but the first impression was that it looked strange, which made me microwave it for a longer time… Before realizing that it’s actually noticeably better than what I used to get, from other Carrefour locations, so I now strongly prefer to buy it from there when I want that kind of bread, usually to eat on the night before a run. Either way, all of that meant that it was 3:35 AM when I finally started eating dinner, but I rushed and finished at 4 AM. However, it was 5:20 AM when I got in bed, and that was despite not even flossing.

Using a post for a single day is clearly a waste of a “personal slot”, and makes me fall even further behind, but after having to transcribe an interview for dad instead of writing the previous post Friday night, I had to do that yesterday instead of going out, so this evening I went out, albeit without going where I meant to go and without getting many of the things that I meant to get, and this is all I could manage to write before and after. The plan would have been to cover the following week as well in this post, which would have meant covering all the odds and ends until December, since I already covered all of November without needing any separate posts for odds and ends. Admittedly, the period between October 29 and November 2 would have been left, but that’s when I went to Carrefour Vulcan each day in order to take part in that campaign offering fruits and vegetables in exchange for recyclables, so it’s a separate matter. But, either way, I really couldn’t just post one day now and then add all the others later… And I guess that having just the day when I turned 38 in a post, on its own, can be justified in some way… If you try hard enough…